Recording Video On Linux Using DSLR

[SnowblindOtter]

The question to be answered:
How do I record video on Linux using a Canon DLSR camera?

Specifications:

• Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR.
• Computer: Toshiba Satellite C55-B laptop.
• Operating Systems: Dual-Boot, Linux Mint and Windows 10
• Linux OS: Mint Cinnamon 19(Rosa).
• User Linux-Experience Level: ID-10-T

The exact information that this question requires to be answered:

• What software will allow me to connect my camera to my computer, and have it be recognized.
• What software will allow me to RECORD VIDEO using my DSLR camera(Note: This does NOT have to be specifically as a webcam, but using my DSLR as a webcam would be kinda neat... kinda like taking a Montblanc fountain pen to gradeschool.)
• How to set up the software for my camera. Basic instructions at least, but keep in mind I'm still fairly new to Linux.
• Some recommendations on software to edit the recorded videos.

The Story:

I'm a traditional media artist who likes to upload my artwork(or at least photos of it) to the internet, where I upload doesn't really matter. I use a Canon Rebel DSLR to take the photos because of the vastly superior quality to my point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix, but I had also gotten the DSLR due to pressure from some of the people who follow me to record videos of my artwork as it progresses and potentially start a YouTube channel around my art. I've been curious and somewhat interested in the idea of starting a channel based around my artwork, but the exact equipment/software to start doing it and the methods to do so have kept me back from doing it at all for a long time until I recently acquired the DSLR.

I've played around with the whole 'shooting video on my camera' thing a few times, and I've learned to really enjoy the quality I can get from... basically everything honestly that this camera offers. The one thing I really want to do now though is experiment with recording myself drawing and see where that takes me. I've tried looking around for help in other places, but I can't find anything specific or that would really line up with anything. Or anything that would even constitute an answer for that matter... there's topics from years ago that haven't had any attention at all. If I can get some real help from people, even if it's just giving the article attention so that it can get seen by people who have the answers, maybe I'll be able to get those answers out there to help more than just myself here. Big community, gotta be plenty of people who are doing what I'm trying to do.

[phd21]

HI SnowblindOtter,

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

How To Perform Tethered Shooting with a Digital Camera on Ubuntu - OMG! Ubuntu!
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/04/tet ... u-entangle

How to Use a DSLR Camera as a Webcam
https://filmora.wondershare.com/webcam- ... ebcam.html

You Can Now Record Movies With Your Old DSLR Camera, Via EOS Camera Movie Record (EOS MovRec) | LinuxG.net
http://linuxg.net/install-eos-movrec-on-ubuntu/
64-bit deb file
https://launchpad.net/~dhor/+archive/ub ... _amd64.deb

Sami's Blog: Use your DSLR Camera as a Webcam on Ubuntu
http://blog.skhawaja.com/2015/12/use-yo ... am-on.html

record video on Linux using a Canon DLSR camera - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?q=record+ ... e&ie=UTF-8


* There are many excellent video editors: Kdenlive, Lightworks (LWS), OpenShot, Shotcut, Cinelerra-GG, Pitivi, etc...

* "Guvcview" in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" for webcam and "video for Linux" (V4L) hardware, can record both video and audio.


Hope this helps ...

[Flemur]

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR.

1 What software will allow me to connect my camera to my computer, and have it be recognized.
2 What software will allow me to RECORD VIDEO using my DSLR camera(Note: This does NOT have to be specifically as a webcam, but using my DSLR as a webcam would be kinda neat... kinda like taking a Montblanc fountain pen to gradeschool.)
3 How to set up the software for my camera. Basic instructions at least, but keep in mind I'm still fairly new to Linux.
4 Some recommendations on software to edit the recorded videos.

1 - Probably nothing extra will be needed (based on 4 of 4 canon cameras of different models).

2 - I don't quite understand - is there some reason to not just use the camera to record video? It seems like recording to a file on the computer has only shortcomings and no advantages for what you describe.

3 - If you're just copying files, see #1. What other software are you interested in?

4 - I don't think much of linux video software, "avidemux" is probably the least bad.

[SnowblindOtter]

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR.

1 What software will allow me to connect my camera to my computer, and have it be recognized.
2 What software will allow me to RECORD VIDEO using my DSLR camera(Note: This does NOT have to be specifically as a webcam, but using my DSLR as a webcam would be kinda neat... kinda like taking a Montblanc fountain pen to gradeschool.)
3 How to set up the software for my camera. Basic instructions at least, but keep in mind I'm still fairly new to Linux.
4 Some recommendations on software to edit the recorded videos.

1 - Probably nothing extra will be needed (based on 4 of 4 canon cameras of different models).

2 - I don't quite understand - is there some reason to not just use the camera to record video? It seems like recording to a file on the computer has only shortcomings and no advantages for what you describe.

3 - If you're just copying files, see #1. What other software are you interested in?

4 - I don't think much of linux video software, "avidemux" is probably the least bad.

1: I've tried connecting my camera to the computer via the USB port, nothing happened. No chirp of anything being plugged in, no prompt to ask me what I wanted to do, tried with the camera on and off. It's almost like it's not being detected, so I obviously need something extra to connect my camera to Linux.

2: I'm asking how to record video directly to files on my computer. The videos I'm planning to record are going to be 3+ hours in length, time-lapsed down to around 10% of their original run time, it's a requirement. I'd like to keep my SD card specifically for when my laptop isn't nearby, like when I'm out of the house.

3: This makes me feel almost as if you're assuming I'm trying to ask for Windows help on a Linux forum., so I'm absolutely confused. This is specifically referring to the software needed to connect my camera to my computer and record video, not transfer files from the SD card.

4: This is actually useful information, I'll make a note of the software and cross that bridge once I get there.

As it stands right now plugging my camera into my computer does absolutely nothing.

[SnowblindOtter]

HI SnowblindOtter,

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

How To Perform Tethered Shooting with a Digital Camera on Ubuntu - OMG! Ubuntu!
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/04/tet ... u-entangle

How to Use a DSLR Camera as a Webcam
https://filmora.wondershare.com/webcam- ... ebcam.html

You Can Now Record Movies With Your Old DSLR Camera, Via EOS Camera Movie Record (EOS MovRec) | LinuxG.net
http://linuxg.net/install-eos-movrec-on-ubuntu/
64-bit deb file

Code: Select all

https://launchpad.net/~dhor/+archive/ubuntu/myway/+files/eos-movrec_0.3.3-2dhor~yakkety_amd64.deb

Sami's Blog: Use your DSLR Camera as a Webcam on Ubuntu
http://blog.skhawaja.com/2015/12/use-yo ... am-on.html

record video on Linux using a Canon DLSR camera - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?q=record+ ... e&ie=UTF-8


* There are many excellent video editors: Kdenlive, Lightworks (LWS), OpenShot, Shotcut, Cinelerra-GG, Pitivi, etc...

* "Guvcview" in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" for webcam and "video for Linux" (V4L) hardware, can record both video and audio.


Hope this helps ...

inxi -Fxzd output:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: matt-Satellite-C55-B Kernel: 4.15.0-36-generic x86_64
           bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: laptop System: TOSHIBA product: Satellite C55-B v: PSCMLU-09D0KU serial: N/A
           Mobo: TOSHIBA model: ZBWAA v: 1.00 serial: N/A
           UEFI: TOSHIBA v: 5.10 date: 08/10/2015
Battery    BAT1: charge: 27.3 Wh 100.0% condition: 27.3/44.1 Wh (62%)
           model: TOSHIBA PABAS0241231 status: Full
           hidpp__0: charge: N/A condition: NA/NA Wh
           model: Logitech M510 status: Discharging
CPU:       Dual core Intel Celeron N2840 (-MCP-) 
           arch: Silvermont rev.8 cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8663
           clock speeds: max: 2582 MHz 1: 1110 MHz 2: 1124 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail
           version: 4.2 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-36-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCIE Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath9k bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (3.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MQ01ABF0 size: 500.1GB
           Optical-1: /dev/sr0 model: TSST CDDVDW SU-208GB
           rev: TF01 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw
           Features: speed: 24x multisession: yes
           audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition: ID-1: / size: 38G used: 12G (33%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-2: /home size: 303G used: 2.2G (1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda8
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.10GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 177 Uptime: 58 min Memory: 1288.1/3831.2MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56 

lsusb output:

Code: Select all

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0930:0227 Toshiba Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04ca:705b Lite-On Technology Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 04a9:31ea Canon, Inc. EOS Rebel T2i / EOS 550D / EOS Kiss X4
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I'll look into those links you provided, they don't look familiar to the ones I've used so far so I don't think I was able to find those. The google search, however, didn't really return anything new for me, and a lot of stuff I found was more or less in Mandalorian considering I'm not very experienced with Linux. I've been using Linux for about two years now almost and I just learned how to play DVDs... I still thought I was running Rosa when apparently I'm running Tara Literally 90% of my questions could be attributed to ID-10-T errors.

[phd21]

HI SnowblindOtter,

You are welcome...

That's sort of funny about the "ID-10-T errors" which I have never heard of before today, found it in the urban dictionary results.

I provided a lot of information for you to read and research. The camera does show up and appears to be recognized by your Linux Mint system from the results of the "lsusb". I do not see anything wrong with the results of the "inxi -Fxzd" console terminal command, so that is a good thing.

What do you get from running this command which shows any connected and recognized video for Linux (V4L) sources? The camera has to be turned on and may have to be in photo or video capture mode.

Code: Select all

ls /dev/video*

I would install "guvcview" and "entangle" from the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" right-click each one and install any recommended and suggested packages and then see if they can recognize and use your camera.


inxi -Fxzd output:

System:
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: laptop System: TOSHIBA product: Satellite C55-B v: PSCMLU-09D0KU serial: N/A
Mobo: TOSHIBA model: ZBWAA v: 1.00 serial: N/A
UEFI: TOSHIBA v: 5.10 date: 08/10/2015
CPU: Dual core Intel Celeron N2840 (-MCP-)
arch: Silvermont rev.8 cache: 1024 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8663
clock speeds: max: 2582 MHz 1: 1110 MHz 2: 1124 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail
version: 4.2 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes Very good
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (3.7% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MQ01ABF0 size: 500.1GB
Optical-1: /dev/sr0 model: TSST CDDVDW SU-208GB
rev: TF01 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw
Features: speed: 24x multisession: yes
audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Info: Processes: 177 Uptime: 58 min Memory: 1288.1/3831.2MB


lsusb output:
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0930:0227 Toshiba Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04ca:705b Lite-On Technology Corp.
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 04a9:31ea Canon, Inc. EOS Rebel T2i / EOS 550D / EOS Kiss X4
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
[/quote]

As for DVD/CD/Blu-Ray playing, burning - writing, or ripping...

cd burner for mint 19 - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=279918&p=1543143#p1543143

Dvd's won't play - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=267440&hilit=regionset


Hope this helps ...

[SnowblindOtter]

HI SnowblindOtter,

You are welcome...

That's sort of funny about the "ID-10-T errors" which I have never heard of before today, found it in the urban dictionary results.

I provided a lot of information for you to read and research. The camera does show up and appears to be recognized by your Linux Mint system from the results of the "lsusb". I do not see anything wrong with the results of the "inxi -Fxzd" console terminal command, so that is a good thing.

What do you get from running this command which shows any connected and recognized video for Linux (V4L) sources? The camera has to be turned on and may have to be in photo or video capture mode.

Code: Select all

ls /dev/video*

I would install "guvcview" and "entangle" from the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" right-click each one and install any recommended and suggested packages and then see if they can recognize and use your camera.
Hope this helps ...

I tried ls /dev/video*, and it returned the following:

Code: Select all

/dev/video0

For giggles and kicks, I decided to try modprobe v4l2loopback from the Sami's Blog post about using a DSLR as a webcam, and got this:

Code: Select all

modprobe: FATAL: Module v4l2loopback not found in directory /lib/modules/4.15.0-36-generic

No idea what that means... but 'fatal' USUALLY doesn't mean anything good unless you're not on the receiving end. Thank god it didn't cause my filesystem to go totally F.U.B.A.R again and force me to reinstall. Had that problem once or twice already with Tara, hate dealing with it, but that's off-topic.

Entangle recognizes my camera and allows me to take photos with it, so if I wanted to take pictures of my artwork that way I have an option.
GUVCView doesn't recognize the camera, only the built-in Toshiba camera.
As for DVD's I got that sorted out pretty quick, that search was thankfully covering a very broad topic so the answer was all over the place. This DSLR thing, though... man. Gonna give me a headache already. At least the camera takes super pretty pictures and has that awesome shutter sound. Also, look on tech-support invoices and such the next time you get a chance. ID-10-T, or ID10-T or some other variants of it show up every now and again when it's somebody who forgets to plug in their computer. Stepdad used to work for comcast, just a passive-aggressive way to get back at customers.

[phd21]

HI SnowblindOtter,

You are welcome...

I tried ls /dev/video*, and it returned the following:

Code: Select all

/dev/video0

Ok, that is probably built-in Toshiba web camera.

For giggles and kicks, I decided to try modprobe v4l2loopback from the Sami's Blog post about using a DSLR as a webcam, and got this:

Code: Select all

modprobe: FATAL: Module v4l2loopback not found in directory /lib/modules/4.15.0-36-generic

No idea what that means... but 'fatal' USUALLY doesn't mean anything good unless you're not on the receiving end. Thank god it didn't cause my filesystem to go totally F.U.B.A.R again and force me to reinstall. Had that problem once or twice already with Tara, hate dealing with it, but that's off-topic.

