Any cameras that can report motion event to ST?

Are there any cameras that can report a video motion or PIR motion event to ST in a timely manor? The D-Link IFTTT camera can using IFTTT, but wondering what other options are out there.

Almost any camera can do this, so it all depends on your use case and budget.

I have indoor and outdoor Foscam cameras using @RBoyā€™s device type and they report motion events to ST. My Arlo cameras also do this.

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Apparently not the other D-Link cameras. :frowning:

Arlo and Blink both can, Arlo through IFTTT and I think through the official integration as well. Support could confirm that.

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/209529506-Netgear-Arlo-Wire-Free-Camera

And Blink through RBoyā€™s paid app, which has official approval from Blink.

Both are popular in the community. :sunglasses:

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Another option:
I use bunch of Wireless IP cams with Blue Iris to trigger motion events using these instructions here. Works great:

FYI on Blue Iris

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From my understanding, motion detection for all these cameras will ONLY work when the camera is armed.
So, you get motion alerts and not motion. I had a Foscam and found this was the case.
This is an important distinction because I wanted to know there was motion any time and not just when the camera was ā€˜armedā€™.
Others can correct me if Iā€™m wrong concerning the Arlo?

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Another approach is to use an IP Camera that has some Input/Output connections. I have 6 IP Cameras and all but one have an output that can trigger a device when the camera raises an alarm (configurable). My dome cameras are all Hikvision and they have both an input (to trigger recording) and an output (to trigger something upon condition met). If you hook up one of those dry contact sensors, your generic IP Camera can now trigger events in ST without any additional software. Even one of my D-Links (low cost motorized IP camera) has the IO. I have not tried this so there may be unforeseen issues with this setup.

Biggest issue is that unless the camera has a PIR sensor, the image based motion triggering is very prone to false alarms.

Ture for the motion alerts thatā€™s built-into the Foscam.

Not sure about Blink/Arlo, never used them.

For Blue Iris, you donā€™t have to use the built-in motion alerts in the cameras with Blue Iris. Instead I use the Blue Iris motion features with all my IP cams. Blue Iris gives you many options on motion detection/events/alerts, so you can set up things so it send/trigger alerts whenever/however you want.

For example, my front door camera does different things for different ST modes when thereā€™s motion detected.

  • ST Home Mode: Send audio announcements via ST/Sonos and record video
  • ST Away Mode: Send text/notification and record video and email screenshots with video attached

As far as I know, Arlo takes a similar approach, at least for their battery-powered cameras which is what I have. When the camera is armed, the motion even triggers an alarmā€¦ you can set that to either record, send you a notification/email or trigger an event in ST.

If the camera is disarmed, it wonā€™t do anything.

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Iā€™d be OK with it only reporting motion when armed.

I was considering getting the Blink cameras in the near future. Actually need to go through the lengthy thread on Blink ASAP.

Anyway, My thoughts are I would want the camera to report any motion to me independent of the ST armed/disarmed mode. But I guess that wouldnā€™t work when Iā€™m home because it would almost constantly record. But what if something happens when Iā€™m home. Iā€™ll just miss the action? Just trying to wrap my head around the various ways of configuring these things.

I was in a similar situation.

What I wanted was to be able to have cameras that were always alerting, because I was interested in motion in those areas, and others that alerted based on mode. For this I went with @RBoyā€™s code, which he actually tweaked to suit my scenario after I explained the situation to him. :slight_smile:

Basically I have two instances of his foscam motion alarm monitor, one for the ā€œalways alertā€ zone and another for the ā€œconditionalā€ zone.

The ā€œconditionalā€ zone app handles my indoor cameras. The app allows me to set presets based on house mode. So when the house mode is ā€œHomeā€ I have the cameras go to preset 1, which is looking up at the ceiling. When the house mode is ā€œAway/Vacationā€ then the cameras to go preset 2, which is pointing towards the living areas. I also have the app set to monitor only when in Away/Vacation mode, so even if someone turns on a light in the kitchen and triggers the camera it wonā€™t generate any alerts.

The ā€œalways alertā€ zone app has the outdoor cameras and the garage. This all is configured to alert all the time, regardless of house mode, and send push notifications.

When everything works, the system doesnā€™t bother me when Iā€™m home and thereā€™s motion in the living areas for example, but it does let me know if thereā€™s motion on the driveway or garage. And if Iā€™m away then it cries when something happens, which can be bad if thereā€™s a bird around or the FedEx guy comes by. :slight_smile:

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