Selecting a particular webcam

Question

 

Hi all,

 

Me again.

 

I wrote some software that use the AVICAP32.dll to do a spot of video capture.

 

All was going well till they went and bought a laptop with a built in webcam.  Now my software picks one a random and uses that for the video (somewhat annoying to say the least) - SO -

 

Can anyone tell me how to pick a camera to use,  I suspect it is related to  DVM_DIALOG but my experiments have not been too sucessful.

 

Any help would be appreciated,

 

Thanks

 

Steve

Answer 1

JaJaPuppy,

 

Nice meeting you again! Some devices cannot provide preview and capture at the same time unless you are capturing at half the frame rate or only capturing one field. Experiment in graphedit to make sure that this works for your device: if not, insert a smart tee on the capture pin and use that for the render output.

 

Accroding to your question this time, I would like to provide you the WinCE WebCam. Please take a look at the following articles on the issue:

 

Windows CE .NET WebCam, Part 1

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa459161.aspx

 

Windows CE .NET WebCam, Part 2

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa459164.aspx

 

Hope that can take you some ideas. :-)

Answer 2

Hi again Bruno,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

It has given me some ideas for a future project :0)

 

Unfortunatly it hasnt helped here (although having re-read my question that may be my fault - the description wasnt very clear!)

 

My code uses AVICap32.dll directly.

 

What it does is selects the default camera (which was fine when they only had the one - a microsoft Lifecam VX-6000).

 

The vidoe is "bound" to a picture box that shows the full image.  (it is a winforms application).  This is shown in real time.  To capture the image we have a seperate picture box that is the size of the image we want to capture (in this case a passport photo).  A timer is used to to grab the center setion of the "live" picture box and display it in the "photo" picture box. (This gives the impression that there are two video feeds - but we cheeted!).  When they capture the image they actually capture the "photo" picture box and not the live feed getting nicely round the camera support. 

 

All this worked brilliantly.  Then they went and bought Sony Vaio laptops with built in cameras,

 

What fappens now is that the software randomly picks one of the cameras.  Sometimes its the built in one, and sometimes its the Lifecam.  We need it always to be the life cam.

 

So what I need to be able to do is to allow the user to pick which camera to use.  All the cpturing is working fine.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

Answer 3

 

Have ever read this article below?

 

Teach Your Old Web Cam New Tricks: Use Video Captures in Your .NET Applications

http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/30375?type=kbArticle&trk=MSCP

 

I hope the article can give you more helps. :-)

Answer 4

Hi Bruno,

 

Thanks again.

 

That code was very similar to wjat I had, apart from the bit that lists available drivers.  I have added that bit but have come accross another slight problem.

 

The only driver listed is "Microsoft WDM Image Capture (Win32)"

 

Both cameras are availbel through the control panel and through Windows Explorer.

 

Now I am puzzled

 

Thanks

 

Steve

Answer 5

Hi  Steve

 

Thank god i found you! Having the same problem i have. Did you get any idea how to do it yet? I have searched through the internet and can't find the solution yet.  What a pitty!

 

Anyway, I hope you can find the solution soon. If I do, i will let you know...

 

 

Piya

Answer 6

You can send a windows message to the video device handler that will activate a Video Source dialog that typically allows you to select which of the multiple cameras being serviced by the handler to use.  The message ID is: WM_CAP_DLG_VIDEOSOURCE.  The problem with this approach is that it requires user interaction, for example, you can't program the application to always select the second webcam.  If you don't mind a user dialog solution, the WM_CAP_DLG_VIDEOSOURCE approach should work fine.

 

Let me know if you want sample code.

 

Randy

 

Answer 7

 

Thanx for a valueable sharing of yoru experiences.

 

i had a same problem that, i dont want user interaction for selecting Video Source Dialog. i want to handl it programatically, but how this is the actual question. I will appreciate Randy if you could pleas share sample code to avoid user interaction "Video Source Dialog" for selecting two webcams.

