[List] Proper Camera Config, lets go!

[Fettkeewl]

Hello peeps,
Instead of everyone with the same cameras struggling with the frigate.yml setup process I was thinking we could make this thread about the most optimal setup for Cameras as in regards to setting up the actual camera in frigate.yml,

I'll start off by inserting my config as it works for me and my cameras, if anyone sees better settings that I could apply please feel free to post about it and I could then update this post. For cameras I don't have, ill strictly adhere to what you post and update accordingly as people see fit.

Post config and camera models that it works for!

Tapo C200, C310, C520WS

Remember to create a camera account with your custom
Username and Password
From within your Tapo App > Camera > Camera Settings > Advanced Settings > Camera Account

# Camera stream definitions
go2rtc:
  streams:
     # High res main stream name
    CameraName:
      - "ffmpeg:rtsp://Username:Password@CameraIP:554/stream1#video=copy#audio=copy#audio=aac"
     # Low res sub stream name
    CameraName_sd:
      - rtsp://Username:Password@CameraIP:554/stream2

# Camera entity definitions and settings
cameras:
  # camera entity name
  CameraName:
    ffmpeg:
      output_args:
        record: preset-record-generic-audio-copy
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CameraName
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CameraName_sd
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect 
    detect:
      width: 640 
      height: 360
      fps: 5

[XT-Martinez]

Hi,

I just came across this post and just wanted to add a better protocol for high quality stream.
Since go2rtc v1.2, the proprietary camera protocol that the Tapo App use is now supported.
This works much better for me as it connects almost instantly unlike RTSP where I often get timeout errors from go2rtc logs.
The tapo protocol also supports 2-way audio which is great. It was the only reason I use the Tapo App.

streams:
    camera.livingroom:
        - tapo://admin:<TP_LINK_TAPO_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD_SHA256_UPPERCASE>@<CameraIP>

P.S. I have the Tapo C200 model

[PatSloan]

this does not work on the C325wb cameras from tapo.

I tried all variations of this with Frigate 13rc1 and got

- tapo://camadmin:[email protected]:554/stream1
- "ffmpeg:driveway#audio=aac#timeout=5"

logs show after doing a ffprobe

2024-01-24 10:26:52.199483804  [2024-01-24 10:26:52] ffmpeg.driveway.record         ERROR   : rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/driveway: Invalid data found when processing input
2024-01-24 10:26:52.199578613  [2024-01-24 10:26:52] watchdog.driveway              INFO    : Terminating the existing ffmpeg process...
2024-01-24 10:26:52.199627193  [2024-01-24 10:26:52] watchdog.driveway              INFO    : Waiting for ffmpeg to exit gracefully...

[XT-Martinez]

I think the username should be specifically admin and the password should be the SHA256 encrypted string (Uppercase) of the Tapo account password, not the rtsp password that you set via Tapo App. There should also be no rtsp port like this:

tapo://admin:<TAPO_SHA256_PASSWORD>@CameraIP

You can see the documentation for tapo protocol here https://github.com/AlexxIT/go2rtc?tab=readme-ov-file#source-tapo

[PatSloan]

Thanks, will check that out.

[BornInThe50s]

I seem to be having issues with getting the Tapo protocol to connect. I've tried the 3 dfferent authentication methods (MD5, SHA256 & Cloud password) as shown on the protocol readme https://github.com/AlexxIT/go2rtc?tab=readme-ov-file#source-tapo as below

frigate.yml - Got2RTC

frigate.yml - Camera config ( I put the audio detect in the main stream otherwise it wouldn't save the frigate.yml file)

With those configs set I can view the cameras etc but get this in the log

If I remove the second stream from both the Go2RTC and camera configs, and uncomment the detect/record on the main stream I get no video just the authorisation error.

The MD5 and SHA256 hash are created from the Tapo Cloud password (is this the Tapo app password as I don't actually use the Tapo cloud service?) I have also tried the Tapo RTSP stream account password as hash's without success.

Frigate - 0.13.2-6476f8a
Go2RTC - go2rtc 1.8.4
HAOS on a NUC - Core 2024.7.4
Supervisor 2024.06.2
Operating System 12.4
Frontend 20240710.0

Any ideas how I can get the main stream working with the tapo protocol - it works fine when using the regular frigate rtsp connection format and not using Go2RTC. I'd like to get away from the rtsp stream and using the rtsp account on the camera's for Frigate altogether (if posible) and just use the tapo stream for detect/record.

EDIT

After some digging around it seems that Tapo have rolled out a firmware fix that causes this issue. The issue appears to have been fixed for the Home Assistant integration but not Go2RTC as far as I can tell.
JurajNyiri/HomeAssistant-Tapo-Control#551 (comment)

I'll leave this here for reference.

[Fettkeewl]

Hi,

I just came across this post and just wanted to add a better protocol for high quality stream. Since go2rtc v1.2, the proprietary camera protocol that the Tapo App use is now supported. This works much better for me as it connects almost instantly unlike RTSP where I often get timeout errors from go2rtc logs. The tapo protocol also supports 2-way audio which is great. It was the only reason I use the Tapo App.

streams:
    camera.livingroom:
        - tapo://admin:<TP_LINK_TAPO_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD_SHA256_UPPERCASE>@<CameraIP>

P.S. I have the Tapo C200 model

Cool! trying it out now :) Interesting to see how many errors dissappear from my go2rtc logs
thanks for the tip

[muunk1e]

How do you set up the sub stream for detection?

[Fettkeewl]

@XT-Martinez it's strange, video is working flawlessly.
however in frigate I get no sound viewing through MSE but I do have sound in my frigate card that I think is using the Go2rtc stream.
How did you resolve this? I want my recordings (that i think use MSE stream) to have audio aswell

[raeserfisk]

I'll +1 this question. I have full sound in MSE and 2RTC but not in any recordings. Have anyone solved this? Apart from sound the tapo://-solution is amazing! :)

[WegnerDan]

Were you able to solve the audio issue?

[raeserfisk]

I switched back and forth between rtsp:// and tapo:// without a final conclusion - got sounds working on both though with the FFMpeg#aac-solution. Currently running rtsp but I'll try to set the cams on ethernet to make sure I've covered all ends.

[Waank1]

Still learning, this code works with Foscam VZ4 4MP:

'''
mqtt:
enabled: True

cameras:
front_east:
enabled: True
ffmpeg:
inputs:
- path: rtsp://USERNAME:[email protected]:443/videoMain
roles:
- detect
detect:
width: 3480 # <---- update for your camera's resolution
height: 2160 # <---- update for your camera's resolution
fps: 5
record: # <----- Enable recording
enabled: True
retain:
days: 3
mode: motion
events:
retain:
default: 7
mode: active objects
objects:
cat: 2
person: 7
'''

I only have one camera working, I have yet to figure out how to add a second I always get Frigate.yaml errors.

[michaellunzer]

thank you!!!! this was exactly what worked for me. I was getting a ton of 401 UNAUTHORIZED on Docker Wyze Bridge.

rtsp://USERNAME:[email protected]):PORT