For something completely different -
I've successfully separated out my 8 cameras on to a subnet, and SS is working fantastically. These are QSee POE cameras, 3M. and the images are great. I'm sad about the many hours I wasted trying to get the QSee NVR working properly. But I started thinking -
Our band has been getting together every couple weeks recently in the warehouse just to make some music and have a little well distanced fun - We've shot a little audio/video with GoPros to share with friends, but they really aren't great. I had a few extra cameras on hand, so I set up 4 of them, and ran them into SS, disabling all my other cameras, and set them for continuous record, and I got great video! But then I had to switch everything back to security work - bit of a PITA - and obviously, we'd record audio off our mixer, then have to tie it all together in iMovie, then load it up to whatever -
So - Is it possible to save a configuration for my SS to switch painlessly between groups of cameras, with different settings? (IP Addresses primarily, but save to location would be very good too) SS is actually so much easier to use than OBS - Ideally, I could choose a prefs file that would disable the security cameras and enable the music cameras, then I could use my phone to start/stop them from recording, and Apple TV to monitor them in general, and at the end of the evening select another prefs file that would bring the security cameras on-line and shut down the music cameras, and go back to just monitoring the warehouse -
Thoughts?
Our band has been getting together every couple weeks recently in the warehouse just to make some music and have a little well distanced fun - We've shot a little audio/video with GoPros to share with friends, but they really aren't great. I had a few extra cameras on hand, so I set up 4 of them, and ran them into SS, disabling all my other cameras, and set them for continuous record, and I got great video! But then I had to switch everything back to security work - bit of a PITA - and obviously, we'd record audio off our mixer, then have to tie it all together in iMovie, then load it up to whatever -
So - Is it possible to save a configuration for my SS to switch painlessly between groups of cameras, with different settings? (IP Addresses primarily, but save to location would be very good too) SS is actually so much easier to use than OBS - Ideally, I could choose a prefs file that would disable the security cameras and enable the music cameras, then I could use my phone to start/stop them from recording, and Apple TV to monitor them in general, and at the end of the evening select another prefs file that would bring the security cameras on-line and shut down the music cameras, and go back to just monitoring the warehouse -
Thoughts?
Comments
There are two ways to achieve what you want. The first is to create a separate user account on your Mac for the band recordings. Each user account has its own set of preferences for all applications including SecuritySpy. Simply log off one user, and log in to the other to switch modes.
The other is to manually swap over SecuritySpy's settings file yourself. There are handy options in the File menu in SecuritySpy to "Export Preferences File" and "Import Preferences File" that allow you to do this.
I followed your instructions and have a network time server running on my mini, and all cameras logged into it - This is great software, and fantastic support - When we get a SS band video up, I'll let you know!
Using the prefs files to load different cameras, and storage locations, etc - that is all working great. Just load the prefs file, SS shuts down and re-launches, and everything is just the way it should be. When I want to go back, just import the other prefs file. Only trick is to remember to safe a new prefs file if I make any changes to the set-up I'm using -
But I got myself into a little trouble - Somehow, in setting all this up, I've lost all ability to get emails from this server, regardless of the prefs file I use, and I also cannot connect to it using the SS app in my iPad, nor from my AppleTVs - Connection Failed - Unable to connect to the server. I can still connect to the SS server at home, via browser, app, or TV, but not the warehouse. In the prefs set-up, it sends test emails fine, and the server has a green light and says its OK - Any thoughts about what to check?
And as an aside - in trying to fine-tune the camera set-up, I was making some changes and added a trusted IP setting to 1 camera. Somehow, it reset the static IP of the camera to DHCP, and now I cannot access the camera. When I use the utility, it says my computer is not on the list of trusted devices. I've tried a whole bunch of IP addresses for the computer to see if I can get in, but no luck - Any thoughts about that?
And third - I had 9 security cameras set up. but since only 8 can be used with my license, I removed one. Since I had this other camera go out, I tried to re-add the 9th to my feed - but the IP address I set it to isn't showing up, yet it is listed under Bonjour by the name I gave it, but it will not open - times out. And the open with web browser button does nothing with any of these cameras -
Help?!??
