How to Use* a Mobotix Camera (*hack)

Mobotix cameras are great. They come with tons of features, top notch audio, video, recording, ect...

I don't actually own one, mind you. I like to find them online, and simply see what they see. This article is about what to do with a Mobotix camera, once you've found one, or if you own one.

First off, how do you find a mobotix camera you ask? The easiest way is a simple Google search:

inurl:"/control/userimage.html"

Most camera links will have titles like:
 mx10-9-31-61 Live
 m22 Live
 Live
 Menu

There are other searches you can try, but I'll leave that up to you to find.

Now that you have a camera, let's see what fun things we can check out!

Depending on the setup, different options will be available for you to play with. You might be able to move the camera, or zoom out and in. You can change the FPS and the camera view (Panoramic vs. Center).

I'm going to focus on my favorite elements.. AUDIO and screen TEXT.

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AUDIO

Mobotix has some fun audio elements. A Mobotix camera includes a speaker to play ABBA out of (or whatever), and a microphone you can pick up sound from. You can even talk through the camera speaker using your mic (assuming its been activated).

First you need to turn on the audio. I can only seem to get this work from IE, and not firefox or any other browser.
All you do is click the 'Audio On' button on the left. If you don't see it, then sorry, it's not activated.

Once you press it, it may ask for a username/password. Don't fret! Simply say Yes or Si or whatever language the button on the left is in. Then just click Cancel. Now it will either work, or it will say something about the Admin needing to activate the audio (no sound for you!).

You know it worked when a little speaker icon shows up at the top.

Now it's no good playing sounds through the speaker when you can't hear them. At least not to me. So turn up the camera mic. Go to the center drop-down and look for Microphone Sensitivity. Now you can choose how much sound it picks up. I find that this feature is most often available.

Next, try playing a sound through the speaker. Go to the same drop-down and choose speaker volume. Choose a number between 30 and -30 (I recommend 30 for hella loud). Select it. Now open the drop-down again and pick a sound from the list at the bottom.

Sometimes they don't all work.
If the camera is on a busy street, you can have a lot of fun scaring people with the camera alarm or confuse them with the cuckoo clock. Immaturity for the win!

 Let's try something more interesting now. Check to see if the speaker mic is activated. To do this, right click anywhere in the camera window. You will see two options: Audio from Camera and Audio To Camera. Click both so they both have checkmarks next to them.

 Now that it's checked, hold down the right-mouse button in the window, and the cursor will turn into a red microphone. Your microphone is now broadcasting through the camera!

 Again, this doesn't always work, if it's been deactivated. You can hear yourself through the camera mic, if it IS working.

MORE CAMERA AUDIO

In some cameras, you can access the action controls. You can find these by adding /control/ OR /control/action to the camera URL. (Example:  http://83.xxx.xxx.20/control/)

One action that I like, especially when the mic trick doesn't work, is the "speakip" action. This causes the camera to broadcast it's IP address and mac address over the speaker in a computerized female voice. It's loud, obnoxious and never fails to get attention.

Just pop this in the URL:   
http://89.xxx.xxx.107/control/rcontrol?action=speakip

Since it's just a url, you can even create a link in a forum or chat site saying something like "AWESOME FREE PORN", and as people click it, the camera just keeps broadcasting. HAHA


CAMERA TEXT

The Mobotix camera window includes some text options. Such as writing text, outside temperature, time/date, and much more.
If you want to add text, you need to access the control area.
Add /control/control?list to the end of the camera URL to access.

Example:  
http://83.xx.xxx.20/control/control?list

It's a little tricky to manuver around, but it provides you with the syntax you need to change the text.
 If you wanted to change your text color, you would use a url like this:

http://83.xx.xxx.20//control/control?set&section=text&textcolor=0x00FF00 

And to add/change text, you would use a url like this:

http://83.xx.xxx.20//control/control?set&section=text&print=Big Brother Is Watching

 Mobotix cameras have many options to check out, but these are few of my favorites.
 And those of you who go out and buy one... don't forget to change the default username and default password:   admin/meinsm

NOTE: If you have a trendnet camera, that is another one you really want to update, and change the username/password too.

http://71.189.230.108/anony/mjpg.cgi

Don't believe me? Do a google search for inurl:"/anony/mjpg.cgi"

Have Fun!