When you setup your camera with Camcloud the whole goal is to get events. So you should see events in your Timeline. They can either be images or videos depending on your camera's capabilities and/or your personal preference.
How you setup events on your camera depends on the model.
All Plug & Play cameras and Hikvision/Vivotek we can automatically configure your camera to send motion events. This is where we write settings on your camera during the Camcloud add camera wizard to enable motion detection.
Other cameras (Dahua, D-Link, or any generic brand) require you to take action and setup motion detection in the camera's interface. This depends on the model but typically involves 3 steps. See section 3 of the of this guide.
After setting this up on your camera if you are still not getting motion detection events in your Timeline here are some things you can check.
Events are ON (at the global level)
Ensure that your cameras are ON. Click on your "Username" menu and look for your current display message. "Turn Events Off" means that all events are enabled, this is what you want. "Turn Events On" means that your Global Motion Detection is disabled, you don't want this. This setting affects all cameras simultaneously.
Think of this like a global ARM/DISARM button.
Events are ON (at the camera level)
Events can be turned on/off on a per camera basis as well. Click on the menu to the right of the camera in the Timeline and choose "Edit". Make sure that "Camera Events" is ON.
This is the camera specific settings where we integrate with the camera (Plug & Play cameras along with Hikvision and Vivotek) and apply settings to turn ON/OFF events.
Reconfigure
Reconfigure your camera connection. From the Timeline page, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the camera, select "Edit" and click the "Reconfigure Connection" button.
This resets and cloud settings to the specific settings you have applied. Sometimes things get out of sync and starting back to where it should be might fix the problem.
Camera connectivity
Often the issue may be a simple as the camera is not connected. Check your camera's connectivity to the internet. Can you go to the internal IP of the camera without problems?
Logs
Camcloud relies on motion events sent from the camera. Every camera has system logs. Does it show motion events recently?
DNS
Check your DNS. If your port forwarded camera is sending motion events it will do that via FTP. Your camera needs to be able to resolve the FTP domain name. Try changing your camera's DNS to the Google DNS of 8.8.8.8 for the primary and 8.8.4.4 for the secondary. Then reboot the camera.
IP change
Port forwarded cameras only:
Did your IP change recently? Take a look at some essential networking tips. Setting up a static IP might help with inconsistencies with motion detection.
FTP test
Go to the FTP settings on your camera's configuration page. Press the test button. Does it succeed?
Router - Firewall issue
In some cases your router may be blocking outgoing ports. If you are using FTP for events, we use ports 21 and the range 50000-60000.
We've seen rare cases where firewall settings may block some outgoing traffic. For example the Comcast/Xfinity router has a default firewall setting that blocks P2P traffic. In this case changing the firewall setting to "minimal" security is a good test to see if it starts working. Now you can start to narrow down the specific setting that's blocking the outgoing ports.
Firmware
Update the firmware! There is a reason your camera has released new firmware. Bug fixes. So make sure you get the latest and update.
Re-add camera
We like you to avoid this as this shouldn't be necessary but if you're running out of options then it might help. Try removing your camera from Camcloud and adding it again. This resets the settings required for Camcloud.
Schedules
Did you setup a schedule? Remove the schedule for now. By default no schedule is needed, Camcloud will record at all times. Leave it on "Always On". Once you have sorted out the problem then you can add your schedule.
Motion Detection Areas
Did you setup or change the motion detection area? In the case of cameras where we automatically setup the motion detection area you shouldn't need to do anything. But if you changed the area of motion then double check you haven't accidentally reversed the area you want to detect.
If you manually setup your camera then make sure you have setup motion detection area. Warning: some cameras like D-Links won't show you the motion detection area but in fact it does exist once you install the plug-ins.
Reboot or Reset
The good ole reboot. I can't tell you how many times a simple camera reboot cleared out the problem.
More extreme is a factory reset. I hate recommending this but sometimes resetting the camera entirely can clear out the problem. Prepare yourself as you will have to setup the network again.