I have read a few posts recently where members here were curious about video surveillance options. Thus, I thought I would give a short demo of my system in case any one might be interested.
Cameras:
* 2 x Axis 207MW Megapixel cameras capable of 1280x1024. However, this is a very tall picture, so I run mine in HD mode of 1280 x 720 which also achieves slightly higher frame rate
* 1 x Panasonic BB-HCM311A 640 x 480 Pan/Tilt/Zoom.
* 1 x Generic cams with Sony CCD
Video Capture:
* No video capture card required. All cameras stream video over the local network.
DVR/Software:
* ZoneMinder version 1.24.1
* OpenSuse 11.1
* Data Storage 1TB harddisk
What is ZoneMinder?
In general, all video surveillance systems stream video from a camera and store it to a storage media of some sort. Today, DVR (Digital Video Recorders) as commonplace storage mediums for video surveillance. ZoneMinder goes far above and beyond just recording the video streams to disk by performing the following tasks:
* Support analog cameras with a video capture card, Network cameras, or a combination
* Has live web-based monitors for each camera
* Analyzes the incoming video stream
* Supports creation of “Zones†where a video cam image is separated into multiple components. For example, you can outline your driveway as one zone, your walkway as another, and maybe your lawn as yet another.
* Each zone supports advanced rules that define how much motion, how large of an object, or how many frames of change determine an “Alarm†state. This type of logic might be handy to prevent wind blowing on trees form creating a false alarm for example.
* Support interfacing with X10, Insteon, or any other X10-based controller
* Can perform actions upon “Alarm†state
* Organizes alarm “Events†and provides a number of advanced tools for reviewing or analysis of the events.
Camera Installation details:
The Axis cams come with both a gimbal style (goose neck socket on a stick) mount and a clamping shelf mount. I installed mine by drilling a pilot hole and screwing in a thin hooked plant hanger. Then, I locked down the clamping shelf mounts to the hook. Since these two cameras are placed inside a window, the window sill itself provides additional stability to the camera to prevent twisting or movement. As a result, this single hook is enough to hold the camera firmly in place. The Axis cameras are about the size of a pack of cigarettes and hide nicely out of side behind a curtain.
Placement of the cameras is the most critical part of installation really. The camera should ideally be mounted pointing down slightly and aimed across the target area instead of directly at it. This “across and down†angle gives a large field of field.
While wireless network cameras are a very convenient addition to a home surveillance system, they do consume wireless network bandwidth. Thus, it is best to hard-wire Ethernet to network cameras when possible. I estimate that 2 wireless HD cams consume about 1/6 of my wireless 802.11n network bandwidth. This still leaves plenty of bandwidth leftover. None the less, it is an infrastructure requirement that does impose practical limits on how many cameras could be run over wireless at once.
Server / ZoneMinder Installation:
If you would just like to test out ZoneMinder without needing to commit to it, the easiest solution is to download the “Live CD†based on Ubuntu. The Live CD is a pre-build version of Ubuntu that runs completely off a CD rom disk and memory with all the ZomeMinder configuration and setup done in advance. You just dowload the CD, burn the ISO, boot up a computer with the cd and the distribution starts up WIHTOUT altering the computer in any way. This is a great way to try it out and experiment without needing to commit.
If you are not an experienced Linux geek and this is your first time running Linux, I highly recommend installing the Ubuntu distribution of Linux as it has the largest community and best support resources available. Yes, ZoneMinder will run on RedHat, Suse, Mandriva, or any other distribution too. However, on-line tutorials and help for these distributions can be harder to come by. Plus, many of the other distributions expect a higher degree of expertise. For example, I just used the OpenSuse installation of ZoneMinder and found it to be horrible, buggy in multiple places, and required manual compilation of a component to get it to work. The sad truth is that many users interested in ZoneMinder give up because they cannot get it installed and working.
Once you get past the installation step, ZoneMinder is very easy to configure. In fact, all control and configuration is performed through a web browser. The general steps are:
1.Add each camera
2.Define the Zones
3.Set the “Mode†of operation for each camera (Monitor, Motion Detect, Time Lapse Record, etc)
Here are some sample pictures of ZoneMinder and the Axis207MW camera in action:
I hope this is a helpful primer on the use of ZoneMinder and network cameras.
