CAMERA RECORDER 1.1 | User manual | AXIS Camera Station User`s Manual

AXIS Camera Station

User’s Manual

AXIS Camera Station User’s Manual 1

2

Regulatory Information

About This Document

This manual is intended for administrators and operators of AXIS Camera Station and is applicable for software version 1.0.

Later versions of the document will be posted to the Axis Web site, as required.

Previous experience of networking will be of use to the reader when installing and using this product.

Legal Considerations

Camera surveillance may be prohibited by laws that vary from country to country.

Check the laws in your local region before using AXIS Camera Station for surveillance purposes.

Liability

Every care has been taken in the preparation of this manual. Please inform your local Axis office of any inaccuracies or omissions. Axis Communications AB cannot be held responsible for any technical or typographical errors and reserves the right to make changes to the product and manuals without prior notice. Axis

Communications AB makes 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 Explorer, Microsoft, .NET, Windows are registered trademarks.

Axis Support Services

Should you require any technical assistance, please contact your Axis reseller. If your questions cannot be answered immediately, your reseller will forward your queries through the appropriate channels to ensure a rapid response.

If you are connected to the Internet, you can:

• Download user documentation and firmware updates.

• Find answers to resolved problems in the FAQ database. Search by product, category, or phrases.

• Report problems to Axis support staff by logging in to your private support area.

Visit the Axis Support Web: www.axis.com/techsup

USERS MANUAL ACS EN

Part No. 21818

Revision 1.0

Date: March 2004

Copyright © Axis Communications AB, 1999-2004

AXIS Camera Station User’s Manual

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 3

Requirements and Recommendations 7

Minimum Requirements 7

Recommendations 7

AXIS Camera Station Installation 9

Install the Software 9

Activate the software with your License Key 10

Configure AXIS Camera Station for first use 12

AXIS Camera Station User Interface 14

View Selection 15

No Live Images 15

Select Camera 15

Monitoring I/O 15

Camera Sequence 16

Recorded events 16

4-camera playback 17

Alarm List 18

File Menu 18

View Menu 18

Monitor Menu 19

Camera Menu 19

Playback Menu 19

Pan/Tilt/Zoom and Audio controls 19

AXIS Camera Station Administration 20

Cameras 20

21

Select Camera 21

Camera Explorer button 21

Enable camera 22

Camera Name 22

Camera Type 22

Camera Port Number 22

File extension 22

Camera IP Address (LAN) 22

Camera IP Address (WAN) 22

Camera User/Password 22

Show Pop-up on motion/alarm 22

Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera 22

Enable Audio 23

FTP 23

Get images from FTP directory 25

Minimum image size (bytes) 25

Directory 25

Link to Camera (button) 25

Test Image (button) 25

Recordings 26

Select camera 26

Recording Method 26

Continuous recording 26

Record every (seconds) 26

Record on I/O alarms 26

Record on motion detection and I/O alarms 27


Alarm when motion stops 27

Motion Detection Settings button 27

Record to Hard Disk 28

Save Recordings to... 28

Save recordings for (days) 29

Backup old recordings to external storage 29

Save backup for (days) 29

Recording Buffers and Duration 29

Pre-event recording buffer (seconds) 29

Post-event recording buffer (seconds) 29

Maximum event time (minutes) 29

Images to start/stop alarm 30

Target recording frame rate (fps) 31

I/O Dependencies 31

Delete recordings 31

Schedules 32

Select camera 32

Monday - Friday 32

Continuous recording 32

Alarm/Motion recording 32

Alarm Notification 32

Saturday and Sunday 32

Copy schedule to all cameras (button) 32

Views 33

Default View 33

General 34

Reset to no live images after (hours) 34

Show alarm list 34

Default save events in days 34

Enable password protection 34

Server IP address 34

Enable Web server 35

Enable File Control Check (watermark) 35

Allow clients to update configuration 35

Show only one image on playback 35

Sound on alarm 35

External I/Os 36

I/O Definition 37

I/O Name 37

I/O Text 37

I/O Type 37

Input Number 37

Input/Output 38

NO/NC 38

Flip-Flop 38

I/O type-specific data 38

On Alarm 38

PTZ position 38

Alarm Priority 38

Enable sound on alarm 38

Open Text 38

Close Text 39

Text for Alarm ON 39

Text for Alarm OFF 39

I/O Rules 39

I/O only valid if I/O... 39

4 AXIS Camera Station User’s Manual

Select camera (button) 39

Add Alarm (button) 39

Delete Alarm (button) 39

Alarm notification 45

SMTP Server 45

SMTP User/Password 45

Mail from 45

Mail subject 45

Send mail to address 45

Time between mails 45

Users 46

Granting user rights 46

Granting a User Camera Access 47

Camera Sequence 48

Camera Sequences 48

Add Camera button 48

Remove Camera button 48

Add Sequence button 48

Remove Sequence 48

Sequence text 48

Time between camera switches 48

Performance 50

System Performance 50

HTTP buffer size (Bytes) 50

Minimum available hard disk space (GB) 50

AXIS Camera Station License 51

AXIS Camera Station Client 54

AXIS Camera Station Control Buttons 56

File Menu 57

View Menu 58

Monitor Menu 58

Camera Menu 59

Playback Menu 59

Pan/Tilt/Zoom and Audio controls 59

AXIS Camera Station Client Administration 59

AXIS Camera Station Web 60

Enable Client Web Access 60

Access the AXIS Camera Station Web from a client PC 61

AXIS Camera Station Web Control Buttons 62

Camera selection 62

Open in new window 62

Open in main window 62

Quad view 62

Overview - all cameras 62

I/O Controls 62

Alarm Log search 62

Find recorded events 62

Network Configuration 63

NTFS Filesystem 63

Windows Security 63

IIS Secure Login from the AXIS Camera Station Web interface 64

Multi-user login 65

Removing AXIS Camera Station 66

To remove the entire program 66

To remove AXIS Camera Station Web 66

Troubleshooting 67


Known limitations in Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server 67

No images from Administration’s test image 67

No motion detection/recording after AXIS Camera Station is started 67

Monitor’s window “freezes” 67

Hard disks fill up or no recording is saved 67

No images are shown in the Web interface 67

I can not access the web site, even though I have created a user 67

Running a backup on another PC on the network if you are logged in as a User 68

Index 69


Requirements and Recommendations

Requirements and Recommendations

Minimum Requirements

Before you install the AXIS Camera Station, make sure these requirements are met:

• Pentium 4, 1 GHz processor

• 256 MB RAM

• 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 32MB 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 Version 6.0 or later.

• Internet Information Server (IIS) installed on the C-drive of your server if you intend to use the web interface.

• Microsoft .NET 1.1 Runtime environment running (with AXIS Camera

Station software)

Recommendations

For optimal software performance, use these PC setup conditions:

• When more than 16 cameras are enabled, use dual processors and/or hard disk controllers like RAID, for optimal performance.

• SCSI disks perform better than IDE disks, since no PC processor power is used to control the disks and the access time is shorter than IDE. Hard disks should be minimum 7.200 RPMs.

• The target frame rate is for single jpeg grabbing with motion detection on. Better performance can be obtained using cameras with built-in motion detection or external alarm detectors like PIR's etc.

• Windows XP is the recommended OS for optimal performance.

• For optimal network performance, 100Mbit 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.