 

desperatelly waiting your reply

 

Hannan

Answer 8

 

Hi guys,

i recently bought 7 cheap web cams ambitiously thinking i could easily write an application to monitor all 7 symultaneously. oh i love learning things the hard way.

 

Anyway, The application ive written so far cant monitor all 7 at once, but it can switch cameras automatically without user interaction. it uses the avicap32.dll. I dont know if it will be any use to anyone but heres how i did it.

 

I discovered that when the user chose the camera source from the dialog that appears, it would write the path to the device in the registry, in the key HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM to a string called DevicePath.

 

So when the user launches the program for the first time, the program asks the user if they want to add a camera and goes into a loop until the answer is no.

 

in the loop:

the string DevicePath is deleted from the above mentioned key

the program then tells the driver to "connect", since avicap doesnt know which device to connect to it throws a dialog to the user asking which device to connect to.

when the user choses the device, the driver connects and displays a preview

the program then looks at the DevicePath string in the above mentioned key and saves the value to the program settings

my.settings.cameras.add(

My.Computer.Registry.GetValue("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM", "DevicePath", Nothing))

 

when the user clicks No, they dont want to add any more cameras the program should now have an array of device paths for each camera attached.

 

now when the user clicks the button to start to capture, the program iterates through the array, chosing the next device in the array, it sets the value of DevicePath to the value of the selected element in the array, it tells the driver to connect and send the output to a picturebox for preview, then tells the driver to take a snapshop, saves the snapshot to disk, tells the driver to disconnect, and then deletes the value of DevicePath and the loop starts again.

 

this works, but isnt ideal. Ive found that each cycle for each camera takes about 2.5 to 3 seconds for the driver to connect, take snapshot, then disconnect. this means that if ive got 7 cameras attached it takes the program about 20 seconds to take snapshots from all 7 cameras.

 

anyway, it works for now. im actually trying to achieve a capture rate of at least 4 shots per second per camera, symultaneously.

 

ive got no idea if its possible using avicap32.dll but heres my theory (in case you were interested).

when then program tells the driver to connect, it reads the device path from the above mentioned registry key. the driver should only need to do this when it connects.

 

so I figure i can iterate through the device array, set the devicepath value in the registry, tell the driver to connect and send output to a new instance of the picturebox, then iterate to the next device, set the device path value in the registry, and tell the driver to connect and send output to a new instance of picturebox.

 

that way we get all cameras connected at the start of the program and dont have to worry about disconnecting the camera, switching the camera, reconnecting, etc..

 

no idea if this will work, im going to give it a try.

Answer 9

Hi Often Drunk,


what you try to do with different cameras using avicap32 is very interresting...
I've tried to implement it following the information you gave, but even when I modify the DevicePath value in the registry before connecting the vfw driver, the Video Source Selection windows keeps on poping-up...

Can you give more information on how you performed the camera source swithing, or even provide a code snippet... that would be great

Thanks in advance

Bruno.

Answer 10

Often Drunk's post was very helpful to me.

In a nut shell, changing the DevicePath key does infact change the source of the current video device.  But know that you have to manually stop and start the capture from code.  After searching the registry for the value of the DevicePath I was able to find out not only the location of ALL of the video capture devices, but the names and whether or not they are currently connected (AKA Linked) to the PC!

Using the below code in conjuction with Drunk's post you will be able to have a complete list of the capture devices as well as the ability to select them.

For anyone else that needs the following code to help them locate all of the video devices (including webcams) installed on a particular machine... here it is:

' Note: This is in Visual Basic 6 (But you should be able to convert to .NET)

' Note: place the following code in a Module

' Structure (UDT) for the available device information

Public Type WebCamDevice

FriendlyName As String

SymbolicLink As String

Linked As Boolean

Selected As Boolean

End Type

Public Function EnumVideoDevices(ByRef WebCamDevices() As WebCamDevice)

