Configuration Panel – ViewCommander https://viewcommander.com IP Camera Software Thu, 01 Aug 2024 13:13:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 https://viewcommander.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-cropped-cropped-IVI-Logo-1-32x32.png Configuration Panel – ViewCommander https://viewcommander.com 32 32 Playback Configuration Panel https://viewcommander.com/playback-configuration-panel/ Thu, 02 Feb 2023 10:40:00 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2589

Playback Configuration Panel

When the Playback Configuration Panel is selected, the system will enter Digital Video Recorder (DVR) mode for video playback. The system will remain in playback mode until the “Exit DVR” button on the DVR Control Panel is pressed. This allows you to switch to the Video and Motion tabs to adjust the video settings of the recorded video – a very useful feature to enhance the video to bring out detail that may be difficult to see.

DVR Control Panel

The DVR Control Panel allows you to Play, Stop, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Step through video during playback. These controls function similarly to a DVD player’s controls.

The slider bar underneath the controls shows the position in seconds within the minute. Clicking and moving it will allow you to move rapidly through the video.

Pressing this button will save the current video frame to a JPEG file on disk. This is useful if you need to save or send an image via email or other means. If the video frame has been digitally enhanced, the enhanced image will be saved.

  • Create AVI/ASF File (.avi/.asf)”: These files are typically best used when exporting a few short clips. They can be played on media players such as Windows Media Player. They also can be sent via email. ASF/AVI are traditional video file formats, if you would like the most compatability for video players this is the option to choose
  • “Create VCA File (.vca)”: The VCA format is ViewCommander’s video format. It preserves the original image integrity, and incorporates timestamp, digital fingerprint, and other video information. The ViewCommander player must be downloaded separately to playback this file
  • “Create Self Playing VC File (.exe)”: The EXE is the same as the VCA format except it comes in a fully packaged player. You can send this export to anyone with a Windows computer and it will playback without the need to download the player
  • “Folder Export”: The folder export is a raw copy of the video files as they were saved. This copies video and saves the original format and structure as it was saved on disk. Typically this is used for larger exports (hours/days long video clips).

Select a start time of the video to save. This value will be added to the ‘start time’.

Select the end time of the video to save. The end time cannot go past midnight of any day.

Multiple camera export. For a time range, choose one or more cameras to export the same time range. 

Check this option to rotate the video 180 degrees.

Checking this option will overlay the source and/or camera name in the exported video.

Checking this option will overlay the date and timestamp of the video in the recorded video.

NOTE: When exporting to AVI, checking any of the above options will require uncompressing the saved video, modifying the image, and recompressing the video. This will result in longer export time and possibly slightly degraded video quality. If your camera allows, rotate the video and add timestamps at the video source itself.

Press this button to begin exporting video. You will be able to choose a filename and path to save the exported video.

 

See the documentation on Exporting Video for more information on how to export archived footage. 

Date Calendar

The Date Calendar will highlight the dates when video was recorded. The dates will be in boldface, making them easy to select. Click on a date to select video recorded on that day. A listing of the hours video was recorded will be displayed in the Hour Listing box.

Hour / Minute / Integrity Listing

When a date is selected, a listing of all hours that video was recorded will be displayed in this box. Clicking on a listed hour will produce a minute listing in the Minute Listing box.

This displays a list of minutes video was recorded for the date and hour selected. Select a minute from this listing and press the “Play” button on the DVR Control Panel to view the archived video.

A message will be displayed confirming whether or not the video has been altered. The message “Image Integrity Not Verified” means the video has either been modified by an external program, or no fingerprint information has been saved with the video. A confirmation message “Image Integrity Verified” will be displayed if the image and timestamp match the digital fingerprint saved when the video was recorded.

Lock or Delete archives

Pressing the Lock button will lock video for the Day, Hour, or Minute selected, depending on what option is selected in the pull-down menu adjacent to this button. Locked video cannot be deleted unless it is unlocked.

