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AXIS Camera Station Administration

AXIS Camera Station User’s Manual

53

Performance

This section provides various options for improving the performance of AXIS 
Camera Station. Caution should be exercised when adjusting these settings, as 
incorrect configuration may adversely affect overall performance. 

Minimum available

hard disk space (%)

This ensures that there is always a minimum of hard disk space available, to 
ensure that Windows performs correctly. The recommended setting is 10-15% 
of the total hard disk space. 

Summary of Contents for CAMERA RECORDER 1.1

Page 1: ...AXIS Camera Station User s Manual 1 AXIS Camera Station User s Manual ...

Page 2: ...akes no warranty of any kind with regard to the material contained within this document including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose Axis Communications AB shall not be liable nor responsible for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing performance or use of this material Trademark Acknowledgments Internet ...

Page 3: ...6 General 37 External I Os 39 Alarm notification 48 Users 49 Camera Sequence 51 Performance 53 AXIS Camera Station License 54 AXIS Camera Station Client 57 AXIS Camera Station Client Administration 62 AXIS Camera Station Web 63 Enable Client Web Access 64 Access the AXIS Camera Station Web from a client PC 65 AXIS Camera Station Web Control Buttons 65 Network Configuration 67 NTFS Filesystem 67 Wi...

Page 4: ... 2 GHz or higher recommended 512 MB Hard disk 1 GB for installation and 2 GB or higher per camera as image database NTFS file system CD drive XGA 1024 x 768 or higher resolution monitor Graphic card with 32 MB or more memory Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device 100 Mbit Ethernet Microsoft Windows XP Professional Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 with SP4 Microsoft Internet Explorer Vers...

Page 5: ...nded OS for optimal performance For optimal network performance 100 Mbit switches should be used Hubs can be used for installation using less than 6 8 cameras There are no known limitations on networks when switches are used If this software is installed in an existing network with high traffic consider using a dedicated switch and add a second network adapter to the PC As preventative maintenance...

Page 6: ...servers You may be prompted to install NET Framework 1 1 Simply follow the installation Wizard s instructions and click your way through You may be prompted and then automatically redirected to http windowsupdate microsoft com to locate and install these missing Windows components Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 located here http www microsoft com windows2000 downloads servicepacks Windows Internet Ex...

Page 7: ...ill find your License Key on the inside of the AXIS Camera Station CD casing to the left Click Activate 3 Your license information will be sent to Axis Communications and your software will be automatically activated 4 You can now start using AXIS Camera Station The License Key can only be used to install the software on a single com puter The License Key is your proof of purchase keep it in a saf...

Page 8: ...u can now use AXIS Camera Station for 5 days 4 To receive the Access Code go to http www axis com techsup acs fill in the requested information and click Submit 5 When you have received the Access Code to unlock the program select Yes when starting up AXIS Camera Station 6 Enter your Access Code and click Activate See AXIS Camera Station License on page 54 for detailed information on upgrading lic...

Page 9: ...From the Cameras tab 1 Click File Administration 2 Select camera 3 Camera enabled checkbox must be checked 4 Name the camera or video server 5 Click to obtain the correct camera or video server 7 For video servers type 6 Enter camera s Local IP address address WAN LAN and Internet 8 Enter camera s User and password default user root default password pass 9 Check connection to camera by clicking Li...

Page 10: ...d the minimum required setup See AXIS Camera Station User Interface on page 11 and AXIS Camera Station Administration on page 18 for configuration instructions 10 Select view according 12 Select camera 1 16 Click OK to save and exit Example To configure 4 cameras select To configure 8 cameras select 11 Select camera position for camera 1 15 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all cameras to the number of cam...

Page 11: ...m the connected cameras and stores them to hard disk From the AXIS Camera Station you can start or stop the background service click File Administration Start Server or Stop Server A flashing green indicator in the upper right corner of the window shows that the service is running whereas a flashing red indicator means the service is stopped The task bar icon also shows the status of the service i...

Page 12: ...he Administration pages it is possible to set up the system so that it always starts in this mode see Default View on page 36 Select Camera Select a camera to be shown in a new window Select this if you want to close the view windows and thus save on processor power but still want a single camera view visible on your desktop Monitoring I O When clicking this button the I O Status of all units are ...

