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Weather Related Organizations => WeatherUnderground => Topic started by: imaduffus on December 14, 2019, 02:52:34 AM
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Hi there,
I have a new webcam since almost one week and it works like a charm. My pictures are sent regulary to the website via FTP every 5 minutes. The thumbnail on the main site is some hours old some times, so its no real time picture.
What bothers me more is, that the time plase video here: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/webcam/Imaduffus/2 is not shown chronologically. watching the video it starts somewhere, then there is a gap of several hours and after a while it replays the gap on a completely other part of the video. Watch yourself to see what I mean.
Its really weird...
Any ideas what happening there?
Attached you will find my settings for the upload.
Thanks alot for your support.
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What size is your image? High resolution, 2MP and up with high bit rates, will fill the space allocation WU gives you for storage and will not accept more uploads until files get deleted by "aging" them out. That results in gaps in the time lapse video when played back.
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Hi, thanks alot for the reply.
seems I am sending up 5MP? I have got this camera: https://reolink.com/de/product/rlc-410/ which is 5MP.
I try to reduce my recording settings and check back with you.
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Either cut the frequency, how often you send an image, to once every ten to fifteen minutes, or reduce the resolution of the camera. Reolink should be able to be set down to 2MP with no problem in its' configuration settings. If you cut it to 2MP it should stay in chronological order at five minute intervals. Many times more megapixels doesn't work to your advantage. It would be nice if WU let us know how much space they allocate for images.
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Hi imaduffus
After looking at your setting on the camera
I think you would have better results by changing your transmission mode to FTP not PAVS
WU sometimes rejects the format
Also you should use a direct IP address for the server like this one 52.36.136.128
It is the some stable server they have
There are other severs
Here are the other servers/ 52.37.52.183 / 54.148.11.142
The Max file size of an image for WU is 10Mb just FYI
Also you could always use Firezilla to login to the WU server account and look at files for your account
Any file with a ? mark has been rejected by the server
Also do not modify any files you see with the ? mark
Just to be safe just look around
Hope this helps
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Either cut the frequency, how often you send an image, to once every ten to fifteen minutes, or reduce the resolution of the camera. Reolink should be able to be set down to 2MP with no problem in its' configuration settings. If you cut it to 2MP it should stay in chronological order at five minute intervals. Many times more megapixels doesn't work to your advantage. It would be nice if WU let us know how much space they allocate for images.
While large (e.g., 1+MP) images could factor in, my images ranged between 30KB (night time) and 270KB (daytime) and I suffered the same issue. Gaps, stuttering, out of order, and short duration. However my 'current' images were usually fairly timely (using the URL pull method). Ultimately I gave up and quit sending images.
I had the same issue with my camera capturing large image sizes. I resorted to having the camera write the image to a local folder, then create a vbScript to resize/rename the image (using ImageMagick) and another vbScript to FTP the image to my website (using WinSCP) where WU would subsequently pull the image. The two scripts were called every 5 minutes (with a little delay for the ftp) from a WIN scheduled task. Kind of kludgy but very reliable. Overall, you couldn't visually tell the difference between the large and smaller image on the WU site. YMMV
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Are you using the direct IP or the webcam.wunderground.com?
Just FYI the URL side of the webcam server is spotty at times
Direct FTP is the best way to upload
it can be tricky to get it to work but once you do it is solid
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I've been using FTP to the server address, 52.56.136.128, since they got it working, again, months ago. The images are about a half a megabyte and upload every 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). It's been rock solid for months.
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Mine as well
I have not had any problems with my webcam
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I've been using FTP to the server address, 52.56.136.128, since they got it working, again, months ago. The images are about a half a megabyte and upload every 3.5 minutes (210 seconds). It's been rock solid for months.
Possibly worth a try for me to try direct FTP. But one of my biggest frustrations is that they STOMP on my image (trimming both sides to create their “optimal” image thumbnail).
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Yes they do cut the thumbnail image but playback should be full size
What size image are you sending to WU?
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Hi imaduffus
After looking at your setting on the camera
I think you would have better results by changing your transmission mode to FTP not PAVS
WU sometimes rejects the format
not possible. I can put it on "auto", "port" or "pasv (passive?)
Also you should use a direct IP address for the server like this one 52.36.136.128
It is the some stable server they have
There are other severs
Here are the other servers/ 52.37.52.183 / 54.148.11.142
The Max file size of an image for WU is 10Mb just FYI
I have put it on 52.36.136.128, tested it and it seems to work for now it does not work. But it shows me offline status on my devices site https://www.wunderground.com/member/devices
Also you could always use Firezilla to login to the WU server account and look at files for your account
Any file with a ? mark has been rejected by the server
Also do not modify any files you see with the ? mark
Just to be safe just look around
Hope this helps
I logged into my FTP site once with the standard website oonce with the IP you told me and I logged in with my Cam Login credentials. Looking into it I found empty folders. What site should I enter? Thanks alot
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So when you change transmission mode your options are port / pavs / auto
Have you tried the Auto mode to see if it links up?
