Another browser mov / m4v issue
I have two identical cameras, as far as I can tell, both are setup identically in their internal web-settings and their settings are identical in SecuritySpy. Both cameras have the same firmware and since they have sequential mac numbers I would guess they came off of the assembly line together.
Here is the issue: One camera writes mov files for motion capture and the other writes m4v files. I recently upgraded from SecuritySpy version 3.x, was running 4.0.4 and just upgraded to 4.0.6.
I can't figure out how to coerce the one camera to stream m4v files. This is an issue because my SecuritySpy browser will not play mov files for me. I just get a still of the first frame.
I am running SecuritySpy on a MacPro1,1 (32 bit, OS 10.7).
Is there some obscure setting that I am missing to record m4v's? Was there a step in the upgrade process from 3.x to 4.0.x that I applied differently for the one camera?
A bit puzzled here, still getting an occasional freeze from the browser window that requires a relaunch of SecuritySpy.
>> Addition <<
Just checked my motion capture files. The camera used to record m4v files, somehow on September 18th at 3:09 pm it started recording mov files. Was that when I upgraded SecuritySpy?
Here is the issue: One camera writes mov files for motion capture and the other writes m4v files. I recently upgraded from SecuritySpy version 3.x, was running 4.0.4 and just upgraded to 4.0.6.
I can't figure out how to coerce the one camera to stream m4v files. This is an issue because my SecuritySpy browser will not play mov files for me. I just get a still of the first frame.
I am running SecuritySpy on a MacPro1,1 (32 bit, OS 10.7).
Is there some obscure setting that I am missing to record m4v's? Was there a step in the upgrade process from 3.x to 4.0.x that I applied differently for the one camera?
A bit puzzled here, still getting an occasional freeze from the browser window that requires a relaunch of SecuritySpy.
>> Addition <<
Just checked my motion capture files. The camera used to record m4v files, somehow on September 18th at 3:09 pm it started recording mov files. Was that when I upgraded SecuritySpy?
Comments
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I might be mistaken, but I think the difference between mov and m4v for my cameras is if I configured them to use audio or not.
Can you check your audio settings for both cameras, in the camera software and in SecuritySpy.
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.m4v files must contain H.264 video data and AAC audio data (or no audio track). So you must either stream these formats from the camera, and have SecuritySpy record them directly to the captured files, or you must get SecuritySpy to recompress to these formats.
It is the "Recompress" options in the Preferences -> Cameras -> Device section that determine whether SecuritySpy will record the incoming data directly, or if it will recompress. When recompressing, is uses the settings specified in Preferences -> Compression.
Still, you shouldn't be getting any problems playing .mov files in the Browser (though you will in web browsers via SecuritySpy's web interface). Are you still seeing this in 4.0.6? -
Setting the camera audio out to off did the trick. Thanks!
Yes, still having problems with .mov files not playing. Just get the first frame. The browser window often freezes afterwards and I need to re-launch SecuritySpy. Confirmed 4.0.6 -
I see this too… Less and less, but it's still there.
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Ben, from your September 2016 post you say "So you must either stream these formats from the camera, and have SecuritySpy record them directly to the captured files, or you must get SecuritySpy to recompress to these formats."
Help me out with the streaming aspect, does this imply multicasting? If not what do you mean by streaming?
Am trying the recompressing approach. This is an old mac, it handles 4 720p cameras without complaint. Does recompressing add much cpu load?
I originally solved this problem by shutting off the audio service at the camera. Looks like my audio feeds are active again.
I have not been able to figure out multicasting for my cameras or my viewer applications. Does Security Spy support a multicast stream?
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Hi @gweep - by streaming I'm merely referring to the video/audio data that is sent by the camera to SecuritySpy. This is usually sent by RTSP. SecuritySpy does not support any kind of multicast streaming, because this isn't typically used by IP cameras designed for CCTV.
Recompression does add some load on the Mac's CPU - exactly how much will depend on the speed of the Mac and the video resolution and frame rate.
So if you can configure the camera to send H.264 video data, and AAC audio data (or no audio data), then you can get SecuritySpy to save this directly to disk, and thereby get .m4v files (instead of .mov files).
Likewise, if the camera can only stream in other formats (e.g. JPEG video and uncompressed audio), you can get SecuritySpy to recompress this to H.264/AAC and you will also end up with .m4v files.
