Getting Started

Installing 3VR OpCenter

3VR OpCenter™ client software allows you to access a 3VR Smart Recorder from any PC on your network that meets the minimum system requirements below.

Licensing 3VR OpCenter

OpCenter Basics

Connecting to a 3VR SmartRecorder over a Network

3VR OpCenter™ client software allows you to access a 3VR system from any desktop computer on your network that meets the minimum system requirements.

Managing the OpCenter Server List

Resizing and Closing OpCenter

3VR OpCenter™ can be resized in the same way as any other Windows application using the controls in the upper right corner.

     Minimizes OpCenter

      Maximizes OpCenter

      Restores OpCenter

• Customize the size of your OpCenter window by clicking any edge of the window and dragging until the window has reached the desired size.

1. Click and drag in a corner of the window and drag to resize the window vertically and horizontally at the same time.
   
   
   
   
2. Resizing OpCenter will allow more event cards to be displayed at a time. However, all functionality will remain the same at different window sizes.

   Closes OpCenter and signs the user out of the application.

Monitoring Recent Events

Viewing Events

Monitor Panel Overview

The 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.

Event Types and Filters

The 3VR System generates several types of events. Event types such as license plate events appear in the monitor panel if they have been installed as a plug-in on the system.

Motion Events

In the Monitor panel, a motion event card is displayed when the system detects movement in the camera’s field of view.

Motion event cards feature:

a. Images: each motion event card displays up to three still frames from the event.

• Early frame: a frame near the beginning of the motion event
• Middle frame: a frame from the middle of the motion event
• Late frame: a frame near the end of the motion event

b. Camera number and name: the number and name of the camera that captured the motion event.

c. Event start time: the time that motion was first detected by the camera.

d. Event duration: the length of time continuous motion was detected.

Face Events

In the Monitor panel, a face event card is displayed when the system finds a face in the video stream.

All face event cards feature the following elements:

1. Face image: the best image of the individual’s face.
2. Camera: the number and name of the camera which captured the event.
3. Event time: the time the face was detected.
4. Face event type: there are three types of face event cards: Indexed, Matched, and New.
   
   • Indexed face events can be used to search for similar faces or create a person profile
   • Matched face events have been manually matched to a known person already in the system
   • New face events have been used to create a new person profile

Customizing the Monitor Panel View

Selecting Channels

Adjusting the Number of Events per Page

Viewing Video in the Monitor Panel

Playing Video from Events

When you select an event card, the video associated with the event will automatically play in the video player. As video plays, the timeline below the video indicates where you are in the video.

The time of the event and the length of the video are displayed to the right of the playback controls. The time is displayed in hours, minutes, seconds, and hundredths of a second. Video playback controls operate like a typical home video player, with play, pause, rewind, fast forward, and slow motion.

Button	Action
	Click the play button to play the video at normal speed.
	Click the pause button, then click the forward button to step forward one frame at a time. Click the play button to resume playing video at normal speed.
	Click the pause button to pause the video.
	Click the pause button, then click the back button to step backward one frame at a time. Click the play button to resume playing video at normal speed.
	Click the slow motion button to play the video in slow motion. Clicking this button up to three times will allow you to view the video at one-half, one-quarter, one-eighth, and one-sixteenth of normal speed. Click the play button to resume playing video at normal speed.
	The save frame button appears when motion event video is paused. Click this button to create an image from a video frame.
	Click the fast forward button to play the video at 2x speed. Click again to play at 3x speed, click again to play at 4x speed. Click the play button to resume playing video at normal speed.
	Click the rewind button to rewind the video at 1x speed; continue clicking to rewind at 2x, 3x, and 4x speeds. Click the play button to resume playing video at normal speed.

Scanning Events from a Single Channel

The Scan Forward button allows you to watch video from sequential events of the same type on the same camera. To stop scanning, press the Scan Forward button again. Scanning also stops when you manually select a different motion event, or change cameras, time period, or event types.

Viewing Video

Viewing Video in the Monitor Panel

Watching Live Video in the Monitor Panel

The Live Video tab allows you to monitor one live video feed in the Monitor or Search panel. This lets you keep an eye on one important channel while viewing event cards from a number of channels.There are two ways to turn on live video in the Monitor panel:

Playing Full-Length Video Associated with a Face Event

When a face is detected during a motion event, a face event will be generated from the segment of the associated motion event video when a face was found.

Playing Synchronized Video from an Event

To view video from other channels that occurred around the same time as an event of interest.

Viewing Live Video

Selecting Channels in the Video Panel

Manually selecting Channels

Viewing Video Feeds from a Channel group

Loading Stored Video

You can use the Video panel to view stored video from one or more channels.

