Multi-Cam CamPanel "User Guide"

Multi-Cam is software for multi-camera video surveillance on your computer

Multi-Cam lets you keep an eye on many camera feeds at the same time. The cameras you use can be webcams or camcorders, directly connected to your computer or accessed via Internet or LAN. Sophisticated motion alarms and video capture tools help you automate surveillance tasks.

Features

• Multiple Cameras Onscreen: See all your camera feeds onscreen at the same time in a flexible grid layout.

• Remote Feeds: Integrate cameras located at remote sites and accessed via the Internet or a LAN.

• Video Capture: Capture video to your hard disk. Capture on a regular schedule or when motion is detected. Capture multiple streams simultaneously.

• Login Over the Internet: Keep an eye on things when you're away. View live video from your cameras or play back captured surveillance video.

• Pager or Email Notification: Have Multi-Cam page or email you when it detects motion on one of your camera feeds.

• FTP Upload: Have Multi-Cam upload still camera images to an FTP server automatically when it detects motion.

• Sound Alarms: Have Multi-Cam play a sound to alert you of motion.

• Camera Movement: Control RemoteControlBase or HeavyDutyBase robotic Pan/Tilt bases directly from Multi-Cam.

• Color and Movement Tracking: Have Multi-Cam automatically pan and tilt RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase bases to follow human skin tone or motion in a camera's field of vision.

• UserGuide #2

Requirements

Before You Begin

To run Multi-Cam, your computer system needs to meet the following requirements.

• Computer: A PC running Microsoft Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP

• Using Multiple Cameras of the Same Type: To use multiple USB webcams of the same type, the webcams must be of one of the following types: ADS USB 2.0, Watchport/V, or Logitech QuickCam 4000. To use multiple analog cameras simultaneously, the capture cards you use need to be Hauppauge WinTV GO cards.

• Using Multiple Cameras of Different Types: The following types of cameras are supported: USB, Firewire, and analog cameras connected to capture cards. These are the only constraints when each camera attached to Multi-Cam is different from the others.

• Memory: 128MB of system memory minimum. 256MB recommended for 4 camera feeds or less. 512MB recommended for more than 4.

• Hard Drive: 20MB free space minimum. If you plan to capture video to disk, allow approximately 30GB per week per camera.

• Processor: 400MHz minimum. 733MHz recommended for 4 camera feeds or less. 1.4GHz recommended for more.

Procedure
Complete the following steps the first time you run Multi-Cam:

1. Multi-Cam prompts you to create a password. Choose a password and type it in both the Password and Re-type boxes.

2. In the Security Question box, type a question only you are likely to know the answer to. In the Your Answer box, type the correct answer to the question. Multi-Cam uses this question/answer combination to verify your identity if you forget your password.

3. Click OK.

4. Click the Add Camera button found in the control bar on the bottom of the screen.

5. The Add Camera dialog is displayed. In the Name box, type a name for the first video feed, e.g., "Front Room."

6. Click Add.

7. A dialog is displayed indicating that no camera is selected. Click Select.

8. A list of all cameras connected to your computer is displayed. Select the camera you want to use for this video feed and click Apply.

9. A list of the RemoteControlBases connected to your computer is displayed. If the camera you are adding is not mounted to a RemoteControlBase or HeavyDutyBase, then leave the selection blank. If the camera is mounted to a RemoteControlBase or HeavyDutyBase, select it.

10. Click Apply.

11. Click Close.

See Also
Adding Camera Feeds if you want to go on and add additional camera feeds now.
Adding Remote Cameras to add a remote camera accessed via Internet or LAN to your Multi-Cam screen.

While viewing video from one of your camera feeds, you can zoom in and out and also control the movement of a RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase robotic base if the camera is mounted to one.

Zoom Controls
The following controls change a camera's digital zoom.

• + / - Increase and decrease zoom.

• End Return zoom to starting positon.

RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase Movement Commands
The following controls let you move the camera if it is mounted to a RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase robotic base.

• Direction arrows Hitting the direction arrows on the keyboard moves the camera in the corresponding direction.

• Home Hitting the Home key on the keyboard moves the camera back to its starting position.

• Clicking within the image Clicking a spot within the video image centers the camera on that point.

RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase Person or Motion Tracking
If the camera is mounted to a RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase, you can also have the camera move automatically to follow human skin tone or moving objects within the cameras field of vision.

• Person Tracking To enable automatic tracking of skin tone, click the menu button (looks like this: ) in the camera window's top-left corner. Then select Tracking & Detection > Color Tracking.

• Motion Tracking To enable automatic tracking of moving objects, click the menu button (looks like this: ) in the camera window's top-left corner. Then select Tracking & Detection > Motion Detection & Tracking.

• Force a Target Clicking a spot within the video image while tracking is enabled forces Multi-Cam to attempt to follow the person or object at that spot.

Procedure
Complete the following steps to add a new camera—connected to your computer by USB, Firewire, or analog capture card—to your Multi-Cam setup.

