Install and Run Flowbit Capture

Download Flowbit Capture

WARNING

Take the package that matches your PC. On Ubuntu, run lsb_release -d to check which release you have. The wrong one will not start, and reports version 'GLIBC_2.38' not found instead.

Install the prerequisites for your platform below, then unpack it.

Install on Windows

Then add GStreamer to the system PATH and restart the PC:

C:\gstreamer\1.0\msvc_x86_64

C:\gstreamer\1.0\msvc_x86_64

C:\gstreamer\1.0\msvc_x86_64

WARNING

Install GStreamer on this machine. Do not copy the folder from another PC, because a copied install can lack multi-GPU support.

Then unpack Flowbit Capture into a writable folder such as D:\flowbit-capture\ rather than C:\Program Files\. The program writes beside itself.

NOTE

If the package is already unpacked somewhere you cannot write to, move the whole folder before going any further.

Verify the Windows installation

Run each command in a new terminal. All must pass before you start Flowbit Capture.

Install on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04

1. Update the NVIDIA driver, then reboot.

   sudo ubuntu-drivers install
   sudo
   
   

   sudo ubuntu-drivers install
   sudo
   
   

   sudo ubuntu-drivers install
   sudo
   
   

2. Install CUDA Toolkit 12.8. On the download page, choose Linux, x86_64, Ubuntu, your version, and deb (local). Run the commands the page prints, then add CUDA to your path.

   echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/cuda/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
   source
   
   

   echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/cuda/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
   source
   
   

   echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/cuda/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
   source
   
   

3. Install GStreamer, Avahi and the rest.

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y
   
   

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y
   
   

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y
   
   

4. Unpack Flowbit Capture into a writable folder.

NOTE

Flowbit Capture needs a screen. It will not run headless over SSH.

Verify the Ubuntu installation

Run each command in a new terminal. All must pass before you start Flowbit Capture.

If the nvcodec check prints nothing, the plugin cache is usually stale rather than the plugin missing. Clear it and look again:

rm -rf ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0/
gst-inspect-1.0 --print-all >/dev/null 2>&1
gst-inspect-1.0 | grep

rm -rf ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0/
gst-inspect-1.0 --print-all >/dev/null 2>&1
gst-inspect-1.0 | grep

rm -rf ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0/
gst-inspect-1.0 --print-all >/dev/null 2>&1
gst-inspect-1.0 | grep

Your two folders

Configure Flowbit Capture

Open config\flowbit-capture.json and set these:

WARNING

• A misspelled key name is silently ignored and its built-in default used, with no message at all.

• A wrong value, such as text where a number belongs, is announced on the console, and any key the program has not yet read is skipped. It reads the keys in its own order, not the order they appear in the file, so reading the file will not tell you which settings you lost.

• Either way the program still starts. If a setting seems to have had no effect, check the spelling first and the console second.

Configuration reference

Two of these decide what a saved frame contains. You will not normally change them, but the program names them when a capture fails, so they are here.

Every other key is documented inside the file itself.

Run the power-on test

This is the test that proves the hardware and the network are good. Run it before you mount the cameras.

1. Start Flowbit Capture. On Windows, double-click flowbit-capture.exe. On Ubuntu, run ./flowbit-capture.

2. Select all. Nothing is ticked at startup, and Connect, Disconnect and the streaming buttons act only on ticked cameras.

3. Select Connect. Each camera moves from available not streaming to connected not streaming — the halfway state, not a fault. All three camera states are listed in Interface - The camera list.

4. Select Start streaming.

Verify the test passed

Every camera now reads STREAMING and the 3D view shows the room. The program is running normally, so leave the window open.

• Every camera reads connected STREAMING

• The 3D view shows the room and updates live

• In Interface - The Performance Panel, each camera's stream and sync rates track each other

• groups and display sit just under the camera frame rate, with render at the monitor's refresh rate

Six cameras at connected STREAMING, drawn as one room. A seventh entry in the list would be a machine on the network that is not part of this rig. Set Devices in Configure Flowbit Capture if you would rather it did not appear at all.

NOTE

The room will look like a pile, not a room. That is expected - every camera draws from the same origin until you calibrate.

Fix it in Calibration.

Upgrading

Unpack the new version into a new folder and copy config\ and data\ across. Nothing else carries over.

Interface

Features - move around the 3D view, record video, and save frames.