Using motion
motion is a commandline program for a surveillance webcam.
Installation
apt-get install motion
Manual: http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/MotionGuideBasicFeatures
Command line opts
-c Full path and filename of config file. E.g. /home/kurt/motion.conf. Default is /usr/local/etc
unless specified differently when building Motion. Many RPMs and debian packages will most likely
use /etc or /etc/motion as default.
-h Show help screen.
Config settings
Events
on_event_end string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: Not defined
Command to be executed when an event ends after a period of no motion. The period of no motion is
defined by option gap. You can use Conversion Specifiers and spaces as part of the command.
on_event_start string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: Not defined
Command to be executed when an event starts. An event starts at first motion detected after a
period of no motion defined by gap. You can use ConversionSpecifiers and spaces as part of the com‐
mand.
on_motion_detected string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: Not defined
Command to be executed when a motion frame is detected. You can use Conversion Specifiers and spa‐
ces as part of the command.
on_picture_save string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: Not defined
Command to be executed when an image is saved. You can use Conversion Specifiers and spaces as part
of the command. Use %f for passing filename (with full path) to the command.
Output Options
output_motion boolean
Values: on, off / Default: off
Output pictures with only the moving object. This feature generates the special motion type movies
where you only see the pixels that changes as a graytone image. If labelling is enabled you see the
largest area in blue. Smartmask is shown in red.
output_normal discrete strings
Values: on, off, first, best / Default: on
Normal image is an image that is stored when motion is detected. It is the same image that was
taken by the camera. I.e. not a motion image like defined by output_motion. Default is that normal
images are stored.
target_dir string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: Not defined = current working directory
Target directory for picture and movie files.
Tuning & Timing
threshold integer
Values: 1 - 2147483647 / Default: 1500
Threshold for declaring motion. The threshold is the number of changed pixels counted after noise
filtering, masking, despeckle, and labelling.
gap integer
Values: 0 - 2147483647 / Default: 60
Gap is the seconds of no motion detection that triggers the end of an event. An event is defined as
a series of motion images taken within a short timeframe.
Camera & Image
quality integer
Values: 1 - 100 / Default: 75
The quality for the jpeg images in percent.
videodevice string
Values: Max 4095 characters / Default: /dev/video0 (FreeBSD: /dev/bktr0)
The video device to be used for capturing. Default for Linux is /dev/video0. for FreeBSD the
default is /dev/bktr0.
width integer
Values: Device Dependent / Default: 352
The width in pixels of each frame. Valid range is camera dependent.
rotate discrete strings
Values: 0, 90, 180, 270 / Default: 0 (not rotated)
Rotate image the given number of degrees. The rotation affects all saved images as well as mpeg
movies.
Program Control
control_localhost boolean
Values: on, off / Default: on
Limits the http (html) control to the localhost. This option must be placed in motion.conf and not
in a thread config file.
control_port integer
Values: 0 - 65535 / Default: 0 (disabled)
Sets the port number for the http (html using browser) based remote control. This option must be
placed in motion.conf and not in a thread config file.
daemon boolean
Values: on, off / Default: off
Start in daemon (background) mode and release terminal. This option must be placed in motion.conf
and not in a thread config file.
quiet boolean
Values: on, off / Default: off
Be quiet, don't output beeps when detecting motion.
Image Parameters
Conversion Specifiers for Advanced Filename and Text Features
The table below shows all the supported Conversion Specifiers you can use in the options text_left,
text_right, snapshot_filename, jpeg_filename, ffmpeg_filename, timelapse_filename, on_event_start,
on_event_end, on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and on_motion_detected.
In text_left and text_right you can additionally use '0 for new line.
%a The abbreviated weekday name according to the current locale.
%A The full weekday name according to the current locale.
%b The abbreviated month name according to the current locale.
%B The full month name according to the current locale.
%c The preferred date and time representation for the current locale.
%C Text defined by the text_event feature
%d The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31).
%D Number of pixels detected as Motion. If labelling is enabled the number is the number of pixels in
the largest labelled motion area.
%E Modifier: use alternative format, see below.
%f File name - used in the on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and sql_query features.
%F Equivalent to %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format).
%H The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23).
%i Width of the rectangle containing the motion pixels (the rectangle that is shown on the image when
locate is on).
%I The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12).
%j The day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366).
%J Height of the rectangle containing the motion pixels (the rectangle that is shown on the image when
locate is on).
%k The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 0 to 23); single digits are preceded by a
blank. (See also %H.)
%K X coordinate in pixels of the center point of motion. Origin is upper left corner.
%l The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 1 to 12); single digits are preceded by a
blank. (See also %I.)
%L Y coordinate in pixels of the center point of motion. Origin is upper left corner and number is
positive moving downwards (I may change this soon).
%m The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12).
%M The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59).
%n Filetype as used in the on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and sql_query features.
%N Noise level.
%o Threshold. The number of detected pixels required to trigger motion. When threshold_tune is 'on'
this can be used to show the current tuned value of threshold.
%p Either 'AM' or 'PM' according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for the current
locale. Noon is treated as `pm' and midnight as `am'.
%P Like %p but in lowercase: `am' or `pm' or a corresponding string for the current locale.
%q Picture frame number within current second. For jpeg filenames this should always be included in
the filename if you save more then 1 picture per second to ensure unique filenames. It is not
needed in filenames for mpegs.
%Q Number of detected labels found by the despeckle feature
%r The time in a.m. or p.m. notation.
%R The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M).
%s The number of seconds since the Epoch, i.e., since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.
%S The second as a decimal number (range 00 to 61).
%t Thread number (camera number)
%T The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M:%S).
%u The day of the week as a decimal, range 1 to 7, Monday being 1. See also %w.
%U The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first
Sunday as the first day of week 01. See also %V and %W.
%v Event number. An event is a series of motion detections happening with less than 'gap' seconds
between them.
%V The ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 01 to 53, where week 1
is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of
the week. See also %U and %W.
%w The day of the week as a decimal, range 0 to 6, Sunday being 0. See also %u.
%W The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first
Monday as the first day of week 01.
%x The preferred date representation for the current locale without the time.
%X The preferred time representation for the current locale without the date.
%y The year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99).
%Y The year as a decimal number including the century.
%z The time-zone as hour offset from GMT.
%Z The time zone or name or abbreviation.
Setting up an Apache Reverse Proxy to your motion webcam
Installing apache on a pi:
apt-get install apache2
<VirtualHost *:80> # ... all the normal stuff # ADD THESE TWO LINES... make sure the port numbers match motion's settings ProxyPass /w http://localhost:8000 ProxyPass /c http://localhost:8080 </VirtualHost>
To enable reverse proxies in Apache
a2enmod proxy proxy_http