MOTION(1)

NAME
motion - Detct motion using a video4linux device or network camera

SYNOPSIS
motion [ -hbnsm ] [ -c config file path ] [ -d level ] [ -k level ] [ -p process_id_file ][ -l log_file ]

DESCRIPTION
Motion uses a video4linux device or network camera to detect motion. If motion is detected both normal and motion pictures can be taken. Motion can also take actions to notify you if needed. Creation of automated snapshots is also possible.

OPTIONS

-c  Full path and filename of config file. For example: /home/kurt/motion.conf The default is /usr/local/etc/motion unless specified differently when building Motion. Many RPMs and Debian packages will use /etc or /etc/motion as the default.

-h  Show help screen.

-b  Run in daemon mode.

-n  Run in non-daemon mode.

-s  Run in setup mode. Also forces non-daemon mode

-d  Run with message log level 1-9.

-k  Run with message log type 1-9

-l  Full path and file name for the log file

-p  Full path and filename for process id file (pid file). E.g /var/run/motion.pid. Default is not defined. Pid file is only created when Motion is started in daemon mode.

-m  Start in pause mode

CONFIG FILE OPTIONS
These are the options that can be used in the config file.
    They are overridden by the commandline! All number values are integer numbers (no decimals allowed). Boolean options can be on or off (values "1", "yes" and "on" all means true and any other value means false).

daemon
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        When specified as ON, Motion goes into daemon (background process) mode and releases the terminal.

process_id_file
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        File to store the process ID, also called pid file.

setup_mode
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Start in Setup-Mode, daemon disabled.

logfile
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        File to save logs messages, if not defined stderr and syslog is used.

log_level
    Values: 1 to 9 (EMG, ALR, CRT, ERR, WRN, NTC, INF, DBG, ALL)
    Default: 6 / NTC
    Description:
        Specify the level of verbosity in the messages sent to the log.

log_type
    Values: COR, STR, ENC, NET, DBL, EVT, TRK, VID, ALL
    Default: ALL
    Description:
        Filter to log messages by type

videodevice
    Values: User specified string
    Default: /dev/video0
    Description:
        String to specify the videodevice to be used for capturing. For Linux, the format is usually /dev/videoX where X varies depending upon the video devices connnected to the computer. For FreeBSD the default device would be /dev/bktr0.

v4l2_palette
    Values: 0 to 17
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SN9C10X : 0  'S910'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SBGGR16 : 1  'BYR2'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SBGGR8  : 2  'BA81'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA561 : 3  'S561'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SGBRG8  : 4  'GBRG'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SGRBG8  : 5  'GRBG'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_PAC207  : 6  'P207'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_PJPG    : 7  'PJPG'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_MJPEG   : 8  'MJPEG'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_JPEG    : 9  'JPEG'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_RGB24   : 10 'RGB3'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA501 : 11 'S501'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA505 : 12 'S505'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_SPCA508 : 13 'S508'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_UYVY    : 14 'UYVY'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_YUYV    : 15 'YUYV'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_YUV422P : 16 '422P'
        V4L2_PIX_FMT_YUV420  : 17 'YU12'
    Default: 17
    Description:
        The v4l2_palette option allows users to choose the prefered palette to be use by motion to capture from the video device. If the prefered palette is not available from the video device, Motion will attempt to use palettes that are supported.

tunerdevice
    Values: User Specified String
    Default: /dev/tuner0
    Description:
        Tuner device to be used for capturing images. This is ONLY used for FreeBSD.

input
    Values:
        -1 : USB Cameras
        0 : video/TV cards or uvideo(4) on OpenBSD
        1 : video/TV cards
    Default: -1
    Description:
        The video input to be used.

norm
    Values:
        0 (PAL)
        1 (NTSC)
        2 (SECAM)
        3 (PAL NC no colour)
    Default: 0 (PAL)
    Description:
        The video norm to use when capturing from TV tuner cards

frequency
    Values: Dependent upon video device
    Default: 0
    Description:
        The frequency to set the tuner in kHz when using a TV tuner card.

power_line_frequency
    Values:
        -1 : Do not modify device setting
        0  : Power line frequency Disabled
        1  : 50hz
        2  : 60hz
        3  : Auto
    Default: -1
    Description:
        Override the power line frequency for the video device.

