Chowmain - Ultimate Hikvision Driver for Control4!

[timbooo]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:32 PM, alanchow said:

Currently on hold as we have some contracted projects to work on (these will be certified drivers available either through Control4's online database or free ones through our website).

Hikvision NVR will resume development in march.

Hi Alan

Is there any chance your NVR driver will be able to add some functionality to the hybrid DVR/NVR machines? The "turbo" range of DVRs is a fairly nifty system, it spits out a stream for the analogue cameras (5MP, power over coax, howdeydodat?!) which can easily enough be piped into C4 with the generic IP camera driver. However, sadly, there's no way to get a 'snapshot' - the DVR/NVR doesn't generate one, so the touchscreens show no preview of the cameras, you have to click through to see the live video. This makes for a pretty lousy user experience.

If you or your assistant ninja Justin have sufficient wizard skills to somehow leverage the EA controller to generate this missing snapshot I'd be in CCTV integration heaven. Does it sound even mildly viable?

PS stay safe everyone! This is a good time for us all to stay indoors and fiddle around with Control4. Learn by doing!

[alanchow]

15 hours ago, timbooo said:

Hi Alan

Is there any chance your NVR driver will be able to add some functionality to the hybrid DVR/NVR machines? The "turbo" range of DVRs is a fairly nifty system, it spits out a stream for the analogue cameras (5MP, power over coax, howdeydodat?!) which can easily enough be piped into C4 with the generic IP camera driver. However, sadly, there's no way to get a 'snapshot' - the DVR/NVR doesn't generate one, so the touchscreens show no preview of the cameras, you have to click through to see the live video. This makes for a pretty lousy user experience.

If you or your assistant ninja Justin have sufficient wizard skills to somehow leverage the EA controller to generate this missing snapshot I'd be in CCTV integration heaven. Does it sound even mildly viable?

PS stay safe everyone! This is a good time for us all to stay indoors and fiddle around with Control4. Learn by doing!

We used to have some magic to do this but Control4 is locking down their backend shortly.  As such we can't use our backdoor trickery anymore.  Justin has finalised the integration of cameras connected to NVRs so that will be released shortly after beta testers are cool with it.

[Gary Leeds UK]

Looking forward to this 

[ee999]

The snapshot for the Hik turbo DVR is:

http://ipaddress:80/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/101/picture

101 will get the main stream; 102 will get the substream

the first number is the channel, the second number is the stream (01 main, 02 sub)

[alanchow]

MAJOR UPDATE

You asked for it and here it is. Chowmain's Ultimate #Hikvision driver for Control4 has been upgraded to support cameras connected directly to NVRs with live stream support, PTZ controls, events such as motion detection, native Control4 push notification snapshots and more!

https://www.chowmainsoft.com/hikvision-control4

[msgreenf]

driver update is awesome!  Already have a customer running it and they are very happy!

[jebt2921]

May need someone to add this to my project!


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[dcovach]

May need someone to add this to my project!


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I can make this happen. PM me if you need a remote dealer.

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[ERDrPC]

@alanchow Silly question - I have all my HikVision Cameras (into cisco switch) and HikVision NVR already setup and running. What would this driver provide in this circumstance for a benefit? The live events? Does the driver configure them on the camera side - ie the motion area to detect, where to have the line for line crossing? Is it better to configure these advanced features at the camera itself or the NVR? I'm on 2.10.6 so the push notification of the image won't work  (Family doesn't like the 3.0 GUI and Navigator changes). 

Would be awesome if you were able to combine with that other new IP cam driver that does Facial recognition and license plate recognition. Would love to walk up to my house and have the camera see me and unlock the door. Have my car pull into the driveway and the garage door open. 

[alanchow]

We pull in all event functionality that your cameras spit out.  You will need to configure this in the camera first before the driver can detect it.  So if your cameras support line crossing, motion detection, etc then the driver will support it.

[OceanDad]

On 4/3/2020 at 1:36 AM, timbooo said:

Is there any chance your NVR driver will be able to add some functionality to the hybrid DVR/NVR machines? The "turbo" range of DVRs is a fairly nifty system, it spits out a stream for the analogue cameras (5MP, power over coax, howdeydodat?!) which can easily enough be piped into C4 with the generic IP camera driver. However, sadly, there's no way to get a 'snapshot' - the DVR/NVR doesn't generate one, so the touchscreens show no preview of the cameras, you have to click through to see the live video. This makes for a pretty lousy user experience.

 

On 4/20/2020 at 7:24 AM, ee999 said:

The snapshot for the Hik turbo DVR is:

http://ipaddress:80/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/101/picture

101 will get the main stream; 102 will get the substream

the first number is the channel, the second number is the stream (01 main, 02 sub)

I'm still trying to see if there is any way to pull in a snapshot for the analog cameras from the NVR/DVR.  The snapshot URL looks correct in the Chowmain driver Camera Test, but it fails URL verification.  H.264 URL works fine.  Unfortunately, the cameras I want snapshots from are all the analog ones.  The IP cameras all work great but I have no need for a snapshot from them.

[alanchow]

1 hour ago, OceanDad said:

 

I'm still trying to see if there is any way to pull in a snapshot for the analog cameras from the NVR/DVR.  The snapshot URL looks correct in the Chowmain driver Camera Test, but it fails URL verification.  H.264 URL works fine.  Unfortunately, the cameras I want snapshots from are all the analog ones.  The IP cameras all work great but I have no need for a snapshot from them.

