diff --git a/src/camera.cpp b/src/camera.cpp
index 3e7dddc..026efbc 100644
--- a/src/camera.cpp
+++ b/src/camera.cpp
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ void Loop::init()
 
     loopTimer->setSingleShot(false);
     loopTimer->start(heartBeat * 1000);
+
+    loopSlot();
 }
 
 void Loop::loopSlot()
@@ -105,10 +107,8 @@ bool Loop::exec()
 
 RecLoop::RecLoop(shared_t *sharedRes, QThread *thr, QObject *parent) : Loop(sharedRes, thr, parent)
 {
-    once        = true;
-    baseListRdy = false;
-    recProc     = 0;
-    imgProc     = 0;
+    recProc = 0;
+    imgProc = 0;
 }
 
 void RecLoop::init()
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ void RecLoop::init()
 
     connect(QCoreApplication::instance(), &QCoreApplication::aboutToQuit, this, &RecLoop::term);
 
+    updateCmd();
+
     Loop::init();
 }
 
@@ -131,18 +133,23 @@ void RecLoop::updateCmd()
     recArgs << "-strftime" << "1";
     recArgs << "-strftime_mkdir" << "1";
     recArgs << "-hls_segment_filename" << "live/" + QString(STRFTIME_FMT) + ".ts";
-    recArgs << "-hls_flags" << "delete_segments";
     recArgs << "-y";
     recArgs << "-vcodec" << "copy";
     recArgs << "-f" << "hls";
     recArgs << "-hls_time" << "2";
     recArgs << "-hls_list_size" << "1000";
+    recArgs << "-hls_flags" << "append_list";
+    recArgs << "-rtsp_transport" << "tcp";
+    recArgs << "-stimeout" << "3000";
     recArgs << "stream.m3u8";
 
     imgArgs << "-hide_banner";
     imgArgs << "-i" << shared->recordUrl;
     imgArgs << "-strftime" << "1";
+    imgArgs << "-strftime_mkdir" << "1";
     imgArgs << "-vf" << "fps=1,scale=320:240";
+    imgArgs << "-rtsp_transport" << "tcp";
+    imgArgs << "-stimeout" << "3000";
     imgArgs << "img/" + QString(STRFTIME_FMT) + ".bmp";
 
     recProc->setProgram("ffmpeg");
@@ -151,10 +158,10 @@ void RecLoop::updateCmd()
     imgProc->setProgram("ffmpeg");
     imgProc->setArguments(imgArgs);
 
-    curUrl = shared->recordUrl;
+    recLog("rec_args: " + recArgs.join(" "), shared);
+    recLog("img_args: " + imgArgs.join(" "), shared);
 
-    recLog("rec_args_updated: " + recArgs.join(" "), shared);
-    recLog("img_args_updated: " + imgArgs.join(" "), shared);
+    curUrl = shared->recordUrl;
 }
 
 void RecLoop::term()
@@ -170,12 +177,27 @@ void RecLoop::reset()
 {
     recLog("--rec_and_img_cmds_resetting--", shared);
 
-    baseListRdy = false;
-
     term();
     updateCmd();
 }
 
+void RecLoop::procError(const QString &desc, QProcess *proc)
+{
+    if (proc->isOpen() && proc->state() == QProcess::NotRunning)
+    {
+        auto errBlob  = QString(proc->readAllStandardError());
+        auto errLines = errBlob.split('\n');
+
+        if (!errLines.isEmpty())
+        {
+            for (auto &&line : errLines)
+            {
+                recLog(desc + "_cmd_stderr: " + line, shared);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 void RecLoop::startProc(const QString &desc, QProcess *proc)
 {
     if (proc->state() == QProcess::NotRunning)
@@ -189,32 +211,17 @@ void RecLoop::startProc(const QString &desc, QProcess *proc)
         else
         {
             recLog(desc + "_cmd_start: fail", shared);
-            recLog(desc + "_cmd_stderr: " + QString(proc->readAllStandardError()), shared);
+            procError(desc, proc);
         }
     }
 }
 
 bool RecLoop::exec()
 {
-    if (once)
-    {
-        updateCmd(); once = false;
-    }
-    else if (!baseListRdy)
-    {
-        baseListRdy = true;
-    }
-    else if (backwardFacingFiles("live", ".ts", QDateTime::currentDateTime(), heartBeat).isEmpty())
-    {
-        recLog("backward facing files in the live stream are empty. cmd stall is suspected.", shared);
-        reset();
-    }
-    else if (backwardFacingFiles("img", ".bmp", QDateTime::currentDateTime(), heartBeat).isEmpty())
-    {
-        recLog("backward facing files in the image stream are empty. cmd stall is suspected.", shared);
-        reset();
-    }
-    else if (curUrl != shared->recordUrl)
+    procError("img", imgProc);
+    procError("rec", recProc);
+
+    if (curUrl != shared->recordUrl)
     {
         recLog("a change in the recording URL was detected.", shared);
         reset();
@@ -247,6 +254,7 @@ bool Upkeep::exec()
     initLogFrontPages();
     enforceMaxEvents(shared);
     enforceMaxImages();
+    enforceMaxVids();
 
     if (shared->evtHist.size() >= MAX_EVTHIST)
     {
@@ -263,62 +271,66 @@ bool Upkeep::exec()
 
 EventLoop::EventLoop(shared_t *sharedRes, QThread *thr, QObject *parent) : Loop(sharedRes, thr, parent)
 {
-    heartBeat = 5;
+    heartBeat = 2;
 }
 
 bool EventLoop::exec()
-{
-    if (!shared->recList.isEmpty())
+{   
+    QStringList vidList;
+    QString     imgPath;
+    QString     name;
+    float       highScore = 0;
+
+    while (!shared->recList.isEmpty())
     {
         auto event    = shared->recList[0];
-        auto name     = event.timeStamp.toString(DATETIME_FMT);
-        auto maxFiles = shared->evMaxSecs / 2; //there's 2 secs in each hls segment
-        auto vidList  = backwardFacingFiles("live", ".ts", event.timeStamp, maxFiles / 2);
+        auto maxFiles = shared->evMaxSecs / 2;
+                        // there's 2 secs in each hls segment
 
