How & Where Continuous Capture Movies Are Saved and How to Perhaps Change That?

rickscully
rickscully
in SecuritySpy

Hello

I would like my continuous capture time-lapses to save in a single directory and not create a new, date-based one each day. This is so I can automate a process for uploading the resulting files.

The files are currently being saved with a file name that includes the date and the camera name. I can automate the file names being changed if I must, but it is harder for me to do so if each day's video files are in a named subdirectory. Nota bena: I am not a programmer.

Is it possible to tell SecuritySpy to save the .m4v file in the directory I have chosen in the settings without putting them in a new date-based folder?

My process would be that SecuritySpy saves the .m4v file in a specific folder like:

Documents/Videos/01-12-206 Camera Name.m4v

I can come up with a way to change that to something like "daily-movie.mp4" so that I can upload it and over ride the previous day's video.

However, IF there is a way to have SecuritySpy save directly as .mp4 that would be even better.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Ben
    Ben

    SecuritySpy will always use its fixed file system structure, with separate folders per camera and per day - this structure allows various functions of the software to work efficiently (automatic file deletion, metadata like thumbnail preview images, file search for the Browser and web interface, and so on).

    However, there are two ways to achieve what you want:

    1. An AppleScript can be run when any file is created. In this script you get various information about the file, including its path, which allows you to do things like move the file to another location. See the ProcessCapturedFile section on the SecuritySpy AppleScript Examples page.
    2. SecuritySpy has an upload function, normally used to copy files to a cloud server for external backup, but this also has an option to copy the file anywhere on the local file system. See the Local File System Copy section under the Uploads section of the user manual.

    Probably the first option is better, since the second option duplicates the files rather than moving them. However, after moving the files, they will no longer be visible to SecuritySpy, so won't be automatically deleted, and won't appear in the Browser, web interface or iOS app.

  • rickscully
    rickscully

    Thanks for the quick reply, but again I am not a programmer. None of that script makes any sense to me. Can anyone else reading this who has AppleScript experience help me create a script that moves the daily time-lapse from one directory to another, please?

  • Ben
    Ben
    edited January 16

    No problem, here's a script for you that will move all captured movie files into a Videos folder that exists in your Documents folder. Copy this text:

    property destinationFolder : "/Users/username/Documents/Videos"

on run args
	set filePath to item 3 of args
	if filePath ends with ".mov" or filePath ends with ".m4v" or filePath ends with ".mp4" then
		do shell script "mv " & quoted form of filePath & " " & quoted form of destinationFolder
	end if
end run

    Open Script Editor (you'll find it in /Applications/Utilities) and paste in the text, then save the script to the SecuritySpy folder within your Home folder, with the file name "ProcessCapturedFile".

  • rickscully
    rickscully

    Thanks very much, Ben. However, it doesn't appear to be working and I assume it is my own doing. I have saved the ProcessCapturedFile script in myusername/SecuritySpy, as instructed. However, that directory is different from where I point the application to save movies. That is in myusername/WebCam/SecuritySpy/Camera/ where there are dated folders.

    Do you have any suggestions on what I might try next?

    Thanks again.

  • Ben
    Ben

    The SecuritySpy directory in your user's Home folder is a special location that SecuritySpy uses for various things. It will detect that there is a script here called "ProcessCapturedFile", and it will invoke this script for every movie file that is created, wherever that movie file is located.

    If you can't get this working, please email us and provide screenshots showing the script and where it's located, and a debug file (SecuritySpy menu > Debug > Create Debug File On Desktop), and we'll help you directly to get this working.

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