Control4 Driver Integration with DW Spectrum
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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS
Complexity: Medium
Software Version: DW Spectrum v4.2 or newer
Last Edit: January 20, 2022
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To integrate IP cameras that are managed by and connected to a DW Spectrum System with the Chowmain© Control4 software, some setting configuration is required. By setting up a driver in the Control4 Composer program, you can view a camera that is registered to a DW Spectrum System through the Control4 UI (user interface). Additionally, event notifications can be sent between DW Spectrum and Control4.
This article will outline how to perform the required basic setup in DW Spectrum for the Control 4driver, configuring the driver, and how to set up an Event Rule for requested actions.
**NOTE: At the time of this writing, Control4 Version 20210517 was the current Control4 software build.
To allow the Control4 and DW Spectrum software platforms to communicate, the system security settings must be configured within the DW Spectrum System.
Open the Main Menu and select “System Administration”.
Select the “General” tab and disable (uncheck) the “Allow only secure connections” setting.
Click the “OK” button to save and close the System Administration menu.
This section is specifically for configuring the driver in the Control4 Composer software.
To set up the driver in Control4 Composer:
In System Design view, click the “My Drivers” tab to find “device” drivers, then add them to the Project Tree.
**NOTE: Control4 drivers can be found in the computer’s file directory of Start > Programs > Control4 > Composer [version#] > Composer Directories.
Camera Properties
Authentication
Advanced Properties
Snapshot Settings
You can modify the size of the snapshot image which is displayed in the camera grid view on Control4’s UI and is sent as an attachment to Control4’s mobile application. It is not recommended to increase these values
RTPS Settings
It is possible to change the resolution of the video stream to a lower resolution if higher resolution settings prove to be problematic.
Events
Use the fields in this portion of Composer to handle events that are sent using DW Spectrum Event Rules – “Do HTTP Request” action
**NOTE: See the section “Setup Control4 to handle a Do HTTP Request Action” send a “Do HTTP Request” for detailed configuration.
The follow section will outline a simple setup of an Event Rule in DW Spectrum that will trigger a control binding through the Control4 driver.
Open the Main Menu and select “System Administration”.
Select “Event Log”.
At the bottom of the window, click on the “Event Rules” button.
Click the “Add” button to create a new Event Rule.
In the Event section of the rule setup, configure the event settings that will trigger the Event Rule when the conditions are met. You may configure the following:
In the Action section, configure the following:
For the DW Spectrum Event Rule to work with Control4, event settings must be configured.
Under the Events Settings in the Properties tab of the driver:
To use the Control4 driver to send events to DW Spectrum’s Event Log:
**NOTE: Do not use spaces in the Caption or Description fields. If you require spacing, use the underscore (_) symbol.