New Home IP CCTV System with airCam

[HiroPro 0]

I'm about to setup a home country acreage IP CCTV system for a friend. I hastily purchased some Ubiquity airCam IP cameras due to the amazing price point. I have 3 airCams (out door white one) and 3 airCam domes. They should support most software that can do H264 RTP over RTSP URI "live/ch00_0", RTSP port 554.

 

I also ordered a PC from NCIX for an NVR. It's an Intel Ivy Bridge 3770K, Asus P8Z77-M Pro with 16 GB of 8-8-8-24 1T Corsair DDR3-1600 with a 128GB Crucial SSD for OS and a single Seagate 2TB drive all stuffed into a very nice Lian-Li hotswap mATX case running Windows 7 Ultimate X64.

 

I updated all the cameras to UBNT's latest v1.1.3.build11931 firmware. I dunno about the video quality it seems to me the encoder settings could use some work. The cameras none the less for a $100 bones a pop is really something IMHO.

 

Thing is I'm no NVR expert like a lot of you. I need software that has remote access, email alerts,offsite clip storage and PDA/Smartphone views on trigger etc.

 

Here is a list of what I'm aware is out there.

 

UBNT opensource but not mature NVR

Blue Iris (cheap cheap)

Bikal Eyesoft (from England no idea original dev)

Milestone (we all know these guys)

ExacqVision

Avigilon Control Center

Vitamin D (consumer machead level?)

VISEC

NVR+ from Backwatch

NVR+ from Linovision (original dev? chinese?)

GeoVision

ACTi NVR

Digifort (looks real interesting and CNB rebrand and box it)

 

 

It seems to me some of these software packages might be simply rebranded as can there seriously be this many NVR software packages out there!

 

Anyway I'm looking for something reliable and the viewer is also running on the same physical box as the server. Also an android/ios app if possible.

 

Comments... suggestions... advice etc would be greatly appreciated.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Guest

[cctvpro69 0]

Something reliable would be some armed guards and a few man eating pitbulls.

CCTV is okay but it is anything but reliable.

[HiroPro 0]

Well it should be reliable if the software is well developed and the person setting it up is competent. Considering deployment of IP CCTV systems including very high security facilities is systemic and heavily relied upon I'd assume it's 98% reliable when deployed by a skilled integrator/IT person. Redundancy is key on the backend in those types of deployments I guess...

 

Anyway this is for someones country home that wants unattended monitoring via motion triggers then events emailed with href etc to login to server for viewing. Also off site storage would be great.

 

I'm new to this type of software and need advice not philosophy about security systems as a whole.

 

By reliable I mean software that doesn't crash often meaning it can run for a week and restart on a watchdog.

 

I did look at this stuff about five plus years ago and about a good 70% of the software I tried back then was CRAP.

 

Milestone seemed to be the only one that worked worth a dam with the Dlink and Axis cameras I tried back then...

 

I just seriously don't need to waste countless hours screwing around with friggin software testing it...

 

You guys that do this stuff know what software is decent and what is crap... also I'm sure what's whitebox/rebranded/stencil...

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[thewireguys 3]

Your software choices are very limited because of the UBNT cameras. You will need a software that supports RTSP and server based motion detection.

[mike_va 0]

VitaminD is just for event capture, and does not work with 264. Still my favorite for ease of review and analytics/notifications that work, along with other software recording continuously.

 

Sounds like you're trying to do it on the cheap (and only during the day with those cams), Milestone Go is free but only local client.

[HiroPro 0]

Your software choices are very limited because of the UBNT cameras. You will need a software that supports RTSP and server based motion detection.

 

 

You'd think the software should support RTSP. The lack of motion detection in the camera's PCB/CPU/firmware kinda sucks but hey I have an Intel 3770K quadcore hyperthreading CPU. The fastest in the world BTW for socket 1155. Surely there is software that can do analytics on 6 cams np.

 

Also I'm curious how this is done with cameras that have local analytics. Is there an industry protocol for this? Some kinda meta standard or something?

 

Also it sure would be nice to hear opinions about various NVR software packages.

 

Prob not possible considering most of you are in bed with one NVR vendor or another...

 

This stuff is just like POS bull**** when it comes to getting a straight answer about the software...

 

Typical POS reseller BULL****... I guess I have a chance in hell to get a straight answer...

 

Sorry if I'm wrong here but this is the first impression I'm getting. I don't need constant video either as that's useless for unattended monitoring isn't it... I need analytic trigger to email customer with notification and those segments recorded that's it really. An iOS app as well.

 

Like ExacqVision for example, I can't even get pricing on the website...

 

God I hate the POS and NVR software industries and how it's partner channeled etc... Why can't they just list bloody pricing etc and quite playing these channel partner GAMES!

Edited May 11, 2012 by Guest

[thewireguys 3]

I would be more then happy to give you a strait forward answer. First thing is the cameras you selected are not supported by any other vms besides ubnts unless you use rtsp. Those cameras do not have on board motion detection even when using ubnts software which is a custom version of zoneminder. Basicly unfortunately you boxed yourself in a corner with your camera selection. Milestone I think would be your best bet for rtsp support and they support on server bases motion detection. If you don't need motion detection you will have more options for vms bit your cameras will record 24/7.

