PBWebcam

Webcam/camera access in PureBasic via SDL3

Requirements

1. Get the latest PBWebcam.pbi from this repo
2. Get the latest SDL3.pbi from my SDLx repo
3. Get the latest libSDL3 binary for your operating system

You can find the latest SDL 3.x.y release on GitHub.
On Windows, you need SDL3.dll but pay attention to x86 or x64 to match your PureBasic compiler.
On Linux, you need libSDL3.so, but you may prefer to build it from SDL source using these simple CMake instructions.

In PB, you may encounter SDL3 definitions conflicting with existing SDL1 or SDL2 definitions!
One easy fix is to temporarily move sdl.res out of your purebasic/residents/ folder.

How to Use PBWebcam

Let's call them "Webcams" because PureBasic already has a "Camera" library for the 3D engine.

• ExamineWebcams(), CountWebcams(), WebcamName() to inspect available webcams
• CountWebcamFormats() and WebcamFormatName() to inspect their supported specs
• OpenWebcam() to open a webcam by index, or OpenWebcamBestFramerate(), OpenWebcamBestResolution(), OpenWebcamClosestResolution(), WebcamIndexFromName() to simplify it
• WebcamWidth(), WebcamHeight(), WebcamFramerate(), WebcamDriver() to inspect the currently open webcam
• FlipWebcam() to mirror it horizontally (common) or flip it vertically
• WaitWebcamFrame() to wait for the first frame, with timeout
• GetWebcamFrame() to prepare a new frame
• DrawWebcamImage() to draw the frame to a 2DDrawing output like any other PB image
• DrawWebcamToCanvasGadget() to simplify it even further
• SaveWebcamImage() to save the frame to a file like any other PB image
• CloseWebcam() and FinishWebcams() when you're done!

GetWebcamFrame() and WaitWebcamFrame() cannot be called from within a StartDrawing()/StopDrawing() block.

Try It!

Download or git clone this repo, and run PBWebcam_Demo.pb!
It should enumerate your available webcams and their formats, give you a live view (mirroring and flipping optional), and let you save images.

Or, run PBWebcam_SimplerDemo.pb to immediately get a live view of the default webcam!

(You still need to get SDL3.pbi and libSDL3 separately, see Requirements above.)