July 6, 2014 at 19:17Turning a laptop into a DVR
If you suspect that you have a poltergeist at your place, want to keep an eye on your child, are interested in what the cat is doing in your absence or want to catch Santa Claus right under the tree, then all you need is a laptop or PC with a webcam and free Ivideon Server program .
It is a common thing when an invention first appears, and then the most unexpected methods and scenarios for its application are found. Until now, I used the webcam on my laptop exclusively for rare video calls. The rest of the time she was taped with something.
But after installing Ivideon Server for the sake of review in this post, I began to think about what opportunities are now opening up. Ghosts don’t bother me, I don’t have children, but sometimes I worry when I leave my laptop in a hotel room. As an experiment, I decided to configure the motion sensor in Ivideon Server and run the program before leaving.
Despite the word Server in the name, there is nothing to do with the server settings in complexity here. A regular application that downloads and runs like any other program. If you want Ivideon Server to load and work even when the user is not logged in, during installation you need to check “install as a service”. After starting, he will find the webcam and microphone on your computer and offer to use them.
You can watch videos online directly in your account on the Ivideon website, from the Ivideon mobile application or the Ivideon Client computer application , which allows you to save videos, take screenshots, select excerpts with a triggered motion or sound detector and configure the detectors themselves.
They can be found in the camera properties in Ivideon Server - to select them, you must first stop the broadcast.
In the settings you can set the sensitivity of the detector, set the dead zone in which the movement will be ignored (highlighted in red). Yellow is a detected movement. At a high level of sensitivity, the camera will respond to the oscillation of the curtains. At minimum - only if a person crosses the room.
In neighboring tabs - setting the sound detector, which comes down only to sensitivity, and the recording schedule. You can select the days and hours when recording is performed continuously, only when the detector is triggered or completely turned off, and you can also set the recording duration when the detector is triggered: 15 minutes, half an hour or an hour.
Now that the broadcast is working, you can download applications for iOS or Android to watch them even from your phone.
At the same time, video broadcasting, as well as all traffic from your personal account on the site, is encrypted using HTTPS / SSL - neither your provider nor Ivideon admins will see your video, unless you yourself post it publicly. In other cases, it will be available only to those who have access to your account, so choose a password more secure.
A more complicated scenario is to buy a webcam. Ivideon supports almost all IP cameras (including audio) via RTSP and HTTP, and technical support accepts requests for new models. In addition, there are models of IP cameras and DVRs in which Ivideon is built out of the box.
In this case, Ivideon’s functionality expands significantly, turning it into a product for business - for example, you can monitor how things are going in your methamphetamine laboratory and keep an eye on staff in the snack bar network at the same time.
For corporate clients, the use of Ivideon adds advantages over the options for deploying VLC, RED5, or any other streaming software on your own server:
The number of connected cameras is unlimited - there may be hundreds of thousands. As for ordinary users, the basic version of up to two cameras is completely free .
In the “Home” tariff (60 rubles per month for the camera), it is possible to receive notifications if the camera has disconnected or the motion sensor has worked:
- as well as record video to the cloud. I took advantage of all these opportunities by setting up Ivideon on a laptop to record in my absence. True, the experiment’s results are best described by Twitter on a stone in the forest : a camera configured for maximum sensitivity worked a couple of times from the shadows on the wall, which I immediately recognized through push notifications:
- but nothing interesting happened in my absence.
At the same time, in all Ivideon tariff plans there is no advertising in the video being played. And on the Business tariff, you can even turn off the Ivideon logo and link. Nothing will distract you from the contemplation of how your cat sharpens its claws on your favorite sofa in your absence. Unless the connected mechanical hand with a slipper will be a little missed.
It is a common thing when an invention first appears, and then the most unexpected methods and scenarios for its application are found. Until now, I used the webcam on my laptop exclusively for rare video calls. The rest of the time she was taped with something.