Dim CurrentDevice As String

Dim DeviceClassId As String

Dim Index As Long

Dim DeviceKey As String

Dim hKey As Long

Dim SubKey As String

Dim sName As String

Dim Cnt As Long

Dim Ret As Long

Dim KeyName As String

Dim NewSubKey As String

'Dim WebCamDevices() As WebCamDevice

Dim Ubnd As Long

Dim WebCamDevice As WebCamDevice

Dim WebCamDeviceNul As WebCamDevice

Dim WaveKeyFound As Boolean

Dim ControlKeyFound As Boolean

Dim OkToAdd As Boolean

CurrentDevice = GetString(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM", "DevicePath")

' If there is no Device selected, then loop through the MediaCategories key to find Capture

If LenB(CurrentDevice) = 0 Then

' Get the DeviceClassId

DeviceClassId = vbNullString

'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaCategories\{65E8773D-8F56-11D0-A3B9-00A0C9223196}

SubKey = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaCategories"

If RegOpenKey(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SubKey, hKey) = 0 Then

'Create a buffer

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Cnt = 0

'Enumerate the keys

Do While (RegEnumKeyEx(hKey, Cnt, sName, Ret, ByVal 0&, vbNullString, ByVal 0&, ByVal 0&) <> ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS)

'Show the enumerated key

KeyName = Left$(sName, Ret)

If GetString(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SubKey & "\" & KeyName, "Name") = "Capture" Then

DeviceClassId = KeyName

Exit Do

End If

'prepare for the next key

Cnt = Cnt + 1

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Loop

'close the registry key

RegCloseKey hKey

End If

Else

' Get the id from the last item used

Index = InStr(CurrentDevice, "{")

DeviceClassId = Mid$(CurrentDevice, Index, 38)

End If

If LenB(DeviceClassId) = 0 Then

' Ask the user - We have no idea where this is located in the registry

Exit Function

End If

Erase WebCamDevices

Ubnd = -1

'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{65E8773D-8F56-11D0-A3B9-00A0C9223196}

DeviceKey = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\" & DeviceClassId

If RegOpenKey(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, DeviceKey, hKey) = 0 Then

'Create a buffer

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Cnt = 0

'Enumerate the keys

Do While (RegEnumKeyEx(hKey, Cnt, sName, Ret, ByVal 0&, vbNullString, ByVal 0&, ByVal 0&) <> ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS)

'Show the enumerated key

KeyName = Left$(sName, Ret)

'WebCamDevice

If LenB(KeyName) <> 0 Then

NewSubKey = DeviceKey & "\" & KeyName

WebCamDevice = WebCamDeviceNul

OkToAdd = False

WaveKeyFound = False

ControlKeyFound = False

Call PopulateWebCamDevice(NewSubKey, WebCamDevice, WaveKeyFound, ControlKeyFound)

If WaveKeyFound = False And ControlKeyFound = True And LenB(WebCamDevice.SymbolicLink) <> 0 Then

OkToAdd = True

End If

If OkToAdd = True Then

' Determine if this device is the one with is currently selected

If UCase$(CurrentDevice) = UCase$(WebCamDevice.SymbolicLink) Then

WebCamDevice.Selected = True

End If

Ubnd = Ubnd + 1

ReDim Preserve WebCamDevices(Ubnd)

WebCamDevices(Ubnd) = WebCamDevice

End If

End If

'prepare for the next key

Cnt = Cnt + 1

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Loop

'close the registry key

RegCloseKey hKey

End If

End Function

Private Sub PopulateWebCamDevice(ByVal SubKey As String, ByRef WebCamDevice As WebCamDevice, ByRef WaveKeyFound As Boolean, ByRef ControlKeyFound As Boolean)

Dim hKey As Long

Dim sName As String

Dim Cnt As Long

Dim Ret As Long

Dim KeyName As String

Dim NewSubKey As String

Dim SymbolicLink As String

Dim FriendlyName As String

Dim Linked As Long

If RegOpenKey(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SubKey, hKey) = 0 Then

'Create a buffer

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Cnt = 0

'Enumerate the keys

Do While (RegEnumKeyEx(hKey, Cnt, sName, Ret, ByVal 0&, vbNullString, ByVal 0&, ByVal 0&) <> ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS)

