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Camera Specific Configurations

note

This page makes use of presets of FFmpeg args. For more information on presets, see the FFmpeg Presets page.

note

Many cameras support encoding options which greatly affect the live view experience, see the Live view page for more info.

MJPEG Cameras​

Note that mjpeg cameras require encoding the video into h264 for recording, and restream roles. This will use significantly more CPU than if the cameras supported h264 feeds directly. It is recommended to use the restream role to create an h264 restream and then use that as the source for ffmpeg.

go2rtc:
  streams:
    mjpeg_cam: "ffmpeg:{your_mjpeg_stream_url}#video=h264#hardware" # <- use hardware acceleration to create an h264 stream usable for other components.

cameras:
  ...
  mjpeg_cam:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/mjpeg_cam
          roles:
            - detect
            - record

JPEG Stream Cameras​

Cameras using a live changing jpeg image will need input parameters as below

input_args: preset-http-jpeg-generic

Outputting the stream will have the same args and caveats as per MJPEG Cameras

RTMP Cameras​

The input parameters need to be adjusted for RTMP cameras

ffmpeg:
  input_args: preset-rtmp-generic

UDP Only Cameras​

If your cameras do not support TCP connections for RTSP, you can use UDP.

ffmpeg:
  input_args: preset-rtsp-udp

Model/vendor specific setup​

Amcrest & Dahua​

Amcrest & Dahua cameras should be connected to via RTSP using the following format:

rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0 # this is the main stream
rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=1 # this is the sub stream, typically supporting low resolutions only
rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=2 # higher end cameras support a third stream with a mid resolution (1280x720, 1920x1080)
rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=3 # new higher end cameras support a fourth stream with another mid resolution (1280x720, 1920x1080)

Annke C800​

This camera is H.265 only. To be able to play clips on some devices (like MacOs or iPhone) the H.265 stream has to be repackaged and the audio stream has to be converted to aac. Unfortunately direct playback of in the browser is not working (yet), but the downloaded clip can be played locally.

cameras:
  annkec800: # <------ Name the camera
    ffmpeg:
      output_args:
        record: -f segment -segment_time 10 -segment_format mp4 -reset_timestamps 1 -strftime 1 -c:v copy -tag:v hvc1 -bsf:v hevc_mp4toannexb -c:a aac

      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/H264/ch1/main/av_stream # <----- Update for your camera
          roles:
            - detect
            - record
    detect:
      width: # <- optional, by default Frigate tries to automatically detect resolution
      height: # <- optional, by default Frigate tries to automatically detect resolution

Blue Iris RTSP Cameras​

You will need to remove nobuffer flag for Blue Iris RTSP cameras

ffmpeg:
  input_args: preset-rtsp-blue-iris

Hikvision Cameras​

Hikvision cameras should be connected to via RTSP using the following format:

rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/streaming/channels/101 # this is the main stream
rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/streaming/channels/102 # this is the sub stream, typically supporting low resolutions only
rtsp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@CAMERA-IP/streaming/channels/103 # higher end cameras support a third stream with a mid resolution (1280x720, 1920x1080)
note

Some users have reported that newer Hikvision cameras require adjustments to the security settings:

RTSP Authentication - digest/basic
RTSP Digest Algorithm - MD5
WEB Authentication - digest/basic
WEB Digest Algorithm  - MD5

Reolink has older cameras (ex: 410 & 520) as well as newer camera (ex: 520a & 511wa) which support different subsets of options. In both cases using the http stream is recommended. Frigate works much better with newer reolink cameras that are setup with the below options:

If available, recommended settings are:

  • On, fluency first this sets the camera to CBR (constant bit rate)
  • Interframe Space 1x this sets the iframe interval to the same as the frame rate

According to this discussion, the http video streams seem to be the most reliable for Reolink.

