Cloud clip | SD event: Same trigger?

Sometimes, it can take up to 10 seconds for the green playback bar to even appear on the screen. If someone is not familiar with that, it will cause the user to think the playback is not working.

A possible solution is to add an hourglass, or, some similar user-friendly feature to convey some needed patience.

3 Likes

Here’s the exchange I had with Wyze Support:

peepeep:
If I get a cloud clip alert, should I expect a corresponding 1-min SD event?

Right now, for every 10 cloud clips, I’m getting only 5 corresponding SD events (over the same time period.)

(V2, firmware current, Kingston class 10 32G SD card) I started a community topic: [this topic’s URL]

Wyze Support:
Thanks for reaching out to us! I’m happy to help in any way I can.

The Record on Event system for the Wyze Cams will record any time the camera detects motion. While these are stored to the MicroSD card as 1-minute clips, they will show up in Playback as a continuous recording of the full-length of the event. This means that if there is motion in front of the camera for 15 minutes, you should see a full 15 minutes available for review on the timeline.

It’s worth mentioning that Record on Event is incapable of detecting sound though, which means that if you have both Motion Detection and Sound Detection active, only the motion will be recognized as a recordable event. All Motion Events uploaded to the cloud should have a corresponding spot on the timeline though.

peepeep:

The Record on Event system for the Wyze Cams will record any time the camera detects motion… All Motion Events uploaded to the cloud should have a corresponding spot on the [SD] timeline though.<<

Here’s what I’m experiencing.

Expected:

1 Motion detected
2 SD event records
3 Cloud clip uploads
4 Notification generates

I get 1,2,3,4

Under these conditions:

Extreme change within my defined zone (eg, headlights beam into). Green motion tracking IS present.

I get 1,3 and 4 (2 is omitted)

Under these conditions:

Subtle change within my defined zone (eg, people walking through). Green motion tracking IS NOT present.

This behavior is consistent and happens both day and night. I have reformatted the SD card from within the Wyze app. Cold rebooted the cam. Toggled settings.

Wyze Support:
Thank you for clarifying! Since you mentioned that the green box isn’t present for the more subtle movement, this tells me that the camera doesn’t register it as movement. To clarify a bit, the green box is a feature called Motion Tagging, and its sensitivity scales dynamically with whatever you set the Motion Detection to. Similarly, Record on Event also utilizes the Motion Detection sensitivity setting whenever it’s active.

I would recommend turning the sensitivity to 100, and slowly reducing it over time until you get to a level that you’re comfortable with.

peepeep:
Here’s my takeaway:

SD events and cloud clips DO have different triggers - otherwise, why would cloud clips upload but SD events not record from the same detection by the camera. So:

1 - Set zone sensitivity high enough that green motion tagging appears for as subtle an event as you wish SD event recording to take place.

You will get cloud clips without corresponding SD events on the timeline (false positives, since cloud clips are triggered more readily than SD events.)

2 - Set zone sensitivity for as subtle an event as you wish cloud clips to take place.

Set SD recording to continuous and accept the reduced convenience of manually searching for corresponding events on an SD timeline unindexed for events. Reduced false positives.

Reasonable?

Wyze Support:
Thank you for testing! Since the issue is persisting, I’d like to check the back-end to determine whether there may be a problem with the settings updating properly. To do so, I’ll need to know the MAC address of any affected cameras, and the email address you used to register your Wyze account.

peepeep:
Ok, here ya go: MAC / email

Wyze Support:
Thanks for sending in the MAC and email! Checking the back-end, it looks like the Motion Detection is registered as enabled, but the sensitivity is still registering 50%. This tells me the settings may not be updating properly when you change them, ultimately indicating a potentially corrupt settings file. I’d recommend trying a factory reset to try clearing that up.

To perform a Factory reset on your camera, follow the instructions below:

For V1 units (indicated as WYZEC1 on the white label)
If using an SD card with the camera, remove it before proceeding.
-Leave the unit plugged in and power on.
-Press and hold the setup button on the bottom of the unit for 20 seconds.
-Allow at least 30 seconds for unit to initialize, in some rare instances this process can take up to 5 minutes.
-The LED status light should move from Solid Yellow to Blinking Yellow.
The device is now ready to be setup once again.