Using the Video Timeline

The timeline at the top of the Video panel displays a 15 minute time range. When you are watching live video, the current time is highlighted in green, and moves forward along the timeline as time passes.
When you are viewing stored video, the video time is highlighted in yellow, and moves forward along the timeline as the stored video plays.

To move forward and backward on the video timeline:

Using Video Playback Controls

The video playback controls are similar to those of a home video player. When you are viewing more than one video stream at once, the controls affect all streams at the same time. These controls are only available when you are viewing stored video, and are disabled when you are viewing live video.

PTZ Camera Controls

You can use PTZ camera modes to PTZ modify camera views.

Overview

PTZ camera control is available for live video streams in the Video panel or the Live Video tab of the Monitor panel.You can use three PTZ control modes to modify the current camera view:

1. Compass Mode: a compass is displayed in the video player; clicking a chevron moves the camera in the selected direction
2. Click to Center Mode:
   • Click on a point within the camera view to re-centers the camera view
   • Draw a box around a region with the mouse cursor to zoom in and re-center on the selected region
   • Use the slider bars to tilt and zoom the camera
3. Joystick Mode: hold down the mouse button to pan the camera in the direction of the mouse cursor. User can use Joystick controller to pan the camera, e.g. Axis Joystick controller.

Compass Mode

To change the camera’s field of view using compass mode:

1. Click the compass icon in the lower-left corner of the video player to select compass mode.
2. Click the chevrons in the compass to move the camera in that direction. The size of the chevron corresponds to the panning distance:
3. Click the innermost chevron to move the camera a short distance.
   
                                
   
   
   • Click the middle chevron to move the camera an intermediate distance
   • Click the outermost chevron to move the camera a larger distance
4. Click and hold the mouse on any chevron to move continuously in the indicated direction. Click and hold down the innermost chevron to move the camera more slowly than the outermost chevron.
5. Use the slider bar along the left-hand side of the video player to zoom in and out.

Click to Center Mode

To change the camera’s field of view using click to center mode:

1. Click the square icon in the lower-left corner of the video player to select click to center mode.
2. To re-center the camera view, click the mouse anywhere in the video player to center the camera on that point.
   • To tilt the camera up or down, use the slider bar on the right-hand side of the video player.
   • To pan left or right, use the slider bar along the bottom of the video player.
3. To zoom in or out, use one of the following options:
   • Use the slider bar along the left-hand side of the video player.
   • Click and drag the mouse to draw a box around a region of interest. The camera zooms in on the region.

Joystick Mode

To change the camera’s field of view using joystick mode:

1. Click the joystick icon in the lower-left corner of the video player to select joystick mode.
2. To move the camera using joystick mode, click anywhere in the current field of view and hold down the mouse button. The cross hairs will travel in the direction of the cursor at a speed proportional to the distance between the cursor and the cross hairs.

• To move slowly, click and hold closer to the cross hairs.
• To move quickly, click and hold the mouse at a greater distance from the cross hairs.
• To zoom in or out, use the slider bar along the left-hand side of the video player.

Preset Views

Selecting a Preset View

To move the camera to an existing preset view:

1. Click Presets to display the presets menu.
2. Select the preset view you wish to load.
   

Saving a New Preset View

To save a new preset view:

1. Use click-to-center, compass, or joystick mode to move to the desired camera view.
2. Click Presets to display the presets menu.
3. Click Add Current View.
4. Type the name of the new view in the pop-up dialog box.
5. Click Save to save the new view.

Editing a Saved Preset View

To modify or delete a preset view:

1. Click Presets to display the presets menu.
2. Click Edit Views.
3. In the Edit Views window, select the name of the preset view to modify:
   • To rename the preset view, type a new name for the view in the Name box, and then click Save.
   • To set the current view as the default view for this camera, select [ ]Set as Home Preset, and then click Save.
   • To delete the view, click Delete
4. Click Close to return to the Video panel.

Tours

Viewing a Saved Tour

To load a PTZ tour:

1. Click Presets to display the presets menu.

2. Click the name of the tour you wish to view.

   The tour will continuously loop until manually stopped. To stop the tour at any time, click the Click here to stop tour playback text at the top of the video player.

3. To resume the tour, select the tour from the presets menu.

Recording a New Tour

To save a new PTZ tour:

1. Click Presets to display the presets menu.
2.  Click Record New Tour.
3. Record your tour using the PTZ controls to change the camera view as desired.
4. When you are finished recording the tour, click the Click here to stop recording text at the top of the video player.
5. Type a name for the new tour in the pop-up window.
6. Click Save to save the tour.

