Blue Iris Security Camera Integration

First of all, I love the new feature of being able to add custom channels. I've added three security cameras as channels which is working great. I Blue Iris for monitoring all my cameras in one place and there is a consolidated view in Blue Iris that I would like to add as a channel and this is where I am stuck.

@Helios2 has helped me troubleshoot and get to where I am so far, but I'm stuck with an error that I can't resolve with respect to Blue Iris feed.

Setup is as follows:
Channels 000,001and 002 are all rtsp feeds directly from the cameras. These work great.
Channel 003 is rtsp from Blue Iris. It works if I open in VLC player, but I get errors in Channels and it never opens.

Here is the Setup File:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="Attic" channel-number="000" tvg-logo="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/04/25/istock-115796521-fcf434f36d3d0865301cdcb9c996cfd80578ca99-s800-c85.jpg" tvg-name="TCAM" tvc-guide-title="Squirrel Cam" tvc-guide-description="Live shot of attic" tvc-guide-art="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/04/25/istock-115796521-fcf434f36d3d0865301cdcb9c996cfd80578ca99-s800-c85.jpg",TCAM2
rtsp://user:[email protected]:554

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="FrontDoor" channel-number="001" tvg-logo="https://i.ibb.co/kHvRksm/cameraicon.png " tvg-name="Front Door" tvc-guide-title="Front Door Cam" tvc-guide-description="Live view of Front Door" ,Front Door View
rtsp://user:[email protected]:554

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="LaundryDoor" channel-number="002" tvg-logo="https://i.ibb.co/kHvRksm/cameraicon.png " tvg-name="Laundry Door" tvc-guide-title="Laundry Door Cam" tvc-guide-description="Live view of Laundry Door", Laundry Door View
rtsp://user:[email protected]:554

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="AllCams" channel-number="003" tvg-logo="https://i.ibb.co/kHvRksm/cameraicon.png " tvg-name="Combined Cams" tvc-guide-title="All Cams in one view" tvc-guide-description="Live view of all cameras" ,All Cams View
rtsp://user:[email protected]:81/AllCams

And here is the error I get for channel 003 when trying to tune to the channel:

2020/12/15 09:39:26.464869 [TNR] Opened connection to M3U-Haymarket for ch003 All Cams View
2020/12/15 09:39:26.466771 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 003 from 192.168.1.28 (encoder=remux, resolution=, deinterlacer=, bitrate=0)
2020/12/15 09:39:26.611566 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [rtsp @ 00000000026124c0] method SETUP failed: 461 Unsupported transport
2020/12/15 09:39:32.483750 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [mpegts @ 0000000002975700] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:0; previous: 80191, current: 0; changing to 80192. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
2020/12/15 09:39:32.483750 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [mpegts @ 0000000002975700] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:0; previous: 80192, current: 19711; changing to 80193. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
2020/12/15 09:39:32.483750 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [mpegts @ 0000000002975700] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:0; previous: 80193, current: 39331; changing to 80194. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
2020/12/15 09:39:32.483750 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [mpegts @ 0000000002975700] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:0; previous: 80194, current: 59041; changing to 80195. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
2020/12/15 09:39:32.483750 [HLS] ffmpeg: rtsp-AllCams: [mpegts @ 0000000002975700] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:0; previous: 80195, current: 78571; changing to 80196. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
2020/12/15 09:39:36.521530 [HLS] Probe failed for live stream after 10.0547585s and 0 bytes
2020/12/15 09:39:42.492607 [HLS] Couldn't generate stream playlist for ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28: Timeout waiting for session to start after 8s
2020/12/15 09:39:42.492607 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28 (out: 0s, finished: false)
2020/12/15 09:39:42.493597 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28-remux: [mpegts @ 000000000258ba80] Could not find codec parameters for stream 1 (Audio: aac ([15][0][0][0] / 0x000F), 0 channels, fltp): unspecified sample rate
2020/12/15 09:39:42.493597 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28-remux: Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
2020/12/15 09:39:42.494596 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28-remux: [hls @ 0000000002b7f380] sample rate not set
2020/12/15 09:39:42.494596 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28-remux: Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): Invalid argument
2020/12/15 09:39:42.494596 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch003-dANY-ip192.168.1.28-remux:

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Seems like it code be an encoding issue, but beyond my capabilities to figure it out.

2 Likes

I don't have a solution for you, but make sure your Blue Iris is version 5.3.1 or higher. Blue Iris added the ability to act as an RTSP Server in that version (I don't believe it works on older builds).

yep, thanks, I'm on Blue Iris 5.3.6. rtsp is working if I open the Blue Iris stream in VLC, so the stream is working - Channels is having a problem interpreting the stream, it seems.

Have you tried adding the video/audio codec to the M3U (the tvc-stream-vcodec/tvc-stream-acodec tag), so that Channels doesn't have to guess what it's receiving.

1 Like

I just tried adding tvc-stream-vcodec="h264" tvc-stream-acodec="aac" and still getting the same error. Current setup is the following:

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="AllCams" channel-number="003" tvg-logo="https://i.ibb.co/kHvRksm/cameraicon.png " tvg-name="Combined Cams" tvc-guide-title="All Cams in one view" tvc-guide-description="Live view of all cameras" tvc-stream-vcodec="h264" tvc-stream-acodec="aac",All Cams View
rtsp://user:[email protected]:81/AllCams

1 Like

I'm trying to add camera feeds from Blue Iris to my Channels DVR (not beta). Do I need to be running the beta version for this to work and must I use M3U playlists? I've added BI camera feeds to other chromecast apps but can't get it to work in the non-beta Channels DVR server.