Edited to add: Moderator, can you please correct the post subject to read "High-Def Video Server Example". Thanks.
Cameras:
* 2 x Axis 207MW Megapixel cameras capable of 1280x1024. However, this is a very tall picture, so I run mine in HD mode of 1280 x 720 which also achieves slightly higher frame rate
* 1 x Panasonic BB-HCM311A 640 x 480 Pan/Tilt/Zoom.
* 1 x Generic cams with Sony CCD
Video Capture:
* No video capture card required. All cameras stream video over the local network.
DVR/Software:
* ZoneMinder version 1.24.1
* OpenSuse 11.1
* Data Storage 1TB harddisk
What is ZoneMinder?
In general, all video surveillance systems stream video from a camera and store it to a storage media of some sort. Today, DVR (Digital Video Recorders) as commonplace storage mediums for video surveillance. ZoneMinder goes far above and beyond just recording the video streams to disk by performing the following tasks:
* Support analog cameras with a video capture card, Network cameras, or a combination
* Has live web-based monitors for each camera
* Analyzes the incoming video stream
* Supports creation of “Zones†where a video cam image is separated into multiple components. For example, you can outline your driveway as one zone, your walkway as another, and maybe your lawn as yet another.
* Each zone supports advanced rules that define how much motion, how large of an object, or how many frames of change determine an “Alarm†state. This type of logic might be handy to prevent wind blowing on trees form creating a false alarm for example.
* Support interfacing with X10, Insteon, or any other X10-based controller
* Can perform actions upon “Alarm†state
* Organizes alarm “Events†and provides a number of advanced tools for reviewing or analysis of the events.
Camera Installation details:
The Axis cams come with both a gimbal style (goose neck socket on a stick) mount and a clamping shelf mount. I installed mine by drilling a pilot hole and screwing in a thin hooked plant hanger. Then, I locked down the clamping shelf mounts to the hook. Since these two cameras are placed inside a window, the window sill itself provides additional stability to the camera to prevent twisting or movement. As a result, this single hook is enough to hold the camera firmly in place. The Axis cameras are about the size of a pack of cigarettes and hide nicely out of side behind a curtain.
Placement of the cameras is the most critical part of installation really. The camera should ideally be mounted pointing down slightly and aimed across the target area instead of directly at it. This “across and down†angle gives a large field of field.
While wireless network cameras are a very convenient addition to a home surveillance system, they do consume wireless network bandwidth. Thus, it is best to hard-wire Ethernet to network cameras when possible. I estimate that 2 wireless HD cams consume about 1/6 of my wireless 802.11n network bandwidth. This still leaves plenty of bandwidth leftover. None the less, it is an infrastructure requirement that does impose practical limits on how many cameras could be run over wireless at once.
Server / ZoneMinder Installation:
If you would just like to test out ZoneMinder without needing to commit to it, the easiest solution is to download the “Live CD†based on Ubuntu. The Live CD is a pre-build version of Ubuntu that runs completely off a CD rom disk and memory with all the ZomeMinder configuration and setup done in advance. You just dowload the CD, burn the ISO, boot up a computer with the cd and the distribution starts up WIHTOUT altering the computer in any way. This is a great way to try it out and experiment without needing to commit.
If you are not an experienced Linux geek and this is your first time running Linux, I highly recommend installing the Ubuntu distribution of Linux as it has the largest community and best support resources available. Yes, ZoneMinder will run on RedHat, Suse, Mandriva, or any other distribution too. However, on-line tutorials and help for these distributions can be harder to come by. Plus, many of the other distributions expect a higher degree of expertise. For example, I just used the OpenSuse installation of ZoneMinder and found it to be horrible, buggy in multiple places, and required manual compilation of a component to get it to work. The sad truth is that many users interested in ZoneMinder give up because they cannot get it installed and working.
Once you get past the installation step, ZoneMinder is very easy to configure. In fact, all control and configuration is performed through a web browser. The general steps are:
1.Add each camera
2.Define the Zones
3.Set the “Mode†of operation for each camera (Monitor, Motion Detect, Time Lapse Record, etc)
Here are some sample pictures of ZoneMinder and the Axis207MW camera in action:
I hope this is a helpful primer on the use of ZoneMinder and network cameras.
Edited to add: Moderator, can you please correct the post subject to read "High-Def Video Server Example". Thanks.
.
