Wrong folder for alert videos

[Delphis1982]

Hi at all,

I've searched the forum and google for my issue and didn't find anything.
If I missed a solution, I'm sorry.

Here my System:
Modified Western Digital DX4000 with Windows Server 20008 Standard R2 and 4GB RAM:

• Added a fifth SATA-Port and installed an SSD for the Operating System,
• Added an VGA-Port for connecting a VGA-Monitor,
• 4x8TB WD Red HDD (NASware 3).

Here my Configuration:
OS installed on SSD with latest ESU from 03.2023 (System runs only on local network, access from outside only via VPN),
Blue Iris v5 (actual version) installed on SSD,
4x8TB WD Red (NASware 3) configured as RAID 1+0,

Now... Blue Iris records my 4 cameras smoothly as it doesen't convert anything. It records the h264 stream directly to disk, so the performance is sufficient.
The Videos are stored on the RAID, not on the SSD.
I configured the storage folders correctly as usual:


The problem is, that I cannot select the ALERT-Folder in profile settings:


In version 4 of Blue Iris i could select the ALERT entry in the dropdown menu.
Now I have to configure AUX1 to the same folder as ALERT, why?
Is it a bug or did I miss something?

Alert Records have to be stored to another folder because of automated deleting after 14 days (not 10 like the standard records).

Thank you for any help if possible.
David

 

[Ri22o]

That is not how the Alerts folder is meant to work. You need to choose the destination of the video clip, not where you store the alert. The alert image will still be in the Alerts folder regardless of what folder you point to on that tab.

Is there a reason you want to point it to record to the Alerts folder?

 

[Delphis1982]

Hi, thank you for that information.

The reason is simply, that in version 4 THAT was the record folder and now it doesn't work. For me it was intuitive and natural, how it was declared. Now it's confusing without any needs.
Why call it ALERT folder without the possibility to store the ALERT videos there? I don't see the sense.
In the old version that specific dropdown menu was meant to select, where the alert video is recorded, bevore being moved to the STORED folder.
For now I selected the NEW folder for storing the alert clips, but I want it to record inside ALERT like in the old version.
If it is not possible, then I would do a workaround, but that would be not a "clean method" in my head.
At least I want the ALERT videos to be recorded in a different folder, rather than the NEW folder.
The alert IMAGES are not of interest by me, they can stay, where they are now.
So, if there is a possibility, I would be grateful for any information about that

PS.:
Sorry if my english is quiet bad, I learned it only by trial and error via "file not found" and "syntax error" method.
I apologize for any grammatical or syntactical errors.

 

[Ri22o]

I did not use BI4, so I cannot speak for how it worked with alerts, but BI5 is still similar.

Alerts is used for quickly reviewing triggered footage. You select "Alerts" in the drop down at the top of the clip menu on the left and it will show you all of your alerts for the time period.

On the Record tab, you are only choosing where it saves the triggered video. All alerts will always be saved to the Alerts folder, so there is no need to direct them there. If you want videos from that camera not saved in New, then create a folder for them to go to, it does not need to be Alerts. Make it "Camera Name" or "Triggered" or "New Triggered"....

This shows motion and AI alerts:

 

[wittaj]

It was more a bug in V4 and was causing issues for many people. From the V5 help file:

By default, there are four folders configured to store recordings—Database, New, Stored, and
Alerts. More precisely, only New and Stored are used to store video files; the Database folder
hosts a series of .dat files which are used by the software to keep track of the other folders,
and the Alerts folder will remain empty unless you have asked for hi-res alert images on the
Record tab in camera settings. The Alerts folder may not be used otherwise for direct recording, even
if you rename it.

So there are 3 folders you cannot rename - Alerts, New, and Stored - According to your screenshots you renamed the folders they go to - they need to be Alerts, New, and Stored. It are the Aux that you can do renaming.

ALERTS folder is empty (it holds thumbnail placeholders on the BVR video file) unless you are recroding hi-rez thumbnails

NEW is to record all video

STORED is to move video ONLY if going to a NAS. Never move from NEW to STORED on the same drive or to another drive in the computer.

So it looks like you are only recording when triggered, so simply make an Aux folder Triggers or some other name.

 

[Ri22o]

It was more a bug in V4 and was causing issues for many people. From the V5 help file:

By default, there are four folders configured to store recordings—Database, New, Stored, and
Alerts. More precisely, only New and Stored are used to store video files; the Database folder
hosts a series of .dat files which are used by the software to keep track of the other folders,
and the Alerts folder will remain empty unless you have asked for hi-res alert images on the
Record tab in camera settings. The Alerts folder may not be used otherwise for direct recording, even
if you rename it.

So there are 3 folders you cannot rename - Alerts, New, and Stored - According to your screenshots you renamed the folders they go to - they need to be Alerts, New, and Stored. It are the Aux that you can do renaming.

ALERTS folder is empty (it holds thumbnail placeholders on the BVR video file) unless you are recroding hi-rez thumbnails

NEW is to record all video

STORED is to move video ONLY if going to a NAS. Never move from NEW to STORED on the same drive or to another drive in the computer.

So it looks like you are only recording when triggered, so simply make an Aux folder Triggers or some other name.

In looking for info to reply, I noticed I currently bypass my SSD (C and record directly to my disk drives (D. Is it better practice to record to C:\New and then move to D:\New when needed? Or does it not really matter?

 

[wittaj]

In looking for info to reply, I noticed I currently bypass my SSD (C and record directly to my disk drives (D. Is it better practice to record to C:\New and then move to D:\New when needed? Or does it not really matter?

That is best practice is to simply but them on the HDD rated for surveillance cameras and leave Windows, BI and DB on the SSD.

SSDs are not really designed for the continuous writing of video so when it dies, you lose your operating system and BI. I'd rather just love the video drive that has nothing else on it. Sure people have used enterprise ones and can get many years out of it, but if you use cheap consumer grade, you will kill the SSD in a year or less like this person has twice:

SSD HD Failure 2nd time :(

Unfortunately, my main sytem SSD has failed again. It failed april 2022 and I replaced it. What am I doing wrong? It is a Sandisk 240GB SSD. On a Dell Optiplex. I inserted the drive to another computer and also can't get past the windows screen with a loading circle. I have unplugged it a few...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Ri22o]

That is best practice is to simply but them on the HDD rated for surveillance cameras and leave Windows, BI and DB on the SSD.

SSDs are not really designed for the continuous writing of video so when it dies, you lose your operating system and BI. I'd rather just love the video drive that has nothing else on it. Sure people have used enterprise ones and can get many years out of it, but if you use cheap consumer grade, you will kill the SSD in a year or less like this person has twice:

SSD HD Failure 2nd time :(

Unfortunately, my main sytem SSD has failed again. It failed april 2022 and I replaced it. What am I doing wrong? It is a Sandisk 240GB SSD. On a Dell Optiplex. I inserted the drive to another computer and also can't get past the windows screen with a loading circle. I have unplugged it a few...

ipcamtalk.com

Ok, so I am good then. The only thing I have going to the SSD are the Alerts. Everything else is recorded directly to my surveillance drives.