VisionPoint™ VMS Web OpCenter - 8.1 User Manual
BETA Release
Web OpCenter Basics
Installing Web OpCenter
System Requirements
3VR Web OpCenter™ software allows you to access a 3VR VisionPoint™ VMS server from any PC on your network using a web browser. Below are the system requirements.
Running Web OpCenter on a VMS Server
The system requirements below apply when running Web OpCenter on a VMS Server, as opposed to a 3VR Appliance. The table shows the 3VR Applications Minimum System Requirements.
Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 or later, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 |
Processor | Intel and AMD CPUs, 3.0 GHz or higher Video playback performance will be dictated by CPU capabilities. |
Display | Any display capable of 1024x768 resolution or greater |
Video Card | DirectX 9-capable video graphics adapter |
Memory | 2 GB RAM or greater |
Storage | 1 GB available storage space |
Bandwidth | Broadband connection (384 Kbps or greater) to 3VR appliance recommended. Greater bandwidth will result in a better user experience when viewing stored or live video. |
Processor | Intel and AMD CPUs, 3.0 GHz or higher |
Video Card | DirectX 9-capable video graphics adapter with support for multiple displays |
Embedded Appliance Hardware Support | Only 4000-series Appliances and above are supported |
Signing In
Just enter an appliance’s IP address into a web browser to access Web OpCenter.
Signing in to Web OpCenter
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4. At the sign-in screen, type the Username and Password of your 3VR user account. 5. Click Sign In. |
Enterprise Web OpCenter
When you log into an Enterprise server, Web OpCenter shows the VMS Servers connected to the Enterprise server that you have access to.
Web OpCenter Panel Layout
Use the Web OpCenter panels to watch live and recorded video, view events and people, and search for videos.
Video Panel Use the Video panel to watch live and stored video. You can view one camera at a time or watch multiple cameras simultaneously. The Views feature allows you to save frequent camera arrangements for quick reference. Click the Video tool to display the Video panel. | |
Monitor Panel The Monitor panel presents a real-time view of events as they are generated on the system. View all events, or filter the results by camera, event type, time, or a special criteria. Click the Monitor tool to display the Monitor panel. | |
Search Panel You can store frequent searches in the Search panel for later use. Click the Search tool to display the Search panel. |
Resizing and Closing Web OpCenter
You can minimize and maximize 3VR Web OpCenter in the same way as any other browser window using the controls in the upper-right corner.
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Changing the Inactivity Timeout Setting
Web OpCenter automatically logs you out after a specified period of time of inactivity. You can change the inactivity period setting.
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Checking the Web OpCenter Version
You can check the software version of Web OpCenter you are using (for example, to provide this information to 3VR technical support).
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Video Panel
Getting Started with the Video Panel
The first time you launch Web OpCenter on a PC, the application loads the Video panel. The panel contains a single blank video player, as you haven't yet selected any cameras. On the left-hand side of the Video panel appears the camera tree with the name of the VMS or Enterprise server.
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Customizing the Video Panel
You can use the Video panel to control cameras and views.
Changing the Number and Size of Video Players
The layout selector at the top of the Video panel controls the number and arrangement of video players. | |
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Adding and Removing Camera
You can specify the cameras displayed in the Video player.
Adding Cameras With Drag and Drop
You can drag and drop a single camera or all cameras from a VMS server from the camera tree to the Video player. When you drag a VMS server onto the Video player, all cameras on the VMS server display on the video players.
Removing Cameras
To stop streaming a camera that is currently playing in the Video panel:
- Move the mouse pointer over the desired video player.
- Click the close box (X) in the upper-right corner of the video player.
Camera Views
The camera views feature of the Video panel allows you to save a selected layout and selection of cameras for later use.
Saving a New Camera View
To save a view:
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Loading a Saved View
To switch the layout of the Video panel to a saved view:
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Deleting a Saved View
- Click the Management icon in the upper left.
The Camera Management dialog box appears and displays the saved views. - Select the view and then click the minus sign (-). Click OK. The view is permanently deleted.
You can only delete views that you created.
Searching for Camera Views
You can search for camera views by name.
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Camera Overlays
Information about the camera appears in the bottom-left corner of each video player. The overlay items are:
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Showing/Hiding the Camera Tree and Views
You can hide from view the camera tree.
- Click the down arrow beside Views to hide the views; click the right arrow to display the views
- Click the down arrow beside Camera Views to hide the tree; click the right arrow to display the tree
- Click the Show views/Hide views button at the top of the screen to show and hide both the views and camera tree (the button toggles between Shows views and Hide views)
Switching to Full-Screen Mode
Switching the Video panel to full-screen mode displays the selected cameras at maximum resolution.
