diff --git a/light9/vidref/remotepivideo.py b/light9/vidref/remotepivideo.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/light9/vidref/remotepivideo.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""
+like videorecorder.py, but talks to a bin/picamserve instance
+"""
+import os, time, logging
+import gtk
+import numpy
+import treq
+from light9.vidref.replay import framerate, songDir, takeDir, snapshotDir
+from light9 import prof
+from PIL import Image
+from StringIO import StringIO
+log = logging.getLogger('remotepi')
+
+class Pipeline(object):
+    def __init__(self, liveVideo, musicTime, recordingTo, picsUrl):
+        self.musicTime = musicTime
+        self.recordingTo = recordingTo
+
+        self.liveVideo = self._replaceLiveVideoWidget(liveVideo)
+        
+        self._startRequest(picsUrl)
+        self._buffer = ''
+
+    def _replaceLiveVideoWidget(self, liveVideo):
+        aspectFrame = liveVideo.get_parent()
+        liveVideo.destroy()
+        img = gtk.Image()
+        img.set_visible(True)
+        #img.set_size_request(320, 240)
+        aspectFrame.add(img)
+        return img
+        
+    def _startRequest(self, url):
+        d = treq.get(url)
+        d.addCallback(treq.collect, self._dataReceived)
+        # not sure how to stop this
+        return d
+
+    def _dataReceived(self, chunk):
+        self._buffer += chunk
+        if len(self._buffer) < 100:
+            return
+        i = self._buffer.index('\n')
+        size, frameTime = self._buffer[:i].split()
+        size = int(size)
+        if len(self._buffer) - i - 1 < size:
+            return
+        jpg = self._buffer[i+1:i+1+size]
+        self.onFrame(jpg, float(frameTime))
+        self._buffer = self._buffer[i+1+size:]
+        
+    def snapshot(self):
+        """
+        returns deferred to the path (which is under snapshotDir()) where
+        we saved the image.
+        """
+        filename = "%s/%s.jpg" % (snapshotDir(), time.time())
+        return
+
+    def setInput(self, name):
+        pass
+
+    def setLiveVideo(self, on):
+        print "setLiveVideo", on
+
+    def onFrame(self, jpg, frameTime):
+        position = self.musicTime.getLatest()
+        if not position['song']:
+            self.updateLiveFromTemp(jpg)
+            return 
+        outDir = takeDir(songDir(position['song']), position['started'])
+        outFilename = "%s/%08.03f.jpg" % (outDir, position['t'])
+        if os.path.exists(outFilename): # we're paused on one time
+            self.updateLiveFromTemp(jpg)
+            return
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(outDir)
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+        with open(outFilename, 'w') as out:
+            out.write(jpg)
+
+        self.updateLiveFromFile(outFilename)
+            
+        # if you're selecting the text while gtk is updating it,
+        # you can get a crash in xcb_io
+        if getattr(self, '_lastRecText', None) != outDir:
+            with gtk.gdk.lock:
+                self.recordingTo.set_text(outDir)
+            self._lastRecText = outDir
+            
+    def updateLiveFromFile(self, outFilename):
+        self.liveVideo.set_from_file(outFilename)
+
+    def updateLiveFromTemp(self, jpg):
+        try:
+            img = Image.open(StringIO(jpg))
+            if not hasattr(self, 'livePixBuf'):
+                self.livePixBuf = gtk.gdk.pixbuf_new_from_data(
+                    img.tostring(),
+                    gtk.gdk.COLORSPACE_RGB,
+                    False, 8,
+                    img.size[0], img.size[1],
+                    img.size[0]*3)
+                log.info("live images are %r", img.size)
+            else:
+                # don't leak pixbufs; update the one we have
+                a = self.livePixBuf.pixel_array
+                newImg = numpy.fromstring(img.tostring(), dtype=numpy.uint8)
+                a[:,:,:] = newImg.reshape(a.shape)
+            self.liveVideo.set_from_pixbuf(self.livePixBuf)
+
+        except Exception:
+            import traceback
+            traceback.print_exc()