Building My New Blue Iris CCTV Setup with PTZ Cameras

In this video we'll take a look at my new CCTV setup based around a Blue Iris NVR utilising indoor PTZ cameras to allow me to set up a "privacy" mode so that when I'm at home, the cameras physically turn away and face the wall.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - The Plan
05:45 - The Cameras
09:50 - Powering Cameras over PoE
12:19 - Building the NVR
17:34 - Installing Blue Iris
20:33 - Configuring & Adding Cameras
35:00 - PTZ Configuration
40:09 - Cameras Installed
41:09 - My Privacy Setup
44:24 - NVR Installed
44:44 - Conclusion

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[TheHookUp]

For any future cameras you want to get, the E1 Zoom isn't PoE but the price of an E1 Zoom + PoE adapter is basically the same as the E1 Outdoor, which is 4k, PoE and gets you a slightly nicer mounting solution as well.

Edit: One other thing: "Send RTSP Keep Alives" causes random dropouts with some Reolink cameras and it's best to keep that option unchecked.
Edit2: You can set presets in blue iris by just clicking and holding the preset number. The advantage of doing it that way is that BI will also take a thumbnail of the view so you can remember which preset is which.

[GOEA]

the Key frame is where the camera sends the entire frame and then only sends what changes in between the key frames. Motion detection needs to compare key frames or areas of a key frame to trigger a motion detection. In its most basic form, it effectively compares the hash of the key frames if the hash does not change then no movement. If the hash changes movement.

[mikeydk]

If you get problems with the pan axis not reliably returning to specific positions, you can split the camera top from the base, and under there you will probably find a wire which has gotten under the pan motor. Help the wire out from under the motor, and jam something under the motor so it can't happen again.

[AdamKl]

I have a very similar setup but I use scrypted which has nice integration with home assistant too. Would love to hear how blue iris works out for you as you add more

[adriansrealm]

Make sure you go into settings and install BI as a service so it starts automatically when windows boots.

[DylanWilsonYT]

That's a really nice setup you got there now. I'll probably get round to doing something similar. :)

[shubinternet]

So, with your pre-trigger and recording settings, that means you're constantly streaming both the 5Mbps and 512Kbps streams, but just recording to disk the 512Kbps stream, unless there's a trigger in which case you record to disk the contents of the 5Mbps stream. That's higher network bandwidth than just one stream alone, but does result in lower disk recording requirements.

[Paulruk]

Great video, thank you .
Ive just set this up myself and it works great apart from im having issues with the blueiris phone app working on 4G. Think its some ports issue.
But have to say its worked out well so far. I have a 4 bay Qnap Nas that i've been using for a few years but found it quite clunky to use, takes about 10 seconds to connect on the phone app and trying to scrub back and forth on the video is impossible .
So having just bought another internal camera (Reolink E1 Pro) to add to my other IP cameras thought i'd give this a go. I found an Dell OptiPlex 7060 MFF for £95 and it came with Windows 10 installed. Setup Remote connection and installed BlueIris and I was pretty much up and running in an hour, I had a spare 1tb 2.5 drive handy so fitted that for the storage. Its great being able to quckly check video feeds and recordings on my phone now.
Just need to sort that 4G issue.

[sygad]

i'd be interested to know more about the alarm and privacy setup, this is something I am wanting to do but not sure if my existing Yale system woud be useful.

[shubinternet]

There is the Reolink E1 Outdoor PoE -- 4K 8MP PTZ PoE Camera with Auto Tracking and Smart Detection. It looks very similar to this one.

[Manc-king]

With blue iris it also has number plate recognition and face recognition included.

[tramcrazy]

Just out of interest, is there any reason why you couldn’t/didn’t virtualise Blue Iris on one of your existing servers rather than adding a mini PC?

[adriansrealm]

You can set the presets in blue iris if you click and hold the number. It works pretty well.

[pineappleroad]

For anyone looking to get a Dell Optiplex Micro, I would recommend verifying that there are no firmware passwords set before opening the case, and preferably also check the intrusion detection settings, as they can be configured to block boot if the case has been opened

Also, it seems newer models may not come with the hard drive mounting bracket, but the SATA connector is still there

[digitalsparky]

I have plans to replace my NVR with a mini PC running frigate and a dual-edge TPU for object detection et al :).

[joedry]

Hey Cameron, apologies if someone has asked something similar. How do you deal with Windows Update on this, as you are using the standard Pro version which seems to install updates when it wants. Did you have issues with this or did you just check on it periodically and update Windows manually? I'm looking to have a windows machine in a similar situation (not an NVR, but don't want to pay for the server version) and am slightly worried it will reboot without warning to apply updates!

[seandean]

This is pretty much the same I have at home. Has worked well for years now.

[FunctionalGarage]

Hey Cameron, is it possible to make a video about the tp link vigi solutions and what you think about it ? I haven t seen a lot of people doing any content on them and they seem a pretty good solution, also TP link doesn't t seem to have a shady background regarding privacy. I believe it would be a good ideea for a video in the future. Thank you!

[thetechdudemc]

with Windows my main concern is updates, Windows does not have hotpatching like Linux and has to reboot to finish installing security updates, I wonder if these could be configured to run at a time where you're guaranteed to be home and the cameras don't have to be running

[Paulruk]

I have the same cameras albeit pro version connected to a Qnap NAS. I use the QVR pro app and also iOS app. It works pretty well but find it a bit slow and clunky on playback of footage. Would be interested to know if you tried the blueiris phone app. Thanks for a helpful video.