Pressing the Delete button will delete video for the Day, Hour, or Minute selected, depending on what option is selected in the pull-down menu adjacent to this button. Locked video cannot be deleted until it is unlocked.

Additional Features

Checking this option will display video only at the times which an event occurred.

]]> Events Configuration Panel https://viewcommander.com/events-configuration-panel/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:40:33 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2594

Events Configuration Panel

The Events tab allows for the setting of different types of events, such as motion detection or I/O port events. You can configure ViewCommander to handle events differently for each camera.

Motion Detection

This section allows different motion settings to be configured.

Checking this option will enable the motion detection system for a particular camera. Checking this option uses additional computing power to analyze the video, so leave this option unchecked unless these settings are required.

When configuring events, you can set up motion detection for both the whole image, and specific regions of interest.

In the Professional Advanced model, you can create up to 3 regions of interest per camera. In all other models, you can create only 1 region of interest.

To set up a region of interest, see the “Draw” section. 

This useful feature shows where the motion is happening within the video. White pixels will be overlaid in the viewable image where motion is occurring. This is very useful when adjusting the Sensitivity setting.

This setting adjusts the sensitivity to detect motion. Choosing a low value for sensitivity will cause the motion detector to detect small changes in movement. This may be undesirable if small objects are moving in the background. Choosing a higher value for sensitivity will cause the motion detector to be more tolerant of movement in the image.

Also, network cameras may produce visual noise that may be detected on low sensitivity settings. Check the Show Motion Change box when adjusting this setting.

This status bar shows the level of detected motion in real-time. In the example, the % motion is 3.40% – which is greater than the set Threshold (see next item). 

This setting determines when to take an action based on detected % motion. Setting this to lower values will trigger actions when small changes are detected (such as a bird flying by). Higher values filter out smaller objects and will trigger alarms when larger objects are detected. The arrow on this control corresponds directly with the %motion bar above. When the motion bar above passes the arrow on this control, an event will be triggered and, if setup, the camera will begin to record. See “Events and Sensors” and “Video Configuration Panel” for more information on Recording. 

Checking this option will help reduce false motion detected events caused by small amounts of movement and noise that may be caused by the compressed video.

Normally motion is detected when the current video frame is compared to a video frame received earlier. In some situations, it may be better to use a base image. Selecting this option will compare the current video frame to a base image frame instead. The base frame is continuously updated and reconstructed over time.

Draw

This section allows different motion settings to be configured.

When configuring events, you can set up motion detection for both the whole image, and specific regions of interest.

In the Professional Advanced model, you can create up to 3 regions of interest per camera. In all other models, you can create only 1 region of interest.

To set up a region of interest, use the tools in the “Draw” section.

Select “Motion Detection” from the first pull-down menu.

Select the desired region from the second pull-down menu.

Press this “Draw” button to begin selecting the region of interest with the mouse. When pressed, a grid will be placed over the active video. Use the left mouse button to highlight an area. Use the right mouse button to un-select an area.

Select the “Wide” checkbox to highlight several squares at once. Press the “Reset” button to reset and unselect the entire window.

Drawing a region will look similar to the image below. In this image, only the crosswalk was highlighted.

When finished selecting the area of interest, press the “SAVE” button to save the selected area.

Sensors & Events

The Event Actions menu allows you to configure Sensors, Events, and Event Actions.

Sensors are used to detect specific events, like motion, connection loss, or I/O from the camera. To configure a sensor, press “Sensors & Events” then click the “Add” button in the Sensors section of the menu and select a sensor type. For Motion Detection sensors, you will also need to choose between analyzing the whole image, or a region of interest.

Each sensor can have multiple events, each with their own set of Event Actions. To configure an event, first choose a Sensor, then press the “Add” button in the Events section of the menu. Each event has a user-specified name, and can be configured to be triggered either any time or on a specific schedule. Multiple events on each Sensor can be given their own individual schedules.