Page 13: ... to view from the drop down list The pre configured switching interval can be overridden by clicking the next button or by changing the switching interval in the drop down list See Camera Sequence on page 51 for configuration Click for detailed camera view Red connection normal I O is active recording in progress if I O is set to Start Stop recording Green connection normal I O is in normal state ...

Page 14: ...ents within a specific time interval that can span several days and or to search for movement in specific areas of the camera view See Recordings on page 24 for configuration instructions Click Recorded Events for views to appear Save recorded image to disk Print image Save recorded images as AVI file E mail a recorded image To enlarge the view double click or drag a square over the image Right cl...

Page 15: ...uration instructions Event Log The event log shows all the events in the server Click on an item in the list to open the event Click Advanced Search to search for a specific time interval or for recordings where movement has been detected in certain areas of the camera view See External I Os on page 39 for configuration instructions Click to show recorded events Click Advanced Search 1 Select came...

Page 16: ...ing red indicator means the service has stopped View Menu Select the desired view from this menu or by using the buttons to the right in the window Buttons for the camera view are at the top and buttons for viewing the I O status and camera sequences are further down Monitor Menu Select a number of cameras from this menu to open a new window occupying the entire screen and shows live images from t...

Page 17: ...a has PTZ or a connected audio module Pan tilt zoom controls Click on the controls to move the camera around You can also click on the images to steer the camera You can select a preset position from the Preset Position drop down menu as defined in the PTZ camera Audio controls If the camera has audio capability the controls are shown here This feature is only available in some PTZ cameras ...

Page 18: ...n section of AXIS Camera Station Click File Administration to access the different tabs The different tabs are described in detail here Cameras on page 19 Recordings on page 24 Schedules on page 31 Views on page 36 General on page 37 External I Os on page 39 Alarm notification on page 48 Users on page 49 Camera Sequence on page 51 Performance on page 53 AXIS Camera Station License on page 54 File ...

Page 19: ... must also specify the video port number in the Camera Port Number drop down list 7 If the camera is password protected enter the User ID and Password 8 Click Link to Camera to verify that you can access the camera 9 Click OK to save and exit It is very important that you check the Camera enabled checkbox If this checkbox is not checked when registering a camera recordings and live view are not po...

Page 20: ...cameras and video servers in your network To detect and add remove new cameras click this button to open the Camera Explorer a tool that scans a user defined range of IP addresses and displays any Axis camera or video server found on the network Detect add or remove cameras in the Camera Explorer Enable camera Check to enable image capture from the camera If this checkbox is not checked when regis...

Page 21: ...as your LAN IP address depending on your network Firewall NAT The WAN must be specified if a client or web interface client is run from another network than AXIS Camera Station If no WAN address is available enter the LAN address If you have changed the default port settings in the camera they must be changed here accordingly You can specify a port number other than the default port by adding port...

Page 22: ...r details The FTP server can be installed on the same server as AXIS Camera Station or on another server within the same Windows network The camera must be set up to send a file via FTP on I O activity or motion Note Example Setting up a camera to send recorded images to an FTP directory 1 The Axis camera must first be set up to send recorded images to the ftp server Example AXIS network camera we...

Page 23: ...size bytes Setting a minimum image size can help prevent the sending of incomplete images Directory Specify the FTP server directory where recorded images will be uploaded This could be from another server within your Windows network or a local drive on the PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed Link to Camera button Click here to open the camera s embedded web pages from where you can configur...

Page 24: ... down list it must be registered under the Cameras tab see Cameras on page 19 for instructions The maximum number of available cameras is determined by your license Recording Method Continuous recording Check this if you want the server to continuously save images This option uses more disk space than recording upon motion detection or upon an external alarm Record every seconds Set the recording ...

Page 25: ...ilt in motion detection to trigger recordings in AXIS Camera Station Alarm priority Check a priority level for the recording Medium is checked by default Low No email notification is sent upon an alarm Medium An email is sent upon an alarm to the recipient s defined under Alarm notification on page 48 High An email is sent upon an alarm to the recipient s defined under Alarm notification on page 4...

