The Foscam FI8919W Pan-Tilt camera supports a number of preset locations, or Presets.

The onboard web interface does not seem to offer a way to configure these presets – but there is another way!

Foscam FI8918W IP Camera, white

I have written a couple of small shell scripts (for Linux or Mac OS X) that allow you to set a preset, move to a preset and even take a snapshot right from the command line.

The first script stores the current camera position into the specified preset.

You need to open a web browser or camera app (my favorite: Live Cams Pro on iPad/iPhone) and set the camera position.

Then, run this script, specifying the preset number (for example, “foscam_set 0” to set the first preset):

#!/bin/bash
# Store current camera position in specified preset (0..16)

# Commandline handling
#
preset=$1
if [ -z $preset ];
then
    echo "Syntax: $0 <preset>, where preset is a number (0..16)"
    exit 1
fi

# Address (or address:port number) where to reach the camera
# Username / password to access camera functions
#
CAMERA=192.168.1.2
USERNAME=theUsername
PASSWORD=thePassword

# Presets are set using URL with command (30 + preset*2), and recalled using URL with command (31 + preset*2)
#
command=$((30 + 2*$preset))
echo "Storing current camera position in preset ${preset} (command = ${command})"
wget -O - http://${CAMERA}/decoder_control.cgi?command=${command}\&user=${USERNAME}\&pwd=${PASSWORD}

Next, a script to move the camera to a specified preset (for example, “foscam_go 3“:

#!/bin/bash
# Move camera to specified preset (0..16)

# Commandline handling
#
preset=$1
if [ -z $preset ];
then
    echo "Syntax: $0 <preset>, where preset is a number (0..16)"
    exit 1
fi

# Address (or address:port number) where to reach the camera
# Username / password to access camera functions
#
CAMERA=192.168.1.2
USERNAME=theUsername
PASSWORD=thePassword

# Presets are set using URL with command (30 + preset*2), and recalled using URL with command (31 + preset*2)
#
command=$((31 + 2*$preset))
echo "Moving camera to preset ${preset} (command = ${command})"
wget -O - http://${CAMERA}/decoder_control.cgi?command=${command}\&user=${USERNAME}\&pwd=${PASSWORD}

Finally, a demo script that moves the camera to a preset, takes a snapshot and stores it locally (based on a post by 1994MGoBlue):

#!/bin/bash
# Take snapshots of certain preset camera locations

# Address (or address:port number) where to reach the camera
# Username / password to access camera functions
#
CAMERA=192.168.1.2
USERNAME=theUsername
PASSWORD=thePassword

# The camera should normally be in this position
DEFAULT_PRESET=3

# Seconds to sleep after issuing a camera move command, allow it to reach new position.
# You may have to change this value to your needs
DELAY=10

# Presets are set using URL with command (30 + preset*2), and recalled using URL with command (31 + preset*2)
#
for preset in 0 1 2 3 4;
do
    command=$((31 + 2*$preset))
    echo "Taking snapshot in preset ${preset} (command = ${command})"

    # Move camera, delay, take snapshot (stored in /tmp/)
    wget -O - http://${CAMERA}/decoder_control.cgi?command=${command}\&user=${USERNAME}\&pwd=${PASSWORD}
    sleep ${DELAY}
    wget -O /tmp/preset-${preset}.jpg http://${CAMERA}/snapshot.cgi?user=${USERNAME}\&pwd=${PASSWORD}
done

# Done, send camera back to default position
command=$((31 + 2*$DEFAULT_PRESET))
wget -O - http://${CAMERA}/decoder_control.cgi?command=${command}\&user=${USERNAME}\&pwd=${PASSWORD}

Enjoy!

Updated: