H264 WebCam Pro

2.0 stars

"Definitely try before you buy"

May 10, 2010  |   By CA_Medicine_Woman

Version: H264 WebCam Pro 3.68

Pros

Software appears to be feature packed with all the right options for functions ranging from security monitoring to video conferencing.

Cons

Costs twice what is stated for full version.
System requirements for full functionality grossly understated.
Fairly complex, moderate to steep learning curve.
Documentation poor and minimal.
Some bugs, especially related to storage drives.

Summary

Installed on a Dell Studio 17 Vista 64 bit with multiple drives and cameras, intended to record vehicle and driver activities while tractor-trailer is in operation.

Installation was smooth and required little user input. Program started minimized, and with several default internet settings. Replaced those settings with mine, which involves two low end USB cameras and one built in on the computer.

Controls for adjusting cameras failed to operate at all.

Setup for normal and motion detection operations was straight forward. However, actual recordings were placed across several drives, despite having allowed only one drive to be used. That drive was repeatedly misidentified (as were the rest).

Actual recording of just three cameras was poor at best with minimal frame rates and frame sizes in normal (continuous) record mode. Motion detection was just as poor, causing viewing software (multiple) to crash.

Referencing the documentation proved useless. The docs appear to be from a much older and less capable version of the software, and also appear to be a translation from another language using automated software.

My computer is considered fairly high end (it's got all the bells and whistles), but it became obvious after a few days that a far more powerful computer would be needed for just the most basic of tasks when it comes to direct recording from cameras. I did not go beyond that in testing, since the software failed it's proposed primary function tests.

Even if you have the latest and greatest in computer technology, I recommend you definitely run every conceivable test before you pay for the software. Concurrent recording from more than one camera will require multiple high end processors and lots of very fast RAM, far more than what is stated in the system requirements. You will also need a very large primary drive (Drive C), the only drive it seems to correctly identify.

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