Requirements and Recommendations

• As preventative maintenance, it is recommended that you regularly check that cameras, recordings, triggered events, motion detection, etc. are functioning properly.

• It is recommended to install a UPS to secure camera operation in case of power failure.

Important!

It is recommended that you run disk defragmentation of your hard drives on a regular basis to improve the performance of the system. See your Windows documentation for instructions.


AXIS Camera Station Installation

AXIS Camera Station Installation

Install the Software

Install AXIS Camera Station on the PC from which you wish to run the main administration of your cameras and video servers, e.g. on a server PC.

1. Insert the CD in the CD drive. If the installation CD does not auto-start, click Start.exe in the CD’s root folder.

2. From the CD’s interface, click Software and then AXIS Camera Station.

3. Click Open to launch the installation.

You may be prompted to install .NET Framework 1.1. Simply follow the installation Wizard’s instructions and click your way through.

Note:

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 missing components, see your Windows documentation for instructions. When this is done, reboot your computer and then restart the

AXIS Camera Station installation by clicking AXIS Camera Station setup.exe on the CD.

4. Next, you will be asked where you wish to install the program. If nothing is specified the program is normally installed in C:\Program Files\Axis

Communications\AXIS Camera Station.

5. Click your way through the Installation Wizard. When you are finished, open AXIS Camera Station from Start | Program Files or click the program icon on your desktop:

Before starting AXIS Camera Station, the hard disks where you save images must be NTFS formatted. See the User’s Manual for details. The AXIS Camera

Station User’s Manual is available on the CD and on www.axis.com



Activate the software with your License Key

Registering with a direct Internet connection

1. The first time you start the program you will be asked to register your license. Click Register.

2. Fill in the requested information and click Add full version license.

Enter License Key, found on CD-sleeve.

Entered characters are case-sensitive!

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.



Registering without a direct Internet connection

• AXIS Camera Station can be installed as a 30-day demo version.

• Contact Axis Communications for support: www.axis.com/techsup

1. If you do not have immediate Internet access, you can choose a 5-day grace period, where you will have a complete functional program for 5 days. Click Grace Period.

2. Enter your License Key (found on CD sleeve) and click Activate Grace Period.


3. You will see your Server ID (a code containing information about your PC).

Make a note of it.

4. You can now use AXIS Camera Station for 5 days.

5. To obtain information to complete the installation, go to

http://www.axis.com/techsup/acs from a web browser.

6. Fill in the requested information and click Submit.

7. You will receive an Access code, make a note of it.

8. Start the program, select Registration done.



9. Enter your License Key, your Server ID and your Access Code and click Add

full version license.

10. You can now start using AXIS Camera Station

See AXIS Camera Station License, on page 51 for detailed information on

upgrading licenses.

Configure AXIS Camera Station for first use

After installing the software, it must be configured for your cameras and video servers. All configuration is done from the software’s Administration pages.

From AXIS Camera Station :

1. Click File | Administration



From the Cameras tab:

2. Select camera

3. Camera enabled checkbox must be checked!

4. Name the camera or video server

5. Specify the correct camera or video server type!

6. For video servers, specify video port number in Camera Port number field.

7. Enter camera’s

Local IP address

(LAN) and Internet address (WAN)

(or host names).

9. Check connection to camera by clicking Link to camera.

8. Enter camera’s

User and password default user = root default pass = pass

Next, under Views, define the camera views as seen from AXIS Camera Station:

10. Select view according to the number of cameras you want to configure.

11. Select camera position

for camera 1

12. Select camera 1

Example:

To configure 4

cameras, choose

To configure 8 cameras, choose

13. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all cameras.

14. Click OK to save and exit.

You have now performed the minimum required setup. For instructions on configuring

recordings, alarms, motion detection, scheduling, etc., see AXIS Camera Station User

Interface, on page 14 andAXIS Camera Station Administration, on page 20.


AXIS Camera Station User Interface

AXIS Camera Station User Interface

This chapter describes the AXIS Camera Station control buttons from the main view. Your cameras and video servers must be configured to appear in the AXIS

Camera Station interface.

All configuration is done from the

Administration pages, see AXIS Camera

Station Administration, on page 20

AXIS Camera Station - expanded and contracted views

Green light = background service on server is running.

Red light = background service on server is not running.

Click to expand

14

The frames surrounding the images are color-coded:

Blue frame: Camera connection OK, no motion detected

Red frame: Camera connection OK, motion detected or recording has started

Yellow frame: Camera network connection interrupted

Background service:

The background service retrieves images from 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.

That the service is running is shown by a flashing green indicator in the upper right of the window. A flashing red indicator means the service is stopped. It is also shown by a flashing green task bar icon in the lower corner of the window, a flashing red indicator means the service is stopped and a flashing yellow taskbar icon indicates that the service is starting up.

Recording is only possible if the background service is running, and will continue even after logging out from the PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed.


View Selection


From these push buttons or from the View menu you can select your preferred camera views. The different camera views are configured under Administration

| Views, see Views, on page 33 for instructions.

No Live Images

Select Camera

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 processor power required by the service, whilst not affecting recordings in any way. The amount of bandwidth required is also less when not showing live images. In the Views section of the Administration pages it is possible to set up the system so that it always starts in this mode,

see Default View, on page 33.

Select a camera to be shown in a new window. Choose 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 displayed. Monitoring

I/O defines when events, such as an alarm or motion detection, should be triggered. Each I/O is shown on one line, along with a colored indicator:

• green indicator means the I/O is in its normal state

• red indicates that the I/O is active, recording in progress

• yellow means there is no communication with the I/O

Buttons for starting and stopping an I/O output are also shown. See External

I/Os, on page 36 for configuration.

red= connection normal, I/O is active, recording in progress green= connection normal, I/O is in normal state: no recording in progress yellow = no communication with I/O

Click for detailed camera view



Camera Sequence Click to open the Camera sequence window. A camera sequence is a predefined "camera tour" i.e. a configuration that automatically switches through all of the cameras included in the tour. Select the camera sequence 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 48 for configuration.

Camera sequence switches every 15 seconds

16

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 images in the selected event.

To find recorded events from a specific camera, click the Recorded events button. A new window will open, showing images from the recorded files.

Click Recorded Events for views to appear.



Click on an image to enlarge the view and enable more options, e.g. save a recorded image to disk, print an image, save as zip file, etc..

To enlarge the view: double-click or drag a square

Print image

E-mail a recorded image

Save recorded image to disk

Save recorded image as zip file

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:

Click Advanced Search

1. Select camera

2. Define time interval

3. Optional: select an area of the image by left-clicking and dragging a square over the image.

Right-click to de-select the area.

4. Optional: set motion sensitivity level of the recorded event.

5. Click Show Events button.

Tip: set the motion sensitivity level on Low

(far left) in areas showing a lot of “noise”, e.g.

a high-way or for night-settings.

See

Recordings, on page 26 for configuration instructions.

4-camera playback Here you can search through recorded events from four cameras simultaneously. Select a date, a time and you will get an overview of all the recorded events. To display recorded events from four cameras, click the 4-

camera playback button. A new window will open, showing images from the recorded files.

Click to show recorded events.



Double-click an image to enhance the view and enable more options, e.g. save a recorded event to disk, print a snap-shot, save as zip file, e-mail a recorded

event, etc. See Recordings, on page 26 for configuration instructions.

