Welcome to Defenderｪ (QuickCam version), a complete suveillance, movie capture and alarm program for the Connectix QuickCam video camera.
Most 'security' programs for PC's prevent unauthorized entry into the computer or its files. There is very little available to help the computer protect itself apart from physically strapping it down. Now, with the aid of the Connectix Co. QuickCamｪ camera, your computer can be used to "watch the neighborhood" of your Macintosh computer system while you are away. Setup the camera, leave Defenderｪ running and movement in the video scene can trigger a variety of responses, from making a movie to sounding and displaying warnings in case of an unauthorized presence. Video can be hidden from the screen and movies can be silently recorded to disk and played back later. A wide variety of options can be set to control the motion detection, response and actions to be taken.
Defenderｪ is a $30.00 Shareware product from Bare Hill Software Co. To purchase the program please call or write the factory when prompted (after 20 free uses of the program).
Bare Hill Software Co.
97 Eastern Blvd., Ste 254 Tel 716-554-5440
Canandaigua, NY 14424 Fax 716-554-4223
Payment:
American Express, personal check or phone order with Invoice to follow.
System Requirements:
Macintosh computer with QuickTime 2.0 or later,~QuickCamMic and ~QuickCamVideo operating system extensions installed. These extensions come with purchase of theQuickCam camera.
1.5 MB of free memory for Defenderｪ Note: The QuickCamｪ supplied QuickMovie software is NOT and CAN NOT be used when running Defenderｪ, though QuickMovie can be used to playback recorded movies when Defenderｪ is not running.
Starting Defenderｪ
Launch Defenderｪ and observe that a window will appear with the live QuickCamｪ video camera picture and sound. If the video does not appear then QuickCamｪ is not connected or the System extensions are not installed, or if installed may be corrupted and should be replaced. Also, QuickTimeｪ requires a lot of memory so if you experience sudden termination of the program or an error type of 1 or 2 appears upon launch then extra memory is probably needed. Turn off any other applications to free up extra memory and turn off virtual memory and RAM Doublerｪ as these may interfere with QuickTimeｪ on occasion.
How To Use Defenderｪ
There are three steps to creating a response based on scene motion: (1) setting up the video & audio sources (2) setting the responses to be made (3) arming the program to begin looking for events.
1) Setting the video analysis controls:
Determine the search pattern density to be used for analyzing a scene for motion.
Set the sensitivity level for detecting motion in the scene.
Enable the continuous monitoring for motion.
Normally a brief buzzer sounds and a light flashes in the window when a detected event is recognized. If needed, exposure can be automatically adjusted for cases where scene brightness may vary over a period of time (eg the room lights are dimmed or the sun sets)
You are free to experiment with various analysis and sensitivity setting to determine the best operating positions for capturing the motion desired. Click the OK button to retain the chosen settings.
2) Setting the responses once an 'event' is detected.
A series of checkboxes determine whether a response is to be made to a detected event (eg scene motion). Video and audio can be captured in a movie of variable length or video can be captures as a series of still-frames. Also, audio and screen text can be given to warn anyone in the area of the computer to leave, either during or after capturing the video.
3) Enabling the arming of the software to begin checking for responses.
The software must be setup then armed to execute the chosen options. Arming can be immediate or by timer. Menus can be disabled to prevent tampering in an attempt to disarm the program. A variety of disarm options are available using a combination of keyboard commands an scene illumination (eg a hand in front of the lens for darkness or a flashlight for brightness). An icon can be displayed to show wheter Defender is armed and audio tones indicate the progress of a disarming operation, handy to avoid unwelcome surprises warnings to you in the event you activate an event.
Menus and Commands:
To supplement the instructions here please make use of the extensive Balloon Help provided throughout Defenderｪ.
'File' Menu
Open - open a saved movie from a file for viewing
Close - close the movie file
Page Setup - printer setup options, dependent on the connected printer. Note: Be sure to select any Grayscale option from the dialog or the pictures may print only a binary black-or-white (no gray) picture.