'Show the enumerated key

KeyName = Left$(sName, Ret)

If LenB(KeyName) <> 0 Then

Select Case UCase$(KeyName)

Case "#WAVE"

WaveKeyFound = True

Case "CONTROL"

ControlKeyFound = True

End Select

NewSubKey = SubKey & "\" & KeyName

SymbolicLink = GetString(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, NewSubKey, "SymbolicLink")

If LenB(SymbolicLink) <> 0 Then

WebCamDevice.SymbolicLink = SymbolicLink

End If

FriendlyName = GetString(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, NewSubKey, "FriendlyName")

If LenB(FriendlyName) <> 0 Then

WebCamDevice.FriendlyName = FriendlyName

End If

Linked = GetLong(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, NewSubKey, "Linked")

If Linked <> 0 Then

WebCamDevice.Linked = True

End If

Call PopulateWebCamDevice(NewSubKey, WebCamDevice, WaveKeyFound, ControlKeyFound)

End If

'prepare for the next key

Cnt = Cnt + 1

sName = Space(BUFFER_SIZE)

Ret = BUFFER_SIZE

Loop

'close the registry key

RegCloseKey hKey

End If

End Sub

Public Function SafeUbound(ByRef Ary As Variant) As Long

SafeUbound = -1

On Error Resume Next

SafeUbound = UBound(Ary)

On Error GoTo 0

End Function

Answer 11

You both Often Drunk and vbguyny geniuses , I just kneel down before you and applaud ... :-)

Answer 12

Hello,

Kishorfarm, did you succed using the proposal of Often Drunk and vbguyny.

Do you agree to share source code on this subject because I have difficulties to make it run.

 

Thanks for your answer.

Answer 13

Sir, can you make some sample of this program? If it is ok to you. It will be highly appreciated. thank you very much.

Answer 14

Mr vbguyny,

I'm trying to use your code but not working. In my project I need to view two webcams at the same time, then take a picture of each of the images.

Please Help me.

[e-mail]

Answer 15

I have successfully leveraged off the work from vbguyny and Christopher MCSE  to kick two cameras without the popup dialog box.

Thank you to both of you for the tips.

The code provided above has references to functions like Getstring that wasnt included, but after I simplied the code it is a matter of

1. RegOpenKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM", lngKey
2. RegSetValueEx lngKey, "DevicePath", 0, 1, ByVal Strdata, Len(Strdata)
3. RegCloseKey lngKey
4. capCreateCaptureWindow("CaptureWindow", WS_CHILD Or WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 0, 0, Picture4.hwnd, 0)

Then repeat 1-4 but this time write the second devicepath to registry and then kick the second camera.

PS. Remember not to put "SendMessage hCapWin2, WM_CAP_DLG_VIDEOSOURCE, 0, 0" so the video source window wont pop up.

Answer 16

Hello Ricky Luk,

 

Do you have complete code to preview 2 webcams?.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Answer 17

Option Explicit
' *******************************************************************************
' ModCamReg.Bas : WebCam Regitry routine. Enumerate all attach webcam with Linked
' Coded by      : [e-mail]
' Ref           : http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vbgeneral/thread/c4fd12d8-2870-47ed-8f2e-3dc613afeb6f/
' *******************************************************************************

Public Type VideoDevice
    FriendlyName As String
    SymbolicLink As String
    Linked As Boolean
    Selected As Boolean
End Type

Function GetCurrentWebCam() As String
  Dim WSHShell As Object
  Dim MyRegKey As String
  Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM\DevicePath"
  GetCurrentWebCam = WSHShell.regread(MyRegKey)
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
End Function

Sub SetCurrentWebCam(Camstr As String)
  Dim WSHShell As Object
  Dim MyRegKey As String
  Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM\DevicePath"
  WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, Camstr
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
End Sub

