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How to use a web cam in C# with .NET Framework 4.0 and Microsoft Expression Encoder 4

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4 Jul 2011CPOL1 min read 709K   39.5K   190   157
How to use a webcam in C#.

Screenshot_small.jpg

Introduction

If you are interested in using your webcam from C# in an easy way, this little article is for you. In order to achieve our goal, we need Microsoft .NET 4.0 and Microsoft Expression Encoder 4. You can get the latter for free, using the 'Microsoft Web Platform Installer', that can be downloaded from here: http://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx.

Web_Platform_Installer_small.jpg

After that, we need to create a Windows Forms application and add the following references to the project:

Assembly Microsoft.Expression.Encoder
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Expression\Encoder 4\SDK\Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.dll

Assembly Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Utilities
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Expression\Encoder 4\SDK\Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Utilities.dll

Assembly Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Types
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Expression\Encoder 4\SDK\Microsoft.Expression.Encoder.Types.dll

Using the Code

Here is the code to enumerate the video and audio devices:

C#
foreach (EncoderDevice edv in EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Video))
{
     lstVideoDevices.Items.Add(edv.Name);
}
foreach (EncoderDevice eda in EncoderDevices.FindDevices(EncoderDeviceType.Audio))
{
     lstAudioDevices.Items.Add(eda.Name);
}

Here is the code to preview the video and the audio:

C#
// Starts new job for preview window
_job = new LiveJob();

// Create a new device source. We use the first audio and video devices on the system
_deviceSource = _job.AddDeviceSource(video, audio);

// Sets preview window to winform panel hosted by xaml window
_deviceSource.PreviewWindow = new PreviewWindow(new HandleRef(panel1, panel1.Handle));

// Make this source the active one
_job.ActivateSource(_deviceSource);

Here is the code to record the video and audio to a .wmv file:

C#
// Sets up publishing format for file archival type
FileArchivePublishFormat fileOut = new FileArchivePublishFormat();

// Sets file path and name
fileOut.OutputFileName = String.Format("C:\\WebCam{0:yyyyMMdd_hhmmss}.wmv", DateTime.Now);

// Adds the format to the job. You can add additional formats
// as well such as Publishing streams or broadcasting from a port
_job.PublishFormats.Add(fileOut);

// Start encoding
_job.StartEncoding();

Streaming the webcam over the network

Here is the code to stream the video (and audio) of your webcam over the network:

C#
// Sets up publishing format for file archival type
_job = new LiveJob();

_deviceSource = _job.AddDeviceSource(video, audio);
_job.ActivateSource(_deviceSource);         

// Finds and applys a smooth streaming preset        
_job.ApplyPreset(LivePresets.VC1256kDSL16x9);

// Creates the publishing format for the job
PullBroadcastPublishFormat format = new PullBroadcastPublishFormat();
format.BroadcastPort = 8080;
format.MaximumNumberOfConnections = 2;

// Adds the publishing format to the job
_job.PublishFormats.Add(format);

// Starts encoding
_job.StartEncoding();

To view the broadcast, you can create a WPF application and use the MediaElement. It is just one line of code! Here is the whole code of the WPF application:

XML
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="Show Broadcast" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Grid>
        <MediaElement Name="VideoControl" Source="http://localhost:8080" />
    </Grid>
</Window>

Conclusion

A piece of cake, isn't it? This is the new frontier of how to manage video and audio from C#. In the early days of C#, using a webcam was not so easy. I hope this will help those who want to play a bit with a webcam. Thanks for reading my first article :-)

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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Comments and Discussions

 
Generalwebcam capture Pin
rakdosss2-Apr-14 5:52
rakdosss2-Apr-14 5:52 
QuestionStrong Delay Pin
erebos00717-Feb-14 12:42
erebos00717-Feb-14 12:42 
AnswerRe: Strong Delay Pin
selfwalker23-Jun-14 23:33
selfwalker23-Jun-14 23:33 
GeneralRe: Strong Delay Pin
Amir No-Family14-Jun-17 3:41
Amir No-Family14-Jun-17 3:41 
QuestionCould not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Expression.Encoder, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. Pin
Ian Vic Damacio8-Feb-14 22:11
Ian Vic Damacio8-Feb-14 22:11 
SuggestionRe: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Expression.Encoder, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. Pin
Diego G. Fritz31-Jul-14 7:41
professionalDiego G. Fritz31-Jul-14 7:41 
QuestionAccess is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED)) Pin
Ian Vic Damacio24-Jan-14 22:00
Ian Vic Damacio24-Jan-14 22:00 
AnswerRe: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED)) Pin
Mehdi Rostami22-Oct-14 8:31
Mehdi Rostami22-Oct-14 8:31 
you must run exe file as administrator
GeneralRe: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED)) Pin
madan7616-Jun-18 20:42
madan7616-Jun-18 20:42 
QuestionOne very bad assumption regarding newer versions of Windows (8.0 and above...) in this sample program... Pin
Destiny7774-Nov-13 11:32
Destiny7774-Nov-13 11:32 
Questionencoder need to be installed on every System? Pin
fine_dost13-Jul-13 12:39
fine_dost13-Jul-13 12:39 
AnswerRe: encoder need to be installed on every System? Pin
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:35
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:35 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
King Coffee9-Jul-13 13:51
King Coffee9-Jul-13 13:51 
QuestionModify or add blank frames? Pin
tuliosouza4-Jun-13 10:05
tuliosouza4-Jun-13 10:05 
AnswerRe: Modify or add blank frames? Pin
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:41
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:41 
QuestionHelp me. please! Pin
nguyễn ngọc vỹ27-May-13 18:27
nguyễn ngọc vỹ27-May-13 18:27 
AnswerRe: Help me. please! Pin
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:44
Destiny77722-Nov-13 15:44 
GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
naseer baloch1-May-13 22:13
naseer baloch1-May-13 22:13 
QuestionNice Demo, but where is the audio when preview ? Pin
Johnson.Gao.12623-Apr-13 1:20
Johnson.Gao.12623-Apr-13 1:20 
Questionviewing stream on a remote computer Pin
Member 95262384-Apr-13 4:42
Member 95262384-Apr-13 4:42 
AnswerRe: viewing stream on a remote computer Pin
Member 1008220412-Jun-13 10:05
Member 1008220412-Jun-13 10:05 
GeneralRe: viewing stream on a remote computer Pin
Member 1107374812-Jan-17 7:51
Member 1107374812-Jan-17 7:51 
QuestionWebcam is showing black image in preview Pin
Member 79864943-Apr-13 23:51
Member 79864943-Apr-13 23:51 
AnswerRe: Webcam is showing black image in preview Pin
Member 202563013-Jun-14 21:15
Member 202563013-Jun-14 21:15 
GeneralThanks! Pin
wcuthbertson8-Mar-13 9:52
wcuthbertson8-Mar-13 9:52 

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