Renaming or Deleting a Tour

To modify an existing PTZ tour:

1. Click Presets to display the presets menu.
2. Click Edit Tours.
3. In the Edit Tours dialog box, select the name of the tour to modify:
   • To rename, edit the name and click Save.
   • To delete, click Delete.
4. Click Close to return to the Video panel.

PTZ Camera Focus and Iris Control

Some PTZ camera models allow for increased control over focus and brightness. For these cameras, you can click the Manual Focus Control or Manual Iris Control button at the bottom of the video player to display a slider bar to adjust focus or the size of the iris.

Manual Focus Control

By default, auto-focus is enabled for all PTZ cameras. To manually control focus:

1. Click the Focus Controls button at the bottom of the video player.
   • To focus on objects nearer than the current focal point, click N, or move the slider bar to the left.
   • To focus on objects past the current focal point, click ∞ or move the slider bar to the right.
2. To resume automatic focusing, click the Focus Controls button again.

Manual Iris Control

By default, brightness is automatically adjusted for all PTZ cameras. To manually control brightness:

1. Click the Iris Controls button at the bottom of the video player.
   • Click the box with the black circle to darken the field of view, or move the slider bar to the left.
   • Click the box with the white circle to brighten the field of view, or move the slider bar to the right.
2. To resume automatically adjusting brightness, click the Iris Controls button again.

View Options

Certain view options are available for certain cameras. The available view options depend on the camera in use.

Panning

With certain cameras, you can pan the camera view. With some cameras, you click in the view and drag in the direction you want to pan. In addition, on certain cameras, in the Single (1-Up) view, an overlay appears on the image to show you the field of view displayed.

360-Degree Panomorph 

Camera Controls

By default, a 360-degree panomorph camera shows an overall view of an area, but the image is warped. The 3VR system can dewarp (or flatten) the image and allow you to focus on particular areas on interest.

Different cameras and lenses support different dewarped view types. The table below shows the available dewarp view types for supported cameras, and the vendors' terminology for the view types, along with the 3VR commands used to display them.

To select a view type for video from a 360-degree panomorph camera:

1. Right-click on the image in the video player. A menu pops up and shows the available view types for the camera.
   
   
2. Select the desired view type from the View Type sub menu. Most view types display in the video player. However, the Panorama view type displays all the available view types for the camera in a separate, Panorama Viewer window, shown below. (Labels identify the view types shown in the sample image below.)
   
   

Audio Playback

The OpCenter Video panel supports both live and recorded audio streaming.

Audio must be enabled and configured in 3VR System Manager in order for audio controls to be available for a camera that supports audio. See the 3VR VisionPoint VMS Installation and Configuration Guide for 3VR Appliances for information.

Starting and Stopping Audio

Only one audio camera may be streamed at a time. Use one of the following steps to start or stop audio playback.

1. If the camera is not already playing video, bring it up in the video grid using one of the options in Adding and Removing Cameras.
2. Start streaming with one of the following steps:
   1. Right-click the camera video feed in the video grid and select Play Audio on "[Camera Name]"
   2. Right-click the camera name in the camera tree and select Play Audio on "[Camera Name]"
      
      
      
3. Stop streaming with one of the following steps:
   1. Right-click the camera video feed in the video player and select Stop Audio on "[Camera Name]"
   2. Right-click the camera name in the camera tree and select Stop Audio on "[Camera Name]"

Controlling Volume

Controlling Volume in OpCenter

When you select an audio camera in the Video panel, the video toolbar is displayed on top of the video player. This toolbar contains the volume control for audio, as well as the camera's PTZ controls (if applicable).

To adjust the volume of audio playback for a camera, move the mouse over the speaker icon to display the volume slider bar and drag the bar right to increase the volume or left to decrease the volume.

Muting Audio Playback

• To mute audio, click the speaker icon. An x appears next to the speaker to indicate that audio is muted.
• To restore audio, click the speaker icon again

Controlling Volume in Windows

To raise or lower the volume of audio playback for all audio channels, adjust the volume of your PC with the following steps:

1. Click the speaker icon in the Windows task bar notification area.
2. Click and drag the slider bar up or down to adjust the volume.

Auto-Hide Video Toolbar

By default, the video toolbar is placed at the bottom of each video player, overlaying the video feed. If desired, you may configure OpCenter to auto-hide the toolbar when the video player does not have mouse focus.

To begin auto-hiding the toolbar:

1. From the OpCenter Video panel, click the Options button.
2. Check the box next to Auto-hide video toolbar.
3. Click OK to save your changes.

