Video starts several seconds after motion detected

[tomgru]

Been browsing the help files and forum, but quite can't figure out how to fix this or what setting I missed.

My scenario is motion detected via a camera pointed at my front door. As a test, I walk out my door, count to five, and walk back in.
I have it set to record when triggered, with the trigger being motion. I'm not using any of the advance setting of motion detection, but I don't think that's it because...

WHen I look at the recording in the console, video doesn't start until ~3 seconds after I come out the door. However, the thumbnail view of the clip actually shows me coming out the door, so it's recording that on time.

I have make time set at 0.5 seconds.

What have I missed?

Thanks.

 

[TonyR]

Under BI, the specific "camera properties", "record" tab, check the "Pre-trigger Video Buffer" box and set to about 4 seconds to start with, click on "OK" and try that.

 

[tomgru]

that's it! Perfect... thanks so much.
So did I misunderstand "make time"? Or is that just for the trigger, but not for the recording?

 

[TonyR]

that's it! Perfect... thanks so much.
So did I misunderstand "make time"? Or is that just for the trigger, but not for the recording?

"Make time" is like a delay before the decision is made to fire (trigger). To quote an excerpt from page 44 of BI help:

It’s not until the motion sensing persists for a time specified by the minimum duration or “make time” that the camera is actually triggered.​

More on "pre-trigger video buffer" (from page 59 of BI help:

"The pre-trigger video buffer applies only to when triggered recording. This is a useful feature for capturing the moments leading up to a trigger event. There are a couple of considerations when using this however, depending on whether or not you are using “direct to disc” recording (discussed in the format and compression topic below). Without direct to disc, all pre-trigger frames will be encoded at once upon trigger. As this has the potential to require time and CPU resources, you should keep the pre-trigger time to a minimum, ideally just a few frames. If you are using direct to disc recording, this is not a concern, as the frames are pre-encoded—however you must be mindful that recording can only begin on a key frame and not an arbitrary time in the stream. Key frames are generally spaced at 1 scond intervals, but you should take a look at Cameras in Status to see what your camera is sending."​