How to configure detection rectable color and save then in videos?

Owkaye

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I installed Blue Iris 5 today, and I'm having a couple of problems:

1- How can I change the color of the rectangles BI overlays on my videos when the software senses motion?

2- How do I configure BI to save those rectangles in the video files it is storing on my hard drive?
 

looney2ns

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I installed Blue Iris 5 today, and I'm having a couple of problems:

1- How can I change the color of the rectangles BI overlays on my videos when the software senses motion?

2- How do I configure BI to save those rectangles in the video files it is storing on my hard drive?
You can't.
 

Owkaye

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Hello looney2ns,

You may be correct for #1 ...

… but for #2 I went to the camera's "Settings > Record > Video file format and compression" and I switched from "Direct-to-disc" to "Re-encode with settings" … and then my video clips started saving the rectangles!

:)
 

fenderman

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Hello looney2ns,

You may be correct for #1 ...

… but for #2 I went to the camera's "Settings > Record > Video file format and compression" and I switched from "Direct-to-disc" to "Re-encode with settings" … and then my video clips started saving the rectangles!

:)
And your cpu usage shot up.
 

Owkaye

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Hi fenderman,

I thought it would, but according to the info at the bottom of the BI screen it is hovering between 13-15% right now. This would probably be a lot less if I were running a faster system, but I'm only running a second generation i3 -- and at this time only one 1080P camera (with audio). And it is night time which probably means less processor demand since the camera images are black & white rather than color. So I'll check it again in the morning and see if the CPU has jumped up because of daytime color image processing.

One thing I would like to know how to do is reduce the amount of time BI continues to record after motion is no longer detected. Sometimes it seems like the last half of the videos have no motion in them. Is there a way to reduce this time so I don't have to sit here twice as long as necessary? I found the setting to start each video a few seconds before the first motion is detected, but I have not found a setting to end each video a couple seconds after the last motion is detected. Is there such a setting in this software?
 

fenderman

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Hi fenderman,

I thought it would, but according to the info at the bottom of the BI screen it is hovering between 13-15% right now. This would probably be a lot less if I were running a faster system, but I'm only running a second generation i3 -- and at this time only one 1080P camera (with audio). And[FONT=Lato,"Trebuchet MS",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif] [/FONT]it is night time which probably means less processor demand since the camera images are black & white rather than color. So I'll check it again in the morning and see if the CPU has jumped up because of daytime color image processing.

One thing I would like to know how to do is reduce the amount of time BI continues to record after motion is no longer detected. Sometimes it seems like the last half of the videos have no motion in them. Is there a way to reduce this time so I don't have to sit here twice as long as necessary? I found the setting to start each video a few seconds before the first motion is detected, but I have not found a setting to end each video a couple seconds after the last motion is detected. Is there such a setting in this software?
You would certainly see a significant reduction unless you are running the demo.
Reencoding may also increase the bitrate so you use more storage and may reduce the image quality. It should not be used in general.
The default is 10 seconds and is too low. You should set it to 30. This is called the break time. You should read the manual.
 

Owkaye

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Well yes, I am running the demo.

So there's a difference between the demo and the paid version? That's not good news for anyone who wants to actually know how the paid software will behave before paying for it. :(

What are the other differences, and how might they affect my paid vs. demo experiences, other than the lack of a significant reduction in CPU usage in the demo which you already mentioned?

And is there a manual somewhere? The website says nothing about a manual under its "Support" tab, and I found this in an online forum:

"There is no standalone "user manual" for Blue Iris. The "Help" information provided within the Blue Iris application itself is the only official documentation provided."

So are you referring to the "Help" portion of the software itself when you mention a "manual"?
 

fenderman

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Well yes, I am running the demo.

So there's a difference between the demo and the paid version? That's not good news for anyone who wants to actually know how the paid software will behave before paying for it. :(

What are the other differences, and how might they affect my paid vs. demo experiences, other than the lack of a significant reduction in CPU usage in the demo which you already mentioned?

And is there a manual somewhere? The website says nothing about a manual under its "Support" tab, and I found this in an online forum:

"There is no standalone "user manual" for Blue Iris. The "Help" information provided within the Blue Iris application itself is the only official documentation provided."

