BlackVue Downloader was made to facilitate getting images from your BlackVue Dashcam to a hard disk without having to touch the camera.
Without this program, you have to use the mobile apps, cloud service, or you have to unplug the camera, remove the SD Card, place it in a card reader, copy the files, eject the card, put it back into the camera, and plug it back in. There's got to be a better way...
Fortunately, there is. BlackVueDownloader connects to your dashcam wirelessly and downloads the video files for viewing, without you having to touch your camera.
- Download the latest zip of the program from the "Releases" tab above and expand the zip into a directory. Navigate to the desired target directory inside the 'artifacts' directory.
- macOS users must also install openssl. Install brew, then Copy / Paste each of these commands into a command prompt. Windows / Linux users can skip this step.
$ brew update
$ brew install openssl
$ ln -s /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/libcrypto.1.0.0.dylib /usr/local/lib/
$ ln -s /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/libssl.1.0.0.dylib /usr/local/lib/ - Connect to the Ad-Hoc WiFi network of the camera. It's recommended to use a dedicated USB WiFi adapter for connecting to the camera. This frees up your primary WiFi connection to remain connected to your home network. This approach also works if you have a wired ethernet connected desktop PC. Set it up to auto-connect, and as your vehicle enters the range of your computer, it should re-connect.
- Open a command prompt, or create a scheduled task and run:
> BlackVueDownloader.exe <ipaddress> [destinationdirectory]
The default address of the camera is usually 10.99.77.1. For macOS / Linux, run:
$ ./BlackVueDownloader <ipaddress> [destinationdirectory]
This will copy the video and GPS files into the 'Record' directory. The first time you run it, it will take a while, depending on the WiFi throughput you get.
Once the files are downloaded, launch the BlackVue desktop software and point the 'File Path' to your directory.
Thank you to this blog post for discovering the protocol that inspired BlackVueDownloader.
This program is written in .NET Core, and TDD with > 90% code coverage.
This is what happens when you let someone else drive your car. :-\
My personal usage of this program is setup to run as a scheduled task, and it connects as soon as I enter my garage. It archives all the video footage to a large HD.
The next major release will have a browser-based UI for setting options and viewing activity as it runs. It will also facilitate connecting, and looping for continuous runs.
Contributions welcome!