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Image Cycler

Webcam32 includes a feature known as Image Cycling.  Image Cycling is the selection of image files located on the local disk drive as the source of the image uploaded to the FTP server or available via HTTP.

Image cycling has three modes of operation:

• Disabled - This disables the image cycler from involvement in image selection.  In this case, images from the video capture device will be used.
• Timed Control - This mode selects images from the image cycler as the source of all images delivered via FTP or HTTP.  The image chosen for upload will be changed to the next image after Interval seconds have passed.
• Frame Control - This mode selects images from the image cycler as the source of an image to be uploaded every selected number of frames.  Other images will be obtained from the regular video capture source such as a connected camera.  The image chosen for upload will be changed to the next image after each image delivered.

Images can be added to the cycle list using the Add button and removed with the Delete button.  The order of the images delivered can be changed using the Up and Down selections.

Once the last image in the image cycle has been delivered, Webcam32 will start again at the first image in the list.  The list of images is saved in an editable file called images.txt located in the Webcam32 install directory.  This allows the list of images to be accessible to other applications.  Multiple lists may be maintained in separate files and the images.txt file replaced with a different image selection list.

From V4.9.0 onwards, Webcam32 supports input files in JPEG, BMP, PNG and GIF formats.
From V5.0.1 onwards, multiple input files may be selected at the same time.

Sample uses of the Image Cycler

The Image Cycler may be used for a variety of purposes.  Here are some sample uses:

Replay of saved times

If a series of images have been saved with Local Save over time, these images can be played back by the Image Cycler at a later date or time.  For example, if the scene being displayed is a beach or mountain, there would not be much to see at night.   Playing back the same days images through the image cycler when it is dark will allow viewers a second chance to see what they missed.  Don't forget that the Web is global and viewers in Europe, America and the Far East are usually 8 hours out of step with each other.

Uploading to a second directory or FTP server

If two instances of Webcam32 are running on the same machine, one instance can be configured to FTP to one FTP server and at the same time, save a copy of the image on the disk via Local Save.  A second instance of Webcam32 can be used with the Image Cycler option and pick-up the image saved by the first instance of Webcam32 and FTP to a different FTP server, different FTP directory or just at a different rate.  This is illustrated in the following diagram.

To run multiple instances of Webcam32 at the same time, the profile feature of Webcam32 should be used.