Get started with NeuroWatch

Set up a recorder, add your cameras and, if you like, watch them from anywhere.

Install NeuroWatch

NeuroWatch runs on a Windows or Linux computer on the same network as your cameras. That computer is your recorder: it captures, records and plays back on its own, with or without the cloud.

Download the installer

The free version runs up to 16 cameras; NeuroWatch Unlimited has no software camera limit. Install it like any other app.

Open Downloads

Open NeuroWatch

The first time it opens, the video wall is empty and every slot offers to add a camera. Add Camera in the toolbar does the same.

The NeuroWatch desktop app on first start: an empty two by two video wall whose slots say Click to Add Camera, and an empty camera list.
A new recorder, ready for its first camera.

Add your cameras

NeuroWatch works with most IP cameras. Cameras that support ONVIF (look for it on the box or spec sheet) are found for you; any other can be added by hand, using the details from its manual.

Search the network

Click Add Camera, open Search Network and click Search. Tick the cameras to add, enter their login once, and add them together. A camera that is already on the wall shows who it was added as.

The Add camera dialog on the Search Network tab, listing four example cameras with their addresses and whether they need a password.
Cameras found on the recorder's network.

Or set one up by hand

On the Camera tab, enter the camera's name, username, password and address, then click Load Streams. Choose the Main stream, which is recorded, and the Grid stream shown on the wall. Test Connection shows a preview before you save.

The Camera tab with an example camera called Lobby: address, main and grid streams chosen, and a successful connection test with a preview.
The camera's streams, with a test preview.

Watch the wall

Added cameras appear on the video wall, live. A red dot on a tile means the camera is recording.

The NeuroWatch video wall with four live example cameras, Front entrance, Car park, Warehouse and Reception, all recording.
Four cameras live and recording.

Watch recordings

Everything a camera records stays on the recorder. Playback shows several cameras side by side on one timeline, so you can follow something from camera to camera.

Load a time range

Open Playback, tick the cameras to watch, choose From and To, and click Load Recordings. Each camera gets a row on the timeline: green is recorded, the small marks are events.

The Playback tab with four example cameras loaded side by side, and a timeline showing recorded periods and event marks for each camera.
Four cameras played back together.

Move through the footage

Click or drag on the timeline to jump, scroll to zoom in, and Play every camera at once at ×¼ to ×4 speed. Events only skips the quiet hours and plays just the moments that matter.

Bookmark a moment

Pause on something worth finding again and click Add Bookmark. Add a note; tick Keep this footage and that moment is kept, even when the drive fills up, until you remove the bookmark.

The Add bookmark dialog for the Front entrance camera, with the note Parcel delivered and Keep this footage ticked.
A bookmark that keeps its footage.

Motion detection and events

Events are what happened: motion, line crossings and other camera alerts, cameras going offline, recordings failing, and your bookmarks.

Turn on motion detection

To use the camera's own detection, select the camera, click Edit Camera and open Motion. For NeuroWatch's detection, open Plugins, choose NeuroWatch Motion, click Bind Camera… and draw zones in the camera's Settings: + Watch adds an area where movement counts, + Ignore one where it never does.

The Motion tab of an example car park camera, with a watched zone over the parking bays and an ignored zone over the street.
Watch the parking bays, ignore the street.

Review events

The Events tab lists events newest first, with a picture of each. Filter by camera, type, status or time. Play Recording opens that moment in Playback, and Export Clip… saves it as a video.

The Events tab listing example motion, line crossing, intrusion and bookmark events, with the selected motion event's picture and details.
Events with their pictures.

Get alerts

Open the menu at the top left (≡) and choose Alert Notifications…. Choose where alerts go, such as this computer, your phone (with the free ntfy app) or a Telegram chat, then decide which events to send and when, for example motion after hours only. Alerts keep coming even when the app is closed.

The Alert notifications dialog with two example rules: after-hours motion on two cameras sent to a phone, and camera offline sent everywhere.
Two alert rules.

Export a clip

Save part of a recording as an MP4 file, to share it or keep it somewhere else.

Choose the clip

Open the menu at the top left (≡) and choose Export Video…, or Export Clip… on an event. Pick a camera and a time range and click Load, then drag the yellow handles on the timeline, type the times, or use Start at playhead and End at playhead.

The Export video dialog for the Front entrance camera, with a four-minute clip selected between the yellow handles and a preview of it.
A four-minute clip, ready to export.

Save it

Click Export… and choose where to save it. Exports are quick and keep every detail of the original footage.

Watch and review from anywhere

The portal shows every linked recorder and its cameras, from any browser.

Open a recorder

Recorders lists every linked recorder. Open one to see a snapshot of each camera, refreshed every 30 seconds, then open a camera to watch it live.

A recorder called Head office in the portal: online, with snapshots of four example cameras, each marked live and recording.
A recorder's cameras in the portal.

Watch recordings in the browser

On a camera, switch between Live view, Recordings and Export. In Recordings, choose a day, or a Date range of up to 31 days, then Play recording or click the timeline. On a phone, pinch the video to zoom and drag the timeline to move through the day.

A camera's Recordings tab in the portal: the player ready to play, and a day's timeline with two recorded periods and event marks.
A day of recordings, ready to play.

Review events

Review events shows the events in the loaded range with their pictures; Review plays one. Events only skips the quiet footage in between.

The Events in this recording range window in the portal, with example events shown as thumbnails and a Review button on each.
The day's events, as pictures.

Export from anywhere

Export puts the clip on the timeline as yellow handles. Drag them, type the Start and End, or Use playhead, then click Export MP4. The recorder cuts the clip and it appears under Exported files with a Download button. Timelapse turns a long span into a short video.

A camera's Export tab in the portal: a five-minute clip between yellow handles, the clip settings, and a list of exported files with one ready to download.
A clip being chosen, and one ready to download.

Every event in one place

The portal's Events page lists a recorder's events, newest first; choose the recorder at the top. Select an event to see its picture. Pictures stay on your recorder and are sent to you privately, only when you look.

The portal Events page listing example events with thumbnails, and the selected car park motion event with its picture and details.
Events in the portal.

If something does not work

The most common snags, and what to do about them.

The search finds no cameras

Some cameras don't announce themselves on the network. Choose Set Up Manually… and enter the camera's address instead; you'll find it in the camera's own app or in your router's list of devices.

The enrollment code is refused

Codes are shown once and expire after a few minutes. Cancel the code in the portal, create a new one, and paste it straight away.

The portal shows the recorder offline

Check that the recorder computer is on and has internet access. That is all it needs: no router changes. Recording carries on while it is offline, and the portal catches up as soon as it is back.