Motion detect - Shadows, Hot spots, A>B zones etc - much luck?

T

Tro

Young grasshopper
Apr 24, 2016
49
5
Brisbane Australia
Hi all,

Very new to BI so excuse my ignorance if there is already more info on this!

I have played with a number of settings in the motion detect area with some success
I have tried to use Hot spots but need to understand the trigger more

Are hot spots triggered using the motion sensor settings? (i.e. wait 2 seconds-pixel size) or are they completely independent and trigger on any motion?

I am also having other problems, trees in front of the house (near the road reserve) and a large tree at the back, casting shadows on the front lawn/driveway early in the morning
Shadow settings, motion settings, contrast etc

If using zones A/B etc, how does the trigger work? similar pixel sizes or just motion?
Do the zones have to be next to each other or can they be apart?
Does the time between crossing the zones play a part, i.e 0.5 seconds or 5 seconds

I have reduced from 800 hits to around 100, but start missing people at the front door so not ideal!
I have also noticed the light adjustments causing hits (assuming from camera auto-adjustments)

Would like to hear about some set-ups where you overcame similar problems

Also anyone have problems with showing triangles/motion ... I have them all ticked but only seen them a few times!

Tro
 
I have only small sections set up for the hot spot, I would like to understand a little more on the parameters of what sets it off .. from a user experience point of view...
if anyone has had any luck with it

but thanks for your response

Tro
 
Tro said:
I have only small sections set up for the hot spot, I would like to understand a little more on the parameters of what sets it off .. from a user experience point of view...
if anyone has had any luck with it

but thanks for your response

Tro
Click to expand...
If you refuse to read the help file you cannot be helped. If you did you would see why the question you ask makes no sense
 
fenderman said:
If you refuse to read the help file you cannot be helped. If you did you would see why the question you ask makes no sense
Click to expand...

I have read the help, again if you don't understand my question or maybe I didn't write it up the best ... either-way why keep responding with the same message???

I have a small section of hot spot set up and it works well, would like to know how it works for others ... and if any trigger settings play a part (i.e. pixel size) shadows etc
I know the help file states: "When motion occurs in the hotspot zone, it is exempt from further analysis and will immediately trigger the camera"
There must be some parameters...?

Tro
 
Tro said:
I have read the help, again if you don't understand my question or maybe I didn't write it up the best ... either-way why keep responding with the same message???

I have a small section of hot spot set up and it works well, would like to know how it works for others ... and if any trigger settings play a part (i.e. pixel size) shadows etc
I know the help file states: "When motion occurs in the hotspot zone, it is exempt from further analysis and will immediately trigger the camera"
There must be some parameters...?

Tro
Click to expand...
I understand your question. You are not understanding my answer or the help file. There are NO user configurable parameters to the hotspot - that is what "exempt from further analysis means". That is the point of the hot spot, it detects everything. Dont believe me? Set everything to max thresholds and the hot spot will still trigger.
 
I used to use hot spots for outside and was going batty. I may have well set up for it to be recording all the time. Then a post somewhere on here did explain that hot spots trigger IMMEDIANTLY on ANYTHING. I went huh, removed the hot spots I had set up and was a much happier camper using just zones and playing with trigger levels.

So, I guess hot spots are for like if you have an area that NEEDS to be recorded/notified RIGHT AWAY that something/anything changed with in that zone. For instance you have a camera inside a room watching a door that NO ONE is supposed to come through. You have the hot spot on the door. Door opens, BAM, it starts recording. You will know who came in that door and when.
 
Tro I understand your frustration with the "Help" function. It is not a HOW TO manual. It is simply a terse description of the functions with little or no explanation. Historically software documentation is very poorly written and this is no exception. You will just need to spend some time trying the settings and learning as you go until someone writes a book on how to use BI. Good luck!
 
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Re: Motion detect - Shadows, Hot spots, A>B zones etc - much luck?

fenderman said:
I understand your question. You are not understanding my answer or the help file. There are NO user configurable parameters to the hotspot - that is what "exempt from further analysis means". That is the point of the hot spot, it detects everything. Dont believe me? Set everything to max thresholds and the hot spot will still trigger.
Click to expand...
yep I got that

I am more interested in the un-configurable variables
i.e., shadows .. sometimes they set off the trigger and sometimes they dont
for instance, a tree branch blowing in the wind or a plane will set it off, however the sun coming over the roof and the shaded area moving gradually doesn't...
I believe its somewhere in the 15 - 30 frame rate or half a second (depending on your settings)

None the less I have it working pretty well now, I think I have found the limitations for my environment.
The hotspot gives you good accuracy if used well!
My biggest problem was actually the cameras auto adjusting contrast/light etc for better focus, or a better quality picture

My next quest is to understand zone crossing

The reason for all this (due to the lack of my explanation up top) are the sensitivity settings I have used are far too low due to trees/shadows angles etc
Thanks for your patience!

Tro

- - - Updated - - -

w1zofaz said:
I used to use hot spots for outside and was going batty. I may have well set up for it to be recording all the time. Then a post somewhere on here did explain that hot spots trigger IMMEDIANTLY on ANYTHING. I went huh, removed the hot spots I had set up and was a much happier camper using just zones and playing with trigger levels.

So, I guess hot spots are for like if you have an area that NEEDS to be recorded/notified RIGHT AWAY that something/anything changed with in that zone. For instance you have a camera inside a room watching a door that NO ONE is supposed to come through. You have the hot spot on the door. Door opens, BAM, it starts recording. You will know who came in that door and when.
Click to expand...
Do you use multiple Zones?

Tro
 
Yes, I use multiple zones. But I do not have any rules set up like the A>B stuff. But I do have multiple zones set up because of the shape of my property. My night zones are different from the day zones though. My night zones are focused closer to my house and not as far out towards my front fence. I had to do that because I was using the same zone placement as day time but found that head light over spill from the road would trigger an event. So I watched for about an hour till I got the night zones that I am happy with that does not trigger every time a car goes by.

Each situation and place is different. You just need to play with the Min. object size and Min. contrast/duration and zone placement till you get something that does not drive you to crazy with false alerts but still catches what you want. There will ALWAYS be some false alerts. If you never have any false alerts at all you are more than likely missing stuff you would want to see.

Good luck.
 
I've read this post and its replies, as well as the BI help file, and have a few questions. A few weeks ago we had a county official leave an "important" notice on our front door and we missed it. We never use the front door because we always go in through the garage. It seems we've missed some other things that have been left at the front door and because of that we'd like to know everything that happens there.


  1. I've read (and re-read) the dangers of hot spots. Even so, if a gnat enters the area of the front door, farts and causes any air turbulence (red highlighted area), I'd like to know immediately. If the rate of false alerts and video captures causes me problems, I'll reconfigure later. Is this the correct job for the hot spot?
  2. The blue area is the front yard, driveway, and part of the roadway. I want to disregard this area for motion analysis. When I set up the "zone" for this region, the help file says that "Zone A is set to the entire frame". When I open it, the entire frame is not highlighted. In "Zone A" does the green highlight include or exclude the area from motion analysis?

I don't want to do anything fancy, I just want to:

  • Capture everything in the red area.
  • Use standard motion detection in the unhighlighted area.
  • Disregard any motion in the blue area.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Front Porch Mask.png
 
jmburton2001 said:
I've read this post and its replies, as well as the BI help file, and have a few questions. A few weeks ago we had a county official leave an "important" notice on our front door and we missed it. We never use the front door because we always go in through the garage. It seems we've missed some other things that have been left at the front door and because of that we'd like to know everything that happens there.


  1. I've read (and re-read) the dangers of hot spots. Even so, if a gnat enters the area of the front door, farts and causes any air turbulence (red highlighted area), I'd like to know immediately. If the rate of false alerts and video captures causes me problems, I'll reconfigure later. Is this the correct job for the hot spot?
  2. The blue area is the front yard, driveway, and part of the roadway. I want to disregard this area for motion analysis. When I set up the "zone" for this region, the help file says that "Zone A is set to the entire frame". When I open it, the entire frame is not highlighted. In "Zone A" does the green highlight include or exclude the area from motion analysis?

I don't want to do anything fancy, I just want to:

  • Capture everything in the red area.
  • Use standard motion detection in the unhighlighted area.
  • Disregard any motion in the blue area.
Thanks in advance for your help!

View attachment 10904
Click to expand...


I am not positive on this because i have never seen blue in any of my set ups. But usually when something is colorized it is for attention. Meaning that motion is monitored in that area. My zones are a green that you can see through. When you go to set up zones the whole thing should be green. (monitored) To not monitor anything press the clear button, make sure you do this for each "zone". A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. Best to check, mainly A is the only one colorized in a camera that you have not played with zones in yet. That clears the zones that you have set up.

Hot spots. If you set up a red hot spot it will catch ANY movement in that area with out any of the rules that the green areas have. In green areas you can set pixel size and pixel contrast as rules. There is NONE of that comparison in a red hot spot. If it moves in the hot spot it is recorded.
But at night even if the smallest bug crosses into your hot spot it will get recorded and if you have notices set up, you will have a ton.

No colorization = no monitor
Green = monitor (and you can set parameters)
Red = gnat farts are recorded. lol
Blue= I have no idea.
 
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w1zofaz said:
No colorization = no monitor
Green = monitor (and you can set parameters)
Red = gnat farts are recorded. lol
Blue= I have no idea.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much!

The blue color is a mockup in paint. Inside Blue Iris it's green.
 
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