So are you referring to the "Help" portion of the software itself when you mention a "manual"?
Thats the only difference. It's ok the developer is doing just fine with sales.
 

Owkaye

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Can you explain a little more about why the demo version uses more CPU than the paid version?

The reason I ask is because it seems strange to me that the developer would create a demo version that uses more CPU than the paid version. In my opinion it would make more sense to insure that the demo runs EXACTLY THE SAME as the paid version, because this is the only way the user will know how much CPU will actually be used when he switches to the paid version.

It's ok the developer is doing just fine with sales.
Wow, this sounds like a suggestion to NOT buy this software! Do you think I should look elsewhere for other software than Blue Iris?

I was under the impression that BI is one of the best consumer-grade NVR software packages out there. One thing's for sure, I have discovered more than a couple of problems with this BI5 version, including the way I can make it crash repeatedly in specific situations. I don't know if this is because it hasn't been tested thoroughly before being released, or if these problems are carry-overs from the previous version ...

I only just learned about BI a week or so ago, and I haven't spent any time in forums looking for the problems other people have reported. Maybe I should ...

 

fenderman

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Can you explain a little more about why the demo version uses more CPU than the paid version?

The reason I ask is because it seems strange to me that the developer would create a demo version that uses more CPU than the paid version. In my opinion it would make more sense to insure that the demo runs EXACTLY THE SAME as the paid version, because this is the only way the user will know how much CPU will actually be used when he switches to the paid version.



Wow, this sounds like a suggestion to NOT buy this software! Do you think I should look elsewhere for other software than Blue Iris?

I was under the impression that BI is one of the best consumer-grade NVR software packages out there. One thing's for sure, I have discovered more than a couple of problems with this BI5 version, including the way I can make it crash repeatedly in specific situations. I don't know if this is because it hasn't been tested thoroughly before being released, or if these problems are carry-overs from the previous version ...

I only just learned about BI a week or so ago, and I haven't spent any time in forums looking for the problems other people have reported. Maybe I should ...

Because direct to disk is not fully implemented. In the old versions several years ago it didnt work at all. In the newer demos it works to the extent that the overlays are not written. However it has been proven over and over that there is a significant drop after the license. If you dont want to trust the hundreds of users here and me and risk an entire 50-60 bux, then so be it.
You should definitely look elsewhere. Why trust us. The developer clearly doesnt know what he is doing. Why settle. There are many other options.
The problems dont carry from the previous version. I run over 20 blue iris systems they have zero stability issues.
Blue iris 5 is brand new. Literally 7 days old. The problem folks are having is directly related to upgrading prematurely.
One of the BEST features of blue iris is that the developer pushes new features and updates once or twice a month. Sometimes more frequently. This is great for end user needs. Other companies will test the software for 3 months before releasing the update. The blue iris developer give YOU total control and the OPTION to install. The problem lies is many users who suffer incurable OCD and feel the need to update within hours of a release.
You also need to follow a few basic rules with blue iris as well as any other vms. Failure to follow these rules results in "unexplained" issues.
1 - install windows CLEAN using the MS media creation tool.
2 - dedicate the machine to blue iris.

No worries, we wont lose any sleep if you choose another vms.
 

Owkaye

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Because direct to disk is not fully implemented. In the old versions several years ago it didnt work at all. In the newer demos it works to the extent that the overlays are not written. However it has been proven over and over that there is a significant drop after the license.
I guess this makes sense to me now that you've explained it, thanks fenderman!

The reason I questioned this in the first place is because I'm a software developer myself, and the demos I've created in the past have never been separate products like the demo and paid versions of BI are. Instead my demo and paid versions employed the exact same underlying code which means they would use the exact same CPU and RAM after demo users upgrade to paid.

I can see now that the BI developers chose to take a different approach when developing their demo vs. paid versions, and I'm surprised about this, but I'm sure they had their reasons.

Having said this, I have also noticed that you seem very anxious to conclude that I do not trust you or believe you or anyone else here. However, I never said or suggested any such thing. I simply asked for an explanation of a confusing issue based on my experience developing software myself. And I appreciate your answer, thank you.

