How to install and configure IQrecorder in your IQeye IP camera

There is additional software which can be added to all IQeye cameras which provides an embedded recording solution without the need to install further client software on your PC. The software is called IQrecorder and we will show you how simple it is to install and configure.

In this HOWTO guide we will show you how to store your recordings to an FTP server as this will work for all camera models. Note though that some models contain a Compact Flash slot and you can configure your recordings to be stored on a removable Compact Flash card in place of an FTP server.

Step 1 – Installing the software

When you purchase your copy of IQrecorder you will be sent the file electronically (there is no boxed copy of IQrecorder). The license file is used to unlock the IQrecorder functionality in the camera. To do this you need to enter the ‘settings’ pages of your IQeye IP camera and select the ‘security’ tab.

One of the options on the security page allows you to upload license files. Click the ‘browse’ button to locate the license file you were sent by email and click the upload button.

After the file has been uploaded, reboot your camera to unlock the IQrecorder functionality.

Step 2 – Set up your FTP Server

When you have successfully installed the license you will see two new tabs, ‘playback’ and ‘IQrecorder’. Before we can take a look at them we must first set up an FTP server to store the recordings.

In the ‘settings’ pages select the ‘trigger’ tab.

You will see the FTP settings at the bottom of this page. These are all we are concerned about on this page, we can ignore the ‘trigger’ and ’email’ settings.

Now in the options shown, enter the details of the FTP server where you want to store recordings:

• FTP hostname: The hostname or IP address of the FTP server onto which you will to store your images. Hostnames can be no longer than 31 characters, for hostnames longer than 31 characters use your IP address instead
• username: Username you use to log in to your FTP server
• password: Password you use to log in to your FTP server
• file name: This field is not important for IQrecorder. IQrecorder stores your images using its own file naming convention
• file path: This field is not important for IQrecorder. IQrecorder ALWAYS stores your files in the root directory of your FTP server

Step 3 – Configuring IQrecorder

Now that you have entered your FTP details for where your recordings will be stored, IQrecorder can now be configured. Click the ‘IQrecorder’ tab to open the IQrecorder settings page:

On this page there are 3 main areas of interest that need to be configured:

• Event/Timelapse Settings
• Network Recorder Settings
• Storage Limit

There are also 2 optional settings areas, Email Notification and Advanced NAT Settings.

Let’s take a look at each in detail:

Event/Timelapse Settings

With these you can either choose to record by event which essentially means recording only when the camera detects motion or by time lapse which means on a continuous basis.

• motion: This option activates or deactivates motion detection recording
• resolution: Choose the size/resolution (width by height) in pixels of the recorded images. The maximum size given in this setting may be affected by themaximum size setting on the Image Settings Page and the crop window setting on the window settings page
• min # of images: Specifies the minimum number of images to record per motion
• # of pre-event images: Specifies how many of the minimum stored images are pre-event images, taken by your camera before the event trigger occurs. The remainder of the event images will be post-event images, taken after the event trigger occurs
• record rate: Specify the number of images to archive per second. Choose ‘max’ for the maximum rate at which the camera can record images on the FTP server. Choose ‘disabled’ to turn off continuous recording
• record resolution: Choose the size/resolution (width by height) in pixels of the recorded images. The maximum size given in this setting may be affected by the maximum size setting on the Image Settings Page and the crop window setting on the window settings page

Network Recorder Settings

These settings are the same as the FTP settings set up in Step 2.

Note that the ‘record to’ option would allow you to choose between FTP storage and memory card storage if supported by the camera.

Storage Limit

This allows you to put in safeguards against your camera filling up all your FTP storage.

max storage (GB): The maximum storage used by this camera on the FTP server. Enter the value “unlimited” if you do not want the camera to manage its FTP server disk space for you. When storage used passes 80% of the max storage value, a warning e-mail will be sent to the e-mail recipients specified on this page if configured. When storage reaches the max storage value, either image storage will be suspended, or old images will be deleted (as specified in the “near max storage” drop down).

near max storage: Specify whether the camera will overwrite old files when it exceeds its storage limit; or whether it will suspend recording and e-mail warnings as it nears that limit.

Step 4 – Playback

Once you have taken some recordings with your IQrecorder configuration you can view them in the playback viewer which is also embedded in the camera.

Select the ‘playback’ tab to go into the viewer.

Using the ‘playback’ page you can browse your recordings, play back your recordings, search by date/time or event and export any recordings you need out as an ‘avi’ movie file for archiving or evidence purposes.

The viewer is very straight-forward to use and the controls mimic the regular controls most people are used to when viewing video footage.

And that’s all there is to installing and configuring IQrecorder.

Please leave any comments or feedback below.

Published on November 20th, 2007 by Greg