What software to use

[davism]

hey people i am looking for a piece of software to use to monitor my video i recored and tell me if there was any movement in the video and if so at what point

i have a 12 hour video of my front room in my house, and i need to watch the hole lot to see if there is any movement (lost reptile)

i am using a mac so i would like software that would work on os x

this is my first post here guys so sorry if this is in the wrong place but this forum looked like the best place to look

thanks mark

[TimStannard]

As unusual requests go, this has to be up there with the best of 'em. Not so much what you want the software to go, but your reason.

Sorry, i can't help you wit the software.

I totally understand your reason for wanting to search the footage for movement, but I can't help wondering why on earth you were recording 12 hours of video of your front room! Were you expecting this reptile to escape? Was there a precedent for this?

[davism]

One of my reptile has got out and I have turned my house upside down looking for it so I thaught I would record thro night to see if there is any movement, I have my cam set up with a infrared spotlight, recording, but siting thro the video for 12 hours is abit long for me but I have got to do it till I find him so some software would be good

[Midnight Blue]

I presume it's a small reptile, we're not talking about a 15ft Python.

A quick Google for "Motion detection software Mac free" brought THIS RESULT

[TimStannard]

One of my reptile has got out and I have turned my house upside down looking for it so I thaught I would record thro night to see if there is any movement, I have my cam set up with a infrared spotlight, recording, but siting thro the video for 12 hours is abit long for me but I have got to do it till I find him so some software would be good

Silly me. It never occurred to me the reptile might have escaped before you started filming

Good luck findng it.

[davism]

lol thanks guys i will have a look at that software

[davism]

tried some of that software and its not what im looking for, im looking for some software to watch a video i have recorded and tell me if theres and movement, but all i can find is motion detection software like spycams

[TimAndrews]

Here is an untested and almost absurd suggestion.
Use a standard domestic 'motion detector' alarm, point it at the screen. Reply the entire clip; and wait for the alarm to go off.

[TimStannard]

Here is an untested and almost absurd suggestion.
Use a standard domestic 'motion detector' alarm, point it at the screen. Reply the entire clip; and wait for the alarm to go off.

I like the lateral thinking, Tim, but don't they detect motion in a 3D space, effectively by a sort of radar of infra red? I may be mistaken...off to Mr Wiki and his pediatrican.

EDIT: No. I'm totally wrong. They detect the difference in infra red radiation. So, the question is do different coloured pixels on a screen (LCD? LED? CRT?) produce different amounts of infra red energy. If so, then your idea might work - if the sensors are sensitive enough.

[TimAndrews]

Thanks to TS for killing my first theory! I feel I ought to offer another untested suggestion. I suspect it could be done using Adobe After Effects, but not all video editing software:
The instructions may sound tricky, and I actually suspect it won't actually work very well.

a) Create 3 tracks.
b) Put the original clip into track1.
c) Put the original clip into track2, but offset by a few frames.
d) Setup relevant filters or effects to:
1. In track3, display the 'difference' between track1 and track2.
2. In track3, set the display to 'add' it's current frame to it's earlier frame (as opposed to simply 'replacing' the frame, as we do when we normally edit and display video.

So:
When there is no difference between the frames in t1 and t2, then nothing gets 'added' to the frame in t3.
When a movement occurs, then t3 will show the difference.
Simply playback the clip at high speed to find the place where the frame in t3 changes dramatically.