NVR software for Windows

[allen bell]

I'm a refugee from Dahua DVRs. The hardware is fine and the idea behind their software is OK but the implementation is just too clunky. They know cameras but their computer/programming skills are below base level.

I'm looking to BUY NVR software for Windows for a 16 camera setup. So far I have tried

Blue Iris. Certainly every feature anyone could ever want, but after 4 hours never got to the part where it would record on Motion Detect. Couldn't even FIND the page where you search By-Camera-by-date/time. Too many screens, too much reading ... in two words "over programmed." Smart guys and they sure want to serve everyone but they need a "front end" that is cleaner and features the "typical" options on one page
iSpy - Agent Setup. Couldn't get past the fact that it couldn't connect to it's own server after it's own setup
GeniusVision. This was the closest to working right out of the box. Set up screens erroring with messages like "Max Storage GB has to be a number between 1 and 0" and then not accepting any input.


Suggestions?

 

[wittaj]

At this point I don't think you will find anything reasonably priced.

With only 3 posts, I see that NONE of them were to this forum asking about help with BI. Maybe you threw in the towel too quick....

Had you asked, or looked at the 200+ page manual with BI, the answer to record on Motion Detect is easy. Simply go to the record tab of the camera and select "when triggered".




If you want true plug-n-play simplicity, then go with one of the consumer brands - Ring, Arlo, Reolink, Nest, Blink, etc. They are true plug-n-play because those cameras all run on default/auto settings with very little, to no ability to change camera parameters. Just recognize nighttime motion quality will be poor.

Simply download their app and scan the camera QR code and you are up and running, with a better app experience also.

But their plug-n-play simplicity comes at a cost of nighttime performance and ability to customize stuff, but obviously many do not seem to care about that as those systems are popular and those consumer grade systems are a perfect fit for those that want simplicity and not having to learn how to use an NVR or other type of VMS system.

 

[TonyR]

Too many screens, too much reading ... in two words "over programmed."
Suggestions?

BI's built-in "Help" (the big "?" at upper left) can clarify it for you in just a couple of minutes.

Look under "Cameras" => "Triggering and Motion Detection" and "Cameras" => "The Motion Sensor". Check one box and the motion sensor works by default, albet in need of fine tuning.

I encourage you to take a deep breath and try again, go slow and I'll bet the seas will part for you...and it'll be worth it.

 

[bigredfish]

What did the NVR NOT do you wanted it to?

 

[allen bell]

At this point I don't think you will find anything reasonably priced.

With only 3 posts, I see that NONE of them were to this forum asking about help with BI. Maybe you threw in the towel too quick....

Had you asked, or looked at the 200+ page manual with BI, the answer to record on Motion Detect is easy. Simply go to the record tab of the camera and select "when triggered".

View attachment 209483


If you want true plug-n-play simplicity, then go with one of the consumer brands - Ring, Arlo, Reolink, Nest, Blink, etc. They are true plug-n-play because those cameras all run on default/auto settings with very little, to no ability to change camera parameters. Just recognize nighttime motion quality will be poor.

Simply download their app and scan the camera QR code and you are up and running, with a better app experience also.

But their plug-n-play simplicity comes at a cost of nighttime performance and ability to customize stuff, but obviously many do not seem to care about that as those systems are popular and those consumer grade systems are a perfect fit for those that want simplicity and not having to learn how to use an NVR or other type of VMS system.

You sort of nailing when you mentioned the 200+ page manual. That proved my point.

 

[wittaj]

You sort of nailing when you mentioned the 200+ page manual. That proved my point.

And yet people complain about the NVRs not having a manual....can't make everyone happy....

When I first tried BI as a demo, in under 30min without even looking at the manual I fumbled my way around for setting up the basic functionality...

Did you play at all with any of these systems?

Most here (unfortunately lol) don't even look at the manual and just fumble their way through lol.

And if you aren't tech savvy, that is fine as there is a whole market of consumer grade stuff that you simply hang up and scan a QR code and you are done.

Maybe you were asking questions on reddit or something lol, but if you ask questions here you will find the answers...

 

[TonyR]

You sort of nailing when you mentioned the 200+ page manual. That proved my point.

Not really, IMO....you proved that you don't like to read and there's nothing wrong with that.

Some folks want a big return with little investment, I guess.

 

[looney2ns]

Geez Louise.

 

[allen bell]

Not really, IMO....you proved that you don't like to read and there's nothing wrong with that.

Some folks want a big return with little investment, I guess.

Wow.

Or maybe it should be straightforward and less chaotic?
Not requiring a 200+ page manual to set up a task that every DVR recorder can be done in two pages?

I reed pretty gud fer someun as ignort as i must bee, TonyR sorry iu dunt live up ta yer expectatipmn

I'll take my questions to a forum not guarded by sychophants

 

[wittaj]

Do you not have a car? My car has over a 200 page manual, but I didn't need to read it to drive it....

Maybe if you brought your questions here first instead of knocking the Dahua NVR and BI right out the gate with one of your first posts, the responses you would have received would have been better. As I said, good luck finding better that work with the better cameras.

Like I said, most here have set up the basic functionality of BI without looking at the manual....it is just nice that they have a thorough manual that can answer most questions if someone can't figure it out.

You should have been able to figure out how to record when triggered just by playing around and going to each tab. If that was too hard for you, then maybe a software based NVR isn't the right platform for you.

But since you couldn't do that, Ring and Arlo sound like the right product for you....they will only record on motion....and are very easy to set up....

