I am disappointed that they put a limit on the event recording duration (events). Is this so Wyze can make more money? I am okay with local recording only. I want the events to be the SD card. Why do I have to pay more for 12s+ recording? It can’t be the hardware requirement. Thanks.
The 12 second limitation (with 5 minutes between events) only applies to cloud stored events, there is no limit on local SD card.
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Click that Playback icon on the bottom that’s shaped like an SD card and you should be fine.
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And as for the 12 second limit on CLOUD recordings, that has been since day 1.
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Yes and no… Wyze ran into a cost problem with storing all the recordings and so began CamPlus.
What I do is use the 12 second alert for showing me when an event happens. Then to see the whole event play out, I can then turn to the full recording on the SD card.
Actually the issue was with person detection. They were using Xnor.ai code which they were able to put in the Camera’s firmware. Once Apple bought out the company, Xnor.ai pulled the plug on licensing, thus had to pull it out of the firmware. They had to start fresh with their own detection system, and using AWS to pull it off. That is what added the cost.
According to this it was both:
Actually not. Person detection was the only thing. Adding capacity for using AWS to host their person detection has added costs. Not only AWS, but a team of developers to actually implement, and improve it.
The 12 seconds of detection of movement has always been free.
Ya, it’s not mentioned anywhere if you buy it off Amazon. It’s to limit impact on their cloud servers and it’s been there since the early days. I was about to return my v2 cam, but we live in a gated community with limited access and my only need was to watch the front door area for package deliveries through a side window next to the door. My doorbell is on a side wall and doesn’t see anyone approaching until they step up to the door. I have the wyze db since I was on the beta test, but it does not do much for us. I don’t need camplus so it’s basically just adding db ring announcements on our phones. There is still no popup to answer quickly so it’s pretty useless in our situation. The SD recording does work for entire events but I rarely ever use it.
@cutaway
I’d mention having an SD card (at least for v2 cams) the 12 sec delay isn’t an issue. Maybe you’ve read elsewhere?
… in your cam’s advance settings set the “record to MicroSD card” to “Continuous.”
NEXT: Be sure; in camera settings in “Event Recording” and then “Schedule” to “All Day.”
Now… whenever you go to view whatever type of motion notification you received - you can easily continue viewing what happened afterwards - AFTER the 12 seconds.
Quick & easy method:
After you’ve clicked either the popup notification of the event itself that you want to see, or within “Events” on the main screen…
- Click “Playback” that appears at the bottom of that screen. “Playback” looks like an SD card.
By clicking playback - you’ll be taken to the beginning of that event, but it will continue playing after that 12 seconds because you’ve set the camera to “Continuous” recording.
The only drawback to playback is - there’s no “scrubbing” video. Meaning… you can’t view video as you move it forward or back like you might find in another app. I doubt Wyze would ever make efforts to add “scrubbing.” I don’t even know if that feature is in CamPlus?
You quickly learn how to look for changes in your video. Just skip forward and back, in smaller and smaller increments for a differences in the video until you narrow it down to the exact spot you want to see. Sometimes a pain, BUT… at least you get past the 12 second limitation. I’ve ended up finding other things I may not have if I hadn’t been using playback.
[My thots on Outdoor Cam… and SD]
I had my own johhny-come-lately moment with the ODC. We jumped in early with the camera thinking it would have many of the same features as Wyze’s other cameras. NOT!! One being the SD card.
I would have to go through the weeks of emails from Wyze support to tell you the specifics, but basically – the SD slot option is USELESS, and barely useful in the base station! About the only thing the SD slot can do is time-lapse video. I won’t go into the useless “sensing” ability it has… or DOESN’T have.
And as I understand it - the motion sensing is more for wide, side to side, and what they do – is just POOR. I don’t know about anyone else, but I got the ODC for outdoor security purposes. They’re basically, useless, waterproof paperweights. IMHO
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