Alarm List The alarm list shows all alarms and other events in the server. Click on an alarm in the list to open the event:

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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:

Click Advanced Search

1. Select camera

2. Define time interval

3. Optional: select an area of the image by left-clicking and dragging a square over the image.

Right-click to de-select the area.

4. Optional: set motion sensitivity level of the recorded event.

5. Click Show Events button.

Tip: set the motion sensitivity level on Low

(far left) in areas showing a lot of “noise”, e.g.

a high-way or for night-settings.

See External I/Os, on page 36 for configuration instructions.

File Menu Start/Stop Server

From the File menu you can start or stop AXIS Camera Station as a background service. This is the part of the program that gets images from the connected cameras and stores them to hard disk.

Images are available in the main window at any time, but images are only saved to disk when the service is running.

That the service is running is shown by a flashing green indicator in the upper right of the window. A flashing red indicator means the service is stopped and yellow that it is starting up.

Note that the service is automatically stopped when opening the

Administration section, and will automatically restart when this is closed.

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


AXIS Camera Station User Interface 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 the entire screen, and shows live images from the connected cameras. Press Alt+F4 to exit the monitor mode.

Camera Menu Selecting a camera from this list opens a new browser window showing the

Axis camera or video server's home page. If the same unit is selected from the drop-down list to the right of the window, this opens a smaller window that only shows the live image.

Playback Menu Select playback from cameras, from ZIP files, or open the Event Search window or Event Log. The Event Search and 4- or 16-camera playback can be also be opened with the buttons on the right. Once the Event log has been opened, clicking on an event in the list opens the Event Search window.

Pan/Tilt/Zoom and

Audio controls

These controls are only visible when clicking the camera image if the connected camera 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. (This feature is only available on some PTZ cameras).

Audio controls

If Audio is attached to the camera, the controls are shown here.


AXIS Camera Station Administration

AXIS Camera Station Administration

This chapter describes how to configure your Axis network cameras and video servers from the Administration part of the program, where all configuration is done. From AXIS Camera Station, click File | Administration to access the different tabs:

File | Administration

Cameras

When starting the Administration part of AXIS Camera Station, the Cameras tab is the default starting point. All cameras and video servers are first registered under this tab and can then be chosen for configuration from the other tabs in the program.

Example: Adding and configuring a new camera

1. Select a camera number from the Select Camera drop-down list.

2. Check the Camera enabled checkbox

It is very important that you check the Camera enabled checkbox!

3. Name the camera/video server in the Camera name field.

4. Specify the type of camera in use in the Camera Type field. If using an analog CCTV camera, specify the Axis video server it is connected to.

It is very important that you specify the correct Axis camera/video server model!

5. For a camera connected to an Axis video server, specify the video port number in the Camera Port Number drop-down list.



6. Enter the camera/video IP address in the Camera IP address (LAN) field. If you are working in a WAN (e.g. over the Internet), enter the Camera IP

address (WAN) too.

•The WAN IP address is where AXIS Camera Station should fetch live images.

This might be the same as your LAN IP address, but depends 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.

•Host names or IP addresses can be entered in the LAN/WAN fields.

7. If the camera is password protected, enter the User ID and Password.

Axis camera and video servers have a default User ID = root and Password =

pass. The password may be changed in the camera.

8. Click Link to Camera to verify that you can access the camera.


Click this button to open the Camera Selection view; a non-editable table containing summarized information on all configured Axis cameras and network video servers.

Select Camera Switch between available cameras. You will only be able to set up the number of cameras defined by your license.

Camera Explorer button

AXIS Camera Station can automatically detect cameras and video servers in your network. To detect and add (or 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 there.

1. Enter IP range you wish to scan, e.g.

171.15.115.

2 - 171.15.115.254


Detect, add or remove cameras in the Camera Explorer

2. Click

Scan

21


Enable camera Check to enable image capture from the camera.

If this checkbox is not checked when registering a camera, recordings and live-view will not be possible!

Camera Name The camera’s name as it will appear in the Main window, alarm log and web page.

Camera Type Specify the camera model in the Camera Type field. It is very important that

you specify the correct Axis camera model! Make sure you are using the latest firmware on the camera to get the best performance and features. If using an analog CCTV camera, specify the Axis Video Server it is connected to.

Camera Port Number For a camera connected to a Video Server, specify the video port number.

File extension Specify the file format to save images in. Currently only jpg is available.

Camera IP Address

(LAN)

For a network camera, enter the LAN IP address or host name.

If you have changed the default port settings in the camera, it must be changed here accordingly. You can e.g. specify a port number other than the default port by adding :port after the IP address. Example: 10.13.6.128:8080

Camera IP Address

(WAN)

Specify the WAN IP address or host name from where AXIS Camera Station should fetch live images. This might be the same as your LAN IP address, but depends 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, it must be changed here accordingly. You can e.g. specify a port number other than the default port by adding :port after the IP address. Example: 10.13.6.128:8080

Camera User/Password If the camera is protected by a user ID and password, specify these here.

Axis cameras and video servers have a default User ID = root and Password =

pass. The password may have been changed.

Show Pop-up on motion/alarm

If checked, the window with this camera's image will pop-up on the screen whenever an alarm or motion occurs. Typically used in connection with audio communication initiated by an external alarm.

Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera Check this for a Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera with accessible controls. The controls available with the PTZ device will be displayed when viewing the camera's image in its own window, i.e. when the camera is selected from the drop-down list in the main window.



Enable Audio Check this if the AXIS 2191 Audio Module is used with the camera. This enables full duplex live audio between camera/microphone and user. Audio from recordings is not possible.

FTP AXIS Camera Station usually gets images from the camera via HTTP, but it is also possible to record images via FTP, whereby the camera first pushes the images to an FTP server, from where they are then fetched. This may be done to e.g. reduce the power used to fetch images to AXIS Camera Station and thus save network bandwidth.

Note:

Live view is not possible from AXIS Camera Station over ftp, only recorded images can be sent to an FTP server.

The camera contains the settings that specify when to send images over ftp, see your Axis camera documentation for 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. This file must be sent to c:/temp/ftpdir/alarmin/ and the file must be named so 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.

Note:

IIS has an integrated FTP server that needs to be enabled manually. See your

Windows documentation for instructions.



Example: Setting up a camera to send recorded images to an FTP directory

An FTP directory must first be created within your Windows network, either on the same server PC as AXIS Camera Station or on another computer.

1. The Axis camera must first be set up to send recorded images to the ftp server.

Choose FTP upload

IP address of FTP server.

Path to FTP directory where images should be sent.

Example: AXIS 2110 web configuration pages

2. Open the AXIS Camera Station Administration pages. Under Cameras, enter the Camera name.

3. Enter the Camera type.

4. Click Camera enabled checkbox.

5. Click the Get recorded images from FTP server checkbox.

6. From Directory, browse to the FTP directory where the images are sent:



7. Under the Recordings tab, select Record on I/O alarms.


Get images from FTP directory

Check to enable pushing of images from an FTP server to AXIS Camera Station.

See FTP, on page 23.

Minimum image size

(bytes)

Setting a minimum image size can help prevent the sending of incomplete images.

Directory Specify the FTP server directory to fetch recorded images from. This could be from another server within your Windows network or from a local drive on your server PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed.

Link to Camera

(button)

Click here to open the camera's home page, from where it is possible to configure all of the camera settings.