I see it still shows in the camera screen shot that it is still set to webcam.wunderground.com
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so looking at your PWS and the thumbnail
it has not upload in a long time now
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It can take a while, once you get FTP to work, before an image starts to appear. Then the playback will be even further delayed before it works "properly". Again, image size is critical and a full 5MP image will result in inconsistent playback. Keep the file sizes or frequency of upload down. I found the settings I'm using by trial and error over about a week of experimenting, changing size and time interval once daily until it remained consistent during playback.
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So when you change transmission mode your options are port / pavs / auto
Have you tried the Auto mode to see if it links up?
I see it still shows in the camera screen shot that it is still set to webcam.wunderground.com
Sorry, my bad, I changed it to the IP you told me and it shows me FTP login failed... are the login credetials different? (see screenshot)
And yes, the thumbnail was never up to date. Even with my 2mp cam before it had always a delay of 30mins or more. Clicking on the thumbnail it leads to the webcam sire where you can play the clip. The thumbnail there is more up to date.
AUTO seems to work to. Maybe I swtich to that...
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It can take a while, once you get FTP to work, before an image starts to appear. Then the playback will be even further delayed before it works "properly". Again, image size is critical and a full 5MP image will result in inconsistent playback. Keep the file sizes or frequency of upload down. I found the settings I'm using by trial and error over about a week of experimenting, changing size and time interval once daily until it remained consistent during playback.
Thanks alot, I am on my way with trail&error ;) maybe I will reduce the upload from 5MP in 5min to 10min.
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Does the WU camera devices show online now?
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sorry, my bad, for some reason (check quote above) it does not let me login into the IP you told me.
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You would have to use firezilla to login into WU server
Then it would show you all the files that are currently in your account
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Oh sorry
Try the http:// in front of IP address
Ignore above post
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Its good that it shows the camera devices online
That’s a good sign
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You would have to use firezilla to login into WU server
Then it would show you all the files that are currently in your account
firezilla shows me both empty folder for the standard upload sire and the numerous one.
But somehow not it seems to have accepted your proposed IP adress... whoohoo firs step..
check screenshots
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Just checked your PWS
Showing image
Thats good
Is it dark where you are?
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Everything is looking correct on your end
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Yes, in germany its nighttime. 8:42 pm
Wondering why I dont see the pictures in filezilla... all folders are empty.
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You clicked on every file and no images showing?
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Just checked your PWS again and it has a current thumbnail image
Your are good
Let that run for 24 hours
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You clicked on every file and no images showing?
I clicked on every folder and all are empty.
Just checked your PWS again and it has a current thumbnail image
Your are good
Let that run for 24 hours
Yep, will do with 10min upload interval. It runs on 5MP.
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Give it some time at 10 min and see what happens. WU can be a little (lot) slow recovering from over loads.
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It looks like you've made some good progress. The video playback only has a few hiccups now and the image on the control panel appears current, or at least as current as WU can manage. Maybe slow down uploads a little more and the hiccups will disappear entirely.
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The thumbnails seem to be okay, but the video still has the problems... there are big gaps.
Can you explain me how to see the files in Filezilla? For some reason I can log in but I cannot see the pictures I sent up. So checking file size and trying to reduce is difficult.
On the other hand I checked your cameras and they are not running on 2MP, they are running it a quite shoter intervall and they run really good... I wonder what I can do else... :-(
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I don't use Filezilla. My security software, Blue Iris, handles the uploads. The source is, indeed, 2MP and I have the file set to 80% of original size. What I did to determine the file size was also store a local copy on a hard drive. The "best" size I could determine was in the 200-250KB range. At least, when I last looked, your images didn't have any big blank spots although there were jumps in the time line that I easily noticed.
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Sorry
I will look into it for you later
I will direct message you as soon as i get free today
Im in meetings all day today
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I don't use Filezilla. My security software, Blue Iris, handles the uploads. The source is, indeed, 2MP and I have the file set to 80% of original size. What I did to determine the file size was also store a local copy on a hard drive. The "best" size I could determine was in the 200-250KB range. At least, when I last looked, your images didn't have any big blank spots although there were jumps in the time line that I easily noticed.
Hi, I just used the snap tool from reolink cam software and saved the pictures. Still it is not know if this is the size it will actually send up but well, it should be around that.
