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Configuring your system

Once you have StreamShuttle installed and some cameras added, there are other settings you may want to adjust. Configuration falls into three stages: initial configuration, a break-in period, and ongoing maintenance. During the first couple of weeks, you may need to tweak motion zones or alert settings. After that, you probably won't need to change much unless the monitored space changes or you add new devices.

Initial configuration

Unfortunately, most off-the-shelf cameras now require proprietary apps for setup and configuration. Initial configuration will probably be the only time you need these apps. Once your system is configured and settled, you most likely won't need to keep them installed.

Although many device settings can also be adjusted within StreamShuttle, it is usually best to set them on the device itself. Ideally, StreamShuttle can use pass-through recording and store video directly from the camera. This requires less processing. Changing the resolution or frame rate, or adding a timestamp in StreamShuttle, requires the video to be decoded and re-encoded. Making these adjustments on the device allows recordings to remain pass-through.

The primary performance settings to consider are resolution, frame rate, and constant versus variable bit rate:

  • Resolution: This is the size of each video frame. Higher resolutions require more storage and processing power. There is a drastic difference between 1080p and 4K.
  • Frame rate: This is the number of video frames captured per second (fps). Higher frame rates require more storage, while very low frame rates can make fast-moving objects look choppy. Although 30 fps has long been standard for television, it is overkill for most security camera scenarios. Around 15 fps is usually a good tradeoff between smooth motion and storage size.
  • CBR versus VBR: Constant bit rate (CBR) keeps video within a specified bit rate. Variable bit rate (VBR) can spike when there is a lot of activity in the video, potentially causing dropped frames and connectivity issues, especially over Wi-Fi. VBR streams also make storage needs harder to calculate. We generally recommend CBR, particularly for Wi-Fi cameras.

The video codec is another setting best configured on the device. A codec is a format used to compress video. Although StreamShuttle supports H.265 encoding out of the box, many devices still cannot play H.265 content in a web browser. We recommend setting the camera to H.264. StreamShuttle can re-encode the video, but doing so may have a significant performance cost.

Break-in period

Every new system has a break-in period. After a few days, you will have a much better idea of its storage usage and general performance. You may also start to notice potential quirks specific to your setup.

For example, maybe there is a bush somewhere that always triggers motion because of the wind.

  • Adjust the motion zones to help eliminate those false alarms.

Maybe one of the wireless cameras restarts frequently.

  • Lower its resolution or frame rate.

Perhaps one device is restarting because of timeouts.

  • This is usually caused by too much load on a single disk. Add another disk or reduce frame rates.

Ongoing maintenance

After working through the initial quirks, the system should require little attention. You can revisit the configuration when you add devices or when the physical space being monitored changes.