Smart outdoor security cameras in SA?

powermzii said:
#nopressure

Haha will see what I can do

It's an old repurposed i7 4790 (4 core 8 threads) with 12GB Ram, 120GB boot SSD and a 500GB HDD running Windows 10

Will do a more in depth write up but I managed to get the lone camera running with no issues using the Reolink profile - am still on the Demo / evaluation that only allows you 1 camera.

Setup motion detection and that works 100s - haven't changed the sensitivity. Am exporting a 20min recording now and the PC seems to have held up OK. Seeing some incongruence though, BI is sometimes reporting 15-30% CPU usage but Windows task manager is not going over 7%... Will see what this is about but overall for a day 1 initial setup it was pretty seamless
Click to expand...
But question is what is optimal pc specs for at least 8 cameras.
 
See specs on website
cd14c6b11c12c3dde99ac6c58de55191.jpg
 
It’s not recording that shows the resources, it’s viewing all the cameras in 5MP that does that. It’s for that reason that I use substreams when viewing all the cameras. You then select a camera and BI selects the main stream for display.

I’m running 8*5MP and 2*1MP cameras, recording 24x7 and CPU hovering between 5-10%. Before using substreams CPU use was around 40%. This is running on an i5 8400 with 8Gb ram
 
gbyleveldt said:
It’s not recording that shows the resources, it’s viewing all the cameras in 5MP that does that. It’s for that reason that I use substreams when viewing all the cameras. You then select a camera and BI selects the main stream for display.

I’m running 8*5MP and 2*1MP cameras, recording 24x7 and CPU hovering between 5-10%. Before using substreams CPU use was around 40%. This is running on an i5 8400 with 8Gb ram
Click to expand...
I was looking for the option to set a sub stream but wow this app has so many windows and tabs...

I've set my main stream to 5mp at 15 fps but happy to downscale the sub
 
I have just received my DHL Delivery! Really happy with how quick that all went.
All parts ready now I only need the PC / NVR
 
powermzii said:
#nopressure

Haha will see what I can do

It's an old repurposed i7 4790 (4 core 8 threads) with 12GB Ram, 120GB boot SSD and a 500GB HDD running Windows 10

Will do a more in depth write up but I managed to get the lone camera running with no issues using the Reolink profile - am still on the Demo / evaluation that only allows you 1 camera.

Setup motion detection and that works 100s - haven't changed the sensitivity. Am exporting a 20min recording now and the PC seems to have held up OK. Seeing some incongruence though, BI is sometimes reporting 15-30% CPU usage but Windows task manager is not going over 7%... Will see what this is about but overall for a day 1 initial setup it was pretty seamless
Click to expand...
Ah Hem! so the #nopressure has just been upgraded to #itsonlikedonkeykong status :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:
I got my cameras delivered today, still sourcing the PC but almost there.

Have you managed to get some of it going or are you leaving it all for the weekend?
 
Deetz said:
Ah Hem! so the #nopressure has just been upgraded to #itsonlikedonkeykong status :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:
I got my cameras delivered today, still sourcing the PC but almost there.

Have you managed to get some of it going or are you leaving it all for the weekend?
Click to expand...
:ROFL::ROFL: Will put something up later - actually managed to do quite a lot
 
powermzii said:
#nopressure

Haha will see what I can do

It's an old repurposed i7 4790 (4 core 8 threads) with 12GB Ram, 120GB boot SSD and a 500GB HDD running Windows 10

Will do a more in depth write up but I managed to get the lone camera running with no issues using the Reolink profile - am still on the Demo / evaluation that only allows you 1 camera.

Setup motion detection and that works 100s - haven't changed the sensitivity. Am exporting a 20min recording now and the PC seems to have held up OK. Seeing some incongruence though, BI is sometimes reporting 15-30% CPU usage but Windows task manager is not going over 7%... Will see what this is about but overall for a day 1 initial setup it was pretty seamless
Click to expand...
Ah Hem! so the #nopressure has just been upgraded to #itsonlikedonkeykong status :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:
I got my cameras delivered today, still sourcing the PC but almost there.

Have you managed to get some of it going or are you leaving it all for the weekend?
powermzii said:
:ROFL::ROFL: Will put something up later - actually managed to do quite a lot
Click to expand...
Well thats Awesome!!
 
So doing a brief write-up of my CCTV journey (to date). We are moving to a new place before year end and since we own the place upgrading security has been top priority. Decided to get cameras and this post goes through some of my learnings and thoughts

TL/DR - Easy to setup, lots of great functionality. Lots more to learn and do. Good purchase but BlueIris licensing is pricey

System Overview
Looked at all the DVR-based systems based on my budget then happened upon a Youtube rabbit hole that focused on Blue Iris as this would give more functionality, flexibility and integration into the smart home platform I want to (eventually) run (HomeAssistant). A current requirement is to control wired and (future) wireless cameras via IP , though initially pricier are only really limited by your POE setup and the power of your server, vs say buying another NVR / DVR unit to expand your set.