If you go into the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" and search for "v4l" you can see a lot of various related applications and packages including the "v4l2loopback" related packages. I would install all of these and restart before retrying related applications and tasks.

Entangle recognizes my camera and allows me to take photos with it, so if I wanted to take pictures of my artwork that way I have an option.

There might be other options in "Entangle" to explore as well, maybe even a video option if the camera is in video capture mode? There are also other options in the links I provided before.

GUVCView doesn't recognize the camera, only the built-in Toshiba camera.

"guvcview" is an excellent webcam and V4L viewing and capture application that can record both video and audio.

As for DVD's I got that sorted out pretty quick, that search was thankfully covering a very broad topic so the answer was all over the place.

That's good...

This DSLR thing, though... man. Gonna give me a headache already. At least the camera takes super pretty pictures and has that awesome shutter sound.

I would highly recommend "DigiKam" for your camera as well. There are various installation options including an AppImage one.
digiKam - About
https://www.digikam.org/about/


linux Ubuntu 18.04 camera tethering - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?ei=TanQW5 ... Qq2QUA79VU


Hope this helps ...
.

v4l-SynapticPackageManager1.jpg

[SnowblindOtter]

If you go into the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" and search for "v4l" you can see a lot of various related applications and packages including the "v4l2loopback" related packages. I would install all of these and restart before retrying related applications and tasks.

There might be other options in "Entangle" to explore as well, maybe even a video option if the camera is in video capture mode? There are also other options in the links I provided before.

"guvcview" is an excellent webcam and V4L viewing and capture application that can record both video and audio.

I installed all of the files and utilities that you suggested for v4l and v4l2, and now I'm able to run modprobe v4l2loopback without an error message. I ran gphoto2 --capture-movie --stdout | gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1, and got this message:

Code: Select all

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --capture-movie --stdout | gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
gst-launch-0.10: command not found

However, ls /dev/video* now returns

Code: Select all

/dev/video0  /dev/video1

There isn't any options in Entangle I could find that let me record video even with my camera in video record mode, but I did snoop around and play with both guvcview and the Qt V4L2 test utility and nothing there. Neither of them are recognizing my camera, even with it in video record mode, and none of the programs I use that would use my webcam see it either, just the built-in Toshiba camera. Additionally, in the V4L test bench, opening device "video1" which is supposed to be my DSLR returns a completely blank page with nothing on it. Kinda confused here, to be perfectly honest, but I think I'm starting to see a little bit of progress. Entangle right now is letting me snap photos, so doing that is out of the way, now the only thing is being able to record video directly to the computer.

Is there a step that I'm missing to actually configure my camera to be recognized as dev/video1 when it's connected to the computer?

[phd21]

Hi SnowblindOtter,

The fact that you now have 2 video sources is a step in the right direction. Did "gucview" show anything with /dev/video1 which should be the camera versus the webcam? Was the camera in ready for video mode or actually recording video, try both and the photo capture modes... Does the camera have a "live view mode", if so, try that? You may have to restart after running the older non-working console terminal command.

Live View - Canon Professional Network
https://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/ed ... ve_view.do

Digital Cameras: What is Live View? | Digital Trends
https://www.digitaltrends.com/how-to/di ... live-view/

4 Tips for Using for Live View to Get Sharper and More Creative Images
https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... -creative/

- OLD bad commands

Code: Select all

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --capture-movie --stdout | gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
gst-launch-0.10: command not found

I do not see the "gst-launch" libraries available in current Linux systems that would work for this. that is an older article, a newer one is below.

- Newer commands
Read this - use a digital camera ( Canon) as webcam - Ask Ubuntu
https://askubuntu.com/questions/856460/ ... -as-webcam

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg gphoto2 v4l2loopback-utils

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

Command below creates a /dev/video1 for the camera

Code: Select all

gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads 0 -f v4l2 /dev/video1

Now the /dev/video1 should be working and available to use with guvcview or vlc, etc....

If you see any errors about the device being in use you need to kill the gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor process by running

Code: Select all

killall gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor

- There are other options, but the video for linux apps like guvcview and vlc should work with any active video device.

- I was not sure if Entangle would capture videos from a camera, but I knew it could take photos.

- Try this:
You Can Now Record Movies With Your Old DSLR Camera, Via EOS Camera Movie Record (EOS MovRec)
http://linuxg.net/install-eos-movrec-on-ubuntu/

Click or right-click save as the link below, save the deb file and double-click it to install it.
https://launchpad.net/~dhor/+archive/ub ... _amd64.deb


*** Just found this interesting application***

Introduction to "qDslrDashboard"
https://dslrdashboard.info/introduction/

Download Linux archive file
https://dslrdashboard.info/download/lin ... T5FFtJy4zc


Hope this helps ...

