Capture video and stills from python using a USB webcam and python on the rpi3 or similar

video_rec_python_rpi3.md

Setup: Install pyuvc

This is a wrapper around libuvc the USB video class, for USB-connected cameras.

Install pyuvc and all its dependencies:

• sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0 cython
• Install libturbojpeg from source (there are some related packages available, but not the one libuvc depends on)

wget -O libjpeg-turbo.tar.gz https://sourceforge.net/projects/libjpeg-turbo/files/1.5.1/libjpeg-turbo-1.5.1.tar.gz/download
tar xvzf libjpeg-turbo.tar.gz
cd libjpeg-turbo-1.5.1
./configure --with-pic --prefix=/usr/local
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

• Install libuvc from source (no package available yet for raspbian)

git clone https://github.com/ktossell/libuvc
cd libuvc
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make && sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Capture some damn video

import uvc
import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

dev_list =  uvc.device_list()
print("devices: ", dev_list)
cap = uvc.Capture(dev_list[0]['uid'])
print(dir(cap))

frame = None
cap.frame_mode = (1920, 1080, 30)

with open("out.mjpg","wb+") as fd:
  for i in range(300):
    print("frame ", i)
    frame = cap.get_frame_robust() 
    fd.write(frame.jpeg_buffer)
    frame = None
  fd.close()

print("done writing")

cap = None