Cameras
In terms of cameras i settled on the Reolink RLC-410 - they are currently on special for ~$40 from the Reolink website. Total landed cost to PTA was R4.5k for 6 cameras and it took 7 days for me to get them delivered via DHL
1605802223142.png

NVR 'Server'
I didn't get the bundle that includes the NVR - just got the cameras. To run the software and manage the cameras i bought a used Dell Optiplex from carbonite, installed an SSD and upgraded RAM to 12GB and CPU to an i7. I bought a POE switch from Uniterm for R720 odd - it has 8 ports with 2 additional uplink ports - so the system as it stands can cater for 8 cameras without needing an additional POE switch.

Camera box includes the camera itself plus a short 1m ethernet cable as well as a couple of mounting screws and adjustment devices.

Setting up Cameras
Connecting the Camera to the 'NVR' was as easy as pie. Here you could decide to use the Reolink Windows app (free) or Blue Iris as well. I bought the BI activation at IPCamTalk which has a load of useful tips, tricks, downloads and a forum as well if you choose to join. The price for BI is steep though - almost R1k for the license and you need to renew it yearly or you lose support and the ability to upgrade - i see there are cheaper options as well but yeah - will have to explore

For both the Reolink app and BI - setting up cameras was as easy as plugging them into the POE switch, waiting for router to assign an IP address and boom presto the camera is available for you to start viewing. Once its up you can then delve into the many features around where to store your recordings, when to trigger, when to record etc etc. Its way too much to go through in this post so i'll have to do a separate one when i have more time. But its literally that simple to get up and running. I setup 2 cameras as a test bench both pointing to the road)

What I managed to get working
  • Basic camera functionality
  • Continuous recording
  • Motion-based recording
  • Motion-based alerts (to BI smartphone app - works really quickly)
  • Alert zones (specific areas to look for motion)
  • Web-access via BI webserver - really simple to follow tutorial on how to do this. Just a note - do not use UPnP - rather learn how to setup port forwarding and limit what traffic and resources can access those ports to only the BI application in your router firewall
  • Blocked cameras from internet access on the router > they kept dialing home to an AWS server - not sure why so I just blocked them
  • Saving recordings and archiving the recordings and alert clips to a different location
  • Exporting a clip (10 min clip took about 8 mins to do)
What I didn't manage to get working
  1. Camera feeds to show up in Home Assistant (i got it kinda working using motioneye but i need more time)
  2. I didn't setup the multiple streams correctly so mine was recording @ the full frame size but i reduced the fps
  3. Need to fine tune the motion alterts to weed out false-positives (trees swaying in the wind) and sometimes some motion events didn't get captured (people walking their dogs were captured but not a runner (same time of day same camera) - i'm sure its due to my setup but will experiment more
Overall thoughts
  1. For a simple setup you can get this up and running in 45mins max, that's BlueIris / Reolink app cameras, POE, basic recording and alert mechanisms. Should you want to delve deeper into the AI detection and other more in-depth features you will need much more time and patience - even more if you want to include any home assistant integration. Blue Iris app is a beast and if you are intimidated you can definitely get by with just using the Reolink app - it (reolink) also consumes less resources
  2. The camera build quality feels sturdy and high quality
  3. These cameras are unlikely to read number plates etc at a distance - so if that's your use case then you should get specialised ones - but im sure im preaching to the converted. Again it may have been my placement and setup - i will test more at the new house
  4. Night vision was ok - i didnt change anything on the settings so maybe there is something i can tweak there - but the motion alerts worked well at night
  5. Oddly enough Reolinks are not rated highly on IPCamtalk - Amcrest, HIkvision and Dahua all seem better liked there
  6. CPU usage on the Blue Iris app fluctuated from 5-65% but my windows task manager showed 3-15% - not sure what caused the discrepancy but that's a puzzle for another day
1605817162178.png

Hope this is helpful as a start.... I will add more as I do more with the setup

@Deetz @APoc184
 
I think BI is cheap for R1k license. And dont bother with their support, you get much better support from groups or forums. No need to pay annually for that. If a new version comes out in a few years (they only released V5 recently, V4 was a few years old already) and it has features you need, then just buy that again. Failing that, you can renew annually for $35 if you want. Seriously, it’s not expensive.