Test Image (button) Click here to check that AXIS Camera Station is getting images from the camera. If there are no images, check that the IP address and camera/video server type are correct and that the user ID and password have been entered, if these are required.



Recordings

All settings that pertain to Recordings; e.g. motion detection, recordings triggered by an incoming signal from an input/output and saving recorded images are defined under this tab.

Select camera Select any of the available cameras. The maximum number of cameras available is determined by your license.

Recording Method

Continuous recording Check this if you want the server to continuously save images. This option uses much more disk space than recording only when motion is detected or when there is an external alarm.

Record every (seconds) Set the recording frame rate (X frames per second). If 0 is selected, the frame rate specified in the Target recording frame rate (fps) bar is used.

Record on I/O alarms Check this to start recording when there is an incoming alarm from an I/O. This could be from a device connected to an I/O, e.g. from a door switch, a smoke detector, etc.

Some Axis camera's have their own built-in motion detection, which can be used independently of AXIS Camera Station. Check this option to use the camera's own motion detection to trigger recordings in AXIS Camera Station - this will be treated as any other I/O alarm.

When setting up motion detection in the camera itself, there are two ways that detected motion can cause an alarm in AXIS Camera Station:

• By uploading images to the same FTP directory as specified in AXIS Camera

Station.

• By configuring the camera to also trigger an I/O when motion is detected.



Record on motion detection and I/O alarms

Check to store images to hard disk when motion is detected or when there is an

I/O alarm. Use of this feature is recommended, as it saves on hard disk space and uses less processing power as compared to continuous recording. Note that motion detection here refers to the functionality included in AXIS Camera

Station, and not in the camera itself.

This box must be checked if the Record on I/O alarms check box is not checked and you want the camera to start on I/O activity.

Alarm when motion stops

Check if you want recording to start when motion stops. This is useful in e.g. an industrial environment for detecting when machinery stops running.

Motion Detection

Settings button

Motion detection is an important feature of AXIS Camera Station. This feature saves hard disk space and gives the option to send alarms when motion is detected on the camera.

To set up motion detection:

1. Under Recordings, select a camera from the Select Camera drop-down list.

2. Click on the Motion detection settings button.

3. 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.

Click to select the part of the image to scan for motion.

Red/green grid depending on background color, to increase visibility.



4. Next, set the motion detection sensitivity level in the Motion Detection window. Under normal viewing conditions, i.e. when there is no motion in the image, move the sensitivity slider until there are a few green bars in the

Motion detected bar.

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1. Set the sensitivity level of the motion detector until a few green bars appear in the Motion

Detected bar.

LOW HIGH

2. Set threshold where recordings should begin, according to the sensitivity slider position.

Tip: Set the sensitivity level on low (far left)

- in areas showing a lot of motion, e.g. a high-way

- in low light conditions, e.g. for night setting

5. When there is motion in the camera's image, set the Recording at slider to the level where you want the recording to begin. If the Motion Detected bar exceeds this setting, there will be an alarm and recording will begin.

When motion is detected with your new settings, the 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 26.

When AXIS Camera Station is running, it will automatically detect if it is day or night. This way, you can set specific motion settings for lighting conditions. Most cameras generate "noise" in the image at low light conditions and can initiate a false motion detection alarm. To remedy this, select lower sensitivity (slider on far left) for the night setting.

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 be specified for multiple cameras, in which case subdirectories are created in the specified directory.

Note:

•External storage devices can be used if they are shared and available as shared disks in Windows.

•AXIS Camera Station’s service user must also be changed, as AXIS Camera

Station uses a default Local user: Control Panel | Administrative tools

|Services|AXIS Camera Station |Action|Properties (Log On tab).



Save recordings for

(days)

Specify the number of days to store saved recordings on the hard disk. The value "default" is specified under the

General tab, see page 34.

Backup old recordings to external storage

Images will be deleted when more hard disk space is needed, or when the recording is older than the amount of days specified in Save recordings for. If this is enabled, recordings will be backed up to the specified external storage folder, Example: \\192.168.0.110\backup\

Click the browse button to browse to an external backup folder:

Note:

•External storage devices can be used if they are shared and available as shared disks in Windows.

•AXIS Camera Station’s service user must also be changed, as AXIS Camera

Station uses a default Local user: Control Panel | Administrative tools

|Services|AXIS Camera Station |Action|Properties (Log On tab).

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 after motion detection or the alarm has ended.

Maximum event time

(minutes)

The maximum recording period (in minutes).

The Maximum event time is used to divide the Continuous recording into events of X minutes.

The input/output definitions specified under the External I/Os tab are affected

by this parameter. See Input/Output, on page 38 for information on configuring

inputs and outputs.

• If the maximum is reached but motion is still detected at an input, a new

event is created and recording continues. SeeExample 1: Maximum alarm

event time - Input, on page 30.

• If the maximum is reached but motion is still detected at an output,

recording will only continue the time specified here. See Example 2:

Maximum alarm event time - Output, on page 30.



Example 1: Maximum alarm event time - Input

Event time = 5 minutes means that an input event will time-out after 5 minutes.

If the maximum time is reached but motion is still detected at an input, a new alarm event is created and recording continues.

Example 2: Maximum alarm event time - Output

output event will time-out after 5 minutes and recording will stop.

Defining an alarm event as an Input or Output is described inInput/Output, on page 38

Images to start/stop alarm

Recording starts when motion is detected or an external alarm is triggered. By setting the Images to start/stop alarm, it is possible to set how many images with no action/alarm should pass before the event ends and the server returns to its "normal" state.

When using the Alarm when motion stops option, set the number of images with no motion allowed before the event triggers and recording is started. This can help reduce unnecessary triggering for only very 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.

Target framerate can be used if 0 is specified as framerate in Continuous recording.

I/O Dependencies These 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.

Delete recordings

To delete recordings in the file system go to C:\Recording.



Schedules

The Scheduler makes it possible to set up scheduled recordings and define when to notify users on alarms. A schedule can use two different intervals. This allows you to set up a schedule from e.g. 0600-0900h and again from 1800-

2400h.

Example: Configuring a camera schedule

Select camera Select from any of the available cameras. The number of cameras available is specified by your license.

Monday - Friday

Continuous recording Select when continuous recording is required. Note that this recording mode uses more disk space than recording only on alarms or motion.

Alarm/Motion recording

Set up the periods during which recordings can be triggered by alarms or motion detection.

Alarm Notification Schedule when to notify users on alarms, i.e. send email. This period will usually be the same as the period set for Alarm/Motion recording.

Saturday and Sunday As for Monday - Friday above.

Copy schedule to all cameras (button)

To use the same schedule for all cameras, set up the first camera and then press this button.



Views

Under the Views tab, you define which camera is displayed in which position, in each different view.

Example: Define camera views

1. Select view according to the number of cameras you want to configure.

2. Select camera position

for camera

3. Select camera

Example:

To configure 4 cameras,

select

To configure 8 cameras, select

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all cameras.


1. Select one of the views by clicking the button on the left of the window that shows the view mode you want to configure. The view is now displayed, with its position numbered.

2. Click to select the position you wish to define for a certain camera. The selected position is marked by a red border.

3. From the drop-down list of available cameras, select the camera to display in this position. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all cameras.

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 search, etc. are still visible.



General

Reset to no live images after (hours)

If there is no user activity for the specified number of hours, the view reverts to showing no live images.

