For those of you that have more than one brand of camera, what are your thoughts on software like Blue Iris that brings them all together? I've used an open source alternative in the past called iSpy. It looks like it's under a new name now, "Agent DVR." When I used it before, it seemed I needed a faster PC and GPU to really utilize it so I haven't messed with it in years.
I'm just about ready to take the plunge and build a new Plex server for home and while I'm at it I figured it might make a good surveillance system as well, and capture recordings from my Reolink and Wyze cameras - and hopefully a couple of Eufy cameras that are at my 84 year old mothers house an hour and a half away from me. Not sure I can really do that if they're not on my network but I do have the Eufy credentials to view the cameras on my phone.
Anyways - I was wondering what your thoughts and recommendations are on this kind of software. I'm kinda tired of switching between apps for different cameras so hopefully these server applications also offer a phone app.
Camera system software, i.e., Blue Iris
-
JedediahRau
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2025 2:53 am
Re: Camera system software, i.e., Blue Iris
Hi, quite a lot of questions there. I'll have a go at answering some of them:
1. Blue Iris is like the Swiss army knife of cctv. It really does bring it together in one program. I used to use iSpy, but you had to pay quite a lot annually to get remote access, and Blue Iris undercut that. AgentDVR is indeed the successor to iSpy, but I have never used it.
2. Fast PC - When I started with Blue Iris v4, it was known as being a cpu hog. It became clear when substreams became a thing that this was the secret sauce. You do movement detection on a substream, and record the mainstream. BI5 will still always need a powerful PC, and of course when the next generation toys arrive it will need even more power. You can add parts to your PC to make it faster, but a NVR is stuck with the same hardware it came with.
3. Plex server - I run Plex on a Synology NAS. I believe in keeping these programs apart from each other. Homeseer HS4 runs on a NUC, and Home Assistant runs on a Raspi5.
4. Cameras - They need to have an RTSP feed or work with ONVIF. It may say "works with third party NVR's". If you can view the streams using VLC they are likely to work with BI5. There is a demo available for BI5 so you can try it. I note that Wyze cameras usually need a hack to give an RTSP stream, and Reolink are known to be difficult with BI5.
5. Eufy cameras - Depends if they have an RTSP feed. Adding cameras to BI5 remotely is difficult as well. I tend to think that each site should have a BI5 PC for simplicity. A couple of cameras wouldn't need a beefy PC, and you can view that with BI5 remote management
Please note that I am not an employee of Blue Iris, and these responses are my own.
1. Blue Iris is like the Swiss army knife of cctv. It really does bring it together in one program. I used to use iSpy, but you had to pay quite a lot annually to get remote access, and Blue Iris undercut that. AgentDVR is indeed the successor to iSpy, but I have never used it.
2. Fast PC - When I started with Blue Iris v4, it was known as being a cpu hog. It became clear when substreams became a thing that this was the secret sauce. You do movement detection on a substream, and record the mainstream. BI5 will still always need a powerful PC, and of course when the next generation toys arrive it will need even more power. You can add parts to your PC to make it faster, but a NVR is stuck with the same hardware it came with.
3. Plex server - I run Plex on a Synology NAS. I believe in keeping these programs apart from each other. Homeseer HS4 runs on a NUC, and Home Assistant runs on a Raspi5.
4. Cameras - They need to have an RTSP feed or work with ONVIF. It may say "works with third party NVR's". If you can view the streams using VLC they are likely to work with BI5. There is a demo available for BI5 so you can try it. I note that Wyze cameras usually need a hack to give an RTSP stream, and Reolink are known to be difficult with BI5.
5. Eufy cameras - Depends if they have an RTSP feed. Adding cameras to BI5 remotely is difficult as well. I tend to think that each site should have a BI5 PC for simplicity. A couple of cameras wouldn't need a beefy PC, and you can view that with BI5 remote management
Please note that I am not an employee of Blue Iris, and these responses are my own.
Forum Moderator.
Problem ? Ask and we will try to assist, but please check the Help file.
Problem ? Ask and we will try to assist, but please check the Help file.
Re: Camera system software, i.e., Blue Iris
I've been tinkering with HomeLab stuff and Proxmox and ran into these installer helper scripts but I have not tried any of them.
BI has been my go-to and the cost is not significant enough for me to spend much energy in the open source models. On the left bar you can see the subset of apps for NVR and cameras.
Hmmm, NX Witness seems strange. It is in the Proxmox installer scripts implying it is open source but the web page seems to say it is a commercial product. i guess not all Proxmox helper script installers are open source.
I just got Shinobi to work but 1) it is way more complex setting up, 2) it does not support H265 and 3) it is nag-ware wanting you to pay.
Just keep using BI.
BI has been my go-to and the cost is not significant enough for me to spend much energy in the open source models. On the left bar you can see the subset of apps for NVR and cameras.
Hmmm, NX Witness seems strange. It is in the Proxmox installer scripts implying it is open source but the web page seems to say it is a commercial product. i guess not all Proxmox helper script installers are open source.
I just got Shinobi to work but 1) it is way more complex setting up, 2) it does not support H265 and 3) it is nag-ware wanting you to pay.
Just keep using BI.
Last edited by HeneryH on Mon Apr 28, 2025 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Camera system software, i.e., Blue Iris
Oh, and make sure to check the other forum and ask Fenderman about running your NVR on HomeLab servers. 