RPI-Camera-Recorder

I was recently given a cool little stereo 3d webcam unit. In trying to get it to work on my Raspberry Pi 4 I found there was no straightforward GUI app for previewing the video feed or recording it. So I made one!

Overview

RPI-Camera-Recorder is a Python application that allows you to record video from a webcam or Raspberry Pi Camera Module with optimized performance. It features a graphical user interface built with Tkinter and leverages hardware acceleration on Raspberry Pi 4/5 to achieve significantly higher frame rates than standard recording applications.

Key Features

• Hardware acceleration using PiCamera2 and GPU encoding
• Support for both Raspberry Pi Camera Module and USB webcams
• Graphical user interface for easy operation
• Configurable video resolution and framerate
• Real-time performance monitoring
• System-level optimizations for maximum FPS
• Specialized for Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (64-bit)

Installation

Simple One-Click Installation (Recommended)

The easiest way to install Pi Webcam Recorder:

1. Download the .deb package Download the latest release from Releases

2. Install the package

   # First, ensure the .deb file has the correct permissions
   chmod 644 ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb
   
   # Then install the package
   sudo apt install ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb

3. Reboot your Raspberry Pi

   sudo reboot

4. Start using the application After rebooting, you can start the application by:

   • Double-clicking the "Pi Webcam Recorder" desktop shortcut
   • OR typing pi-webcam-recorder-simple in the terminal

Building the Debian Package

To build the Debian package yourself:

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/bottobot/RPI-Camera-Recorder.git
   cd RPI-Camera-Recorder

2. Install build dependencies

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install -y debhelper dh-python python3-all python3-setuptools

3. Build the package

   ./build_deb.sh

4. Install the built package

   sudo apt install ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb

Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

If you encounter errors during installation:

1. Permission issues

   # Fix permissions on the .deb file
   chmod 644 ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb
   
   # Try installing again
   sudo apt install ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb

2. Dependency issues

   # Fix broken dependencies
   sudo apt --fix-broken install
   
   # Try installing again
   sudo apt install ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb

3. If other installation errors occur

   # Force install with dpkg
   sudo dpkg -i --force-all ./pi-webcam-recorder-simple_*.deb
   
   # Fix any remaining issues
   sudo apt --fix-broken install

Usage Issues

1. Camera not detected

   • Make sure your camera is properly connected
   • For Raspberry Pi Camera Module: Check the ribbon cable connection
   • For USB webcams: Try a different USB port

2. Application crashes

   • Try the virtual environment version by double-clicking the "Pi Webcam Recorder (VEnv)" desktop shortcut
   • OR run pi-webcam-recorder-venv in the terminal

3. Low performance

   • Make sure you've rebooted after installation
   • Try reducing the resolution in the application settings
   • Close other applications that might be using system resources

Performance

Expected performance on Raspberry Pi 4/5 with Bookworm:

Configuration	Expected FPS	CPU Usage	GPU Usage
Pi Camera, 640x480	~25-30 FPS	~30%	~40%
Pi Camera, 1280x720	~15-20 FPS	~40%	~60%
Pi Camera, 1920x1080	~10-15 FPS	~50%	~70%
USB Webcam, 640x480	~15-20 FPS	~50%	~20%
USB Webcam, 1280x720	~10-15 FPS	~60%	~30%

Uninstalling

To completely remove Pi Webcam Recorder:

sudo apt purge pi-webcam-recorder-simple

This will remove the application and all its configuration files.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.