For V2 and Pan units (V2s will be indicated as WYZEC2 on the white label)
-If using an SD card with the camera, remove it before proceeding.
-Leave the unit plugged in and power on.
-Press and hold the setup button on the bottom of the unit for 10 seconds.
-Allow at least 30 seconds for unit to initialize, in some rare instances this process can take up to 5 minutes.
-The LED status light should move from Solid Yellow to Blinking Yellow.
The device is now ready to be setup once again.

Please note that I’ll be out of the office between December 23rd and January 1st, but one of my colleagues will be checking in on my tickets while I’m out to make sure everyone continues to get taken care of.

peepeep:
I just got a prompt to respond/update (separate email) so here it is:

The described problem persists. I’ve yet to do the factory reset recommended. Will probably not get to it until early in the week of 12/30. FYI, motion detection sensitivity is set at 75 in the Wyze app (versus 50 at the back-end as reported by Wyze support.)

peepeep:
Did the factory reset yesterday. The problem persists, exactly as previously described. FYI, motion detection sensitivity is set at 100 now.

Wyze Support:
[…]I’m sorry to hear that the camera is still giving you trouble. I checked the back-end again and it looks like the settings are still refusing to update. That being the case, there’s every likelihood that this is a problem with the camera itself.

Since the issue is persisting despite all of the troubleshooting that we’ve done, I would like to offer a replacement at this time. I will be forwarding you to my Returns & Replacements team so they can process this for you.

Warranty Eligibility Questions:
-Our warranty only covers products in the U.S. Do you have a U.S. address to ship to?
-What is the date you purchased the product?
-Please provide a proof of purchase.
-Please verify your shipping address for the replacement.

peepeep:
Here ya go…

-Yes
-11/26/18
-Attached
-Address

Interesting. It is my understanding the V2 doesn’t respect the sensitivity settings for SD Record on Event. IOW, it is permanently set at 50 for Record on Event, which is why I went with continuous recording. Maybe you just won a free camera.

It appears that I work pretty cheap. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I think Wyze should clear this up:

Is all the info I received from Wyze Support correct?

@UserCustomerGwen

We all work cheap @peepeep! I heard that from Wyze, so they are aware. @WyzeTao As I understand it, their desire is to make everything based on the user sensitivity setting (motion tagging, Events and SD recording), which would work better, however there are two #roadmap s that you might want to vote on just in case #roadmap s influence the decision.

From me, where sensitivity setting turns motion tagging from green to red so you’ll know exactly what triggers everything and what doesn’t. In mine, SD event only recording could be set at the user setting or at 100 (so you get all motion recorded on SD card), but not at the arbitrary 50, which creates confusion.

and from @voorheis where you would have an SD event recording zone and an Events zone. Sensitivity isn’t discussed much in this one, but it would make sense to have a sensitivity setting for each, or they could go with 100 for SD recording and user defined for the Event.

Yep. :slight_smile:

Voted the roadmaps.

1 Like

Some of us are just stubborn enough to do that. Well, for an hour at least. That’s what it took to discover not everything was being recorded with event only recording. I think most people just plug these in and do cursory test and assume they do what they think they do. Some have found the recording not there when they needed it. I went with continuous recording and 100% sensitivity on most cameras. I think only one is less than 100%. If I could turn off the IR lights, I think 80%-90% of my false alarms (and thus cloud storage) would disappear.

There used to be a separate setting for sd card motion sensitivity and location, then people complained that was too confusing, and they made both cloud and sd motion sensing all controlled by the same controls. I think when they did that, the sd card recording motion sensor didn’t get connected properly to the new motion sensitivity setting slider, which is why it’s always at 50…

2 Likes

That’s probably right. (I’ve ridden in cars where the stereo balance is nearly fully left or right and the equalizer is set to “muddy” and the drivers are unaware and untroubled.) So don’t use them for anything “important” until Wyze claims they can be, I guess.