Page 26: ...button 4 Click the Set Grid button to select the part of the image to scan for motion Left click and drag to add new areas Right click and drag to delete areas The grid may be shown in different colors but this is simply to increase visibility Click OK when done When the AXIS Camera Station does the motion detection rather than the cameras the performance of the server may be affected by the extra...

Page 27: ...green Motion Detected icon is shown The red Recording icon is also displayed and will remain for several seconds depending on the Images to start stop setting on the Recordings tab see Recordings on page 24 Record to Hard Disk Save Recordings to Specify where to store your images This field must always begin with a disk drive letter hard disk drive letters C to K can be used The same directory can...

Page 28: ...s see above Save backup for days Specify the number of days to store the backup on external storage Recording Buffers and Duration Pre event recording buffer seconds Specify how many seconds of images you want to record before motion is detected or the alarm is triggered Up to 50 images can be saved in this buffer Post event recording buffer seconds Specify how many seconds of images to record aft...

Page 29: ...e the event triggers and recording is started This can help reduce unnecessary triggering for slight changes Target recording frame rate fps This specifies the desired recording frame rate The actual frame rate depends on the type of camera network conditions and your PC configuration If you are running on a powerful server and using only a few cameras the frame rate can be set high Event time 5 m...

Page 30: ...ese settings allow you to start an I O when motion is detected and or to only record if a specified I O is first in a particular state open or closed Check the required box es select the I O from the drop down list and finally select the state the I O should be in for the condition to be met ...

Page 31: ...st For a camera to appear in the list it must be registered under the Cameras tab see Cameras on page 19 for instructions The number of cameras available is specified by your license Days From the drop down list select the day of the week for which you want to set up a schedule The smallest unit in the schedule bar is 15 minutes Left click and drag to define an interval Right click and drag to era...

Page 32: ...recording checkbox and click Apply 3 Under Schedules the Continuous recording indicator bar will be completely filled in with red Right click and drag on the indicator bar if you wish to modify the interval 4 Click Apply to save the new settings Alarm Motion recording Schedule the intervals during which recordings can be triggered by alarms or motion detection In order to define a recording schedu...

Page 33: ...teand then click Use this specific date orUse this date every year The specified date will appear in the drop down list 4 Next specify Continuous recording Alarm Motion recording or Alarm notification or click Copy from template to use a pre defined template 5 Click Apply to save your settings Template If you want to create a template to use for several dates e g holidays proceed with these steps ...

Page 34: ...Copy from template Click Copy from template and select a pre defined template from the drop down list to apply to a camera and day Copy schedule to other days If you want to use the same setting for several days e g holidays you can copy a schedule from one day to another 1 Set up the first camera schedule 2 Click Copy schedule to other days 3 In the Select pop up window check the days you want to...

Page 35: ...n copy a schedule from one camera to another 1 Set up the first camera schedule and then click Copy Schedule to other cameras 2 Check the appropriate check box es in the Select pop up window For a camera to appear as an option it must be registered under the Cameras tab see Cameras on page 19 for instructions 3 Click OK The schedule is now copied to the select camera s ...

Page 36: ...eras select the camera to display in this position Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all cameras 4 The quality of the video feed can be improved by increasing the Framerate and lowering the compression value in Image Quality Compression Default View Specify the default view 0 4 6 9 10 13 or 16 to display when AXIS Camera Station is started If this is set to 0 no live images are shown The controls for event...

Page 37: ...ministration options i e the different tabs available when you click File Administration are password protected Users must also be defined as users in Windows own user database The Users tab in AXIS Camera Station allows you to specify the cameras available to each user Warning Server IP address This field must contain the IP address of the PC on which AXIS Camera Station is installed If the PC is...

Page 38: ... allowed to modify the current configuration from AXIS Camera Station Client See AXIS Camera Station Client on page 57 for more information Show only one image on playback This setting allows you to view recordings as one large image in the playback window If No is selected the playback window will show the current frame in the center of the window with the four preceding frames above it and the n...

Page 39: ...he alarm a descriptive name and click OK 2 Select the required I O from the drop down list I O Name The new alarm created in step 1 is also available here 3 Check the box for Enable external alarm 4 Setthevariousrequiredparameters accordingtothedescriptionsinI Otype specific data on page 41 and I O Definition on page 40 For an AXIS I O this means e g the IP address to the Axis device containing th...

