Examples

Examples

The following provides some sample configuration options and examples for Motion.
• Persistent v4l2 device name
• Sample extpipe commands
• Loopback device setup
• FFmpeg as input device
• Webcontrol pages
• Database setup
• Haar setup
• HOG setup
• DNN setup
• Haar Model Training
• Sound Frequency Sample
• Fail2Ban example
• PTZ command examples

Persistent v4l2 device name

Since the exact device number is set by the kernel upon boot, when there is more than one video device it is possible that the particular cameras that were assigned to /dev/video0 and /dev/video1 may switch. In order to set up Motion so that a particular camera is always assigned the same way, users can set up a symbolic link using udev rules. To do this a unique attribute must be identified for each camera. The camera attributes can be viewed by using the command udevadm info -a -p $(udevadm info -q path -n /dev/video0) while the camera is attached. Usually a serial number can be used. ("Usually" because some cameras have been observed to have the same serial number for different cameras)
Once a unique attribute has been identified for each camera, edit or create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/99-local.rules.
Assuming that the unique attribute for the camera was name and was ATTR{name}=="Philips SPC 900NC webcam" you would add the following line to the 99-local.rules file: KERNEL=="video[0-9]*", ATTR{name}=="Philips\ SPC\ 900NC*", SYMLINK+="video-webcam0"
Once the change has been made and saved, reboot the computer and there should now be a "sticky" device called /dev/video-webcam0

Sample extpipe commands

The following are some sample extpipe commands
movie_extpipe mencoder -demuxer rawvideo -rawvideo w=%w:h=%h:i420 -ovc x264 -x264encopts bframes=4:frameref=1:subq=1:scenecut=-1:nob_adapt:threads=1:keyint=1000:8x8dct:vbv_bufsize=4000:crf=24:partitions=i8x8,i4x4:vbv_maxrate=800:no-chroma-me -vf denoise3d=16:12:48:4,pp=lb -of avi -o %f.avi - -fps %{fps}
movie_extpipe x264 - --input-res %wx%h --fps %{fps} --bitrate 2000 --preset ultrafast --quiet -o %f.mp4
movie_extpipe mencoder -demuxer rawvideo -rawvideo w=%w:h=%h:fps=%{fps} -ovc x264 -x264encopts preset=ultrafast -of lavf -o %f.mp4 - -fps %{fps}
movie_extpipe ffmpeg -y -f rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -video_size %wx%h -framerate %{fps} -i pipe:0 -vcodec libx264 -preset ultrafast -f mp4 %f.mp4

Loopback device setup

The video loopback device can be added installed via apt in many distributions. The package tested with Motion is v4l2loopback-dkms. Once the package is installed, you just need to run sudo modprobe v4l2loopback. This will add a new video device that you can use for the loopback. It is believed that there are additional options associated with the v4l2loopback that allows for adding more than one device. See the documentation of the v4l2loopback project for additional details.
To activate the vloopback device in Motion set the 'video_pipe' option in the motion.conf file to the device name associated with the one created by v4l2loopback.
You can also view the special motion pictures where you see the changed pixels by setting the option 'video_pipe_motion' in motion.conf. When setting the video_pipe and/or video_pipe_motion options specify the input device as e.g. /dev/video1.
De-activating should be done with this command
sudo modprobe -r v4l2loopback

Use ffmpeg as input device

Sometimes the particular device is not function for Motion but does work with FFmpeg. In this situation the device can be setup to be used in Motion using FFMpeg as an intermediate application. The process would be to set up a loopback device and then have FFmpeg feed the video into that device and then Motion can read from it. The following are some examples. First set up the loopback device and set it to /dev/video0. Then start ffmpeg using options such as the following. ffmpeg -re -i mymovie.mp4 -f v4l2 /dev/video0 Then in a separate terminal, start motion with it set to use the /dev/video0 device as input. This method can can also be used to reformat the content to a different format. The following outputs the original movie into a gray pixel format. ffmpeg -re -i mymovie.mp4 -f v4l2 -pix_fmt gray /dev/video0

