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n3wb
- Joined
- May 4, 2016
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I am a fisheries biologist in Alaska, and my main job is counting the number of salmon returning to a lake to spawn. We use underwater cameras to record salmon passing through a chute in a weir, and use the video to count the number and species of fish passing through. For a number of years we have used small DVRs stationed at the weir site, with motion-triggered video recorded to SD cards and reviewed by field crews each day. In recent years, we have moved toward remote monitoring, and have used video encoders to convert the analog camera feed and Ubiquiti wireless bridges to transmit the IP video from the remote site. Until now, we have used the IP video streams to monitor the site and ensure all the gear is working. The actual fish counting is still done from video recorded on the SD cards in the streamside DVRs, which get changed out every week or two.
With our latest project, we are looking at using either Blue Iris or a NVR to handle recording the video. Here's a brief rundown of our setup:
4 analog underwater cameras (2 cameras in 2 chutes) connected to Axis M7014 4-channel encoder
2-3 Amcrest 3MP surveillance cameras providing above water views of the site
wireless bridges (~100 Mbps) connecting field site, the nearby field camp (a long hike away), and the closest internet connection in a nearby (45 km) village.
Each day, the field crew will review the previous day's footage and count the number of salmon seen swimming through each of the chutes. This must be done without stopping the recording, so review and recording must be able to happen simultaneously. Also, ease of counting varies widely, and there is typically lots of cruising through clean footage at 2x or 4x speed, then stopping and closely viewing a few seconds worth several times to verify the number or species of fish. Sometimes it requires frame-by-frame review of a few seconds, which I have found to be an issue with H.264, which seems to jump from key frame to key frame. Also, we do hourly counts, so hopefully it's easy to select and review all video recorded between two specific times (2 am to 3 am, for example).
We bought a Samsung NVR (SRN-473), but I am not that happy with the interface, especially for video review. Based on what I have seen on BI, it looks like it might be a better solution. Here's a few specific questions:
How is the review interface in BI, given the scenario I described?
Can we review without stopping motion-triggered recording?
One option I've considered is using BI to record direct-to-disk, then back up each day's recording in a common format (avi or something similar) to an external hard drive. The backup could then be reviewed in whatever player worked the best, rather than directly in BI. Is that a better way to go?
Our field crews are not that tech-savvy, and often not inclined to work through problems. I can set everything up to start with, but troubleshooting from a distance might be hard. Luckily I should have internet access to the field camp. How much remote management can I do?
Is there something better out there I should try instead?
Thanks for your help. As a biologist, I also want to thank the surveillance industry for providing an amazing amount of astonishingly cheap equipment that works great. If it were all just intended for biologists, it would either not exist or cost 10x what it does. So thanks for that.
With our latest project, we are looking at using either Blue Iris or a NVR to handle recording the video. Here's a brief rundown of our setup:
4 analog underwater cameras (2 cameras in 2 chutes) connected to Axis M7014 4-channel encoder
2-3 Amcrest 3MP surveillance cameras providing above water views of the site
wireless bridges (~100 Mbps) connecting field site, the nearby field camp (a long hike away), and the closest internet connection in a nearby (45 km) village.
Each day, the field crew will review the previous day's footage and count the number of salmon seen swimming through each of the chutes. This must be done without stopping the recording, so review and recording must be able to happen simultaneously. Also, ease of counting varies widely, and there is typically lots of cruising through clean footage at 2x or 4x speed, then stopping and closely viewing a few seconds worth several times to verify the number or species of fish. Sometimes it requires frame-by-frame review of a few seconds, which I have found to be an issue with H.264, which seems to jump from key frame to key frame. Also, we do hourly counts, so hopefully it's easy to select and review all video recorded between two specific times (2 am to 3 am, for example).
We bought a Samsung NVR (SRN-473), but I am not that happy with the interface, especially for video review. Based on what I have seen on BI, it looks like it might be a better solution. Here's a few specific questions:
How is the review interface in BI, given the scenario I described?
Can we review without stopping motion-triggered recording?
One option I've considered is using BI to record direct-to-disk, then back up each day's recording in a common format (avi or something similar) to an external hard drive. The backup could then be reviewed in whatever player worked the best, rather than directly in BI. Is that a better way to go?
Our field crews are not that tech-savvy, and often not inclined to work through problems. I can set everything up to start with, but troubleshooting from a distance might be hard. Luckily I should have internet access to the field camp. How much remote management can I do?
Is there something better out there I should try instead?
Thanks for your help. As a biologist, I also want to thank the surveillance industry for providing an amazing amount of astonishingly cheap equipment that works great. If it were all just intended for biologists, it would either not exist or cost 10x what it does. So thanks for that.
