Question about Ben Software’s products?
Visit bensoftware.com to find out about our high-quality video software for the Mac
You can also email us at support@bensoftware.com
Question about Ben Software’s products?
Visit bensoftware.com to find out about our high-quality video software for the Mac
You can also email us at support@bensoftware.com
Hello,
i’m considering buying securityspy and a marmitek ip robotcam 541. The only thing is that this cam is not on the supported list. Can it be that it will work anyway, eventhough you have not listed this product? I like the marmitek because it has HD and is reasonably priced. Plus i have a indigo home automation system in which i have several marmitek devices and with your plugin i can control script and multi-use the cam as needed.
I hope you can confirm that the ip robotcam 541 of marmitek can be connected to securityspy.
thanks in advance!
HenkJan (the netherlands)
Hi HenkJan,
Although we haven’t yet been able to test this particular camera with SecuritySpy, it is highly likely that it will work, probably with the existing Marmitek RoboCam profile already built into SecuritySpy, so I think it is pretty safe to purchase it. In the unlikely event that you can’t get it to work, please email us and we should be able to add support. Please report back to let us know how you get on.
Regards,
Ben
Hello,
do you plan to collect video streams from H.264 cams?
Hi Roberto,
This is planned for the future, but it is a big job so may take a while. Currently SecuritySpy support MJPEG streaming from cameras – and most cameras can send MJPEG streams even if they primarily advertise H.264 support. MJPEG works well over a fast local network (which is the normal setup for a video surveillance system), although I do of course see that there can be advantages in streaming H.264 from the camera to computer in certain circumstances.
Thanks for your interest.
Ben
Hi,
I have a Grandstream camera (GVX3500) and before purchase your application I’d like to know if it will work with my camera. I have installed the application but I couldn’t configure the Grandstream camera with success.
This camera works correctly when I connect via rtsp://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Thanks a lot for your assistance.
Julian.
Hi Julian,
Sorry to report that we haven’t had much luck adding support for Grandstream cameras in the past. Unfortunately that RTSP stream that you mention won’t work with SecuritySpy, which only accepts HTTP streams at present. According to the information we do have, this should work however:
– In the camera’s settings pages, set the Secondary Stream to MJPEG mode (use a web browser to adjust these settings)
– In SecuritySpy, add a new network device with Manual configuration, enter the camera’s IP address and use “goform/stream?cmd=get&channel=4” (without quotes) as the HTTP request
This should work but may be limited in resolution unfortunately.
Hello,
Based on your support compatibility list Megastream cameras are natively supported since version 3.0 including the GXV3615WP_HD. Could you please confirm me that? I’m getting a bunch of this cameras but I want to be sure that they will be compatible.
Please let me know.
Thank you very much!
Hi Riccardo, are you referring to Grandstream cameras? We do officially support a selection of Grandstream cameras (the ones we have tested), but other models should work just as well. The GXV3615WP_HD is definitely compatible and is already on our list.
If a video file gets cut in the middle and the file is left as a .unf, is there anyway to watch it?
Just saw your Movie Fixer software
Hi Craig, glad you found the movie fixer software. For others reading this post, the link is here: http://www.bensoftware.com/moviefixer/
An .unf (unfinished) file might occur if there was a computer crash during capture. When this happens, next time you load SecuritySpy it will attempt to fix the file, but this might not be possible if it is too corrupt. The Movie Fixer utility will scan the file for viable video frames and attempt to reconstruct the movie.
Hi
I actually use SecuritySpy but I don’t have place enough for stock the “Captured files” Can I stock this videos directly in an external hard-drive?
Thanks.
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
Yes, this setting is called “capture destination” and is located in the Setup section of the Camera Settings window. You can choose any mounted drive as the capture destination for each camera.
Regards,
Ben
Does this software have the ability to reduce the light when using a webcam outdoors so that the image is not a whiteout.
Hi Aaron,
SecuritySpy does not have any such image adjustment controls, as in the situation you describe it would probably be impossible to extract an image of any quality. Any camera rated for outdoor use will do this itself by adjusting the exposure and/or aperture of its lens to produce a correct image for the available light. It is not advisable to use an indoor-rated camera outdoors.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Question. Is there any application or service that can be run on a windows machine that will allow security spy to capture the full screen, such as a screen capture pack but for Windows?
Hi Richard, yes the AbelCam PC software can capture and transmit a PC’s screen to SecuritySpy.
