How to capture 4 video streams and combine into a 4-window single file ?

[halfwalker]

Subject says it all. I want to be able to capture video from 4 USB webcams or similar and combine them into a single video file. Not strung sequentially, but in a 4-window paneled setup, like a security type video.

Say four 320x200 streams coming in - they would combine into a single 640x400 video file. Don't care about format. Ideal would be a Linux based setup, but I'll take anything There's got to be tools out there that will do this ...

I can think how to brute-force it :

1) extract current frame from each video stream (f1, f2, f3, f4)
2) overlay each frame into a new frame (n1)
3) feed new frame into encoder process
4) rinse, repeat.

This for a setup at home ... I want to set up several webcams around the property, but rather than one video file for each, I want to combine them into a single larger-frame file.

D.

[Midzuki]

Ideal would be a Linux based setup, but I'll take anything...
There's got to be tools out there that will do this ...

So be it!

http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/StackHorizontal

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[daamon]

Hi halfwalker,

Welcome to the forums.

This for a setup at home ... I want to set up several webcams around the property, but rather than one video file for each, I want to combine them into a single larger-frame file.

Is this real-time or after being captured. Earlier on you mention you don't mind what format, so I'm inclined to go with not real-time.

I've never used Avisynth, but from posts I've read it sounds like this will do the job for you - it's a scripting based tool that runs the code you create to process the video.

An alternative, if you're not into scripting, would be any NLE (non-linear editing) software:

* Avid Free DV - free, but it may be limited to two video tracks where you'll need four.
* Wax2 may do it - also free.
* Ulead Video Studio - in my list coz it's cheap, don't know how good it is.
* Adobe Premiere Elements - not badly priced and supposed to be quite powerful.

All the above are taken from here: https://www.videohelp.com/tools?listuser=&orderby=Type&s=17#17

Good luck!

[Midzuki]

Is this real-time or after being captured.

Well-spotted, daamon! Thanks for that ^^;;

http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/TCPServer

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[daamon]

Well-spotted, daamon! Thanks for that ^^;;

That's the beauty of this forum and others like it - bringing different people together with different views to help others, and everyone involved benefits.

Politicians could learn a lot - but let's not go there...

[halfwalker]

Guys - thanks for the tips. I'll check avisynth out, definitely.

I should have been more clear in the initial post - I would very much prefer to do the processing with real-time streams. Four cameras providing video, and a black-box process(es) combining them into a 4-panel video.

When I say I don't care what format, I don't. I just want the end-result, four video streams combined into one

D.