We get asked this a lot as it's one of the most popular features of network
cameras when purchased with home security in mind. It's fair to say that every
camera we sell supports the function of image transfer based on a triggered
alarm but this HOWTO: guide will focus on how to set this up, step-by-step, in
your Axis network camera.
Supported Cameras
I'm using an Axis 231D+ but this guide will work equally well across all Axis camera models
with recent firmware.
Let's Get Started
I shall assume that your Axis network camera is configured and you are
viewing the camera locally on your network.
Step 1: Logging In
Log in to your camera using your administrator username and password and
click the 'setup ' link at the top right.
Step 2: Email setup
First setup your email account details in the camera.
In the setup menu click system Options ' This will open a sub-menu.
From the sub-menu select 'network ' which will open another sub-menu. From this
menu select HMTP (email) ' and you will see the following screen:
In the primary email server ' dialogue input your email SMTP address. You can
find these from your favourite email program. Just look at your account settings
for the SMTP address.
Normally you can get away without using authentication settings so only input
your password details if you find it doesn't work without them.
Enter a 'from email address ' in the box provided. This would be an address
that the email would look like it came from.
Don't forget to test your email settings by inputting an address in the box
and sending a test message.
Once you have a successful test your email is configured in the camera, move
onto the next stage.
Step 3: Event Setup
In the setup menu down the left hand side click event Configuration '
This will open up a sub-menu below. From the sub-menu select event Types '
Step 4: Adding the Event
An event ' is the terminology used for an action which will trigger either an
image to be transfered or a simple email notifying you of activity. Of course
the type of activity triggered is based on the type of event we set up. This
time we're going to set up a Motion Detection event.
On the Event Type screen click the 'add triggered' button to add a triggered
event:
Step 5: Configuring a Motion Detection Event
Name: This can be anything. It's best to put something meaningful in here so
you can remember what the event was for when you look at it at a later date. For
now I will put 'motion_event '
Priority: Simple priority drop-down box. This will come into affect if you
have many events, for now leave at 'normal '
Respond to Trigger
Here you can schedule your event to only work on certain days or during a
certain part of the day. For now I will leave as always ' so the event is always
active.
Triggered by
This drop-down box allows you to select your event
trigger type. I will selection 'motion Detection ' from the list.
When Triggered
This is the main part of the event and where you configure what will happen
when the camera detects motion.
I will check the box marked 'upload Images ' You will see more entries
associated with this event type appear:
Select upload type
You can upload images by HTTP, FTP or Email. I will select email ' from the
drop-down box.
When doing so email options appear. You must select a destination email
address (or multiple addresses using semi-colons to separate addresses). A
subject header and message body can also be added.
You can also limit the number of images sent in every email here. I will
leave the default value of 10.
Pre-/Post-Trigger
You can select how many seconds before the event occured and how many seconds
you wish to record after the event in the next two sections. You can also adjust
the frequency of images per second. I will choose 2 seconds pre-trigger and 2
seconds post-trigger at 1 frame per second. Feel free to adjust these settings
to suit.
Continue image upload (unbuffered)
This section allows the event to continue recording while the event is still
active or for a pre-determined time after the event has been triggered. This
allows you to continue to record while the camera still detection motion. I will
set this to continue to record as long as the camera detects motion meaning that
whatever has triggered the motion will continue to be recorded until it is no
longer detected.
Base file name
This is the name of the file which will be saved per image. I will leave as
the default name of 'mage.jpg ' and set a date/time ' suffix so that each of my
images will have a unique name.
Event specific image settings
You can select image settings specific to recording, independant of the live
view settings. So, for example you can view your live stream at a compression
setting of 60% so it streams a little quicker but you can set your recording to
30% compression to get a higher quality recorded image. I haven't adjusted them
in this example.
Finish
Click 'ok ' to save your event. It should look something like this:
That's your event set up. Now walk past the camera a few times pulling silly
faces and check your email for the results.
Any questions about this HOWTO: guide please leave a comment.
