The pre-record feature of Reolink battery-powered cameras enables users to capture important events before motion is detected. This ensures that all details of the event are recorded, giving users a complete view of what happened. If standard motion recording doesn’t meet your needs, pre-record mode is your best option, allowing you to see every detail of events from the beginning to the end—just like a great detective.
Applies to: Reolink Altas PT, Reolink Altas PT Ultra.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the pre-recording mode, organized into the next three parts.
2. How to Set up Pre-recording Mode
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1. What is Pre-recording Mode
Pre-record mode is a surveillance feature that captures video footage for 10 seconds (Not adjustable). Before motion is detected. It ensures that battery-powered cameras capture the entire event, addressing issues where PIR sensors might miss events or delay recording due to the installation environment, while also saving SD card space.
Notes:
1. The Reolink Altas series pre-recording mode feature is applicable for SD card recording, FTP, and cloud storage, and is not available for email attachments.
2. Currently, the pre-recording mode can only be configured in the Reolink App.
2. How to Set up Pre-recording Mode
Step 1. Tap the "Settings" button on the right and turn on the "Pre-Recording Mode".
Step 2. You can adjust "Frame Rate" and tap "Schedule" to adjust the time according to your needs. If you don't want to stay in the "Always On" mode, you can tap "Custom" to adjust the settings.
The default frame rate for pre-recording is 5 fps, which can be adjusted to 10 fps. Switching to 10 fps will increase power consumption by 40% to 50%. The longer the device operates continuously, the more power it will consume. When the battery level is low (default set at 20%, adjustable by the user), the pre-recording feature will be disabled, and the device will automatically switch to PIR-triggered alarm mode.
Note: The frame rate of the Reolink Altas PT Ultra may vary under different conditions (currently supported only by app version 4.50), following these guidelines:
Reolink Altas PT Ultra has three frame rate(FPS) settings: Stream FPS, Smart battery mode FPS, and Pre-recording mode FPS.
When both pre-recording mode and smart battery mode are off, the frame rate matches the stream mode setting.
When smart battery mode is enabled, the frame rate will depend on the battery status：
- In low frame rate situations, it will match the smart battery mode setting.
- In full frame rate situations, it will match the stream mode setting.
When the pre-recording mode is enabled, in low frame rate situations, the frame rate will follow the pre-recording mode setting rather than the smart battery mode.
However, if the camera is live viewing, or if Motion Detection (MD) or Passive Infrared Sensoris (PIR) is triggered, the frame rate will revert to the stream mode setting no matter what the situation is.
Step 3. Next, when you enter the "New Schedule" interface, you can adjust the specific time according to your needs. For example, If you don’t want to enable pre-recording mode for Thursday, simply tap the "Thursday" button to turn it gray, and pre-recording will be disabled for that day.
3. Pre-motion Usage Scenarios
1. Customers who need a battery-powered camera to record continuously for a long time or want to record/see the completed events.
2. Customers urgently need to solve the issue of the battery camera being triggered/starting to record too late, so it is recommended to enable the pre-motion recording feature.
3. Customers report that the PIR distance is too short or not being triggered. It is suggested to enable the pre-event recording feature.
If you have any other questions, please get in touch with Reolink Support.