Print - print the frame shown in the window. Printing may take a long time so please be patient.
Quit - close the Defenderｪ application and return to the desktop
'Edit' Menu
Copy - place the displayed movie picture into the Clipboard for subsequent Pasting in other applications, such as Microsoft Wordｪ.
'Setup' Menu
Detection Sensitivity.... - brings up a dialog for setting the motion detection controls
Event Response.... - brings up a dialog for setting responses to detected events.
Arming... - brings up a dialog for setting the arming and disarming options
'Sources' Menu
Video.... - brings up a dialog for selecting video source options (disabled for QuickCam)
Audio... - brings up a dialog for setting the microphone input to be used (eg internal vs the QuickCam mic) and the microphone sensitivity.
Windows and Dialogs
Source Video Window
The QuickCam camera brightness level is adjusted for best picture by using the scroll bar slider to the right of the window. It is important to adjust the brightness for overall balance, particularly in the central portion. If the video brightness is too dark or too light then motion may not be accurately detected.
Detection Sensitivity Dialog
Defenderｪ measures the brightness of the scene in either a central rectangular region of the picture or across the entire scene depending on the selection made. The brightness of two successive video frames is compared as the means of detecting motion. The pattern being used is depicted by the large graphic inset at the upper left of this dialog. The density of this pattern can be changed by clicking a pattern choice in the 3x3 matrix below the graphic. Fine and large patterns gather more brightness data than central coarse patterns and can distinguish more subtle motions, but the processing time is significantly longer for fine patterns. The frame-to-frame rate of a movie will be significanly slowed by a fine, full picture pattern. A coarse pattern should suffice for most applications.
The detection sensitivity, that is the level at which brightness changes will be detected as objects in the scene move, is varied using the Sensitivity slider at the upper right of the window. The numerical rating of the sensitivity is given in a box to the left of the slider. High sensitivity settings will cause motion to be detected with only small changes in brightness. If the setting is too high however then small fluctuations in the scene brightness itself will cause false motions to be detected. Light levels vary normally somewhat, particularly indoors in fluorescent lighting. These variations will often be seen if you carefully watch the succession of pictures taken by QuickCam.
Each time motion is detected a panel light (labelled 'Event') will briefly light up and a tone will sound. You can easily experiment with the Sensitivity and Search Pattern controls to optimize this setup. Indeed, it is particularly important to properly adjust the video brightness and Sensitivity in order to be assured of detecting the proper scene motion. The beep sound can be turned off by clicking on the slide switch under the speaker icon.
Clicking the Show Live Video box will present the live video picture in the search pattern graphic window. The search pattern will be displayed faintly over the video and can be used for fine tuning the camera pointing, brightness settings and search pattern density. To help prevent scene brightness changes from affecting the setup, the Auto-exposure box can be checked. Defenderｪ will automatically adjust the QuickCamｪ brightness to keep a uniform picture, even when the scene darkens or brightens. The Auto-exposure adjustment takes some time to perform to avoid mistaking a false Event. You can experiment with this feature to get a feel for how it operates and if it would be beneficial for the expected conditions. Note that the brightness can not be adjusted in the Source Video window once the Auto-exposure is checked. Defenderｪ will bring the sider back to its original position! Uncheck Auto-exposure, make the adjustment and then recheck it in order to permanently change the brightness.
Once all the controls have been satisfactorily adjusted, click the Enable button to cause Defenderｪ to continuously monitor the QuickCamｪ pictures for motion. Defenderｪ can not be armed to capture movies or generate alerts unless it is Enabled.
Click the OK button to close the dialog and return to the live video picture. If Enable was clicked then the Search Pattern will be visible superimposed over the live picture. Notice that the video picture display rate is slower due to the search pattern processing time. Every time an event is detected (try waving your hand in front of QuickCam for example) a panel Event light will briefly flash in the lower right corner of the picture. The Event beep will also sound unless it was turned off.
