Manage recorded files
Pearl Mini saves recordings by default to the SD card (or SATA M.2 2280 SSD). When the SD card is full, new recordings overwrite the oldest recordings. You can not manually transfer recordings off the SD card to iOS or Windows systems.
There are a variety of ways to automatically transfer files from the system to local network storage. You can also manually select individual recordings to transfer or delete using the Admin panel.
Manage the recordings for a channel (or recorder on Pearl Mini) using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin.
Pearl Mini - Open the Recording page. Do one of the following:
For a channel, select **Recording **from the Channels menu.
For a recorder, select a recorder from the Recorders menu.
All recordings are listed and sorted by date.
Files that are part of the same recording session are listed one after another. Three dots appear between files of different recording sessions. The file currently being recorded (if applicable) is shown at the top of the list. It cannot be modified or downloaded until it has finished recording.
If there are no recordings, a message indicates there are no recorded files for this channel or recorder.
To download an individual file, select the recording filename to download it.
To download multiple files, select the check box next to the recordings to download and then click Download Selected. The files are download as a .zip file containing the selected recordings.
To rename a recorded file, select the edit icon next to the file name you want to change. Type the new file name and press Enter using your keyboard.
To view a recorded file, click on the triangle Play button next to the file you want to play back. This will open the video file in an HTML5 player within the browser for viewing.
The Admin panel keeps track of the filename extension (i.e. .avi) so you do not need to include it when renaming the file.
To delete a single recording, click the X icon to the right of a recording and click OK when prompted.
To delete multiple recordings, check the check box beside the recordings you want to delete, then click Delete Selected. Click OK when prompted.
To delete all recordings for the channel or recorder, click Delete All and click **OK **when prompted.
The list may not update immediately. You can refresh the list by reloading the Recording page (for channels) or the recorder settings page (for recorders).
View list of recorded files
You can view all the recordings for a channel using the Admin panel.
Recordings for the Pearl Mini are stored for each channel and each recorder separately. You can also view the list of recordings using Epiphan Live — see Your recordings in the Pearl Family shared guide.
View the recordings for a channel or recorder using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin.
Pearl Mini - Open the Recording page. Do one of the following:
For a channel, select **Recording **from the Channels menu.
For a recorder, select a recorder from the Multitrack recorders menu.
All recordings are listed and sorted by date.
Files that are part of the same recording session are listed one after another. Three dots appear between files of different recording sessions. The file currently being recorded (if applicable) is shown at the top of the list. It cannot be modified or downloaded until it has finished recording.
- If there are no recordings, a message indicates there are no recorded files for this channel or recorder.
Download recorded files manually
You can manually download recordings using the Admin panel. Files you download are saved to your connected admin computer.
This feature is not available using the local console on Pearl Mini.
Download recordings to your admin computer using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin.
Pearl Mini - Open the Recording page. Do one of the following:
For a channel, select **Recording **from the Channels menu.
For a recorder, select a recorder from the Recorders menu.
All recordings are listed and sorted by date. Do one of the following:
To download an individual file, select the recording filename to download it.
To download multiple files, select the check box next to the recordings to download and then click Download Selected. The files are download as a .zip file containing the selected recordings.
What's next?
To free up space for new recordings, consider deleting recordings off of Pearl Mini.
Join recorded files together
After recording files on Pearl Mini, you can join two or more files together. This is useful when a recording exceeds the maximum recording time limit and the recording is split into multiple files. You can use the third-party tool called ffmpeg to join the files.
Download ffmpeg from the Internet and join multiple recorded files
- Download the files that you need from Pearl Mini and make sure you have the right paths and file names. For example:
C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_16-24-56.avi
- Use the command ffmpeg -i to specify the input file. For example:
ffmpeg -i C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_16-24-56.avi
- Repeat the process and specify the file you want to join to the first file. You can keep adding as many files as you want to join together. For example, specifying a second file looks like this:
ffmpeg -i C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_16-24-56.avi -i C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_12-26-14.avi
- Use the **-c copy **command to specify the output file. After the command, type in the location, file name and file extension that you want for the concatenated file. The full line looks like this:
ffmpeg -i C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_16-24-56.avi **-i **C:\Users\JoesComputer\downloads\Program_A_May11_12-26-14.avi -c copy C:\Users\JoesComputer\Desktop\Concatenated_File.avi
- After completing the process, you will be able to access your new file in the location you specified. The file moves straight from the first video into the second without a pause.
You can this process to join multiple files; however, the more files you join, the greater the chance that some audio desychronization can occur between the clips.
Extract tracks from a recording
Recorders combine multiple channels and audio sources together in a single multi-track file. You can create a copy of a recording using only select tracks. This feature is supported for .AVI, .MP4 and .MOV recordings only. MPEG-TS does not support track extraction.
Specific track versions of recorded files are not included in any automatic file transfers and need to be downloaded manually. Click the extracted track filename to manually download.
It's good practice to check that there's enough storage space for the extracted files before you start this procedure.
Create a duplicate recording file with only select tracks using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin or operator.
From the Recorders menu, select a recorder. The recorder page appears.
Click the multi-track icon beside the recording. A list of tracks appears.
Select the tracks you want to extract.
** Tip**: To deselect all tracks, click the check box for the top track, then hold SHIFT and click the check box for the bottom track.
- Click Extract tracks. A copy of the recording is created with only the selected tracks.
Only one copy is saved per original recording. If you create a second copy, it will overwrite the previous one. Download the extracted copy of the recording with your chosen tracks to preserve it.
Rename recorded files
Recordings are named based on the file name prefix specified during configuration. You can change the recording file name using the Admin panel. You can also change the default name that Pearl Mini assigns to recordings.
Rename a recording using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin.
Open the Recording page. Do one of the following:
To view files recorded for a channel, select a channel from the Channels menu and click Recording.
To view files recoded for a recorder, select a recorder from the Multitrack recorders menu.
All recordings are listed and sorted by date. Select the edit icon next to the file name you want to change.
Type the new file name and press Enter using your keyboard.
The Admin panel keeps track of the filename extension (i.e. .avi) so you do not need to include it when renaming the file.
Delete recorded files
You can delete recordings using the Admin panel. You can delete one file at a time, select multiple files for the channel or recorder and delete those, or you can delete all recordings for the channel or recorder.
Deleted recordings cannot be recovered.
Delete recordings using the Admin panel
Log in to the Admin panel as admin or operator.
Open the Recording page. Do one of the following:
To view files recorded for a channel, select a channel from the Channels menu and click Recording.
To view files recoded for a recorder, select a recorder from the Recorders menu.
All recordings are listed and sorted by date. Do one of the following:
To delete a single recording, click the X icon to the right of a recording and click OK when prompted.
To delete multiple recordings, check the check box beside the recordings you want to delete, then click Delete Selected. Click OK when prompted.
To delete all recordings for the channel or recorder, click Delete All and click **OK **when prompted.
The list may not update immediately. You can refresh the list by reloading the Recording page (for channels) or the recorder settings page (for recorders).