Better question. Can Security Spy record VNC streams, such as from UltraVNC in order to record a windows PC full screen remotely? If not, is it possible to build in this capability in a future release?
Sorry, this is not currently a feature of SecuritySpy, and is unlikely to be implemented in the near future as we are busy working on other exciting features for the next major release!
Are there any plans or work arounds to add an rtsp stream?
Specifically the Dahua(Q-See) cameras.
The current version of SecuritySpy cannot use these particular cameras, however we are working towards a new version that will be released within 1 month, which does support RTSP. This will open up support for a wide variety of new cameras, including this one. Please check the SecuritySpy download page or our twitter feed for updates.
Hi Ben,
I am checking out Security Spy as I want to do away with my current Samsung DVR set-up. I have four analogue cameras. I have just purchased the Grandstream GXV3504 Encoder. After all cameras into the BNC connections at its rear, and connecting the network cable. I see that the Power Lights and the Network lights are ON however none of the Video Input lights are ON, they are all OFF. I can access it from my browser by IP address, however I can neither view the video in the browser nor in Security Spy. I am 100% Mac User and have no Windows machines in my house and all Praise is to God Almighty -:)
Do you have any idea why the lights are not coming ON? Do I need a Windows computer with IE to initially set it up or something like that? Please do advise.
Hi Abid,
The first thing check is that the cameras are actually getting power. From the device’s documentation, the video indicators should light up when a valid analog video signal is connected. Apparently this isn’t happening so you need to look at the camera’s power and video connections.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Hallo Support,
Right now i just trial your software and the result is working very-very good it can detect my IP cam as well on my mac computer . But i have one question, is it possible we arrange multiple camera into groups when we see live via browser?
Regards
Within SecuritySpy itself you can create group windows, each one of which can contain a custom subset of the full list of cameras. However when viewing remotely via a web browser this is not possible without writing your own custom HTML pages (which you can do if you are familiar with HTML). Alternatively, use another copy of SecuritySpy as the client (viewing) software – and in this client SecuritySpy you can set up group windows. You can use an unregistered copy of SecuritySpy free of charge for this viewing-only purpose on the client computer.
Thanks for your help!
Actually, I already customize the HTML of security spy,but some functions isn’t work well.
It’s seems like we need to customize the CSS too. But I don’t see the CSS files. Any link or tutorial to do this?
Best,
Joddy
Hi Joddy,
I had in mind simply making one or two simple custom HTML pages that contain the images you want – placing them in the ~/Documents/SecuritySpy/Web/ folder then makes them available via SecuritySpy’s web interface.
If you want to do further customisations of the web pages including CSS, this is more advanced and I’m afraid there is no tutorial. If you right-click on the SecuritySpy application and select “Show Package Contents”, then navigate to /Resources/English.lproj/Web – here you will see all the web files including CSS.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Are you going to support Foscam FI9805E
Hi Abdullah, we support all MJPEG Foscam models, however we have seen problems with the RTSP stream (the one SecuritySpy uses) from H.264 Foscam cameras, so we don’t officially support them. Some users have had limited success (see various posts on our forum), however if you haven’t purchased this camera yet it is safer to instead choose one that we officially support from our list of supported cameras.
Hi Ben,
Had a few issues a couple of months ago with my Axis feeds which you helped resolve and everything is working perfectly you will be pleased to hear.
My father in law is still fighting with these Foscam things he has bought. I think he has just about given up with the F19802W. He is determined to get another Foscam no matter what I say about them and is thinking of the F19805E. Would this work any better? The other camera he has at the minute is the F18904W. This seems to work fine in SS (might have the 2W and 4W back to front). I am trying to get both cameras in to SS then he has one app to run everything as the inbuilt options are basic at best…
If you can confirm that the F19805E will work (smooth video feed only required) will tell him to get one.
Many thanks once again,
Oli
Hi Oli,
Any JPEG-only Foscam camera will work reliably in SecuritySpy (though audio is not supported; only video). However, I would advise steering clear of most of the H.264 Foscam cameras (including the FI9805E), as we have had many users report problems with them. In general, stick to cameras that are shown on our list of compatible cameras, then you can be sure that the camera you are buying will work well with our software.
Hope this helps,
Ben
Hi,
Has any one of your clients been able to use your SecuritySpy software to establish sound (noise)-activated video recording using an outdoor WiFi capable video camera? If so, which camera was used? I would appreciate if you could refer my message to anyone who has accomplished this. Thank you.
