How to add a camera to Panasonic BB-HNP15 Network Camera Recorder which will record on motion detection

This article will apply to those who are using the free trial of Panasonic’s BB-HNP15 Network Camera Recorder software and also to those who have purchased the full 64-camera version.

What we will explain is how to add a camera to the application and then set it up so that it will actively record based on motion detection for a 24 hour period every day of the week.

Step 1 – Adding a camera

Once you have installed the Panasonic BB-HNP15 software to your Windows PC or server you will want to add a camera to it.

Panasonic BB-HNP15 – Launch screen

To add a camera, ‘right click’ in the large black area (as can be seen in the above image) and a menu will open.

From the menu select ‘Create New Camera’ and the settings window will open as shown below:

Panasonic BB-HNP15 – Camera settings

Enter the following information:

• Enable/Disable: Check the box marked ‘Enable’ to enable the camera
• Camera Name: Input what you would like the camera to be called. This will be displayed on the main live monitor viewing page
• Comment: You can enter information about the camera here, such as location. Think of it as a space for your notes about the specific camera
• Camera Address: Input the IP address of your camera in this box
• Port: Input the HTTP port your camera is configured on. (port 80 is default)
• Username: Enter the camera’s administrator username
• Password: Enter the camera’s administrator password

Once complete click the “Camera Function Check” to confirm the resolution and data format. If the camera does not support the set values, they will be changed automatically, and a mark will be displayed on the icon for the items that were changed.

When the check has finished, [Confirmed] will appear. Click ‘OK’ or ‘Apply’ to confirm the camera addition.

Step 2 – Setting our camera to automatically record based on motion detection

To set our camera to record based on motion detection we need to add a ‘Timer’. A ‘Timer’ is basically a schedule which will tell the camera to perform a specific action as a specific time.

We want to tell the camera to ‘always’ record when motion is detected. So first, open up the camera settings page again (right click on the camera and select ‘Edit Camera Information…” if you have closed the settings pages).

You will see a page similar to this:

Panasonic BB-HNP15 – Select the appropriate camera from the left

Now, ensure on the left hand side of the window you have the right camera selected (the one you want to add the timer to). We’re going to use our HOWTO Demo Camera for this example.

Now with the camera we want to use selected click the “Add Timer” button. This will add a new timer under the ‘timer List’ of your selected camera and call up the following screen:

Panasonic BB-HNP15 – Timer Settings

Enter the following information in the Timer Settings window:

• Enable/Disable: Select enable to enable the timer, disable will disable the timer and associated actions
• Timer Name: Give a name for the timer. Something meaningful which will remind you why you have set it in the first place
• Timer Schedule: We will set to daily so that the timer runs every day
• Recording Method: We want to record using motion detection so check the box marked ‘Record images only when’ and in the drop-down box select ‘motion’
• Before detected: input the number of seconds you wish to record ‘before’ motion was detected from 1 to 60
• After detected: input the number of seconds you wish to record ‘after’ motion was detected from 1 to 60

Finish

You can check your timer settings by clicking on the ‘Timer List’ option under your selected camera. This will show you a graphical representation of any timers associated with your selected camera:

Panasonic BB-HNP15 – Timer List

Published on August 11th, 2008 by Greg