9. Record Video

This example will guide you how to use the recording function.

Run the Code

cd ~/picar-x/example
sudo python3 9.record_video.py

After the code runs, you can enter http://<your IP>:9000/mjpg in the browser to view the video screen. such as: http://192.168.18.113:9000/mjpg

Recording can be stopped or started by pressing the keys on the keyboard.

• Press q to begin recording or pause/continue, e to stop recording or save.

• If you want to exit the program, press ctrl+c.

Code

from time import sleep,strftime,localtime
from vilib import Vilib
import readchar
import os

manual = '''
Press keys on keyboard to control recording:
    Q: record/pause/continue
    E: stop
    Ctrl + C: Quit
'''

def print_overwrite(msg,  end='', flush=True):
    print('\r\033[2K', end='',flush=True)
    print(msg, end=end, flush=True)

def main():
    rec_flag = 'stop' # start,pause,stop
    vname = None
    username = os.getlogin()

    Vilib.rec_video_set["path"] = f"/home/{username}/Videos/" # set path

    Vilib.camera_start(vflip=False,hflip=False)
    Vilib.display(local=True,web=True)
    sleep(0.8)  # wait for startup

    print(manual)
    while True:
        # read keyboard
        key = readchar.readkey()
        key = key.lower()
        # start,pause
        if key == 'q':
            key = None
            if rec_flag == 'stop':
                rec_flag = 'start'
                # set name
                vname = strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S", localtime())
                Vilib.rec_video_set["name"] = vname
                # start record
                Vilib.rec_video_run()
                Vilib.rec_video_start()
                print_overwrite('rec start ...')
            elif rec_flag == 'start':
                rec_flag = 'pause'
                Vilib.rec_video_pause()
                print_overwrite('pause')
            elif rec_flag == 'pause':
                rec_flag = 'start'
                Vilib.rec_video_start()
                print_overwrite('continue')
        # stop
        elif key == 'e' and rec_flag != 'stop':
            key = None
            rec_flag = 'stop'
            Vilib.rec_video_stop()
            print_overwrite("The video saved as %s%s.avi"%(Vilib.rec_video_set["path"],vname),end='\n')
        # quit
        elif key == readchar.key.CTRL_C:
            Vilib.camera_close()
            print('\nquit')
            break

        sleep(0.1)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

How it works?

Functions related to recording include the following:

• Vilib.rec_video_run(video_name) : Started the thread to record the video. video_name is the name of the video file, it should be a string.

• Vilib.rec_video_start(): Start or continue video recording.

• Vilib.rec_video_pause(): Pause recording.

• Vilib.rec_video_stop(): Stop recording.

Vilib.rec_video_set["path"] = f"/home/{username}/Videos/" sets the storage location of video files.