camera placement project

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dudemaar

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Aug 18, 2018
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Doing a camera install at my brother in law's house, so I decided to try out theJVSG demo software first. Here is what I came up with after 2-3hrs of doodling on my computer. thoughts? I think it gives a ok layout representation, other than the camera model is wrong. I'm going with the IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS
brofromo.PNG brofomo01.PNG brofomo02.PNG brofomo03.PNGbrofomo04.PNG brofomo5.PNG
 
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Hi @dudemaar

Looks like a good plan so far. Now it is time to test the idea with a camera, test rig, and a friend acting as a prowler.

Personally I would add one more camera covering the driveway / walkway up to the house between camera 2 and 3.
( this is where I think the typical threats come from in terms of package thieves, car door checkers, etc. . )

Do review your threat issues and see if other sides of the house / property are considered more of a threat. Since the property is on a corner perhaps the side nearest to the street may need additional coverage.
 
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@mat200 I agree, although all the entrances was my main focus. The Only man door into garage is the one out back. Also He does live out of town . now I just need to convince him and already he was on a budget with 4 cameras.:nervous:

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This "IPC hobby" is often like a black hole: the more the merrier, but in case of tight budget, some shortcuts might be taken, however do take note of these considerations as you (he) might want to upgrade the system later on. For example, I strive to "cover" each camera with another camera, for different reasoning: you can always see whether that cam works (eg turn IR on/off remotely), or even better: see if someone is damaging it. In your case, you might end up with double amount of cams. On the other hand, in the current diagram there are "blind spots" where people can come (eg from garden side) and run straight to the house without being noticed. If there are windows to these walls, your plan isn't waterproof.

Which brings me to a more important question: what is the objective of this exercise? Is it to "scare off" potential burglars, have "some" footage and feel a bit more "safe", or is this to have "24/7 intelligent video analysis" to see any activity? If it was to feel more safe, I would first insist to install a decent alarm system, with door/windows/area/PIR sensors before going into the cam level. They CAN complement each other, but cams do often proof to generate false alarms (eg cat passing by, shadows of all kinds etc).

We on this forum can formulate tons of advices, which devices, network diagrams etc - all with a certain price - but if you can share some background, it would help to "limit" the scope. You don't want Fort Knox advice right? :)
 
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@catcamstar l hear what your saying and I think an alarm system would be a good idea. He does have a border collie dog on site, but I am going talk to him and see if we can add some more cameras to cover the blind spots and a alarm system. Or at least pre wire it for future cam upgrades.
 
Cameras are flashier and way more fun, but without an alarm system to begin with they're basically worthless.

Anyone who breaks into the house will have all the time in the world to find the recorder and steal it.
 
Will.I.Am said:
Cameras are flashier and way more fun, but without an alarm system to begin with they're basically worthless.

Anyone who breaks into the house will have all the time in the world to find the recorder and steal it.
Click to expand...

If they are smart enough. I like to hide nvr Most break ins are smash and grabs. If they do break in, it’s probably going to be for tools and atv’s in the garage. Even a vehicle description is worth having cameras.
 
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Most of them are, but if there's no alarm to alert anyone but there are cameras on show then there's still a good chance they'll look for it. It isn't that hard to follow where the cables go to.

They can also just cover their faces and park away from the premises.
Unless you're covering every entrance to a property to a considerable distance away from it, the effectiveness of cameras can be seriously reduced by a smart burglar. A well installed alarm can't be. As soon as they enter the premises, you know about it.

Cameras are great for helping to catch who did something (still not 100% mind you), alarms are good for scaring the shit out of them and making them know that they have to be smash and grab so at least they don't find the things that really matter like irreplaceable personal possessions. Even better is when you have both, with 2 way audio so you can let them know that you've phoned the cops.

The main way an alarm can be compromised is by cutting the phone line, but that can be countered by GSM or GPRS signaling.


Everyone has their own priorities, but as someone who's worked in the security industry for 16 years, alarms are more effective than cameras at deterring intruders and limiting their damage.

Obviously the ideal setup is both, but if you start with an alarm, you can easily build the camera system up one camera at a time, which also gives you the opportunity to assess things after each camera is in to see what's the best way to improve the coverage.
 
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PS, i like to hide nvrs in the roof space, but the weather some of you yanks get wouldn't allow for that.

It's also pretty easy and cheap to set up a raspberry pi with an external hard drive and nfs shares and have the cameras record directly to it on motion so there are 2 points of storage. Obviously hide it in a different place to the nvr.
 
I agree, security alarm first. Looking into a Ring system. Also one of My main objectives when installing cameras is to try hide wires 100%. Even if it takes me longer to do the job.
 
dudemaar said:
I agree, security alarm first. Looking into a Ring system. Also one of My main objectives when installing cameras is to try hide wires 100%. Even if it takes me longer to do the job.
Click to expand...

Please read some of the Ring systems experiences on this forum. A cloud-based system (with low specs and quality) might seem a tempting (short term) solution, but in midst and long term, you'll run against the boundaries of that closed circuit platform.

Difficult and though choices, especially when deciding for someone else :)

Tip of the day: make a matrix, on the columns the different "solutions": colA: Alarm-only, colB: Alarm + Ring, colC: Alarm + separate cams, colD: Alarm + Cams + NVR

And you start filling it, as objective as possible: 1) coverage (100% is the whole property is covered, 50% when still blindspots, 0% dark), 2) low light (eg starvision/starlight): ring will be here at 0%, dahua at 100%, 3) wifi: weight counts as 0% because can be jammed (!!!), and ... and ... finally the price tag.

Easy :)
 
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