Encoding Max Limit

This example shows how to set up the encoder node to encode the RGB camera and both grayscale cameras (of DepthAI/OAK-D) at the same time, having all encoder parameters set to maximum quality and FPS. The RGB is set to 4K (3840x2160) and the grayscale are set to 1280x720 each, all at 25FPS. Each encoded video stream is transferred over XLINK and saved to a respective file.

Pressing Ctrl+C will stop the recording and then convert it using ffmpeg into an mp4 to make it playable. Note that ffmpeg will need to be installed and runnable for the conversion to mp4 to succeed.

Be careful, this example saves encoded video to your host storage. So if you leave it running, you could fill up your storage on your host.

It’s a variation of RGB Encoding and RGB & Mono Encoding.

Similar samples:

Encoded bitstream (either MJPEG, H264, or H265) from the device can also be saved directly into .mp4 container with no computational overhead on the host computer. See demo here for more information.

Matroska

Besides ffmpeg and .mp4 video container (which is patent encumbered), you could also use the mkvmerge (see MKVToolNix for GUI usage) and .mkv video container to mux encoded stream into video file that is supported by all major video players (eg. VLC)

mkvmerge -o vid.mkv video.h265

Demo

Setup

Please run the install script to download all required dependencies. Please note that this script must be ran from git context, so you have to download the depthai-python repository first and then run the script

git clone https://github.com/luxonis/depthai-python.git
cd depthai-python/examples
python3 install_requirements.py

For additional information, please follow installation guide

Source code

Python

C++

Also available on GitHub

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#!/usr/bin/env python3

import depthai as dai

# Create pipeline
pipeline = dai.Pipeline()

# Define sources and outputs
camRgb = pipeline.create(dai.node.ColorCamera)
monoLeft = pipeline.create(dai.node.MonoCamera)
monoRight = pipeline.create(dai.node.MonoCamera)
ve1 = pipeline.create(dai.node.VideoEncoder)
ve2 = pipeline.create(dai.node.VideoEncoder)
ve3 = pipeline.create(dai.node.VideoEncoder)

ve1Out = pipeline.create(dai.node.XLinkOut)
ve2Out = pipeline.create(dai.node.XLinkOut)
ve3Out = pipeline.create(dai.node.XLinkOut)

ve1Out.setStreamName('ve1Out')
ve2Out.setStreamName('ve2Out')
ve3Out.setStreamName('ve3Out')

# Properties
camRgb.setBoardSocket(dai.CameraBoardSocket.CAM_A)
camRgb.setResolution(dai.ColorCameraProperties.SensorResolution.THE_4_K)
monoLeft.setCamera("left")
monoRight.setCamera("right")

# Setting to 26fps will trigger error
ve1.setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H264_MAIN)
ve2.setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H265_MAIN)
ve3.setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H264_MAIN)

# Linking
monoLeft.out.link(ve1.input)
camRgb.video.link(ve2.input)
monoRight.out.link(ve3.input)

ve1.bitstream.link(ve1Out.input)
ve2.bitstream.link(ve2Out.input)
ve3.bitstream.link(ve3Out.input)

# Connect to device and start pipeline
with dai.Device(pipeline) as dev:

    # Output queues will be used to get the encoded data from the output defined above
    outQ1 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve1Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)
    outQ2 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve2Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)
    outQ3 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve3Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)

    # Processing loop
    with open('mono1.h264', 'wb') as fileMono1H264, open('color.h265', 'wb') as fileColorH265, open('mono2.h264', 'wb') as fileMono2H264:
        print("Press Ctrl+C to stop encoding...")
        while True:
            try:
                # Empty each queue
                while outQ1.has():
                    outQ1.get().getData().tofile(fileMono1H264)

                while outQ2.has():
                    outQ2.get().getData().tofile(fileColorH265)

                while outQ3.has():
                    outQ3.get().getData().tofile(fileMono2H264)
            except KeyboardInterrupt:
                break

    print("To view the encoded data, convert the stream file (.h264/.h265) into a video file (.mp4), using commands below:")
    cmd = "ffmpeg -framerate 25 -i {} -c copy {}"
    print(cmd.format("mono1.h264", "mono1.mp4"))
    print(cmd.format("mono2.h264", "mono2.mp4"))
    print(cmd.format("color.h265", "color.mp4"))