Searching for Events

Setting up a Search

Search Overview

Use the Search panel to find events that were recorded hours, days, weeks, or months ago.

Specify Search Date, Day and Time

The first step when selecting search criteria is to select the period of time you want your search to cover, by selecting the Date Range.

Select Channels

At least one channel must be selected in order to perform a search.

Specify Event Types

The search panel allows you to specify search criteria for all event types found on your system. Different options may be available for different event types. A brief overview of the most common event types can be found below.

Motion check box 

• All radio button returns all motion events during the search time frame
• Specify radio button is used to search for motion in a specific region of the camera view, or motion in a specific direction (if enabled) when a single channel is selected

Faces check box

• All radio button returns all face events during the search time frame
• Specify radio button is used to search for face events similar to specific person profiles or group members. Similarity levels can be adjusted.

The Alerts filter and Notes filter can also be used to find events in the Search panel.

Alerts Only check box

• All radio button returns all events which triggered an alert during the search time frame
• Specify radio button is used to search for events that triggered a specific alert. To select an alert type, check the box beside the alert name. If an alerts has been created for a specific channels, one or more channels defined in the alert must be selected for the search to yield any results.

Notes check box

• All radio button returns all events which triggered an alert during the search time frame
• Specify radio button is used to search for events with specific note labels. To search for a note label, check the box beside the note label.

If additional event types are selected, you can restrict the set of events that are returned to only those that have triggered notes by selecting Events with alerts check box or Events with notes check box.

Once you have chosen an event type click Search to begin the search.

Setting Up a Search for Associated Events

When you search for any specific type of event, you can choose to search for related events of a different type that occurred around the same time. Conduct a cross-analytic search by setting up primary and secondary searches that will run simultaneously:

Viewing the Results of an Events Search

The results of a search will be displayed in the Search results screen.

Saving and Using Frequent Searches

If you frequently perform the same searches, you can save search criteria to make future investigations faster. To save a search:

1. Click the Search tab.
   
   
2. Specify the search criteria as described on the previous pages as shown below.
   
   
3. Type a name for your search into the Save Search As box and click Save.

To search for events using a saved search:

1. Click the Search tab and the Saved Searches sub-tab.
   
   
2. Click to select the saved search in the list.
   
3. Click the Search button.

Modifying a Saved Search

To modify a saved search:

1. Click the Search tab and the Saved Searches sub-tab.
   
   
2. Click to select the saved search you wish to modify from the list of searches.
   
   
3. To change the search criteria, click the Edit button. You will be returned to the New Search panel where you can modify the search parameters as desired. Click Save to store your changes. To delete the saved search, click Delete.

Searching for Motion

Setting up a Motion Direction Analysis Search

Motion Direction Analysis can be enabled on a per-camera basis by users with administrative privileges. For more information on enabling motion analysis, consult your 3VR sales representative and/or 3VR professional services.

When Motion Direction Analysis is turned on for a camera, the system will track the direction of motion in recorded events. You can use this data when searching for specific types of motion events. For example, by specifying the direction of the motion you can find only events where someone was entering a room rather than simply passing by the door.

To set up a search based on motion found in a specific region of the camera view:

1. Click the Search tab to open the Search panel.
2. Specify the date and time ranges for your search.
   
   
3. Select a single camera by clicking the channel number. Only one camera can be selected when searching for motion in a region or direction. The selected channel must have Motion Direction Analysis enabled.

Searching for Motion in a Specific Region

Searching for Motion in a Specific Direction

1. Under Events, select Motion and click Specify. If more than one camera is selected, then the Specify radio button option gets disabled.
2. Under Direction, click Specify direction radio button.
   
   
   
3. By default, the right arrow is selected. Click to select or deselect slices of the direction selector. Selected sections are highlighted in orange.
4. Arrows corresponding to the selected directions appear in the camera view.
   

5. Click Search.
   
   
   

   If you have selected one or more regions in the camera view before selecting directions in the direction selector, the direction arrows will appear inside the selected region, as in this example. Click a region in the camera view to select it, then click sections of the direction selector to select specific motion directions for that region.

Searching for People

Searching for a Person of Interest

Adjusting Similarity to Fine-tune Face Event Searches

You can modify searches for face events by specifying the level of Similarity. Selecting a higher similarity level will return results that are more likely to match the face you are searching for, but there will be fewer results. Selecting a lower similarity level will return more results, but more of those faces may not match the one you are searching for.

Searching for Faces Similar to a Face Event

From the Monitor panel or when viewing search results, you can search for faces similar to a selected face event card:

Searching for Faces Similar to a Known Person

You can search for face events with a specified level of similarity to a known person from the People panel:

1. In the Search panel, choose the Faces event type check box.
2. Click Specify radio button.
3. Select People and Characteristics check box, then select Person radio button.
   