I have 2 possibilities:
Highest (clear) resolution: 2560x1920 pixels (5MP) 6144 bitrate = 199KB
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Lowest (clear) resolution: 2304x1296 pixels (3MP) 6144 bitrate = 128KB
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
or
Highest (clear) resolution: 2560x1920 pixels (5MP) 1024 bitrate = 183KB
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Lowest (clear) resolution: 2304x1296 pixels (3MP) 1024 bitrate = 130KB
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Seems bitrate does not influence the picture, but only the video.
even when I setup the cam to fluent setting (1MP 640x480) it does not make a low resolution screenshot with the snapping tool. So my guess is, it transfers one of the 3 settings above which means additionally I cannot make screenshots lower than 3MP.
I am setting up to 3MP with low bitrate. Lets thee what that brings.
Nevertheless, I am below 200KB per picture it seems.. I wish I could really see what the cam loads up.
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Keep in mind it takes almost a full day to come into "sync".
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Thanks, I know. I did not touch it for more than 24h and there were problems. Now I am on 3MP and I wait... :grin:
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A couple of quick observations.
The time hiccup has moved from at the beginning, early in the clip to right at the end of the clip when I just reviewed it at about 21:30GMT. That, to me, indicates the "aging" process is, indeed, working and it should disappear by tomorrow morning.
The other thing that has me wondering is that watching your clip, versus mine, it's like yours has had too much caffeine or something. Playback speed is in the hyper range compared to what I am seeing. That can be a function of time/file size, differences though.
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The hiccup yep, I see it too.. I will let the setting and wont touch it for a while... thanks for your observations and support.
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No more hiccups! Still at hyper speed though.
I guess you could, if you feel adventurous, try increasing the upload speed a little at a time to see what effect that has.
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https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/webcam/Imaduffus/2/2019-12-18
I see a hiccup at 18.12. 3am, when it jumps to 17.12. 7pm to 8pm, jumpng back to 3am and going on...
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Yup, you're right. I don't know if that just appeared or was there and I missed it when I looked a while ago. I'll blame it on tired, old, eyes.
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Dont worry :-)... I just wait and hope the old pictures will fade out... thanks alot for your tight support.
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I just looked now, say 22:00GMT, and didn't see any hiccups. I watched three times to make sure I wan't missing anything. It looks like you're on a ten minute upload schedule from the playback.
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Hi, yes, 10 min upload right now.
Will check for the next days and maybe change upload interval.
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Okay, it seems, that the hiccups are gone. I am setting the upload interval at 5 mins.
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I dunno. I just watched, twice, and there was a stall almost at the end both times. Maybe that's when you changed the upload time.
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It looks like five minutes might be too fast. I'd try increasing it by thirty seconds at a time until it smooths out.
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Just had a peek again and it seems fairly consistent. I'm guessing that's a bullet camera and you're using the built-in IR lights. If you can, shut them off and that will reduce the spider web problem.
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Hi, I did like you told and just removed the LED Lights (IR Lights) and it has hiccups again ](*,)... well, I am patient.. its xmas time :lol:... so lets see what will happen in 1 or 2 days...
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My experience has been that bullet style cameras are spider magnets IF the IR lights are used. Turrets, eyeballs not domes, son't seem to have that problem though. With a weather cam, IR lights really don't do much since you're looking at the distance, far beyond the range of IR lights.
I don't think the IR getting shut off has any bearing on the hiccups. They wouldn't effect file sizes under the conditions your camera is set for.
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Ah, just a pain, again there are daily hiccups in it. I havent changed anything since last time. The small hiccups that were still there still seem to be there on daily basis. :oops:
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You may need to do some fine tuning and reduce upload interval or image size a little more. I do get, occasional, "failed to upload" notices in my Blue Iris log, but the video playback seems pretty decent. What's really weird is that my weather station has been going "offline" periodically, for no apparent reason on my end, but the video pane always seems to work. Typical WU stuff, I guess. I'd rather have the weather data remain solid and lose the video, but it's not my choice to make.
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Cheers, for the fast reply.
Apparently I cannot fine tune the image size any more. It would be 640x480 and it would look messy. And my upload intervall choices are limited. I can only choose between up to 30 seconds, 1 min, 5 min, 10 min and up. Right now its on 5 min, I will put it on 10 min then. The cams limits are just annoying in that case.
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If you ever buy another camera I'd suggest a Dahua or Hikvision. Either can be configured very granularly for upload timing and image size. More expensive for sure, but there are advantages that only money will buy in a case like this.
Oh yeah, I just happened to "cruise by" right after you posted earlier.
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Hmmm, changed my time interval on 10 mins 6 days ago and still hiccups... cmon WU... whats up? :-|
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Changed U0pload time to 30min to check wether its the upload intervall.
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:oops:changed interval to 30 min and still hiccups... I am kinda sad... trying to reduce quality more
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My bag of tricks is empty. If reducing the upload time and reducing the quality, file size, don't do it I'm stumped.