[lsemmens]

Based on my limited experience with Digital SLRs, (I own a Canon ES1000D), from my limited research, Not all Canon DSLRs have the capability to record video, Are you certain that your model is capable?

[SnowblindOtter]

Based on my limited experience with Digital SLRs, (I own a Canon ES1000D), from my limited research, Not all Canon DSLRs have the capability to record video, Are you certain that your model is capable?

It's a Canon EOS550D. It records video, the problem is that I want to record more than 12 minutes of video at a time due to the 4GB file size limit, which is specifically why I want to use the camera to record directly to my computer to get around the buffer size limits. It's mandatory considering I'm looking to record drawing sessions that last 3+ hours and then timelapse them down to 10%.

[SnowblindOtter]

Hi SnowblindOtter,

The fact that you now have 2 video sources is a step in the right direction. Did "gucview" show anything with /dev/video1 which should be the camera versus the webcam? Was the camera in ready for video mode or actually recording video, try both and the photo capture modes... Does the camera have a "live view mode", if so, try that? You may have to restart after running the older non-working console terminal command.

Live View - Canon Professional Network
https://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/ed ... ve_view.do

Digital Cameras: What is Live View? | Digital Trends
https://www.digitaltrends.com/how-to/di ... live-view/

4 Tips for Using for Live View to Get Sharper and More Creative Images
https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... -creative/

- OLD bad commands

Code: Select all

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --capture-movie --stdout | gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
gst-launch-0.10: command not found

I do not see the "gst-launch" libraries available in current Linux systems that would work for this. that is an older article, a newer one is below.

- Newer commands
Read this - use a digital camera ( Canon) as webcam - Ask Ubuntu
https://askubuntu.com/questions/856460/ ... -as-webcam

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg gphoto2 v4l2loopback-utils

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

Command below creates a /dev/video1 for the camera

Code: Select all

gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads 0 -f v4l2 /dev/video1

Now the /dev/video1 should be working and available to use with guvcview or vlc, etc....

If you see any errors about the device being in use you need to kill the gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor process by running

Code: Select all

killall gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor

- There are other options, but the video for linux apps like guvcview and vlc should work with any active video device.

- I was not sure if Entangle would capture videos from a camera, but I knew it could take photos.

- Try this:
You Can Now Record Movies With Your Old DSLR Camera, Via EOS Camera Movie Record (EOS MovRec)
http://linuxg.net/install-eos-movrec-on-ubuntu/

Click or right-click save as the link below, save the deb file and double-click it to install it.
https://launchpad.net/~dhor/+archive/ub ... _amd64.deb


*** Just found this interesting application***

Introduction to "qDslrDashboard"
https://dslrdashboard.info/introduction/

Download Linux archive file
https://dslrdashboard.info/download/lin ... T5FFtJy4zc


Hope this helps ...

Got this when trying to set it up again. Still nothing being detected in guvcview, not even recognizing dev/video/1 exists.

Code: Select all

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0930:0227 Toshiba Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04ca:705b Lite-On Technology Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 04a9:31ea Canon, Inc. EOS Rebel T2i / EOS 550D / EOS Kiss X4
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --abilities
Abilities for camera             : Canon EOS 550D                              
Serial port support              : no
USB support                      : yes
Capture choices                  :
                                 : Image
                                 : Preview
                                 : Trigger Capture
Configuration support            : yes
Delete selected files on camera  : yes
Delete all files on camera       : no
File preview (thumbnail) support : yes
File upload support              : yes
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ sudo modprobe v4l2loopback
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads - -f v4l2 /dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.

*** Error ***              
An error occurred in the io-library ('Could not claim the USB device'): Could not claim interface 0 (Device or resource busy). Make sure no other program (gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor) or kernel module (such as sdc2xx, stv680, spca50x) is using the device and you have read/write access to the device.
ERROR: Movie capture error... Exiting.
Movie capture finished (0 frames)
ffmpeg version 3.4.4-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2018 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 7 (Ubuntu 7.3.0-16ubuntu3)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0ubuntu0.18.04.1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librubberband --enable-librsvg --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libopencv --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
  libavutil      55. 78.100 / 55. 78.100
  libavcodec     57.107.100 / 57.107.100
  libavformat    57. 83.100 / 57. 83.100
  libavdevice    57. 10.100 / 57. 10.100
  libavfilter     6.107.100 /  6.107.100
  libavresample   3.  7.  0 /  3.  7.  0
  libswscale      4.  8.100 /  4.  8.100
  libswresample   2.  9.100 /  2.  9.100
  libpostproc    54.  7.100 / 54.  7.100
pipe:: Invalid data found when processing input
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ killall gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor: no process found
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ sudo modprobe v4l2loopback
matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | gst-launch-1.0 fdsrc ! decodebin3 name=dec ! queue ! videoconvert ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.

