Is there any way Vera can detect ‘motion detection’ by Camera ? My aim is to use this status on a scene .
Vera isn’t a good platform for that kind of thing. If your camera can notify the Vera that an alarm has occurred, I think you might be able to write a plug-in to handle that kind of event, but I’m not sure that any cameras have that kind of configurability.
actually… there are at least two ways to do this. One is using the Blue Iris plugin, although that may be more power than you are looking for.
the other is the plugin written just for this I believe…
I use blueiris and the Virtual Motion plugin.
Virtual Motion plugin needs to be triggered by HTTP commands and you haven’t given us enough info to detrmine if your camera or how ever it is setup has the option to detect motion and output a request.
If you just have a cheap camera connected directly to vera then you may not have any easy/cheap options
Thanks a lot ceefin, tomgru and integlikewhoa for your prompt and informative responses. I have got a real cheap camera FOSCAM F19821P. I really dont know its capabilities except that it has a facility to record continuous or motion triggered videos, I am really not happy with the cameras on Vera as I have not yet figured out how to really record a video. I am still stuck with viewing few jpeg frames. Actually I am a newbie and this is my second Vera (and first one independently handled by me). The problem with you senior forum members here is, you really welcome any crazy idea and give your expert thoughts on them. This makes people like me feel that any idea is workable, some times it takes a long time and may be at high cost. I will go through the links given. If you feel some other links will , also, help me, please provide.
I started with Foscams because for less then 100.00 you can get Pan and tilt and a bunch of features. I quickly found out they were junk and they slowly started to break. The cutoff filter is loud, the ir’s slowly started going out until they were un usable at night. The wifi connection is un reliable and I had to put them on wired. The short power cord and lower voltage (voltage drop on extensions) caused issues.
I added 40.00 blue iris program to a computer I run 24/7 and it takes the live image stream from your camera and turns your computer into a powerful DVR with a ton of options. It requires a strong computer tho and one that runs all the time. An old cheapy will not be up to the task.
I also switched out cheap cameras full of features to a Better quality camera with less features. I use only POE 3-4MP hikvisions cameras now. They cost about the same depending where you shop but lack pan and tilt mic and speaker.
VERA is not a DVR and doesn’t not handle that task very well. I don’t run any of my cameras threw VERA anymore (had Memory and freezing issues). I do use IMPERIHOME app for vera and it has the option to stream cameras in the app with the vera stuff all in one page. Blueiris also sends motion commands to my vera Virtual motion sensors so I do motions in VERA via my camera’s. All my recorded video’s can be viewed in the BlueIris Andriod or Apple App on a phone or tablet. Or they can be viewed on the computer at home. The Blue iris app costs a few bucks to install from the Play store or Apple Store.
Really very valuable information. My dream set up is more or less the same what you have. I will study the mail in detail and come back for more help, if necessary. As you have, already gone through all the pains to reach here, I will take the liberty of requesting your valuable expertise as we go on. Thank you for all the help.
I use Blue IRIS software, Blue IRIS plugin and the Virtual Motion Sensor plugin. Absolutely a wonderful combination. No need to buy a camera with motion sensing. You can literally use anything. Of course a majority of us sacrifice PTZ to get better quality video. i would say when making a decision are you looking for a toy to play with or are you trying to secure your environment. I have both 
Im not sure why you use both the blueiris plugin and the virtual motion plugin in vera… The blue iris plugin has the virtual motion built into that plugin already. You just need to enable that in the advanced menu of each camera u have.
The reason some of us have Blue iris on the computer and virtual motion plugin on vera is becase we dont want the camera images for the blueiris plugin bogging down the vera ram, but we do want the motions. Other wise i dont see the purpose of two plugins when one does both.
Right now it is a hobby for me. not thinking of security related usage now. Still, the knowledge that it could help is a bonus.Thank you all and will be back after resolving Blue Iris. Regards.
I am, still, working on his. Can you, please, from your experience suggest a good reasonably priced outdoor ipcamera ? This will eventually linked to a blue iris. Regards,
We kind of need more info. I’m assuming you want a IP camera.
but how much you want to spend?
how you want to mount it?
what its application is for?
is it wired?
where is the power source?
What is the low light needs?
personally I use 3MP Hikvsion POE cameras. They come in a dome, turret and bullet. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Mounting, IR’s and theft or vandalism resistance.
Dome- hardest to mount and position, causes IR to reflect back at camera and cause night hazyness or picture issues. But it’s the most vandal resistant (think commercial applications)
Bullet- Easiest to mount and can be mounted virtually and direction on a wall since the camera pivots in almost any direction. But with a broom they can be pushed hard enough to move and point away from your target. No IR glare as the irs are in a separate glass then the camera lens.
Turret- Is said to be the middle ground of the two above. Has separate IR to prevent glare, can’t be so easy pushed or moved with a broom. Mounting almost the same as dome tho.
I think spiderweb accumulation is less on Dome and bit more on turret and worst on bullet also.
Hikvision now has 4MP cameras in the same model but I have not tested or know if its worth the extra money to go for the new ones or not.
You can search EBAY for Hikvision 3MP or 4MP and find all the ones I’m talking about. Direct from china is cheap, about 75.00 but doesn’t carry the same warranty as a US one. Us Ones probley cost 150 ish but will have better warranty and US software vs. the CHINA software version (same but updating can’t be done and if tired to update to us software could cause problems).
I personally use CHINA version and have never had to return one. Menus are same as well as features. They just need to try and a label them differently and change warranty to justify the marked up cost of buying them in the US from actual retailers vs. china EBAY. Both cameras are made in China.
Do your homework there is alot to learn/know and I only covered some basics.
Hi integlikewhoa, you are really an inspiration. I will do as guided. I want to mount it on an open wall to check my carpark which is, also, open and open to vandalism. If I can get few good shots before the cmera gets vandalised, it should be OK. Thanks a million.
I’m not sure how clear it was but check closely in to wether or not your mounting on a vertical wall vs. a horizontal ceiling. The dome style cameras I think get a weird picture angle (tall and narrow) if you stick them on the side of a wall vs. mount them to a ceiling. That’s more what I ment with bullets being easier to mount. They can mount on any angle, where domes get more limited.
This is frustrating me. I have few foxcams and two of them are performing well like, returning images as well as obeys my tilt instructions. However, Vera reports a communication failure. Any idea how to get this part right ? Regards, Sree