Sometimes the truth hurts....

 

[tigerwillow1]

My car has over a 200 page manual, but I didn't need to read it to drive it....

True unless you want to use its full capability (depends on which car of course). (example) For my 2019 Subaru, just the cruise control section is 27 friggen pages long. Full length pages, not the short ones used in short-height car manuals. This thing has so many automatic functions and overloaded often illogical context sensitive button operations that it's darn near impossible (IMO) to know how to fully use it without digesting many of the 27 pages, and training yourself to overrule logic.

I think there's a parallel here to BI. A few of you have mastered it so well that it's easy for you, and I guess you must not realize that you've become one with it, ala the Borg. Now that I''ve gotten to 4th grade level with BI, I realize it has almost mind boggling capability, but at the same time remember the mind boggling complexity. I don't know who BI's main target audience is. If the target audience largely uses what the standard ipcamtalk configuration seems to be, there's a huge lost opportunity to simplify getting BI up and running, allowing gradual transition to the added capabilities/complexities if desired. (I believe the standard ipcamtalk configuration is a c: drive for everything but the actual video storage, then another lettered drive for the video storage.) A new user is immediately confronted with what to do about New, Stored, Alerts, and Aux 1 to Aux 13. Maybe it's intuitive to somebody else but took me a bunch of time with the manual, followed by the necessary approximate calculation of file sizes using the Price Is Right algorithm (get as close as you can to the maximum file size without going over it). Seems to me that there could be a fairly simple setup wizard to do this. (Do you want to use basic or advanced storage options (Y/N)?, if Basic, what drive do you want to use for video file storage?, Do you want to use all available space or specify a size limit?, etc.). Just one example of several where BI could be so much easier to set up and live with.

I find BI's unnecessary complexity to be absurd. I'm still running it in parallel with an NVR, and doing with it a few things that the NVR can't do. I might retire the NVR someday, or just get a new one with more channels. I could never find the time to deal with BI if I had a day job. Using only the manual I probably would have walked away from it months ago. There are too many things that either aren't addressed at all, or that defy understanding. It's only the eager and willing assistance from you BI Collective ipcamtalk members that make using BI possible for me.

Such a long post won't get read by many, and I can almost hear a response: Resistance is Futile.

 

[TonyR]

Wow.

I reed pretty gud fer someun as ignort as i must bee, TonyR sorry iu dunt live up ta yer expectatipmn

Not sure where your attitude is coming from, I wouldn't think implying you don't like to read some help files would be seen as an insult to your intelligence.

I'll take my questions to a forum not guarded by sychophants

Nothing I said to you merited such a negative response with name-calling. But now that we know your trigger, just make sure that other forum you plan on consulting is tolerant of children.

 

[wittaj]

True unless you want to use its full capability (depends on which car of course). (example) For my 2019 Subaru, just the cruise control section is 27 friggen pages long. Full length pages, not the short ones used in short-height car manuals. This thing has so many automatic functions and overloaded often illogical context sensitive button operations that it's darn near impossible (IMO) to know how to fully use it without digesting many of the 27 pages, and training yourself to overrule logic.

I think there's a parallel here to BI. A few of you have mastered it so well that it's easy for you, and I guess you must not realize that you've become one with it, ala the Borg. Now that I''ve gotten to 4th grade level with BI, I realize it has almost mind boggling capability, but at the same time remember the mind boggling complexity. I don't know who BI's main target audience is. If the target audience largely uses what the standard ipcamtalk configuration seems to be, there's a huge lost opportunity to simplify getting BI up and running, allowing gradual transition to the added capabilities/complexities if desired. (I believe the standard ipcamtalk configuration is a c: drive for everything but the actual video storage, then another lettered drive for the video storage.) A new user is immediately confronted with what to do about New, Stored, Alerts, and Aux 1 to Aux 13. Maybe it's intuitive to somebody else but took me a bunch of time with the manual, followed by the necessary approximate calculation of file sizes using the Price Is Right algorithm (get as close as you can to the maximum file size without going over it). Seems to me that there could be a fairly simple setup wizard to do this. (Do you want to use basic or advanced storage options (Y/N)?, if Basic, what drive do you want to use for video file storage?, Do you want to use all available space or specify a size limit?, etc.). Just one example of several where BI could be so much easier to set up and live with.

I find BI's unnecessary complexity to be absurd. I'm still running it in parallel with an NVR, and doing with it a few things that the NVR can't do. I might retire the NVR someday, or just get a new one with more channels. I could never find the time to deal with BI if I had a day job. Using only the manual I probably would have walked away from it months ago. There are too many things that either aren't addressed at all, or that defy understanding. It's only the eager and willing assistance from you BI Collective ipcamtalk members that make using BI possible for me.

Such a long post won't get read by many, and I can almost hear a response: Resistance is Futile.

Exactly, just a like a car, you can do the basics with BI, but you gotta either read and learn or play around to figure out the more advanced features.

The difference between the OP and you is that you reached out for help both by looking at the manual and asking questions here.

Are there things that are kinda goofy and counter-intuitive, yes of course, but for the basics - add a camera and record, for someone not scared to touch some buttons, it isn't that hard to figure out. Now some of the advanced stuff, yeah. And your journey to BI went straight to the advanced stuff. There are many long time BI users/lovers that haven't jumped into the AI realm like you did.

If I gave up on everything after 4 hours of barely trying, I wouldn't have accomplished anything.