# Pigeon Cam Control

A lightweight Vala and GTK+ 3 desktop utility designed to manage live camera previews and video recordings using `mpv` and Video4Linux2 (`v4l2`). Tailored for monitoring balcony bird life and wildlife feeds.

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## Features

* **Camera Selection & Auto-Rescan:** Automatically detects available V4L2 devices (`/dev/video*`) with readable device names from sysfs.
* **Persistent Settings:** Automatically saves and restores your preferred camera, output folder, custom filename, and video filter states using GLib's `KeyFile`.
* **Video Filters:** Quick toggles for **Horizontal Flip (`hflip`)** and **Vertical Flip (`vflip`)** applied live and during recordings via mpv.
* **Live View & Recording:** Low-latency live preview and background stream recording powered by `mpv`.
* **External Tool Integration:** 
  * Open `qv4l2` instantly to adjust hardware exposure, brightness, and focus.
  * Launch `SMPlayer` directly to review your latest recordings.
* **Profiles & Custom Configs:** Run multiple camera setups simultaneously using independent configuration profiles.

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## Requirements

Ensure you have the following dependencies installed on your Linux system:
* `valac` (Vala compiler)
* `gtk+-3.0`
* `mpv` (required for live preview and recording)
* `qv4l2` (optional, for camera property adjustments)
* `smplayer` (optional, for playback)

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## Compilation

Compile the application using the included Makefile or directly via valac:

```bash
make
sudo make install