So many false alarms!

[corkangel76]

Now that I'm a proudly licensed BI user, I have some questions about false alarms. I have a camera pointed into the vestibule where my front door is. I have BI sending me a text message with a picture whenever it detects motion (ie: someone coming or going in/out of the door, a UPS guy delivering package, etc) however the tree that is behind the vesibule's shadow keeps triggering the motion alarm in the wind.

Any ideas on how I can avoid so many false alarm texts and still get notified reliably when someone real is picked off?

TIA,

 

[nayr]

physical motion sensor or disable motion notifications.. a PIR sensor is immune to shadows, trees, bugs, etc.

Video Motion detection outdoors with Notifications is entirely pointless, after a few bugs, birds, and weather notifications you'll train your self to ignore all the rest and then whats the point.

It works okay indoors where the environment is static unless someone is really there, but outdoors the best you can achieve with video motion is saving some recording space.

 

[fenderman]

@nayr good to see you again!
@corkangel76 With blue iris you can have separate motion detection levels for recording vs alerts...simply setup a cloned camera...use the cloned camera for alerts, increase the threshold and mask the shadow areas..if you set it right you will get alerts only when someone walks by...you will record even the slightest movement thereby not missing anything...simply hide the cloned camera so you dont see double on the screen. This system works extremely well.
Ken has is also working on line cross detection for blue iris and that will help as well.

 

[corkangel76]

I have Hikvision cameras with line crossing detection.. also whats a PIR and why would I want to disable motion notifications, when that is exactly why I have it notify me, when the cameras detect motion, I don't record 24x7

 

[fenderman]

I have Hikvision cameras with line crossing detection.. also whats a PIR and why would I want to disable motion notifications, when that is exactly why I have it notify me, when the cameras detect motion, I don't record 24x7

Blue iris cannot use the in camera motion detection on hikvision cameras unless the camera is an -IS model that has an actual alarm out...
PIR-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor...you cannot use these with blue iris unless again you have a camera with alarm in and out OR use a special device by sealevel
What nayr is saying is that with regular pixel based motion detection alerts are pointless because you will get soo many false alerts...
The workaround is like I said to use a cloned camera in blue iris...this works great..
Another option is to have the hikvision cameras using line cross detection send you alerts independent of blue iris.

 

[nayr]

In my experience it is nearly impossible to completely rid your self of false alarms using video based motion detection outdoors, Infrared light attracts bugs like nobody's business and theres way too many changing factors.. You can greatly reduce the false alarms to every once and a while with a ton of tuning and tweaking, but one way or another your still going to get false alarms.

Ever heard the story of the boy whom cried Wolf? How effective are those notifications going to be a few months from now when your pretty much ignoring them.. so really whats the point of having them in the first place?

If your camera never had false alarms then being notified at 2am of motion will get your ass out of bed to go investigate.. but when you wake up and find a cat at your door you wont get out of bed the next time.. a pet-immune motion sensor would never have woken you up.

I use real physical security sensors to notify me when someone opens my mailbox, rings my doorbell, opens a gate or door, and walks into my parking area to detect activity... I get notified 100% of the time when there is activity and 0% false alarms, as a result if I get notified my perimeter has been breached I trust it and take appropriate action.

IMHO False Alarms are as dangerous as No Alarms, perhaps worse because you will kick your self in the ass when you do miss something important.

A security camera's basic function is to record video.. thats it, its very poor at alerting you to a threat unless your paying a security guard to watch it 24/7... There are other security devices better designed for active monitoring than Video Motion detection.

 

[corkangel76]

I get your point nayr (albeit quite gruff and somewhat offputting to someone who is new) I dont mind getting notified if there is a cat, what is bothering me is the notifications because the motion from the shadow of the trees in the vestibule is setting it off. The whole reason I put these cameras in and spent all this money is because I want to know if someone is physically on my property or walking around my walkways, driveways, etc...

 

[fenderman]

I get your point nayr (albeit quite gruff and somewhat offputting to someone who is new) I dont mind getting notified if there is a cat, what is bothering me is the notifications because the motion from the shadow of the trees in the vestibule is setting it off. The whole reason I put these cameras in and spent all this money is because I want to know if someone is physically on my property or walking around my walkways, driveways, etc...

Setup the cloned cameras...problem solved..

 

[nayr]

Sorry for being so blunt, imho your best bet is to install a dedicated display showing your cameras 24/7 in the room you spend most of your time in if that was the whole reason for buying the cameras..

I feel your reasoning for these cameras is flawed, thats what a full security system is for... security cameras are for live monitoring, gathering evidence, and identifying activity and people after the fact.. and even then they are pretty easily defeated with a $1 mask.