topic Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered in Arlo

Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

Rickp703 — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 18:35:23 GMT

Hello,

I have (4) ULTRA 2 cameras - Let's call them A, B, C & D cameras - I only want to record on 2 WHEN motion is detected by the other. Let me articulate. My screened-in Lanai has (2) screen entrance doors. IF someone enters through the door(s) (Camera A & B) would trigger motion & I want the other (cameras C & D) to record. I do not want Cameras C or D to record if not tripped by Cameras A & B... Basically, I want to be able to walk around my Lanai without causing recordings every couple of minutes. How do I accomplish it? If Cameras C & D trigger without the motion from A & B there will be hundreds of events daily - which would kill the battery in a matter of days, plus I want to record anyone coming in from the outside (ie: someone breaking on or stealing).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

StephenB — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 19:17:38 GMT

@Rickp703 wrote:

IF someone enters through the door(s) (Camera A & B) would trigger motion & I want the other (cameras C & D) to record. I do not want Cameras C or D to record if not tripped by Cameras A & B...

I call this cross-triggering.

You set up a custom mode that has rules where

the triggering device is camera A
the recording device is camera C
the triggering device is camera B
...

There are 4 combinations - you might not want them all.

A triggers C
A triggers D
B triggers C
B triggers D

If you have other cameras on the same base, make sure you include whatever rules you want for them.

Then just select this mode when you want the cameras to work this way.

https://kb.arlo.com/42/What-are-modes-and-rules-and-how-does-Arlo-use-them

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

Rickp703 — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 21:57:17 GMT

Thanks for the advice. It worked (kind of)... It worked for 1 day, and now it;s back to recording multiple 5 minute videos of NOTHING moving... And it was not triggered by the correct camera

What would cause this ?

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

StephenB — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 22:00:14 GMT

Maybe try cross-triggering just one camera (and make sure that the camera is not triggering itself).

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

Rickp703 — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 19:17:46 GMT

I'm sorry, but I still am running into problems, with cameras recording 200+ separate episodes daily, and my battery dies in less than a week. I have drawn a primitive (sorry) image which highlights was I have programmed:

If Camera 1 has motion (within an activity zone), then record on both camera 1 AND Camera 3... If Camera 2 has motion (within an activity zone) then record on Camera 2 AND on Camera 4. For no reason should camera 2 and 4 record WITHOUT being triggered from Camera 1 or 3.

Basically, if someone is entering through the side doors, it is "seen" through the activity zone on cameras 1 or 3, and once triggered then recording should happen once someone (or something has entered). I do not want Camera 2 or 4 recording without the trigger, otherwise walking from out of the house would trigger hundreds of events daily (as we walk in and out).

Here is the instruction:

If Lanai Left Rear Senses motion, then record on Lanai Left Rear AND Lanai Right

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

StephenB — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 11:17:55 GMT

@Rickp703 wrote:

Here is the instruction:

If Lanai Left Rear Senses motion, then record on Lanai Left Rear AND Lanai Right

Yes, you can do that. There's an "add device" that you should see under the record step in the rule. If you click on that, you can select Lanai Right to add it's recording to the Lanai Left Trigger.

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

Rickp703 — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 11:59:23 GMT

Thank you - Actually, this is what my instruction is already, and I still get 100+ recorded events per day. Let's dig in a little deeper. Maybe this has to do with motion & activity zones & sensitivity.

Related to the two step process - is the "triggering" camera still going to only trigger within an Activity Zone? If so, that isolates that concern (of something triggering by way of a tree swaying etc). Then there is sensitivity. The Camera is approx 6-8 ft away from the door. My sensitivity is at 70% - I only care about a large "thing" ie: person, animal etc. entering through the door, which will then trigger the events. Since I am looking to capture only large items what is a good sensitivity - 50%? 30%?

And lastly, as part of the two step process, why can I not turn off sensitivity to The 2nd Camera (remember I don't ever want it to record on it's own, without a trigger from the door camera) as part of the custom mode?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

StephenB — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:23:35 GMT

@Rickp703 wrote:

why can I not turn off sensitivity to The 2nd Camera (remember I don't ever want it to record on it's own, without a trigger from the door camera) as part of the custom mode?

If you still have a rule that uses the 2nd camera as a trigger in the custom mode, then you should completely delete that rule. Otherwise, it will record when either rule is triggered.

@Rickp703 wrote:

Related to the two step process - is the "triggering" camera still going to only trigger within an Activity Zone? If so, that isolates that concern (of something triggering by way of a tree swaying etc).

Activity zones set in the 2nd camera still apply. So if the cloud determines that the motion is outside the zone for the second camera, then it will supress the recording for that camera.

Similarly, if the cloud determines that the motion is outside the zone for the triggering camera, then the recording would be supressed for the triggering camera (but still would be saved for the second camera if motion is within it's zone).

Note that activity zones won't improve battery life, though they are useful in supressing unwanted recordings.

@Rickp703 wrote:

My sensitivity is at 70% - I only care about a large "thing" ie: person, animal etc. entering through the door, which will then trigger the events. Since I am looking to capture only large items what is a good sensitivity - 50%? 30%?

There's no "one size fits all" answer here. The best approach is to use the motion detection test to figure out the threshold that will detect you (or perhaps a child or pet). Then set the sensitivity somewhere between that value and 100%. Ideally it will be somewhat higher than the minimum you find in the test - the sensors will behave a bit differently at different temperatures, and there are other variations (clothing, amount of sunshine) that can make a difference.

The idea here is that you want to make sure you don't miss something because you've lowered the threshold too much.

https://kb.arlo.com/41/How-do-I-change-the-motion-sensitivity-on-my-Arlo-camera

Re: Only record on a camera WHEN another camera is triggered

Rickp703 — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:13:27 GMT

I just reposted .. I am back on the same problem... I have tons of recordings on the interior cameras - Help!!!