I have been presented with an unusual work task: find out who is stealing personal items from a restricted area (workroom) and try to get a recording or image of them in the act. I know next to nothing about surveillance equipment and I doubt that the money required for that kind of thing would be approved, so I'm thinking more low-tech. I could use some advice for webcams and recording software, as well as media storage. Conveniently, the room in which this is taking place houses a computer which is constantly on. I'd love to be able to mount a camera in the corner of the room so that it has the best field of vision, and then have it automated so that it switches on at a certain time on Friday afternoon and begins recording until Sunday night. (Not absolutely necessary, though, as I could handle that as soon as I leave and come back.) Since I don't have the ability to constantly monitor the video feed, I'd need to be able to have it record what's being captured so that it could be reviewed by our administration if we catch the perpetrator in action. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. For as much as I dislike spying, I'm all for this since I've been robbed twice since August. Other members of the administration have also been robbed, and it doesn't seem like keeping things under lock and key is the solution since it appears that the person doing the stealing has a key.

9/30/2008 8:34:58 AM

you want to set it to motion capture, not just continuously record

and try to hide it a bit so that it isnt noticeable, and maybe, if the software supports it, have it send out a couple of frames to your email, just in case the person finds it an takes the computer

others will have actually software names

9/30/2008 12:26:16 PM

there's no telling what you'll record in there.




make sure you post the interesting vids.

9/30/2008 12:49:52 PM

At my office, we use some webcam software called i-catcher [http://www.icode.co.uk] to do time-lapse videos from a webcam, but the software also as a motion activation record function. We used it in our office to figure out who was leaving dirty dishes in the sink.

9/30/2008 1:32:57 PM

Thanks for the link - that looks like exactly what I need. I've got the camera and the computer, I just need a way to get some captures. If this'll help me catch this thieving fucker, then I will definitely owe you one.

9/30/2008 2:26:30 PM