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Control your GH3 from a Web Browser - Now with video !
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  • hellrazorhellrazor

    I just had the experience that WLAN from the GM1 is good just for a couple of meters. Are there alternatives rather than keeping an Access Point (e.g. http://www.techreaction.net/2012/08/20/review-tp-link-wireless-n-150-nano-router-and-then-some/) nearby? Actually... I will investigate using OPENWRT on a tp-link 703n. Maybe we could run the app on it!

  • richmurphyrichmurphy

    Thanks for this so far - a nice added help for me on the GH3.

  • hellrazorhellrazor

    noted

  • Brian_SianoBrian_Siano

    @hellrazor Not sure if I follow your description. But here's what I was thinking.

    1: You take your camera to the start point of your shot. You adjust focus, aperture, shutter speed, whatever. 2: On your web browser, a set of values for these settings appears. 3: When you have the settings right, you designate this set of values as "Set #1" 4: You move the camera to a point where the new settings will kick in. Again, you adjust focus, aperture, whatever. 5: Again, these new values appear on the web browser. 6: Again, when you have the settings right for this new camera position, you designate this "Set #2." 7: Repeat the above for any further changes during the shot. 8: Click on a button that says "Set #1." The camera adjusts to the first set of settings Begin the shot. 9: As the camera moves to the point described in step 4 above, you click on the "Set #2" button. The camera adjusts to the second set of settings.

    I should say that I don't own a GH3 yet, that I don't know if this is at all possible, and that you ought to focus on what current GH3 users want before trying to meet my suggestions. But if you like this idea, and if it's possible, I figure people might like this capability.

  • PsycoPsyco

    I'm working on a wireless FF using Arduino borads and shields (add ons) and from my experience I can say, its quiet easy to set up a hardware_knob <-> USB_interface system (only getting it mechanically together is some work, e.g. putting it in a sturdy box;-) But what about an USB controller:

    http://store.griffintechnology.com/powermate

    or

    http://store.griffintechnology.com/powermate-bluetooth

    Thumbs up for the good work!

  • hellrazorhellrazor

    @Lufthmmel Looking forward to this! @Brian_Siano if you get focus by the GUI and press a button and focus again and press a button and you wait the time from A to B and press a button... and the every time you press the button the saved scenery gets repeated, wouldn't that help? on top of that setting... lets say if you could adjust a curve? bezier preferred? ...just improvising.

  • Brian_SianoBrian_Siano

    @Lufthummel re the focus issue

    First of all, maybe we ought to refer to this feature as "settings cues." A shot may require having one set of focus, zoom, and aperture settings at one moment, another at a later moment, etc. So the user may have a list of these settings and, as the scene is being shot, taps a button to have the camera adjust to the next cue.

    Second, the focus thing may not require knowing the actual distances. These things depend on the lens, the zoom setting, the aperture, etc. It may only require that the camera "know" how the lens is set at a given moment-- some digital value that the web control can display. Maybe it can be 1 through 100, where 1 is the closest that the lens can focus, and 100 as the furthest. The user can refocus the lens before the shot, take note of the values, and plug those into the cue list.

    I still use a GH2, and boy, sometimes I wish I could control it via a USB cable.

  • LufthummelLufthummel

    @hellrazor - yes, that is my plan, too! I have a spare prototype now running in plain Java /Swing client running. I'm able to get the IP via UPnP and to successfully connect the camera. I also managed it to create a custom JPanel to display the live stream inside a JFrame without blocking the application (Threading does the trick...). I've to make the application more reliable in terms of network connections and to handle connects/disconnects. I encapsulate as much functionality as possible so the porting to android will be easy.

    I also understand now how to calculate the aperture min & max values from the lens data (value 2 & 3 in the response). So I can calculate the right aperture and send it to the cam. I still have not the full understanding of all values I get as lens data. Has anybody an idea what value 3 & 4 in lens data are about?

    @Brian_Siano: if we can figure out the minimum (close) /maximum (infinite) value for focus and are able to set a distinct focus value then it should be easy to implement your use case.

    I will update my prototype on the weekend and upload it once I get a stable version. So stay tuned

    P.S.: I've a G6 which I use for testing

  • Brian_SianoBrian_Siano

    I know this may not be feasible, but one feature I'd love to see in these remote control software systems is control over manual focus. It'd be terrific if we could specify focus settings in a sequence, and as we go through a take, we tell the camera to shift focus appropriately.

    Let's say we want to rack focus during a shot, but we can't do it by hand. It'd be terrific if we could specify a list of focus settings for the shot. So, when the shot starts, we're at Focus Setting 1. But, when we want to rack focus, we tap a button on the screen, and the camera goes to Focus Setting 2.

    And if such a thing can apply to zoom and aperture, even better.

  • hellrazorhellrazor

    I would really like to see an Android APP for this! I will take a look myself around middle of Feb when my gm1 arrives.

  • valdi99valdi99

    I wanted to let you know it works also with G6. Not perfectly, but it works!
    Lenuisible - GREAT work, I am really impressed!

  • tosvustosvus

    I'm confused about this program. Tried to download .jpg and rename it but says it is not a valid zipfile.

  • narcusnarcus

    I wish I could write some code but I am only using the software lenuisible made

  • 1anentropic1anentropic

    Suggestion: put the code up on github.com so others can contribute

  • narcusnarcus

    Is there a possibility to get recorded movies quickly from the camera to the pc without touching the camera? What we do now is we record the finish of a horse race with a capture card and then we do a replay of that sequence. We could now eliminate that pc and reduce the complexity of the setup if we can start and stop the recording on the camera via web remote and then copy the recorded file to disk and reply it from the second PC. The preferred way to copy the file would be via the usb cable. Does somebody have a solution for this?

  • lenuisiblelenuisible

    @starios and @johnnymauser I don't know anything about MIDI and OSC, but what you need is anything that can send a HTTP GET request (basically what your web browser is doing when you try to reach a website), if the MIDI device you're speaking of can be programmed to do that, this can work, but you still need a Wifi connection.
    The easiest way to have a physical interface changing the GH3 settings is maybe to use an arduino controller with a wifi shield (http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoWiFiShield).

    For focusing, I'm afraid that the delay will be too long to have a nice experience.

    About Zuiko lenses, I don't have any, but it should work.

  • JohnnyMauserJohnnyMauser

    I also would be very interested to controll the camera via MIDI or OSC! Is it possible to integrate that?

  • stariosstarios

    did the hen came first or the egg? :P

  • stariosstarios

    is it possible to control focus in olympus zuiko lenses?

  • stariosstarios

    I just found some articles about Java input from MIDI, it would be great follow focus, zoom and general control with real buttons and potentiometres

  • stariosstarios

    I know nothing about programming and my question may be childish, is it possible to use a usb midi controller as a camera controller through this program, something like using pitch wheel to focus :P There are usb midi controllers not necessarily with keys but potentiometers and buttons and have nothing to do with sound, just lite data packets of orders

  • stariosstarios

    the weird thing is that you can add in this java subsections in ss and aperture that you cannot set from gh3's body. It is great for fading in a timelapse shot with 768 subsections for one stop :P I also believe (correct me if I am wrong) it shoots only in video mode ss16000, this does not work in photos even when shot with electronic shutter. I am happy now shooting 24p ss48 LOL

  • lenuisiblelenuisible

    @Hionhifi

    I don't have G6, so I don't know, but I assume it should work, we just need a G6 (and a GF6) owner to test it.

  • HionhifiHionhifi

    Since the G6 also supports WiFi, does anyone know if this app will control that camera as well? That would be cool.

  • dtbowdtbow

    @debaster that sounds like an interesting app idea. Combined with some other support tools to pre-calculate the stop motion / timelapse and motion support (points which location is pre-calculated and animated for each frame) this could become something really unique. I could relatively quickly come up with "something", though making a quality app would require time, as usual. The other question is whether there are enough people getting GH3 to make development of a full-featured app feasible.

    @lenuisible @fegato I get approximately 30fps on iPad, but yes, it is just 640x480 and severely compressed. 10fps is probably due to the java app is not fast enough to draw all frames.

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