chdkptp - alternative ptp client

ladiko

In practice, in its simplest form, an mjpeg is just a concatenation of jpeg files, one after the other in the same file. So almost the same way chdkptp outputs netbpm. Sometimes the single frames of mjepg are separated with a line of ascii code - usually just

...
<binary jpg data>
--7b3cc56e5f51db803f790dad720ed50a
<binary jpg data>
--7b3cc56e5f51db803f790dad720ed50a
<binary jpg data>
...

not a big deal, so i will just use ffmpeg / avconv or encodedv and see what produces the best / fastes results. I will report back when i found something more useful. You already mentioned the reason why i want to produce mjpeg: so i stay compatible with Canons native Live View streams which are mjpegs and i can use both as input for further processing and play them in webbrowsers. right now i am just doing a little testing. I look for a replacement of the Logitech HD C920 Webcam. Some years ago Sony DV Camcorders could have been used as DirectX "webcams" or as /dev/video0 on linux. Current camcorders only offer analog output or HDMI-Out but HDMI-In isnt that common on computers. Current webcams are just unsatisfying in comparison to 6 to 7 years old camcorders and i still believe there is something out there with a much better still image quality than a webcam, acceptable live view quality (for preview) and - if possible - halfway cheaper than DSLRs.

Like i said... i will report back later on.

Btw.: Thank you again for adding the continous ppm stream, it's really helpful! 😀

reyalp

Thinking about this https://chdk.setepontos.com/d/11527 I realized that rsint could work the same way.

I've added this in chdkptp r652. By default, rsint now uses the new method, but continuous mode + shoot hooks can be selected by passing -cont

The new mode has several advantages:
* It doesn't require continuous mode. This is nice because remoteshoot in continuous mode has problems on some cams. Also some cams do not save the continuous setting between reboots.
* It doesn't require CHDK 1.3 shoot hooks.
* You can quit without taking a shot (use q at the rsint prompt)
* Exposure changes should affect the next shot, rather than the following shot.

Based on the testing in the linked thread, the max speed shouldn't be much different. The latency between issuing and s command and the shot being taken should be better in continuous mode.

ahull

For what its worth, changing the <ALT> key on the Ixus 100 /SD780IS from [Playback] to [Display] results in the camera crashing when I connect it to CHDK-PTP.

I updated the SD780IS Wikia entry to point this out.

I'm not sure if its a bug worth fixing, but it did cause me a bit of head scratching.

Also some of the camera modes look to be incorrect in CHDK-PTP for this particular camera.
Any developer, PM me if you want more details, to save cluttering up this thread.

ladiko

I'm not a developer, but tell me about the camera modes and I will check if it's the same with the a2500.

ahull

nafraf contacted me and we are working through the modes to fix this. This problem will be camera specific.

I've sent him a revised list of the modes on the Ixus 100, based on what I see in Propcase 49, and he will send me a test version of CHDK with these revised modes when he gets a chance.

If you want to confirm the modes are correct on your A2500, connect the camera and select each mode from the drop down list in the CHDK-PTP UI. The camera should change to the correct mode each time.

In the case of the Ixus 100, it was selecting some modes incorrectly and a couple were missing.

I had a similar issue while we were porting the Ixus Wireless a while back, so I had a pretty good idea what was required of us to fix it.

reyalp

ahull
For what its worth, changing the <ALT> key on the Ixus 100 /SD780IS from [Playback] to [Display] results in the camera crashing when I connect it to CHDK-PTP.

It's very hard to see how the alt key assignment could cause this, mode switching doesn't have anything to do with the alt key. I guess maybe if the key masks were messed up...

ahull

I'll test again with the latest build when I get a chance, perhaps tomorrow.

reyalp

ahull
I'll test again with the latest build when I get a chance, perhaps tomorrow.

A romlog from the crash might provide some clues.

ladiko

I tried installing and starting chdkptp on Ubuntu 14.04 32bit this way:

#!/bin/bash

# variables
IUP_FILE=iup-3.11_Linux32_lib.tar.gz
CD_FILE=cd-5.8_Linux32_lib.tar.gz
CHDKPTP_DIR=${HOME}/chdkptp/trunk

# install iup
if [ ! -e ${HOME}/iup/${IUP_FILE} ] ; then
        mkdir -p ${HOME}/iup
        cd ${HOME}/iup
        wget -N --trust-server-names 'http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/iup/3.11/Linux%20Libraries/iup-3.11_Linux32_lib.tar.gz?r=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fiup%2Ffiles%2F3.11%2FLinux%2520Libraries%2F&ts=1407825526&$
        tar xpvzf ${IUP_FILE}
        sudo bash ${HOME}/iup/install
        cd ${HOME}
fi

# install cd
if [ ! -e ${HOME}/cd/${CD_FILE} ] ; then
        mkdir -p ${HOME}/cd
        cd ${HOME}/cd
        wget -N --trust-server-names 'http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/canvasdraw/5.8/Linux%20Libraries/cd-5.8_Linux32_lib.tar.gz?r=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fcanvasdraw%2Ffiles%2F5.8%2FLinux%2520Libraries%2F&ts=1$
        tar xpvzf ${CD_FILE}
        sudo bash ${HOME}/cd/install
        cd ${HOME}
fi

sudo aptitude install -q=2 -y liblua5.2-dev libusb-dev

if [ -e ${CHDKPTP_DIR} ] ; then
        cd ${CHDKPTP_DIR}
        svn update
else
        svn checkout http://subversion.assembla.com/svn/chdkptp/
        cd ${CHDKPTP_DIR}
fi

cp ${CHDKPTP_DIR}/config-sample-linux.mk ${CHDKPTP_DIR}/config.mk
make all

# only need if you have compiled IUP support and have NOT installed the libraries to system directories 
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/iup:${HOME}/cd
export LUA_PATH="${CHDKPTP_DIR}/lua/?.lua"
./chdkptp "$@"
echo -e "\n$?"

if i start the script with ${HOME}/chdkptp.sh -g i get:

Updating '.':
At revision 652.
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/ladiko/chdkptp/trunk/lfs'
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/ladiko/chdkptp/trunk/lfs'
starting gui...
gui not supported
1

reyalp

ladiko
I tried installing and starting chdkptp on Ubuntu 14.04 32bit this way:

You need to edit config.mk to enable IUP and CD support, and set the include and library paths. These are fairly well commented in in the -sample file. After you change config.mk, you should rebuild with
make clean all

In general, I would not suggest having your chdkptp script try to download and build everything.

ladiko

ok got it. 😀

The gui now works on 32 bit - great 😁

What result does enabling CD_PLUS_SUPPORT=cairo have?

What happens if i enable IUP_SUPPORT, but leave CD_SUPPORT disabled?

Taking 6 pictures takes 22 seconds, doesnt matter if i use shoot or remoteshoot or if i use 16 or only 2 megapixel. is there any way to speed it up? are scripts faster? or is it possible to enable something like serial exposure?

Is it possible to set all options via chdkptp - switching the flash on and off well as switching "File Numbering" from "Auto Reset" to "Continuous" ?

reyalp

ladiko
What result does enabling CD_PLUS_SUPPORT=cairo have?

Better quality rendering of the live view, at the cost of lower frame rate. (edit: to be more specific, the resizing to correct aspect ratio in the GUI is smoother)

Note that the compile option only makes it available, to actually enable it you need to have set gui_context_plus=true in your .chdkptpguirc file

What happens if i enable IUP_SUPPORT, but leave CD_SUPPORT disabled?

Live view won't be available. Other things may also be broken, I haven't tested this combination recently.

Taking 6 pictures takes 22 seconds, doesnt matter if i use shoot or remoteshoot or if i use 16 or only 2 megapixel. is there any way to speed it up?

Maybe, depends what your requirements are. If you want to shoot a series of shots with the same exposure (or some exposure you know in advance) then yes, it should is possible. You can use the rs -cont option to do this (if your camera can handle remote shoot in continuous mode, some are buggy), or the rsint command, or write a camera side script that repeatedly clicks the shoot_full_only button.

Some camera settings also affect shooting speed, this has been discussed earlier in the thread. See https://chdk.setepontos.com/d/6231/321

In no case will it be significantly faster than the Canon continuous mode spec for that camera.

are scripts faster? or is it possible to enable something like serial exposure?

I don't know what you mean by "serial exposure".

Is it possible to set all options via chdkptp - switching the flash on and off well as switching "File Numbering" from "Auto Reset" to "Continuous" ?

You can manipulate the Canon menus using simulated key presses, either by sending click("keyname") or using the GUI buttons. Otherwise, everything available in http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_Scripting_Cross_Reference_Page is available by sending lua code.

ladiko

reyalp
I don't know what you mean by "serial exposure".

i guess it's called continuous (shooting) mode or burst mode.

Do you know how to modify the Makefile if i want to link iup, cd, lua etc. statically? At least iup and cd cause these are not available in the ubuntu repositories.

reyalp

ladiko
Do you know how to modify the Makefile if i want to link iup, cd, lua etc. statically? At least iup and cd cause these are not available in the ubuntu repositories.

The Linux binaries I provide are linked statically with Lua. This done just by building Lua as a static lib.

Not sure about IUP and CD. The windows builds (using mingw gcc) are static, so there might be some clues there.

Alternatively, you could just bundle the CD and IUP .so files with your build if you want a complete binary package. I provide a separate package of IUP and CD .so files for raspberry pi, since there are no official binaries and they are kind of a pain to build. Providing the libs separately allows people to build their own chdkptp without needing to build the libs.

ladiko

Is the cairo-support available in the streamed life view as well as in the gui? if you say i need gui_context_plus=true in my .chdkptpguirc, it sounds like it only applies to the iup-gui, but not to the utput that is streamed via command line.

Just a note for this message regarding mjpg streaming: if you ask google about 7b3cc56e5f51db803f790dad720ed50a, you will find some more information about that topic.

reyalp

ladiko
Is the cairo-support available in the streamed life view as well as in the gui? if you say i need gui_context_plus=true in my .chdkptpguirc, it sounds like it only applies to the iup-gui, but not to the utput that is streamed via command line.

It only applies to the gui, the lvdumpimg doesn't do any rescaling at all.

reyalp

In chdkptp r653-655, I've added some improvements to the remoteshoot command

You can now shoot multiple shots without -cont. Specify the number of shots with -shots=n
To shoot multiple shots quickly using the "hold half press and click shoot full" method, using -quick. If you don't specify -quick or -cont, each shot will be taken with shoot(), doing focus and AE for each shot.

-quick and -cont allow specifying the number of shots directly,so rs -quick=10 shoots 10 shots.

You can specify an interval between shots using -int=n where n is the number of seconds between shots. Floating point numbers are accepted.

If you don't use -cont or -quick, the accuracy of the interval will be low, since it only controls the start of the shoot() call, not the the full press or shutter opening.

You must be using CHDK 1.3 to use -int with -cont.

ladiko

Great, thanks for implementing this. This way it doesnt take up to 25 seconds to create 6 images with the A2500. I will test it tomorrow.

How does
-u=<s|a|96>
-badpix[=n]
-nd=<in|out>
-sd=<v>[units]
change the shooting (process)?

reyalp

ladiko
-u=<s|a|96>

This sets how the values of -tv etc are interpreted. The default is to use convention units, like -tv=1/100 -av=2.8 etc.

-badpix[=n]

This only affects DNG. It controls whether chdkptp interpolates over zero (or n) valued pixels. This is done in chdkptp, so it doesn't affect processing on the camera.

Background: Remote capture DNG is always in DNG 1.3 format, with bad pixels specified by opcodes. Many DNG processors do not understand the opcodes, so the bad pixels show up. This option interpolates over the bad pixels. All of this applies only to bad pixels which are set to 0 (or some similar value) by the canon firmware. Hot pixels must be handled separately.

-nd=<in|out>

Overrides the state of the cameras ND filter, if it has one. Note that camera auto exposure is not aware of any CHDK overrides, including this one. So if the camera would have used the ND filter, and you only force the ND out, the shot will be over exposed. In general, if you override one exposure setting, you should override all.

-sd=<v>[units]

Attempts to set the focus distance to v before shooting. The default unit is meters.

ladiko

if there is no device, chdkptp exits with the following error message:

ERROR: no matching devices found
ERROR: not connected

and error code / return code 0. I would like to have different return codes for every error type. What do you think about that?

With my Canon A2500 using rs -cont=6 takes 9,6 seconds while rs -quick=6 takes about 11 seconds. Is there any difference, beside the fact that the camera has to be in continuous mode for -cont? Now it's a little later and darker, so the camera needs 16.2 vs. 14.3 seconds.

Would it make a difference regarding to the speed if -cont=n/-quick=n would be available to the "shoot" operation with and i download all pictures afterwards?

After executing -ereboot, the A2500 doesnt respond to chdkptp nor any key presses, not even switching off works, i have to remove the battery and after re-inserting the battery, the camera works again.

I always execute chdkptp -c -e"rec" -e"shoot ... or chdkptp -c -e"rec" -e"lvdumpimg ..." because the camera is set to play mode on initial startup. Is there any way to suppress the error message "ERROR: already in rec" ? I guess the best way is to test the current mode first, but that takes more time than just getting the erreor message, i guess. Is there a way to check the mode? I just find a reference to "list" which states if the camera is connected or not, but nothing about the current mode. Beside that, it's more like a warning than an error, cause the result is just what i want. I guess adding an option -quiet for play and rec would be sufficient!? While it shouldnt suppress "real" error messages!

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