- For the email issue, a screenshot of the email settings in SecuritySpy as well as the debug file (SecuritySpy menu > Debug > Create Debug File On Desktop) and the log file (File menu in SecuritySpy > Open Log).
- For the connection issue, these troubleshooting steps resolve most problems: I'm unable to access my system remotely - how can I troubleshoot this?. If you need our direct help with this, please send a screenshot of the Web settings in SecuritySpy, and a screenshot of the setup of the server in the client (iPad/web browser etc) along with the error there.
- For the camera IP issue: make sure the Mac's IP address starts with the same three numbers as the camera's IP address (i.e. that they are on the same subnet). If they are on different subnets, they won't be able to communicate. In this case, reset the camera and set it up again and make sure to use the correct subnet in the IP address that you give it.
Working great - but still finding the occasional problem when I make a change in one of my set-ups, and forget to export the prefs file - but thats user error, and I’m learning to recognize and deal with that more easily - my only suggestion, if you load a prefs file with a specific name, then when you save it, to use the loaded name as the default for the new save name - does that make sense?
Second - email issue solved - again, error with saved prefs files - gotta remember to hit apply - hit apply - hit apply - hit apply -
But the remote access is still not working - but only one way - the cameras I have on the mac mini at my home are accessible from anywhere - web, appletv, ios app - but the cameras at my warehouse are only accessible locally, via web or ios app when on the same network, but if I disconnect my phone from wifi and try to use LTE, no joy. And no joy from home using any method of connection -
I’m sure its a set-up problem, but it was working at both locations, and now isn’t from just one - and the only real change was to get the cameras at the warehouse onto their own sub-net - please let me know what screen shots would be most useful, and where to send them!
Thanks again for the awesome support (and patience!)
I think it's probably best if you email us and include:
- A description or sketch of the exact network layout at the warehouse. I'm a bit confused as to whether the camera network is on completely separate hardware, or on the same hardware merely with a different subnet.
- A screenshot of the Web settings in SecuritySpy, with the "How Do I Access This Server" button clicked.
- A screenshot of any manual port forwarding settings you have set in the router at the warehouse.
Got great tech support - problems are 99% resolved. The ability to configure different sets of cameras through the simple import/export of prefs files is incredibly useful, and allows me to add a few more cameras than I am licensed for, using different groups that are needed for special situations that occasionally come up. The email situation was simply a set-up problem, a result of not saving and exporting prefs correctly. The remote access seems to have been a port issue - no idea why it stopped, but re-adding ports 8000 and 8001 seems to have solved it. Issues with setting up the time server was due to pointing the cameras at the wrong address - they needed to be pointed at the primary address of the server, not the secondary server address of the subnet the cameras got set up on.
Whats left, is refining the motion detection levels and time between detections to minimize frequent alerts. Thats mostly on me - but advice on setting those levels up would be appreciated -
On my wish list - a way to override motion detection, or alarms, for groups of cameras, with minimal effort. Like, ability to eliminate alerts when the gardeners are working around the house, and I need to override all the exterior cameras for 2 hours. But really, its hard to complain about that.
Next step - Homekit! We’ll see what challenges that brings up -
Thanks Ben!
In terms of motion detection, our blog posts How To Achieve Effective Motion Detection and Optimising SecuritySpy’s AI Object Detection may be useful to you. Generally, the settings we would suggest are the ones specified by default, and if you are using the human or vehicle AI, a good detection threshold for this is 85%.
It is possible to temporarily override a schedule (so, for example, you can stop motion alerts for an hour or two). This is called a "Schedule Override", and is described in the Recording and Schedules section of the user manual. Schedule Overrides can be set by right-clicking on a camera and/or via the SecuritySpy iOS app.
You can apply schedules and schedule overrides to groups of cameras via the "Schedule Setter" window, which is available from the Window menu. This functionality is also replicated in the SecuritySpy iOS app by clicking the calendar icon in the top right of the Cameras screen.