OdinCamHelp
How can we help?
The same help that's built into OdinCam, as of version 0.1.61. Pick what you're trying to do.
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Catch what matters, skip what doesn't
- How motion detection worksFrames are compared against a slowly-updating picture of the empty scene.
- Choosing a sensitivityUse the live meter — set it by watching, not by guessing.
- Why OdinCam errs toward recordingA spurious clip costs one deletion. A missed one can't be recovered.
- Reducing false alarmsRegion first, then sensitivity, then the person filter.
- Why a light switch doesn't trigger itChanges that move the whole scene evenly are treated as lighting, not motion.
- Ignoring camera shakeA knocked camera moves every pixel at once, which isn't motion in the scene.
- Recording only people, dogs or catsAny kind of movement can record, or choose Only people, dogs or cats to ignore other movement.
- Naming your petsAdd a few photos of each pet and alerts say "Rex" instead of "Dog".
- Sound detectionTriggers on sound relative to the room's own noise level, not an absolute volume.
- Combining motion and soundSwitch motion and sound on or off in their panels; "Both at once" is in Settings › Sound.
- Choosing which sounds countAny sound loud enough records, or choose Only these sounds — glass breaking, barking — to ignore the rest.
- Camera format: uncompressed or compressedUncompressed avoids damaged frames from a USB camera or capture stick; Automatic uses it when it can keep up.
Choose the part of the picture to watch
Record the moments you want
- Why clips start before the motionThe last few seconds are always buffered, so you see the approach.
- How long a clip runsThree behaviors: follow the movement, a fixed length, or at least a fixed length.
- The timestamp overlayBurned into the recording, and deliberately invisible to the detector.
- Audio in recordingsRecorded alongside video independently of whether sound triggers anything.
- Waiting between recordingsA quiet period after a clip ends, so one long event doesn't become dozens of clips.
- Flipping and mirroring the pictureCorrects a camera mounted upside down or reversed. Everything downstream sees the corrected picture.
- Resolution and qualityBigger frames cost storage and CPU on every frame. A camera can only give what its source sends it.
Choose when it watches
- Scheduling when it watchesWindows by weekday and time, each either triggered or continuous.
- The delay before monitoring startsA grace period so you aren't the subject of every first clip.
- Monitoring when everyone's awayStart monitoring when every phone that tells OdinCam has left home; stop when someone comes back.
- Sleep, screen lock, and restartsLocking the screen is fine. A restart is the one real gap.
Get told when something happens
- Email alertsMotion held continuously for a while is worth an email; a walk-by isn't.
- Spoken warningsHave a camera speak when it sees someone at set times: your own recorded voice, or words you type.
- Setting up the outgoing mail serverThe server that sends your alerts. Most providers need an app-specific password, not your normal one.
Keep your recordings tidy
Check in from your iPhone or iPad
- Connecting to a relayLets a paired phone or iPad reach this Mac from outside the local network.
- Adding a phone, iPad or MacSettings › Devices › Add an iPhone or iPad shows a code to enter on the phone; then compare codes.
- Using an iPhone or iPad as a cameraA spare iPhone or iPad can watch, record and alert like a Mac, while the app is open on it.
- Running a camera on batterySee how long an iPhone or iPad camera will last unplugged, and get told on your other iPhones and iPads when it's unplugged or low.
- Starting and stopping monitoring remotelyThe same monitoring toggle as the Mac's own — just reachable from a paired device.
- Event history on the companion appSwipe an entry to delete it, or clear the whole list — both remove it for good.
- Push notifications on the companion appAsked for right after pairing succeeds — a Mac detecting something is what triggers one.
- HouseholdThe devices that can see each other's cameras. Each joins once, approved from any device already in it.
- Live ViewWatch the Mac's camera in real time, direct on the same network or through the relay.
- Talking through a cameraHold to Talk in Live View speaks through the camera's speaker: calm a pet, or warn someone off.
- Recording from the companion appRecord Now is separate from monitoring — it always records, on its own schedule if you want one.
Keep it private
Fix a problem
- It's not recording anythingCheck recording is enabled, then the region, then the schedule.
- It's recording constantlyUsually a region problem rather than a sensitivity one.
- Checking everything worksWatch the meters, record one clip, then leave it running against a real scene.
- CPU use and performanceSome CPU while monitoring is expected — the pre-roll buffer is always encoding.
- A camera or microphone isn't listedPress Rescan, check the connection, then check Privacy settings.