The problem folks are having is directly related to upgrading prematurely.
Well, I just happened to discover this software at the time when a new version was released, so my problems stem from inexperience rather than upgrade issues. I have never installed any version other than 5.

But now that you mention it, it does irritate me when certain people think they need to upgrade the same minute a new version becomes available! This is the most foolish thing anyone can do when they actually need to rely on the software. There is no common sense reason to upgrade the moment a new version is released UNLESS you want to be an early adopter and are willing to deal with the obvious bugs you will run into -- without complaining about it.

Of course no software should be released until it's been beta tested, the testers are confident that they have found all the bugs, and the developers have squashed them. In an ideal world this is how it would work, but humans have bad practices sometimes, and they create problems because of their impatience. This seems to be one of those times.

---

BTW, I have followed your two rules, and other than crashing when trying to save camera settings when Profile is set to 0 / Inactive (this is repeatable on my system) I have not found any other bugs yet in BI5. Hopefully I can stay on v5 because it is new and mostly working well, so I would hate to revert back to an older version when this new version is already released.

Fortunately running cameras is a hobby for me at this point, and I am patient.
 

Owkaye

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Actually I found another bug today. Sometimes when clicking the gear icon to manage the camera settings, the Audio settings dialog is displayed, not the main camera settings dialog. I have to quit and restart the program to clear this bug.
 

looney2ns

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I guess this makes sense to me now that you've explained it, thanks fenderman!

The reason I questioned this in the first place is because I'm a software developer myself, and the demos I've created in the past have never been separate products like the demo and paid versions of BI are. Instead my demo and paid versions employed the exact same underlying code which means they would use the exact same CPU and RAM after demo users upgrade to paid.

I can see now that the BI developers chose to take a different approach when developing their demo vs. paid versions, and I'm surprised about this, but I'm sure they had their reasons.

Having said this, I have also noticed that you seem very anxious to conclude that I do not trust you or believe you or anyone else here. However, I never said or suggested any such thing. I simply asked for an explanation of a confusing issue based on my experience developing software myself. And I appreciate your answer, thank you.

Well, I just happened to discover this software at the time when a new version was released, so my problems stem from inexperience rather than upgrade issues. I have never installed any version other than 5.

But now that you mention it, it does irritate me when certain people think they need to upgrade the same minute a new version becomes available! This is the most foolish thing anyone can do when they actually need to rely on the software. There is no common sense reason to upgrade the moment a new version is released UNLESS you want to be an early adopter and are willing to deal with the obvious bugs you will run into -- without complaining about it.

Of course no software should be released until it's been beta tested, the testers are confident that they have found all the bugs, and the developers have squashed them. In an ideal world this is how it would work, but humans have bad practices sometimes, and they create problems because of their impatience. This seems to be one of those times.

---

BTW, I have followed your two rules, and other than crashing when trying to save camera settings when Profile is set to 0 / Inactive (this is repeatable on my system) I have not found any other bugs yet in BI5. Hopefully I can stay on v5 because it is new and mostly working well, so I would hate to revert back to an older version when this new version is already released.

Fortunately running cameras is a hobby for me at this point, and I am patient.
Bi is developed by one single person, not a staff.
The debate over the eval vs paid version has been discussed to death.
Be sure to read this Wiki.
There is already a thread about bugs, the developer does not read this forum.
 

Owkaye

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Bi is developed by one single person, not a staff.
Thanks for the info.
Be sure to read this Wiki.
I didn't even know it existed. Looks like a great source of info for everyone new to BI.
There is already a thread about bugs, the developer does not read this forum.
Okay, I won't waste time mentioning bugs here any more.
 

fenderman

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This is from the new BI5 help file which explains why the demo mode sees more cpu.
"
For ultimate CPU performance, you can completely eliminate video overlays via an option
on the Video page in camera settings. Note that when in demonstration mode, a banner is
drawn to each video frame to this effect, which may contribute to initial CPU utilization
before license activation. If you counter-intuitively see CPU usage go UP when the software
is licensed, this may indicate a higher frame throughput when the overlay is removed."
 
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