Sightline pulls it.
If the camera can be reached from the internet, paste its RTSP address and Sightline pulls the stream from it. Most DOT traffic cameras and many site cameras work this way.
Will it work with my cameras?
Almost certainly, if they are IP cameras or sit behind a recorder. Here is how to tell in a few minutes, and how to connect them.
Two ways in.
The camera pushes out.
If it cannot be reached (behind a firewall, on cellular, on Starlink), choose that when you add it. You get an RTMP or SRT address and a key, and the camera or the recorder sends its video out to Sightline. Nothing on your firewall is opened.
Either way, Sightline tests the connection before you go on, and shows the camera's picture or a plain error that says what to fix.
Finding a camera's RTSP address.
The address is the camera's IP address, its user name and password, and a path that depends on the maker. These are the paths as each maker documents them. Replace the address and the sign-in with your camera's own.
- Axis
rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20/axis-media/media.ampAdd ?resolution=1280x720 for a smaller stream.As the maker documents it - Hikvision
rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20:554/Streaming/Channels/101Channel 101 is the main stream; 102 is the sub-stream.As the maker documents it - Dahua and Amcrest
rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0subtype=1 is the sub-stream.As the maker documents it - Hanwha (Wisenet)
rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20:554/profile2/media.smpThe profile number follows the camera’s own profile list.As the maker documents it - Reolink
rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.20:554/h264Preview_01_mainTurn RTSP on first, under Network, Advanced, Server settings.As the maker documents it - Ubiquiti UniFi Protect
rtsps://192.168.1.10:7441/<the camera’s token>Turn RTSP on for the camera in Protect, which then shows its address.As the maker documents it
A recorder (an NVR) usually has one address per channel, in the same form. If your maker is not here, its manual or support page will name an "RTSP URL" or "stream URL".
The cameras that cannot work.
Some consumer cameras send their video only to their maker's own cloud and offer no stream to anyone else: Ring, Google Nest and Blink among them. No product outside those makers can read them, and neither can Sightline.
Any camera that offers RTSP, or any recorder or encoder that can publish by RTMP or SRT, can.
If it will not connect.
- It cannot be reached. The camera is on a private network. Either let it be reached from the internet, which is a decision for whoever runs your network, or have it push out instead, which opens nothing.
- It refuses the sign-in. Check the user name and password in the address, and that the camera's RTSP service is turned on; on many cameras it is off by default.
- The path is wrong. The camera answers but has no stream at that path. Check the path against the maker's documentation above, or try its sub-stream.
Try one camera first.
A trial covers two cameras with detection. Connect the one you are least sure of.