Getting Started
Welcome to the iSentry User Guide! Here is where you will find a rundown and guide on setting up all iSentry versions, and an exploration of their features. For any questions, please refer to the FAQ to check to see if we’ve already answered them.
Setup and Configuration
Immediately after launching the application you will see the application window which will display the area as seen from your web cam. This will help you adjust your Web Cam to capture the area that you wish to monitor. The application window will also contain the Motion Indicator light and the Start button. If movement is detected, the motion indicator will momentarily turn red. Clicking Start will activate the application. When active, the application will perform all actions configured by the user upon the detection of movement. You can learn more about these configurations here.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- iSentry will not be running while the computer is asleep. Make sure your computer is not set to go to sleep automatically in System Preferences -> Energy Saver. However iSentry will be running if your display goes to sleep.
- You can use the following cameras with iSentry: Built-in iSight cameras, USB cameras.
- Compatibility: OS X 10.7 or later
- Visit the FAQ page for more specifics
Adjusting Motion Detection Sensitivity
Before pressing start, it is recommended you explore the settings page and adjust them to your liking. Use the Detection section to adjust the Activation Threshold, which will configure the amount of motion needed to activate the alert. This can ensure things like wind and slight movements or volume changes don’t cause iSentry’s alarm to go off, while real noteworthy motion gets flagged.
The Start Delay creates a delay between the pressing of the Start button and arming the alarm. This is useful for it allows you to leave the field of surveillance before the application starts (e.g: turning off the lights) without triggering the motion detection.
Setting Up The Schedule
Use the Schedule section to set start and stop times for webcam monitoring. The Recording section enables configuration of video resolution, sound, and even gives the option to disable it entirely.
Recording Settings
The Recording section contains the settings for photo or video recording after the detection of movement. Selecting Photo Recording will record what is happening with a sequence of photos while selecting Video Recording will record a video.
Like with Photo Recording, in Video Recording, you have the option of selecting the desired quality of the recorded videos with the Video Resolution setting. Select Record Sound to toggle sound recording on or off. Note that increasing the resolution of the video also increases the volume of data processed by the application. Setting the video resolution too high may overload your computer and cause it to lag. This may affect the quality of the photo or video or even lead to a partial loss of data. Therefore it is recommended to choose a resolution based on your computers specifications.
Alarm Settings
Clicking the >> button in the top right of the prompt gives access to the Alarm, Mail, Upload, and Video Input sections. In Alarm you are able to configure what kind of noise you would like to be played in the event iSentry detects movement, or disable it entirely.
Setting Up Email Notifications
The Mail section is where configuration of email notifications take place. Here, you can enter an email you would like alerts to be sent to, specific content of the messages, and set a delay if desired.
Once you have configured your email settings, you can test them by clicking the Send Test Message button. iSentry will attempt to send a test email and will report any problems it encounters.
Email Settings if You Are Using Gmail:
- Username: Your Gmail address
- Password: Your Gmail password
- Server Address: smtp.gmail.com
- Server Port: 587
- Use TLS (Secure Mail): Yes
A problem you may run into is that Google’s security settings do not allow third party apps to send messages via SMTP through their servers unless you explicitly allow this. Here, you have two options:
- Use App password
- Enable ‘Less secure apps’ option
Using App Password
- Go to your Google Account.
- Verify that 2-Step Verification is set up for your account.
- On the left navigation panel, choose Security.
- On the “Signing in to Google” panel, choose App Passwords.
- At the bottom, choose Select app and choose the app you’re using.
- Choose Select device and choose the device you’re using.
- Choose Generate.
- Follow the instructions to enter the App Password. The App Password is the 16-character code in the yellow bar on your device.
- Choose Done.
- Enter App Password in iSentry email settings
Enable Less Secure Apps
- Log into your Gmail account.
- Navigate to the Less secure apps page.
- Toggle to turn this feature ‘ON’.
- Wait for some time for Google to update this setting.
- Try sending test message again.
Email Settings if you are using iCloud
- Username: Your full iCloud email address including your name and @icloud.com. An example is johnsmith@icloud.com
- Password: An app-specific iCloud Mail password.
- Server Address: smtp.mail.me.com
- Server Port: 587
- Use TLS (Secure Mail): Yes
How to Generate in-app specific Password
- Sign in to your Apple ID account page.
- Verify that Two-Factor Verification is on.
- In the Security section, click Generate Password below App-Specific Passwords.
- Follow the steps on your screen.
- After you generate your app-specific password, enter or paste it into the Password field of the iSentry email settings.
You can find more info here.
Email Settings for Comcast/Xfinity
- Username: Comcast username
- Password: Comcast password
- Server Address: smtp.comcast.net
- Server Port: 587
- Use TLS (Secure Mail): Yes
You can find more info here.
Defining the Upload Folder
In order iSentry to work properly, it requires a place to store the videos it takes. To do this, click on the >> Button and go to Upload. Here, you can select a folder on your computer that iSentry’s recorded videos will be saved to.
You can select any folder on your hard drive using the “Browse…” button. Files will appear in the selected folder immediately as they are recorded. The Documents folder of the current user is used by default. It is advisable to select a folder for the saved files that is synchronized with a cloud storage service such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. This way, your files will be saved locally on your computer as well as remotely with the cloud storage service.
Setting Up Audio/Visual Input
The Video Input section is where you configure the input devices for audio and video. By default it will be your built-in Mac camera and microphone. However, you are free to select your own input device of your choosing using the Edit button on the right.
Note, the full IP cameras support is only available in iSentry Pro, the paid version of iSentry. You can test the compatibility of your cameras with iSentry Free, but the “Motion Detection” will not be available for IP cameras.