Page 40: ...ording but only acts as an alarm trigger To set up an FTP type I O you must first set up an I O input event as triggered by FTP The FTP I O will sense the folder C TempACS FTPdir AlarmIn This folder must also be set up in MS IIS as an FTP folder A file sent to this folder will trigger the I O if the file has a name that contains the name of the event This file must be sent to c TempACS ftpdir alar...

Page 41: ...s a constant power pulse through the I O An alarm can then be set up to trigger when the power pulse is broken i e when the I O opens Flip Flop Enabling Flip Flop means that for outputs the I O will return to its normal state after a few seconds Example A gate is normally closed NC In this case enabling Flip flop means that if the gate is opened the I O device can be setup to automatically close t...

Page 42: ...d the state it should be in to activate the first I O Select camera button Opens the dialog for selecting the cameras that will start recording on the incoming alarm For a camera to appear in this dialog it must be registered under the Cameras tab see Cameras on page 19 for instructions Note that it is possible to record on any camera in the system and not just on the camera with the I O that trig...

Page 43: ... or video server I O 10 Enter the camera or video server IP address user name and password 8 Enter I O text 6 Select Input 9 Select Normal Open or Normal Closed 7 Select I O to be used on camera or video server 11 Optional enter PTZ 12 Enter names that describe I O status Example Either On or Off is shown in the I O status window The activation of one I O can be dependent the other I O and the sta...

Page 44: ...r 13 Click Select Camera and choose which cameras should start recording when this alarm is triggered The camera must be set to 14 Click OK to save and exit record on I O under Recordings 4 Check Enable External Alarm 1 Click Add Alarm 2 Name the alarm 3 Select the new alarm from the list 5 Choose AXIS to detect changes on an Axis camera or video server I O ...

Page 45: ...losed 7 Select I O to be used on camera or video server 11 Optional enter PTZ camera preset position 12 Enter names that describe I O status Example Either On or Off is shown in I O status window 13 Specify push button text to appear in I O Definitions The activation of one I O can be dependent the other I O and the state it should be in on another I O Check to enable and specify to activate the f...

Page 46: ...o that it contains the name of the I O Example If the I O is named FrontDoor the file from the camera should be named e g FrontDoor jpg or FrontDoor00045 jpg so that it is properly recognized by AXIS Camera Station 14 Click Select Camera and select which cameras should start recording when this alarm is triggered The camera must be set 15 Click OK to save and exit to record on I O under Recordings...

Page 47: ...t as being dependent on another I O Check to enable and specify the other I O and the state it should be in to activate thefirst I O PTZ camera preset position 9 Click Select Camera and choose which cameras should start recording when this alarm is triggered The camera must be set 10 Click OK to save and exit to record on I O under Recordings ...

Page 48: ...ame and password for logging in to the SMTP server Mail from Enter the email address that will appear as the sender of the alarm notification Mail subject Enter the title or subject of the email Send mail to address Enter up to three email address to notify upon alarms Time between mails This is the time between the alarm notification mails sent from the same camera alarms and can be used to preve...

Page 49: ...abled Windows handles the authentication of all users trying to gain access AXIS Camera Station also handles access control for each individual camera Before a user can be granted access to AXIS Camera Station the user must first be created in the Windows user database Click the Windows User Administration button on the Users tab See the Windows online help for instructions on setting up new users...

Page 50: ...ss 2 Click OK to save and exit The camera access specified for the user is used both in the server environment and when logging into AXIS Camera Station from a web browser If security is enabled only an Administrator will have access to the Administration section Ensure that at least one user is defined as an Administrator under the User tab otherwise it will not be possible to access the Administ...

Page 51: ... Add Camera button To add a camera to the camera sequence click the Add Camera button and select a camera See page 52 Remove Camera button To remove a camera from the sequence click this button and select the camera to remove Add Sequence button To add a new sequence press the button and enter a name for it See page 52 Remove Sequence To remove a sequence press the button and select the sequence t...

Page 52: ...1 Click Add Sequence to add a new sequence session 2 Highlight the sequence and click Add Camera Select cameras from the list 3 The cameras will be added to the session Add text as it will appear on the screen and the interval at which the different cameras will be shown in seconds 4 Click OK to save and exit ...