[HiroPro 0]

I would be more then happy to give you a strait forward answer. First thing is the cameras you selected are not supported by any other vms besides ubnts unless you use rtsp. Those cameras do not have on board motion detection even when using ubnts software which is a custom version of zoneminder. Basicly unfortunately you boxed yourself in a corner with your camera selection. Milestone I think would be your best bet for rtsp support and they support on server bases motion detection. If you don't need motion detection you will have more options for vms bit your cameras will record 24/7.

 

 

Thanks for the honest answer thewireguys. Dam the pricing was so good on the cameras. The airCam NVR is also win32 based as well. It's opensource so I'm not surprised it's a branch of Zoneminder. I just got off the phone with Exacq and they really sound like a decent vendor. My next call will be the Avigilon guys in Vancouver. A lot of integrators seem to be inbed with those guys. Must be a reason for this...

 

Also I'm looking at Bikal Eyesoft and am wondering if it's just another rebranded package. It looks really good for the Win32/64 platform and it support CUDA. Securicorp's web presence is rather pathetic with a bunch of different sites some of which look abandoned. The win64 code base and CUDA support has me really thinking though ehh

 

Has anyone ever done a roundup review on all of these software packages?

 

Also if the camera has motion detection what is the software layer that communicates this to the server? Is there some kinda industry standard sorta like OPOS etc? for Metadata info from camera etc?

 

Sorry guys I'm new to this industry BUT I'll learn very quickly due to IT and electronics background.

 

Blue Iris seems to good to be true...

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[bike_rider 0]

Blue Iris seems to good to be true...

 

Download the 30 day demo and try it. Very simple, but effective.

[thewireguys 3]

I would be more then happy to answer any questions you have about Exacq or Avigilon. I have lots of experience with both of them.

[voip-ninja 0]

Blue Iris works extremely well as long as you have the appropriate expectations. I have it recording 3 VGA IP cameras on an old Windows Home Server that uses a 1.8ghz Celeron CPU and it doesn't skip a beat. Routinely that server is up for several months at a time between reboots and Blue Iris has not locked up or crashed on me in several years that I can recall.

 

The flip-side is that Blue Iris has a very limited web browser (I have mine set up for access over the internet) and they do not have a dedicated iOS or android application for smart phones or tablets. They do have a smart phone optimized browser but it's only good for looking at live camera feeds, not recorded events.

 

I agree with the other comments, you got a good deal on your cameras, but they are very low end cameras with extremely limited support.

 

You get what you pay for. Personally if I was worried about people skulking about a property with acreage I would spring for one decent quality PTZ dome with IR, that would cover my main entry point to the property, and record even at night.

[HiroPro 0]

Well I'm $600 bucks in for three domes and three outdoor units at this point. Do you guys think two Axis cameras on PTZ with IR is the better choice? What would camera like that cost. My only experience with decent units is Axis and some non IP Panasonics some years ago.

 

I did get a chance to checkout the Axis M11 series and was very impressed.

 

When they say a camera has pixel counter I take it that means that info/data can be used for in camera motion detection/analystics right?

[HiroPro 0]

UPDATE

 

I've been looking at other cameras and thinking I could get away with two quality cameras with auto PTZ and in camera tracking. Do these exist in the $300-400 dollar price points? (dreaming I guess)

 

I've been checking out the exacqVision iOS and Android apps and they seem a lot more polished than other venders.

 

Digifort also looks great as does Bikal Eyesoft. When I see modern multithreading and APIs like CUDA being used for analytics I think... huh these dudes are decent devs. Modern database engines also suggestions decent dev.

 

Avigilon and Arecont sure make nice cameras from the looks of it.

 

Genetec also looks like good software and the iOS and Android apps as well look polished.

[HiroPro 0]

Well at this point Genetec Security Center looks very very impressive. How does it compare to Exacq or Avigilon thewireguys?

 

So at this point I figure the top tier 1 VNR/VMS software is

 

Milestone

Exacq

Avigilon

Gentec

 

Does this sound just about right?

 

Gentec looks like it has the most powerful and well thought out GUI... and it's Canadian like me!

 

Anybody know the pricing matrix for Genetec Security Center and Omnicast?

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[ak357 0]

Well at this point Genetec Security Center looks very very impressive. How does it compare to Exacq or Avigilon thewireguys?

 

So at this point I figure the top tier 1 VNR/VMS software is

 

Milestone

Exacq

Avigilon

Gentec

 

Does this sound just about right?

 

Gentec looks like it has the most powerful and well thought out GUI... and it's Canadian like me!

 

I personally would not put Exacq and Milestone before Avigilon

and by the way Avigilon also Canadian like you and me

I am in Edmonton

you ?

[HiroPro 0]

Well at this point Genetec Security Center looks very very impressive. How does it compare to Exacq or Avigilon thewireguys?

 

So at this point I figure the top tier 1 VNR/VMS software is

 

Milestone

Exacq

Avigilon

Gentec

 

Does this sound just about right?