*** Error ***              
An error occurred in the io-library ('Could not claim the USB device'): Could not claim interface 0 (Device or resource busy). Make sure no other program (gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor) or kernel module (such as sdc2xx, stv680, spca50x) is using the device and you have read/write access to the device.
ERROR: Movie capture error... Exiting.
Movie capture finished (0 frames)
Setting pipeline to PAUSED ...
Pipeline is PREROLLING ...
ERROR: from element /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstDecodebin3:dec/GstParseBin:parsebin0/GstTypeFindElement:typefind: Stream doesn't contain enough data.
Additional debug info:
gsttypefindelement.c(991): gst_type_find_element_chain_do_typefinding (): /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstDecodebin3:dec/GstParseBin:parsebin0/GstTypeFindElement:typefind:
Can't typefind stream
ERROR: pipeline doesn't want to preroll.
Setting pipeline to NULL ...
Freeing pipeline ...

I'll give qDslrDashboard a shot... how do I install it from an archive file? I have no idea how to do that. Usually I'm not even comfortable running AppImages.
Also, EOS MovRec doesn't support my camera.

The supported cameras are the following: Canon EOS 450D, Canon EOS 1000D, Canon 40D, Canon 50D, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 1Ds Mark III.

I have a EOS 550D.
The Live View stuff isn't really helping though, frankly. I already know how to take photos fairly well, and to be even more candid I purchased a DSLR because Live-View disgusts me from my poor experiences with Point-And-Shoot cameras in the past.

[vansloneker]

It seems to me the laptop is pretty low spec for recording live video. Recording live video generates a big data stream which has to be processed and saved.

[SnowblindOtter]

It seems to me the laptop is pretty low spec for recording live video. Recording live video generates a big data stream which has to be processed and saved.

I'm not really concerned about the spec. The only thing this topic is addressing is the efficacy of tethering a Canon Rebel EOS550D to a Linux Mint 19 system to bypass the buffer limit of the camera itself in regards to recording HD video directly to a file on my computer, allowing un-cut video durations exceeding 1 hour as opposed to 10-12 minutes. All other issues are secondary until I decide otherwise.

The information that others provide, and the help given by others, might prove useful to others with the same situation as myself. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this experiment with my DSLR, the knowledge shared by those who offer help will be useful anyway. Even just winding up with the possibility to use my DSLR as a webcam will be considered a success since I can set it up to stream through VLC or another program to record.

[phd21]

Hi SnowblindOtter,

Obviously, it would be best if the DSLR camera had the built-in video streaming capability and was recognized as a video source without using another application(s) to create a virtual video source (ie: gphoto2 and ffmpeg), and this would have to be stopped and or your system rebooted to test other options like that eos application.

Because I do not have a DSLR camera I cannot actually test or experiment with any of this.

It looked to me like the gphoto2 with ffmpeg option might have worked after killing the "gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor" process, if you re-ran the gphoto ffmpeg commmand, but instead you ran the non-working older command with gphoto 2 and gst-launch?

The results from the "gphoto2 --abilities" looks promising.

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --abilities
Abilities for camera : Canon EOS 550D
Serial port support : no
USB support : yes
Capture choices :
: Image
: Preview
: Trigger Capture
Configuration support : yes
Delete selected files on camera : yes
Delete all files on camera : no
File preview (thumbnail) support : yes
File upload support : yes

I'll give qDslrDashboard a shot... how do I install it from an archive file? I have no idea how to do that. Usually I'm not even comfortable running AppImages.

- This is a Linux self-contained, ready to use, archive file, so you just download the archive file, right-click the file and extract here creating a new folder, then move the folder to your home folder or an "apps" folder underneath your home folder, check that you have permission to run the app's startup file, then double-click the "qDslrDashboard.sh" script file or create a desktop shortcut to this file.

- I love AppImages for installing and using applications over Flatpak or Snap packages because they are self-contained and work very well. If for whatever reasons you are having issues with AppImages, then install the "AppImage Launcher" helper using their Linux deb file for Linux Mint 18.x or the Bionic deb file for 19.x, restart the computer, then just click an AppImage file.

Easily Run And Integrate AppImage Files With AppImageLauncher - Linux Uprising Blog
https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/04/e ... files.html

Download link for AppImageLauncher
https://github.com/TheAssassin/AppImage ... r/releases

Also, EOS MovRec doesn't support my camera.

Did you actually try this?

I read that maybe OBS might work too.
Open Broadcaster Software | Home
https://obsproject.com/


Good luck.


FYI: There are also high-resolution HD webcams and IP cameras and maybe other camcorders and DSLR cameras available that would work well for this and automatically recognized by Linux as a good video source, without trying to get a camera that was not designed for streaming video to work.

Hope this helps ...

[SnowblindOtter]

Hi SnowblindOtter,

Obviously, it would be best if the DSLR camera had the built-in video streaming capability and was recognized as a video source without using another application(s) to create a virtual video source (ie: gphoto2 and ffmpeg), and this would have to be stopped and or your system rebooted to test other options like that eos application.

Because I do not have a DSLR camera I cannot actually test or experiment with any of this.

It looked to me like the gphoto2 with ffmpeg option might have worked after killing the "gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor" process, if you re-ran the gphoto ffmpeg commmand, but instead you ran the non-working older command with gphoto 2 and gst-launch?

The results from the "gphoto2 --abilities" looks promising.

matt@matt-Satellite-C55-B:~$ gphoto2 --abilities
Abilities for camera : Canon EOS 550D
Serial port support : no
USB support : yes
Capture choices :
: Image
: Preview
: Trigger Capture
Configuration support : yes
Delete selected files on camera : yes
Delete all files on camera : no
File preview (thumbnail) support : yes
File upload support : yes

I'll give qDslrDashboard a shot... how do I install it from an archive file? I have no idea how to do that. Usually I'm not even comfortable running AppImages.

- This is a Linux self-contained, ready to use, archive file, so you just download the archive file, right-click the file and extract here creating a new folder, then move the folder to your home folder or an "apps" folder underneath your home folder, check that you have permission to run the app's startup file, then double-click the "qDslrDashboard.sh" script file or create a desktop shortcut to this file.

- I love AppImages for installing and using applications over Flatpak or Snap packages because they are self-contained and work very well. If for whatever reasons you are having issues with AppImages, then install the "AppImage Launcher" helper using their Linux deb file for Linux Mint 18.x or the Bionic deb file for 19.x, restart the computer, then just click an AppImage file.

Easily Run And Integrate AppImage Files With AppImageLauncher - Linux Uprising Blog
https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/04/e ... files.html

Download link for AppImageLauncher
https://github.com/TheAssassin/AppImage ... r/releases

Also, EOS MovRec doesn't support my camera.

Did you actually try this?

I read that maybe OBS might work too.
Open Broadcaster Software | Home
https://obsproject.com/


Good luck.


FYI: There are also high-resolution HD webcams and IP cameras and maybe other camcorders and DSLR cameras available that would work well for this and automatically recognized by Linux as a good video source, without trying to get a camera that was not designed for streaming video to work.

Hope this helps ...

I don't really have to test EOS MovRec, since the site clearly states what cameras are supported, and my camera isn't listed. It's a null point for me to even try the program if there's no indication that my camera could possibly work, and in this case there's a direct indication that my camera won't be recognized at all.

As to the gphoto2 comment, running any form of modified command is well out of the range that I'm comfortable with doing at all. The primary reason is because I have no idea how to phrase the syntax for coding commands. I wish I could say that I came over to Linux because I enjoy coding, but I don't know coding at all. I'm a Microsoft refugee.

I think as far as this project goes, I'm going to have to throw in the towel and admit defeat. I've spent a _really_ long time trying to figure this out and the best I've gotten is tethered shooting... which, frankly isn't bad. Like I said above, this is just to try and get it to work in the first place. I suppose a fairly inexpensive video camera or camcorder would be able to fit in my DSLR bag, since it's actually a really big bag (Plus, camcorder would be nice to take and record on the go ). You wouldn't happen to have any recommendations on what cameras would be good would you?

[SnowblindOtter]

It looked to me like the gphoto2 with ffmpeg option might have worked after killing the "gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor" process, if you re-ran the gphoto ffmpeg commmand, but instead you ran the non-working older command with gphoto 2 and gst-launch?

- This is a Linux self-contained, ready to use, archive file, so you just download the archive file, right-click the file and extract here creating a new folder, then move the folder to your home folder or an "apps" folder underneath your home folder, check that you have permission to run the app's startup file, then double-click the "qDslrDashboard.sh" script file or create a desktop shortcut to this file.