rotate
    Values: 0, 90, 180, 270
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Rotate image this number of degrees. The rotation affects all saved images as well as movies.

width
    Values: Dependent upon video device
    Default: 352
    Description:
        Image width in pixels for the video device.

height
    Values: Dependent upon video device
    Default: off
    Description:
        Image height in pixels for the video device

framerate
    Values: 2 - 100
    Default: 100
    Description:
        The maximum number of frames to capture in 1 second. The default of 100 will normally be limited by the capabilities of the video device. Typical video devices have a maximum rate of 30.

minimum_frame_time
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        The minimum time in seconds between capturing picture frames from the camera. The default of 0 disables this option and relies upon the capture rate of the camera. This option is used when you want to capture images at a rate lower than 2 per second.

netcam_url
    Values: User specified string
    Default: None
    Description:
        Full connection URL string to use to connect to a network camera. The URL must provide a stream of images instead of only a static image. The following prefixes are recognized
            http:// ftp:// mjpg:// rtsp:// mjpeg:// file://
        The connection string is camera specific. It is usually the same as what other video playing applications would use to connect to the camera stream. Motion currently only supports basic authentication for the cameras. Digest is not currently supported. Basic authentication can be specified in the URL or via the netcam_userpass option.

netcam_userpass
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        The user id and password required to access the network camera string. only basic authentication is supported at this time. Format is in user:password format when both a user name and password is required.

netcam_keepalive
    Values:
        off: The historical implementation using HTTP/1.0, closing the socket after each http request.
        force: Use HTTP/1.0 requests with keep alive header to reuse the same connection.
        on: Use HTTP/1.1 requests that support keep alive as default.
    Default: off
    Description:
        This setting is to keep-alive (open) the network socket between requests. When used, this option should improve performance on compatible net cameras. This option is not applicable for the rtsp:// and mjpeg:// formats.

netcam_proxy
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        If required, the URL to use for a netcam proxy server. For example, "http://myproxy". If a port number other than 80 is needed, append to the specification. For examplet, "http://myproxy:1234".

netcam_tolerant_check
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Use a less strict jpeg validation for network cameras. This can assist with cameras that have poor or buggy firmware.

rtsp_uses_tcp
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        When using a RTSP connection for a network camera, use a TCP transport instead of UDP. The UDP transport frequently results in "smeared" corrupt images.

auto_brightness
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        The auto_brightness feature uses the brightness option as its target value. If brightness is zero auto_brightness will adjust to average brightness value 128. only recommended for cameras without auto brightness.

brightness
    Values: 0 to 255
    Default: 0 (Disabled)
    Description:
        The initial brightness of a video device. If auto_brightness is enabled, this value defines the average brightness level which Motion will try and adjust to.

contrast
    Values: 0 to 255
    Default: 0 (Disabled)
    Description:
        The contrast value to set for the video device.

saturation
    Values: 0 to 255
    Default: 0 (Disabled)
    Description:
        The saturation value to set for the video device.

hue
    Values: 0 to 255
    Default: 0 (Disabled)
    Description:
        The hue value to set for the video device.

roundrobin_frames
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 1
    Description:
        Number of frames to capture in each roundrobin step

roundrobin_skip
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 1
    Description:
        Number of frames to skip before each roundrobin step

switchfilter
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Filter out noise generated by roundrobin

threshold
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 1500
    Description:
        Threshold for number of changed pixels in an image that triggers motion detection

threshold_tune
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Automatically tune the threshold down if possible.

noise_level
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 32
    Description:
        Noise threshold for the motion detection.

noise_tune
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        Automatically tune the noise threshold

despeckle_filter
    Values:
        e/E : erode
        d/D : dilate
        l : label
    Default: EedDl
    Description:
        Despeckle motion image using (e)rode or (d)ilate or (l)abel. The recommended value is EedDl. Any combination (and number of) of E, e, d, and D is valid. (l)abeling must only be used once and the 'l' must be the last letter. Comment out to disable

area_detect
    Values: 1 to 9
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        When motion is detected in the predefined areas indicated below, trigger the script indicated by the on_area_detected. The trigger is only activated once during an event. one or more areas can be specified with this option. Note that this option is only used to trigger the indicated script. It does not limit all motion detection events to only the area indicated.
            Image Areas
            123
            456
            789

mask_file
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        When particular area should be ignored for motion, it can be accomplished using a PGM mask file. The PGM mask file is a specially constructed mask file that allows the user to indicate the areas for which motion should be monitored. This option specifies the full path and name for the mask file.