4. Scroll through the list of people to find the face, name, or person ID of the person you are searching for. Click to select that person.
5. Expand the number of face events found in your search by lowering the Similarity. See the first page of this chapter for more information.
6. Click Search.

Searching for User-Defined Characteristics

You can search for face events based on group membership, ID number, gender, hair color, and other identifying characteristics.

Refer Using People Panel for more details.

Searching for Face Events by Match Type

To search for the different types of face events that may be found on your system  through check boxes ( Indexed, Matched and New):

1. In the Search panel, choose the Faces event type check box.
2. Click Specify radio button.
3. Select People and Characteristics check box and then Characteristics radio button.
   
   
4. Select Match Type check box.
   1. To find face events that have not been matched to or used to generate a person in the People panel, select Indexed check box.
   2. To find face events that a user has manually matched to a person, select Matched by user check box.
5. Click the Search button.
   

Using the People Panel

Overview

When a face event in the Monitor or Search panel features someone you want to keep track of, you can enter details about the person on the face event card and click Save. This generates a person profile for this individual, a permanent record displayed in the People panel.

In the People panel, you can create groups, organize people into groups, add notes and edit the details associated with each person.

Filtering People Based on Group Status

Groups provide a way of categorizing people who have been entered into your system.

In the People panel, a list of all available groups will be displayed in the top left. Click on any group name in this list to display the members of the group.

Sorting People Chronologically

Filtering People Based on User-Defined Characteristics

Filters are a quick way to find people profiles meeting certain criteria. After selecting a group, you can use one or more of the following filters:

Managing Groups

Creating Groups

Editing and Deleting Groups

Working with Person Profiles

Viewing a Person

Click a profile card in the People panel to view a person:

Editing Person Details

1. Select a profile card.
   
   
2. In the Person tab of the Profile Detail Viewer, edit relevant information:
   • Group: select the group that the profile belongs to.
   • First Name and Last Name
   • Employee ID
   • Gender and Hair Color
3. Click Save to permanently store the changes.
   
   Click Cancel to discard changes.

Merging Two Profiles for the Same Person

Only the profile information from the card you Match all to will be kept. All profile information from the other selected profile will be deleted, and profile images from both cards will now be
associated with the new profile. To merge two profiles from the Person tab of a profile card:

1. Select a profile card.
   
   
2. From the Person tab in the Event Detail Viewer, select Match radio button.
   
   
   
   
3. The number of people displayed in the list can be restricted by using filters.
   
   
   • Select a radio button beside Show People to select which list of people to display, Named radio button or All radio button.
   • To filter profiles based on last name or Person ID, select Name/ID from the drop-down menu. Type part or all of the last name or ID number for the profile you are looking for and press the Enter key.
   • To filter profiles by group, select Group from the drop-down menu and select the group name from the second drop-down menu.
     
     
4. Click the name or image of the profile you wish to merge.
5. Click the Match button to add the images from the profile card you are viewing to the profile selected from the list.

Adding Notes to a Person

When you select a profile card with notes attached, notes added to that profile can be displayed by selecting the Notes tab in the Profile Detail Viewer. To write a note in the People panel:

Viewing Person Profile Images

The Profiles tab displays groups of images generated from face events which have been manually matched to a person. Matching high-quality face event cards to person profiles help the system improve its ability to recognize that person over time.

1. Select a profile card and click the Profiles tab in the Profile Detail Viewer.
   
   
   
2. All event profiles for that person profile will be displayed in the Profiles tab. Each event profile contains one or more images generated from a face event.
   
   
   
3. To view the images contained in the event profile, select the card for the event profiles and click View Images. The images from that event will be displayed in a new window.
   
   
4. Click Close to return to the People panel.

Changing the Person Profile Reference Image

In the profile tab, the profile marked Display is used as the “reference image” for that profile. This image is used to represent the person whenever they have been identified throughout the system. It is important to select an easily recognizable, high-quality face image as the reference image.

To change the reference image:

Changing the Profile Display Image

A profile may contain one or more images generated from a single face event. When you select a profile in the Viewing Profiles panel and click View Images, the images from the selected profile will be displayed in a new window.

To change the image used as the display image for the profile:

Unmatching Images from a Person

Sometimes an event has been matched to a person profile incorrectly, or an individual profile image may be of poor quality (poor lighting, bad angle, etc). In those cases, it is recommended that the profile or profile image be unmatched from the person profile.