1. Click the Add Camera button found in the control bar on the bottom of the screen.

2. You are prompted for your password. Type it in and click OK.

3. The Add Camera dialog is displayed. In the Name box, type a name for the new camera feed.

4. Click Add.

5. A dialog is displayed indicating that no camera is selected. Click Select.

6. A list of all cameras connected to your computer is displayed. Select the camera you want to use for this video feed and click Apply.

7. A list of the RemoteControlBases connected to your computer is displayed. If the camera you are adding is not mounted to a RemoteControlBase or HeavyDutyBase, then leave the selection blank. If the camera is mounted to a RemoteControlBase or HeavyDutyBase, select it.

8. Click Apply.

9. Click Close.

The video feed from the camera should appear within a few moments in a new window on the Multi-Cam screen.

See Also
Adding Remote Cameras for directions for adding a remote camera accessed via Internet or LAN.

In addition to monitoring video from cameras connected directly to your computer, Multi-Cam lets you integrate video feeds from remote computers. Multi-Cam accesses the camera's video over the public Internet or your private LAN. The remote computer needs to be running Multi-Cam or RemoteControlBase software so that the camera's video is available over the network. Alternatively, you can use an IP camera connected directly to your network.

Before You Begin
Collect the following information about the remote camera: IP address, port number, user ID, and password.

Procedure
Complete the following steps to add a remote camera—accessed via Internet or LAN—to your Multi-Cam setup.

1. Click the Add Camera button found in the control bar on the bottom of the screen.

2. You are prompted for your password. Type it in and click OK.

3. The Add Camera dialog is displayed. In the Name box, type a name for the new camera feed.

4. Select the Remtoe Camera check box.

5. In the IP Adress box, type the remote camera's IP address.

6. In the Port box, type the port number for accessing the camera.

7. In the User Id box, type the user ID for logging in to the camera.

8. In the Password box, type the password for logging in to the camera.

9. Click Add.

Tt might take a few minutes for the connection to be established. Video from the camera will then appear in a new window on the Multi-Cam screen.

See Also
Adding Camera Feeds for the procedure for adding cameras connected directly to your computer.

• Hardware Settings: Changes the camera or RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase associated with the currently selected window.

• Software Settings: Displays the Tuner window for changing RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase advanced settings. When prompted for a password, enter your Multi-Cam password.

• Capture & Surveillance Settings: Controls features like scheduled or motion-triggered video capture and motion alarms. See Capturing Video and Using Alarms for information.

• Change HTTP port: Changes the port number associated with the currently selected camera feed. See Remote Login for more information.

• Video: Increases or decreases the video image size. Also lets you change camera device driver settings.

• Tracking & Detection: Controls skin tone and motion tracking for RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase mounted cameras. Also, enables motion detection without tracking for Multi-Cam's motion-triggered video capture and alarm tools. See Capturing Video and Using Alarms for information.

• Immediate Recording: Captures a screenshot (still image) or an A/V clip (movie in the form of an AVI file) from the current camera feed right away. Also lets you change the screenshot directory, which is the location to which Multi-Cam saves captured still images.

• Online settings: Sets options that affect remote login to Multi-Cam. See Remote Login for information.

• Surveillance Viewer: Lets you view captured video. See Playing Back Surveillance for information.

The control bar is the strip of buttons running along the bottom of the Multi-Cam screen.

Control Bar Buttons
The Control Bar contains the following buttons:

• Eye Menu: (Looks like this: ) Displays a menu letting you quit Multi-Cam, display Help, select a camera feed by name, and access list-based controls for camera feed windows.

• Window Layouts: The window layout buttons rearrange the camera windows on your screen in different layouts. Use different layouts to give you more detailed views of some cameras or to temporarily focus on a particular camera.

• Add Camera: Lets you set up another camera feed. See Adding Camera Feeds for information.

• Resume Password Protection: This button only appears in the Control Bar if you have disabled password protection. Click to re-enable password protection.

• Minimize: (Looks like this: ) Hides the entire Multi-Cam window so you can use other programs while leaving Multi-Cam running.

• Hide Tool Bar: (Looks like this: ) Toggles display of the tool bar. Use if you need more space on screen for camera windows.

You can set up Multi-Cam to capture a camera's video to your hard drive on a regular schedule or when motion is detected. Video capture is configured separately for each camera feed. Multi-Cam can capture multiple camera feeds to disk at the same time.

Before You Begin
Decide how you want to use capture. You can: Capture video on a regular schedule, without regard to motion detection. Capture video only when motion is detected. Capture video at a slow frame rate during stillness and at a higher rate when motion is detected.

1. Click the camera feed's window to make it active,

2. Click the menu button (looks like this: ) in the window's top-left corner.

3. Select Capture & Surveillance Settings.

4. If you want to be able to use motion detection to trigger capture, select Motion Detection.

5. Click the Capture tab.

6. Check the file locations Multi-Cam is set to save captured picture and video to. If you prefer different locations, type their paths in the boxes.

7. The field Erase oldest saved pictures if free disk space is below __ sets the maximum quantity of captured video Multi-Cam stores on your hard drive before it begins overwriting the oldest video. Adjust the setting based on the storage capacity you have available and the quantity of video you want to be able to store. As a rough rule of thumb, one week of surveillance from one camera feed, using Multi-Cam's default frame rate settings, takes up about 30GB of disk space.