smart_mask_speed
    Values: 0 to 10
    Default: 0 (off)
    Description:
        Speed of mask changes when creating a dynamic mask file.

lightswitch
    Values: 0 to 100
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Ignore sudden massive light intensity changes. Value is a percentage of the picture area that changed intensity.

minimum_motion_frames
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 1
    Description:
        The minimum number of picture frames in a row that must contain motion before a event is triggered. The default of 1 means that all motion is detected. The recommended range is 1 to 5.

pre_capture
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        The number of pre-captured (buffered) pictures from before motion was detected that will be output upon motion detection. The recommended range is 0 to 5. It is not recommended to use large values since it will cause Motion to skip frames. To smooth movies use larger values of post_capture instead.

post_capture
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Number of frames to capture after motion is no longer detected.

event_gap
    Values: -1 to unlimited
    Default: 60
    Description:
        The number of seconds of no motion that triggers the end of an event. An event is defined as a series of motion images taken within a short timeframe. The recommended value is 60 seconds. The value -1 is allowed and disables events causing all Motion to be written to one single movie file and no pre_capture. If set to 0, motion is running in gapless mode. Movies don't have gaps anymore. An event ends right after no more motion is detected and post_capture is over.

max_movie_time
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Maximum length in seconds of a movie. When value is exceeded a new movie file is created. The value of 0 means that there is no limit.

emulate_motion
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Always save images even if there was no motion.

output_pictures
    Values: on, off, first, best, center
    Default: on
    Description:
        Output pictures when motion is detected. When set to 'first', only the first picture of an event is saved. Picture with most motion of an event is saved when set to 'best'. Picture with motion nearest center of picture is saved when set to 'center'. Can be used as preview shot for the corresponding movie.

output_debug_pictures
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Output pictures with only the pixels moving object (ghost images)

quality
    Values: 1 to 100
    Default: 75
    Description:
        The quality (in percent) to be used by the jpeg compression

picture_type
    Values: jpeg/ppm
    Default: jpeg
    Description:
        The file type of output images

ffmpeg_output_movies
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Use ffmpeg to encode movies of the motion.

ffmpeg_output_debug_movies
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Use ffmpeg to encode movies with only the pixels moving object (ghost images)

ffmpeg_timelapse
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Number of seconds between frame captures for a timelapse movie. Specify 0 to disable the timelapse.

ffmpeg_timelapse_mode
    Values:
        hourly
        daily
        weekly-sunday
        weekly-monday
        monthly
        manual
    Default: daily
    Description:
        File rollover mode for the timelapse video.

ffmpeg_bps
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 400000
    Description:
        Bitrate to be used by the ffmpeg encoder. This option is ignored if ffmpeg_variable_bitrate is not 0.

ffmpeg_variable_bitrate
    Values: 0, 2 to 31
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Enable and define the variable bitrate for the ffmpeg encoder. ffmpeg_bps is ignored if variable bitrate is enabled. When specified as 0, use the fixed bitrate defined by ffmpeg_bps. When defined as 2 - 31 vary the quality of the movie. A value of 2 is best quality versus a value of 31 is worst quality.

ffmpeg_video_codec
    Values:
        Timelapse videos:
            swf - Creates swf file with mpeg-2 encoding.
            mpeg4 - Creates avi file with the default encoding.
        Motion videos:
            mpeg4 - Creates .avi file
            msmpeg4 - Creates .avi file
            swf - Flash film with extension .swf
            flv - Flash video with extension .flv
            ffv1 - FF video codec 1 for Lossless Encoding
            mov - QuickTime
            ogg - Ogg/Theora
            mp4 - MPEG-4 Part 14 H264 encoding
            mkv - Matroska H264 encoding
            hevc - H.265 / HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)
    Default: mpeg4
    Description:
        The container and codec to use when creating videos. When creating timelapse videos, there are only two options and the processing varies due to container/codec limitations. For swf timelapse videos, if motion is shutdown and restarted, new pics will be appended to any previously created file with name indicated for timelapse. For mpeg4 timelapse videos, if motion is shutdown and restarted, new pics will create a new file with the name indicated for timelapse. For regular motion videos, the container/codec must be available in the ffmpeg installed on the computer.

