New to BI - any documentation to read? Overwriting saved images/video

eggzlot

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Hi all

New to BI here, just installed it today. Currently working with 4 cameras and looking to add a few more.

I am interested in something simple such as record on motion if motion detected in a certain area....And then after ~3 weeks (or when my drive gets to X% full) start to override/delete the old recordings in favor of the newer ones. This is for home monitoring, so a few weeks of saved data is plenty.

How would I go about executing these features? I saw the "AOI" (Area of Interest) option so with 1 camera I am using as a test, I created an AOI. I think it is recording to its own folder it created, but saw nothing about overwriting, etc.

Any help or directions to point me in as a new user?
 

fenderman

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@eggzlot Welcome to the forum...
You probably shouldnt use the AOI..that simply crops the camera to the area you select and you dont record the cameras full field of view. Simply go to the motion tab of each camera and use the mask option...black out the area you DONT want motion detection to occur in...do NOT use hotspot at all...
Disable object detect/reject...
Play with the MAKE time...a good starting point is 0.7
Set the BREAK time to at least 20 seconds....
In the record tab, set the pretrigger frames to 2 times your cameras FPS...so if the cam is 15fps, set it to 30...

To setup auto delete, do to the clips and archiving tab in blue iris options...simply set the new folder the size of the recordings you wish to keep..dont set a day limit...that is irrelevant...there is no reason to delete footage early if you have the room...set the new folder to "delete" instead of "move folder to"...
 

eggzlot

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@eggzlot Welcome to the forum...
You probably shouldnt use the AOI..that simply crops the camera to the area you select and you dont record the cameras full field of view. Simply go to the motion tab of each camera and use the mask option...black out the area you DONT want motion detection to occur in...do NOT use hotspot at all...
Disable object detect/reject...
Play with the MAKE time...a good starting point is 0.7
Set the BREAK time to at least 20 seconds....
In the record tab, set the pretrigger frames to 2 times your cameras FPS...so if the cam is 15fps, set it to 30...

To setup auto delete, do to the clips and archiving tab in blue iris options...simply set the new folder the size of the recordings you wish to keep..dont set a day limit...that is irrelevant...there is no reason to delete footage early if you have the room...set the new folder to "delete" instead of "move folder to"...
Thanks Fenderman!

I got that all under control. For now there are 2 cameras I want recording on motion 24x7 and another two cameras recording on different schedules. I tried to set up a second profile under Profile 2. I assumed the green bars meant recording periods and if I highlighted over and they became blue it meant those were not recording times. But I was never able to "apply" the different settings to another profile/schedule.

Furthermore, when I am on the page where I just see my 4 camera images in 1 shot, only 1 of those 4 cameras has the Green 1 icon in the title bar for Profile 1, even if I try to set up the profiles/schedules on all 4 cameras.

I read the help file, was rather generic and did not provide much other than some historical differences between profiles and schedules.

Lastly - I set up to delete as you mention - so that means the entire folder will delete at the GB I specificed, or the older image captures will delete first saving the newer ones? ie deleting in sequential order? I also have a NAS - any best practices for using that as a backup (just back up the Blue Iris folder off the PC?)

Thanks again - really looking forward to digging into this program. When it is all set up, I plan on getting the Control4 driver and putting into my home automation system but first just trying to get down the basics.
 

fenderman

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You should not be setting the profiles in the blue iris individual camera properties..you should be using the global schedule..disable the camera schedule override...
Colors are irrelevant..only one profile may be active at a time (assuming you dont override the global schedule and for your simple setup you should not)...
Simply setup profiles in the global schedule, then for the 24/7 cameras set the to continuous recording for each profile...you will see that in the record tab there is a dropdown and you can set DISTINCT options for EACH profile...so you need to go though each profile you set in the schedule and set it to continuous...then for the other cams set them any which way you want.
It will delete only the files needed to add new ones and it will delete the oldest files first.
You can backup the folder to the nas or you can simultaneously record to both by setting up a duplicate cloned camera in blue iris and setting it to record to nas...you can hide this second camera so it doesnt display on the screen.
 

eggzlot

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You should not be setting the profiles in the blue iris individual camera properties..you should be using the global schedule..disable the camera schedule override...
Colors are irrelevant..only one profile may be active at a time (assuming you dont override the global schedule and for your simple setup you should not)...
Simply setup profiles in the global schedule, then for the 24/7 cameras set the to continuous recording for each profile...you will see that in the record tab there is a dropdown and you can set DISTINCT options for EACH profile...so you need to go though each profile you set in the schedule and set it to continuous...then for the other cams set them any which way you want.
It will delete only the files needed to add new ones and it will delete the oldest files first.
You can backup the folder to the nas or you can simultaneously record to both by setting up a duplicate cloned camera in blue iris and setting it to record to nas...you can hide this second camera so it doesnt display on the screen.
Ah ok - so I kept all cameras on "Profile 1". in the video drop down box for two of them I did "triggered" so when motion gets in the area I set up (using masking) it will record. and for the other two cameras I just did manual - ie not recording. Those are indoor cameras I only want to record when I am away. With the Control4 driver I can do a statement like if alarm is set to away then record on motion, etc for indoor cameras. in the global settings all days the bars are all 100% green for Profile 1. So this is all set up correctly? Two cameras will record on motion and two are manual so will only record when I hit record....
 