Event Actions

Each Event can be assigned a number of Event Actions, which occur whenever the event is triggered. The Event Actions are grouped into several tabs for organization.

“Record” Tab

Checking this option will record video when an event is triggered.

IMPORTANT: In addition to the “Record Video” checkbox, “Enable Recording” must be checked and “Record only events” must be selected on the Video Tab.

Creates an entry in the camera’s activity log, which can be filtered during playback.

Adds an entry to the ViewCommanderLog.txt file for this event. Only some events provide this action.

“Audio Visual” Tab

Flash Box Checking this option will draw a red box around the video when an event is triggered. The Flash Box will also appear around a video feed when in MultiView Mode.

For systems equipped with a sound card and speakers, checking this option will play a sound when the event is triggered.

“Notifications” Tab

These settings determine how email notification of events will be handled:

Email will be sent for a particular event.

Set this value to wait after the event before sending the email. Useful only if the “Attach JPEG snapshot” option is checked.

This value prevents sending too many email notifications within a period of time. This value will be the number of minutes to elapse before sending another email notification.

Check this to attach a JPEG snapshot of the current video in the email.

Use this field to add email addresses to send notifications to. This will override the default system email address. Use a semicolon (;) to separate multiple email addresses.

“Batch File” Tab

This tab allows you to specify an external batch file to run when an event is triggered. You can specify both the file to execute, and a period of time to wait before running it again.

“PTZ” Tab

This action moves the camera to a preset position when the action is triggered. The camera returns to its original position after a user-defined time period.

“Other Actions” Tab

These actions are available for Timer events only. You can configure the event to activate or deactivate ViewCommander’s connection to the camera, send an email with the camera’s status, move to a preset, or set a function on the camera, such as enabling an IR filter.

 

]]> Control Configuration Panel https://viewcommander.com/control-configuration-panel/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:36:38 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=3555

Control Configuration panel

The Control Configuration Panel gives you advanced controls for your camera including presets. NOTE: This page depends entirely on your camera model and its capabilities. Your Control Configuration Panel may have more/less options. 

Advanced Controls

Here is where you are able to adjust additional advanced features for your specific camera model. You may see “Auto Iris”, “Focus” and more. 

Presets & Touring

Under “Presets & Touring” you can set the camera to go to a Preset automatically after a specified period of time. This may be beneficial if someone is looking at the area around the camera but forgets to set the camera back to its original placement.  This is also a useful feature if you set Regions of Interest in Motion Detection so the camera always goes back to the Region of Interest you previously setup. 

The last option is “Preset Touring”. This is where you can have multiple presets be viewed at rotating times. 

Custom Controls

If a camera has a special command, one that ViewCommander doesn’t have, you can add the command here by referring to the camera’s API documentation. 

(In the ProAdvanced Version only)

Adding/Editing/Deleting Presets

1. To add a preset move your camera to the desired location. Using the “Preset Management” boxes select an “unassigned” preset from the drop down menu and name it then click “Add/Set”. 

To edit a preset choose the preset from the drop down menu and move the camera to the new desired location. Then click “Add/Set” to save changes. 

(If using the web you may need to Refresh the page to see the updated presets)

2. You should now see the presets in the drop down box. Choose one and your camera will move to that predetermined location. 

]]> Video Configuration Panel https://viewcommander.com/video-configuration-panel/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:31:52 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2543

Video Configuration panel

The Video Configuration Panel allows you to adjust video settings, set recording options, and control PTZ functions. 

Embedded Mini Control panel

The reduced size control panel is a convenient way to control PTZ video cameras without opening a separate control panel.

Depending on your camera model your PTZ control may look different. 

Video Connection

Checking this option will establish a network connection between ViewCommander and the camera to obtain a live video stream.

Choosing “Enable Audio” will establish a network connection between ViewCommander and the camera to obtain a live audio stream.

Recording Settings

Check this option to allow audio to be saved to disk for later playback.

