Very good but one flaw
App worked straight out of the box and is the best I’ve found for controlling multiple PTZ cameras.
Only issue is the PTZ control is way too fast when zoomed in, to the point where it is basically unusable.
Would be perfect if you could tap-hold-and-drag on the screen to make fine PTZ adjustments.
Only issue is the PTZ control is way too fast when zoomed in, to the point where it is basically unusable.
Would be perfect if you could tap-hold-and-drag on the screen to make fine PTZ adjustments.
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A fantastic app, missing one thing.
It's more expensive than I would have expected, but it does a great job controlling BirdDog cameras on the local network.
The only thing it really needs is support for gamepads. iOS supports a generic gamepad interface that could make this app so much easier to control than the touch screen.
The only thing it really needs is support for gamepads. iOS supports a generic gamepad interface that could make this app so much easier to control than the touch screen.
Yeah well…
So I finally got my iPad to talk to birddog and even stored the lens functions of point, tilt and zoom.
But any of the camera control functions?
No cigar.
If you think this thing works as easily and simply as they say, think again.
If you care about matching cameras or accessing the color matrix or other grading functions for multi camera usage (frustratingly greyed put in the app) you’ll need to contact your IT guy.
Apparently I need to turn the auto off, but that button doesn’t exist in the app.
IT, yeah… let’s make this as difficult as possible.
But any of the camera control functions?
No cigar.
If you think this thing works as easily and simply as they say, think again.
If you care about matching cameras or accessing the color matrix or other grading functions for multi camera usage (frustratingly greyed put in the app) you’ll need to contact your IT guy.
Apparently I need to turn the auto off, but that button doesn’t exist in the app.
IT, yeah… let’s make this as difficult as possible.
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Can’t control Canon NDI PTZ
I purchased this app thinking I could control other NDI enabled PTZ cameras but I can’t find how to control the Canon CR-N300 cameras, I can only see the NDI feed.
Great app
Very handy app for ptz control for Birddog deployments !
Please add option for Discovery Servers
Big fan of BirdDog products from hardware to software. Working with about 60 encode/decode HDMI, 6 ptz, and 4 box cams it’s fantastic to have quick access to a viewer and now controller. I swapped a P400 off the discovery server and showed up as you’d expect. Easy and quick use from an iPhone. Like the other reviewer there are UI bugs but for a first release I’m excited to see where this app goes!
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Does what it says on the tin
It took me a minute to work out how to scan for NDI sources (pull to refresh on the left) but once I did they all showed up instantly and I was able to preview and control my P100 over wifi. Haven’t used it on a production yet but so far it’s working as advertised.
Doesn’t support access manager
Was very keen for this app, but it doesn’t allow specifying IPs for cameras, so I have no way of using it yet. Am hoping this review helps others before purchasing but if this can get fixed, I’ll definitely test it out and update my review. Edit: yes these features aren’t listed in the app description, but I feel they should be expected from any NDI product these days, so am giving it 5 stars even though I haven’t been able to use it yet
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UI needs some element work
On first glance and running through the app I like the items but there are some glaring issues that it seems all remote controls apps mess up.
Pros:
- Nice layout.
- Easy to setup and get going
- The video quality for WiFi is good
- The remote control is good for WiFi. Some latency to be expected.
- The ability to tune a camera in the room with the camera is ideal so lighting may be adjusted and setup of sets. Good for those who setup at different locations.
Cons:
- Not sure why but all the numbers on the settings are wrong. In the exposure settings area you have 6 for Iris when it is really 1.6. You have 4 for DB gain when it is really 10.4.
- The numbers for the sliders are right aligned. These should be center aligned on the slider and have the same look as the webUI. F2.0, 10.4DB, 1/60. This will keep UI’s consistent and we can see the full values.
- When a slider is adjusted in iOS the change shows up in the WebUI right away. But if you change in the WebUI it does not change in iOS. Polling issue.
- Some settings are just missing. Sharpness in iOS stops at 0 while in the WebUI you may go down to negative numbers. These should be consistent.
- Sliders for color have same issue as exposer. They don’t have current selection and worst they show 0 for gain when the WebUI shows 32 as a default. These need to match. Also, move the numbers to center so full numbers will show.
Summary:
I like the tool and look forward to the updates to fix the UI so you may actually use it to adjust the camera but as it stands now not seeing the full numbers is a big issue. The last UI for a remote camera I used in NDI had this same issue. Not sure why that would be but seems like a simple and vastly overlooked QA issue.
A good step to a remote tool. Seeing this on android and others would be great.
Pros:
- Nice layout.
- Easy to setup and get going
- The video quality for WiFi is good
- The remote control is good for WiFi. Some latency to be expected.
- The ability to tune a camera in the room with the camera is ideal so lighting may be adjusted and setup of sets. Good for those who setup at different locations.
Cons:
- Not sure why but all the numbers on the settings are wrong. In the exposure settings area you have 6 for Iris when it is really 1.6. You have 4 for DB gain when it is really 10.4.
- The numbers for the sliders are right aligned. These should be center aligned on the slider and have the same look as the webUI. F2.0, 10.4DB, 1/60. This will keep UI’s consistent and we can see the full values.
- When a slider is adjusted in iOS the change shows up in the WebUI right away. But if you change in the WebUI it does not change in iOS. Polling issue.
- Some settings are just missing. Sharpness in iOS stops at 0 while in the WebUI you may go down to negative numbers. These should be consistent.
- Sliders for color have same issue as exposer. They don’t have current selection and worst they show 0 for gain when the WebUI shows 32 as a default. These need to match. Also, move the numbers to center so full numbers will show.
Summary:
I like the tool and look forward to the updates to fix the UI so you may actually use it to adjust the camera but as it stands now not seeing the full numbers is a big issue. The last UI for a remote camera I used in NDI had this same issue. Not sure why that would be but seems like a simple and vastly overlooked QA issue.
A good step to a remote tool. Seeing this on android and others would be great.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback Sautez, there is certainly the ability to report the corresponding values for BirdDog cameras, this has been logged, and we will look to add this in ASAP. However all cameras are different, so that will likely not extend to 3rd party cameras.
