Send Video Recordings from the DVR to a
FTP Server on your PC
Introduction: The DVR has a useful feature that allows you to download recordings directly to a FTP
server on your PC. This is just another way to have the DVR send video files to a computer within your network or to a computer outside of your network. Please note that a simpler method (and more useful) to have your PC record your video is to use PSS (Please refer to our PSS guides on how to achieve this). But there may be some certain circumstances in which you would prefer to have the DVR send video files directly to an FTP server, if so, then this guide is for you.Sending Video Recordings to a PC within your Local Network
(Read this first even, if you decide to send the files to a PC outside your
network)
Step 1: To begin this tutorial first you will need a FTP Server setup on your computer. We recommend
using Filezilla Server because its freeware and fairly easy to use. You can download the server directly from the web address below: (copy and paste it into your web browser)
downloads.sourceforge.net/filezilla/FileZilla_Server-0_9_40.exe
Step 2: Once the file is downloaded browse to it on your computer and double click the file to open it.
You will be taken through a couple steps to install. When you get to the screen below make sure your
settings match the screenshot. The port number is not crucial at this time so please leave it at the
Step 3: Once the install is finished you will be presented with a window titled Connect To Server. This
window will have an IP address of 127.0.0.1 and the port 14147. Now we must choose an administrator
password for the server. This can be anything you decide. For our tutorial we will set the password at test123.Click the OKbutton to confirm settings and to open the program.
Step 4: Now that the program is open you will be viewing the main screen of the FileZilla Server. First,
we must establish a username and password. To begin we will need to click the Edit button at the top of the FileZilla window, then click on Users. This will bring up a new window.
Step 5: Now that we are viewing the Users window click the Add button on the right hand side of the
window, this will bring up another window where you can type in the name of a user. Type in a
username that you prefer, for our tutorial we are going to set the username as "dvr". Once you have a
Step 6: Now that we have our username we will need to establish a password for our ftp account. Click
in the check box next to the password field to enable it, thentype in a password you prefer. For our tutorial we are using the same password as we did when we logged into the FileZilla server, test123.
window allowing you to select which folder the recordings will download to. After you have selected a folder, click OK. Now that we are back at the Shared Folders window we will need to check the box
labeled “Write” under the Files section, then let's be sure to check the box labeled “Create” under the Directories section. If these two box's are not checked the DVR will not be allowed to write to your PC.
After that is complete click the OK button to save
Step 8: Now that we have our FTP Server setup. Let's go to the DVR and open up the on screen menu
by right clicking. Then click on Main Menu at the bottom. Once you are at the main menu click the
Settings icon in the upper right of the window. This will bring up another window, now open up the
settings you will notice a scrollbar at the bottom of the window. Scroll to the very bottom and there will be the FTP option.
focus on and it is labeled IPv4 Address. To the right of this is your computers IP address you
will need to write down. As you can see in our example below our computers IP is 10.0.0.5.
Step 11: Now that we have the FTP option in sight, double click on it to pull up the FTP settings. Let's
begin by first inserting the local IP address of the current computer you wish to transfer recordings to. In our example our IP is 10.0.0.5 so we will insert it into the field labeled Server IP. The port for FTP is defaulted to 21 on both the server and DVR so we will leave that at 21. After you have your IP and port inserted, type your username and password we setup under the users section in the FTP server. Our username was set to dvr and our password will be set at test123. Next, we will need to set the Remote
Directory to the main drive letter your save folder is on. For example, our save path is
C:\Users\Desktop\FTP, therefore our Remote Directory would be C. After typing in your drive letter into the Remote Directory field you will notice the option to the right that says File Length. File Length
needs to be set to the size of files you want your recordings saved as. For example: If you set your File
Step 12: Now that we have the top part of the FTP options set, let's focus on the bottom area. First
begin by selecting which channel you want to record from the dropdown box. We have selected
Channel 4 to record. Next select either one day of the week to record or select Allto record everyday of
the week. Directly under weekday you can set a Time Period to record if preferred. The default settings will record 24 hours a day. Once your options are set be sure and click in the box under General, Motion, or Alarm (depending on what you want)next to the two Time Period slots, this will allow recording for those time periods. As you can see in our examples below we are recording on channel 4, on Tuesday for 24 Hours for general recording.
Step 13: Next we will need to test the connection to make sure it can communicate with our server we
Step 14: Now that we have a successful connection between our DVR and PC click the OK button at the
bottom of the FTP window on the DVR to save the settings. Now that we are back at the network options window check the box next to FTP, then click Save. Your DVR should now be recording directly to the folder you've selected on your computer. Next, locate the folder you selected to download into (inside the folder you chose will be a folder with your IP, then a folder with the date of your recording). All these files will be in the DVR’s native DAV file format so please ensure that you use the file player to play the files.
Note: To turn off the FTP go back into Main Menu-Settings-Network-Scroll to the bottom and Uncheck
FTP, then click Save.