ffmpeg_duplicate_frames
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        When creating videos, should frames be duplicated in order to keep up with the requested frames per second

sdl_threadnr
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Number of motion thread to show in SDL Window

use_extpipe
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Use the external pipe in order to encode videos. This is a replacement option for the FFMPEG builtin encoder for ffmpeg_output_movies only. The options movie_filename and timelapse_filename are also used from the ffmpeg feature

extpipe
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        Command line string to receive and process a pipe of images to encode. Generally, use '-' for STDIN

snapshot_interval
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        When specified as 0, the snapshot feature is disabled. When a value is specified, the value indicates the number of seconds between snapshots.

locate_motion_mode
    Values: on/off/preview
    Default: off
    Description:
        When specified as 'on', locate and draw a box around the moving object. When set 'preview', only draw a box in preview_shot pictures.

locate_motion_style
    Values:
        box : Draw traditional box around the part of the image generating the motion
        redbox : Draw a red box around the part of the image generating the motion
        cross : Draw a cross on the part of the image generating the motion
        redcross : Draw a red cross on the part of the image generating the motion
    Default: box
    Description:
        When locate_motion_mode is enable, this option specifies how the motion will be indicated on the image.

text_right
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %Y-%m-%dT-%q
    Description:
        Text to place in lower right corner of image. Format specifiers follow C function strftime(3)

text_left
    Values: User specified string
    Default: CAMERA %t
    Description:
        Text to place in lower left corner of image. Format specifiers follow C function strftime(3)

text_changes
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        When specified, draw the number of changed pixed on the images. This option will normally be set to off except when you setup and adjust the motion settings. The text is placed in upper right corner of the image.

text_event
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %Y%m%d%H%M%S
    Description:
        Define the value of the special event conversion specifier %C. The user can use any conversion specifier in this option except %C. Date and time values are from the timestamp of the first image in the current event. The %C can be used filenames and text_left/right for creating a unique identifier for each event.

text_double
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Draw characters at twice normal size on images.

exif_text
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        Text to include in a JPEG EXIF comment

target_dir
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        Target base directory for pictures and films. It is recommended to use an absolute path. If this option is not defined, the current working directory is used. This option accepts the conversion specifiers included at the end of this manual.

snapshot_filename
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-snapshot
    Description:
        The file path for snapshots relative to target_dir. The file extension .jpg or .ppm is automatically added so do not include this. A symbolic link called lastsnap.jpg created in the target_dir will always point to the latest snapshot, unless snapshot_filename is exactly 'lastsnap' This option accepts the conversion specifiers included at the end of this manual.

picture_filename
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-%q
    Description:
        The file path for motion triggered images (jpeg or ppm) relative to target_dir. The file extension of .jpg or .ppm is automatically added so do not include this. Set to 'preview' together with best-preview feature enables special naming convention for preview shots. This option accepts the conversion specifiers included at the end of this manual.

movie_filename
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S
    Description:
        File path for motion triggered ffmpeg films (movies) relative to target_dir. The extensions(.swf, .avi, etc) are automatically added so do not include them This option accepts the conversion specifiers included at the end of this manual.

timelapse_filename
    Values: User specified string
    Default: %Y%m%d-timelapse
    Description:
        File path for timelapse movies relative to target_dir. The file extensions(.swf .avi) are automatically added so do not include them This option accepts the conversion specifiers included at the end of this manual.

ipv6_enabled
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Enable or disable IPV6 for http control and stream

stream_port
    Values: 0 to port number limit
    Default: 0
    Description:
        This option is the port number that the mini-http server listens on for streams of the pictures.

stream_quality
    Values: 1 to 100
    Default: 50
    Description:
        The quality in percent for the jpg images streamed.

