iCamSource Pro 1.3.4 BETA Released with H.264/MPEG-4 Support

[Stefan]

Yes, finally!

We are pleased to announce our first BETA release of the iCamSource Pro that now also includes preliminary support for H.264/MPEG-4 IP cameras!

We developed this feature with the Amcrest IP2M-841B ProHD 1080P camera, and are interested in hearing if it works for other H.264/MPEG-4 cameras that also support RTSP.

To test this new functionality, select the Ethernet / Wi-Fi tab in the iCamSource Pro 1.3.4 BETA, enter rtsp://x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is your camera's IP address) as the URL along with the camera's login and password and select the RTSP radio button.

We found that changing the camera's settings to 720p at 15 fps (instead of the default 1080p at 30 fps) worked well, but your mileage may vary. Both video and audio streaming is currently supported.

We currently only have a macOS version available, but will be releasing a Windows version soon.

iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.7 BETA for macOS - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.3.4.7.dmg

If you have any other H.264/MPEG-4 cameras that support RTSP we would love to hear how it goes so that we can support as many cameras as possible.

Thanks! 


UPDATE: The Windows beta version of H.264/MPEG-4 support is now available here: https://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourceProRTSP.zip

The download is a zip file containing the iCamSource Pro executable and several library files.  You can extract the zip file anywhere on your computer.  It will create a directory called "iCamSourceProRTSP" which contains several .dll files and an executable file named "WiniCamSource.exe".  Double click the executable file to launch the program.

Note: This beta version of iCamSource Pro requires software libraries from Microsoft.  These libraries are required by lots of programs, so some of you will already have them installed.  If this version of iCamSource Pro crashes when you launch it, that probably means those libraries aren't on your computer.  In that case, you can install the required libraries directly from Microsoft here: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

If you have any problems with the installation instructions or with the beta version itself, please let us know in this thread.

[schmegs]

I've tried it with a Foscam FI9821Pv2, and it instantly crashes. I've tried both entering the "rtsp://IP:port" (with username and password for the camera), and, following the instructions on this page: https://www.foscam.com/Faqs/view/id/81.html , I've tried using the "rtsp://username:pwd@IP:port/videoMain" format (both with and without using the username/password fields in iCamSource Pro). Anytime I put in an rtsp url, the application crashes instantly upon starting. I've tried using the URL format from that page in VLC, and that does work, so the stream exists...

MacOS 10.11.6, Mac mini (Late 2009)

[Stefan]

Thanks for the feedback!

When you connect to the camera via VLC, if you could then open the Window > Media Information window (you can also press Command+I) and then send a screenshot of the Codec Details tab to support@skjm.com, that may give us a clue as to what the issue is.

Also, if you can find any crash logs (https://bjango.com/help/crashlogmac/) for the iCamSource Pro those would also be helpful. Thanks!

I've tried it with a Foscam FI9821Pv2, and it instantly crashes. I've tried both entering the "rtsp://IP:port" (with username and password for the camera), and, following the instructions on this page: https://www.foscam.com/Faqs/view/id/81.html , I've tried using the "rtsp://username:pwd@IP:port/videoMain" format (both with and without using the username/password fields in iCamSource Pro). Anytime I put in an rtsp url, the application crashes instantly upon starting. I've tried using the URL format from that page in VLC, and that does work, so the stream exists...

MacOS 10.11.6, Mac mini (Late 2009)

[Stefan]

Thank you for the crash logs, schmegs! 

It looks like the issue is your computer is running a version of macOS that is earlier than 10.13. We have updated the iCamSource Pro to version 1.3.4.1 to support macOS 10.9 and later, so this version should work for you:

iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.1 BETA for macOS - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.3.4.1.dmg

[schmegs]

Well, no crash this time, but I get this error message (using all the different URL formats from my last message):

"openInputStreamWithURL ERROR (-875574520) Error number 875574520 occurred"

--Greg

[Stefan]

Thank you for the update ... Apparently that is a "404 Not Found" error message.

We have a new version available that includes more human-readable error messages, and may also fix your error, as the URL handling code would sometimes append an empty query string ("?") to the end of the URL. Our camera also returned a 404 to that empty query string, which is odd, but either way, this version should handle that issue:

iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.2 BETA for macOS - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.3.4.2.dmg

Well, no crash this time, but I get this error message (using all the different URL formats from my last message):

"openInputStreamWithURL ERROR (-875574520) Error number 875574520 occurred"

--Greg

[schmegs]

It works! I have to put the URL in the format of "rtsp://x.x.x.x:port/videoMain" with the username and password in their respective fields in iCamSource Pro, but it seems to work now. I'll be playing with it this week to see if I have any other problems

Thanks!

--Greg

[Stefan]

Great news!

If you run into any other issues (higher-than-expected CPU or memory usage, any other instability, etc.) please let us know.

Thanks again!

It works! I have to put the URL in the format of "rtsp://x.x.x.x:port/videoMain" with the username and password in their respective fields in iCamSource Pro, but it seems to work now. I'll be playing with it this week to see if I have any other problems

Thanks!

--Greg

[Stefan]

We have a new version to try that fixes a memory leak issue that we found related to Apple Watch Alerts.

iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.3 BETA for macOS - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.3.4.3.dmg

[ejg]

Hello, Does anyone know if the Amcrest IP3M-941 cameras are compatible with the new iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.3 Beta for MacOS?  If am looking to replace some old Trendnet IP422W and IP651WI cameras with wider view angle and higher resolution camera models.  Any comments or recommendations will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Stefan]

It *should* be supported as it seems to feature the same technology standards as our IP2M-841B camera, but we don't know with 100% certainty at this point.

We also have a new version to try that has some general memory management improvements.

iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.3 BETA for macOS - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.3.4.4.dmg

Hello, Does anyone know if the Amcrest IP3M-941 cameras are compatible with the new iCamSource Pro 1.3.4.3 Beta for MacOS?  If am looking to replace some old Trendnet IP422W and IP651WI cameras with wider view angle and higher resolution camera models.  Any comments or recommendations will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[schmegs]

I'm getting a lot of "Network Camera Offline" errors with the 1.3.4.4 build that I didn't get before. Any ideas why?

--Greg

[ejg]

FYI, I ordered and received an Amcrest IP3M-941 camera and it works well.   

I’ve tried various resolutions including the 2K (2304*1296) and 1080P and the picture looks great.

For audio from the camera I needed to change the Audio Encode Mode on the camera from the AAC default to the G.711Mu or G.711A using the settings control on the Amcrest Web View App. For anyone else using the Amcrest cameras I learned that on a Mac, the Amcrest Web View App which is used for changing the camera settings is only compatible with Google Chrome, not Safari or Firefox. Amcrest customer support says they are aware of the compatibility issue and are working on a Safari plug in that will be compatible with the most recent version of Mac OS and Safari.

I have found that I am unable to operate the Pan/Tilt with the iCam Pro iPhone App but I had this limitation with my previous Trendnet TP-IP651WI cameras also. The Pan/Tilt works great with the Trendnet TV-IP422W series models however the resolution of these older cameras is not very good.  If there are any settings adjustments in iCamSource Pro or in the camera settings that anyone would recommend to allow pan/tilt from the iPhone, please advise.

Regarding schmegs comment of “Network Camera Offline” I am only getting that for a new camera RTSP ip addresses that I set-up in iCamSource Pro when the camera is unplugged. Do you have an ip address entered in the camera list for a camera that is no longer connected or for an ip address that has changed?  It is interesting that I have a few other ip addresses assigned in iCam Source Pro for my older cameras using MJPEG and these simply show the text ’No Image” instead of “Network Camera Offline”.  A useful software feature would be to have an enable/disable feature per camera whereby if a specific camera will not be used temporarily it can be disabled in the software without having to use the minus button to delete it permanently and loose all the settings.

I have another Amcrest camera on order to arrive tomorrow, model IP3M-HX2B (2K, wide angle, non pan/tilt). I will report back as to it’s compatibility with the new iCamSource Pro beta version.

[schmegs]

Regarding schmegs comment of “Network Camera Offline” I am only getting that for a new camera RTSP ip addresses that I set-up in iCamSource Pro when the camera is unplugged. Do you have an ip address entered in the camera list for a camera that is no longer connected or for an ip address that has changed?  It is interesting that I have a few other ip addresses assigned in iCam Source Pro for my older cameras using MJPEG and these simply show the text ’No Image” instead of “Network Camera Offline”.  A useful software feature would be to have an enable/disable feature per camera whereby if a specific camera will not be used temporarily it can be disabled in the software without having to use the minus button to delete it permanently and loose all the settings.

I'm using the same camera and same IP that I've had for years. The only thing I changed was making the address an rtsp address for the H264 stream now (instead of the MJPEG and still streams I used to use). The camera is always plugged in, and when it goes "offline," it's only gone for a few seconds (just enough to trip the motion detection, which bugs me now several times a day because of that...) before the picture comes back. I didn't have that happen on the old betas, but, then again, they weren't out for a long period of time...

[Stefan]

Previous versions of the BETA silently reconnected to the camera if the connection was lost, but 1.3.4.4 introduced the same "Network Camera Offline" image that the MJPEG/JPEG camera connections use when the connection is lost and the iCamSource Pro is waiting to reconnect.

We are noticing a lot more reconnections occurring when running the iCamSource Pro on an older (Early 2009) Mac mini running macOS 10.11 as opposed to more modern Macs. What Mac and version of macOS are you currently running it on?

We are currently testing different software tweaks and camera configurations to see if we can determine what the cause of the issue is.

I'm getting a lot of "Network Camera Offline" errors with the 1.3.4.4 build that I didn't get before. Any ideas why?

--Greg