To unmatch an event profile or profile image:

CASES PANEL

Getting Started with the Cases Panel

The OpCenter Cases panel provides a centralized interface for managing evidence (events, people, documents, etc.) relevant to an ongoing investigation. Using a case to manage an investigation allows you to draw links between pieces of evidence, quickly view a summary of an ongoing case, and easily share the case details and supporting evidence with management or law enforcement.

OpCenter cases can be either public or private. Public cases are visible to all users with access to the Cases panel, allowing collaboration across the entire organization. In contrast, only the creator and the assignee can see private cases, a critical feature when carrying out an internal investigation.

Furthermore, events added to a case are permanently protected from the periodic deletion of old data that occurs when the VMS server runs low on disk space. This ensures that critical surveillance is available when it is needed.

Cases Panel Layout

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
   The main view of the Cases panel displays the list of cases on the system.
   
2. If there are a large number of cases, use the following methods to filter the list:
   • Use the Filter by User drop-down menu at the top of the Cases panel to filter the cases by the case creator or assignee. By default, this menu is set to My Cases. To view all cases, change the Filter by User menu to All.
   • To sort the list of cases by their properties, click the column headers. For example, click the Name column header to sort alphabetically by case name (A-Z). To sort in reverse order (Z-A), click the column header a second time.
     To view the details of a case, select the case and click View Case.
     
     To create a new case, click Add New Case.
3. When creating, viewing, or modifying a case, OpCenter displays the case editing screen of the Cases panel.
   This interface allows you to view or edit the case details, or view the evidence linked to the case.

Working with Cases

This section describes how to view and edit existing cases, create new cases, and delete cases.

Viewing an Existing Case

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Select the case of interest from the list of cases.
3. Click View Case.
   
4. From the case editing screen, click the tabs to view the Case Summary and any Notes, Documents, Events, or People added to the case.
5. To return to the case list, click Return to Cases.
   

Opening a New Case

There are two ways to open a new case:
From the Cases Panel

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Click Add New Case.
   
3. Fill out the fields under the Case Summary tab:
   • Case ID: A case ID is auto-generated for you based on the present date. However, you can edit this field, if desired.
   • Case Name: Type a name for the case.
   • Case Description: If desired, type a summary description for the case.
   • Assignee: By default, the assignee is set to the current user account. To assign the case to another user, click the link and select the user name from the drop-down list.
   • Private Case: A case marked as a Private Case is only be visible to the creator and the assignee.
   • Status: When creating a new case, the case status is set to Open.
     
4. When you finish editing the details of the new case:
   • To create the new case, click Save.
   • To clear the form without saving your changes, click Undo Changes.

From an Event or Person Card

1. Select the event or person card of interest in the Monitor, Search, or People panels.
   
2. In the event editor or person editor, click the Cases tab.
   
3. Click Add Event to New Case (or Add Person to New Case).
4. Fill out the details of the new case:
   • Case ID: A case ID is auto-generated for you based on the present date. However,
     you can edit this field, if desired.
   • Case Name: Type a name for the case.
   • Case Description: If desired, type a summary description for the case.
   • Assignee: By default, the assignee is set to the current user account. To assign the case to another user, click the link and select the user name from the drop-down list.
   • Private Case: A case marked as a Private Case is only visible to the creator and the assignee.
   • Status: When creating a new case, the case status is set to Open.
5. Click Save to save the new case. The event or person card is added to the case as the first piece of evidence.

Editing a Case

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Select the case of interest from the list of cases.
3. Click View Case.
4. Edit the fields under the Case Summary tab as desired (See Referring a new Case for a description of each setting).
5. When you are finished editing the case:
   • To save your changes, click Save.
   • To clear the form without saving your changes, click Undo Changes.

Deleting a Case

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Select the case to be deleted from the list of cases.
3. Click Delete Case.
4. In the Confirm Delete dialog box, click Yes to permanently delete the case.

Building a Case

The section describes how to add and remove events to/from a case and add people.

Adding Events to a Case

You can add events to a case from the Monitor panel or from the Search panel search results screen by performing the following steps:

Adding a Single Event Card

1. Select the event card(s) of interest.
2. In the event editor, click the Cases tab.
3. Select an existing case from the list and click Add Event to Case.
   

Adding Multiple Events at Once

1. Hold the CTRL key and click event cards to select multiple events.
2. Right-click one of the selected events and select Add Events to Case from the menu.
   
3. In the Cases tab of the event editor, select an existing case from the list and click Add Events to Case.

Adding a Person to a Case

You can add people to a case from the People panel by performing the following steps:

1. From the People panel, select a person card.
2. Select the Cases tab from the person editor.
3. Select a case from the list and click Add Person to Case.
4. Click Save.