stream_motion
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Output frames at 1 fps when no motion is detected and increase to the rate given by stream_maxrate when motion is detected

stream_maxrate
    Values: 1 to unlimited
    Default: 1
    Description:
        Maximum frame rate to send to stream

stream_localhost
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Restrict stream connections to localhost only

stream_limit
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Limits the number of images per connection. The default value of 0 means unlimited. The number can be defined by multiplying actual stream rate by the desired number of seconds. The actual stream rate is the smallest of the framerate and stream_maxrate.

stream_auth_method
    Values:
        0 = disabled
        1 = Basic authentication
        2 = MD5 digest (the safer authentication)
    Default: 0
    Description:
        The authentication method to use for viewing the stream.

stream_authentication
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        The username and password to use for authentication of the stream. The format is Username:Password

stream_preview_scale
    Values: 1 to 100
    Default: 25
    Description:
        This defines what percentage the stream image should be scaled to for the preview page

stream_preview_newline
    Values: yes/no
    Default: no
    Description:
        When the image is put on the preview page, should the image start on a new line. This option allows the user to specify whether the preview images should be side by side or stacked on the page.

webcontrol_port
    Values: 0 to maximum port number
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Port number for the web control / preview page.

webcontrol_localhost
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Restrict control connections to localhost only

webcontrol_html_output
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        Specified whether the web control/preview page should be raw or html format. Preview page is always html.

webcontrol_authentication
    Values:
        0 = disabled
        1 = Basic authentication
        2 = MD5 digest (the safer authentication)
    Default: 0
    Description:
        The authentication method to use for viewing the web control.

track_type
    Values:
        0 = none
        1 = stepper
        2 = iomojo
        3 = pwc
        4 = generic
        5 = uvcvideo
        6 = servo
    Default: 0
    Description:
        This option specifies the type of tracker. The generic type enables the definition of motion center and motion size to be used with the conversion specifiers for options like on_motion_detected

track_auto
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Enables/disables the automatic tracking.

track_port
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        The serial port of the motor. For example /dev/ttyS0

Tracking options
    track_motorx, track_motorx_reverse, track_motory, track_motory_reverse
    track_maxx, track_minx, track_maxy, track_miny, track_homex, track_homey
    track_iomojo_id, track_step_angle_x, track_step_angle_y, track_move_wait
    track_speed, track_stepsize

    Values: device dependent
    Default: 0
    Description:
        These options specify the parameters for cameras with tracking capabilities.

quiet
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        Do not sound beeps when detecting motion

Script Options
    on_event_start, on_event_end, on_picture_save
    on_motion_detected, on_area_detected, on_movie_start
    on_movie_end, on_camera_lost
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        Specify the full path and file name for the script to execute when the indicated event occurs. When a file name is required for the script, append a %f to the script string.

sql_log_picture
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        Log to the database when creating motion triggered picture file

sql_log_snapshot
    Values: on/off
    Default: on
    Description:
        Log to the database when creating a snapshot image file

sql_log_movie
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Log to the database when creating motion triggered movie file

sql_log_timelapse
    Values: on/off
    Default: off
    Description:
        Log to the database when creating timelapse movies file

sql_query
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        SQL statement to execute when a event occurs. Use same conversion specifiers as for text features Additional special conversion specifiers are
            %n = the number representing the file_type %f = filename with full path
        Sample table set up (not sql_query):
            Mysql: CREATE TABLE security (camera int, filename char(80) not null, frame int, file_type int, time_stamp timestamp(14), event_time_stamp timestamp(14));
            Postgresql: CREATE TABLE security (camera int, filename char(80) not null, frame int, file_type int, time_stamp timestamp without time zone, event_time_stamp timestamp without time zone);
        Sample sql_query
            insert into security(camera, filename, frame, file_type, time_stamp, text_event) values('%t', '%f', '%q', '%n', '%Y-%m-%d %T', '%C')

database_type
    Values: mysql, postgresql, sqlite3
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        The type of database being used.

database_dbname
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        The name of the database being used (dbname). For Sqlite3, the full path to the database.

database_host
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        The name of the host on which the database is running.

database_user
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        The username to access the database

database_password
    Values: User defined string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        The database password for the user to access the database.

