Capture software...

[Fab52]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to this board, but I was reading the board for the last few weeks or month, time just slip into my hands, trying to figure out how this system work. I'm from mechanical and woodworking tech. background but with an implication in PC curiosity since apple IIe in 1983.

As I read the board, I notice that the hardware part of the system is going strong, Daniel and Rob take care of this part, there last version v0.9.10 is out and I already have one under a local CNC router to see how we can import a .dxf file from the south to the north part of America.

Over the week-end I work on a down to basic system made from cardboard box for the craddle, base on the design from Daniel , regular photo tripod, some lighting device I used for some ceramic object photos shoot, and glass my friend Lulu bring me from old aluminium windows, he salvage the aluminum part of it and I salvage the glass for old casement windows restoration. Last year I cut about +/- 500 panes 8 1/8" X 10 1/4" from those salvage glass for a restoration project.

I also work with Scan Tailor, this software do the job and it's user friendly even for a newbie like me. Believe me. I do start with something not easy to scan. My first book was an atlas of 1881 , about 19" X 12" with four columns of text and a strait line between each column.

How about the capture software ????? None seam to be available.... This is the missing link I think... For a small organization like our, buying commercial software that will let us hook up our laptop to control the two cameras and view the two pages we are scanning is a dream on feature. Scanning historic documents and be able to make it OCR need good camera for sure, our community are able to provide it . I think many small organization like our is in need of this software and do not have access to any grant that will give them the opportunity to have access to commercial software doing that. Most of the time opportunity to scan those historic documents is a one shot deal. You get it perfect or you have to live with a poor quality scann..... I been there, I done that !!!

Our organization does'nt have the knowledge to design and program this software. We can give helping funds to help make it a dream come true... Many small organization like our can do that too... Let see if I'm dreaming on !!! ))))

See You

Fab
English is a second language for me, you can laugh at me or help me improved... )))

[Anonymous2]

Most people do capturing via the cameras themselves.

If you have a CHDK-capable camera (most of the Canon PowerShot models), then you can create a trigger using a spliced USB cord and a trigger.

If you have a D-SLR camera, you can use the trigger port avaliable in the camera itself. Again, Canon has the easiest setup, which is a 2.5 mm stereo cable.

I use the second approach (Google DIY Canon DSLR trigger), so if anyone can link to a tutorial via CHDK, that'd be great.

[rob]

Well, for the capture, the solution that would work with all cameras is the mechanical trigger. I was not very impressed by CHDK -- sometimes triggers would be missed.

As for transferring the files, if you have a camera that takes SD cards, you could use EyeFi cards to wirelessly transfer images the moment they're captured to specified directories on your computer.

The other solution that I'm working on is a device which uses wired SD cards and transfers the files to a USB drive, which you can then take to any computer you want, without dealing with wireless routers, or having to designate one computer as the transfer destination.

None of these solutions help very much with what I think you're looking for, which is a way to view the images when they're captured. I'm not sure how to do that.

[Fab52]

Hi Rob,

The capture software I have in mind will give me the opportunity to control both cameras and will let me preview the two pages I'm scanning on the screen of my laptop and either save it on the SD card or directly to the laptop.

There is some free software who let you shoot tethered using SDK from nikon but I don't find any who let me have my two cameras on the same screen....

I don't know if upgrading those freeware to be able to do capture software for book scanner is possible....

See You

FAb
P.S. I will be using 2 Nikon D90...

[Gerard]

gphote seams to be able to use the nikon d90 http://gphoto.org/doc/remote/

the gphoto2 command line should be a good starting point

[Anonymous2]

If you want to use gphoto2, there's gtkam. It's a GTK2 frontend for gphoto2 and provides you a live preview window.

It works only on Linux and Mac, and I can confirm it works with my Canon T2i on Linux.

[Fab52]

Hi guys,

Here's an exemple of the capture software I dream about....

http://www.atiz.com/bookdrive-capture/

See you

FAb

[og200]

The Atiz software looks beautiful . I'm working on something that does a similar job, though it's not quite as pretty! I'm mentioning it here in case anyone is insterested and hasn't seen my anouncement here http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2520; please forgive the cross-posting. The app is open source and I'm looking for help testing and improving it (it needs lots of testing on different cameras and setups).

[spamsickle]

I was not very impressed by CHDK -- sometimes triggers would be missed.

I had the same problem, but I really think the problem was in the electronics, not in CHDK. Since I've started using my CHDK timer script, I haven't had a problem with missed shots.

[Fab52]

Hi,

OG 200, have done a lot of work to bring us a capture software call ScanManager here's the link to the thread:
http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2520

I already test it with my Nikon D90 and it is working great. The backend is libgphoto2 and it should work with a lots of cameras models...

Downloading and installation of the driver and software are pretty straightfoward and it is user friendly....

If your camera is supported by libgphoto2 give a try to Scanmanager.

See you!!!

Fab