We are having an issue where %program files (x86)%\webcam7\rtsp\ffmpeg.exe is maxing out the CPU. Not being the one who initially setup this server, I don’t entirely understand the purpose of this, but I am assuming it is encoding the recorded video. It will slowly start more and more instances of ffmpeg.exe. It is difficult for us to troubleshoot as we don’t know exactly how this is supposed to be working. Is each instance of ffmpeg.exe a different camera encoding? Earlier we had 18 instances of this running and we are only running 11 cameras. Could this be the program hanging? We upgraded the CPU and added a second CPU to the setup with resolved the issue for a while, but after about two months, the issue came back. I did notice there is a newer version of Webcam7, but I am not sure if our license will allow us to upgrade from 1.4.0.0 Build 41240 to 1.5.3.0.
Hi Ronny!
It records the videos and store in avi and then in the background when time is and the cpu is not so busy it start ffmpeg to encode the files to mp4. This was newly also intruduced in Netcam Studio with thec same result maxing out the CPU. I made some tests on my own system with no good result. So disable backgrond decoding and let NCS record and encode to mp4 directly. This depend on how many sources, how often motion detection is triggered and some other parameters also. So disable this if possible.
-Henrik
We actually arent using NCS, we are using WebCam7 v1.4. Support referred me here. I would like to see if my license would allow me to upgrade to 1.5.3 but I never got a response regarding that either.
-Ronny
OK. Would you be interested in to move to Netcam Studio since it can control these things better and is the next generation so to say ? You have 11 cams and adding a second CPU I think NCS will be better. If all of the 11 cams are megapixel cams and in motion detection it use a lot of resources, but using 2 CPU seems a little bit to much, depending on CPU of cause…
If you are interested to switch to NCS, download the latest version here Netcam Studio - Network Camera Surveillance Software and have a test. You can add all 11 cams with full use of the program. If your webcam 7 license is not to old it can be switched to NCS under “some” restrictions.
-Henrik
Well it is also running BlueIris with 38 cameras as well. BI is only using roughly 17% total CPU Utilization. We are looking to end up with ~125-150 cameras so we really need a solution for that. If I can’t get 11 to work on the old, it makes me hesitant to upgrade to a new version. I tried to ask support about upgrading but I keep being referred back here for any and all answers.
With that goal you should definitely not use webcam7, but move to Netcam Studio. Netcam Studio is a completely rewritten software. 125-150 cams is interesting. Depending on the cams (IP, resolution, mjpeg, h.264, etc) what you are doing (motion detection, continuous recording, …), FPS, quality of video etc will of cause determine the number of servers you need. For security I assume you will use several servers. If you want to compare NCS and BI it is best to install both software and configure them in the same way and compare CPU load, user interface, stability of software etc and what else is important for you.
For the moment I cannot says so much more since it is all about the cams and what you are doing with the stream.
You know where to find me 
).
-Henrik
Well we currently have 11 security cameras which we use WebCam7 for. It is configured to recorcd 640x480@5fps when it detects motion. The other 58 in BI are not recorded, but are streams via a web portal to our clients. For security reasons, we are looking to separate these two servers, then we are adding an additional building which will house another 38 streaming cams, and ~15 security cameras. We are currently trying to determine the best strategy for this environment. Either way, currently ffmpeg is killing these dual xeons. How can I find out if my license will allow me to upgrade to see if that resolved the issue?
Your license allows to upgrade because we are not that much regarding on upgrade periods so even if you’re not officially eligible it will work.
On the other end, It probably won’t change anything to the problem. Maybe the settings are a bit different because we have aligned with settings from netcam studio but I doubt that it will do a notable difference.
The optimal upgrade would probably to switch to Netcam Studio.
Actually i cannot find your license in the system to see when you have purchased this license. If it’s less than 1 year-old and Netcam Studio solves the problem we will exchange it for free for the corresponding (in term of price) Netcam Studio license.
Fair enough. Thank you very much and I will try that temporarily. The license is $99 for 64 sources as in 64 cameras correct? Is that the maximum that the software supports on a single server? The license appears to have been purchased in November of 2013. All I have is the Order ID, the License code, and the licence name. I have been unable to find any information regarding the login information for the members section.
Well even 64-sources on a single machine you’ll already need a very system to handle it (or use only low-res jpeg/mjpeg stream).
It would make sense to offer a license supporting more we would do.
Regarding your license it’s way after than end-of-support / upgrade period so we cannot offer a free upgrade to Netcam Studio.