Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[chirleu]

Hi, I'm using four 2136L d-link cameras for a scientific experiment. I need to see the live image of all the four cameras and then record manually to their sd cards.
I'm definitely not able to do this using ViewCam 3.6.0. In the Main Console, I cannot see the option to record to the sd card. If I go into advanced settings of each individual camera, I see the sd card menu (although not too options in it!), but I don't see the option of manual recording.

Any advise, please?

Thanks

[JavaLawyer]

A more cumbersome method that will work is accessing all four cameras from a browser using the individual camera IP addresses and instantiating the recording from the web UI. If you need to access the cameras from outside your LAN, you can expose the cameras to the Internet using port forwarding, again using the web UI from a web browser.

[chirleu]

Yes, from the interface of the cameras I can manually record but then:
1- There is no way to record to the sd card
2- The recording is split in 1 minute videos...

Could you please let me know how to solve at least the second problem?

Thanks

[JavaLawyer]

The only way to record to the SD Card is to select the SD card is a destination for a saved Event. Unfortunately, events are configured ahead of time (e.g. motion detection events, time-based scheduled recording). There is no ad-hoc quick record option on these cameras. When you configure an event, the RECORDING SETTINGS section allows you to specify the maximum length of the recording before it's parsed into clips. The Total cycling recording size should be set to the size of the SD Card and the Size of each file for recording or Time of each file for recording should be maximized. Even so, the DCS-2136L on-board memory will ultimately limit the size of each contiguous video clip.

The only way to save a long contiguous video stream as a single file is to use a third party application to manage the recordings. Although not optimal for you, D-ViewCam provides that option, but as you pointed out, the SD Card is not a selectable destination. Why not use D-ViewCam on a PC on your LAN and save the videos to the HDD hosting the D-ViewCam app?

[chirleu]

Ok, let's forget about recording to the sd card.
But is there a way to manually record to my hard disc without any video splitting? I just want to press the recording buttom in the "live view" section of the interface, and record continuously until I stop it in the same buttom. I guess I'm not asking for too much.

Is there any simple way to do this?

Thanks in advance

[JavaLawyer]

I believe the limitations to the camera hardware may prohibit indefinite recording of a contiguous clip. D-ViewCam can provide access to all cameras concurrently AND offers the ability to save a single file via manual recording. D-ViewCam can provide the single recording you need because the recording is managed by the desktop application rather than the DCS-2136L firmware.

[chirleu]

I guess I need a different product then, right?
My only need is to have the ability to record with 4 cams at the same time to my hard disc. I'm quite surprised D-link software allows complex recording modes (motion detection, shedule recording, ...) but not the most simple mode, which is manual record.
What would you do if you want to do that with four 2136L cameras?

Thanks!

[JavaLawyer]

I guess I need a different product then, right?
My only need is to have the ability to record with 4 cams at the same time to my hard disc. I'm quite surprised D-link software allows complex recording modes (motion detection, shedule recording, ...) but not the most simple mode, which is manual record.
What would you do if you want to do that with four 2136L cameras?

Thanks!

The D-ViewCam software installed on a PC can record with 4 cams at the same time to your hard disk.

[chirleu]

With no splitting?
Actually, I tried this option in the past, but the stored file is a Surfer file (?). Very strange, I was hoping a video file...

Thanks again

[chirleu]

It's a .dat file, not a video file...

[JavaLawyer]

It's a .dat file, not a video file...

What kind of file is the .dat file?

[chirleu]

Ok, however it seems it splits too...
I renamed them as .avi and in some cases they can be played as regular avi files (other times, they cannot), but they seems to go slow motion 

Is there any more efficient way to do convert from .dat to .avi?

I can believe it's so hard to do a simple thing...

Thanks!

[JavaLawyer]

I have a solution for you, but probably not the one you're looking for. The DNR-202L is a mydlink enabled network camera video recorder (~$79) which stores video clips on externally attached USB HDDs (the DNR-202L itself is not a HDD enclosure). D-Link network cameras on the same LAN link to the DNR-202L, though which you can manage the recordings and playback (similar to D-ViewCam, except there's no PC dependency).

Pros:

• One-touch remote start/stop recording from mydlink (via mydlink mobile app or mydlink website)
  
• Export function to save the videos as AVI
• Saves video clips from all cameras to a single HDD

On its face, this solution looks ideal for your needs. If you're interested in taking this route, I strongly recommend that you read the DNR-202L user manual prior to making any decisions. You should also visit the DNR-202L board on this forum and ask other owners some questions.

[JavaLawyer]

Adding to my last post. . .

• DNR-202L - Forum Board
  
• DNR-202L - User Manual
  

[chirleu]

Will it allow me to:
1. ...manual start and stop recording from 4 different 2136L cameras?
2. ...record continuous videos with no splitting?

Because this is all I need.

The problem with splitting videos is that when you merge them back, there are some discontinuities between consecutive videos.

Thanks for the manual