I just bought an IPC-B5442E-SE-S3 bullet cam. I have it mounted and initialized but have no idea where to go from here. I am able to view a live feed from it. I have downloaded and signed into SmartPSS Lite but again, I have no idea how to proceed with setting it up for recording and ultimately viewing the recordings. I have in the past set up an Axis POE camera and also a Reolink, but there seems to be no step by step instructions that I can find for this one. I also downloaded the Empire Tech manual but it is not helping me beyond what I have already done. I would be very grateful for any help anyone can offer.
Totally lost in EmpireTech camera setup.
- Thread starter lostnewby
- Start date
Step 1
SmartPSS Lite is simply a viewer, its not going to record anything
Step 2
You need an NVR or at minimum put an SD card in the camera to record to
SmartPSS Lite is simply a viewer, its not going to record anything
Step 2
You need an NVR or at minimum put an SD card in the camera to record to
...or you could install VMS (Video Management Software) such as BI (Blue Iris) on a PC that meets the min specs to run it well. To purchase BI costs about $75 but you can download and install it for free and have a 15 day evaluation period.
Ideally the PC should be dedicated to BI to efficiently and reliably perform the tasks of recording and viewing up to 128 cameras. Fine tuning and optimizing BI's configuration is a must also.
Ideally the PC should be dedicated to BI to efficiently and reliably perform the tasks of recording and viewing up to 128 cameras. Fine tuning and optimizing BI's configuration is a must also.
Thanks bigredfish, that helps. I was clueless about SmartPSS Lite and how it was to be used. So I should be able to view whatever recordings are on the SD card through that. I did put an SD card in the camera.
And to TonyR, from what I have read on here, I suspect that I would have even more trouble setting up Blue Iris. I was hoping that I could just run the new camera as a stand alone device like the Axis. I can see the live feed through my LAN, but at this point I am not even sure that the camera is able to record events since I don't know how to play them back. I am working my way through the EmpireTech manual page by page. Perhaps I will get it all figured out eventually, but I sure could use more advice.
And to Flintstone61, thanks for the link, I have it. Should I get that set up first, or continue through the Empire Tech manual to get most of the parameters set in the camera first?
See, I said it all with my member name.
Jerry
And to TonyR, from what I have read on here, I suspect that I would have even more trouble setting up Blue Iris. I was hoping that I could just run the new camera as a stand alone device like the Axis. I can see the live feed through my LAN, but at this point I am not even sure that the camera is able to record events since I don't know how to play them back. I am working my way through the EmpireTech manual page by page. Perhaps I will get it all figured out eventually, but I sure could use more advice.
And to Flintstone61, thanks for the link, I have it. Should I get that set up first, or continue through the Empire Tech manual to get most of the parameters set in the camera first?
See, I said it all with my member name.
Jerry
This is a good video that walks thru many of the setup options. Now some of them might not be applicable to your specific camera, but a lot of it will be.
Most have found that after you get to about 3 or 4 cameras, you will want an NVR or VMS like BI as trying to manage multiple SD cards and playback through SmartPSS Lite will be a pain.
Personally, if I only have one camera, I prefer watching thru the GUI than SmartPSS.
Most have found that after you get to about 3 or 4 cameras, you will want an NVR or VMS like BI as trying to manage multiple SD cards and playback through SmartPSS Lite will be a pain.
Personally, if I only have one camera, I prefer watching thru the GUI than SmartPSS.
The video is a great help, thank you. It resolved many things but also showed me how many things I have yet to resolve. I see several areas that are different in my camera and I will detail some of them after I go through the video for the third time tomorrow. I set some trip wire lines and set a few things I was sure of. Under Storage I find that Format is greyed out. There is a card in the camera. I missed something in the video perhaps.
@lostnewby, the folks here are great about sharing their knowledge and experience with those in need. I do encourage you to be brave and proactive about helping yourself too. It will speed up the learning curve. I know because this is all new to me. Whatever you have questions about, do searches for the answers both here and online in general. dahuawiki.com and the IPCT Wiki here at the top of your screen are valuable resources.
It gets better. I only cry myself to sleep every other night now.
It gets better. I only cry myself to sleep every other night now.
Thanks, Looksee. The dahuawiki.com is what I needed. I didn't know it existed. It solved my immediate problem with the SD card and may have the answers to more questions as they come up, thereby eliminating my need for more help here. (Highly doubtful, but I am hoping.)
IPCT and its members are the best resources. I hope I didn't cause confusion about that. Best of luck and Happy Viewing!
As I suspected, I am back with more questions, I'm sorry to say. I have done a lot of reading and searching the last few days and I appear to be getting more ignorant as I go. I had the camera working very well until I decided to fine tune some parameters to get rid of some leaf movement. I don't know what I did, but I have lost all ability to record an event. I think the word "General" is possibly part of the problem. As I understand it, "General" is 24 hour recording, but I only want to record events. But the word pops up in several places and I may have turned something off that I shouldn't have, but I have not been able to discover which one it is. Anyway, I have done everything I can think of except resetting the camera to default and starting over.
I also see that the current build in the camera is from September 6, 2024 and I had AutoUpdate turned on until I read that, as long as everything was working to my satisfaction, I should leave it alone. And it was working well at the time, so I turned it off. I doubt that is the cause of losing recording ability, but it's an example of the fine tuning I was doing, along with shutting off 24 hour recording. I unchecked "General" under the Record - Storage setting, and the green General line is blank in the Time Plan. And under Event - Video Detection - Area, the entire area is filled with yellow diagonal lines with Sensitivity set at Full Time. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
12/7/25 I changed the Area color to all red. No help. I turned IVS back on and set trip wires and an intrusion zone. No help.
