Xbox Livecam Mod (Cliff)

[MGB]

Hi Great topic

ive just ordered a xbox live cam and a 1.25 adaptor going to give this a go great tutorial even i might be able to do this .my question is how do i get it to record on my laptop will i have to download a program or something ? many thanks!!!

[Aenima]

Hi Great topic

ive just ordered a xbox live cam and a 1.25 adaptor going to give this a go great tutorial even i might be able to do this .my question is how do i get it to record on my laptop will i have to download a program or something ? many thanks!!!

Yeah a great free program called sharpcap - its what most webcam owners capture with, also the rest of the software mentioned above is free. You'll find it in various links and blogs by a lot of the folks here and elswhere on the net.

Best of luck with the mod.

Regards

Aenima

[MGB]

Yeah a great free program called sharpcap - its what most webcam owners capture with, also the rest of the software mentioned above is free. You'll find it in various links and blogs by a lot of the folks here and elswhere on the net.

Best of luck with the mod.

Regards

Aenima

thats great thanks for your help

[MGB]

been reading up on this do i need a ir filter ? thanks for your help

[Aenima]

been reading up on this do i need a ir filter ? thanks for your help

Yes. You'll need an IR filter - somewhere - but you can either leave the stock piece of glass thats under the lens housing in, or for slightly better results you can fully mod the cam and buy a 1.25" screw on IR filter to go on the nosepiece adapter.

There is a third option, the link in my post above ^ is to a site that sells a nosepiece adapter with a small IR filter built in. (i've not seen this used yet so not sure on the quality, but it looks like it'll be somewhere inbetween a decent screw on filter and leaving the stock one in).

Sorry, but to answer the question -- you will need an ir filter somewhere along the light path.

Regards

Aenima

[MGB]

Hi there

ive modded my xbox 360 cam just waiting for my adaptor ive got rid of the four leds they no longer work but im a little stuck on the ir filter built into the webcam .is it actualy on the chip or in the lense what does it actually look like if anyone has a link that would be very helpful.my plan is to buy a ir filter to screw it into the medium reach 1.25 adaptor.many thanks

[Aenima]

Yeah MGB,

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h2usvHXvP1I - here's a video by Stargazing Cliff, it shows him quickly taking the IR filter out - basically its under the black housing the lens screws into/out of you need to undo the two screws on the back of the main circuit board take the housing off, its there inbetween the chip and the plastic lens housing.

Then just screw the black housing back onto the circuit board - when you get the adapter the front of the cam will need filing down to allow it to reach the thread through the hole in the front casing..

Any problems let me know

Regards

Aenima

[MGB]

Yeah MGB,

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h2usvHXvP1I - here's a video by Stargazing Cliff, it shows him quickly taking the IR filter out - basically its under the black housing the lens screws into/out of you need to undo the two screws on the back of the main circuit board take the housing off, its there inbetween the chip and the plastic lens housing.

Then just screw the black housing back onto the circuit board - when you get the adapter the front of the cam will need filing down to allow it to reach the thread through the hole in the front casing..

Any problems let me know

Regards

Aenima thats great thanks very much for your help thats what i wanted cheers david

[geordieskiers]

Hello All I have a quick question for you guys,

I have bought a 10 meter USB Booster cable for Xbox webcam, the webcam works fine when plugged into computer but won't work through the booster cable. I have a logitech webcam that works fine through the booster any idea's would be very welcome.

Thanks

[Aenima]

Hello All I have a quick question for you guys,

I have bought a 10 meter USB Booster cable for Xbox webcam, the webcam works fine when plugged into computer but won't work through the booster cable. I have a logitech webcam that works fine through the booster any idea's would be very welcome.

Thanks

Not sure on that geordieskiers, sorry, Ive only ever used the lead on the camera as is - though Ive heard of long usb leads losing power as the length increases, but I also thought that boosters worked to stop that happening.....

Not much use here, really - sorry

Regards

Aenima

[Fordos Moon]

Last night with XBox cam and SharpCap, internal filter removed and "proper" one screwed into adaptor:

[Aenima]

A very good start.

Would it inappropriate to make constructive comments?

No, really is good way to begin, and tracking by hand, nice one.

Regards

Aenima

[Fordos Moon]

I would LOVE constructive comments so I can improve!

[Aenima]

I would LOVE constructive comments so I can improve!

Hehe, yeh i'm the same, 'thats an excellent image!' isnt always the best way to comment - but some folks are sensitive like that

All I was going to say was you can see where the edge kinda 'indents' where the belts are, from slight over sharpening)(usually), and I find that even though the result will look less crisp, - less is more when using wavelets, in order to keep it looking natural.

But its true that its a great start!

Regards

Aenima

[Fordos Moon]

I did wonder about that to be honest and need try to curb my wavelet enthusiasm! I assume where it looks like a fat man wearing a tight belt?!

[Aenima]

I did wonder about that to be honest and need try to curb my wavelet enthusiasm! I assume where it looks like a fat man wearing a tight belt?!

Hi, yeh that'd be it..

Sorry, its only the fact that ive seen it before in my images that i'm able to notice it. Sometimes similar effects occur from a slight focus error, or the gain/exp. settings being off slightly - and its often tempting to bring out the detail regardless of it being at the cost of a natural look. After all, you have gone to the trouble of capturing a decent image through your scope so why wouldn't you want to bring out as much detail as possible?