After pressing “Add IP Camera”, a dialog window will appear in which you can specify all the necessary information needed to add the IP camera.
The URL (which is the address of the IP camera) is a mandatory field. Currently, iSentry Pro supports RTSP and MJPEG video transmitted over HTTP protocol. Therefore, in most cases the URL should have the following formats:
For RTSP Stream:
rtsp://username:password@IP:port/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=1 or 0 or 2
For MJPEG Stream:
http://username:password@IP:port/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?subtype=1 or 0 or 2
The Username/Password fields are mandatory, in case the IP camera requires authentication.
Name is an optional field. You can use it to give the IP camera a meaningful name. For example, you can name the camera which is located at your workplace “Work”.
The application does not allow you to select audio input devices directly. However, you can go to System Preferences -> Sound -> Input tab and change the audio device there.
Note that currently audio recording is not available if IP camera is selected.
iSentry Pro Features
iSentry Pro is an upgraded version of iSentry. It features several new additions not included in the free version. Please visit the installation guide for further information on what’s included in each version. Here, we will go over some of the features available to you in the Pro version. Exclusive features to iSentry Pro can be viewed below.
Flicker Suppression & Area Mask
In iSentry Pro, here is where you can see the options for Flicker Suppression and Detection Area Mask are available.
The Flicker Suppression option prevents spurious activation caused by sudden contrast changes due to camera’s automatic adjustments of exposition parameters.
The Detection Area Mask options allow you to disable the motion detection in certain areas of the scene. To do so, simply paint over the areas that you are not interested in. The shaded areas will not be used by the motion detection algorithm. To edit the mask, you just draw in the main window with your mouse or trackpad. To erase a mask, you should draw by holding down the Option key.
You can adjust the size of the brush to draw/erase the mask using the Mask Editor Brush Size slider. You will see immediately the effect of applying the mask if you look at the Motion Activity indicator and a green circle in the lower right corner of the main window.
All changes in the mask are automatically saved, but you can manually save the mask by clicking the Save Mask button. Similarly, you can load the mask from the file by clicking the Load Mask button.
Advanced Scheduling
iSentry Pro features an Advanced Scheduling option, which allows you to configure a more granular motion detection schedule. For example, the screenshot above sets the following schedule: motion will be detected on Mondays to Fridays 9 AM to 6 PM, and on Saturdays and Sundays 8 AM to 2 PM. For each day, the Stop Time must be greater than the Start Time.
iSentry Enterprise Features
The Enterprise version of iSentry is an even further enhanced version of iSentry Pro, featuring all of the features from free and Pro, as well as multiple camera support and Security Zones. This section will delve into their setup process.
Immediately after launching the application, you will see the application window which will display a Security Zone with no cameras. To learn more about Security Zones and Cameras, read the “Security Zones and Cameras” section.
Press the Add Camera button. You will see the Add New Camera dialog. Enter a new camera name in the Name field and select the target source device for the camera from the Video Input popup list.
After you add the camera, it’s recommended that you adjust the motion detection sensitivity. Select the Settings button in the upper right corner of the camera area to make any adjustments.
Once you are in the Security Zones and Cameras section, select Default Zone. This drop-down menu will display all associated camera devices. Drag the Activation Threshold slider to adjust the sensitivity of the motion detection algorithm.
Once you’ve adjusted the sensitivity detection settings to your liking, you can now configure the type of recording that you would like iSentry to perform. Select the Settings button in the top right. You will see the Video Devices button. When clicked, you can select the resolution of photos/video, the type of recording (video or photo) and set other parameters.
To stop motion detection press the Stop button. You can see the results in the Status window (Main Menu > Window > Status) and in the upload folder you’ve set up earlier.
Security Zones and Cameras
Security Zones are a unique feature exclusive to iSentry Enterprise. They are able to be manipulated together as a whole through the app. For example, you can create one Security Zone for cameras inside your house and other zones for cameras outside (e.g. for work and/or home).
The security camera is connected to one video device. You could have several cameras connected to the same device. You can also adjust the detection settings separately for every camera. This is especially useful when using the Detection Area Mask. The Detection Area Mask allows you to detect motion in different parts of a field from one Video Device.
In the image below, you can see how Security Zones and Cameras are represented in the main window UI. Also, the image shows available buttons and controls.
Every Security Zone has its own tab. You can switch between zones by pressing their tabs. In order to add a new Security Zone, press the Add Camera button in the tab bar at the top of the main window. You will see the Add New Zone dialog option, where you can choose a name for the zone. To remove a zone, simply hit the X button on the zone’s tab.
To change the name of a zone, open the Security Zones and Cameras window by selecting the green settings icon on the right side of the screen and select the zone name you would like to change from the outline on the left.
To add a new Security Camera to a new zone you have created, click the Add Camera button. You will see the Add New Camera dialog, where you can choose a name for the camera and the video device that will be used as the camera input (the Video Input popup list).
Camera Control Quick Guide
(A) The Delete Camera button deletes the camera.
(B) The Camera Settings button will open the Security Zones and Cameras window with the current camera selected.
(C) The Edit Detection Area Mask button starts the detection mask editor.
(D) The Toggle Fullscreen button resizes the camera area to occupy the whole window.
(E) The Motion Detection indicator shows the current level of movement in the camera field. If this level is greater than the Sensitivity Threshold, then the square on the left will turn red.
To change the camera settings, open the Security Zones and Cameras window and select a camera from the outline on the left. Here, you can change the name of the camera, select the video device, adjust the motion detection sensitivity, and see the current motion levels (the Motion Activity meter and the Activation Threshold slider).