Page 53: ...AXIS Camera Station Caution should be exercised when adjusting these settings as incorrect configuration may adversely affect overall performance Minimum available hard disk space This ensures that there is always a minimum of hard disk space available to ensure that Windows performs correctly The recommended setting is 10 15 of the total hard disk space ...

Page 54: ...or a limited time from www axis com and then extend the license Contact your local Axis reseller for details The time period remaining for your license is displayed in the software interface There are two ways to register new licenses Automatic update through the software requires direct Internet connection described in Obtaining a new license through automatic update direct Internet connection re...

Page 55: ...munications and your software will be automatically activated 4 You can continue using AXIS Camera Station with your new license Obtaining a new license from www axis com techsup acs If you do not have Internet access available from the computer where AXIS Camera Station is installed you can activate your license by contacting Axis Communications 1 From any computer with Internet access go to http...

Page 56: ...Camera Station User s Manual 3 Select the Activate a registered license check box 4 Enter your License Key and Access Code 5 Click Register 6 You can continue using AXIS Camera Station with your new license Entered characters are case sensitive ...

Page 57: ...lient software 1 From the client workstation insert the CD and select Software then AXIS Camera Station Client 2 Click Open to launch the installation AXIS Camera Station uses port 11007 to communicate with the client On the server dedicated PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed make sure that port 11007 is open and available for the clients in your network and in your firewall A maximum of 10...

Page 58: ...ame and password 8 Click OK and start AXIS Camera Station Client You may be prompted and then automatically redirected to http windowsupdate microsoft com to locate and install these missing Windows components Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 located here http www microsoft com windows2000 downloads servicepacks Windows Internet Explorer 6 located here http www microsoft com windows ie Install the miss...

Page 59: ...vice on server is not running Green light background service on server is running Click to expand View Selection From these push buttons or from the View menu you can select your preferred camera views No Live Images Click the No Live Images button to close the camera windows Showing live images in the main window uses a lot of processor power Not displaying live images reduces the amount of proce...

Page 60: ...ence to view from the drop down list The preconfigured switching interval can be overridden by clicking the next button or by changing the switching interval in the drop down list Recorded Events Here you can search through recorded events Select a date a time and press the search button and you will get an overview of all the recorded events Select one of the events and you will see the actual im...

Page 61: ...ter the upload configuration step is done 1 Click File Upload configuration 2 Click OK View Menu Select the desired view from this menu or by using the buttons to the right in the window Buttons for the camera view are at the top and buttons for viewing the I O status and camera sequences are further down Monitor Menu Selecting a number of cameras from this menu will open a new window occupying th...

Page 62: ... Administration Important Client users can be granted access to the AXIS Camera Station Client administration pages which contain the exact same parameters and settings as the AXIS Camera Station See AXIS Camera Station Administration on page 18 for details For clients who don t have rights to use the Administration pages the Administration option in the File menu will be dimmed Pan tilt zoom cont...

Page 63: ...ddress under General Server IP address For internal web access from a LAN enter the LAN IP address of the dedicated PC under General Server IP address In Windows XP Professional a maximum of five users can access to the web interface simultaneously This limitation is not present in other operating systems Both AXIS Camera Station and AXIS ThinWizard software use port 80 as default You must change ...

Page 64: ...3128 Note that you cannot use an address to a script 5 Enter the user and password as defined for your proxy server and then OK The installation of the web interface will start To be able to log into AXIS Camera Station from a web browser the user must be created in the Windows user database See Granting a User Camera Access on page 50 If you don t have Internet Information Server IIS 5 0 or later...

Page 65: ...ing the control buttons Camera selection A list of cameras is displayed for the user showing cameras according to his her user rights Open in new window Click this button to open a small window showing a live image from the selected camera If the camera has PTZ Pan Tilt Zoom or audio enabled the controls are shown here Open in main window Click this button to see live images from the selected came...

Page 66: ...amera to AXIS Camera Station Initially the logged events from the selected camera are shown Press Show all cameras to see the log of the entire camera group If you click on one of the logged events you will be guided to the recorded images showing an overview of all events at the selected date time Find recorded events From this page you can search through the recorded events Select date and time ...