fenderman

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To be clear, the area you mask will not trigger motion...you mask the area you dont want to use for motion trigger.
Yes its setup correctly...I dont know how control 4 interacts with blue iris...all you need to do, is setup profile 2, in that profile you set ALL the cameras to triggered recordings...remember you need to set the motion, record, alert, tabs again for each profile...now when you are away all you need to do is manually change to profile 2...make sure you select hold - not a temporary change of profile..you can probably have control 4 change the profile for you, but its easy to do via the mobile app.
 

eggzlot

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correct - the area I masked I do NOT want to trigger recording. I think when I sync into Control4 I'll create a 2nd profile and I can have Blue Iris automatically switch to that profile when my alarm is away (not home). When my alarm is off (home) it will go back to profile 1. Automates that process I believe. I'll let this run for 24-48 hours as a good test to make sure outdoor cameras record on motion, indoor cameras do not record and I can easily access the recordings. Then I'll dig in a bit deeper. Thanks again - this has been a great tutorial and quick help!
 

eggzlot

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You should not be setting the profiles in the blue iris individual camera properties..you should be using the global schedule..disable the camera schedule override...
Colors are irrelevant..only one profile may be active at a time (assuming you dont override the global schedule and for your simple setup you should not)...
Simply setup profiles in the global schedule, then for the 24/7 cameras set the to continuous recording for each profile...you will see that in the record tab there is a dropdown and you can set DISTINCT options for EACH profile...so you need to go though each profile you set in the schedule and set it to continuous...then for the other cams set them any which way you want.
It will delete only the files needed to add new ones and it will delete the oldest files first.
You can backup the folder to the nas or you can simultaneously record to both by setting up a duplicate cloned camera in blue iris and setting it to record to nas...you can hide this second camera so it doesnt display on the screen.
one more question - I noticed my new PC has a C and D drive. its 1 TB Total, but the C drive is about 200 GB and its where the OS sits and the D drive is about 800 GB and is empty. If I change the global settings > clips and archive > folders > path to the D drive, do I need to change the global settings > clips and archive > database path also to the D Drive? What is the relationship? They are both currently pointing at the C drive. I only have 1 drive in the machine but Asus must have partitioned it to a C and D drive. Just leave it? Change something? I am using this PC 95% just for Blue Iris so customizing it to be as optimal as possible.
 

fenderman

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You can leave the database on the c partition...you can set the new folder to record to D...remember that each folder, "new" "storage" "aux" can be set to a distinct location.
 

eggzlot

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You can leave the database on the c partition...you can set the new folder to record to D...remember that each folder, "new" "storage" "aux" can be set to a distinct location.
Hi Fenderman - I am noticing clips are getting linked together. There may be motion at 4pm then again at 5:30pm and maybe 10pm. They are all getting lumped into 1 clip. On the right it will say 5 hours 39 mins and 1.xx GB. But when I scroll through it, its just a few clips of seconds during those times. So wondering why it is lumped and why is it recording over a GB of data? There is a check next to "combine or cut" - should I uncheck that box? Otherwise it is working on trigger, only 2 of the cameras that I want, etc. So we are inching closer to my desired starting point. Thanks again!
 

fenderman

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Hi Fenderman - I am noticing clips are getting linked together. There may be motion at 4pm then again at 5:30pm and maybe 10pm. They are all getting lumped into 1 clip. On the right it will say 5 hours 39 mins and 1.xx GB. But when I scroll through it, its just a few clips of seconds during those times. So wondering why it is lumped and why is it recording over a GB of data? There is a check next to "combine or cut" - should I uncheck that box? Otherwise it is working on trigger, only 2 of the cameras that I want, etc. So we are inching closer to my desired starting point. Thanks again!
If you dont want them combined into a single clip then uncheck combine and cut...
As far as the size, what does is show as the length of recorded video?
 

eggzlot

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If you dont want them combined into a single clip then uncheck combine and cut...
As far as the size, what does is show as the length of recorded video?
Most are in the 500-700MB range and 1 gets into the 1.xx GB range. I have the folder to cap at 500 GB. I guess that can get me a few weeks of recordings so at this point its fine? I guess I was just alarmed when I saw "7 hours" as a recording, yet when I did playback it was just 45-60 seconds total. For home security recording, any suggested sensitivity settings? I am thinking like 70% or so? I do not want it tripping over minimal disturbances.
 

fenderman

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Most are in the 500-700MB range and 1 gets into the 1.xx GB range. I have the folder to cap at 500 GB. I guess that can get me a few weeks of recordings so at this point its fine? I guess I was just alarmed when I saw "7 hours" as a recording, yet when I did playback it was just 45-60 seconds total. For home security recording, any suggested sensitivity settings? I am thinking like 70% or so? I do not want it tripping over minimal disturbances.
Storage is cheap..you are better off having false recording than missing something important..set it to be sensitive.
 
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