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[mikebhoff]

I'm having a ball trying to set up a home system. Trying to incorporate 4 to 6 wired cams with a the 4 AHP programs. (i witness, etc.)
The x10 sales also talked me into a quad processor because I want to record to an external HD only with motion detection. I also use motion detecting floods to back up my cameras.  Most of the cameras I'm using now are swann from Frys.  I'm going to try the forum recommended walmart also.
My question,  in getting all this set up, I'm real dissappointed with the va11a whch takes my BW and color signals and really degrades the hell out of them.  I'm wondering if there is an alternative such as an aftermarket capture device that will marry with the AHP so I can still use AHP to cut my lights on with the cameras???   Sorry for the bulk, I tried to be brief.

[Tuicemen]

  I'm wondering if there is an alternative such as an aftermarket capture device that will marry with the AHP so I can still use AHP to cut my lights on with the cameras??? 

As of now no! But you don't need the capture device to turn on/off cams or sync lights with them!
The VA11A is only for capturing images!
If your not satisfied with the quality use another program to do the capturing with another capture device,remove iWitness to stop the VA11A errors and specify your cams as appliance modules.
You'll have to send some extra offs in your macros as switching from one to the other wont turn off the previous cam! You can trigger the other program to turn on via a windows command in a macro.
To send your images get X10dispatcher
Just One suggestion, I'm sure there are others!

[mikebhoff]

Thats a good idea, thanks.  I just leave my cameras on all the time and switch videos with the quad processor.   I do a lot of video editing with Ulead and noticed that if I captured with it, the video was very clear and you could actually recognize people.  I'm going to try some how to get active home pro to see the capture from Ulead.  O r something like that    I really like  AHP and the ability to start a record with motion along with a flood light backup.  But the capture difference between ulead and VA11A is monumental.

[HA Dave]

And the nice thing about "other software" is it can also be used to enhance (brighten, zoom, adjust contrast) captured video.

[mikebhoff]

OK Dave, set down that red cup before you spill it all and "spill it".......Can you recommend "another software" to try??

[HA Dave]

OK Dave, set down that red cup before you spill it all and "spill it".......Can you recommend "another software" to try??

If your running (any version) of XP use Windows Movie Maker! If your system doesn't have it you can download it (for free) from Microsoft.

If you really feel compelled to BUY something.... I like NERO....but I am not sure you'll gain anything.

Or if you buy one of those Dazzle video input devices the Pinnacle software comes with it.

[zstudent]

How can I do something similar with streaming Internet, wired cameras and a laptop?

PLEASE HELP

[HA Dave]

How can I do something similar with streaming Internet, wired cameras and a laptop?

PLEASE HELP

Ok... you have wired cameras, and you have a laptop. What exactly do you want to do? Get the video to the Internet..... to be viewed remotely via the laptop?

[tav]

I have the same problem with the quality of the VA11A output. I took the same non-x10 camera and ran it through Dazzle and then thru VA11A using both Camarades and Skype viewers and there is a big difference in quality of the picture. I wish i could run the same test using the Dazzle capture device with AHP but AHP only recognizes the VA11A and the quality of the picture is quite bad using the exact same wired camera I used with Dazzle. I tried changing the codecs in AHP (once i got access to them after hours of frustration before i found the upgrade that keeps my AHP from crashing when clicking on the video preferences tab). But i have two problems there. First making codec changes doesn't seem to be persistant. I change the codec, view the video (absolutely no change in quality no matter which codec i use) and then go back only to find the codec has defaulted back to Radius. Yet sometimes it is still set to my prior codec selection.

The main reason I want to use AHP is its ability to record video. So simply using AHP to turn cameras on and off with another capture device like Dazzle and camarades defeats the purpose. I know X10 wants you to buy their VA11A but after I buy it why can't I throw it in the garbage and use their software with a better capture device? As I mentioned before, alot of other applications allow you to use a variety of capture devices. Unfortunately for me, none of them record video (that I know of).

Any suggestions?

[philliec]

I have been using Home Domination (available as a demo on the web) to control all of my x10 stuff, temp sensors and video. It works great. The video can take multiple sources of video. I too found the VA11a to have poor quality. Therefore, I have my x10 wireless antenna coming into my Hauppage video capture card. It is definitely better.

On the other hand, I am now looking for an alternative to these x10 cameras. All in all, they are rather poor quality. Can anyone recommend good quality wireless cameras. I hve see Swann cameras in the store and I am tempted. Any comments?

[mikebhoff]

FWIW.....I've tried a lot of different cameras and in my opinion you just can't beat "biting the bullet" and wiring up your system. Granted, I'm lucky to have a crawl space and roomy attic, but one weekend had 6 different video feeds going very neatly to my office desk and a processor and video switch.  I ended up using a Costco system that includes 4 color cameras, cables and a 4 channel processor with a removable 250GB harddrive. $299.00.  I can view the cameras remotely with myhouse and at night I use AHP to switch on floods for the camera points. The floods are also triggered by motion sensors which also trigger the motion detection in the processor.  Doing a lot of fine tuning right now, but its lots of fun!  I play with the wireless cameras (put one on the bottom of one of them battery powered RC helicopters) but for hardcore surveillance, I'll stick to wires.