I also see that the current build in the camera is from September 6, 2024 and I had AutoUpdate turned on until I read that, as long as everything was working to my satisfaction, I should leave it alone. And it was working well at the time, so I turned it off. I doubt that is the cause of losing recording ability, but it's an example of the fine tuning I was doing, along with shutting off 24 hour recording. I unchecked "General" under the Record - Storage setting, and the green General line is blank in the Time Plan. And under Event - Video Detection - Area, the entire area is filled with yellow diagonal lines with Sensitivity set at Full Time. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
12/7/25 I changed the Area color to all red. No help. I turned IVS back on and set trip wires and an intrusion zone. No help.
Last edited:
I have spent the last three days getting educated, reading everything I can find on this forum and on dahuawiki.com and in the EmpireTech manual, and I still can't understand why my camera stopped recording. It was working perfectly until I changed some parameters to eliminate so many false alarms. I obviously did something wrong because all recording stopped.
I have rebooted the camera, changed each setting back to default and put in the parameters that I used at the beginning which had the camera recording everything that moved for two days, with both Motion detection and IVS turned on. As it stands now, when a tripwire is passed it flickers red, which means it is activated, but no recording occurs. I have tried turning Motion Detection off and just using IVS, and I have tried the opposite. I have checked and rechecked all my settings. I am at a dead end now, not knowing what to do next.
I have not tried to update the firmware because it was working so well before this happened. Can anyone help?
I have rebooted the camera, changed each setting back to default and put in the parameters that I used at the beginning which had the camera recording everything that moved for two days, with both Motion detection and IVS turned on. As it stands now, when a tripwire is passed it flickers red, which means it is activated, but no recording occurs. I have tried turning Motion Detection off and just using IVS, and I have tried the opposite. I have checked and rechecked all my settings. I am at a dead end now, not knowing what to do next.
I have not tried to update the firmware because it was working so well before this happened. Can anyone help?
Leave MD and SMD OFF and never go back
IVS will take care of 99% of your needs and all but eliminate false alerts.
Break down and buy an NVR
EmpireTech NVR8CH-8P-1EI 8CH Smart 1U 8PoE 1HDD Network Video Recorder
Access, storage, or forwarding at 256 Mbps (180 Mbps when the AI function is enabled) Max. decoding capability: 16 × 1080p@30 fps. Supports adaptive decoding AI by NVR AI by Camera Connected to the third-party network cameras Security baseline 2.3
empiretech01.com
OMG you are correct on that count. I stupidly did not re-enable the Event Linkage to Record after defaulting the AI. So now the one tripwire on the driveway is recording events again. However the Intrusion setup in the yard still did not work, so I deleted it and added another set of tripwires crossing the area. So that works now. YAY! And thank you so much for pointing me to the right answer.
Just out of curiosity, I enabled Audio Exception and set a low threshold and found that when it triggered, it recorded a still picture for the 3 second prerecord and the 10 second post record even though I walked through the frame during that time frame. I turned it off, but wondered what is going on with that. (Yes, recording was enabled.) And I am still unable to get Motion Detection to return to recording. Even when I turn IVS off, the Motion Detection is dead along with Audio Detection except for the aforementioned Audio Exception. I am still missing something.
As for posting a screenshot, I'm not sure I could figure how to do that, but my Video Detection page under Event has the following settings: Enable is on, Schedule is Full Time, Anti-dither is 0, Area Setting is All Red with Sensitivity and Threshold at 50 each, and Full Time is set for Schedule. Event Linkage is set to Record, Post record at 10, Alarm Out Port is enabled (although need not be), with Post Alarm at 10. I have Applied, Refreshed, Applied several times. What am I missing?
Just out of curiosity, I enabled Audio Exception and set a low threshold and found that when it triggered, it recorded a still picture for the 3 second prerecord and the 10 second post record even though I walked through the frame during that time frame. I turned it off, but wondered what is going on with that. (Yes, recording was enabled.) And I am still unable to get Motion Detection to return to recording. Even when I turn IVS off, the Motion Detection is dead along with Audio Detection except for the aforementioned Audio Exception. I am still missing something.
As for posting a screenshot, I'm not sure I could figure how to do that, but my Video Detection page under Event has the following settings: Enable is on, Schedule is Full Time, Anti-dither is 0, Area Setting is All Red with Sensitivity and Threshold at 50 each, and Full Time is set for Schedule. Event Linkage is set to Record, Post record at 10, Alarm Out Port is enabled (although need not be), with Post Alarm at 10. I have Applied, Refreshed, Applied several times. What am I missing?
Leave Video Detection (MD) and Audio Detection OFF. Neither is worth the trouble
Focus on one thing and get it working and understand it before you move on to the next thing.,
You need to figure out or get someone to show you how to do a screen capture
Focus on one thing and get it working and understand it before you move on to the next thing.,
You need to figure out or get someone to show you how to do a screen capture
Don't all of the later windows version have the easy to use snipping tool?
It seems dumb to me that the Record event linkage is off by default. Every time I set up an IVS rule I have to turn Snapshot off and Record on.
It seems dumb to me that the Record event linkage is off by default. Every time I set up an IVS rule I have to turn Snapshot off and Record on.
Whats even dumber is enabling AcuPick by default.
Its not useful around a typical home and turning it off to use IVS requires a reboot and then going back in and enabling IVS
Its not useful around a typical home and turning it off to use IVS requires a reboot and then going back in and enabling IVS