Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

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RoadHazard
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:01 pm

Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by RoadHazard »

I can't get Blue Iris to move my Foscam R2 camera. I can move the camera around by talking to it directly via web browser, but not by using BI's on-screen controls. Neither the arrows nor the 1-9 presets do anything. The on-screen PTZ controls are illuminated and respond to mouse clicks; they just don't actually move the camera.

I've tried fiddling with the camera's properties and the PTZ/Edit presets options where clicking the "Call" button is supposed to send the camera to that preset position, but nothing happens. Video and audio are coming through fine, so communication with the camera appears to be solid. It's just not getting the right commands (or any commands). Is there something more I need to set up?
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Thixotropic
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Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by Thixotropic »

This image in the post below shows the camera settings that I use for the Foscam R2. If you could post the other settings for the camera maybe we can spot something.

https://blueirissoftware.com/forum/view ... 1472#p5755
Blue Iris 5.x x64 | Windows 10 Pro x64 | 16GB RAM | i7-7700 3.6 GHz | 1TB HDD | 2TB RAID NAS | 9 Cameras | Almost Dual NIC | 2KVA UPS
RoadHazard
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:01 pm

Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by RoadHazard »

Okay, here's what I got.
Foscam 1a.jpg
Foscam 1a.jpg (148.11 KiB) Viewed 333621 times
Foscam 2a.jpg
Foscam 2a.jpg (139.33 KiB) Viewed 333621 times
Foscam 3.jpg
Foscam 3.jpg (232.5 KiB) Viewed 333621 times
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TimG
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Location: Nottinghamshire, UK.

Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by TimG »

Hi,

I have one of these too, and PT does work in BI5. The Z is fake as far as I can see. Looking at your settings compared to mine:

1. The Network IP config page shows the IP address with port 443 appended to it. Mine shows 88 in the same position.
2. Did you blank the user name just for the screen grab ?
3. You have to click and hold the mouse button to get the PT to work in BI5. If you click quickly it may not actually move.

Now did anybody suss the sub-stream settings for these cams :?:
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RoadHazard
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:01 pm

Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by RoadHazard »

Thanks. That solved part of the problem.

1. 443 is the secure (https) port. Changing it to 88 made a big difference. Now the camera moves when I click the up/down/left/right arrows. However, it doesn't move when I click the presets (1-10) or use the drop-down list of presets. The "Call" button doesn't work, either. So, I can manually crank the camera around with the arrows but not use any presets or cruise. Not ideal.

2. Yup, I blanked out the username. Everyone can try to guess the password from the dots! ;-)

3. Agreed. A quick click on the Blue Iris GUI doesn't always register. Longer clicks work but also send the camera zooming off a random distance.

And yeah, the camera zoom doesn't seem to work at all, even though it does work if I talk to the camera directly via browser. Also not ideal.
RoadHazard
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Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by RoadHazard »

Update: With the help of this site (https://forum.athom.com/discussion/2530 ... t-triggers) I was able to hack together commands to activate the camera presets. The syntax is:

http://YOUR_IPCAM:PORT/cgi-bin/CGIProxy.fcgi?cmd=ptzGotoPresetPoint&name=PTZ_NAME&usr=Username&pwd=Password

You need to create an Action for each preset and plug in that string to the "On call..." option as a web request/MQTT. Blue Iris will send the command in addition to (or instead of) its usual go-to-preset behavior (which doesn't work). Note that preset names are case-sensitive.

Now the numbered presets 1-10 works and the drop-down list of presets also work.

Zoom still doesn't work however, and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent way to hack that.
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TimG
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Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by TimG »

R2 Zoom does work here, it's just that I think it's "digital zoom" and not an "optical zoom" with a moving lens. It gets pixelated pretty quickly when you zoom in.

What version of BI are you running ? Your settings on the Foscam R2 "Ptz/Control" tab are slightly different to mine (I'm running the latest BI5 release, but digital zoom has always worked for me). Where yours says "PTZ w/mouse cursor", I have a selector box, and mine is set to "PTZ + digital zoom".

So close...
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RoadHazard
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Re: Help setting up PTZ on Foscam R2

Post by RoadHazard »

I'm running 5.2.7.9.
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