Frigate: Problem of using VLC as rtsp streamer to Frigate

Hi …

So basically I want to use VLC as camera stream for Frigate.
One thing I notice is that VLC is a bit picky about the last slash in the path.

for example:

rtsp://192.168.1.1:8554/test/

is okay but

rtsp://192.168.1.1:8554/test

is not.

I can view my VLC stream with (on client where I send the stream with vlc)

ffplay “rtsp://192.168.1.1:8554/test/”

I can also view my stream on my phone (with vlc app) so its not a firewall issue.

But when using the same stream in Frigate …

 cameras:   
   vlc:
     enabled: True
     ffmpeg:
       inputs:
         - path: rtsp://192.168.1.1:8554/test/

I get in the system log

rtsp://192.168.1.1:8554/test/: Protocol not supported

Anyone have a clue of what’s the problem ?

Add go2rtc in your frigate config and test with that

Its the same …

Its seems that VLC doesn’t respond correctly …

warning

2025-01-29 20:07:16

rtsp

error="streams: dial tcp 192.168.1.174:8554: i/o timeout" stream=vlc

info

2025-01-29 20:07:17

startup

Starting go2rtc healthcheck service...

info

2025-01-29 20:07:38

streams

can't get track error="wrong response on SETUP"

warning

2025-01-29 20:07:38

rtsp

error="streams: wrong response on SETUP" stream=vlc

info

2025-01-29 20:07:57

streams

can't get track error="wrong response on SETUP"

warning

2025-01-29 20:07:57

rtsp

error="streams: wrong response on SETUP" stream=vlc

info

2025-01-29 20:08:07

streams

can't get track error="wrong response on SETUP"

warning

2025-01-29 20:08:07

rtsp

error="streams: wrong response on SETUP" stream=vlc

Seems that using vlc as rtsp server is a dead end …

Finally found out what the problem was.

It was the input_args in Frigate.
VLC is sending rtsp in UDP. You can change this behaviour under Tools → preferense → (show all) → Input → Demuxer → RTSP but for simplicity its easier just to use correct input_arg.

In my case …

cameras:          
  vlc:
    enabled: True
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://192.168.1.174:8554/test
          input_args: preset-rtsp-udp