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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Control4 Smart Device Drivers

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.

Integrating DW Spectrum with Control4

DW Spectrum IPVMS Setup

To allow the Control4 and DW Spectrum software platforms to communicate, the system security settings must be configured within the DW Spectrum System.

Launch the DW Spectrum Client desktop application and log in as an administrator.

Open the Main Menu and select “System Administration”.

The System Administration menu will display.

Select the “General” tab and disable (uncheck) the “Allow only secure connections” setting.

After disabling the Security setting to allow Control4 to act as an unrecognized device with DW Spectrum, click the “Apply” button to save the settings.

Click the “OK” button to save and close the System Administration menu.

Configuring the Control4 Driver

This section is specifically for configuring the driver in the Control4 Composer software.

To set up the driver in Control4 Composer:

Add the driver to 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.

Search for “DW Spectrum IP Camera” in Composer, then add the driver to the project found in the Project Tree.

Camera Properties

For Camera Properties, enter the Hostname and IP address of the DW Spectrum System.
Enter the HTTP Port of the DW Spectrum Server(s).

Default Port – 7001

Enter the RTSP Port of the DW Spectrum Server(s).
- Default Port – 7001

Authentication

Enable (tick/checkmark) “Required”
Enter the username that is used to access the DW Spectrum System
- Default User – admin
Enter the password that is used to access the DW Spectrum System
- Default Password – Dw5pectrum
Change the “Type” setting to “Digest”.

Advanced Properties

Select your preferred camera from the “Available Cameras” property, which should populate and show all detected cameras that are connected through the DW Spectrum System.

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.

Setting Up a DW Spectrum Event Rule to Send a “Do HTTP Request” Action to Control4

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.

Launch the DW Spectrum Client desktop application and log in as an administrator.

Open the Main Menu and select “System Administration”.

The System Administration menu will display.

Select “Event Log”.

The DW Spectrum Event Log will display.

At the bottom of the window, click on the “Event Rules” button.

The DW Spectrum Event Rules window will display.

Click the “Add” button to create a new Event Rule.

A window to create a new Event Rule will display.

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:

When – set the circumstances that will trigger the Event Rule
At – select a specific device (camera) to which this rule applies. Leave as “Any Device” to apply the rule to all devices that are added to the DW Spectrum System.
Schedule – this setting will allow you to specify certain days of the week and time periods where the Event Rule is active or inactive. Leave this setting at its default, where the rule is always active.

In the Action section, configure the following:

Do – set this setting to “Do HTTP request”
HTTP URL – this setting must be the contents of the “Webserver URL” that is found in the Properties tab of the driver in Control4 Composer
HTTP Content – this setting must be a single line that matches an event that is listed in the “Select Event” drop-down list that is found in the Properties tab of the driver in Control4 Composer
Content type – leave as “Auto”
Login – leave blank
Password – leave blank
Authentication type – leave as “Auto”
Request type – set this as “POST”

Setting Up Control4 for “Do HTTP Request” Action

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:

Click the drop-down list for “Select Event”.
Select “Event 1” and press the “Set” button.
Rename the event in the “Change Event Name” field to match what is entered into the “HTTP Content” setting of the DW Spectrum Event Rule. Press the “Set” button to apply the settings.
Select the “Connections” section in Composer
Navigate to the DW Spectrum driver
You should now be able to see cameras through the associated settings

Programming

To use the Control4 driver to send events to DW Spectrum’s Event Log:

Open Composer
Navigate to the “Programming” section
Select the DW Spectrum driver from the Device Actions section on the right-side of the window
Select “Device Specific Command”
Enter the associated “Caption” for the event

**NOTE: Do not use spaces in the Caption or Description fields. If you require spacing, use the underscore (_) symbol.

Enter the associated “Description” for the event
Drag the green “Action” arrow command over to the selected “Device Event” script action.