She had an old Windows laptop gathering dust and a basic webcam. Could she turn them into a security camera without spending $200 on a new device?

Yawcam excels as a security tool due to its precise motion detection engine. You can customize how the software reacts to movement to avoid false alarms while keeping your property safe. Setting Up Motion Detection

Yawcam isn't going to replace a high-end Arlo or Reolink system. It doesn't have night vision out of the box, and running a PC 24/7 uses more electricity than a dedicated smart camera.

Yawcam's streams can be ingested by other professional systems. For instance, if you use Blue Iris as your primary video management system, you can add the Yawcam stream as an IP camera. This allows you to utilize Yawcam for the flexibility of a USB webcam while benefiting from Blue Iris's powerful recording engine.

Leo reminded her: “Yawcam also has – you can send images to a free FTP server or even to a spare Dropbox folder using a third-party tool.”

He explained two safe options:

| Feature | Yawcam | iSpy (Agent DVR) | VLC Media Player | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Free (Donationware) | Freemium (Paid features) | Free | | Ease of Use | Very Easy | Complex | Moderate | | Motion Detection | Yes (Excellent) | Yes (AI powered) | No | | CPU Usage | Low | High | Very Low | | IP Camera Output | Yes (HTTP/MJPEG) | Yes (RTSP/MP4) | Yes (RTSP) |

The host computer must remain powered on, awake, and connected to the internet 24/7 for the camera to function.

Whether you are repurposing an old laptop or setting up a dedicated surveillance network, Yawcam provides the flexibility to turn standard hardware into a professional-grade monitoring system. Core Features of Yawcam

Now the magic: Leo went to Settings → Edit Settings → Motion → Actions . He added two actions: