Basic Motion Detection / Video Detection

24-hour recording is the default recording parameter for our recorders. You can rest assured knowing that if something happens in view of our cameras there will be footage of it.

What happens when you need to find out the time something happened? What if you don't have enough storage space for full 24/7 recording? It's in these cases when you may want to enable Motion Detection. Motion Detection takes the image coming from the camera and analyzes it for changes - depending on the Sensitivity and Threshold you can configure motion events to be as sensitive or insensitive as your needs require.

DISCLAIMER

Motion events require a small amount of time to activate. Depending on the speed of the object, the event may start after the triggering object is most of the way out of frame. IC Realtime always recommends enabling 24/7 recording IN ADDITION TO Motion Detection, as motion events will serve as indicators on the Playback timeline while you still have the entire recording.

Motion events are not infallible. Motion detection analyzes changes in the image it sees - this could be leaves blowing or changes in lighting. If the sensitivity is too low or threshold too high a motion event may not record in the first place.

1.

Navigate to Main Menu > Basic Settings > Motion Detect.

When you click "more" in the web GUI you are presented with this menu:

The local UI and the web GUI are largely similar, excepting small differences. Here is a picture of the local UI:

You will notice all of the same features are there, just in different places. It's also worth mentioning that "Period" and "Schedule" mean the same thing. "Latch" and "Post-Alarm" also mean the same thing.

There is a second way to get to Motion Detection settings.

Navigate to Main Menu > Advanced Settings > Alert Center > Video Detection

You will notice that all of the same settings are there. The only difference is the additional menus along the left and top of the screen, which are inconsequential to our purposes.

2.

Select the channel you are enabling Motion Detection on.

After doing so we will select the portions of the camera image which will have Motion Detection. Click "Setting" next to "Region".

You will be presented with a window like this:

The boxes with a red hue are areas where Motion Detection will be aware of. Anything outside of the red hue will not trigger motion events.

The "Region" section allows you to select up to 4 different regions, each with a different color. Each region can be set to a different section of the image. Each region can also be set to its own Sensitivity and Threshold. This allows you to set different regions of the image to different sensitivities - you can set high-traffic areas to lower sensitivities without compromising other areas.

"Sensitivity" is based on grayscale - the camera looks for changes in pixel color/shade and bases its decision on that. Higher sensitivity registers smaller changes as events.

"Threshold" is the percentage of the image that needs to be changed before an actual event is registered. If a black dot on a white image appears it will trigger the sensitivity, but the size of the dot determines if it passes the threshold and registers an event.

The web GUI allows you to have a small bar graph to monitor what triggers sensitivity on the image (shown in blue in the above image). The horizontal line indicates where the tolerance/threshold is set to. Feel free to use the sliders to get a clearer understanding of how it works.

The local UI fills the screen with the camera image. In order to adjust the Sensitivity and Threshold you need to bring the cursor to the top of the image.

Click "OK" to exit, or right-click on the local UI. THESE SETTINGS HAVE NOT BEEN SAVED - On the web GUI click "OK" on the bottom-right. On the local UI click "Apply" on the bottom-right.

3.

Select the Schedule/Period "Setting".

This menu allows you to configure when the camera/recorder will be looking for motion events. It is automatically set to 24/7. If you don't want motion events during specific stretches of time, this is where you would configure that.

4.

The rest of the options are for more advanced configuration. Here are the features and their uses:

Parameter	Description
Post-Record	After the event ends, how many more seconds the recorder continues to record
Alarm-out Port	Configures Alarm I/O. For example, if an event registers on this channel then Alarm-out port 3 will trigger
Record Channel	Configures which channels record when an event triggers on this channel
Picture Storage	Will also take a snapshot of the event
Tour	Configures which channels automatically tour when an event triggers on this channel
PTZ Linkage	Enables PTZ cameras to be triggered on a motion event. Refer to our "PTZ Activation and Tracking" article for more information
Alarm Tone	Allows an audio file to play from the recorder when an event is triggered. To upload an audio file go to Main Menu > Advanced > System Operation > File Management. Recorders support MP3 and PCM audio format

The "More" section:

Anti-Dither	How many seconds the system waits for additional motion events. Allows several events to be considered one event if they happen closely to one another
Show Message	Allows a pop-up message to display on the local display when an event triggers
Buzzer	Allows the recorder to beep when an event triggers
Report Alarm	Allows the recorder to upload an alarm signal to the network when an event triggers. Must be configured in the Alarm Center first.
Log	Allows logs to be recorded when an event triggers
Send Email	Allows an email to be sent when an event triggers. Must be configured in the Advanced > Network > Email/SMTP menu

On the local interface and within the "Alarm-out Port" settings there is also a setting called "Latch / Post-Alarm". This allows you to determine how long the alarm-out port remains triggered.

Be sure to save the changes you've made at the bottom-right (either OK or Apply). You've successfully configured one camera. From here you can change which channel you're editing, or simply copy the configuration to other channels. This option is near the bottom, listed as either "Copy" or "Copy to".

5.

Now that you've successfully configured your cameras to register motion events, you need to configure the recorder to record those same events.

Go to the Schedule. Like before there are two ways to reach this menu.

Main Menu > Basic Settings > Record Schedule

Main Menu > Advanced Settings > Storage Settings > Schedule

From here you can configure the recording schedule for your cameras either one at a time or all at once. To change the schedule for all of the cameras, simply select the "Channel" drop down and select "All".

After that select the "Setting" button beside one of the days. It doesn't matter which day you choose to adjust. This menu is similar to the "Schedule/Period" setting on the cameras.

Be sure to select "All" for the days you'd like to change. Be sure to select "Motion" in addition to any other events you'd like to record.

After you select "OK" you will see color bars that correspond to whichever events you've set the recorder to record. In this case they will be green and yellow. Select "OK/Apply" at the bottom.

You may also want to check the Record Control menu (Main Menu > Advanced Settings > Storage Settings > Record Control).

In this menu make sure that the Main Stream for all cameras are set to Auto. If the Main Stream is set to Manual, you will ONLY receive 24/7 recording. If it is set to Off it will not record at all.

Congratulations, you've fully configured your recorder to record Motion Detection events!

You can make sure they're working by intentionally setting off a motion event and waiting a few minutes before checking the playback timeline. If you see a yellow mark on the timeline you know it's working.

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