Show alarm list

Select if you want the alarm list to appear in the Main window. See Alarm List, on page 18 for more information on the alarm list.

Default save events in days

Specify the number of days to save images (and alarm logs) in the database.

The server frequently monitors the amount of hard disk space available and, if required, removes old events to free up hard disk space. This setting determines the value of the 'Default' option on the Recordings tab.

Camera surveillance and saving recorded images may be prohibited by laws that vary from country to country. Check the laws in your local region regarding the number of days recorded public images may be saved.

Enable password protection

If enabled, 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!

Before enabling password protection, ensure that at least one user is defined as an Administrator under the Users tab, otherwise it will not be possible to access the Administration pages again!

Server IP address If the server (the PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed) is available over a

WAN (e.g. the Internet) specify the global IP address. Otherwise enter the LAN

IP address.



Enable Web server Enables the web server and makes it possible to view live images and recorded events from an Intranet or the Internet. The installation of the web interface will start when OK is clicked if this option is enabled. For information on setting

up the web service, see AXIS Camera Station Web, on page 60

Enable File Control

Check (watermark)

Selecting this option makes the server create a checksum for all recorded events. If recorded images are tampered with, i.e. images are changed or deleted, a warning is given when the recorded event is played back.

Allow clients to update configuration

Enable this if client users should be allowed to modify the current

configuration from AXIS Camera Station Client. See AXIS Camera Station Client, on page 54 for more information.

Show only one image on playback

Use this setting to display one large image only in the playback window.

Sound on alarm Specify the path to and name of the sound file (WAV) to play on alarms. Or click the search button to go Program Files | Axis Communications | AXIS

Camera Station | Sound to choose a new sound file for your alarms.



External I/Os

This section defines alarms coming from devices connected to I/Os in the system. External I/O alarms can be used by in two ways:

• Alarms received directly from inputs/outputs on an Axis camera or video server in the system.

• FTP alarms - i.e. an alarm from a camera or video server that uploads images to an FTP directory to act as a trigger. This FTP directory is monitored by AXIS Camera Station.

Quick Add Alarm

1. For a new alarm, click the Add Alarm button. Give the 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. Set the various required parameters, according to the descriptions in I/O type-

specific data, on page 38 and I/O Definition, on page 37.

For an AXIS I/O this means e.g. the IP address to the Axis device containing the I/O, the user ID and password to the device and any texts for buttons and alarm lists.

5. Select the camera(s) that will record when this alarm is triggered by clicking

Select camera.

6. Click OK to save and exit



I/O Definition Axis network cameras and video servers support the use of various types of input devices, for example, passive infrared sensors, or door and window contacts. Please refer to the device’s manual for a description of how to connect input devices.

I/O Name The name of the alarm. If FTP, this is also the name of the incoming file from the alarm device. To add a new I/O, click the Add Alarm button.

I/O Text Text used for presentation in I/O status window in AXIS Camera Station.

I/O Type • Select type AXIS for a device connected to an I/O.

• Select FTP for an alarm that triggers when images are uploaded to an FTP directory on the computer running AXIS Camera Station. The image name must then be configured to be the same as the alarm name in AXIS Camera

Station.

Important!

• These uploaded FTP images are not recordings. Their main function is to act as external alarm triggers.

• The camera must be configured to upload one image per alarm only, otherwise AXIS Camera Station will trigger an alarm for every uploaded image.

See Example 3: Configure an alarm received from an input/output from FTP, on page 43

I/O definition configuration in the Administration pages and the subsequent layout in AXIS

Camera Station - I/O Status

Input Number The I/O port number that will be used on the camera or video server.



Input/Output In the Input/Output field, choose if the alarm event is input or output triggered.

• Inputs are used to create an alert or start/stop a camera.

See Example 1: Configure an alarm received from an INPUT on an AXIS

camera or video server, on page 40

• Outputs are controlled by the user and can be configured with texts on the buttons controlling it. Outputs can control the output ports on selected devices and activate e.g a siren or a light.

See Example 2: Configure an alarm received from an OUTPUT on an AXIS

camera or video server, on page 41

NO/NC Normally Open or Normally Closed. This determines how the device on the I/O is configured. You can choose an open or closed I/O as the normal state:

• Normally Open means that the power streaming through the I/O is broken, and there is no power pulse flowing through. An alarm can then be set up to trigger when there is a constant power pulse, i.e. when the I/O closes.

• Normally Closed means that there is a constant power pulse flowing through the I/O. An alarm can then be set up to trigger when the power pulse flowing through the I/O 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 the gate after a few seconds.

I/O type-specific data Enter the IP address of the camera/video server the I/O is located on. Enter the user/password for accessing the Axis device, if required. All Axis devices have a default user called "root," which has the default password "pass".

On Alarm

PTZ position If the camera is PTZ-capable and uses preset positions, the position specified here will automatically be assumed when an alarm occurs. If multiple PTZ cameras are in use and all require positioning on an alarm, define a preset position that uses the same name on each camera.

Alarm Priority Set the priority for the alarm here. Low priority means no email will be sent for that alarm.

Enable sound on alarm This will play a sound every time there is an alarm. The sound file to play is

specified under the General tab, see General, on page 34.

Open Text The text that appears on the push button that opens the I/O.



Close Text The text that appears on the push button that closes the I/O.

Text for Alarm ON The text that appears in the alarm list when port is not in its the normal state, i.e. when activated.

Text for Alarm OFF The text that appears in the alarm list when the port is in its normal state.

On or Off shown

On Alarm configuration in the Administration pages and the subsequent layout in AXIS Camera

Station - I/O Status

I/O Rules

I/O only valid if I/O...

The activation of one I/O can be set 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 the first I/O.

Select camera (button) Opens the dialog for selecting the cameras that will start recording on the incoming alarm. Note that it is possible to record on any camera in the system and not just on the camera with the I/O that triggers the alarm.

Add Alarm (button) Click to add a new alarm. Provide the new alarm with a name and click OK. The

new alarm is now available in the drop-down list in I/O definition (see I/O

Definition, on page 37) and can be configured.

Delete Alarm (button) Click to delete the alarm currently being displayed. Note that this will delete the alarm immediately - no confirmation will be requested.



Example 1: Configure an alarm received from an INPUT on an AXIS camera or video server

3. Check Enable External Alarm

4. Select the new alarm from the list

5. Select AXIS to detect changes on an Axis camera or video server I/O

8. Enter I/O text

1. Click Add Alarm

2. Name the alarm

9. Select Normal Open or Normal Closed 6. Select Input

7. Select I/O to be used on camera or video server.

10. Enter the camera or video server

IP address, user name and password.

11. Optional: enter PTZ camera preset position.

The activation of one I/O can be set 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 the first I/O.

12. Enter names that describe I/O status.

Example: Either On or Off is shown in the I/O status window.



13. Click Select Camera and choose which cameras should start recording when this alarm is triggered.


Example 2: Configure an alarm received from an OUTPUT on an AXIS camera or video server

3. Check Enable External Alarm


5. Choose AXIS to detect changes on an Axis camera or video server I/O

2. Name the alarm 1. Click Add Alarm



8. Enter I/O text

9. Select Normal Open or Normal Closed

6. Select Output


10. Enter the camera or video server

IP address, user name and password.

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.

42

The activation of one I/O can be set 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 the first I/O.





