Setting Up Recording Schedules for Vmax A1 Plus And A1 G4 DVR
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Affected Roles: All Users
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: C3CMS
Complexity: Medium
Last Edit: June 30, 2026
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This article will explain how to set up a Motion Recording Schedule for the DVR, explain some of the alternate recording types, and some simple troubleshooting tips.
Supported / Effected Devices:
- VMAX A1 Plus Series
- VMAX® A1 G4™ Series
What is a Recording Schedule?
When referring to your DVR, the "Recording Schedule" pertains to the recording type that the unit uses to determine when to write/archive camera footage to its hard drive. This is an important thing to consider when setting up your surveillance system, because it mandates what events triggers the DVR's recording function and what you will be able to playback from the DVR when reviewing footage. To press the significance of this further, consider this - if you cannot search the footage that you want to view, you will not be able to backup or share it either.
What kind of Recording Schedule options are available for the DVR?
When viewing the live video streams at the DVR, you may see icons appear in the corners of each camera channel. These symbols indicate the recording type assigned to that channel, if motion detection has been triggered, and even if the camera that is connected has PTZ capabilities.
There may be some instances where a recording icon may not appear in the corner of the screen for a camera, or all of the cameras. This is usually an indication that the system is not recording, but it should only be considered a problem if you know that the system is supposed to be recording at that point in time (Continuous Schedule, Motion Schedule, etc.).
If the DVR detects that there is absolutely no video input detected from the camera, the message "Video Loss" will show in the relative camera channel.
Please see the example image below (VMAX A1+)
What do the icons mean?
Continuous Recording - This recording type means that the DVR is constantly be archiving the camera stream/video to its hard drive. It does not require the activation of any external sensors or motion area mapping, as it is writing to the hard drive in real-time.
Motion Recording - This recording type means that the DVR will only archive the camera stream/video to its hard drive when there is movement in the designated Motion Area. This type of scheduling is the default recording type of the DVR and requires several settings to be activated for it to work.
Sensor Activated Recording - This recording type means that the DVR will only archive the camera stream/video to its hard drive when an external sensor (requires additional hardware setup) trips, such as a door sensor or an external motion sensor. The recording length is determined by the Dwell Time setting that is set for the sensor in the DVR's Alarm Sensor menu.
Continuous & Motion Recording (C+M) - This recording type is a combination of the Continuous Recording and the Motion Recording schedule types. When this type of schedule is set, the DVR will constantly write/archive the camera video to its hard drive on the lowest possible quality setting (Low resolution, 1 FPS). However, when there is movement in the systems's designation Motion Area, the DVR will slip into a Motion Recording schedule and write/archive camera video to its hard drive on its normal, specified quality settings. This recording type is ideal if you need the DVR to constantly save footage, but want to save data storage space. It essentially extends the length of time that footage will remain available in the archive database before the DVR needs to overwrite it to make room.
Continuous & Sensor Activated Recording (C+S) - This recording type is a combination of the Continuous Recording and the Sensor Activated Recording schedule types. Like the C+M setting, when this type of schedule is set, the DVR will constantly write/archive the camera video to its hard drive on the lowest possible quality setting (Low resolution, 1 FPS) and will only archive camera video to its hard drive on the normal, specified quality settings when an external sensor trips. All setup for the regular Sensor Activated Recording schedule type is required for C+S to work properly.
Motion & Sensor Activated Recording (M+S) - This recording type is a combination of the Motion Recording and the Sensor Activated Recording schedule Types. This type of schedule means that the DVR will only archive the camera stream/video to its hard drive when there is movement in the designated Motion Area or when an external sensor (requires additional hardware setup) trips, such as a door sensor or an external motion sensor. The recording length of the footage will be determined by the Dwell Timesetting that is set for the sensor in the DVR's Alarm Sensor menu, or as long as there is visible movement in the Motion Area.
How to set a recording schedule
1) Log in to the DVR either as the admin or under an ID that has been set up with administrator rights.
2) Right-click with your mouse and select Menu Record Recording Schedule
3) From here you can set the recording schedule for each camera (designated by the numbers at the top), the type of Record Mode (designated by color), and when you want the system to record by your preferred Record Mode.
Select your preferred Record Mode from the menu and 'paint' the grid to designate the days of the week and hours of the day that you want the DVR to record using that schedule type.
NOTE: Motion Recording is the default recording setup for the DVR.
HOW TO SET THE MOTION AREA
1) Log in to the DVR either as the admin or under an ID that has been set up with administrator rights.
2) Right-click with your mouse and select Menu Alarm Motion Alarm
3) From here, make sure that the ON/OFF setting for your camera is set to "ON".
4) Select Set found under Motion Area for the camera that you want to adjust the motion activated areas for.
5) The grid that appears is the Motion Area for the camera that you are currently viewing. Any square that is highlighted in GREEN will trigger the motion recording function. From the menu that appears to the side, you can also adjust the camera you are viewing/adjusting and adjust the sensitivity of the motion pickup. Be sure to SAVE your changes after you are done mapping the motion area.
For any additional recording schedule/type setup, please refer to your DVR's User Manual.