Netcam Watcher Surveillance Software Blog

Bugfix for the german version

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-08-23T22:06:40Z

For the german version, we released a small bugfix, that could cause a problem with D-Link or Level-One cameras.

If you have experienced a problem with D-Link oder Level One cams, please download the latest GERMAN version. This does not affect other languages - just the german version!

New pricing online

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-04-30T11:40:15Z

We have released our new pricelist for our surveillance camera software.

The new pricelist is valid from 1st of May 2007.

Links: Current pricing for Netcam Watcher

Netcam Watcher and Vista

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-04-23T21:01:38Z

We've got some questions, if Netcam Watcher Surveillance Software ist compatible with Windows Vista.

Yes, it is. We have several customers (and ourself) running Netcam Watcher on Windows Vista.

Netcam Watcher Version 2.0 released

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-03-12T18:46:23Z

Today we released Version 2 of our Surveillance Software Netcam Watcher.

Here is a list of the main changes:

- Pre motion recording: Now you can set Netcam Watcher to record for a certain number of seconds before motion is detected. This enables you to capture slight motion that might occur before motion is detected. Also in conjunction with masking you can record motion prior to motion that triggers recording.

An example: Imagine a scene where some valuable object was focused on, with masking used to mask out the whole picture apart from the object. Now suppose someone came along and removed the object. With pre-motion buffering you would be able to see the person walk up to the object and remove it.

To use pre-buffering, use the Edit Cam dialog and select Recording and Saving. Now you can select "Record for X seconds before motion starts" as well as "Record for Y seconds after motion stops". Note that using pre-motion buffering does use more CPU, so bear that in mind.

- Random Patrolling: You can set Netcam Watcher to randomly patrol so that makes it difficult for someone to watch the camera and predict where it will go next (and thus avoid it).

Go ahead and Download the latest Netcam Watcher Version.

No picture with Axis 2100?

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-02-28T09:35:47Z

Someone reported, that Netcam Watcher Surveillance Software did not show a picture for his AXIS 2100 netcam, while his browser did.

Please note, that at least Firmware v2.12 is required to run AXIS2100 with Netcam Watcher. You can read about the upgrade process here: http://www.axis.com/techsup/de/firmwareup.htm and if you are registered with Axis, you can get the required firmware 2.12 here http://www.axis.com/techsup/cam_servers/cam_2100/firmware.php

With the firmware 2.12 or higher, Netcam Watcher will act as normal.

Start NCW in "Motion Detection" mode

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-02-09T11:19:41Z

We have got some questions how you can start Netcam Watcher Surveillance Software in "Motion Detection" mode.

This is the way to do it:

Enter the camera-settings and set the default mode to motion detection (Edit Camera, Recording, Saving Tab).

After this is done, you start Netcam Watcher with the Parameter -AUTOSTART and NCW starts the cams in their default mode!

Updated order system for our german customers

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-02-08T17:36:47Z

Our german partner has setup a new order-system for our surveillance software. You can now pay online with nearly all credit cards and you still can order offline in their surveillance software shop system. German users, please read the german article.

Vista Fun

nospam@example.com (Bob) — 2007-02-07T00:32:31Z

If you're looking for a challenge, get a copy of Microsoft Vista

I got a copy to build a Vista test machine. The installation was pretty easy. But from then on it's all been downhill.

Firstly there is the infamous User Annoyance Control (UAC) which really sucks. This sums it up well..

http://images.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/apple-getamac-security_480x376.mov

So that got turned off. Problem now is that it nags you every time you boot telling you that you are not protecting yourself properly.

Then I spent a day trying to map a network drive from my main machine. It could see it alright but as soon as I tried to access it I got the very helpful error message "Access Denied"

After much screwing about I found the cause. Vista had taken my previous user account, Bob, and upgraded it to Vista. Except it had not done it properly. Somewhere along the line it had called it "End User" instead of "Bob" and the end result was a sabotaged user account that did not function properly.

I had to delete this account and re-create it from scratch.

Yesterday I discovered a more serious problem. It seems that Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided that Services can no longer interact with the desktop. This is to help us, remember. Well the result is that if you now run NCW as a service it can no longer run on your desktop. It's basically invisible. It still works and records fine. Just you can't see it.

Well that's not quite the whole story; when it starts you get a message telling you a service wants to display a message. If you click "show me" it brings up the NCW screen on it's own desktop. You are meant to look at the "message" and then click OK when you are finished. This is due to the dim MS view that services are console apps that rarely interact with the desktop. They did not bother to find out how people are actually using this feature. Or even provide a way of switching it on or off.

So here's a really good reason to stick with XP

We are talking to Core Technologies, the AlwaysUp people, to try to find a solution to this mess.

Moved to new offices, development starting back up again

nospam@example.com (Bob) — 2007-01-30T23:26:38Z

So the last couple of months has not seen much in the way of development. We've moved house and offices to a larger place in Pukekohe. We not have a fiber optic Internet link which is giving us up to 10Mbps up and down, which is great.

So now development is back under way, and there are two things in progress : first is an enhancement to Port Activated Motion Detection so that you can monitor the camera while there is no motion. This will not affect too many people as currently I don't think many people use this.

The second thing is a pre-motion buffer which allows you to record for a period before motion occurs. This can be a very useful feature, especially combined with masking.

It's more easily explained with an example. Suppose a camera was watching a birdbath. Now if you masked out the whole scene apart from the birdbath. If you normally did motion detection recording on this scene you would see when birds were in the bath. But if you used pre-buffering, you would see the bird flying up to bath (ie the moments before it gets to the bath). Of course you could replace "bird bath" with "jewelry display case" and "bird" with "suspicious person".

1 solution for 3 branches?

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-01-30T13:01:16Z

Often companies have more then 1 branches, they would like to monitor & observe.

With Netcam Watcher you can easy control different cameras on different branches from just one point. You just need the Remote Client and are able to control the cams just like you sit on the local PC.

Under certain circumstances there is a discount available, if you need a larger number of licenses for different branches. Please ask for details.

Running NCW with Fusion NCS 200W

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-01-22T13:55:54Z

To run Fusion Network Cameras NCS 200W we recommend to use the settings for the DLINK DCS 900 cameras.

Italien version of our website online

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2007-01-05T16:54:45Z

We have launched the italien version of our website. You can find a localized version of our Page at http://www.netcam-watcher.com/it/ now.

With the german version of our website, we offer three languages now and more are in the queue.

Blog launched

nospam@example.com (Sven) — 2006-12-29T20:07:11Z

Today we have launched our blog. It should be an easy way to post continuous news about the current development status.