Hi Tom, this is certainly possible: SecuritySpy can initiate recording based on motion or audio detection. The issue is that there are very few outdoor WiFi cameras with built-in audio features. The main one that we recommend is the Y-cam Bullet HD, which comes in 720 and 1080 resolution variants. These are great cameras that will give you good results. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the prompt response. This info is very helpful.
By the way, with this Y-Cam Bullet HD camera, can I record the video to my I-Mac hd?
Yes – our software SecuritySpy allows you to do exactly that. It pulls video from the Y-cam and records it to your iMac’s drive (or an external drive of your choosing). Let me know if you have any further questions.
There are two models available at Amazon:
1) Y-cam Bullet HD 1080 Full HD Outdoor Surveillance Camera, Weatherproof, NAS compatible, Infrared night vision, Power over Ethernet (POE), motion detection & alerts and ONVIF (Model No. YCBLHD8);
2) Y-cam Bullet HD 720 Professional Weatherproof HD Outdoor 720p IP Camera with infrared night vision, microSD, NAS compatible, POE, motion detection & alerts (Model No. YCBLHD7)
I would prefer to use #1 (YCBLHD8) with its higher resolution, but it does not specifically state that it is an “IP camera.”
My question: if I use #1, can I still pull video from the Y-cam and record it to my iMac’s drive ?
Hi Tom, these are both IP cameras, and SecuritySpy supports both of them for viewing and recording to your iMac’s drive. They are basically the same camera except for the higher resolution of the 1080 model.
However, make sure that you are purchasing the newer “2nd generation” model rather than the older 1st generation model. If this isn’t stated in the product description, contact the seller to confirm.
I have been using the Y-cam Bullet HD 1080 Full HD Outdoor Surveillance Camera (Model No. YCBLHD8)] with your software in my I-Mac system for four months, and I am very pleased with its utility.
Is there an identical Y-cam bullet camera with XYZ remote movement capability that also works with your software on an I-Mac?
Thanks.
Hi Tom, Great to hear you’re pleased with your system, the Y-cam cameras are very nice so you’ve made a good choice there.
If you are referring to mechanical Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) movement, Y-cam does not have any models with this feature at present. Outdoor PTZ cameras tend to be rather expensive, however Dahua Technology has a few reasonably-priced models, such as the SD40212S-HN or the SD42212S-HN.
I have been using the Y-cam Bullet HD 1080 Full HD Outdoor Surveillance Camera (Model No. YCBLHD8)] with your software in my I-Mac system for several months, and I remain pleased. However, just in the last 2-3 weeks, the following began to happen consistently: When I open a downloaded .mov file to view it in either Quicktime or VLC, blue and/or purple pixels begin to flutter randomly across my I-mac screen. Some of these remain on the screen until I reboot the computer. Then they reappear again as soon as I try to view a .mov downloaded from the Y-cam. This does NOT happen when I generate or download videos of any format (mov, wmv, mpg, etc) using any other source program. Can you help?
Hi Thomas, we haven’t heard of this before. Are you saying that viewing these movies puts weird pixels on your iMac’s screen that remain there, even if you close the movie or quit VLC/QuickTime? What about when you view the movie directly in the web browser rather than downloading it? Have you tried viewing the movies on a different computer to see if this happens there too, of if it’s isolated to your iMac?
The problem does not seem to occur when viewing on the web browser. I did not know that I can view and download videos from a single camera using two different computers without getting an additional license. How do I proceed?
Since I have not received a reply from you in just about 1 week, I am going to make an educated guess that I CANNOT view the camera videos on a second computer without getting an additional license. BTW, the problem continues !!!!
Hi Thomas, sorry for the delayed response. Via SecuritySpy’s web server you can download captured files on any other computer and you don’t need an additional license for this. Simply enable the web server feature in SecuritySpy and note what that Mac’s IP address is (this will be shown in the Web Server Settings window, for example 192.168.1.1). Then, from the other Mac, open Safari and enter the IP address followed by the port (for example 192.168.1.1:8000) to connect to the SecuritySpy Mac. From there you can download the movies and test them on the other Mac. Also, if you can email us a short clip, we’ll take a look ourselves and let you know if we see any problems. I suspect that this problem will be isolated to your particular Mac for some reason – perhaps the graphics hardware is bad or perhaps it needs the OS reinstalled.
