What software are you using with your Empire cameras?

[amill]

Just purchased some 2mp domes along with a 3mp vari-focal dome and bullet cam. Looking into using Sighthound, security spy or blue iris. Any recommendations? Looking for something that allows free iphone apps for remote viewing.

Also, has anyone had any success changing ip addresses of the camera without having to use the included software? I'm on mac and had to use a friends windows machine to setup the camera ips. I figured I could connect the camera and my computer to a switch and then change my computer ip to 192.168.1.50 since the camera is default to 192.168.1.10, but I was unable to get into the camera.

 

[fenderman]

Welcome to the forum. Many of us, myself included use blue iris...You need to make sure the pc is powerful enough to handle the cameras...there are many threads on this. The blue iris mobile app is not free, its 10 dollars...but a solid value considering the software is only 50 bux and is amazing. You can use the free version of ipcamviewer to view the blue iris webserver if you dont want to pay the 10 bux, but you wont have the ability to view recorded video, change profiles, get push notifications (you can still do text and email)...
As far as changing the ip addresses...with a pc you can do it directly by changing the ipv4 network settings..there are threads on this, but not sure about mac...
@nary should be able to give you some instruction...

 

[nayr]

there are many cameras that are not OSX friendly; this sounds like one of them if it requires a windows setup program.. Anything that requires an ActiveX plugin is going to be Windows and Internet Explorer ONLY.

Dahua is the most Mac friendly IPCam manufacturer I have found; if your an Apple house I would urge you to switch.. you get free iPhone/Android/and MacOSX clients and everything works well.

If your stuck with your poor decision to buy these cameras then go to VirturalBox.org and install a windows VM on your mac's

 

[fenderman]

@nayr not sure if op is referring to the activex install. I believe op just needs a way to log into the camera when the ip address is outside of his routers range....I believe empire includes a utility sort of like hikvisions SADP to change the ip....there must be a method on mac to connect the computer and camera to a switch and then just hit the cameras webserver...

 

[amill]

@nayr not sure if op is referring to the activex install. I believe op just needs a way to log into the camera when the ip address is outside of his routers range....I believe empire includes a utility sort of like hikvisions SADP to change the ip....there must be a method on mac to connect the computer and camera to a switch and then just hit the cameras webserver...

This is correct. I connected my laptop and the ipcam to a switch with no other devices attached. I changed my computer ip to 192.168.1.50 since the camera was defaulted to 192.168.1.10. But I couldn't get into the camera. I was told by empire that I had to use the software, which seems odd.

 

[nayr]

can you ping the camera? is the webgui available after configuring it? it does seem odd but its pretty typical in this industry to take the stance that windows is the only operating system in the world.. Ive encountered a ton of cameras that weren't really even usable if you didn't have windows.

it is quite aggravating, I dabble in just about every technology industry on the planet and this is one of the worst about opting for a proprietary, vendor locked solution instead of using the open standards they supposedly agreed on... reminds me of computing in the early .com era where compatibility was considered a flaw and not a feature.. (ie, if you can use any 3rd party anything your not vendor locking them hard enough)

 

[blake]

You have to use the Empire upgrade tool that should be on the disk inside the camera box. Ensure that the camers are the correct subnet.

 

[blake]

Nayr, I take it you don't like Empire cams??

 

[nayr]

no experience with empire, cant say.. but if they require a windows only piece of software to setup and it cant be done through any standard browser it does not bode well that the software is any good at all.. the hardware looks okay, very industrial but the specs are reasonable given the cost... a 1080p varifocal for under $150 is pretty damn good on paper.

Ive seen much worse cameras, I was speaking in general about the industry.. its not just Empire.. A large portion of cameras out there require windows to use.. because commercial installers use windows.. Residential use is not so rigid, if your doing residential IP Cameras you'd be wise to seek out a product that has good cross-platform compatibility because you dont want to lock your self in and have a bad experience because you cant upgrade or get a different phone or whatever..

Macs are also hugely popular in business, if you were an installer and you brought that down to the ecig shop I visit the'd throw you out when you couldn't get it working with there fancy mac point of sale machines and tablets.. I work on a floor of highly talented rock-star status developers and we can get any workstation we want, everyone is on apple hardware.. even if they have to install windows or linux on it for there development stacks... I have a co-worker whom hates OSX but loves his MacBookPro w/Linux on it.

Were coming upon 2015, all this stuff should be standard spec HTML configurable through any web browser on any platform.. PC/Mac Tablet/Phone/TV without any special plugins or any of that crap.. its wholly unnecessary and reflects poorly upon those whom cant get there shit together.. friggin h264 plays on EVERYTHING!! I dont know if you were on the internet 8 years ago but it wasent long back couldn't play any videos on anything without installing or converting the crap.. DiVX, WMV, AVI, MPG, Flash, Xvid, and ad-nasuea.. the war is over and h264 won.

 

[blake]

Now I understand. Ty.

 

[bp2008]

Most cameras do h264 already, but I don't know of any yet that can stream it live to a browser without a plugin.

 

[nayr]

thats because HTML5 dropped the ball and left out support for RSTP, some browsers do support it regardless but the cameras dont send the correct headers or formatting because it almost always fails..

for example I know safari has support for playing an RSTP stream, yet when I put my Dahua's RSTP url into the browser bar I get:


the same URL plays the video fine on VLC, even on a phone/tablet.. so something is not right.. We need better HTML5 Video support from cameras but at least we can decode the video using hardware acceleration.

Hikvision and Dahua at least both provide very simple plugins that just enable RSTP streaming, for all platforms.. they dont chew up all your CPU to play a video like an ActiveX,Silverlight,Flash Video plugin would have... There about the best choice right now, but still not quite there yet.. one day we wont need any darn plugins or custom software and all this will be 100% standards compliant so it'll work on anything.. even our SmartTV's