Database Setup

If a database is specified in the motion configuration, upon start up, motion will check for a table in the database called "motion" and if it is not found, it will create it. This motion specific table is required so that movies can be displayed on the webcontrol page. It tracks the movies created by motion along with the various metadata about the movies. The following is a brief overview of how to create a simple database and specify it within the motion parameters so recordings can be downloaded from the webcontrol.

sqlite3

This database type is by far the easiest to set up since it is file based. Simply provide the parameters in the motion configuration parameters

database_type sqlite3
database_dbname /full/path/and/file/name.db

While this is the easiest to set up, it has also been observed that it can at times be unstable. This is especially true if the database file is included as part of a archive process while in use by motion.

mariadb

The following describes the process to set up a Mariadb database. If your machine already has a Mariadb database, adjust as appropriate to the situation that exists on your computer. Those with more experience with MariaDb are invited to provide suggestions and corrections to these steps.

sudo apt install libmariadb-dev libmariadb3 mariadb-client mariadb-client-core mariadb-common mariadb-server
sudo mariadb
GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'YourUserNameHere'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourPasswordHere' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit
mariadb -u YourUserNameHere -p
{enter YourPasswordHere}
create database motion;
use motion;
quit;

Once the database is set up, check the status of Mariadb via systemctl.

sudo systemctl status mariadb

Specify the following in the motion configuration parameters.

database_type mariadb
database_dbname motion
database_host localhost
database_port 3306
database_user YourUserNameHere
database_password YourPasswordHere

postgresql

The following describes the process to set up a PostgreSQL database. If your machine already has a PostgreSQL database, adjust as appropriate to the situation that exists on your computer. Those with more experience with PostgreSQL are invited to provide suggestions and corrections to these steps.

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
sudo -u postgres psql
CREATE ROLE 'your_username_here' LOGIN PASSWORD 'YourPasswordHere';
CREATE DATABASE motion WITH OWNER = your_username_here;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE motion TO your_username_here;
\quit

Once the database is set up, check the status via systemctl.

sudo systemctl status postgresql

Check the login information via the following command line. (note that the username only seems to accept lowercase)

psql -h localhost -d motion -U your_username_here -p 5432 Specify the following in the motion configuration parameters.
database_type postgresql
database_dbname motion
database_host localhost
database_port 5432
database_user your_username_here
database_password YourPasswordHere

Webcontrol pages

• {IP}:{port0}/ Home html page with streams for all cameras
The following JSON pages are available via the webcontrol.
• {IP}:{port0}/0/config.json JSON object with the configuration information for all cameras
• {IP}:{port0}/0/status.json JSON object with information about status of all cameras
• {IP}:{port0}/0/movies.json JSON object with information about all movies
The following mjpg streams are available via the webcontrol. (Update automatically). Specify {camid} as 0 to obtain a consolidated mjpg stream of all cameras.
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mjpg Primary stream for the camera updated as a mjpg
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mjpg/substream Substream for the camera updated as a mjpg
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mjpg/motion Stream of motion images for the camera as a mjpg
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mjpg/source Source image stream of the camera as a mjpg
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mjpg/secondary Image from secondary detection stream (if active) as a mjpg
The following mpegts streams are available via the webcontrol. (Update automatically) Specify {camid} as 0 to obtain a consolidated mpegts stream of all cameras.
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mpegts Primary stream for the camera updated as a mpeg transport stream
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mpegts/substream Substream for the camera updated as a mpeg transport stream
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mpegts/motion Stream of motion images for the camera as a mpeg transport stream
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mpegts/source Source image stream of the camera as a mpeg transport stream
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/mpegts/secondary Image from secondary detection stream (if active) as a mpeg transport stream
The following static pages are available via the webcontrol. (Update manually) Specify {camid} as 0 to obtain a consolidated image of all cameras.
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/static Primary image for the camera
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/static/substream Substream image for the camera
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/static/motion Motion image for the camera
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/static/source Source image of the camera
• {IP}:{port0}/{camid}/static/secondary Image from secondary detection stream (if active)
The following actions can be executed by sending post request.
• eventstartStart an event
• eventendEnd an event
• snapshotInvoke a snapshot
• pausePause motion detection
• unpauseUnpause motion detection
• restartRestart camera
• stopStop camera
• config_writeWrite out the configuration to file. User account running motion must have write access to directory
• camera_addAdd a camera
• camera_deleteDelete camera
• configSet configuration item
• action_userExecute the on_action_user command. Provide as needed the additional parameter of action_user
• pan_leftExecute the ptz_pan_left command
• pan_rightExecute the ptz_pan_left command
• tilt_upExecute the ptz_tilt_up
• tilt_downExecute the ptz_tilt_down
• zoom_inExecute ptz_zoom_in command
• zoom_outExecute the ptz_zoom_out command
Sample commands
• curl -s -o -X POST {IP}:{port0} --data "camid={camid}" --data "command=eventstart" 1>/dev/null
• curl -s -o -X POST {IP}:{port0} --data "camid={camid}" --data "command=config" --data "framerate=12" 1>/dev/null

