Triggering an Alert when Motion is Detected

By default, WebCam Monitor triggers an alert when motion is detected.  WebCam Monitor is equipped with an advanced motion detection algorithm that automatically monitors for changes in the images sent by your camera.

To trigger an alert when motion is detected, right click and select Edit Camera >> Actions and select the option When motion is detected.

Before starting Monitoring for Motion, configure the Motion Settings.

Masking an Area to Avoid False Alarms

The Mask Area feature allows you to block motion detection in a particular area.  You can select an area to mask in the preview window.  This reduces the possibility of unwanted triggering of alerts.  For example, if you want to monitor your garden but do not want the motion on the road outside to trigger an alert, then you can mask the portion of the preview that shows the road.  Each camera can be masked individually.

To define a mask area for your camera, right click and select Edit Camera >> Mask Area.

In the dialog that is displayed you can select and mask an area in the preview window.  Check the Enable Masking option.

Mask Area toolbar details

The following section describes each tool on Mask area toolbar in details:

• Mask Region: When no Mask is added and Enable Masking is checked, clicking on the Mask Region Icon  adds a default Mask at the center of the Preview area.  When the default Mask is present then on each click on the Mask Region Icon adds another Mask diagonal to the default Mask as shown below:

   

  

   

• Grab and Move: Select Grab and Move icon  to move and to create a custom Mask Region for your security needs.  When you hover the Grab and Move icon over the sides of a selected Mask, the cursor will change to a hand pointer and a selection circle will appear.  You can change the shape of the Mask by clicking on the circle and dragging, as showing in the following figure:

   

  

   

• Eraser: When user clicks on Mask area using Mask eraser icon  then entire Mask will be removed.    You can also delete the selected Mask using the Delete key on your keyboard.  When multiple Mask areas are added which are overlapping then on clicking the overlapped area using Mask eraser will delete the top-most Mask, as shown below:

   

  

   

• Invert Mask: When you click on the Invert Mask icon  the area that was previously non-masked will become Masked, as shown below:

   

  

   

• Clear Mask: When you click on the Clear Mask icon  then all the Masks will be removed. 

Show Mask area on camera preview

By default, this option is checked.  When Show Mask area on camera preview is checked then Mask will be visible on your camera preview.  If this option is unchecked then Mask will not be shown on the camera preview.  But motion will not be detected in the selected Mask area.