# Install dvr-scan with Homebrew, Nix

Extract scenes with motion from videos. Version 1.8.2.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#dvr-scan.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:dvr-scan
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install dvr-scan
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#dvr-scan
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/dv/dvr-scan/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:dvr-scan
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.8.2.1
- **Source summary:** Extract scenes with motion from videos
- **Homepage:** <https://www.dvr-scan.com/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/Breakthrough/DVR-Scan>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T10:02:00-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- dvr-scan (alias)
- dvr-scan-app (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.8.2.1
## Project history and usage

DVR-Scan is a free, open-source command-line and GUI application for finding motion events in video files, especially security-camera and DVR footage, and saving those events as separate clips.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created on 31 December 2016, and GitHub release metadata records DVR-Scan 1.0 in January 2017. The official site identifies Brandon Castellano as the copyright holder and presents DVR-Scan as BSD-licensed software.

The project has expanded from a CLI-focused utility into a tool with both the dvr-scan command and dvr-scan-app UI. Its documentation now covers region editing, motion thresholds, background subtractors, ffmpeg output, OpenCV output, overlays, logs, and config-file settings.

### Adoption history

DVR-Scan's adoption is niche and task-driven: users install it when they need to extract useful segments from long camera footage without reviewing the whole file manually. The input metadata lists Homebrew and Nix packages, while the official site provides cross-platform Windows, Linux, and Mac positioning.

Its package-manager value comes from bundling a repeatable computer-vision workflow behind a small CLI, so surveillance, dashcam, and archival video jobs can be scripted.

### How it is used

Typical CLI usage starts with dvr-scan -i video.mp4 to scan an input and write separate motion-event clips. The docs also show region-of-interest scanning, bounding boxes around detected motion, ffmpeg extraction, multiple input files, and scan-only modes.

Most options can be set in dvr-scan.cfg, and the official docs specify the default config locations on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

### Why package nerds care

DVR-Scan is package-nerd interesting because it exposes OpenCV-style motion detection as an installable end-user command instead of asking users to write a computer-vision script. It also demonstrates a common packaging challenge: media tools often sit on top of heavy native dependencies such as OpenCV and ffmpeg but still need to feel like one simple command.

### Timeline

- 2016: The official GitHub repository is created.
- 2017: GitHub release metadata records DVR-Scan 1.0.
- 2026: The official site lists DVR-Scan 1.8.2 in January 2026.

### Related projects

- OpenCV is related because DVR-Scan uses background subtraction and video processing.
- ffmpeg is related because DVR-Scan can use it to extract detected motion events.
- PySceneDetect is adjacent in the author's video-analysis ecosystem and shares the general task area of automated video segmentation.

### Sources

- <https://www.dvr-scan.com/>
- <https://www.dvr-scan.com/docs>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/Breakthrough/DVR-Scan>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/Breakthrough/DVR-Scan/releases>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for dvr-scan. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Linux: ~/.config/DVR-Scan/dvr-scan.cfg
- macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/DVR-Scan/dvr-scan.cfg
- Windows: C:/Users/%USERNAME%/AppData/Local/DVR-Scan/dvr-scan.cfg
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - dvr-scan: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/dv/dvr-scan/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/dvr-scan.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/dvr-scan.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph