how to use PC as a security camera?

[aardvark]

not sure if its the right forum but basically i am wondering how i would go about setting up a camera to my PC which would then act as a security camera and inform me if i have been broken into.

for example: i go on holiday, i leave the PC on, someone breaks in, the camera detects movement, starts saving the pictures (possibly to a server), and then texts me to tell me i'm being broken into.

sounds simple but i have no idea how to do it

any step by step instructions around detailing the hardware/software i would need and how to set it up? (preferably as simple/cheap as possible - assume i'm an idiot )

 

[galactiko]

This can be done, however the effectivness of such a device really depends on how much you decide to spend.

First off you'll need appropriate cameras. As the quality of the image will directly influence your ability to get a prosecution (otherwise why els ewould you want a camera based system?) you'll need a very high quality night vision camera. Plus it would have to be motion detecting. A network camera of this quality will cost you over £200 a piece. Say if you cover 5 entry points, thats £1000 (front door, back door, 1 passage and 2 rooms).

Plus you'll need PC with enough space to store the images that the camera takes (at 3mb an image every 2 seconds, thats 450mb every minute for 5 cameras, a 250gb HDD would hold 9 hours of footage)

Software to manage the process of image capture and sending to the HDD would come as standard, however to send a text to yourself woiuld require you to sign upto a service whereby your cameras would alert the service center.

All in all not worth doing, tbh, a professionally installed system would cost you less in terms of time and effort and be less prone to not working.