Event Response Dialog
This dialog lets you set up the actions to be taken when an Event is detected. Note that no responses will be made unless Defenderｪ is first armed.
'Respond'
Check the Respond box if a response is to be made. When the response will occur after an event is detected can be selected from the list to the right and are self-explanatory.
'Save Events'
Check this box if you want to have a video record made after an event is detected and a response is being made. A movie can be made or a series of still frames can be taken at various intervals and saved. Checking the Use Video Compression box will cause compression to be applied to the data to conserve disk space and allow for longer recordings. A slight degradation of video quality may result and the rate of video capture will be much slower due to the time to compress the images.
Either a frame number or the date and time can be placed with each captured frame, in the upper right corner. Select a choice from the Stamp Frame controls section.
'Issue Alert'
In addition to creating a movie after an Event is detected, warnings can be given to anyone in the area. Speech, tones and a screen text message can be given. To select the choices click the Audio... and Screen Text... boxes. Choose when to issue the alerts, during movie saving or after (if making a movie) and whether to repeat the alerts.
'Quit After Responding'
Normally, Defenderｪ will disarm after making the movie and issuing alerts and return to displaying QuickCamｪ video pictures in the Source Video window. Click the 'Quit After Responding' to have Defenderｪ close itself and return control of the Macintosh to the Finder.
'Cancel'
Click this button to remove any changes that have been made and revert to the previously used settings.
'OK'
Click this button when you are satisfied with the selections. If a movie is to be made then a file selection dialog will come up at this time. If there is not enough disk space for the expected size of the file then you will be alerted to make a change. A movie will still be saved to the file you select but if there is not enough space then the file will be truncated and the movie duration shortened automatically.
Arming Dialog
Defenderｪ will not respond to events unless Enabled (from the Detection Sensitivity dialog) the Respond box is checked (from the Event Response dialog) and Arming is set (from the Arming dialog). Once arming is set there are several ways to disarm if required, such as if you leave the area and return and Arming is still on (no Events detected). Other options will prevent unauthorized tampering with Defenderｪ while its running or prevent any disabling, short of turning the computer off or resetting it.
'Arm'
Arming can be accomplished immediately when the dialog is closed or by a timer. If arming is to be done with a timer, set the Start and Stop times.
'Disarm/Stop Recording'
These controls determine the method of disarming that is allowed. The disarming scheme is quite flexible and consists of a variety of options involving a keyboard key choice and brightness and darkness levels of the captured source video. The system beep will sound when you are trying to disarm Defenderｪ so you know a particular action was accepted. For example if the options "Keyboard Key" "and" "Complete Darkness" are chosen for disarming, then both the selected key will have to be struck and the QuickCamｪ camera will need total darkness briefly before disarming will occur. When the key is struck and successfully accepted, a beep will sound. Likewise, when totally dark a beep will sound. Also since Arming will now be off, a double beep will sound to indicate this and the Armed icon, if showing, will disappear.
'Options'
Some additional features can be obtained in this section.
'Hide Live Video when Armed or Timed'
In many situations it may not be advisable to present the captured video on the monitor as its is being accumulated. Check this box to cause the live video presentation to disappear while Defenderｪ is operating. Of course, make sure the brightness controls are set properly.
'Show Icon when Armed'
There is a small icon that represents that Defenderｪ is armed. Showing the icon will instantly show wheter Arming is still invoked after the Macintosh is left unattended.
'Disable Menus when Armed or Timed'
Click this box to disable menu useage to prevent unauthorized tampering of the windows and menus when Defender is Armed, waiting for an Event.
'Cancel'
Click this button to close the window without retaining any changes made.
'OK'
Click this button to close the window. Depending on the Arm option, Arming may begin immediately or with a timed-delay.
We hope this tutorial will help you learn how to use Defenderｪ and that you find it useful. Again, please also try to make use of the Baloon Help feature.
