Limprod

...without a dedicated video server; without streaming video 24/7; and without having to manually access the DVR by remote; a no-brainer solution that should not take any seasoned code slinger 2 hours to program. SMTP (e-mail) notification would be fine except it's pointless to access remote DVRs each and every time there is a (false) alarm. A single attached screen capture won't show much if someone dashes across the frame. Does anyone know of a DVR system/software that will simply attach either a small AVI (mpeg, or whatever) to e-mail, nothing fancy. small snip of video, 1 sec pre-alarm/motion detection, motion detected and 1 second post? Heck, even 3 screen captures. 1 second pre-alarm, alarm, 1 second post. On the receiving end I already set up a SMTP server to automatically display, HANDS FREE, the video or screen caps to monitor multiple CCTV systems. I even made a script to combine screen captures into a motion jpeg. Apparently this is a feature that is so ridiculously simple nobody has thought of it(?). It does not require a $30k dedicated video server (just to buffer x seconds of video). It should not cost $8-10k to program such a small feature. It does not require manually accessing playback of the alarm each and every (false) alarm. SO WHY CAN'T IF FIND ANYTHING? Does anyone know of a software or hardware solution that does this? I've seen some systems that e-mail a single screen cap, but a pre-alarm, alarm screen capture or video is more effective. Any programmers up to the task, please PM me! ...or does any software program have an API or offer a programming environment? Thanks in Advance!

I was hoping for a solution that didn't cost $500-1200 per camera. Do you have installations that uses FTP or SMTP? Which software would you recommend to manage multiple sites? The number of false detections some cameras have would eat up bandwidth morning noon and night. I guess I wouldn't have to replace all the cameras. I just wish IP cameras came with a composite output so I could piggy back on existing DVR systems. Do you know of a brand/model off hand that supports a pre/alarm/post video clips? Thanks again!

As with most proprietary systems, you are lucky they revealed that much info. This camera is made to "snap" together with other proprietary components. I'm willing to bet my lunch money that you could convert the video (pin 2 and 3) to composite using a video balun. A balun (balanced unbalanced) is just a transformer of sorts to allow unbalanced signals to transmit over a pair of wires; or in this case a twisted pair or ethernet cat5e. In most cases you need a pair of baluns to convert then convert back the composite signal but the camera apparently already has passive balun built in. Any CCTV supply house has them. They are sold in pairs or sometimes individually. The receiver and transmitter baluns are interchangable (same thing). (prices range $3-15+ but after you see what they are made of you wouldn't want to pay more than $5). A typical balun will have 2 screw terminals so all you need to do is isolate the video wire pair, and attach the balun at the end of your cable run; then plug the BNC connector to your video input. You'll find other baluns that are made for RJ45 connectors. Some are made to be rewired, while others are fixed.. There are no standard pin outputs so chances are the fixed type won't work. The camera doubtfully uses RS485. It's also labeled N.C. (no connection) so you have at least one free pair. I would treat the microphone output as a line level source. the audio out is probably amplified. To tap those wires, just cut the pairs before the RJ45 connector or else you'll have to do some minor surgery. audio out/alarm out could be just a matter of ac signal (audio) and a dc resistance loop. does the camera have some built in motion sensing? I'm not certain but if the 2 pinned connector is keyed then it is probably for a 12VDC transformer to give the option of powering the camera thru the cat5 or local to the camera. GL