Also available on GitHub

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#include <csignal>
#include <iostream>

// Includes common necessary includes for development using depthai library
#include "depthai/depthai.hpp"

// Keyboard interrupt (Ctrl + C) detected
static std::atomic<bool> alive{true};
static void sigintHandler(int signum) {
    alive = false;
}

int main() {
    using namespace std;
    using namespace std::chrono;
    std::signal(SIGINT, &sigintHandler);

    // Create pipeline
    dai::Pipeline pipeline;

    // Define sources and outputs
    auto camRgb = pipeline.create<dai::node::ColorCamera>();
    auto monoLeft = pipeline.create<dai::node::MonoCamera>();
    auto monoRight = pipeline.create<dai::node::MonoCamera>();
    auto ve1 = pipeline.create<dai::node::VideoEncoder>();
    auto ve2 = pipeline.create<dai::node::VideoEncoder>();
    auto ve3 = pipeline.create<dai::node::VideoEncoder>();

    auto ve1Out = pipeline.create<dai::node::XLinkOut>();
    auto ve2Out = pipeline.create<dai::node::XLinkOut>();
    auto ve3Out = pipeline.create<dai::node::XLinkOut>();

    ve1Out->setStreamName("ve1Out");
    ve2Out->setStreamName("ve2Out");
    ve3Out->setStreamName("ve3Out");

    // Properties
    camRgb->setBoardSocket(dai::CameraBoardSocket::CAM_A);
    camRgb->setResolution(dai::ColorCameraProperties::SensorResolution::THE_4_K);
    monoLeft->setCamera("left");
    monoRight->setCamera("right");

    // Setting to 26fps will trigger error
    ve1->setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai::VideoEncoderProperties::Profile::H264_MAIN);
    ve2->setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai::VideoEncoderProperties::Profile::H265_MAIN);
    ve3->setDefaultProfilePreset(25, dai::VideoEncoderProperties::Profile::H264_MAIN);

    // Linking
    monoLeft->out.link(ve1->input);
    camRgb->video.link(ve2->input);
    monoRight->out.link(ve3->input);

    ve1->bitstream.link(ve1Out->input);
    ve2->bitstream.link(ve2Out->input);
    ve3->bitstream.link(ve3Out->input);

    // Connect to device and start pipeline
    dai::Device device(pipeline);

    // Output queues will be used to get the encoded data from the output defined above
    auto outQ1 = device.getOutputQueue("ve1Out", 30, true);
    auto outQ2 = device.getOutputQueue("ve2Out", 30, true);
    auto outQ3 = device.getOutputQueue("ve3Out", 30, true);

    // The .h264 / .h265 files are raw stream files (not playable yet)
    auto videoFile1 = ofstream("mono1.h264", ios::binary);
    auto videoFile2 = ofstream("color.h265", ios::binary);
    auto videoFile3 = ofstream("mono2.h264", ios::binary);
    cout << "Press Ctrl+C to stop encoding..." << endl;

    while(alive) {
        auto out1 = outQ1->get<dai::ImgFrame>();
        videoFile1.write((char*)out1->getData().data(), out1->getData().size());
        auto out2 = outQ2->get<dai::ImgFrame>();
        videoFile2.write((char*)out2->getData().data(), out2->getData().size());
        auto out3 = outQ3->get<dai::ImgFrame>();
        videoFile3.write((char*)out3->getData().data(), out3->getData().size());
    }

    cout << "To view the encoded data, convert the stream file (.h264/.h265) into a video file (.mp4), using a command below:" << endl;
    cout << "ffmpeg -framerate 25 -i mono1.h264 -c copy mono1.mp4" << endl;
    cout << "ffmpeg -framerate 25 -i mono2.h264 -c copy mono2.mp4" << endl;
    cout << "ffmpeg -framerate 25 -i color.h265 -c copy color.mp4" << endl;

    return 0;
}

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