Q: Is it complicated to integrate the VMD ActiveX in my .NET Application?
A: You can do that easily. After installing of the SmartVMD ActiveX, just add it to the toolbox and draw it in a your form. download and open  the .NET sample application in this site to see how easy it is.

Q: How do I connect to my WebCam with the SmartVMD? 

A: Simply by calling the  "StartMonitoring" method. This  methods includes a  boolean parameter, when true, the video source selection dialog will be opened.  Use "StopMonitoring" to disconnect from the camera.

Q: How do I turn motion detection on and off?
A: use the "DetectMotion" property. to turn on  "DetectMotion=True". To turn off  "DetectMotion=False".
 

Q: How do I switch between cameras?
A: use  the "VideoSource". The first device is 0. 

Q: How do I save a snapshot  to a file?
A: You have two methods to do this.

1. The function: "SaveCurrentImageWithAutoFileName()"

2. The Sub: "SaveCurrentImage(file Name)" that have parameter to set the file name.

With the first option, the file name is given automatically with the format  "Pic" + date + time + ".bmp". It is usually used when you want to save a snapshot upon motion detection.  With the second option, you supply the file name as a parameter.

Q: How do I save A video file to disk?
A: You have two methods to do this.

1. StartVideoSavingWithAutoFileName()

2. StartVideoSaving(FileName)

With the first option, the file name is given automatically with the format  "VMD"+ date + time + ".avi". It is usually used when you want to save a video clip upon motion detection.  With the second option, you supply the video file name as a parameter.

Stop video saving by using the "StopVideoSaving" method. The video clip saving is stopped automatically when exceeding the video clip length determined in the "VideoClipLen"  property

Q: How does the SmartVMD control report a motion detection?
A: By sending the  "OnMotionDetection" event.  this event includes the 4 parrameters marking the bounding rectangle of the detected motion.

Q: How do  I  change the motion detection parameters?
A: You can open the properties dialog using the method OpenPropertiesDialog(). Alternatively, you can open the properties dialog in the design mode like any other ActiveX. In the properites dialog, choose the VMD Properties tab.

 Another option is the change the value using the appropriate properties:

ImageScaling (int , legal range: 0 - 2), MinNumOfDetectorsForAlert (int, legal range:1 - 12), MinimalContrastToDetection (int, legal range:  0 - 10), MinimalVelocityForDetection (int, legal range:1- 20), AntiFlickerFilter (Boolean)

Q: What is the property "MinimalVelocityForDetection"?
A: This property decides the minimal object velocity to detect.  The values is betwwen 1 to 20. A larger number means detection of slower motions. 

Q: How can I control the minmal object size whose motion  will be detected?
A: Do it with with the "MinimalObjectSizeToDetection" property. Valid vales are between 1 - 20. Larger value means detection of bigger object.

Q: How can I exclude image areas from motion detection?
A: You should choose a mask .
Change the property "ShowMask" to true so that the mask turns visible.
You can set detection on and off  in any image point using the  method "SetMask".

If you want to change the size of the mask cells you can create a new mask using: "CreateMask". The parameters defines the rectangle width and height. To clear all the mask at once use:  "ResetMask".

Q: Can I save the current mask to file?
A: You can save the current mask with the method "SaveMaskToFile(FileName)" and  load mask from the file with the method "LoadMaskFromFile(FileName)". 

Q: is the mask effective when I set it to be invisible?
A: Yes.

Q: How I can control the video rate and what is the influence of such a change?
A: Use "VideoRate" property  to set  the required number of frames per second. If you decrease the frame rate, you decrease the CPU load. Moreover, the system will be more sensitive to slow movements with the same detection parameters set.

Q: Can I get a pointer to the video current image?
A: Yes. When the SmartVMD control finish to process the current video frame, it send the "NextFrameReady" event with a pointer to the image. The image format can be extracted with the "VideoFormat" property. This property returns a pointer to a  BITMAPINFOHEADER struck containing the image parameters such as resolution, Color depth and size.

Q: Can I use  the VMD ActiveX for more than one camera at once?

A: Yes.  But after the trial period is expired, you should buy a multi camera license.

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