13 - 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.

Demo

Setup

Please run the following command to install the required dependencies

 python3 -m pip install -U pip
 python3 -m pip install opencv-python
 python3 -m pip install -U --force-reinstall depthai

For additional information, please follow installation guide

Source code

Also available on GitHub

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#!/usr/bin/env python3

import depthai as dai

pipeline = dai.Pipeline()

# Nodes
colorCam = pipeline.createColorCamera()
colorCam.setResolution(dai.ColorCameraProperties.SensorResolution.THE_4_K)
monoCam = pipeline.createMonoCamera()
monoCam2 = pipeline.createMonoCamera()
ve1 = pipeline.createVideoEncoder()
ve2 = pipeline.createVideoEncoder()
ve3 = pipeline.createVideoEncoder()

ve1Out = pipeline.createXLinkOut()
ve2Out = pipeline.createXLinkOut()
ve3Out = pipeline.createXLinkOut()

# Properties
monoCam.setBoardSocket(dai.CameraBoardSocket.LEFT)
monoCam2.setBoardSocket(dai.CameraBoardSocket.RIGHT)
ve1Out.setStreamName('ve1Out')
ve2Out.setStreamName('ve2Out')
ve3Out.setStreamName('ve3Out')

# Setting to 26fps will trigger error
ve1.setDefaultProfilePreset(1280, 720, 25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H264_MAIN)
ve2.setDefaultProfilePreset(3840, 2160, 25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H265_MAIN)
ve3.setDefaultProfilePreset(1280, 720, 25, dai.VideoEncoderProperties.Profile.H264_MAIN)

# Link nodes
monoCam.out.link(ve1.input)
colorCam.video.link(ve2.input)
monoCam2.out.link(ve3.input)

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


# Pipeline is defined, now we can connect to the device
with dai.Device(pipeline) as dev:

    # Prepare data queues
    outQ1 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve1Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)
    outQ2 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve2Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)
    outQ3 = dev.getOutputQueue('ve3Out', maxSize=30, blocking=True)

    # Start the pipeline
    dev.startPipeline()

    # 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"))

Got questions?

We’re always happy to help with code or other questions you might have.

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