I understand your suggested fix, and I have read similar fixes online. But, this wouldn’t explain why it is ONLY the videos generated by the Y-Cam that cause the problem. Would it make sense to first reinstall and or upgrade the Y-Cam hardware and see if this is a fix?
Yes absolutely, if your camera is running an old firmware version and you can get an updated one from Y-cam then that is definitely something to try.
Latest update:
1) I upgraded the Y-Cam firmware. This was not a fix.
2) With my I-Mac 27″, if I quit SecuritySpy completely, and reboot without a SecuritySpy startup, the pixilation problem does not occur when playing any videos in any format using VLC or Quicktime. When I start up SecuritySpy again or just play one of the “infected” videos downloaded from the Y-Cam when SS was running, the pixilation returns. Y-Cam videos created before 8/25/15 are fine (not “infected’).
I don’t see how this can be a result of defective hardware or the OS X.
Hi Thomas, are you able to email us a short example movie that demonstrates this problem? If so, we’ll take a look to see if we can find any problems with it.
It is time to eat humble pie. I bit the bullet and replaced the video card in my Mac. The problem has disappeared. You told me so! Thanks for your patience.
Hi Thomas, great to hear the problem is resolved! These things are very rare, but they do happen sometimes.
Hello,
Long time happy user of SecuritySpy. Thinking of upgrading my cameras. Would SecuritySpy support a fixed dome camera with multiple sensors like and Axis Q3709-PVE? I’d like to get additional angles from my current POE positions and like the idea of a multi señor or 180 / 360 lens. Is this feasible?
Best,
Pete
Hi Pete – this looks like a very impressive camera! While we haven’t yet tested this particular model ourselves, we haven’t yet come across an Axis camera that doesn’t work, so I think you can buy with confidence. It’s probably just a case of selecting a different “Input number” in the Video Device Settings window in SecuritySpy in order to access the streams from the different sensors. However note that each input will use one slot of your SecuritySpy license, so the Axis Q3709-PVE effectively counts as three separate cameras, rather than one, for licensing purposes (however at $2.5k for the camera I don’t think this will be a big consideration!). If you decide to go for it, please report back and let us know how you get on, and how well the camera performs.
I have an interesting software conflict to relate to you. I am using SecuritySpy 4.0.3 on an I-Mac 27 using OSX 10.11.6 with a Y-cam Bullet HD 1080 Full HD Outdoor Surveillance Camera (Model No. YCBLHD8)] . All has been working fine every day since 7/15/16 when I installed the version 4 software. A few days ago, I installed Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client version 4.3.04027 to have access to an online VPN. When I log onto the VPN, the camera shuts down, and I get the error message that the session has timed out. It can’t be turned back on, unless I exit the Cisco VPN and reboot my computer. Have you seen this before? Is there a work around or do I need to live with the incompatibility?
Thanks. TomK
Hi Tom, this is not something we’ve come across before. It sounds like the VPN software may be modifying your network settings, rendering your cameras unreachable. Are you using Bonjour auto-discovered addresses for your cameras in SecuritySpy? If so, the first thing to try would be to set your cameras to static IP addresses on your LAN and use these static addresses in SecuritySpy. See part 2 of our instructions here: https://www.bensoftware.com/securityspy/installationmanual/#setting-up-network-cameras
Does your software work on the Trivision (NOT Truvision)
NC-335PW 3 Megapixel HD 1080P Waterproof Wireless Outdoor Camera?
OK. Once again, has anyone successfully used your SecuritySpy 4 software with the Trivision (NOT Truvision) NC-335PW 3 Megapixel HD 1080P Waterproof Wireless Outdoor Camera? I am trying to do so now: image looks good, sound is muffled and mushy. Can you help? I had been using the Y-Cam bullet 1080 HD, but it died, and they are not making that model anymore (apparently).
There is no reason why the audio wouldn’t work. I can’t seem to find much information about this camera – does it have a built-in microphone or have you connected an external microphone? Does the “mushy” audio sound like a problem with the microphone, or a problem processing the audio data? If it’s the former, the sound will be simply muffled but perhaps intelligible if you turn up the volume, but if it’s the latter, the sound will be completely incomprehensible.
Hello, I thought you’d like to know that you mispelled the word “wich” on your website. I’ve had similar mistakes on my site that keep cropping up so I now use a site like SpellingScan.com to keep them off. -Scott
Useful – thanks!