-        if (vidList.isEmpty())
+        if (highScore < event.score)
         {
-            recLog("err: no backward faces files were found for event: " + name, shared);
+            name      = event.timeStamp.toString(DATETIME_FMT);
+            imgPath   = event.imgPath;
+            highScore = event.score;
         }
-        else
+
+        vidList.append(backwardFacingFiles("live", ".ts", event.timeStamp, maxFiles / 2));
+        vidList.removeLast();
+        vidList.append(forwardFacingFiles("live", ".ts", event.timeStamp, maxFiles / 2));
+
+        for (auto &&hist : shared->evtHist)
         {
-            vidList.removeLast();
-
-            vidList += forwardFacingFiles("live", ".ts", event.timeStamp, maxFiles / 2);
-
-            for (auto &&hist : shared->evtHist)
+            if (vidList.contains(hist))
             {
-                if (vidList.contains(hist))
-                {
-                    vidList.removeAll(hist);
-                }
-            }
-
-            if (!vidList.isEmpty())
-            {
-                shared->evtHist.append(vidList);
-
-                recLog("attempting write out of event: " + name, shared);
-
-                if (wrOutVod(name, vidList))
-                {
-                    genHTMLvod(name);
-
-                    QProcess    proc;
-                    QStringList args;
-
-                    args << "convert";
-                    args << event.imgPath;
-                    args << "events/" + name + ".jpg";
-
-                    proc.start("magick", args);
-                    proc.waitForFinished();
-                }
+                vidList.removeAll(hist);
             }
         }
 
         shared->recList.removeFirst();
     }
 
+    vidList.removeDuplicates();
+
+    if (!vidList.size() > 1)
+    {
+        recLog("attempting write out of event: " + name, shared);
+
+        if (wrOutVod(name, vidList))
+        {
+            genHTMLvod(name);
+
+            QProcess    proc;
+            QStringList args;
+
+            args << "convert";
+            args << imgPath;
+            args << "events/" + name + ".jpg";
+
+            proc.start("magick", args);
+            proc.waitForFinished();
+        }
+    }
+
     return Loop::exec();
 }
 
@@ -389,9 +401,9 @@ DetectLoop::DetectLoop(shared_t *sharedRes, QThread *thr, QObject *parent) : Loo
 {
     pcTimer     = 0;
     heartBeat   = 2;
-    delayCycles = 4; // this will be used to delay the
+    delayCycles = 8; // this will be used to delay the
                      // actual start of DetectLoop by
-                     // 8secs.
+                     // 16secs.
 }
 
 void DetectLoop::init()
@@ -474,13 +486,16 @@ bool DetectLoop::exec()
 
             detLog(extComp.program() + " " + args.join(" ") +  " --result: " + output, shared);
 
-            if (output.toFloat() >= shared->imgThresh)
+            auto score = output.toFloat();
+
+            if (score >= shared->imgThresh)
             {
                 detLog("--threshold_breached: " + QString::number(shared->imgThresh), shared);
 
                 evt_t event;
 
                 event.timeStamp = curDT;
+                event.score     = score;
                 event.imgPath   = images[pos];
 
                 shared->recList.append(event); mod = true;
diff --git a/src/camera.h b/src/camera.h
index 62febf7..3a9ed7e 100644
--- a/src/camera.h
+++ b/src/camera.h
@@ -63,24 +63,18 @@ class RecLoop : public Loop
 
 private:
 
-    QProcess   *recProc;
-    QProcess   *imgProc;
-    QStringList recList;
-    QStringList imgList;
-    QString     curUrl;
-    bool        baseListRdy;
-    bool        once;
+    QProcess *recProc;
+    QProcess *imgProc;
+    QString   curUrl;
 
     void updateCmd();
     void reset();
     void startProc(const QString &desc, QProcess *proc);
+    void procError(const QString &desc, QProcess *proc);
 
 private slots:
 
     void init();
-
-public slots:
-
     void term();
 
 public:
diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index 87c6744..c57b72f 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -139,6 +139,18 @@ void enforceMaxImages()
     }
 }
 
+void enforceMaxVids()
+{
+    auto names = lsFilesInDir("live", ".ts");
+
+    while (names.size() > MAX_VIDEOS)
+    {
+        QFile::remove("live/" + names[0]);
+
+        names.removeFirst();
+    }
+}
+
 void rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, QString *value)
 {
     if (line.startsWith(param))
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 74868f5..2cd1c6e 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-#define APP_VER      "3.0.t12"
+#define APP_VER      "3.0.t13"
 #define APP_NAME     "Motion Watch"
 #define APP_BIN      "mow"
 #define REC_LOG_NAME "rec_log_lines.html"
@@ -37,12 +37,14 @@ using namespace std;
 #define DATETIME_FMT "yyyyMMddhhmmss"
 #define STRFTIME_FMT "%Y%m%d%H%M%S"
 #define MAX_IMAGES   1000
+#define MAX_VIDEOS   1000
 #define MAX_EVTHIST  100
 
 struct evt_t
 {
     QDateTime timeStamp;
     QString   imgPath;
+    float     score;
 };
 
 struct shared_t
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ void        rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, QString *value);
 void        rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, int *value);
 void        enforceMaxEvents(shared_t *share);
 void        enforceMaxImages();
+void        enforceMaxVids();
 
 class MultiInstance : public QObject
 {