OT: Break in video

LOL!

Ok, for whatever it might be worth...

Video Editing... I use Ulead Video Studio version 10, which came with one of the video capture systems. I didn't find a download site for htat version, but the latest greatest is the PRO version at

Video format converter... the trial period, if you go to the Windows "Add/Remove programs" thing in control panel, it will offer a "free" version with less functionality. Might need to buy the pro version unless your stuff will work with the free version.

Hardware... Video work will tax any machine. You can't have too fast of a processor or too much memory.

Defrag often!

And learn Zen-like patience...

The guy looks suspiciously familiar with your factory layout. Sadly, the video is not good enough to recognize the person. Thanks for posting.

i

At the time I had recently fired a guy for taking all my Aluminum stock to the scrapyard, I didn't prosecute. His BIL still works for me. Yep, it appears "Wayne" knew about the cameras and went into the office and unplugged them from the computer that runs them. He didn't take anything from the office or do any damage...other than the door, which now has three

2x4s in brackets across it. This guy stole a couple of electric power tools and a couple of the employees' radios and hauled his loot back up through the skylight.

Now that I've had so much fun with YouTube, I think I'll make videos of some of my cooler machines in operation. I bought a good camera with the intention of making training and procedure videos and just haven't gotten around to learning how to do it.

Thanks for the impetus to get started, It's fun! ...and, I can video the WRONG way to do things and name the offender "Wayne"! I love it!

I used VSO on the computer in my Batcave, even with a quad core and 8gb ram, video IS slower than I'd like.

While you are puttering around..consider putting the video recorder and camera hookups inside a tough, strong enclosure that burglars cant come in and unplug.

Just a heads up.

Shrug

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch

Ya' THINK??? (We did secure the office doors with 2x4s in brackets.)

No disrespect, but this is a perfect example of why most people baulk at the price of CCTV that will really do the job... and an example of why what they do on NCIS or Alias with a video image is total bull pucky. And a PC with a Geovision card while low end for price is 100 times better and a relative fraction of the cost of recording equipment from 10 - 15 years ago. Also, most decent DVR systems will allow you to record at various resolutions and record rates. Often folks get all hyped up about recording for a month or more so they sacrifice image resolution and/or record rate. The other thing, and you alluded to it... they go for wide angle cameras to save money instead of putting in more cameras each one seeing a smaller area, but with better relative image quality per area covered. More cameras also means a need for more recording power which adds to the cost.

Me: "You can have either 45 days record time, OR high res and high capture rate."

Them: "Ok, set it for both."

Me: "Sigh."

I noticed the same thing. Siren goes off, and he runs in a specific direction

-- no looking around, Gee, which way did I come in? The guy obviously knows where he's going. Former employee, perhaps? (Let's hope not a current employee!) Or maybe an employee of a contractor who's done work for you before, maybe HVAC or electrical?

You forgot to mention a couple of things.

1. You got onto this topic on account of being miffed that the cops didn't want your video, even though you well knew that on its own it would be worthless for identifying the crook... exactly as any sensible person would have expected and predicted.
2. You claimed that you couldn't show the video on account of fear of being sued. It's clear now that was a just a phony excuse to avoid admitting #1.

Wayne

But not familiar enough to know there were cameras?

I'd say that it would be good enough to recognize him *if* he was someone Tom already knew. Getting from there to prosecution could be problematic though. Better than nothing, but not even as good as the game camera I use for something that doesn't matter if it works or not. Which makes me think about something - having concealed still cameras flashing constantly might be a cheaper and better deterrent than low-quality video. Then again, especially considering the area, a $500 reward after the fact might be the most effective solution of all.

Wayne

Maybe even so familiar as to know that the cameras are very shitty.

Or perhaps a big dog on premises.

i

I thought they weren't too bad considering. It points out the problems with the approach - worst case the crook wears a balaclava and you have nothing, Best case you get a clear shot of his face, then what? In such areas the cops might not have the budget to investigate even if you give them the crook's name and address.

I'm thinking that an assortment of still cams in a pitch-black shop, flashing sporadically, would get at least as good pictures and be somewhat disorienting. Beyond that some setups use pepper spray, which gives a bit of relatively low-risk revenge, plus a signature red-eyed look if the cops happen to run across him soon after.

If it's merely big, then it probably wouldn't be effective. And if it was vicious then it really could be a liability. Either way, the crook could kill it, so a bad idea from an animal lover's point of view.

How about an assorment of fake bear traps strewn about, along with a sign that says "one of these is real, do you feel lucky?" :-)

Wayne

Now it makes sense why the Perp got nicknamed "Wayne" LOL

Now it makes sense why the Perp got nicknamed "Wayne" LOL

*********************************

He's clueless and I finally plonked him and his personal attacks, it's all he knows when his arguments get shredded.

My philosophy has been to bolster my perimeter. I put a bunch of overlapping cameras outside in "bulletproof" housings, welded grates over the windows, frequent armed guard walk-throughs, etc. we even grated the skylights. I want to make it too much trouble to break in and steal some tools and boom-boxes. The camera system was supposed to be more of a deterrent than a real security system. We haven't had a break-in in just over three years, compared to every couple of weeks. I feel bad for these people that do bad things, it's a symptom of a deeper problem. Unemployment here is horrid! The local political "machine" is anti-business and has driven jobs away.

It's a classic debating technique used by multimillionaire Usenet posters who work in ghettos while waiting for their cheese-check expropriation bailouts. :-)

Thousands spent on video surveillance, bulletproof cameras, and armed guards, all for naught as most would expect. Plus the value of who knows how many hours Tom spent here talking in circles and making silly excuses, and then finally giving in and posting a video that proved his haranguer's prediction perfectly. "Wayne" may have only walked out with peanuts in stuff, but if he's reading now he must be laughing his ass off. A couple days ago he was just a hapless burglar, now he's the fearsome terrorist who might sue or burn down the plant!

As if that wasn't bad enough, by tomorrow poor Tom will realize that he missed his chance to name the perp Barry.

I Usenet.

Wayne

This facility is guarded by a local man that has a 12 gauge shot gun 3 days a week. You guess the nights. Found on a sign in Charleston, SC at an electronics distributor I visited when I had to rewind the power transformer for my Sansui 8080DB reciever and needed magnet wire. Reciever purchased in Japan in 1977 still works, I must have done a good job with the repair.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Not bad. Three years is a long time. Thieves may be drug addicts, for whom employment is not really possible.

i

Obviously! Where else can one dispense such gratuitous vitriolic graffiti with anonymous impunity?