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Multiple "Rules" per camera

edited June 2021 in SecuritySpy
I am migrating from Sighthound and have a use case that I haven't been able to get with SecuritySpy. Sighthound allows you to create multiple rules per camera (see https://support.sighthound.com/kb/article/22-rule-editor/). What this allows me to do is create a mask around my mail box, tell it to look for vehicles and just alert me without bothering to capture the video. Then I create another rule with a mask for my driveway, looking for vehicles and have it alert and capture. Finally I create another rule with a mask by the front door, telling it to look for people and have it alert and capture. Sighthound shows you the name of the rule in the notification so it you have an idea what has happened without even having to watch the captured video.

Comments

  • As you may have discovered, SecuritySpy's system of how to set up motion detection and actions/rules works in quite a different way, with one suite of recording settings and one suite of action settings per camera, which are both triggered from one set of motion-detection parameters (with some allowance for differences between recording and action triggers). This provides enough flexibility for most users, while being a simple system that is easy to understand and configure. However, it is true that it doesn't offer the same kind of flexibility that you are describing.

    It is unlikely that we will change the current system in the near future (doing so would require rewriting major parts of the software), but there is a workaround, which is that you can add the same camera multiple times to SecuritySpy, and so each one can have its own set of recording/action settings. As long as you use the same settings for the duplicate instances under Preferences > Cameras > Device, SecuritySpy will recognise that the instances are for the same camera and will only pull one stream from the camera, and will not count duplicates towards your license limit.
  • Thanks for the quick reply. I'll try adding the same camera multiple times as you suggest. Is there a way to verify that multiple instances are pulling from the same stream?
    Also, it doesn't seem like it would be a major rewrite, unless you want to try to normalize the data model more. You already kind of support it by adding the camera multiple times, and you even have the concept of camera groups. It seems like it could even just be handled in the UI. Fortunately, you do have a way to copy settings from one camera to another.
  • The way to make sure that the additional instances are recognised as such is to make sure all settings under the Device tab are identical for the multiple instances. There is no specific feedback of this except that you should find that your license limit is not exceeded just by having additional identical instances.
  • One side effect of the multiple camera approach is that I end up with the multiple cameras with the same view in the All Cameras view. The work around I did is to create a camera group that doesn't have the duplicates in it, and then I make sure to view that group.
    Is there a use case for actually viewing the same camera more than once? It seems like the only value for adding a camera more than once is to actually apply different rules like what I am asking for.
  • Yes, having multiple instances of the camera in the "All Cameras" window and via the web interface is a side effect of doing this, but as you correctly point out, it's easy to overcome this by using groups rather than looking at all cameras. There isn't really a use case of having multiple live views of the same camera - it's just a side effect of this method of achieving the motion/recording/action flexibility that is being described above.
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