A sewer camera’s recordings exist in one place when the job ends: on a card or drive in the monitor. They are not useful there. They need to be on a computer to be reviewed, trimmed, sent to a customer or attached to a report, and the transfer is where files are mislaid, half-copied or overwritten by the next job. This guide covers the ways to get footage off a sewer camera and the routine that makes the transfer reliable.
Quick answer: power the monitor down, remove the card and put it in a card reader on the computer; copy the whole folder the recorder created to a dated job folder on the computer; open two or three files to verify; copy the job folder to a backup; then format the card in the monitor. A USB cable from the monitor works on some units but is slower and less reliable than a reader. Convert AVI files to MP4 for sharing and keep the originals.
The three ways
A card reader: remove the card from the monitor and plug it into a reader on the computer. Fast, reliable, works for every recorder. A USB cable: some monitors present the card as a drive when connected to a computer; others do not, or need a setting changed, or charge over the cable but do not transfer. The monitor’s export function: a few monitors can copy to a USB drive from their own menu, which is useful in a van without a laptop. The reader is the default.
Before removing the card
Stop any recording and power the monitor off fully. Pulling a card while the recorder is writing corrupts the last file and sometimes the card. Note the job and date, because the files will be named by number. Card handling covers the rest.
Where the recorder puts files
Most recorders create a folder, often named DCIM, VIDEO or RECORD, with subfolders for video and stills and filenames made of a prefix and a sequence number or a date and time. Copy the whole top-level folder rather than hunting for individual files, so nothing is left behind and the folder structure is preserved for the recorder’s playback if the card is reused before formatting.
Copy, then verify
Create a folder on the computer named with the date, the address and the entry point, and copy the recorder’s folder into it. Then open the first file, the last file and one from the middle and watch a few seconds of each. A copy that failed partway through looks complete in a file listing and is not; verification catches it while the card still holds the originals.
Back up before formatting
Copy the job folder to a second place, an external drive or a cloud folder, before the card is formatted. Only when two copies exist and have been opened does the card go back in the monitor to be formatted. This is the step that is skipped on a busy day and regretted on a slow one.
AVI and other formats
Budget recorders often produce AVI files that phones and some computers will not play. Keep the original AVI as the evidence copy and make an MP4 copy with a free converter for sharing and for the report. File formats and how to open them covers the tools.
Stills
Stills are usually JPEG in a separate subfolder. Copy them with the video; they are what goes into the written report. If the recorder did not capture stills, take screenshots from the video at each finding, with the counter visible. Stills vs video in a report explains why both matter.
Naming
Rename the job folder, not the individual files, unless a clip is trimmed for a customer. A folder named by date, address and entry point is findable in a year; a folder named by the recorder’s default is not. Trimming and labelling clips covers the customer-facing names.
In the field without a laptop
A phone with a card reader adapter can copy a card to the phone and to cloud storage from the van, which is useful for sending a clip the same day. The full transfer and backup still happens at a computer later; a phone is a convenience, not an archive.
What goes wrong
Pulling the card while recording. Copying individual files and missing some. Formatting the card before the copy was verified. Deleting files on the computer that were the only copy. Keeping footage only on the card until it fills and the recorder overwrites or refuses to record. Every one is prevented by the routine above.
Checking the recorder’s clock
Files from a sewer camera carry the date and time the recorder thought it was, both in the filename on many units and in the file’s own metadata, and that stamp is what a report, a contractor or an insurer will read as the inspection date. A monitor whose clock was never set, or that reset to a default after a flat battery, produces files dated years in the past, and a dispute over when an inspection happened is then an argument about a clock. Check the date and time in the monitor’s menu before each job, correct it after any deep discharge, and when the files arrive on the computer confirm the stamps match the day. Where they do not, note the real date in the folder name and in the report rather than editing the files.
Common questions
How do I get video off my sewer camera?
Remove the card and use a card reader on a computer. Copy the whole recorder folder to a dated job folder, verify, back up, then format the card in the monitor.
Can I connect the sewer camera monitor to a computer by USB?
Some monitors present the card as a drive over USB; many only charge. A card reader works for all of them.
Why will the exported video not play on my phone?
It is probably an AVI file. Convert a copy to MP4 and keep the original.
Related guides
See sharing footage with a plumber or buyer, interpreting footage, and sewer camera monitors.