 

Gentec looks like it has the most powerful and well thought out GUI... and it's Canadian like me!

 

I personally would not put Exacq and Milestone before Avigilon

and by the way Avigilon also Canadian like you and me

I am in Edmonton

you ?

 

 

I'm on the coast. WOW all this has really got me thinking of the business opportunities in my area. I looked at security stuff a number of years ago and actually installed a couple VISTA 20P private systems. How long does the certification track take to be able to install alarms etc? 6 month Justice Institute course no?

 

What are the big names in Alarm CO management software?

 

The order was random but at this point I figure it goes like this, Genetec SC, Avigilon, Exacq and Milestone in LAST PLACE

 

 

When I last researched this stuff is was the dawn of IP cameras and I deployed a cheap Dlink system. At that point Milestone looked like #1. Amazing how stuff changes in ten years. I remember arguing with an oldschool CCTV dude about digital video, single board computers and IP CCTV. He didn't get it back then... or see the possibilities because he wasn't IT...

 

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[ak357 0]

 

I'm on the coast. WOW all this has really got me thinking of the business opportunities in my area. I looked at security stuff a number of years ago and actually installed a couple VISTA 20P private systems. How long does the certification track take to be able to install alarms etc? 6 month Justice Institute course no?

 

What are the big names in Alarm CO management software?

 

PS the order was random but at this point I figure it goes like this, Genetec SC, Avigilon, Exacq and Minestone in LAST PLACE

 

 

Check your PM

[Soundy 1]

You here in the GVRD, Hiro?

[bike_rider 0]

 

The flip-side is that Blue Iris has a very limited web browser (I have mine set up for access over the internet) and they do not have a dedicated iOS or android application for smart phones or tablets. They do have a smart phone optimized browser but it's only good for looking at live camera feeds, not recorded events.

 

I agree with the other comments, you got a good deal on your cameras, but they are very low end cameras with extremely limited support.

 

 

While the remote playback of recorded video is not great, it does work via a browser. You also have the option to d/l the file so that bandwidth limitations don't prevent smooth playback. Finally, you can use Teamview to remotely control the PC and do playback that way.

[thewireguys 3]

Genetec is nice stuff but keep in mind it's best fit for large multi site 500+ camera systems. You started this thread asking about Ubnt cameras and now your asking about the most expensive system on the market

 

Large systems:

 

Genetec

Onssi

MIlestone

DVTEL

 

Medium systems

 

Avigilon

Exacq

VIdeo-Insight

Aimetis

 

And there are many more if you dig for them.

[HiroPro 0]

You here in the GVRD, Hiro?

 

 

Yeah I am

[HiroPro 0]

Genetec is nice stuff but keep in mind it's best fit for large multi site 500+ camera systems. You started this thread asking about Ubnt cameras and now your asking about the most expensive system on the market

 

Large systems:

 

Genetec

Onssi

MIlestone

DVTEL

 

Medium systems

 

Avigilon

Exacq

VIdeo-Insight

Aimetis

 

And there are many more if you dig for them.

 

heheh yeah

 

I'm just trying to figure out who's who in this field in terms of NVR/VMS. Not bad conclusions for a guy that hasn't even tested the software ehh

 

I talked to the western Canada Exacq rep and he sure was a great guy from my first experience. Also pricing is really good through ADI or Anixter. Genetec have two products right... the all in one Security Center with RFID doors etc and then there is the NVR/VMS only software called Omnicast.

 

My customer is currently a Blackberry user and they seem to have the only Blackberry app.

 

If Genetec pricing is around the same for this setup (about SENSORED for integrator) as Exacq then I'd go Genetec.

 

I have yet to see videos or examples of the Avigilon package.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[HiroPro 0]

Ok I've been looking at the Avigilon Control Center and it also looks good but not as good as Genetec's or Exacq less the HD network video protocol/optimization.

 

Also the Genetec Omnicast UI with alpha channel UI over video is a brilliant UI decision and I haven't seen anyone else with that less the Bikal Eyesoft dude with CUDA in .eu

 

The best cameras I've seen are Avigilon though bar none!

 

God they must be very expensive cameras ehh !?!

Edited May 12, 2012 by Guest

[ssmith10pn 0]

I have yet to see videos or examples of the Avigilon package.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZkZzrthpig

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IS3Rxls2b4

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlM_i_N_I_Y

 

 

[HiroPro 0]

The second video showing the production line in Richmond sure is a great video!

 

The others are just marketing BS videos for luddite non IT decision makers in companies...

 

Useless for a guy like me...

 

The other video showing the player viewer app at the airport is also somewhat useless as it's not the main UI nor does is really share any feature of the NVR/VMS or setup. All it shows is the benefit of multi megapixel cams.

 

Genetec is straight to the point without those BS PR videos etc.

 

My kinda people... same goes for ExacqVision. Straight to the point with end user setup examples etc. and no BS PR firm videos with fancy music and happy shinny people with stereotype bad guys...

 

Great to convince some non IT decision maker to purchase the software/cams but again USELESS to explain to an integrator!