I was able to tie into BlueIris pretty easy using the UI3 web interface here is my setup

my blueiris ui3 is on ip 192.168.1.100 port 81

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="FrontDoor" channel-number="1.1" tvg-name="FDCam" tvc-guide-title="Front Door Security Camera" tvc-guide-description="Security Camera for Front Door" tvc-stream-vcodec="h264",FDCam
http://UserName:[email protected]:81/h264/FrontDoor/temp.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="BackDoor" channel-number="1.2" tvg-name="BDCam" tvc-guide-title="Back Door Security Camera" tvc-guide-description="Security Camera for Back Door" tvc-stream-vcodec="h264",BDCam
http://UserName:[email protected]:81/h264/bd_cam/temp.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="Garage" channel-number="1.3" tvg-name="GarCam" tvc-guide-title="Garage Security Camera" tvc-guide-description="Security Camera for Garage" tvc-stream-vcodec="h264",GarCam
http://UserName:[email protected]:81/h264/Garage_CAM/temp.m3u8

The camera name in the url is the short camera name

3 Likes

Thanks Airey001 - I basically copied what you had and updated the URLs and it worked. Much appreciated!

Im trying to do the same exact thing and i cant get it going. I also tried the RTSP stream like Brucem and got the same result, works in VLC but not in channels. Im now trying the m3u8 method and its also not working for me. I cant get the m3u8 URL to work anywhere, even outside channels. Is there a BlueIris setting I'm missing?

Blue Iris Version 5.3.9.0

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="Deck" channel-number="1.1" tvg-name="Deck" tvc-guide-title="Deck Cameras" tvc-guide-description="Security Camera for Deck" tvc-stream-vcodec="h264",Deck
http://chnls:[email protected]:8080/h264/DECK/temp.m3u8

I've tried both MPEG-TS and HLS. Which should it be?

Thanks in advance for the help.

i think this is the relevant log ....

2021/02/01 12:21:42.794074 [TNR] Sharing existing connection to M3U-CAMS for ch1.1 Deck (clients=11, len=0)
2021/02/01 12:21:42.796073 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 1.1 from 192.168.2.15 (encoder=remux, resolution=, deinterlacer=, bitrate=0)
2021/02/01 12:21:42.825055 [HLS] ffmpeg: ch1.1-dANY-ip192.168.2.15-remux: pipe:: could not find codec parameters
2021/02/01 12:21:42.845045 [HLS] Couldn't generate stream playlist for ch1.1-dANY-ip192.168.2.15: Stream stopped
2021/02/01 12:21:42.845045 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch1.1-dANY-ip192.168.2.15
2021/02/01 12:21:42.992987 [HLS] Probe failed for live stream after 10.2238372s and 0 bytes

Im aware you can see the password in the URL and the LOG, it will be changed shortly.

I cant seem to authenticate to BI using the m3u8 URLS either through Channels or even in a browser.

LOG:

2021/02/01 13:09:10.337718 [ERR] Failed to start stream for ch1.1: M3U: get http://chnls:[email protected]:8080/h264/DECK/temp.m3u8: 403 Forbidden
2021/02/01 13:09:10.384742 [HLS] Couldn't generate stream playlist for ch1.1-dANY-ip192.168.2.15: M3U: get http://chnls:[email protected]:8080/h264/DECK/temp.m3u8: 403 Forbidden
2021/02/01 13:09:10.384742 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch1.1-dANY-ip192.168.2.15

Does it work if you use the internal IP of Blue Iris server? Is there a reverse proxy or something running in front of it?

thats a public URL. I can browse to the webUI from the channels server using that URL.

its live right now and Thats the password .. you can browse right to it and log in and see my deck!

I mean in your browser. Get it working there first, because if that doesn't work its not going to work in the DVR at all.

Is BI actually running on port 8080 or is there another proxy running on that port. If there's a proxy, that's probably what is not passing the authentication through.

I see the same "Missing or invalid session key" as in your screenshot.

Im running on 8080 straight HTTP, no stunnel or proxy or anything. the m3u8 URLS dont work for me at all even on LAN. Thats why i asked the BI people if they had to make another setting change on their BI server. The only direct stream i can get to work is the RTSP feed and that doesnt seem to work in channels even though it works inside VLC from the channels server.

working in VLC RTSP URL:
rtsp://chnls:[email protected]:8080/DECK&w=1280&h=720

i cross referenced the logs and for some reason its hung up at login. I see in in the BI logs the channels server trying to open the stream and never gets past "login". Im not sure how the other guys got around this. Ill wait for a reply.

Thanks everyone.

On Blue Iris settings, Webserver tab, do you have the cams.linewmans.com:8080 url in the external webserver access? If it's local on your lan, have you tried the IP address directly?

once more update. I was able to use the LAN ip of my BI server by adding some routes internally. My Channels server and by BI server are on different internal VLANS. Once i did that i shut off authentication for LAN clients and removed the username and password from the URLS and it worked. This is of course not ideal but proves it works. If any of the BI users have any insight how they are functioning with username and password auth id love to know how you pulled it off.

Thank You!

Hi, can you share the url that you used to view all cams on 1 channel?

The url i use to see all cams is http://192.168.1.6:81/ui3.htm. but that doesn't work for channels.