Its often worth tweaking things until the screen shows as close to what you want from the end result as you can manage - this will get better with practice, until you know if an AVI is 'good' or not just by watching your laptop during capture.

A good habit I find is to take a series of 2min avi's but each time try tweaking focus, gain and similar small adjustments just in case you were 'almost there' with your set-up but not quite, so you have more chance of one of the avi files containing a good resulting image after processing. I never saw the benefit to recording each vid the same every time, if one doesnt work they're all going to be like it!

Anyway, sorry for the preach - its still a great result, and can only get better.

Best of luck and clear skies

Regards

Aenima

[Fordos Moon]

I find Jupiter only stays on the screen for a max of about 15-20 seconds which makes adjusting as I go tricky? Then I stop the capture, nudge the dob and hopefully nudge it so the journey across the screen starts again.

With Gain at about 18 or 22 I get a clearer planet on screen when I turn it down its quite dark and less clear.

Practice makes perfect as they say!

[Aenima]

Hmm, not sure if this idea will help, but when I was hand tracking it was often easier to set capture running and then grab the scope so that it was best lined up for following the planet a while, and the hope would be that at some point during this struggle jupiter spent a bit longer onscreen than just drifting past - most of the wobbles and any blank frames at the start, middle and/or end can be edited out in virtualdub and castrator/PIPP.

Even with obvious trouble keeping it centered, jupiter can be wrangled into staying onscreen for a little longer - then crop, center and possibly join the best footage together or even repeat the best bit twice (who knows? worth a go:))

Regards

Aenima

PS I meant that u could adjust the settings and/or focus inbetween captures - rather than as your recording, though you'll still need to re-find the planet each time.

[Aenima]

Hmm, not sure if this idea will help, but when I was hand tracking it was often easier to set capture running and then grab the scope so that it was best lined up for following the planet a while, and the hope would be that at some point during this struggle jupiter spent a bit longer onscreen than just drifting past - most of the wobbles and any blank frames at the start, middle and/or end can be edited out in virtualdub and castrator/PIPP.

Even with obvious trouble keeping it centered, jupiter can be wrangled into staying onscreen for a little longer - then crop, center and possibly join the best footage together or even repeat the best bit twice (who knows? worth a go:))

Regards

Aenima

PS I meant that u could adjust the settings and/or focus inbetween captures - rather than as your recording, though you'll still need to re-find the planet each time.

No way. When the post came up I just noticed the time! A good time to try sleeping.... Take care dude.

[tilt]

I recently did this mod, and was successful! Thanks for all the useful information in this thread!

[Stargazing_Cliff]

wish this weather makes it's mind up clear one min and next clouds.

[Biggazza88]

just a tad lost in this vast ocean of modding info! do i actually have/need to remove the IR filter in order to use the webcam for astro purposes or should i leave it in and just take off the lens and attach the pvc pipe? im sure this has been answered in here before but im sure ill get a answer from someone quicker then if i was to sift through all 63 pages of people chatting!! thanks in advance :icon_salut:

[Aenima]

just a tad lost in this vast ocean of modding info! do i actually have/need to remove the IR filter in order to use the webcam for astro purposes or should i leave it in and just take off the lens and attach the pvc pipe? im sure this has been answered in here before but im sure ill get a answer from someone quicker then if i was to sift through all 63 pages of people chatting!! thanks in advance :icon_salut:

Sorry, a lot of the waffle on the thread is my fault - I often forget the fact that it is a thread.

Hopefully I can make up for it by answering your question.

For the cheapest, easiest version of the xbox mod - no, you will get away with leaving the stock IR filter glass in place (u need some kind of IR block) and attach the pipe as squarely as you can.

However, this isnt how you get the best results. The glass is poor quality and sticking a pipe/tube on might not line up your target with the sensor correctly making colour and focus more of a problem. If your budget will allow it is better to buy a screw on IR filter and the spc style nose-piece adapter which will also screw into place, making a much better imaging cam in general - and these bits will fit a philips or whatever webcam you modify next.

When you remove the lens and lens housing, make sure to keep the chip free of dust.

Hope this helps,

Regards

Aenima

[pjac]

For the cheapest, easiest version of the xbox mod - no, you will get away with leaving the stock IR filter glass in place (u need some kind of IR block) and attach the pipe as squarely as you can.

However, this isnt how you get the best results. The glass is poor quality and sticking a pipe/tube on might not line up your target with the sensor correctly making colour and focus more of a problem. If your budget will allow it is better to buy a screw on IR filter and the spc style nose-piece adapter which will also screw into place, making a much better imaging cam in general - and these bits will fit a philips or whatever webcam you modify next.

Yes, budget wise I would suggest this progression:

Under £5: Xbox Cam (under £5), plus DIY mount like a 35mm file tube

Under £20: Xbox Cam (under £5), manufactured nose piece (under £15)

Under £40: Xbox Cam (under £5), manufactured nose piece (under £15), replace red glasss with 1.25mm IR filter (under £20)

At that point you could if you wanted to replace the Xbox cam with a more sensistive one (or a new one if you get dust on the sensor).

[Biggazza88]

Cool thanks for your replies guys, iv got a Xbox cam on the way from fleabay and I think I'll leave the filter in and just ad the pipe for now, see how it goes then I might upgrade! Cheers