But after installing Ivideon Server for the sake of review in this post, I began to think about what opportunities are now opening up. Ghosts don’t bother me, I don’t have children, but sometimes I worry when I leave my laptop in a hotel room. As an experiment, I decided to configure the motion sensor in Ivideon Server and run the program before leaving.
Quote from the site: Ivideon is a secure cloud-based video surveillance service that allows you to easily and quickly deploy your own video surveillance system via the Internet of any scale. From one camera in your home to monitor a child, to tens of thousands of cameras installed in large chain stores throughout the country.
Install Ivideon Server
Despite the word Server in the name, there is nothing to do with the server settings in complexity here. A regular application that downloads and runs like any other program. If you want Ivideon Server to load and work even when the user is not logged in, during installation you need to check “install as a service”. After starting, he will find the webcam and microphone on your computer and offer to use them.
You can watch videos online directly in your account on the Ivideon website, from the Ivideon mobile application or the Ivideon Client computer application , which allows you to save videos, take screenshots, select excerpts with a triggered motion or sound detector and configure the detectors themselves.
Configuring motion / sound detectors
They can be found in the camera properties in Ivideon Server - to select them, you must first stop the broadcast.
In the settings you can set the sensitivity of the detector, set the dead zone in which the movement will be ignored (highlighted in red). Yellow is a detected movement. At a high level of sensitivity, the camera will respond to the oscillation of the curtains. At minimum - only if a person crosses the room.
In neighboring tabs - setting the sound detector, which comes down only to sensitivity, and the recording schedule. You can select the days and hours when recording is performed continuously, only when the detector is triggered or completely turned off, and you can also set the recording duration when the detector is triggered: 15 minutes, half an hour or an hour.
Safe browsing from any device
Now that the broadcast is working, you can download applications for iOS or Android to watch them even from your phone.
At the same time, video broadcasting, as well as all traffic from your personal account on the site, is encrypted using HTTPS / SSL - neither your provider nor Ivideon admins will see your video, unless you yourself post it publicly. In other cases, it will be available only to those who have access to your account, so choose a password more secure.
Separate webcams
A more complicated scenario is to buy a webcam. Ivideon supports almost all IP cameras (including audio) via RTSP and HTTP, and technical support accepts requests for new models. In addition, there are models of IP cameras and DVRs in which Ivideon is built out of the box.
In this case, Ivideon’s functionality expands significantly, turning it into a product for business - for example, you can monitor how things are going in your methamphetamine laboratory and keep an eye on staff in the snack bar network at the same time.
For corporate clients, the use of Ivideon adds advantages over the options for deploying VLC, RED5, or any other streaming software on your own server:
- Does not require system administrator qualifications
- Does not require server rental in a data center with a wide channel for video
- The "cloud" in which Ivideon videos are stored protects against risks like a "fallen" data center
- Allows you to deploy international broadcasting: Ivideon nodes are located on all continents, which allows you to deliver video with minimal delay
- Support playback on smartphone or tablet.
Tariffs
The number of connected cameras is unlimited - there may be hundreds of thousands. As for ordinary users, the basic version of up to two cameras is completely free .
In the “Home” tariff (60 rubles per month for the camera), it is possible to receive notifications if the camera has disconnected or the motion sensor has worked:
- as well as record video to the cloud. I took advantage of all these opportunities by setting up Ivideon on a laptop to record in my absence. True, the experiment’s results are best described by Twitter on a stone in the forest : a camera configured for maximum sensitivity worked a couple of times from the shadows on the wall, which I immediately recognized through push notifications:
- but nothing interesting happened in my absence.
At the same time, in all Ivideon tariff plans there is no advertising in the video being played. And on the Business tariff, you can even turn off the Ivideon logo and link. Nothing will distract you from the contemplation of how your cat sharpens its claws on your favorite sofa in your absence. Unless the connected mechanical hand with a slipper will be a little missed.