To begin with, you'll need to download a copy of the OpenCV libraries. The best way to obtain a copy is to use the CVS repository, but if you don't have any way of using CVS then you'll have to do it by downloading from sourceforge.
Downloading from Sourceforge
Be aware that the downloads are listed in a rather unhelpful order, so
simply scroll to the bottom and select the most recent release from
opencv-linux or opencv-win. At the time of writing, this version did
not work with ffmpeg so using it for video didn't work. If you want to
use OpenCV with video files, see below.
sourceforge.net/projects/opencvlibrary
CVS Repository
Downloading from the CVS gives you the very latest source code and
libraries, with the slight possibility of errors during compilation.
However, these are rare and usually very simple to rectify.
In Windows you will need a client compatible with CVS (such as Eclipse),
and the information available
here.
On Linux (assuming CVS is installed) you can simply type the following
on the command line:
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@opencvlibrary.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/opencvlibrary co -P opencv
OpenCV With Video (Linux Only)
The advantage of downloading the CVS copy is that it can be used in
conjunction with ffmpeg, allowing for reading and writing of videos as
well as single images. 4 days and many, many installations have
confirmed that in fact the only way to use ffmpeg with OpenCV is to
download the SVN and CVS versions (respectively), install ffmpeg and
then install OpenCV. I realise that SVN is rarely installed by default
and have included a link to the
SVN download site for your information.
If you know what they do, simply open a terminal and type:
svn checkout svn://svn.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg/trunk ffmpeg
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@opencvlibrary.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/opencvlibrary co -P opencv
If you have no idea what I'm on about but want to use video, read these:
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