This information only applies to KABcam version 5 and higher.

For network cameras that only provide a video stream KABcam uses FFmpeg to extract a snapshot from the stream.

FFmpeg is a free, open source program for handling audio, video and multimedia files and streams.  Due to patent and licensing concerns FFmpeg is not included with KABcam. This FAQ will help you download and setup FFmpeg for use with KABcam.

Quick Steps

1. Download the correct release FFmpeg build from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/
2. Unzip the contents to a folder
3. In KABcam go to Settings > Camera > Network Camera > Video Stream
4. Click the browse button (…) to set path to the FFmpeg program
5. Enable Capture snapshot from video stream

Full Instructions

Download FFmpeg

1. Download FFmpeg program from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-essentials.zip and save it to your computer
2. Once the download has finished open the Downloads folder using Windows Explorer.
3. Right click on the file ffmpeg-release-essentials.zip and choose Extract All…
4. Choose a folder for the FFmpeg files, the recommended folder is C:\FFmpeg

Configure KABcam to use FFmpeg

1. Run KABcam, open the Settings and select Camera > Network Camera > Video Stream
2. Click the browse button (…), browse to the folder from step 4
3. In the folder from step 4 browse to bin folder and choose the ffmpeg file
4. Click the the option Capture snapshot from video stream

KABcam is now ready to capture a snapshot from your network camera video stream.

FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1 or later. However, FFmpeg incorporates several optional parts and optimizations that are covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later. If those parts get used the GPL applies to all of FFmpeg. See https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html for more information.

KABcam calls FFmpeg as an external executable, it does not contain any FFmpeg source code or link to any FFmpeg binaries.

The download links on this page are for the executable program, source code for FFmpeg can be downloaded from www.ffmpeg.org.