Removing Evidence from a Case

Perform the following steps to remove events or people from a case:

1. From the case editing screen, click the Events or People tab.
2. Right-click the event or person card to be removed and select Remove from Case.
   
3. To return to the main view of the Cases panel, click Return to Cases.

Adding Supporting Documents and Notes to a Case

This section describes how to add documents and notes to cases.

Adding a Document to a Case

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Select the case of interest from the list of cases.
3. Click View Case.
4. Click the Documents tab.
5. Click Upload.
   
6. In the Choose Document File window, select the file to upload to the case.
7. Click OK.

The file appears in the Documents tab of the case editor.

Working with Documents

You can open and edit the documents you upload.

Opening a Document

Perform the following steps to download and view a file uploaded to a case.

1. In the Documents pane, select the file to open.
2. Click View.
3. The file opens in the application on your computer associated
   with the file type.
   
   For example, if the document is a .txt file, clicking View opens the file in Windows Notepad or another text editor.

Saving a Document

Perform the following steps to save a file from the Documents tab to your computer.

1. In the Documents tab, select the file to save.
2. Click Save.
3. In the Choose Folder dialog box, select the directory or drive where you wish to save the document.
4. Click Save.

Removing a Document

Perform the following steps to remove a file added to a case:

1. In the Documents tab, select the file to delete.
2. Click Delete.
3. In the dialog box that appears, click Yes to confirm removing the file from the case.

Adding Notes to a Case

1. In the Cases panel, select a case from the list of cases.
2. Click View Case.
3.  In the case editing screen, click the Notes tab.
4. Click Add a Note.
   
5. Select a label for your note from the Label drop-down menu.
   
6. Type the text of the note in the text box.
7. Click Save.
   The note is added to the Notes pane of the case editor.
   

Exporting a Case

Exporting a case converts the case summary, evidence, and supporting documents to a file that people can view in a web browser (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Safari). This allows you to easily share the details of the investigation with law enforcement, management, or other interested parties.

Perform the following steps to export a case from 3VR OpCenter.

1. Click the Cases tab to go to the Cases panel.
2. Select the case to export.
3. Click Export Case.
   
4. Click the drop-down arrow next to Location to select the directory or drive where you wish to save the exported case.
5. To create a new folder for the exported case, check Create new sub folder and enter a folder name.
6. If desired, select Include audio if available to include audio with the exported video clips.
7. Check Include event details in images to embed details about the source event in images exported with the case.
8. Click the Export button.
9. When the export is complete, click the Close button.

Selecting Channels

Overview

Many of the operations in OpCenter require that you select one or more channels. The channel selector functions the same regardless of where it is located:

Monitor Tab

To display a channel’s name, move the mouse over the channel number without clicking. The channel name and number will be displayed as a tool tip. To view all channel names and numbers at one time, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the channel selector.

Search Tab

Alerts Tab

Selecting Individual Channels

OpCenter has two channel selection modes for selecting channels individually, toggle and standard mode:

Toggle Mode

Toggle mode is the default channel selection mode in OpCenter. Toggle mode allows you to easily select or deselect channels by clicking on individual channel numbers.

Standard Mode

Selecting Multiple Channels and Channel Groups

Creating Channel Groups

Modifying and Deleting Channel Groups

Working with Face Events

About Face Events

Viewing Face Events

Features of Face Event Cards

Working with People

Viewing and Editing Person Details from a Matched Face Event

When person details are edited in the Monitor, Search or Cases panels, those details will be changed throughout the entire system for the identified person profile, not only for the selected face event.

Creating a New Person from a Face Event

When you see a face event featuring a new person of interest, enter details about that person on the face event card to create a permanent record of the person in the system from the face images generated by the face event.

Hide Matched or New Face Events from Searches and Alerts

When searching or generating an alert for a person, the images that have been matched to that person are used for comparison. Thus, it is important to only add profiles from high-quality face events.

You can choose to hide the set of images from a face event from the Person tab in the Event Detail Viewer:

Matching Face Events to People

Matching or Unmatching a Face Event to an Existing Person

If you see an Indexed face event in the Monitor or Search panels featuring a person that already exists in your system, you can manually match the face event to the person.

On the other hand, if you see a face event that has been matched to a person incorrectly, you can unmatch the face event from that person.

Working with Alerts

Viewing Alerts

Monitoring Alerts

When an alert is triggered, the event that triggered the alert will be labeled with colored bar across the top of the event card.

