Viewing zone settings

Discussions related to the 1.36.x series of ZoneMinder
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cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

Hello. I'm trying to tweak the settings of my zones to actually capture movement. Presnetly I am having to mocord until I do.
The problem I face is that after a make a change of settings in the zone, save, wait for movement and then go back to adjust, I can't see what the previous preset used was.
So let's say I chose "Fast, high sensitivity" , save and later go back, I can't see what I chose. The preset is back to "Chose Preset".
So I'll start taking notes and screenshots probably but I thought I asked. is there a way to tell, somewhere without having to resort to notes and screenshots?
Edit: I am on version 1.36.33
Magic919
Posts: 1381
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:56 am

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by Magic919 »

The presets are rubbish, don't use them. (They are outdated.)
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cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

I find it hard to disagree. I rely on them to begin with. It drives me to distraction that I can't get to set suitable settings to capture movement adequately. Not a failure of ZM but mine. I read and re-read the explanations on the docs and the good old examples. It seems the concepts are far too complex for me.
Problem is, I can't rely on movement. Front of house, street in front. Cars trigger. People don't unless in a group or multiple ones. I've lived with this for a long time. Now I've had events that really needed to have been captured and didn't. Cameras only function as deterrent.
I had to change to mocord but even after reducing resolution and fps, I can only keep around 5 days due to storage requirements.
I need to revisit this old problem. Thanks for your input.
Any practical and actionable advise on how to start that is not in the docs?
cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

I forgot to add. It's a dome IP camera facing from a hight of about 2.5 mtr. So I have an angle, with a perspective. Same object (like a person) smaller on the road than closer to the door.
cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

Maybe this helps to assist me. I forced an alarm when a person walked in front of the camera, on the pavement not on the road.

Code: Select all

Event Id	4501
Frame Id	647
Zone	1-front-entrance
Pixel Diff	51
Alarm Px	17779 (2%)
Filter Px	0 (0%)
Blob Px	0 (0%)
Blobs	0
Blob Sizes	0 (0%)
Alarm Limits	0,0-0,0
Score	0
But if I then try to set the alarm to Alarmed Pixels, I can only set min and max values between 0 and 255. How are we to make the translation?
I'll go back again to docs in the meantime.
Magic919
Posts: 1381
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:56 am

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by Magic919 »

I only used this - https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Understandi ... or_Dummies

It worked pretty well for me but then I added ZMES as I couldn't really deal with some lighting changes and also steam plumes from a boiler next door.

I'd suggest having multiple zones worked better for me than one larger zone. Mine is a path that heads in the general direction of the camera.
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cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

I'll work with this again. I've never been able to crack it, I'll need to make the time.
Thank you.
User avatar
burger
Posts: 458
Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 4:32 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by burger »

I never was able to get consistent results with zones. ZMES works like 98% of the time which is good enough. You pretty much have to use ZMES if you want email alerts for person detection, unless you camera is in an area that won't see any sunlight or whatnot.
fastest way to test streams:
ffmpeg -i rtsp://<user>:<pass>@<ipaddress>:554/path ./output.mp4 (if terminal only)
ffplay rtsp://<user>:<pass>@<ipaddress>:554/path (gui)
find paths on ispydb or in zm hcl

If you are new to security software, read:
https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Dummies_Guide
cookiemonster
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:46 pm

Re: Viewing zone settings

Post by cookiemonster »

It is very hard place for the camera and motion detection I guess.
Road and drive (UK term, is where you park the car in front of the house). And shrubs on each side that sway in the wind. There is sunlight too.
But right now the challenge for me is understanding the way to use settings. I'll keep at it, thanks for the input.
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