I'm John Maurice, product marketing manager at Canon.
Today, we're going to talk about Canon's software development kit.
Known as the EOS Digital Software
Developer Kit or EDSDK.
And I'm going to talk about camera control, application
programming interface or CCAPI for short.
We've designed this software to give you the maximum control and
help streamline your production processes.
This software enables your team to remotely control the capture
of your images and video content.
This includes seamlessly connecting cameras to your computer
or mobile device to trigger the camera to change camera
settings, have a live view before the image is taken and quickly
download images and video.
The EDSDK is the conventional Canon
Camera SDK.
This has been around for over ten years and is based
on a wired USB connection that gives reliable,
high speed communication between a camera and a computer.
It works with dedicated Windows or Mac programming libraries.
Fully compatible with different computer systems, the
newer CCAPI spans multiple platforms,
allowing wireless usage across Windows, Mac,
Android, iOS or Linux.
It uses HTP to communicate with the camera, which
you may find a more convenient way to integrate across various
operating systems.
Both the EDSDK and CCAPI
give you the ability to integrate camera control into your
software applications, which in turn means you can generate
automatically imagery by controlling camera hardware
and transferring data instantly.
It will allow you to streamline your end to end imaging
processes, reducing costs, saving time,
and creating automated workflows.
The EDSDK and CCAPI are invaluable solutions
for a wide range of industries and can be used across fashion
and commerce, 3D photogrammetry, drone
photography, medical, inspection
and other industry use case scenarios.
The EDSDK and CCAPI are
compatible with a variety of EOS interchangeable lens
cameras and Powershot compact cameras.
Those go back many years.
We've developed the system with forward and backward
compatibility.
So if you want to change your camera, it's just a case of
upgrading the SDK to support the new product,
so your workflow isn't disrupted.
Another fundamental part of the system is the choice of lenses
that are available as well as true to life, rendition of colour
and output, which means less time working on the images
themselves, once downloaded.
Another key aspect is the support available.
If you do run into any difficulties.
In that situation, you need an imaging partner you can rely on
for support.
As you'd expect Canon offers a dedicated support service free
of charge.
This provides guidance with both software, libraries, choice of
hardware and connectivity to help your business choose
the best solution for your workflow.
Okay. So we've talked about what solutions are available.
Let's now look at some examples of how the EDSDK
and CCAPI can be used across a variety of
industries.
E-commerce is a growing area for many businesses,
and our range of photography and video cameras, especially
those in the EOS-R system, are ideally suited
as they're designed to capture colour, detail and texture with
unrivalled quality.
You can be assured of stunning results every time, giving
your products real appeal and helping your business to minimise
product returns and increase profits.
The camera SDK can help the shooting process by
automating your workflow.
You can maintain fixed cameras in your studio and the cameras
configure to the most suitable settings to ensure image
accuracy, colour and framing consistency.
You can therefore quickly take, edit and send pictures
ready for publication.
Images will be automatically transferred for post processing and
be ready for publishing.
This makes it easy for end users who manage hundreds of items
for their e-commerce web page.
Manufacturers of photo booths find Canon's low cost,
high quality, interchangeable lens cameras, perfect for the job.
These can also be combined with third party flashes and printers.
You can also consider Canon's own dye sublimation compact
photo printer too, which is ideal for lab quality six
by four or postcard sized prints.
The live view function is fundamental to this solution
and enables end users to check what the image will look like via
the screen on the front of the booth.
With a fixed camera position the EDSDK software provides
a repeated workflow and consistency for every photo captured.
Within the medical field automated
examination and diagnostic systems can benefit
from many of the EDSDK and CCAPI functions,
such as remote shooting and parameter setting,
along with checking the live view from the camera.
This gives you an immediate and precise view of the area of concern
The CCAPI can enable
the creation of a custom made app which can be used to share
diagnostic images with patients.
They can do that wirelessly for their reassurance or medical records
In theme parks or leisure venues.
