This might seem like an uninformed question but; what can be done with a IP camera connected to my VeraPlus? :-[
I’ve read a lot of threads on how to connect various cameras to Vera but I’ve not really been able to understand the capabilities. Searched the Vera Wiki and found it less than informative.
I believe VeraPlus does not have enough memory to store much video, and I see some folks talk about imperihome displaying video (or maybe only successive screenshots).
There was also some reference to movement in the camera frame being used as a motion detector (perhaps to trigger a scene).
Some folks use cameras to record snapshots when motion is detected, either via the camera itself or a regular motion detector, or when some other trigger event occurs. These snapshots are archived on Vera’s servers. That might be useful to you, assuming you can get it to work properly.
I believe that Vera is grossly underpowered to handle cameras–if you want to use Vera to aggregate your cameras for viewing, you will be disappointed. Most folks here have gone to Blue Iris software running on a PC or some other network video recorder for camera support. I gave up on using cameras with Vera several years ago, and the stability improved markedly when I did. I now use pro-grade cameras and an NVR—Vera isn’t part of that system and it works flawlessly.
Getting cameras working with Vera can be a real pain, although it’s been a while since I did that, so newer firmware versions may have improved camera integration. Perhaps some of the folks who have stuck with using cameras with Vera will have more insight.
I don’t disagree with HSD99 at all, it will perform better without the camera load. I choose to have them integrated with vera for simplification of 1 app to check a status and vera only gets the snapshots or mjpeg feed. I also have a separate app and that app is awesome on performance in real time RTSP streaming, which vera doesn’t handle.
My long term wish is to become involved to help vera feat some basic goals of a better/stronger processor and the ability to handle rtsp and/or ONVIF. Just supporting ONVIF would open up a brand new standard world for a large percentage of vera users.
[quote=“burn1out, post:3, topic:198707”]I don’t disagree with HSD99 at all, it will perform better without the camera load. I choose to have them integrated with vera for simplification of 1 app to check a status and vera only gets the snapshots or mjpeg feed. I also have a separate app and that app is awesome on performance in real time RTSP streaming, which vera doesn’t handle.
My long term wish is to become involved to help vera feat some basic goals of a better/stronger processor and the ability to handle rtsp and/or ONVIF. Just supporting ONVIF would open up a brand new standard world for a large percentage of vera users.[/quote]
Thanks, burn1out–great response to help John decide on where he wants to go with cameras and Vera. I used to as you do, with simple snapshots and a separate app to stream the cameras. Once I put in the NVR system, I got everything I wanted from that system and pulled the cameras from Vera.
While ONVIF support and rstp would be very nice, I don’t think that Vera wants to spend the money on higher-powered processing. There was a similar discussion in another thread, and it was mentioned that Vera feels that they have to compete with the cloud-based units, which have lower hardware costs since they offload processing to the cloud. Vera seems to be caught between the proverbial rock and hard place—cheap cloud-based solutions below, and much more powerful PC based systems above.
I went with Blue Iris a couple of years ago for my 4 cameras. It handles a composite image of all 4 cameras which appears on VeraMate as well as the ability to look at a camera in a particular room for a larger image.
I have Vera arm/disarm the cameras via http: commands, which allows Blue Iris to record during detected motions. You can fine tune Blue Iris to make it less sensitive. Cameras are automatically armed (via PLEG) in all modes except Home, and House Modes are triggered by the location of the 2 iPhones. Night Mode is scheduled (except when in Vacation Mode) with Vacation Mode being manual.
When armed, Blue Iris sends motion alerts to Vera so I get notifications. Stills and videos are stored on the Vera cloud, but I rarely even look at them let alone rely on these.
I agree Vera does not support video very well, however, Blue Iris fills in the gaps very well.
I use the cameras to confirm things are okay at home.
Thanks to all for your input. I sort of figured the VeraPlus was too underpowered (or at lease not enough memory) to do much with video or even snapshots. So I’ll keep my camera away from Vera for now.
Blue iris integration works great. I have four cameras through BI. Vera sends http commands to the BI server via the house modes plugin. When I select home, Vera commands the cameras to stop motion detection recording. When I select away, it commands BI to start motion detection recording. I can pull up the Vera app (or HomeWave) and see snapshots from each camera. If motion is detected, I get an email. It?s pretty slick and well worth the money.