@johnconstantelo, Correct, and I was wondering if there was another way to access that video other than through the ST app. Thank…
It also works with Firefox, but you’ll need to install an extension. Absolutely no go with Chrome.
I’m using SmartCam and SmartThings motion sensor in basement entrance. Motion triggers the sensor to send an alert, and also record a 30 second clip that’s sent to my cellphone. Works nicely. Still trying to figure out how to get the motion sensor to work only during the evening hours or if we’re away from home (new at this).
One real advantage to the SmartThings app, is I can use it to deactivate the SmartCam during the day, so it’s not using up so much bandwidth. Seriously, the camera is a monster when it comes to bandwidth. As far as I can see, couldn’t find an option to actually deactivate the stream with the SmartCam app, only the SmartThings app.
I did want to note that though the SmartCam works nicely indoors, if you point the camera through a window, like I do with a Dropcam, you’re going to be disappointed. For one, the big white device reflects in the window (unlike the sleeker, darker dropcam). In addition, sunlight absolutely blows out the details in the image. No matter what, I could not get the camera to adapt to sunlight outside.
Not sure, but doesn’t it only use the bandwidth when you are watching video in real time or retrieving video video remotely from SD card (using Smartcam APP of course). What’s nice about capturing video in SHM is that video is captured to the cloud in case a thief decides to take your camera with them.
I currently have 2 SmartCam’s and have one connected to a switch which only turns on when there is no one in the house (Arrival Sensors) and turns off when anyone should Arrive Home. This way we don’t catch ourselves walking around the house from let’s say the shower to our bedroom, etc. To answer your question above, you setup Routines to accomplish this and you can setup when and under what conditions you would like to run the routine. I hope this helps…
Forgot one point, if you “turn off” your Smartcam from ST and it is still powered on it is still working, functional and accessible through the Smartcam app.
Oh, no, it was using a massive amount of upload bandwidth. Before I discovered how to deactivate the stream, it managed to upload 56GB of data (according on my Google OnHub data usage page). In less than 4 days.
What I suspect is happening is that the new “video clip” functionality requires that all video from the device is uploaded to SmartThings cloud server. Then when an event happens it can generate the clip. That’s nice functionality, but lordie…
I couldn’t find a way to deactivate the upload stream in the Samsung app, but I can in the ST app.
Now I set it up so the upload is only happening in the hours that I really want it: evening between midnight and 5AM. And I may end up setting it up to run only during these hours when I’m away from home.
Yes, I can activate it manually if I need it, which is why I’m thinking of killing the SHM video clip except when I’m away from home. This functionality is going to cost $4.99 a month after the end of 2015, so I may just not subscribe to this service in the future.
The only issue then becomes it activates a bit slowly, and when you want to see what’s happening now you’re out of luck.
Can you share how you did this?
I have found three approaches so far.
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Use IFTTT and the Date/Time trigger to trigger the camera on at one time, and then turn off at another.
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Create a new routine, add the Turn on these lights or switches options, select the camera from the options, and then select the option to automatically activate the camera at a specific time (and another routine to turn it back off).
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Create a new mode for the specific time, (such as Sleep), and then turn the camera on at that time, and also turn it off in another mode (such as Good Morning).
IFTTT was by far the easiest
I used a custom Smart Home Monitor rule for the motion detector. It only runs in Night mode, and I also set it for a specific time. Redundant, but what the hey.
I used the regular security rule for when I’m away. The motion sensor is then on all the time.
Wait a minute, so the camera is constantly uploading video to the ST server even when it’s not generating the clip? Where in the ST app do you turn this off?
No. Our video service does not constantly record video to our servers.
@Tyler Is this true? Does the current function up load data all the time. I am on a plan that has limited data. This will cost me a lot. This is not what is stated in the CAM fact. It states that data is only uploaded when it is making a clip, otherwise the data is stored locally.
Hi Walter - check my reply above your post. Our video service does not constantly upload video.
Sorry I think i started my question before your reply. Great minds think a like.
@Shelley_Powers @Tyler @Shelley_Powers
Video Streams from cameras are uploaded in 2-second TS chunks to video-host. This happens both when the player hits the “play” button in the Camera DeviceType tile and during SHM Incident clip recordings. Camera integration is currently in Beta. Capabilities and commands will be coming soon!
When video-host observes that there is no active m3u8 being read after 30 seconds, it then terminates that stream. In another word - SmartThings cameras do not always stream to the cloud
Let’s say you have multiple people on your account all using “Garage Camera”, each stream is only uploaded to video-host once and each client will get that same stream. In another word, streams upload stay the same regardless of n-number of clients.
Let’s say you’re trying to use the Camera as a nanny cam. You’re on the same local network, the iOS / Android client will fetch the direct RTSP stream. (~2 second delay). However, currently it’ll still stream up to the cloud; we are currently working to detect via Bonjour and not send up to the cloud
Under Camera Things view, when it is in the same network, the “LIVE” will be GREEN.
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Yes, because when you get the clip, you get the 15 seconds of the video before the action that generated the motion alert. And the upload is extensive if you leave it on.
Actually, from what I can see, it does. If it’s active, it’s constantly uploading. From my understanding, the video clip that’s generated also includes the 15 seconds of video prior to the motion, which means you have to be constantly buffering the video.
That’s what my upload bandwidth demonstrates.
How does the intelligent buffering work? If that’s not streamed to the cloud, is that locally stored on the Hub?
And why do I have such a high upload bandwidth for the SmartCam when I leave it active? I’m not looking at the stream, and I have my system configured so that the motion sensor only activates at night or when we’re away.
I’ll turn it on, see how it does for the next 24 hours.
On a related note, I’ve been curious about the “switch” capability on the camera. If I switch the camera off, what does that actually do? The camera shows “inactive” on the device page, but the green light on the camera is still on and I can still pull up the camera stream, so its not clear what its actually doing.
I have no idea, but is it maybe streaming for the native phone app and not smartthings? Do you know the traffic is going to ST?
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Smart Home Monitor is able to retrieve clips 15/30/60 seconds before the Incident. This is because when the camera is on (switch:on), SmartThings HubV2 stores clips locally in a circular buffer. Camera does not constantly stream to the cloud.
After Wiresharking the network traffic, when the camera is ACTIVE, if you didn’t press the “play” button, there will not be any outbound traffic. If you need my personal assistance feel free to e-mail me at jack@smartthings.com
Good point. Currently when it is INACTIVE, the Hub will not be storing any circular buffer clips. In the future, we plan to issue a command to the camera’s LED to turn that off to give a better indication that is actually OFF.
All very good feedbacks. Thank you!
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