How To: Stream Video from Your Webcam to the Internet
How To: Stream Video from Your Webcam to the Internet
Posted 12/07/2006 at 4:30pm
| by Will Smith
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You know it and I know it: The moment you leave your house, your pets have a party. But the moment you return, they go right back to their mild-mannered pet personas. To catch them in party mode, you need a streaming video camera!
By connecting a typical webcam to an old laptop or PC running the appropriate software, you can set up a streaming video feed that you can access from anywhere on the Internet. It’s easy to do and you’ll be able to peek into your home from anywhere you have Internet access. We’ve even peeked in on our pooch from a cellphone.
Even though it seems like a fairly simple project, you’ll need to muck around in the configuration screens for your router. Let’s get started!
1. Prepare Your Streaming Server
The first thing you’ll need to do is configure the machine you’re going to connect the camera to. You’ll need to install the drivers and software for your webcam, install the streaming software, configure the machine to use a static IP address, and disable power management—you don’t want the machine going into a power-saving mode.
To disable power management, open the Control Panel and go to the Power Options panel. Then make sure the System Standby option is set to Never. Make sure your webcam is working properly—most cams include an app that shows you the output.
To configure your rig for a static IP address, the first thing you need to do is find the appropriate settings for your config. Go to the Control Panel, then click the Network Connections icon. Right-click your Internet connection—it will usually be called Local Area Connection—and click Status. Go to the Support tab and click Details. You should write down your current IP address, default gateway, and DNS servers; you’ll need that info when you configure the static IP.
Now, close that window, go back to the General tab, and click Properties. Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). In the window that opens, you should click “Use the following IP address.” This is where it gets tricky. To figure out your new static IP, you should look at the default gateway setting you wrote down before. Then add one to the final number in the default gateway (it’s usually 192.168.0.1, so your new IP would be 192.168.0.2). Your subnet mask will be 255.255.255.0 and you can use the same default gateway and DNS servers you were using before. Press OK and close all the windows you just opened. If everything works and Windows doesn’t give you an error, you can move on to the next step. If Windows says your IP is already in use, you’ll need to try another IP address.
If you’re using a software firewall on this machine, you’ll also need to configure it to allow TinCam (the streaming app) to receive requests on port 8080, or the firewall will stop them. Consult your firewall’s documentation for info on enabling port forwarding for a single app or port.
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AidanWystan
July 15, 2011 at 7:54am
Having a streaming video connection can have a lot of benefits. Any social media experts will tell you that a video image is worth a thousand words. With streaming video you can communicate easier with your clients, you can provide support and maintenance for your services. This will allow you to create a better relationship with your customers witch will recommend you to their friends too.
Elisabeth Brittani
March 08, 2011 at 1:05pm
This is a good idea, if you want to keep a track of what's going on in your house. You could be like a Seo web design firm tracking links or an undercover agent spying a thief that's about to make a move. The only thing you have to worry about is whether your little pets have super powers and can run so fast the camera won't be able to catch them.
Ella Rochelle
March 04, 2011 at 8:02am
Let's take the time to think about certain things the streaming video camera can reveal, beside pets having a blast... Maybe it's just my sick publisher network agent mind, but imagine leaving someone you care for in your room to change after jogging or whatever... Hey, now that would be something worth watching. I'm just saying, there are a lot of nasty things you can find out with this. Thanks for the information, Will!
william.smith61
November 11, 2010 at 2:42am
Video email is not something that is quite there. Sure, you can probably email video file attachments around, but that is tedious. Fortunately, if you take the whole traditional email thing out of the equation and make it all web-based, it gets easier. Enter Eyejot. Eyejot is a free video mail service. You set up an account and you can send video messages back and forth with people. It interfaces with your webcam using the Flash plug-in, just like Ustream. The only hitch to this whole thing is that one has to log into their Eyejot profile in order to view messages. You will, however, get an email notification of a new Eyejot message so you’re not left guessing.
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Djeanne
October 11, 2010 at 8:43am
Thanks I am just new in uploading my videos.
Your post really helped me to do it so eay! <a href="http://www.antiquesrepublic.com">Buy Antiques</a>
cata12
July 28, 2010 at 7:26am
Hello:
You may also have a look at this article: http://blog.eyepartner.com/tikilive/live-streaming-with-tikilive/
It is a short tutorial explaining how to start your own streaming channel.
Regards,
Catalin
Bobby13
September 21, 2010 at 2:03pm
Hey Stephanie, I found this quick and simple media to stream without any technical knowledge. You have 10GB free and all I have done was to give the url of my streaming channel to my friends. If you want to try it: www.dacast.com
Jokes
June 01, 2010 at 11:30pm
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.Your blog provided us valuable information to work on.You have done a marvellous job!I've Bookmarked this page for future reference.
Thank you
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sLaura
May 16, 2010 at 8:53pm
Thanks for this tutorial, it is awesome! I haven't heard of streaming video from your own webcam to the internet. I should try this one, hope i can do it well. Wish me luck!
Thank you!
sLaura - winterizing kit
kevin00000001
February 25, 2010 at 1:26am
Thanks for the post. Keep the great work.
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Lars Rasmussen
June 01, 2007 at 9:55am
Have you been able to get streaming to work similarly with VLC instead of TinCam?
It'd be $19 cheaper.
kathik123
March 30, 2010 at 10:16pm
I’m impressed, you know what you’re talking about
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kevin00000001
February 25, 2010 at 1:27am
Great blog post. It’s useful information.
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