Example 3: Configure an alarm received from an input/output from FTP

An FTP alarm is an alarm from a camera or video server that uploads images to an FTP directory.

3. Check Enable External Alarm


5. Select FTP

1. Click Add Alarm

2. Name the alarm



6. Select Input or Output


8. Enter I/O text

9. Optional: enter

PTZ camera preset position.

10. The activation of one I/O can be set 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 the first I/O.





Alarm notification

Alarm notification from AXIS Camera Station, i.e. sending an email to an appropriate recipient, is configured here.

SMTP Server The SMTP server that provides your email service. Enter the address to the primary SMTP server in the first field. If available, enter a secondary SMTP server in the second field. Example: smtpserver.example.com

You can add :port after the smtp address if you want to use another port than default port 25. Example: smtpserver.example.com:26

SMTP User/Password Enter the user name and password for logging in to the SMTP server.

Mail from This is the email address that will appear as the sender of the alarm notification.

Mail subject This is the email's title or subject.

Send mail to address Enter up to 3 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 prevent mail flooding if there is a lot of activity.

Example: If a camera detects motion (alarm A), it first sends a notification mail for alarm A, then waits the specified interval and then, if the alarm is still active, it sends the next mail for alarm A. If another, separate alarm (alarm B) on this camera occurs before the interval for alarm A has passed, the camera will still send mail for alarm B.



Users

Using the integrated Windows user database, a high level of security can be implemented in AXIS Camera Station. Users can be granted/denied access to specific cameras.

AXIS Camera Station users must have full rights to the C:\temp directory.

Granting user rights If user login is enabled, 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.

46

Please see the Windows online help for instructions on setting up new users in

Windows.



Important!

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 Administration pages again!

Granting a User

Camera Access

1. Select a user from the drop-down list and then check the cameras that this user will be allowed to access.




Camera Sequence

Camera Sequences A camera sequence is a pre-defined "camera tour" i.e. a configuration that automatically switches through all of the cameras included in the tour. The switching interval can be set at up to 240 seconds for each camera. Once a camera sequence has been added, the operator simply selects it from the main window, from the View menu. A new window will pop up and display the

cameras, described in Camera Sequence, on page 16.

Add Camera button To add a camera to the camera sequence, click the Add Camera button and

select a camera. See page 49.

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 49.

Remove Sequence To remove a sequence, press the button and select the sequence to delete.

Sequence text This could be e.g. descriptive text about the camera sequence. This text is displayed immediately after the sequence's name, in the pop-up window

showing the sequence. See page 49.

Time between camera switches

The value set here determines the number of seconds the view from each camera is displayed.



Example: Adding a new camera sequence

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).




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.

System Performance

HTTP buffer size

(Bytes)

The buffer size for captured images. If there are images that are only partly captured, the buffer may be too small. The usual size is 40 000 - 80 000 bytes.

Minimum available hard disk space (GB)

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.



AXIS Camera Station License

The license for your installation of AXIS Camera Station determines how many cameras can be used. Multiple licenses can be installed, i.e. if you have progressively increased the number of available cameras.

There are two types of upgrade licenses available for purchase at your local

Axis reseller:

• Additional camera license in packets of 1 or 5. See your local Axis reseller for details.

• Software upgrade with accompanying licenses. You can upgrade AXIS

Camera Station for a limited time from www.axis.com and then extend the license. See your local Axis reseller for details.

The time period remaining for your license is displayed in the 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 required), on page 52

•

Via Axis Communications web site, described in Obtaining a new license

from www.axis.com/techsup/acs, on page 53



Obtaining a new license through automatic update (direct Internet connection required)

1. Click Add license, then Register.


2. Fill in the requested information and click Add full version license.

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 with your new license.



Obtaining a new license from www.axis.com/techsup/acs

1. If you do not have immediate Internet access, you can activate your license by contacting Axis Communications.

2. Click Add License


3. Enter your License Key.

4. Click Get Server Id.

5. Your Server ID will be calculated (a code containing information about your

PC). Make a note of the Server ID and License Key.

6. To complete the installation, go to http://www.axis.com/techsup/acs from a web browser.

7. Fill in the requested information and click Submit. You will receive an Access

code, make a note of it.

8. Return to the Add License dialog and select Registration done.

9. Enter your License Key, your Server ID and your Access Code.

10. You can now start using AXIS Camera Station with your new license


AXIS Camera Station Client

AXIS Camera Station Client

The AXIS Camera Station Client application is used for remote operations on client workstations, where you can perform the same tasks as from AXIS

Camera Station (if Administration is enabled).

From a client PC you can e.g. acquire and save images, detect motion and save alarms and images without having to access the server PC where settings and recordings are stored.

54

Important!

AXIS Camera Station uses port 11007 to communicate with the client. On the server, make sure that port 11007 is open and available for the clients in your network and in your firewall.

Note:

• A maximum of 10 AXIS Camera Station Clients can connect to AXIS

Camera Station simultaneously.

• PIII 500 MHz 128 MB are the minimum hardware requirements for AXIS

Camera Station Client.

Install AXIS Camera Station client software

1. From the client workstation, insert the CD and select Software then AXIS

Camera Station Client

2. Click Open to launch the installation.

You may be prompted to install .NET Framework 1.1. Simply follow the installation Wizard’s instructions and click your way through.



Important!

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 missing components, see your Windows documentation for instructions. When this is done, reboot your computer and then restart the

AXIS Camera Station Client installation by clicking AXIS Camera Station

Client setup.exe on the CD.

3. Next, you will be asked where to install the program. If nothing is specified, the program is normally installed here: C:\Program Files\Axis

Communications\AXIS Camera Station Client

4. Click your way through the Installation Wizard.

5. When you have installed the software, open AXIS Camera Station Client from Start | Program Files or click the program icon on the desktop:

6. The first time you connect, this window will appear:

7. Enter

• the IP address of the server PC where AXIS Camera Station is installed

• the Server Password. This is defined in the AXIS Camera Station on the server: File | Administration | General | Server IP address and Server

User ID/Password.

8. Click OK and start AXIS Camera Station Client.

If you want users to be able to edit information, make sure that A llow clients

to change configuration is set to Yes under the General tab in AXIS Camera

Station’s Administration.



AXIS Camera Station Client interface

See AXIS Camera Station User Interface, on page 14 for a detailed description;

AXIS Camera Station Client is almost identical to the AXIS Camera Station user interface.

Green light = background service on server is running.

Red light = background service on server is not running.

Click to expand

AXIS Camera Station

Control Buttons

View Selection

The frames surrounding the images are color-coded:

Blue frame: Camera connection OK, no motion detected

Red frame: Camera connection OK, motion detected or recording has started

Yellow frame: Camera network connection interrupted

From these push buttons or from the View menu you can select your preferred camera views.

No Live Images

Select Camera

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 processor power required by the service, whilst not affecting recordings in any way. The amount of bandwidth required is also less when not showing live images.

Select a camera to be shown in a new window. Choose 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

Camera sequence

Recorded Events

4 camera playback

Alarm List


When clicking this button, the I/O Status of all units are displayed.

Monitoring I/O defines when events, such as an alarm or motion detection, should be triggered. Each I/O is shown on one line, along with a colored indicator:

• green indicator means the I/O is in its normal state

• red indicates that the I/O is active, recording in progress

• yellow means there is no communication with the I/O

Buttons for starting and stopping an I/O output are also shown.

