If you want to monitor your home,property or keep an eye on your pets then you need a Security camera for such kind of task but the good thing is that you can Build your own Surveillance CCTV camera using your computer’s built in webcam or using USB webcam without any cost how you can do this? We will tell you about the method in this lesson.
The requirement for this task is you need a PC or laptop with a built in webcam or USB connected webcam and some software which can record the feed from webcam when motion will be detected there are some good software which are free as well as paid iSpy connect is free software and other paid software like Sight Hound which is formerly known as Vitamin D.
In this lesson we will use iSpy connect as it is free when you install this software it will provide a list of connected webcams and also support multiple cameras after that you can configure zones it is a rectangular areas within the webcam’s view which will be used for detecting motion in this area you can select your space where you want to surveillance like you car parking area, or outside your home. You can avoid unwanted objects like tree swaying in the wind or passing traffic otherwise you have to too much footage to review.
There might be a option for send an email along with a image or a text message when motion is detected you can also upload the clip to YouTube or you can play a recorded message.
Although it is good to use your computer’s webcam as CCTV camera but there are some disadvantages like you need to leave you computer constantly on which could make your electricity bill expensive and also make your computer’s life short because it will get hot after running for long periods.
Other issue like you can spot the area on a limited space only using USB cable you can do this but that is also a expansive solution.
The big downside of using vast majority of webcams are useless at night unless there is good lighting.
Use IP Camera
The IP stands for Internet Protocol which means they connect you router using Wi-Fi which means they can be mounted anywhere in Wi-Fi range where power source is available without a need of Cables.
The main advantage of using IP camera is that you don’t need to turn on your computer for a long time you can also use Micor SD card in this camera for recording as they connect with your router you can view the real time footage in any computer or in a Smartphone in your home network by web browsers .
When you buy a IP camera you can look up these features
- Infrared night vision (it will record lower quality but stable footage in almost complete darkness)
- All weather housing so that it can’t be damaged by rain if mounted outside the house
- PTZ (Pan, tilt and Zoom) it will allow you to remotely adjust camera direction and zooming
- IP camera with recorded audio feature
