> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.chirpwireless.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.chirpwireless.io/lens.md).

# Cameras

Keep the home cameras you own, see them together in Chirp, use motion in your automations, and store recordings in your own cloud.

Open **Cameras** in the main navigation to use **Lens**, the camera product within Chirp.

**Lens** is Chirp's cloud camera feature. It lets you check compatible IP cameras and use their motion readings alongside the sensors and automations that help you look after your home.

Here is what Lens gives a household:

* **Every camera in one app.** Front door, garage, garden, and holiday home appear together instead of in a separate app each.
* **No camera shopping.** If a camera can send an RTSP stream, it can usually join.
* **Alerts from old cameras.** Draw the area that matters and a camera with no smart features can still start an automation.
* **Your recordings, your storage.** Keep clips on your own computer, or send a copy to a cloud account you control.

You may already have a camera at the front door and a different brand in the garage. If they provide supported RTSP streams, you can keep those cameras and connect them to Chirp. Your residential setup can span several properties: a main house, a holiday home by the coast, and an apartment. Connect compatible cameras at each property without replacing them all with one manufacturer’s equipment.

<figure><img src="https://1153890212-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FxgYoHO4zlaBzHJcfIrto%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-f6160bc630de5446cb756a461c59984451fd0bfe%2Fchirp-lens-live-view.jpg?alt=media" alt="Chirp Lens showing two connected home-camera feeds"><figcaption><p>Two camera brands together in Chirp Lens, shown in Preview mode.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Why use Chirp Lens at home?

### What if each camera has its own app?

Most households end up with a doorbell from one brand, a garden camera from another, and a cheap indoor camera someone gave you. Each one wants its own app and its own login, and a family member who needs access gets a shared password. Lens gathers them in Chirp. You open one **Live view**, and each person signs in with their own account. Lens needs **Edit** access to Cameras, so give **Edit** to the people who should use it and **No access** to everyone else; a person with only **View** access to Cameras sees nothing in Lens. Access is set per feature, which means someone can manage the cameras without being able to change your sensors. A housemate who moves out loses access in one step.

### Do I have to buy new cameras?

No. Lens works from the RTSP video stream, which most IP cameras on the market can send. Look up your model in [RTSP Camera URLs](/lens/rtsp-camera-urls.md); if it lists a stream address, you are most of the way there. You can add one camera today and another next month.

### How can a cheap camera trigger an automation?

Draw a rectangle around the garage door on the camera's picture, and Twin watches only that rectangle for movement. A camera bought years ago can then start an automation when something moves by the door, and cars passing on the street do not. See [Motion Zones](/lens/motion-zones.md). Lens detects movement, not people or pets, and understanding what a camera sees is something we are working toward, not something available now.

### Where can I keep my recordings?

On the computer running Twin, and if you want a second copy, in a cloud account you own (Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Walrus). Details are in [Back Up Home Camera Recordings to the Cloud](/lens/cloud-archive.md).

### What can a camera do with my other devices?

Lens turns every camera into a device in your home, reporting two readings: **Camera motion** and **Camera status**. Use those readings in an automation or alert exactly as you would a door contact or a thermostat. Today you can combine a camera's motion with a door sensor and get an alert only when the door is open too.

Here is a scenario to show where this leads, not something Chirp does today. You are away, and the front-door sensor reports the door opened at 3 a.m. Because the camera, the sensor, and your lights all live in one platform, one automation could turn on the hallway light and send you the camera view at the same time. The more of your home shares one platform, the more situations like that you can set up.

## What is a camera's Twin?

**Twin** is the program you install on a computer at the property. It is the digital twin of one physical camera: it connects to that camera's video on your home network and links the camera to Lens. It runs as a Docker container. Lens is the cloud side; Twin stays at your premises.

There is **one Twin container for each camera**. Two cameras need two Twins. Twenty cameras need twenty. A suitable computer can run more than one container, but each needs its own configuration and enough host resources.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  A[Front-door camera] --> B[Front-door Twin at home]
  C[Garden camera] --> D[Garden Twin at home]
  B --> E[Chirp Lens in the cloud]
  D --> E
  E --> F[Check live video]
  E --> G[Use motion in home rules]
```

RTSP is the camera's video-streaming connection. You will need its address and login details. ONVIF can help discover and control supported cameras. Check the camera's own settings or manual for those features.

## How can Lens make an older camera smart?

Some home cameras come with smart features built in, which means a small computer inside each camera running its maker's software. Lens does not need any of that. The camera only has to send its video as an RTSP stream, which most IP cameras can do, including older ones.

The processing happens off the camera. Twin, on a computer in your home, watches the stream, detects motion in the areas you draw and can keep local recordings. Chirp shows the live video and lets the camera's motion reading start rules, just like a reading from any of your other sensors.

That means you can:

* keep the cameras you already own, whatever the brand
* get motion alerts from an older camera that has no smart features of its own
* pick up Twin and Chirp updates without buying new cameras

For example, you have a camera above the back door and a door sensor on the same door. When the camera sees movement at the doorway, a rule checks the door sensor and sends an alert to your phone if the door is open.

## Who in your household can see the cameras?

Instead of sharing one camera-app password, each household member signs in with their own Chirp account. You choose for each person whether they get **Edit** or **No access** to Cameras; Lens needs **Edit**, and **View** access to Cameras does not open the Lens screens (see [Users and Permissions](/account/users-and-permissions.md)). If someone moves out, you remove their access in Chirp without changing anything on the cameras. The local Twin login stays separate.

## Where is Lens going?

We are adding more AI to Lens. It runs off the camera, where there is room for larger models and smarter logic than a chip inside a single camera can hold. Because of that, the cameras you already own, even older ones, get new features through software updates instead of being replaced. Today, Lens detects motion in the areas you draw; it does not recognize people or objects.

## How do I watch only the part that matters?

A camera facing the front steps may also see people passing on the pavement. In Twin, draw a motion area around the doorway. Movement there can change the camera's motion reading, while activity outside the area does not trigger that detection.

An older camera does not need its own AI feature for this. Twin performs the selected-area motion detection, and a Chirp rule can use the result to raise a household alert. It detects movement rather than recognizing who is at the door.

## How do I go from live checks to a home setup?

Use Lens to check the entrance or garden, then combine camera motion with the platform's rule and alarm workflows. Configure an alert for the times it is useful, rather than treating every movement as a reason to notify everyone.

## How do I save my favorite camera view?

A [videowall](/lens/videowalls.md) puts selected home cameras in a layout you can save. Give each property its own wall, then create more focused views for outdoor areas, a floor, or the garage. Within one organization, this lets you move between properties and the smaller areas you want to check.

## How do I get connected?

Start with [Installing Twin](/lens/installing-twin.md), using the official [Twin Docker image](https://hub.docker.com/r/chirpiot/lens-twin). Then [connect a camera](/lens/connecting-a-camera.md) and [watch live video](/lens/watching-live-video.md).

Once the view works, set up [Motion Zones](/lens/motion-zones.md), [Camera Rules and Alerts](/lens/camera-rules-and-alerts.md), optional [Local Recordings](/lens/local-recordings.md), or a [Cloud Archive](/lens/cloud-archive.md).

For ongoing administration, see [Managing Cameras](/lens/managing-cameras.md). Cameras that live behind a provider account, and HomeKit accessories, are covered in [Provider Camera Sources](/lens/connecting-cloud-camera-sources.md).