Cameras connected via a Reolink NVR can be connected with the http stream, use channel[0..15] in the stream url for the additional channels. The setup of main stream can be also done via RTSP, but isn't always reliable on all hardware versions. The example configuration is working with the oldest HW version RLN16-410 device with multiple types of cameras.

warning

The below configuration only works for reolink cameras with stream resolution of 5MP or lower, 8MP+ cameras need to use RTSP as http-flv is not supported in this case.

go2rtc:
  streams:
    your_reolink_camera:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=username&password=password#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus"
    your_reolink_camera_sub:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_ext.bcs&user=username&password=password"
    your_reolink_camera_via_nvr:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_nvr_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel3_main.bcs&user=username&password=password" # channel numbers are 0-15
      - "ffmpeg:your_reolink_camera_via_nvr#audio=aac"
    your_reolink_camera_via_nvr_sub:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_nvr_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel3_ext.bcs&user=username&password=password"

cameras:
  your_reolink_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera_sub
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
  reolink_via_nvr:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera_via_nvr?video=copy&audio=aac
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/your_reolink_camera_via_nvr_sub?video=copy
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect

The reolink doorbell supports two way audio via go2rtc and other applications. It is important that the http-flv stream is still used for stability, a secondary rtsp stream can be added that will be using for the two way audio only.

Ensure HTTP is enabled in the camera's advanced network settings. To use two way talk with Frigate, see the Live view documentation.

go2rtc:
  streams:
    your_reolink_doorbell:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_main.bcs&user=username&password=password#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=opus"
      - rtsp://reolink_ip/Preview_01_sub
    your_reolink_doorbell_sub:
      - "ffmpeg:http://reolink_ip/flv?port=1935&app=bcs&stream=channel0_ext.bcs&user=username&password=password"

Unifi Protect Cameras​

Unifi protect cameras require the rtspx stream to be used with go2rtc. To utilize a Unifi protect camera, modify the rtsps link to begin with rtspx. Additionally, remove the "?enableSrtp" from the end of the Unifi link.

go2rtc:
  streams:
    front:
      - rtspx://192.168.1.1:7441/abcdefghijk

See the go2rtc docs for more information

In the Unifi 2.0 update Unifi Protect Cameras had a change in audio sample rate which causes issues for ffmpeg. The input rate needs to be set for record if used directly with unifi protect.

ffmpeg:
  output_args:
    record: preset-record-ubiquiti

TP-Link VIGI cameras need some adjustments to the main stream settings on the camera itself to avoid issues. The stream needs to be configured as H264 with Smart Coding set to off. Without these settings you may have problems when trying to watch recorded footage. For example Firefox will stop playback after a few seconds and show the following error message: The media playback was aborted due to a corruption problem or because the media used features your browser did not support..

USB Cameras (aka Webcams)​

To use a USB camera (webcam) with Frigate, the recommendation is to use go2rtc's FFmpeg Device support:

  • Preparation outside of Frigate:

    • Get USB camera path. Run v4l2-ctl --list-devices to get a listing of locally-connected cameras available. (You may need to install v4l-utils in a way appropriate for your Linux distribution). In the sample configuration below, we use video=0 to correlate with a detected device path of /dev/video0
    • Get USB camera formats & resolutions. Run ffmpeg -f v4l2 -list_formats all -i /dev/video0 to get an idea of what formats and resolutions the USB Camera supports. In the sample configuration below, we use a width of 1024 and height of 576 in the stream and detection settings based on what was reported back.
    • If using Frigate in a container (e.g. Docker on TrueNAS), ensure you have USB Passthrough support enabled, along with a specific Host Device (/dev/video0) + Container Device (/dev/video0) listed.

  • In your Frigate Configuration File, add the go2rtc stream and roles as appropriate:

go2rtc:
  streams:
    usb_camera:
      - "ffmpeg:device?video=0&video_size=1024x576#video=h264" 

cameras:
  usb_camera:
    enabled: true
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/usb_camera
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
            - record
    detect:
      enabled: false # <---- disable detection until you have a working camera feed
      width: 1024
      height: 576