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Viewing Live and Stored Video
By default, the timeline control across the bottom of the Video panel displays time in 1-hour increments. The time when the video you are viewing took place is overlaid on the timeline in the scrolling time slider.
You can change the time range of the timeline. The timeline range extends from 1 minute to 1 hour.
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Live Video
When the Video panel loads, the selected cameras begin streaming live video. When video is live, the time slider displays the current time, and the slider moves forward along the timeline in real time. The LIVE button is active above the time slider when watching live video.
To quickly switch from viewing stored video to live video, click the LIVE button located above the timeline.
Stored Video
You can play back stored video in the Video panel in the following ways:
To view video recorded earlier in the current day:
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To play back video from a specific date and time in the past:
- Click the calendar button
- Select the date from the calendar picker.
- Use the timeline to adjust the time to the desired time.
Video Playback Controls
Use the video playback controls below the timeline to control the playback of stored video in the following ways:
- Pause: Pauses video playback.
- Play: Restarts video playback.
- Fast-Forward: Fast-forwards through cached video*. Double-click the fast-forward button to increase the fast-forward speed.
- Rewind: Rewinds through cached video*. Double-click the rewind button to increase the rewind speed.
The blue lines on the time slider represent the portion of the video timeline that is currently cached. “Cached video” refers to video that has been downloaded from the VMS server to your PC.
Dragging the time slider forward or backward through cached video causes the video in the video players to fast-forward or rewind, respectively.
Viewing Events in the Video Panel
The Web OpCenter Video panel allows you to view events as they happen. You can specify what types of events are displayed and the time period to scan for events.
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Monitor Panel
Getting Started with the Monitor Panel
The Web OpCenter Monitor panel allows you to view events as they happen. You can specify which cameras to view, and what types of events are displayed.
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Viewing Events
You can view video associated with events.
Event Card Types
Each event captured by the 3VR system is represented in Web OpCenter by an event card. Web OpCenter labels event cards with the type of event, date and time the event card was created, and other information about the event.
3VR’s open and rapidly expanding platform permits an unlimited number of possible event types, as events can be generated by integration with external systems (e.g. transaction, access control, POS, etc.) and analytics plug-ins, in addition to basic video recording. However, the following event types are available by default on all VisionPoint™ VMS servers:
Motion Event Cards
The system creates motion events when it detects movement in a camera’s field of view.
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Face Event Cards
The system generates a face event card when it finds a face on a camera with face recognition enabled.
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Alert Event Cards
Alert events are events of any type that meet user-defined criteria for an alert, such as a targeted face or motion event occurring during a certain time of day. In Grid View, “Alert appears on event cards generated by alerts. See “Changing the Appearance of Event Cards and Event Images” for information about selecting Grid View.
You need to configure alerts using 3VR System Manager. See the 3VR VisionPoint VMS Installation and Configuration Guide for 3VR Appliances or more information about alerts.
Viewing Event Video in the Pop-up Video Player
You can view video from an event in greater detail in the Pop-up Video Player.
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Displaying Event Video in Full-Screen
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Adjusting the Audio Level
If the video includes audio, you can turn up and down the volume.
Drag the volume slider to the left to decrease the volume; drag it to the right to increase it.
Customizing the Monitor Panel
You can change the appearance of event cards and images.
Changing the Appearance of Event Cards and Event Images
The event card format buttons allow you to customize the style and size of event cards. There are two event card styles, Grid View and Row View.
- Row View displays event cards with full details
- Grid View displays a thumbnail image from the event, along with some event details
To change the appearance of event cards:
- Click the button for the event card style. The button toggles between Grid View and Row View.
Using the Camera Selector
You can view camera names and select individual cameras.
Viewing Camera Names
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Enterprise Event Monitoring
You can monitor events from multiple appliances at the same time.
Using Enterprise Event Monitoring
Web OpCenter loads the appliances you have access to when you log in. You configure filters for events the same as for stand-alone appliances (Refer Getting Started with the Monitor Panel for more information). | |
After you configure a filter, the Monitor panel updates to display event cards matching the specified criteria. If you select multiple appliances and channels, events that match the filter criteria appear from the selected appliances and channels. |
Limitations
If there are many events saved from the appliances, you may need to select fewer appliances in order to increase performance of OpCenter and also to prevent overwhelming the system.
Search Panel
Use the Search panel to find events recorded days, weeks, or months ago.
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Building a Search
You build a search by specifying the date and time range of interest, along with the camera(s) and event(s) of interest.
Specifying Search Criteria
The first step when selecting search criteria is to assign a name to the search and then specify the period of time you want to search for events.
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Date Range
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Days
If you specify a Date Range of 1 week or longer, you can restrict the search to specific days of the week.
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Time
You can restrict the search to certain times of the day:
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Select Cameras
Specify which cameras to include in the search. You must select at least one camera.
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Select Event Type(s)
The event selector displays the list of event types available on the VMS server (or VMS servers, if you are connected to an Enterprise server).
Check the box next to the event type(s) to include the event(s) in the search. You must select at least one event type. The following event types are available by default on all VMS servers.
Motion Events
To search for motion events, check the box next to Motion in the event selector. This selects All motion events, which returns all motion events matching the other search criteria.
Face Events
To search for face events, check the box next to Face in the event selector. This selects All face events, which returns all face events matching the other search criteria. |
Alert Events
Search for events that triggered an alert by checking Events with Alerts in the event selector. This selects All events with alerts, which returns all events that triggered an alert matching the other search criteria.
- Every event type that ever existed on the VMS server appear in the Events list, even if events of that type are no longer being generated.
- For information about event types generated by plug-ins (for example, transaction events or events generated by access control systems), please consult the plug-in documentation.
- The Faces event type is not listed unless you enable facial surveillance and configure this feature on one or more cameras. To use face recognition, you must license the system for the Facial Surveillance analytic.
Clear Search Parameters
- Click Clear to clear all the saved search criteria and start fresh.
Running the Search
After you specify the search criteria, click Search. The events that match the specified search criteria appear. The look and feel of the search results screen is similar to the Monitor panel. Click the play button on an event card to open the event video and details in the event player.
Searching using the last Search
You can quickly perform a search using the last, saved search you executed.
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Events Information
Information about the events, and controls used to navigate the events, appear at the bottom of the screen.
The day of the week, date, and time the displayed events occurred appear on the right. This information automatically updates if you display other events “pages” that occurred at a different date/time.
If more than a screen full of events appear, you can display the other events by clicking the numbered buttons. The events on the selected “page” appear. To scroll sequentially through the pages of events, click the right arrows (>>) and left arrows (<<) buttons.
Saving Searches
You can save and re-use searches, as well as modify saved searches.
Storing Search Criteria as a Saved Search
You can create a search with the criteria you want, and then easily re-execute the saved search.
Creating a Saved Search
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Running a Saved Search
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Displaying Search Criteria
You can easily display the criteria for a search.
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Modifying or deleting a Saved Search
You can modify a saved search and save the modified search under a new name. This feature keeps your search settings so you can change or fine-tune them and perform the search again or create new searches based on a saved search.
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Appendix A - Web OpCenter Features vs. 3VR OpCenter
Feature Comparison: Web OpCenter vs 3VR OpCenter
3VR OpCenter is a Windows application that you install and run on a PC to access a 3VR VisionPoint™ VMS server. Web OpCenter software allows you to access a 3VR VisionPoint VMS server from any PC on your network using a web browser. Currently, Web OpCenter offers a subset of the features in 3VR OpCenter. The table below identifies the features in 3VR OpCenter that are not
currently supported in Web OpCenter.
Top Level Tabs | Features | 3VR OpCenter | Web OpCenter |
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Settings | Version display | Yes | Yes |
Automatically sign out | Yes | Yes | |
Email Settings | Yes | No | |
Change Password | Yes | No | |
Video | Live video | Yes | Yes |
Playback | Yes | Yes | |
Play live video on different grids | Yes | Yes* | |
Stitched video | Yes | No | |
Export video | Yes | No | |
Display video panel full screen | Yes | Yes | |
Fast forward/rewind played video | Yes | Yes | |
Watch live events | Yes | Yes* | |
Select channel/event type | Yes | Yes* | |
Monitor | Event interval selection | Yes | Yes |
Play event card | Yes | Yes | |
Export events | Yes | No | |
Scan event card | Yes | No | |
Select related events | Yes | No | |
Camera management (shared view) | Yes | Yes | |
Search events (date range/event type/channel) | Yes | Yes | |
Search | Play event cards | Yes | Yes |
Search related events | Yes | No | |
Cross search between appliances | Yes | Yes | |
Saved search | Yes | Yes | |
Specific searches | Yes | No | |
Import events | Yes | No | |
Video validation | Yes | No | |
View groups | Yes | No | |
Edit groups | Yes | No | |
People | Import People | Yes | No |
Export People | Yes | No | |
Create alerts | Yes | No | |
Edit alerts | Yes | No | |
Alerts | Create actions with action types | Yes | No |
Edit action with action types | Yes | No | |
Cases | Create cases | Yes | No |
Update cases | Yes | No | |
Add content | Yes | No | |
*Implementation Testing Pending |