1. I’ve posted a few examples here of streaming BI streams in HA, with relevant code
2. I recently posted setting to get substreams to work in BI as well. I can post code on getting substreams in HA as well (which I recommend over full streams). Brings CPU use down below 10% for 8*5MP cams.
3. Motion alerts will always be a pain. Object detection is a better Avenue (I still need to do this myself)
4. Reolink aren’t rated highly on IPCam talk specifically because the cameras change the exposure setting at night, making moving images blurry in low light. It’s an issue, but I think it’s overblown. It’s still perfectly usable and only an issue if you expect a $40 camera to perform like a $400 camera. I’m perfectly happy with night time performance.
 
gbyleveldt said:
I think BI is cheap for R1k license. And dont bother with their support, you get much better support from groups or forums. No need to pay annually for that. If a new version comes out in a few years (they only released V5 recently, V4 was a few years old already) and it has features you need, then just buy that again. Failing that, you can renew annually for $35 if you want. Seriously, it’s not expensive.

1. I’ve posted a few examples here of streaming BI streams in HA, with relevant code
2. I recently posted setting to get substreams to work in BI as well. I can post code on getting substreams in HA as well (which I recommend over full streams). Brings CPU use down below 10% for 8*5MP cams.
3. Motion alerts will always be a pain. Object detection is a better Avenue (I still need to do this myself)
4. Reolink aren’t rated highly on IPCam talk specifically because the cameras change the exposure setting at night, making moving images blurry in low light. It’s an issue, but I think it’s overblown. It’s still perfectly usable and only an issue if you expect a $40 camera to perform like a $400 camera. I’m perfectly happy with night time performance.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback - I have seen your posts and need to spend the time to do it properly on my end - i think because this was just a test for me i didn't dedicate the proper time to do it perfectly - but your posts have been very helpful - i just need more focused time to do it right - also i wasn't sure whether to setup the cam as http or rtsp and i think this impacted some of my findings

In terms of the cost - i guess when you look at cost vs benefit (functionality) then its not cheap but if you compare to a standard NVR / DVR then the amount is a bit high.
 
powermzii said:
Thanks for the feedback - I have seen your posts and need to spend the time to do it properly on my end - i think because this was just a test for me i didn't dedicate the proper time to do it perfectly - but your posts have been very helpful - i just need more focused time to do it right - also i wasn't sure whether to setup the cam as http or rtsp and i think this impacted some of my findings

In terms of the cost - i guess when you look at cost vs benefit (functionality) then its not cheap but if you compare to a standard NVR / DVR then the amount is a bit high.
Click to expand...
Well, with most NVR solutions there’s little chance of any future upgrades, Or if There are, it will be for a year or two. With BI such upgrades, should you need it, will be available for as long as your PC hardware can keep up. And let’s be honest, there’s no retail NVR solution that gives you the kinda features you get with BI. Then, the other thing is that you can be camera brand agnostic. With NVRs, you generally need to stick to one brand. With BI, if it can detect it, the brand becomes irrelevant to HA.

Seriously bud, start using it and get it setup in HA, you’ll quickly realize you’re comparing apples and onions.
 
BI is very very cheap and great value, same as the Reolinks really. Not the best but good enough.
 
gbyleveldt said:
Well, with most NVR solutions there’s little chance of any future upgrades, Or if There are, it will be for a year or two. With BI such upgrades, should you need it, will be available for as long as your PC hardware can keep up. And let’s be honest, there’s no retail NVR solution that gives you the kinda features you get with BI. Then, the other thing is that you can be camera brand agnostic. With NVRs, you generally need to stick to one brand. With BI, if it can detect it, the brand becomes irrelevant to HA.

Seriously bud, start using it and get it setup in HA, you’ll quickly realize you’re comparing apples and onions.
Click to expand...
I definitely will get more stuck into it -I think also a plan for what you want each camera to focus on (pun intended) will help - i also might need to get more storage so that i can keep more continuous footage.

Also looked into the Deepstack AI and that looks really good
 
powermzii said:
So doing a brief write-up of my CCTV journey (to date). We are moving to a new place before year end and since we own the place upgrading security has been top priority. Decided to get cameras and this post goes through some of my learnings and thoughts

TL/DR - Easy to setup, lots of great functionality. Lots more to learn and do. Good purchase but BlueIris licensing is pricey

System Overview
Looked at all the DVR-based systems based on my budget then happened upon a Youtube rabbit hole that focused on Blue Iris as this would give more functionality, flexibility and integration into the smart home platform I want to (eventually) run (HomeAssistant). A current requirement is to control wired and (future) wireless cameras via IP , though initially pricier are only really limited by your POE setup and the power of your server, vs say buying another NVR / DVR unit to expand your set.

Cameras
In terms of cameras i settled on the Reolink RLC-410 - they are currently on special for ~$40 from the Reolink website. Total landed cost to PTA was R4.5k for 6 cameras and it took 7 days for me to get them delivered via DHL
View attachment 956253

NVR 'Server'
I didn't get the bundle that includes the NVR - just got the cameras. To run the software and manage the cameras i bought a used Dell Optiplex from carbonite, installed an SSD and upgraded RAM to 12GB and CPU to an i7. I bought a POE switch from Uniterm for R720 odd - it has 8 ports with 2 additional uplink ports - so the system as it stands can cater for 8 cameras without needing an additional POE switch.

Camera box includes the camera itself plus a short 1m ethernet cable as well as a couple of mounting screws and adjustment devices.

Setting up Cameras
Connecting the Camera to the 'NVR' was as easy as pie. Here you could decide to use the Reolink Windows app (free) or Blue Iris as well. I bought the BI activation at IPCamTalk which has a load of useful tips, tricks, downloads and a forum as well if you choose to join. The price for BI is steep though - almost R1k for the license and you need to renew it yearly or you lose support and the ability to upgrade - i see there are cheaper options as well but yeah - will have to explore

For both the Reolink app and BI - setting up cameras was as easy as plugging them into the POE switch, waiting for router to assign an IP address and boom presto the camera is available for you to start viewing. Once its up you can then delve into the many features around where to store your recordings, when to trigger, when to record etc etc. Its way too much to go through in this post so i'll have to do a separate one when i have more time. But its literally that simple to get up and running. I setup 2 cameras as a test bench both pointing to the road)

What I managed to get working
  • Basic camera functionality
  • Continuous recording
  • Motion-based recording
  • Motion-based alerts (to BI smartphone app - works really quickly)
  • Alert zones (specific areas to look for motion)
  • Web-access via BI webserver - really simple to follow tutorial on how to do this. Just a note - do not use UPnP - rather learn how to setup port forwarding and limit what traffic and resources can access those ports to only the BI application in your router firewall
  • Blocked cameras from internet access on the router > they kept dialing home to an AWS server - not sure why so I just blocked them
  • Saving recordings and archiving the recordings and alert clips to a different location
  • Exporting a clip (10 min clip took about 8 mins to do)
What I didn't manage to get working
  1. Camera feeds to show up in Home Assistant (i got it kinda working using motioneye but i need more time)
  2. I didn't setup the multiple streams correctly so mine was recording @ the full frame size but i reduced the fps
  3. Need to fine tune the motion alterts to weed out false-positives (trees swaying in the wind) and sometimes some motion events didn't get captured (people walking their dogs were captured but not a runner (same time of day same camera) - i'm sure its due to my setup but will experiment more
Overall thoughts
  1. For a simple setup you can get this up and running in 45mins max, that's BlueIris / Reolink app cameras, POE, basic recording and alert mechanisms. Should you want to delve deeper into the AI detection and other more in-depth features you will need much more time and patience - even more if you want to include any home assistant integration. Blue Iris app is a beast and if you are intimidated you can definitely get by with just using the Reolink app - it (reolink) also consumes less resources
  2. The camera build quality feels sturdy and high quality
  3. These cameras are unlikely to read number plates etc at a distance - so if that's your use case then you should get specialised ones - but im sure im preaching to the converted. Again it may have been my placement and setup - i will test more at the new house
  4. Night vision was ok - i didnt change anything on the settings so maybe there is something i can tweak there - but the motion alerts worked well at night
  5. Oddly enough Reolinks are not rated highly on IPCamtalk - Amcrest, HIkvision and Dahua all seem better liked there
  6. CPU usage on the Blue Iris app fluctuated from 5-65% but my windows task manager showed 3-15% - not sure what caused the discrepancy but that's a puzzle for another day
View attachment 956449

Hope this is helpful as a start.... I will add more as I do more with the setup

@Deetz @APoc184
Click to expand...
Yassss!! thanks man, With I am more keen now to pack mine on.
I am moving to my new house next week and will do the full install then.

I really want to test it in the mean time though, but dont have a PC for this yet so Im going to try and run this on my Latptop, it has a Ryzen 7 CPU and 8GB RAM so hoepfully it will be enough to at least experiment with it all.
I only have the BI V4 at the moment, will buy the other one later if needed.
Thanks for your writeup, Looking forward to future posts.
 
Deetz said:
Yassss!! thanks man, With I am more keen now to pack mine on.
I am moving to my new house next week and will do the full install then.

I really want to test it in the mean time though, but dont have a PC for this yet so Im going to try and run this on my Latptop, it has a Ryzen 7 CPU and 8GB RAM so hoepfully it will be enough to at least experiment with it all.
I only have the BI V4 at the moment, will buy the other one later if needed.
Thanks for your writeup, Looking forward to future posts.
Click to expand...
Yeah you should be fine with those specs, just watch HDD space though.
 
Seems like Reolink Black Friday deals are up.

About the same prices as previous deals with a few $$ cheaper here and there.

So I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a bundle deal.
1 x 8ch NVR with 4 x RLC410 cameras.
I then added another 2 x RLC510A cameras. Specifically for the vehicle and person detection features. Want to put those up at the front entrances.

All and all came to R7800.

Now just for import taxes when it arrives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X