' Code idea from vbguyny, modified by Tmax
Sub EnumVideoDevices(wcam() As VideoDevice)
  Const HKLM = &H80000002
  Dim i As Long
  Dim j As Long
  Dim k As Long
  Dim objReg
  Dim arrOut1, arrOut2, arrOut3
  Dim intRet
  
  Dim Linked As Long
  Dim FriendlyName As String
  Dim SymbolicLink As String
  
  Dim LinkedKey As String
  Dim SymbolicLinkKey As String
  Dim FriendlyNameKey As String
  
  Dim Cnt As Integer
  Dim EnumRet1, EnumRet2, EnumRet3
  
  Dim DeviceList() As String
  Dim DeviceClassId As String
  Dim DeviceClassIDChild As String
  Dim CurrentDevice As String
  Dim GetDeviceClassId As String
  
  Set objReg = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:StdRegProv")
  intRet = objReg.GetStringValue(HKLM, "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM", "DevicePath", CurrentDevice)
  i = InStr(CurrentDevice, "{")
  GetDeviceClassId = Mid$(CurrentDevice, i, 38)
  DeviceClassId = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\" & GetDeviceClassId
    EnumRet1 = objReg.EnumKey(HKLM, DeviceClassId, arrOut1)
    If EnumRet1 = 0 Then
      ReDim DeviceList(UBound(arrOut1))
      For i = 0 To UBound(arrOut1)
        DeviceClassIDChild = DeviceClassId & "\" & arrOut1(i)
        DeviceList(i) = DeviceClassIDChild
      Next i
    Else
      Debug.Print "key is not here"
    End If
    
    For i = 0 To UBound(DeviceList)
      If Right(DeviceList(i), 1) <> "\" Then
        EnumRet2 = objReg.EnumKey(HKLM, DeviceList(i), arrOut2)
          If EnumRet2 = 0 Then
            For j = 0 To UBound(arrOut2)
              If Mid$(arrOut2(j), 1, 1) = "#" Then
                EnumRet3 = objReg.EnumKey(HKLM, DeviceList(i) & "\" & arrOut2(j), arrOut3)
                If EnumRet3 = 0 Then
                  For k = 0 To UBound(arrOut3)
                      If UCase$(arrOut3(k)) = "CONTROL" Then
                        SymbolicLinkKey = DeviceList(i) & "\" & arrOut2(j)
                        LinkedKey = DeviceList(i) & "\" & arrOut2(j) & "\Control"
                        FriendlyNameKey = DeviceList(i) & "\" & arrOut2(j) & "\Device Parameters"
                        intRet = objReg.GetDWORDValue(HKLM, LinkedKey, "Linked", Linked)
                        intRet = objReg.GetStringValue(HKLM, FriendlyNameKey, "FriendlyName", FriendlyName)
                        intRet = objReg.GetStringValue(HKLM, SymbolicLinkKey, "SymbolicLink", SymbolicLink)
                         ' Bypass any SymbolicLink contains "WAVE" and FriendName contains "MIC" or "MIDI"
                        If Linked = 1 And InStr(UCase$(FriendlyName), "MIC") = 0 And InStr(UCase$(FriendlyName), "MIDI") = 0 And InStr(UCase$(SymbolicLink), "WAVE") = 0 Then
                          ReDim Preserve wcam(Cnt)
                          With wcam(Cnt)
                            .Linked = True
                            .FriendlyName = FriendlyName
                            .SymbolicLink = SymbolicLink
                            ' Current selected Device
                            If UCase$(CurrentDevice) = UCase$(.SymbolicLink) Then
                              .Selected = True
                            End If
                          End With
                          Cnt = Cnt + 1
                        End If
                      End If
                  Next k
              End If
            End If
          Next j
        End If
      End If
    Next i
End Sub

'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{65E8773D-8F56-11D0-A3B9-00A0C9223196}\##?#USB#VID_046D&PID_09A4&MI_00#8&2C27D0E0&1&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\#{BBEFB6C7-2FC4-4139-BB8B-A58BBA724083}\Control]
''''"Linked"=dword:00000001

