Event Duration and Playback

[frustrated]

Hello...I would like ZoneMinder to record 20 to 30 seconds of 1280x720 video at 30 frames per second; my Sharx wireless webcams support this. In the Buffers tab for each webcam I've configured, the Image Buffer Size (frames) is set to a default value of 50. I have been changing the Image Buffer Size (frames) value in an effort to record and play back the video length I wish and it doesn't seem to be working. I still only get 5 seconds per event. Any ideas what settings I should be changing to get the 20 to 30 seconds per event? Thank you.

[bbunge]

Well, you could lower the frame rate. Zoneminder is not a high definition movie production system. 5 fps should be enough for security!

[frustrated]

ZoneMinder may not be a high definition production system, however, it does a really good job of recording the 1280x720 video at a pretty good frame rate, not 30fps, but pretty good none-the-less . I'm just looking for the setting to increase the recording length to be between 20 and 30 seconds. Is there a setting to increase the recording length that I'm completely missing?

[rockedge]

maybe increase the Section length as described here in the manual

Misc Tab

Section Length
This specifies the length (in seconds) of any fixed length events produced when the monitor function is ‘Record’ or ‘Mocord’. Otherwise it is ignored. This should not be so long that events are difficult to navigate nor so short that too many events are generated. A length of between 300 and 900 seconds I recommended.

[frustrated]

I've read a lot of the user guide and have done targeted searches in the user guide but missed that part. Thank you for the reply. I've changed the Image Buffer Size (frames) back to its default value of 50. I've increased the Section Length to 900. I'll check to see if this increases the recording length to between 20 and 30 seconds.

[rockedge]

I miss stuff all the time and then I run across it with a little help from some friends....very cool.

[frustrated]

It is nice for those that have a common interest offer a little help.

So, increasing the Section length to 900 doesn't appear to have helped increase the record time to be between 20 and 30 seconds. At the console, when I click on a number in the Events column for a webcam, the Frames column in the new window that appears shows a range from 52 to 115 for each recorded event. The playback for each recorded event still seems to be around 5 seconds as well. Any other ideas, maybe?

[knight-of-ni]

What recording Function do you have the camera set to under the General tab?

[frustrated]

The recording Function I have set in the cam's General tab is: Modect

[knight-of-ni]

Setting the section length does not apply when the Function is set to modect (see rockedge's earlier post).

You can do one of the following:
1) Change the Function to record or mocord, which will allow you record continuously for the section length you set.

2) Leave the Function set to modect and then set the Post Event Image Count under the Buffers tab to the number of frames you want recorded after motion occurs. Doing the maths, that comes to 30 * 30 = 900. Note that this is the number of frames *after* the last bit of motion occurs, so your events are going to be longer than 30 seconds depending on how much motion is going on in the camera's view.

[frustrated]

I'll try option #2; I don't want ZoneMinder recording continuously filling up my hard drive using record or mocord. I just want it to record for 20 to 30 seconds once motion is detected. I'll initially try setting the Post Event Image Count to 600 and see where that puts me on recording time average. That should be a good starting point.