Page 67: ...st be activated This is done from the computer administration If your hard disk is formatted as FAT32 you can convert it to NTFS Simply open a command prompt and type convert c FS NTFS V to convert your c drive Windows Security The AXIS Camera Station has a Windows integrated security system If you want to enable the secure login facilities you must authorize the administrative users in Windows 1 ...

Page 68: ...d from the client web browser The user must also be imported to the AXIS Camera Station This is done in AXIS Camera Station Administration If no user login is required please just check Anonymous Access and the website will be accessible without user login 4 In AXIS Camera Station Administration General you have to check Enable password protection to enable the security check and camera access che...

Page 69: ... Classic user acts as itself Multi user login If you want multiple users to have access to login on the AXIS Camera Station PC and differentiate the camera access please make the following steps 1 Make sure that Simple File sharing mode is disabled You can disable simple file sharing like this a Click Start My computer b Choose Tools Folder options View tab Advanced settings c Clear the Use simple...

Page 70: ... Camera Station Web and the background service To remove AXIS Camera Station Web 1 Open Add Remove Programs in the Control Panel 2 Select AXIS Camera Station Web and click Remove 3 Click Yes when asked if you want to remove AXIS Camera Station Web This will remove AXIS Camera Station Web Some files may need to be removed manually from these locations C Program Files Axis Communications AXIS Camera...

Page 71: ... The background service is started File Administration Start Server You have enough disk space available minimum 2 Gb per camera Monitor s window freezes When a monitor is selected from the Main window it freezes after a few minutes This happens on some Windows 2000 installations but has so far not been seen in Windows XP There is currently no solution it only happens on certain camera types Hard ...

Page 72: ...Running a backup on another PC on the network if you are logged in as a User If you are logged in as a User on the network you may experience problems when trying to run a backup on another PC on your network This can be solved as follows To run a backup on another PC the PC must first be shared so that other user s have write rights You must then modify the users registered in AXIS Camera Station...

Page 73: ...inistrator 50 Advanced Search 14 15 Advanced Search from event log 15 Alarm Priority 41 Alarm priority 25 alarm sound 38 Alarm when motion stops 25 automatically detect cameras 20 AXIS Camera Station Control Buttons 11 B Background service 11 background service 11 backup 28 Backup old recordings to external storage 28 bandwidth required 12 59 buffer 28 C Camera enabled checkbox 19 Camera Explorer ...

Page 74: ...om template 36 Copy schedule to other cameras 35 Copy schedule to other days 36 D default Password 21 default starting point 19 default User ID 21 Delete Alarm button 42 detected movement 15 disk defragementation 5 domain controller 71 E Enable Audio 22 Enable camera 20 Enable Client Web Access 64 Enable proxy server 38 Enable sound on alarm 41 Enable Streaming 21 event log 15 60 Event Log search ...

Page 75: ...I O definition configuration 40 I O only valid if I O 42 I O Status 12 60 IIS 22 Input Output 41 Internet Information Serve 64 K Known problems 70 L LAN IP address 19 Link 36 Link to Camera 19 live audio 22 Low 25 low light conditions 27 lower sensitivity 27 M Mail From 48 maintenance 5 Maximum event time minutes 28 maximum recording period 28 Medium 25 minimum hardware requirements AXIS Camera St...

Page 76: ...taining a new license from www axis com techsup acs 55 On Alarm 41 On Alarm configuration 42 Open Text 41 P Pan tilt zoom controls 17 Pan Tilt Zoom Camera 21 pass 19 21 Password 19 Performance 53 Preset Position 17 preset position 17 62 Proxy server 38 PTZ position 41 Q Quick Add Alarm 40 R RAID 5 Recommendations 5 Recording background service 11 Register 7 register new licenses 54 Registering wit...

Page 77: ...pecific dates 33 Status 66 store images on hard disk 27 Surveillance Station Administration 67 T Template 33 Text for Alarm OFF 42 Text for Alarm ON 42 time period for license 54 U Uninstall 70 upgrade license 54 Upload configuration 61 Upload configuration background service 61 Use camera motion detection 25 User ID 19 User Password 38 Users 49 V video port number 21 View Selection 12 W WAN IP ad...

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