Click to open the Camera sequence window. A camera sequence is a pre-defined "camera tour" i.e. a configuration that automatically switches through all of the cameras included in the tour. Select the camera sequence 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 dropdown list.

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 images in the selected event.

To find recorded events from a specific camera, click the Recorded

events button. A new window will open, showing images from the recorded files

Here you can search through recorded events from four cameras simultaneously. Select a date, a time and you will get an overview of all the recorded events. To display recorded events from four cameras, click the 4-camera playback button. A new window will open, showing images from the recorded files.

The alarm list shows all alarms and other events in the server. Click on an alarm in the list to open the event

File Menu

Connection To establish a connection between the AXIS Camera Station (server application) and AXIS Camera Station Client, the server’s IP address and password must be entered under File | Connection. Usually this is only done once; when the client application is started for the first time.

The background service on AXIS Camera Station must be running before attempting to connect!

The Server Password is defined in AXIS Camera Station on the server: File |



Administration | General | Server IP address and Server User ID/Password.

58

Important!

To get and upload configuration settings from the server, clients must first be granted rights to use the Administration pages from AXIS Camera Station

Client.

From AXIS Camera Station Administration pages, under the General tab, click

Allow clients to update configuration | Yes. Click OK to save and exit the application.

Get configuration Every time you start AXIS Camera Station Client, new updates are sent to it from the server, containing e.g. camera configuration settings. You can download configuration settings from AXIS Camera Station to AXIS Camera

Station Client like this:

1. Click File | Get configuration

2. Click OK.

Upload configuration Follow these instructions if you want to upload configuration settings from

AXIS Camera Station Client to AXIS Camera Station. The background service on

AXIS Camera Station will be automatically restarted before the upload configuration 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 the entire screen, and shows live images from the connected cameras. Press Alt+F4 to exit the monitor mode.



Camera Menu Selecting a camera from this list opens a new browser window showing the

Axis camera or video server's home page. If the same unit is selected from the drop-down list to the right of the window, this opens a smaller window that only shows the live image.

Playback Menu Select playback from cameras, from ZIP files, or open the Event Search window or Event Log. The Event Search and 4- or 16-camera playback can be also be opened with the buttons on the right. Once the Event log has been opened, clicking on an event in the list opens the Event Search window.

Pan/Tilt/Zoom and

Audio controls

These controls are only visible if the connected camera has PTZ or a connected audio module:

Pan/tilt/zoom controls

Audio controls

Click on the controls to move the camera around. You can also click on the images to move around the camera. (This feature is only available on some PTZ cameras).

If Audio is attached to the camera, the controls are shown here.

AXIS Camera Station Client Administration

Important:

You may or may not grant client access to the Administration pages in the

AXIS Camera Station Client. These settings are defined from AXIS Camera

Station under General | Allow clients to change configuration | Yes or No.

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 20

for details.

For clients who don’t have rights to use the Administration pages, the

Administration option in the File menu will be gray.


AXIS Camera Station Web

AXIS Camera Station Web

A normal web browser can be used on client workstations to view cameras and perform simple operations.

To enable live view, a set of IP addresses and port numbers must be opened in your firewall; there must be an open port for each camera and one port for

AXIS Camera Station.

Simply viewing recorded events/images does not require the above firewall configurations.

You will find the WAN IP address of AXIS Camera Station 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 the port on either one of these programs if you intend to use them on the same network segment.

Warning!

When the web interface is installed on the server, web sharing is enabled. This will allow users on your network to upload scripts or programs onto the server and execute them.

Enable Client Web Access

60

If you want to allow clients to access the AXIS Camera Station Web, proceed with these steps:

1. From the Administration pages, select the General tab.

2. In the Server IP address field, make sure the correct IP address that clients will use to connect to the server is entered. Make a note of the IP address.



3. Select Enable Webserver | Yes and then OK. The installation of the web interface will start. Simply click your way through the installation.

If you don’t have Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0 or later installed, you will be prompted to do so, keep your Windows CD handy. When IIS has been successfully installed, the AXIS

Camera Station Web Installation Wizard will be launched, click your way through it.

Access the AXIS Camera Station Web from a client PC

1. Open a browser on the client computer.

Microsoft Internet Explorer ver. 6.0 or higher must be installed on the client pc.

2. In the Address field, write http://server IP address/videoweb

Example: http://10.13.6.128/videoweb

If you need instructions on how to locate the server’s IP address, see page 60.

3. The AXIS Camera Station Web interface will appear:



AXIS Camera Station Web Control Buttons

Select a camera before clicking 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 camera in the main window.

Quad view In the Quad view you can select a camera from the camera list and then click one of the positioning buttons to position the live image.

Overview - all cameras

Click this button to get a still image from all the cameras in the selected camera group. Click on the still images to see live images from the camera.

I/O Controls Click this button to get the I/O controls. In this view you can see if an I/O port is open/closed or if the alarm is on. You can change the I/O port status if it is defined as an output port. A live image from the camera connected to the I/O can be activated using the push button with the camera number.

Alarm Log search This page will show you all logged events sent from the camera 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 and click the Search button. You will get an overview of all recorded events. Select one of the events and you will see the actual images in the selected event. Date is entered in the format yyyy-mm-dd, time in hh:mm.


Network Configuration

Network Configuration

To access AXIS Camera Station from the Internet and get live images from the cameras you must open a set of IP addresses and port numbers in your Firewall configuration.

Basically there must be a port open for each camera and one port for AXIS

Camera Station.

Example:

NTFS Filesystem

The NTFS filesystem must be implemented on your PC and the Indexing Service must 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. Go to the Control Panel, choose Administrative tools | Local Security

policy.

2. Select Local policies | User right assignments | Act as a part of the

Operating System and add the users you want to have rights to assign new users in AXIS Camera Station.



IIS Secure Login from the AXIS Camera Station Web interface

For secure and encrypted login, please setup the IIS to use Windows login.

1. Right-click on the default web site and select Administration | Directory

Security | Edit in Anonymous access and authentication. Select

Integrated Windows Authentication and de-select Anonymous Access.

2. This will prompt the user for login every time the web site is started 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.

3. In AXIS Camera Station Administration | General, you have to check Enable

password protection to enable the security check and camera access check, every time a user logs in to the system. This means that all users must be created as Windows users to gain access to the AXIS Camera Station.

4. To enable the live streaming engine, click on Home directory in the

Administration, and make sure that the Local path section is set as shown and that Execute permissions is set to Scripts and executables.

64

5. The Internet information Server is now ready for use.

Some difficulties may arise in Windows XP to login to the website, although the Anonymous login is unchecked and Windows integrated security is selected. This usually happens on Windows XP. Windows XP is by default setup in the IIS so that even though you have logged in as a user, you may only be granted access as a guest. This is solved by giving the guest the necessary access.

Alternatively,



Multi-user login

1. Go to Control Panel | Administrative tools | Local Security policy.

2. Select Local policies | Security settings | Setting for network access and set this setting to Classic - user acts as itself.

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 file sharing check box

2. Right-click on the program icon and select Settings and Security. Make sure that all users have access and can execute the program.

3. Right-click on the folder c:/Temp and go to Settings | Security. Make sure that all users have access to read and write to the Temp folder.