Select this option to continuously record video (as opposed to saving video only on motion detected events). Adjust the Frames per Second (FPS) value to record video at the desired frame rate. Lower frame rates use less disk space.

Note: If the incoming video frame rate is lower than the frame rate specified in this option, then the video will be saved at the incoming frame rate.

Selecting the “Record Only Events” button will save video only when events are triggered, provided the event properties are set to record video (see “Event Configuration Panel” post for more information ). Events can include motion, I/O, or other detected events.  When an event is detected, it will be saved at the incoming frame rate.

Select this option to set a schedule of when to allow recording of video.

If you do not have a schedule already set ViewCommander will ask you to set one. Click “Set Schedule” to set up an individual schedule for this camera.

Advanced RecoRding

This option allows for advanced video recording settings.

Select a drive to save the video. If ‘Default Drive’ is selected, then video will be saved to the drive specified in the System Settings. To save to a network drive, the network drive must be mapped to a drive letter. The full UNC path will be displayed below after the drive letter is selected. In the Professional Plus model or higher, you can select a secondary failover drive to record to if the primary drive is full or offline. In the Professional Advanced model, you can record to both drives simultaneously.

Checking this option will save all the video frames in memory to disk when an event is triggered. ViewCommander will keep frames in memory for the specified time period. The seconds specified in the “Seconds to Continue” box will determine how long to record video once the event has stopped.

Checking this option will delete archives older than the days specified. Archives are automatically deleted every night at midnight, and are also deleted when the software starts. Video that is locked will not be deleted.

Video Settings

Adjusts the brightness of the video.

Adjusts the contrast of the video.

This video property allows light levels in the video to be equalized, and makes objects easier to see in darkened images.

Grayscale converts a color image to a black & white image.

Softening the video will reduce visual noise and artifacts.

This feature will further reduce noise and bring out detail in non-moving objects within the video.

This feature will brighten and enhance detail in non-moving objects in dark video.

Selecting this option will stabilize the video when the camera is shaking or swaying. This is useful if the camera is located in an outdoor location and high winds are causing the camera to move or vibrate.

Selecting this option returns all values to their default settings.

The video enhancement settings allow for the enhancement of the video stream in real-time, as well as in playback mode. In order to maintain the original image integrity of the image that was received from the camera, these video enhancements are applied after the video is received and recorded.

Statistics

This section displays usage statistics for the video feed. This is useful to see how much or how many network resources the video is utilizing. The incoming video dimensions are also displayed.

Additional Settings

Some cameras have the capability to store preset positions for easy navigation. Press the ‘Select the Update Preset’ button to download the presets into the control panel’s preset box.

This setting is one step in allowing individual users to get to the camera remotely. Here you will be able to select individual users or groups who you would like to be able to access this camera remotely. See the Remote Access and Security Settings page for more information. 

These settings allow for different video options such as name overlay and rotating the video.

This option allows:

  • Camera Name – Enter an easy reference name for the camera.
  • Overlay Source Name in Video – checking this will overlay the video source Easy Reference Name in the live video.
  • Overlay Camera Name in Video – checking this will overlay the camera name in the live video.
  • Overlay Timestamp – checking this will overlay the current time in the live video.
  • Display text in bottom of screen – Checking the option to place text at the top or bottom of the screen.
  • Rotate Video and Controls 180 degrees – Select an option to rotate ‘video’, ‘control’, or ‘video & control’ 180 degrees.
  • Display in MultiView Window – Choosing whether or not to display the video stream in the MultiView window. For systems with multiple remote windows, you will be able to choose which window number to display the video in.
]]> Configuration Panel Overview https://viewcommander.com/configuration-panel-overview/ Fri, 26 Mar 2021 19:20:54 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=3545

Configuration Panel Overview

The Configuration Panel allows you to configure several settings for the camera and video image. When video is being displayed, different settings can be adjusted and controlled in the configuration panel.

The configuration panel contains four ‘tabs’ – Video, Control, Events, and Playback.

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