Synology Diskstation & Cameras

Thanks @swanny! URL encoding appears to be working for me as I can now use symbols in my password.

Motion detection is also working for me as well. I’m guessing I setup the app after the platform update so it has never worked prior to your latest push. Thanks again!

Now that I’ve had a little more time to spend with this, I’ve noticed that motion detection is not working completely. It appears that when a camera detects motion ST registers it. However, it never clears the motion detected status unless I manually refresh the camera device in ST. I’m not sure if there is a setting I’m missing or if it’s an issue with the code. Thank you.

@ridz Hmm. Some other people have reported this, but I’ve been unable to reproduce it locally. Can you post or send me your logs for the Diskstation Connect SmartApp when motion occurs?

I am glad I found this thread. I have been eyeing a 214Play but didn’t think it would play nice with ST. I know there are limitations on video with the current hub, but can someone explain the use case for taking pictures? I am not sure I understand why I wouldn’t just want to use the motion sensors and DVR functions of the Synology software.

Also, will this change with the improved video capability of V2 hub?

Sorry for the noob questions, by they’re all I’ve got for now.

-JD

Thanks @swanny. I sent you some logs via DM.

@mrjoedave I have a few uses for the ST integration with my Diskstation cameras:

  • Easy way to view an image of when there was motion in front of the camera or to see if my garage door is open. Sure, I can use the DS Cam mobile app to look at the camera, but this lets me see the door and close it in the same app.
  • I have a SmartApp that points our indoor camera at the ceiling when my wife and/or I am home, so we don’t have to feel watched. It goes down to a default position when we leave to keep an eye on the house/kids.
  • I could trigger ST actions based on motion from the camera. I don’t use this currently as light changes often triggers the camera motion sensors, but it’s something you could use.

This is obviously in addition to the functionality of the Diskstation without ST. I don’t know how this will interact with new video options in ST at this time.

I like the idea of pointing the interior ones at the ceiling when you are home. That is a great idea. I guess I can also see the value of the images captured during motion.

For checking the door, it the camera easier or more reliable than an open/close sensor?

-JD

I use a regular sensor to know if the garage door is open and that I may want to close it, but I don’t like to close it without seeing what is under the door before I hit the close button. I don’t want to close the door on anything. :smile:

Gotcha. That makes more sense :smile:

Hey @swanny,

I have 3 Hikvision cameras as well and wanted to know if you have a live view option on your ST app after integrating your Smart App. I got it to integrate perfectly. It takes pictures, videos, and triggers lights when motion is detected. Now if I can get a live view on ST then I can drop my DScam app. My goal is to integrate into one app for easability. Thoughts?

I tried to find a pm option on this board, however I was unsuccessful.

Nick

There is no live view option at this time. The SmartApp just uses the image capability provided by the SmartThings system. It allows you to see a snapshot or trigger a snapshot based on activity in your home.

Sounds good. At least i won’t try to search for an option knowing there isn’t one at this time. Is there a central storage of the snapshots however? I can’t seem to find the location of where the burst mode stores the photos. I do see where i can scroll through all of them, but it would be nice to have them in an explorer view for instance.

Thanks again for responding quickly. You know how it is when you’re looking for answers an all!

@NickBeard If you go to the camera device in the phone app, you can tap on the image. It will bring you to a screen where you can scroll though the most recent images that have been taken with that device. From there you can save off the images or send them in email or whatever. They only persist for a few days without your interaction though.

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BTW I installed this and it works without issue, which is great.

My only gripe is that the whole “SMS” integration to notify ST is kind of wonky. You can’t really copy the URL on the phone because the screen keeps refreshing, and I’m not sure that this is available anywhere else.

@viguera, what synology system and cameras did you get?

I have a few mixed Foscams around that I hooked up to a DS215, so it’s definitely more of a budget/experimental setup… :smile:

Everything works fine though, and my plan is to probably leave this “as is” and have just Surveillance Station running, even though the recordings don’t really stress the box. I have the cameras set to continuous recording, which takes up about 15GB of space a day. Storage is cheap though, so that’s not a concern.

That is pretty much the exact set up I was looking to get :smile: How many days worth of video do you keep on the diskstation at a time?

I travel a lot, so I dropped a 1TB single drive in there and let it be… I have a couple of FI8904Ws outdoors that I set to record 24/7 and save the video every 30 minutes, and the Synology app estimated that would chew up 12GB of space a day.

Considering the storage overhead and other things, my guess is that I can run 5 cameras nonstop at that resolution for at least a couple of weeks before space becomes a problem (should be around 400-500GB a week).

I got through the app and when I hit done at the last screen i get unxpected error occurs. Any thoughts on how to proceed?

Thanks.

@pmanno6 If you want to message me the logs from when you do the install, I’ll see if I can fix the issue.