At this stage we don't support DVRs.  We only support IP cameras connected to NVRs and IP cameras directly.

[OceanDad]

35 minutes ago, alanchow said:

At this stage we don't support DVRs.  We only support IP cameras connected to NVRs and IP cameras directly.

Thanks Alan, I assumed that was the case.  Still love your work.  I've never had a good way of properly integrating this camera setup into C4, but I guess I'm not the only one round here who uses third-party software for cameras...

[timbooo]

Is there any way to generate a snapshot of an analog camera connected to a DVR on a PC on the network then serve that up to C4? Or any other ideas? This is a real sticking point in a project, it's annoying when something is supposedly supported but "oh no, that part doesn't work sorry". Of course I should buy all this kit myself and test everything first but, you know...

[Zappbranagan]

Any NVR you recommend? I have 5 hikvision cameras connected direct now but want to throw an NVR on

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[warmenhoven]

How do I get rid of bugs in motion detection? Like literal bugs, like moths and other flying things that the night vision picks up spectacularly well. I've tried decreasing the sensitivity but I'm as low as I can go without missing legitimate motion events. I've also tried trimming down the motion detection area to just key places where people are likely to be, and that has reduced the number of events considerably, but not enough. I haven't been able to think of any other reasonable ways to filter out videos of bugs.

[Pounce]

40 minutes ago, warmenhoven said:

How do I get rid of bugs in motion detection? Like literal bugs, like moths and other flying things that the night vision picks up spectacularly well. I've tried decreasing the sensitivity but I'm as low as I can go without missing legitimate motion events. I've also tried trimming down the motion detection area to just key places where people are likely to be, and that has reduced the number of events considerably, but not enough. I haven't been able to think of any other reasonable ways to filter out videos of bugs.

By not using on camera illumination. Using a dedicated IR illuminator that is mounted away from the camera completely eliminates the problem and gives a much better illumination.

[lippavisual]

By not using camera motion detection.  It is based on pixel changes.  Not true motion like what normal detectors give you.

if you have a decent camera, some will let you wire an external motion to it.  Preferably I’d rather tie to the controller. 

[jfh]

Will this driver support LUMA cameras? (I think they are rebranded Hikvision)

[DanITman]

This driver seems to poll for events on the camera which can be tasking if you have a lot of cameras.  In the most recent version they allow you to turn this off.  Hikvision supports the ability to do webhooks that notify the controller when one of the actions has been triggered (motion, line crossing, face detection).  Is this something that would be added in the future?  Hikvision does seem to document it well but their official control4 driver uses it.  Unfortunately, the official Control4 driver doesn't support snapshot

I've colleted some notes around the webhook process and willing to share if need be.

[alanchow]

9 hours ago, DanITman said:

This driver seems to poll for events on the camera which can be tasking if you have a lot of cameras.  In the most recent version they allow you to turn this off.  Hikvision supports the ability to do webhooks that notify the controller when one of the actions has been triggered (motion, line crossing, face detection).  Is this something that would be added in the future?  Hikvision does seem to document it well but their official control4 driver uses it.  Unfortunately, the official Control4 driver doesn't support snapshot

I've colleted some notes around the webhook process and willing to share if need be.

Actually our driver doesn’t poll.  It maintains a persistent connection with the camera and it spits out data every second with the status of the triggers.

it was taxing a few versions ago but we made lots of improvements in recent versions.

[DanITman]

5 hours ago, alanchow said:

Actually our driver doesn’t poll.  It maintains a persistent connection with the camera and it spits out data every second with the status of the triggers.

it was taxing a few versions ago but we made lots of improvements in recent versions.

Thanks for the reply Alan, I saw this note in the documentation of the driver which prompted me to dig a bit. 

Version #20200522 - 22-MAY-2020
⦁    Added Enable Alert Processing option in Properties tab to reduce controller load on systems with a large number of cameras

The driver isn't creating bindings like it should for me. I have a newer Hikvision camera so I'm not sure if that is the reason. I turned on logging and noticed it checking for events every second which looked like polling to me.  I wasn't aware that some websocket had been setup. 

The Hikvision does support a webhook which should remove the need for the websocket and probably remove some complexity.  I have attached a screenshot of how the official hikvision driver builds the connection back to Control4 for event driven notifications. 

[alanchow]

I understand what it is and how it works and we've utilised those methods for other camera manufacturers.

Honestly i didn't write this driver so i'm not the best person to comment or support this.  Your best bet is to reach out to our support desk where it'll be assigned to Justin who wrote the driver.  Note he doesn't read forums so ticket or if you prefer call our office during Australian Eastern business hours for support.

[DanITman]

21 minutes ago, alanchow said:

I understand what it is and how it works and we've utilised those methods for other camera manufacturers.

Honestly i didn't write this driver so i'm not the best person to comment or support this.  Your best bet is to reach out to our support desk where it'll be assigned to Justin who wrote the driver.  Note he doesn't read forums so ticket or if you prefer call our office during Australian Eastern business hours for support.

Thanks, Alan....will do. 

[GianB]

Hello,

Hope all is well. Is this driver able to do playback recording?? My customers are getting very frustrated with only being able to see live view only.

They actually agree with them considering they spend all this money on system that the security cameras aren't able to view playback. 

If you can provide some feedback on your driver that would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks. 

John.