HAAR setup

• Set the following motion items within the secondardy_params
• frame_intervalDefault: 5 | The number of images between each secondary detection
• image_typeDefault: full | Type of image to process through secondary detection
• model_fileDefault: None | Full path and file name for the haar model
• rotateDefault: 0 | Degrees of rotation of the image when processing through secondary detection
• thresholdDefault: 1.10 | weights of detected values
• Set the following parameters to the OpenCV function CascadeClassifier::detectMultScale within the secondardy_params
• scalefactorDefault: 1.10 | Scale factor to apply to the image
• flagsDefault: 0 |
• maxsizeDefault: 1024 |
• minsizeDefault: 8 |
• minneighborsDefault: 8 |

HOG setup

• Set the following items within the secondardy_params
• frame_intervalDefault: 5 | The number of images between each secondary detection
• image_typeDefault: full | Type of image to process through secondary detection
• model_fileDefault: None | Full path and file name for the haar model
• rotateDefault: 0 | Degrees of rotation of the image when processing through secondary detection
• thresholdDefault: 1.10 | Weights of detected values
• Set the following parameters to the OpenCV function HOGDescriptor::detectMultScale within the secondardy_params
• threshold_modelDefault: 2.00 |
• scalefactorDefault: 1.05 |
• paddingDefault: 8 |
• winstrideDefault: 8 |

DNN setup

• Set the following items within the secondardy_params
• model_fileDefault: None | Full path and file name for the haar model
• frame_intervalDefault: 5 | The number of images between each secondary detection
• image_typeDefault: full | Type of image to process through secondary detection
• rotateDefault: 0 | Degrees of rotation of the image when processing through secondary detection
• thresholdDefault: 0.75 | Confidence threshold
• scalefactorDefault: 1.05 |
• backendDefault: 0(DNN_BACKEND_DEFAULT) |
• targetDefault: 0(DNN_TARGET_CPU) |
• widthDefault: none | Width for the model (not the source image)
• heightDefault: none | Height for the model (not the source image)
• scaleDefault: none | Scale used in the model
• configDefault: none |
• classes_fileDefault: none | Full path and name for a file with the names of the classes
• frameworkDefault: none |

Haar Model Training

The OpenCV documentation is the definitive source for instructions on how to train a Haar model. This brief introduction only provides a few scripts that may be helpful in using motion to get positive and negative images to feed into the training process.

Start with creating positive images movie as input file.
Run with picture_output_motion roi
Remove any pictures that are not desired.
Run the script to create the positive file list
Run while in the directory with the positive images.
opencv_createsamples -vec posfiles.vec -info poslist.txt -num 350 -h 96 -w 96
Next get a sample file that does not have desired positives.
Change to picture_output on and turn off motion roi
Change threshold to tiny number and run to create negatives
opencv_traincascade -data ./model -vec ./pos/posfiles.vec -bg neglist.txt -numPos 350 -numNeg 325
The following are the simple scripts to create positive and negative list files for training
!/bin/bash
FILES=./pos/*.jpg
for FULLNAME in $FILES
do
HW=$(identify -format '%w %h' $FULLNAME)
printf "$FULLNAME 1 0 0 $HW \n" >>poslist.txt
done