All users defined in the AXIS Camera Station, should now be able to access the it. Only users with Windows Administrator rights, can start/stop the background service.


Removing AXIS Camera Station

Removing AXIS Camera Station

In the Windows Add/Remove programs menu, AXIS Camera Station has two entries, AXIS Camera Station and AXIS Camera Station Web.

To remove the entire program

1. Open Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

2. Select AXIS Camera Station and click Remove.

3. Click Yes when asked if you want to remove AXIS Camera Station Web. This will remove AXIS Camera Station, AXIS Camera Station Web and the background service.

Some files may need to be removed manually from these locations:

• C:\Program Files\Axis Communications\AXIS Camera Station

• C:\Temp

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.


Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Known limitations in

Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003

Server

If the server is used as a domain controller and the local users are registered in

Active Directory they cannot be reached from AXIS Camera Station.

No images from

Administration’s test image

If you do not receive images after you have specified the camera’s IP address, please check the following under the Cameras tab in Administration:

• The IP address/user/password of the camera is correct. Click Link to camera.

• You have selected the correct Camera Type.

• The Camera Port is correct. This is the port number used if the camera/videoserver supports multiple cameras.

• Make sure that Camera enabled is checked.

• The camera has the latest firmware installed.

No motion detection/recording after AXIS Camera

Station is started

If AXIS Camera Station doesn't detect motion or doesn't record, please check the following:

• 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 i 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 disks fill up or no recording is saved

To prevent this from happening, please set the Minimum Available hard disk in the Administration | Performance. You can also set the Save event in days, to minimize the use of the hard disk. The application will cleanup recordings automatically if these settings are set correctly. If not, and the PC gets locked, you will have to delete the recordings manually or reformat the hard disk.

No images are shown in the Web interface

• Verify the IP address of the AXIS Camera Station server under

Administration | General | Server IP address

• Enable the web interface under Administration | General | Enable

Webserver | Yes.

I can not access the web site, even though

I have created a user

In some cases you can not login to website, although the Anonymous login is unchecked and Windows integrated security is selected. This usually happens on Windows XP because the IIS will only grant you access as a guest even if you have logged in as a user. You can circumvent the problem by giving the guest the necessary access in the AXIS Camera Station Administration.


Troubleshooting

Alternatively,

1. Go to Control Panel | Administrative tools | Local Security policy.

2. Select Local policies | Security settings | Setting for network access and choose Classic - user acts as itself.

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 accordingly, because the users in AXIS Camera Station are registered as local users and cannot reach other PCs.

1. Log in to AXIS Camera Station Properties.

2. Choose This account and browse to the user on the desired domain (the AXIS

Camera Station's taskbar icon will no longer be visible after this operation).

The backup is scheduled to run every night at 2400.


Index

Symbols

"noise" 17, 18, 28

.NET Framework 9

Numerics

30-day demo 11

30-day license 11

A

Access Code 53

Access the AXIS Camera Station Web 61

accessible controls, PTZ 22

Activate the software with your License code 10

Active Directory 67

Add Alarm (button) 39

Add full version license 10

Add Sequence 49

Adding a new camera sequence 49

Additional camera license 51

Administration 20

Administrator 47

Advanced Search 17, 18

Advanced Search from alarm list 18 alarm list 18, 57

Alarm Priority 38

alarm sound 35

Alarm when motion stops 27

analog CCTV camera 20

Audio from recordings 23

Audio Module 23

automatically detect cameras 21

AXIS 2191 23

AXIS Camera Station Control Buttons 14

B

Background service 14 background service 14

backup 29

Backup old recordings to external storage 29

bandwidth required 15, 56

buffer 29

C

C

/Temp 66

Recording 31

Camera enabled checkbox 20


Index

69

Index

Camera Explorer button 21

Camera FTP configuration 24

Camera IP Address (LAN) 22

Camera IP address (LAN) field 21

Camera IP Address (WAN) 22

Camera IP address (WAN) 21

Camera Name 22

Camera name field 20

Camera Port Number 20, 22

Camera Selection 21

Camera Type 22

Camera Type field 20

camera views, define 13

Cameras 20

Cameras tab 13

CCTV camera 22

client access to Administration 59

Client user rights 58

Client Web Access 60

Client Web Address 61

Close Text 39

Configure an alarm received via FTP 43

configure camera views 15

Connection 57

D

default Password 22

default starting point 20

default User ID 22

Delete Alarm (button) 39

Deleting recordings 31

detected movement 17, 18

disk defragementation 8

domain controller 67

E

Enable Audio 23

Enable camera 22

Enable Client Web Access 60

Enable sound on alarm 38

Enable Streaming 22

Expanded and contracted views 14 expanded and contracted views 14

External Alarms and I/Os 36

external storage 29

F

false motion detection alarm 28

fetch images 23

File extension 22 file format, saved images 22


Index

Firewall configuration 63

Flip-Flop 38

fps 26 frame rate 26 frames per second 26

FTP alarms 36

FTP- sending files on I/O activity 23

FTP server 23

G

General 34

Get 58

Get configuration 58

H

hard disk drive 28

Hostnames 21

How to set a camera at a specific position 34

HTTP buffer size (Bytes) 50

I

I/O definition configuration 37

I/O only valid if I/O 39

I/O Status 15, 57

IIS 23

Input/Output 38

Internet Information Serve 61

K

Known problems 66

L

LAN IP address 21

Link 33

Link to Camera 21

live audio 23

low light conditions 28 lower sensitivity 28

M

Mail From 45

maintenance 8

Maximum event time (minutes) 29 maximum recording period 29

minimum hardware requirements

AXIS Camera Station Client 54

Monitor’s window “freezes” 67

motion stops. 27

Multi-user login 65


Index

N

Naming FTP files 23 network bandwidth 23

Network Configuration 63

Network configuration 33

night setting 28

No Camera 15

No images 67

No images from Administration’s test image 67

No Live Images 15, 56

No motion detection/recording after Surveillance Station is started 67

NO/NC 38

NTFS 9

NTFS formatted. 9

NTFS formatting 9

O

Obtaining a new license from www.axis.com/techsup/acs 53

On Alarm 38

On Alarm configuration 39

Open Text 38

P

Pan/tilt/zoom controls 19

Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera 22

pass 21, 22

Password 21

Performance 50

PTZ position 38

Q

Quick Add Alarm 37

R

RAID 7

Recommendations 7

Recording, background service 14

Register 10

register new licenses 51

Registering with direct Internet connection 10

Registering without direct Internet connection 11

Requirements 7

root 21, 22

S

Save recordings for 29

Save recordings for (days) 29

Save Recordings to 28

Schedule 32

Secure Login 64

security 47


Index

Select Camera 15, 21

Select camera 26

Select camera (button) 39

Server ID 53

service 14

SMTP Server 45 smtp server port 45

software upgrade 51 software upgrade rights 51

Software, activate with license 10

sound files 35

Sound on alarm 35

store images on hard disk 28

Surveillance Station - Administration 63

T

Text for Alarm OFF 39

Text for Alarm ON 39

time period for license 51

U

Uninstall 66

upgrade license 51

Upload configuration 58

Upload configuration, background service 58

uploaded FTP images 37

User ID 21

Users 46

V

video port number 22

View Selection 15

W

WAN IP address 21

Web Server Set-up 63

web sharing 60

Windows client setup 64

Windows Security 63

Windows XP 7

windowsupdate 9


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