database_port
    Values: 0 to maximum port number
    Default: Not defined
    Description:
        The port to use in order to access the database. Default ports: mysql 3306 , postgresql 5432

database_busy_timeout
    Values: 0 to unlimited
    Default: 0
    Description:
        Database wait time in milliseconds for locked database to be unlocked before returning database locked error

video_pipe
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        Output images to a video4linux loopback device. The value '-' means next available

motion_video_pipe
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        Output motion images to a video4linux loopback device. The value '-' means next available

thread
    Values: User specified string
    Default: Not Defined
    Description:
        This option specifies the full path and file name to individual thread files. This option can be listed multiple times. Each thread file should contain the options that are unique to that camera/video device. Common options are obtained from the motion.conf file and values are overwritten from each thread file. While the motion.conf includes four sample thread options, the actual limit of threads is only dependent upon the machine capabilities. Remember: If you have more than one camera you must have one thread file for each camera. For example, 2 cameras would require 3 files: The motion.conf file AND thread1.conf and thread2.conf. only put the options that are unique to each camera in the thread config files.

SIGNALS
Motion responds to the following signals:

SIGHUP
    The config file will be reread.

SIGTERM
    If needed motion will create an mpeg file of the last event and exit

SIGUSR1
    Motion will create an mpeg file of the current event.

NOTES

Snapshot
    A snapshot is a picture taken at regular intervals independently of any movement in the picture.

Motion image
    A "motion" image/mpeg shows the pixels that have actually changed during the last frames. These pictures are not very useful for normal presentation to the public but they are quite useful for testing and tuning and making mask files as you can see exactly where motion sees something moving. Motion is shown in greytones. If labelling is enabled the largest area is marked as blue. Smart mask is shown in read.

Normal image
    A "normal" image is the real image taken by the camera with text overlayed.

Threads and config files
    If Motion was invoked with command line option -c pathname Motion will expect the config file to be as specified. When you specify the config file on the command line with -c you can call it anything.
    If you do not specify -c or the filename you give Motion does not exist, Motion will search for the configuration file called 'motion.conf' in the following order:
    1. Current directory from where motion was invoked
    2. Then in a directory called '.motion' in the current users home directory (shell environment variable $HOME). E.g. /home/goofy/.motion/motion.conf
    3. The directory defined by the --sysconfdir=DIR when running .configure during installation of Motion (If this option was not defined the default is /usr/local/etc/)
    If you have write access to /usr/local/etc then the editor recommends having only one motion.conf file in the default /usr/local/etc/ directory.
    Motion has a configuration file in the distribution package called motion-dist.conf. When you run 'make install' this files gets copied to the /usr/local/etc directory.
    The configuration file needs to be renamed from motion-dist.conf to motion.conf. The original file is called motion-dist.conf so that your perfectly working motion.conf file does not accidentally get overwritten when you re-install or upgrade to a newer version of Motion.
    If you have more than one camera you should not try and invoke Motion more times. Motion is made to work with more than one camera in a very elegant way and the way to do it is to create a number of thread config files. Motion will then create an extra tread of itself for each camera. If you only have one camera you only need the motion.conf file. The minute you have two or more cameras you must have one thread config file per camera besides the motion.conf file.
    So if you have for example two cameras you need motion.conf and two thread config files. Total of 3 config files.
    An option that is common to all cameras can be placed in motion.conf. (You can also put all parameters in the thread files but that makes a lot of editing when you change a common thing).
    An option that is unique to a camera must be defined in each thread file.
    The first camera is defined in the first thread file called from motion.conf. The 2nd camera is defined in the 2nd thread file called from motion.conf etc.
    Any option defined in motion.conf will be used for all cameras except for the cameras in which the same option is defined in a thread config file.
    Motion reads its configuration parameters in the following sequence. If the same parameter exists more than one place the last one read wins.
    1. Motion reads the configuration file motion.conf from the beginning of the file going down line by line.
    2. If the option "thread" is defined in motion.conf, the thread configuration file(s) is/(are) read.
    3. Motion continues reading the rest of the motion.conf file. Any options from here will overrule the same option previously defines in a thread config file.
    4. Motion reads the command line option again overruling any previously defined options.
    So always call the thread config files in the end of the motion.conf file. If you define options in motion.conf AFTER the thread file calls, the same options in the thread files will never be used. So always put the thread file call at the end of motion.conf.
    If motion is built without specific features such as ffmpeg, mysql etc it will ignore the options that belongs to these features. You do not have to remove them or comment them out.
    If you run the http control command http://host:port/0/config/writeyes, motion will overwrite motion.conf and all the thread.conf files by autogenerated config files neatly formatted and only with the features included that Motion was built with. If you later re-build Motion with more features or upgrade to a new version, you can use your old config files, run the motion.conf.write command, and you will have new config files with the new options included all set to their default values. This makes upgrading very easy to do.