Also, EOS MovRec doesn't support my camera.

Did you actually try this?

PROGRESS! I think?
Okay, so I tried a couple of things.

First, I tried EOS MovRec. I was correct in my assertion that it would not detect my camera. Thusfar it has refused to do so, which isn't surprising considering that my 550D was not listed in the supported devices. Kind of a no-brainer, but, decided to try it anyway.

Second, I attempted to use qDslrDashboard, however running the .sh file did nothing. Attempting to run it through terminal just failed utterly, and attempting to run it through command returned an error stating that there was no such file or directory. Kinda weird.

Finally, I tried running the older gphoto2 command, followed by the newer one, and got THIS:

Code: Select all

root@matt-Satellite-C55-B:/home/matt# modprobe v4l2loopback
root@matt-Satellite-C55-B:/home/matt# gphoto2 --capture-movie --stdout | gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
gst-launch-0.10: command not found
root@matt-Satellite-C55-B:/home/matt# gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads 0 -f v4l2 /dev/video1
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
ffmpeg version 3.4.4-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2018 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 7 (Ubuntu 7.3.0-16ubuntu3)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0ubuntu0.18.04.1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librubberband --enable-librsvg --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libopencv --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
  libavutil      55. 78.100 / 55. 78.100
  libavcodec     57.107.100 / 57.107.100
  libavformat    57. 83.100 / 57. 83.100
  libavdevice    57. 10.100 / 57. 10.100
  libavfilter     6.107.100 /  6.107.100
  libavresample   3.  7.  0 /  3.  7.  0
  libswscale      4.  8.100 /  4.  8.100
  libswresample   2.  9.100 /  2.  9.100
  libpostproc    54.  7.100 / 54.  7.100
[mjpeg @ 0x55d8ea6d7900] Format mjpeg detected only with low score of 25, misdetection possible!
Input #0, mjpeg, from 'pipe:':
  Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 1024x680, 25 tbr, 1200k tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (mjpeg (native) -> rawvideo (native))
[swscaler @ 0x55d8ea7300a0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
Output #0, v4l2, to '/dev/video1':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf57.83.100
    Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 1024x680, q=2-31, 208896 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc57.107.100 rawvideo
frame=    9 fps=0.0 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:00.36 bitrate=N/A speed=0.684x   frame=   15 fps= 15 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:00.60 bitrate=N/A speed=0.581x   frame=   22 fps= 14 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:00.88 bitrate=N/A speed=0.551x   frame=   28 fps= 13 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:01.12 bitrate=N/A speed=0.531x   frame=   35 fps= 13 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:01.40 bitrate=N/A speed=0.521x   frame=   41 fps= 13 q=-0.0 size=N/A time=00:00:01.64 bitrate=N/A speed=0.509x      
video:1545300kB audio:0kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
Exiting normally, received signal 2.

It was doing something there. This is cut short, because it recorded for 00:1:00.60, or roughly 1515 frames. I have to recharge my camera's battery currently, but ho-ly Toledo, it looks like something happened, but the weird thing is that guvcview still didn't recognize dev/video1, but VLC saw that there was a dev/video/1 this time, and it was able to do something with it but it failed. Probably because my camera's battery was almost dead. Any thoughts?

[MrEen]

Hi SnowblindOtter.

While I can't help with your issue, I see that the last bit posted you ran as root. That can mess up your permissions which could be why some things are failing.

You could run find $HOME ! -user $USER to see which files you don't own that you should, and sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /home/$USER to fix them.

I have no idea if that's going to make any difference for you, but thought it worth mentioning.

Good luck.

[SnowblindOtter]

Hi SnowblindOtter.

While I can't help with your issue, I see that the last bit posted you ran as root. That can mess up your permissions which could be why some things are failing.

You could run find $HOME ! -user $USER to see which files you don't own that you should, and sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /home/$USER to fix them.

I have no idea if that's going to make any difference for you, but thought it worth mentioning.

Good luck.

Forgive me if I'm being dense, but I thought that any command like that you have to run as root? Also, I don't even know how to read my terminal output with that command. There's probably over a hundred files that come up, I don't know how to tell if I own something unless I use the Permissions tab in the properties GUI so I have no idea what to do with that information.

Edit:
Not running the commands as root didn't change anything anyway, still the same results, and now I'm more interested in how to remove /dev/video1 from my computer instead of trying to get this camera to work. I've tried looking around again, and I've discovered posts that are five or even six years old talking about the same thing with nothing replied to, so I'm just giving up. If I need help with this issue again in the future I think I'll find a different forum to ask, or just bypass this frustration and go back to Windows.