Function CheckInitReg() As Boolean
  Dim WSHShell As Object
  Dim MyRegKey As String
  Dim RegStr As String
  Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\"
  On Error GoTo RegErr
  RegStr = WSHShell.regread(MyRegKey)
  If Len(RegStr) > 0 Then CheckInitReg = True
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
  Exit Function
RegErr:
  CheckInitReg = False
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
End Function

Sub CamInit()
  Dim WSHShell As Object
  Dim MyRegKey As String
  Dim i As Integer
  Dim Vd() As VideoDevice
  EnumVideoDevices Vd()
  Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\"
  WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, Format$(Now, "yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Vendor"
  WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, App.CompanyName
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Version"
  WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, App.Major & "." & App.Minor & "." & App.Revision
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Count"
  WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, UBound(Vd())
  For i% = 0 To UBound(Vd())
    MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Cam" & Format$(i%, "0#") & "\FriendlyName"
    WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, Vd(i%).FriendlyName
    MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Cam" & Format$(i%, "0#") & "\SymbolicLink"
    WSHShell.regwrite MyRegKey, LCase$(Vd(i%).SymbolicLink)
  Next i%
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
End Sub

Sub GetCamFromReg(cboCamSource As ComboBox, CamSymbolicLink() As String)
  Dim WSHShell As Object
  Dim MyRegKey As String
  Dim RegStr As String
  Dim i As Integer
  Set WSHShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Count"
  RegStr = WSHShell.regread(MyRegKey)
  ReDim CamSymbolicLink(Val(RegStr))
  For i% = 0 To Val(RegStr)
    MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Cam" & Format$(i%, "0#") & "\FriendlyName"
    RegStr = WSHShell.regread(MyRegKey)
    cboCamSource.AddItem RegStr
    MyRegKey = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MultiCam\Cam" & Format$(i%, "0#") & "\SymbolicLink"
    RegStr = WSHShell.regread(MyRegKey)
    CamSymbolicLink(i%) = RegStr
  Next i%
  Set WSHShell = Nothing
End Sub

'Form1

Option Explicit
Dim CamSymbolicLink() As String

Private Sub cboCamSource_Click()
Text1 = CamSymbolicLink(Val(cboCamSource.ListIndex))
''SetCamSource
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
  If Not CheckInitReg Then
    Me.Caption = "Enumerates Video Source ..."
    CamInit
  End If
  GetCamFromReg cboCamSource, CamSymbolicLink()
  cboCamSource.ListIndex = 0
  'ResizePreviewWindow
End Sub

Sub SetCamSource()
  If CamSymbolicLink(Val(m_CamSource)) <> GetCurrentWebCam Then
    SetCurrentWebCam CamSymbolicLink(Val(cboCamSource.ListIndex))
  End If
 ' ResizePreviewWindow
End Sub

Hope this will solve the problem ~

Answer 18

For those like me who assumed VBGuyNy's code snippet was a complete example (and pasted it into a template application), it's not...  (Ref VBGuyNy's midway above, Sunday, June 15, 2008 1:24 PM [or just above depending where you are reading this comment]). Please see the excellent TMax97 complete tested/working example below (March 27, 2012 3:46 PM [or just above depending where you are reading this comment]). (Thanks VBGuyNy, I do appreciate the trouble you went to, but always helps if you advise if not complete).

Answer 19

Thank you Tmax97 for your tested working example -- that was brilliant!

Answer 20

Hello. Please help to set this HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\

MediaResources\msvideo\MSVideo.VFWWDM\DevicePath key properly at Windows 10.

As I see, in Win10 registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}  section has no SymbolicLink key and has another structure, aforementioned code doesn't found any camera now.

How should it be now in Win10 in this example? Should I add SymbolicLink key somehow?

I met this problem trying to get working MS access application on Win 10 tablet (2 cameras). Didn't find a way to use Windows.Media.Capture API directly in VBA  so using AVICAP32.dll

Answer 21

Hi Andry,

I am trying to do the same as you (albeit within Excel). Did you ever find a way to get this to work on Windows 10?

Many thanks

Mark