Conversion Specifiers for Advanced Filename and Text Features
    The table below shows all the supported Conversion Specifiers you can use in the options text_left, text_right, snapshot_filename, jpeg_filename, ffmpeg_filename, timelapse_filename, on_event_start, on_event_end, on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and on_motion_detected.
    In text_left and text_right you can additionally use ' for new line.

%a  The abbreviated weekday name according to the current locale.

%A  The full weekday name according to the current locale.

%b  The abbreviated month name according to the current locale.

%B  The full month name according to the current locale.

%c  The preferred date and time representation for the current locale.

%C  Text defined by the text_event feature

%d  The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31).

%D  Number of pixels detected as Motion. If labelling is enabled the number is the number of pixels in the largest labelled motion area.

%E  Modifier: use alternative format, see below.

%f  File name - used in the on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and sql_query features.

%F  Equivalent to %Y-%m-%d (the ISO 8601 date format).

%H  The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23).

%i  Width of the rectangle containing the motion pixels (the rectangle that is shown on the image when locate is on).

%I  The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12).

%j  The day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366).

%J  Height of the rectangle containing the motion pixels (the rectangle that is shown on the image when locate is on).

%k  The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 0 to 23); single digits are preceded by a blank. (See also %H.)

%K  X coordinate in pixels of the center point of motion. Origin is upper left corner.

%l  The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 1 to 12); single digits are preceded by a blank. (See also %I.)

%L  Y coordinate in pixels of the center point of motion. Origin is upper left corner and number is positive moving downwards (I may change this soon).

%m  The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12).

%M  The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59).

%n  Filetype as used in the on_picture_save, on_movie_start, on_movie_end, and sql_query features.

%N  Noise level.

%o  Threshold. The number of detected pixels required to trigger motion. When threshold_tune is 'on' this can be used to show the current tuned value of threshold.

%p  Either 'AM' or 'PM' according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for the current locale. Noon is treated as `pm' and midnight as `am'.

%P  Like %p but in lowercase: `am' or `pm' or a corresponding string for the current locale.

%q  Picture frame number within current second. For jpeg filenames this should always be included in the filename if you save more then 1 picture per second to ensure unique filenames. It is not needed in filenames for mpegs.

%Q  Number of detected labels found by the despeckle feature

%r  The time in a.m. or p.m. notation.

%R  The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M).

%s  The number of seconds since the Epoch, i.e., since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.

%S  The second as a decimal number (range 00 to 61).

%t  Thread number (camera number)

%T  The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M:%S).

%u  The day of the week as a decimal, range 1 to 7, Monday being 1. See also %w.

%U  The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of week 01. See also %V and %W.

%v  Event number. An event is a series of motion detections happening with less than 'gap' seconds between them.

%V  The ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 01 to 53, where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week. See also %U and %W.

%w  The day of the week as a decimal, range 0 to 6, Sunday being 0. See also %u.

%W  The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first Monday as the first day of week 01.

%x  The preferred date representation for the current locale without the time.

%X  The preferred time representation for the current locale without the date.

%y  The year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99).

%Y  The year as a decimal number including the century.

%z  The time-zone as hour offset from GMT.

%Z  The time zone or name or abbreviation.

More information
    Motion homepage: http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/ Motion Guide (user and installation guide):

AUTHORS
Jeroen Vreeken (pe1rxq@amsat.org), Folkert van Heusden, Kenneth Lavrsen (kenneth@lavrsen.dk), Juan Angulo Moreno <juan@apuntale.com>, and many others