8. Click the Motion tab.

9. If you want Multi-Cam to capture video to disk even when it does not detect motion, select Capture a picture every __ second(s) during stillness and type the number of seconds in the box.
   Note: You can use this option together with motion-triggered capture to capture at a slow rate during stillness and a faster rate when motion is detected.

10. If you want to capture video when Multi-Cam detects motion, select Schedule motion detection On/Off events. Then, in the On at and Off at boxes specify (using 24-hour format) the times of day you want motion-triggered capture to begin and end. Or, select On at startup to enable motion-triggered capture whenever Multi-Cam is running.

11. For motion-triggered capture, you also need to select Capture motion videos at frame rate. Then type a frame rate in the frames/second box for video captured during motion and in the On at and Off at boxes specify (using 24-hour format) the times of day you want motion-triggered capture to begin and end. Or, select On at startup to for motion-triggered capture to be enabled whenever Multi-Cam is running.

12. Click OK.

Adjusting the Motion Threshold
You can adjust Multi-Cam's sensitivity to motion. Click the green-colored number superimposed over the bottom of the video image. A dialog pops up. Holding down the mouse button, drag the green number to the right or left to decrease or increase the threshold respectively. When you are done, click OK in the dialog popped up.

Using Alarms

Multi-Cam can automatically notify you of motion in several ways

You can set Multi-Cam to automatically notify you when it detects motion on a camera feed. Motion alarms are configured separately for each camera feed. Multi-Cam can perform any combination of the following actions when it detects motion:

• Play an audio alarm

• Capture still images and upload them to an FTP server

• Send you an email

• Call your pager

1. Click the camera feed's window to make it active,

2. Click the menu button (looks like this: ) in the window's top-left corner.

3. Select Capture & Surveillance Settings.

4. Select Motion Detection.

5. Click the Motion tab.

6. If you want Multi-Cam to play an audio alarm when it detects motion, select Enable Sound Alarm when Motion is detected. Then, click Browse and browse to the sound file you want to use.

7. If you want Multi-Cam to upload images to an FTP server when it detects motion, select Send images to FTP Server when motion is detected. In the FTP Server box, type the address of the server. If you need to specify a particular directory on the FTP server to save to, type its path in the Directory box. In the User and Password boxes type the logon information for the FTP account. In the Images field select how many images to send for each motion event. (Frame rate is determined in the Motion panel of the Surveillance dialog, in the field Capture motion videos at frame rate).

8. If you want Multi-Cam to email you when it detects motion, select Send an E-mail when Motion detected. In the E-mail address box, type the email address you want the alert sent to. Int the Outgoing server box, type the name of the outgoing mail server (e.g., SMTP.MYISP.NET) for the computer Multi-Cam is running on.

9. If you want Multi-Cam to page you when it detects motion, select Call Pager when Motion detected and type the number to dial in the Dial box.

10. Click OK when you are done to save your settings.

Adjusting the Motion Threshold
You can adjust Multi-Cam's sensitivity to motion. Click the green-colored number superimposed over the bottom of the video image. A dialog pops up. Holding down the mouse button, drag the green number to the right or left to decrease or increase the threshold respectively. When you are done, click OK in the dialog popped up.

Playing Back Surveillance

You use Surveillance Viewer to view captured video

Surveillance Viewer plays back the surveillance video Multi-Cam has captured to your hard drive.

Procedure
To play back surveillance video, complete the following steps:

1. Click the window of the camera you want to play back surveillance for.

2. Click the menu button (looks like this: ) in the top-left corner of the window.

3. Select Capture & Surveillance Settings.

4. Click the Playback tab.

Enabling Remote Login
To allow yourself or others to login to your Multi-Cam setup over the Internet, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Eye Button (Looks like this: ) on the Control Bar.

2. Select Remote User Account Management.

3. In the window that is displayed, right-click on a blank line and select Add an empty record.

4. In the record created, right-click the UserID column and select Edit this item.

5. Type a user ID for remote access, e.g., your first name.

6. Right-click the Password column and select Edit this item.

7. Type a password for Multi-Cam to use to authenticate remote logins. Re-type it in the second box.

8. Right-click the Group column and select Edit this item.

9. Choose the level of privillege the remote user should have: just seeing camera video, seeing and moving, seeing and controlling tracking, or all of the above and accessing the tuner. If you do not use a RemoteControlBase/HeavyDutyBase, only the first option is relevant.

10. Click OK.

If your computer has a dynamic IP address (usually the case with dial-up ISP's), complete the following steps to get a fixed URL from RemoteControlBase to use for access to your computer:

1. Click the menu button in any camera window.

2. Select Online Settings.

3. In the Online Settings dialog, select I have dynamic ISP. Multi-Cam displays a fixed URL for you. Copy this to your clipboard

4. Click OK.

The URL you copied to your clipboard is the one you need to browse to for remote access to your Multi-Cam set up.

Playing Back Captured Video
You can remotely access Surveillance Viewer to play back captured video. To do so, browse to http://IP:Port/Surveillance/, where IP is your computer's IP number and Port is the port for the camera feed you want to see.