You may see photographers roaming about to capture visitors
experiences.
In those cases CCAPI can help to manage
several cameras remotely and retrieve images from them
automatically.
Images will be sent to a print shop and visitors can then make
a purchase.
In all of these cases, these people have integrated Canon
hardware and taken advantage of the SDK or CCAPI,
placing it into their own software so that it delivers the result
they need.
During your integration, our
specialist teams will address your specific needs depending on
your industry, your products, your service and audience.
We provide test applications
alongside support and a developer community.
We can also advise you at the early stages of your project with
advice on appropriate imaging capture devices to suit your needs
and budget.
Let's look at the EDSDK and CCAPI key
functions in more detail.
First, I'm going to talk about the remote shooting capability.
This enables you to detect, connect and trigger the camera
from a distance.
It's ideal for a variety of use cases where the camera
or the subject are hard to reach, like inside medical
imaging equipment or in traffic cameras or in
challenging locations.
This feature gives you full control to automatically trigger the
camera when you need to or when a set of parameters
are triggered.
The operator can remotely control key aspects of the capture
process, including autofocus and manual focus.
If you need a more accurate shutter trigger
and want to take manual control of this via either human
or automated means, you can use the SDK
and a wired shutter trigger together.
This may be of use to you if you consider the needs of a traffic
enforcement camera where shooting needs to be triggered via
another system via a cable.
This can be attached to the camera whilst the SDK can
control everything else.
Next, we're going to talk about how images and videos
are transferred.
Managing hundreds of image assets can be a full time job
but your workflow is made simple and streamlined by the EDSDK
and CCAPI capabilities allowing you to
automatically shoot and organise high and low
resolution images at the same time.
Or perhaps you're shooting products from all angles for 3D
photogrammetry or e-commerce photography.
If so, there's no need to remove SD cards
and download manually as the SDK makes it possible
to download and name images so you can build image management
into your software and simplify your workflow.
Your production processes become seamless and more efficient,
making it simpler to manage large quantities files.
The live monitoring capabilities allow you to remotely check the
composition and manually adjust it, getting just
the right frame for your subject.
You can continuously check the live view from a distance,
ensuring you capture exactly what you need.
This ensures you do not capture imagery that isn't accurate
without knowing.
This function is ideal for applications where consistency is key
or where you can't stand behind the camera to check what is
happening on the screen.
For instance, while taking a high volume of photos of products
within a studio, the EDSDK and CCAPI
are ideal for when you want to adjust settings without touching
buttons and dials.
Whether you don't want to risk shifting the camera's position or
your system is not within reach when you need to take the picture
You can tweak settings from a distance.
Some good examples of this are cameras mounted in hard to reach
places to inspect infrastructure or integrated
into robots for medical or road safety applications.
Parameters can be set from within your software without
touching the camera.
In other cases, there may be some requirements for restrictions
for shooting settings for example, shutter speed, aperture,
ISO value or resolution.
When time is critical this ensures that the camera has been
configured properly via the camera SDK.
Now we're going to look at how to set up the EDSDK
and CCAPI into your workflow.
Head to our Canon Developer Programme webpage to create an
account and fill in your profile details.
Once your profile is filled in, you can then submit a request to
access the software development kit and access a test application
to get started with integrating with the SDK.
Once your testing is completed, you can write it into your code
and integrate it into your wider workflow.
For technical support and any troubleshooting or queries.
Search the frequently asked questions for detailed advice.
Additionally, on the developer community forum,
you can learn more about how others have integrated the SDK
into their various software applications.
You're also free to ask questions here.
For detailed technical support, you can submit a enquiry
form and share your specific comments and a canon
representative will be on hand for further advice.
In this video, you've seen what's possible with Canon's versatile
EDSDK and CCAPI software solutions
and why Canon is a powerful imaging partner for integration with
your imaging needs.
For further information, head over to Canon Developer Programme
webpage at Canon Europe.com.
Thanks for watching.