!/bin/bash
FILES=./neg/*.jpg
for FULLNAME in $FILES
do
printf "$FULLNAME \n" >>neglist.txt
done

Sound Frequency Sample

Since sound frequency processing is new to motion, the following provides an illustrative sample of setting up the sound and the associated alerts processing. This example will use ALSA. For PulseAudio, motion uses the default audio recording device. Although motion has parameters for the PulseAudio server and device, the set up is not straight forward and it is just recommended to change the PulseAudio default.

Go to the command prompt and use arecord -l to get the device name such as hw:1,0
Specify log_level 8 in motion.conf
Do not specify a log file so that it is console output.
Specify snd_device and snd_show in the sound configuration file such as
snd_device hw:1,0
snd_show on
Start motion and make a noise to test the output.
Once motion responds to sounds, press the test button on the device to be monitored.
Note that while the various devices being monitored may be the same, the detected frequency from each may be slightly different. Care should be taken to not be too precise in the setting of the alert range for motion. For example, the frequency may be reported as 3402.2456 and motion can be set up to look for that precise number but devices age and the frequency may change. Also, note that the frequency resolution of motion is limited by the sample rate and frames from the audio device. The maximum resolution is determined by the following formula. Sample Rate / (frames * 2). So with the default sample rate of 44100hz, and frames of 2048, the maximum resolution is appoximately 10.7666hz. This means that the frequencies detected around the range reported above would be 3413.0122, 3402.2456 or 3391.4790 and no values between.
Once the frequencies of all the devices have been logged, set up the alerts in the sound configuration file as well as the on_sound_alert and turn off the showing of frequencies. (The frequencies in this sample are random)

snd_alerts alert_id=01,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=2976,freq_high=2977,alert_nm=smokedown1
snd_alerts alert_id=02,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=3400,freq_high=3450,alert_nm=smokelr
snd_alerts alert_id=03,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=3388,freq_high=3399,alert_nm=smokebr1
snd_alerts alert_id=11,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=3378,freq_high=3379,alert_nm=furnace
snd_alerts alert_id=22,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=3281,freq_high=3399,alert_nm=waterheater
snd_alerts alert_id=22,volume_level=01,volume_count=10,freq_low=3270,freq_high=3279,alert_nm=kitchBath
snd_show off
on_sound_alert %{trig_nbr} %{trig_nm} %{trig_freq}
 
Then you can set up a script to send email or text messages using the sendemail application like below

#!/bin/bash
  ALRTNBR=$1
  ALRTNM=$2
  FREQ=$3
  ATCH=$4
  MYSTR=""
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -f \"Friendly Name \" "
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -t \"DestinationEmailAddress@gwhatever.com\" "
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -u \"motion Notification\" "
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -s \"smtp.gwhatever.com:587\" "
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -xu \"SendingEmailAddress@gwhatever.com\" "
  MYSTR=$MYSTR" -xp \"SendingEmailPassword\" "
  BODY=""
  if [[ "$ALRTNBR" -ge 1 && "$ALRTNBR" -le 9 ]]; then
   BODY="So, hey. Sorry to bother you. But thought I'd just let"
   BODY=$BODY" you know that your house is burning down. The neighbors"
   BODY=$BODY" may get annoyed so you should think about doing something. "
   BODY=$BODY" The "$ALRTNM" alert numbered "$ALRTNBR" was triggered with "
   BODY=$BODY" frequency "$FREQ
  elif [[ "$ALRTNBR" -ge 10 && "$ALRTNBR" -le 19 ]]; then
   BODY="Hi. So I noticed that the natural gas leak alarm is going off."
   BODY=$BODY" Nothing too urgent or anything but when you get home, you"
   BODY=$BODY" may want to hold off making any sparks to avoid blowing yourself up."
   BODY=$BODY" The "$ALRTNM" alert numbered "$ALRTNBR" was triggered with "
   BODY=$BODY" frequency "$FREQ
  elif [[ "$ALRTNBR" -ge 20 && "$ALRTNBR" -le 29 ]]; then
   BODY="Ahoy! Your house is going to be next water park attraction in"
   BODY=$BODY" the neighborhood!!! The water is filling it up and the"
   BODY=$BODY" children will be splashing around in it soon."
   BODY=$BODY" The "$ALRTNM" alert numbered "$ALRTNBR" was triggered with "
   BODY=$BODY" frequency "$FREQ
  fi
  if [ "$BODY" != "" ]; then
   MYSTR=$MYSTR" -m \""$BODY"\" "
   if [ -f "$ATCH" ]; then
    MYSTR=$MYSTR" -m \""$ATCH"\" "
   fi
   sendemail $MYSTR
  fi
exit 0

Fail2Ban Example

The following are example files to use with the fail2ban application. This allows users to ban IPs that may be attempting to get in. This example was created using Debian 11. Adjust as appropriate for other distros and versions.
Install fail2ban and create the following files:
File 1:

 # Fail2Ban configuration file: /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/motion.conf
 # Author: Mr Dave
 #
 [INCLUDES]
 # Read common prefixes. If any customizations available -- read them from common.local
 before = common.conf
 
 [Definition]
 daemon = nsd
 
 # Option: failregex
 # Notes.:
 #  regex to match the log in failures messages in the logfile. The
 #  host must be matched by a group named "host". The tag "<HOST>" can
 #  be used for standard IP/hostname matching and is only an alias for
 #  (?:::f{4,6}:)?(?P[\w\-.^_]+)
 # Sample: Jul 01 02:50:32 [EMG][STR][00:wc00] webu_failauth_check: Ignoring connection from: 192.168.1.10
 # Values: TEXT
 
 failregex = ^.*Ignoring connection from: <HOST>$
 
 ignoreregex =
 
 datepattern = {^LN-BEG}Epoch
    {^LN-BEG}
 

File2:

 #Fail2Ban Jail Configuration File: /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/motion-jail.conf
 [motion]
 enabled = true
 filter = motion
 logpath = /var/log/motion/motion.log
 bantime = 23h
 banaction = iptables-allports[blocktype="DROP"]
 maxretry = 0
 port = 0:65535

Make sure to adjust the log file location indicated in the jail file as well as how long to ban the IP address.

PTZ command examples

The following are some example sources and scripts to send PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) commands to cameras.

sofiactl is a Perl script that can control many imported inexpensive cameras.
Adjust script location, timing, cameraip, user, etc as appropriate.

 #!/bin/bash
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd ZoomTile --s2 0.5
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd ZoomWide --s2 0.5
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd DirectionUp --s2 2.0
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd DirectionDown --s2 2.0
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd DirectionLeft --s2 2.0
  sofiactl.pl --user admin --host cameraip --port 34567 --command OPPTZControl --sd DirectionRight --s2 2.0
 exit

camxmctl is a c++ program with a sample HTML page that makes adjusting the parameters easier. It reuses some of the code from motion and is based upon the JSON files and commands in the sofiactl script.
Adjust location, timing, cameraip, user, etc as appropriate.

 #!/bin/bash
   tbd. Review sample page to see post commands.
 exit

curl scripts. Example 1
Adjust as appropriate.

 #!/bin/bash
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=1' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnDown
  sleep 2
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=0' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnDown
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=1' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnLeft
  sleep 2
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=0' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnLeft
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=1' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnRight
  sleep 2
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=0' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnRight
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=1' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnUp
  sleep 2
  curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" -d 'Param1=0' http://admin@cameraip:80/PTZ/1/TurnUp
 exit

curl scripts. Example 2
Adjust as appropriate.

 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=left&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=right&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=down&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=up&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=zoomin&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit
 #!/bin/bash
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=zoomout&-speed=45'
  sleep 1
  curl 'http://admin:admin@cameraip:80/web/cgi-bin/hi3510/ptzctrl.cgi?-step=0&-act=stop&-speed=45'
 exit