Kind of like they hid the slider and left it at 50 before they hid it? It seems the easy button would be to slide it to 100 so the record on event always records motion.

Because of the need for confirming internally, I’m not going to give an immediate answer on this. I’m going to talk with the devs and make sure that all of my information is completely accurate first before I risk muddying the waters further. Thanks for bringing me in! :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thanks, Gwendolyn, I look forward to your findings! :slight_smile:

You’re welcome! Thank you for your patience. Here’s the information verified by the dev team that I received:

V1 & V2: Record on event will be affected by motion detection zone but NOT by motion sensitivity.
Pan: Record on event will NOT be affected by either motion detection zone or motion sensitivity.

If you have an inconsistency between microSD card recording and event recording, please check the detection settings. If that doesn’t fix the problem, please send us a firmware log through the Wyze app and include info for the event video (date/time/time zone).

In V2.2, we will change it so Record on event will be affected by both motion detection zone and motion sensitivity.

2 Likes

Thanks, Gwendolyn! Incidentally, both my active V2 cams (w/SD installed) updated to the new firmware yesterday with no problem. :slight_smile:

Here’s a little table from events early this morning to demonstrate explicitly what we’re talking about.

wyze_table

H - Headlights
P - People
Gr - Green motion

Camera set:

Motion tagging - ON
Event Recording:
-Schedule 2:30a-4:30a
-Detect motion - ON
-Detect sound - OFF
-Send push notification - ON
Detection Settings:
Motion detection settings
-Sensitivity - 50 - ON
Detection Zone - ON - defined
Sound detection settings
-Sensitivity - 50 - OFF
Advanced Settings:
Local Storage
-Record to SD card - ON
-Record on event
Night vision mode - OFF
Record sound - OFF

Camera is aimed outdoors through a window. Hope this helps. -peep

1 Like

Interesting… Thank you, peepeep! This is very helpful. Happy to hear that your upgrades went through well! And your table is rockin’. Would you be up for collecting a few more instances of this over the next couple of days and then making a support ticket so I can get the devs to take a look?

Okay, I have to ask. Is this peep-eep, pee-peep, or peep-peep? There has been a bit of a debate. :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like

Been saying pee-peep in my head so… just don’t call me late to dinner!

I’ll trade ya! If you can get those stubborn dev omitters to answer these questions, I’ll go the next step. (I’ve actually already done it - I’ll release it!) :wink:

  1. Is there a single motion detection system common to both cloud clips and SD events? and if so
  2. Is SD event detection sensitivity currently fixed at a common “50” (and if not, what’s the #?)
  3. Did anything change in the most recent firmware upgrade that would affect detection for SD events or cloud clips?

Gotta say, browsing the SD card playback events today was absolutely silky - bumping back and forth on the timeline with the arrow keys, moving around a chunk of playback with tap/hold/move, etc. No glitching, a completely new experience. It’s hard to believe it’s just an anomalous gift from the heavens, but I suppose that’s possible… :slight_smile:

Hey @Overwatch, got any comments or suggestions on the dev response, etc?

MOD NOTE: Post edited to conform to the Community Guidelines

2 Likes

Hah! I’m glad I didn’t bet on this one since I would have lost. I’ll let the others know the correct pronunciation.

I’ll see what I can do about getting your questions answered. In the meantime, I’m happy to hear that your Playback experience has improved! :slight_smile:

I have your answers!

  1. Yes, it is a single motion detection system.
  2. No, the number is fixed to 100 so that the likelihood of missing desired events is decreased.
  3. No, nothing changed in the most recent firmware upgrade that would affect the discussion.
2 Likes

Rock Star!!! :heart_eyes:

Interesting about SD event Motion Detection Sensitivity being fixed at 100. The results below are with in-app Sensitivity for Cloud Clips set to 50. Check lines 18, 25 and 27 - no SD event to match the cloud clip. Hmmm…

2 Likes

Thanks! I do what I can. -takes a bow-

Thank you for the table! Could you please send in an app/firmware log through the Help & Support section of Account in the Wyze app and include the table (or an image of it) as an attachment along with your time zone and the dates that you were making this table? I’d love to get the devs to look at it.