To view information about the alert associated with an event card:

Viewing and Enabling Alerts

To view information about an alert

Viewing Alert Action Configuration

Alert actions can be created to email key security personnel, change recording settings, or modify the maximum amount of bandwidth the Smart Recorder can use when an alert is triggered. Only users with administrative privileges can configure alert actions. To view an existing alert action:

Creating Alerts

Set Alert Name and Color

Select Days and Times

Select Channels

By default, no cameras are selected. You can customize your camera choices the same way you would in the Monitor panel:

Select Alert Actions

You can select the actions that will take place when an alert is triggered. The list of available actions appears in the Actions list box.

Refer creating alert response actions topic for more information .

Enter Alert Response Procedure

Enter text into the Alert Response Procedure box in the lower left of the Creating Alert screen to include instructions for responding to an alert.

This text will appear with other information about the alert when you click on an alert event card in the Monitor panel.

Specify Alert Criteria

Faces Check Box

To enable Facial Surveillance analytics on your system, consult your 3VR sales representative for more information.

Face similarity alerts compare incoming face events to the selected person. When the system detects a face that is similar to the selected person’s face, the alert will be triggered. Group similarity alerts compare incoming face events to the members of a selected group. When the system detects a face that is similar to a group member, the alert will be triggered.

Motion Check Box

To set an alert for all motion on one or more cameras for a specified time period:

To generate an alert when motion occurs in a specific region of the camera field of view:

To generate an alert when motion occurs in a specific direction within the camera field of view:

Creating Alert Response Actions

Sending Email When an Alert is Triggered

An alert response action can send an email to selected recipients when an alert is triggered.

Modify Recording or Bandwidth When an Alert is Triggered

An alert response action can change recording and bandwidth settings when an alert is triggered.

Working With Notes

Viewing and Existing Note

Notes can be viewed and created from the Monitor panel, Search panel results screen, and Cases panel. Notes can also be created for known people in the People panel. The notes tab is only displayed when an event, person or case is selected.

To read the notes attached to an event:

Adding a New Note

Relabeling a Note

Note labels can be used to to distinguish between different types of notes. The 3VR system comes with four predefined note labels: Note, Flag, Review, and Cleared. When adding a note to an event, the label Note will appear by default on the event card unless a different label is manually selected.

Select an event card with a note. In the Notes tab of the Event Detail Viewer, click the drop-down arrow next to Label to display the four default labels, as well as any custom labels created on your system. Select a different label from the list. The event card will instantly be updated with the new note label.

Managing Note Labels

Creating a Note Label

Editing or Deleting a Note Label

Working with Images

Viewing Images

Using Image Enhancement Controls

Sometimes, captured images may appear fuzzy or pixelated. You may be able to improve the appearance of an image with these controls.

The image enhancement controls are to the lower left of the image in the Image Details window. To apply an image enhancement control, click the associated icon. The icons may be clicked multiple times to increase the amount of enhancement.

Using the OpCenter Image Clipboard

The OpCenter™ Image Clipboard allows you to select and view a collection of several images from different events and print, copy, or email some or all of them at one time.

Saving Frames from Motion Events

To save a frame from a motion event to the image tab:

Sharing Images

Printing Images

Emailing Images

To send event images to an email address:

Copying Images to the Windows Clipboard

When logged into OpCenter on a PC, you can copy images from events to the Windows clipboard. Copied frames include the selected image and event details. This information is then available to be pasted into other applications (e.g., MS Word, Outlook, MS Paint, or Adobe Photoshop).

Exporting Surveillance

Exporting Events

Exporting and Sharing Events

If you have identified several events you wish to share with other investigators or law enforcement, exporting events allows users without access to a 3VR Smart Recorder to view a useful storyboard summary of events, images, and associated video using Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari. Investigators can view, print, copy and save event images, video and information directly from their web browser.

Exporting Events for Viewing in a Web Browser

To export selected events, including associated video, images and event information in a format that can be viewed in a web browser or imported into another 3VR system:

Exporting All Search Results

To export all events from search results:

Including Event Details in Images

When exporting events to share with others, you can choose to include details about an event in each image that is exported along with the event. To include details about the event in each image, select

• Include event details in images check box

The following information will be displayed directly below the image from the event:

• System name
• Camera name
• Camera number
• Date/time image was generated

Any information associated with the event will be displayed to the right of the image. The details included will vary between event types.

Exporting People

Exporting Select People

Exporting Groups

Exporting Cases

Exporting a Selected Case

Exporting Video

Exporting Continuous Video from the Video Panel

To export all stored video over a specified time range from the Video panel:

Exporting Continuous Video from Selected Events

You can export all stored video over a time range covered by events you have selected from the Monitor, Search, or Cases panels. The following export criteria will be pre-filled:

• The Start and End time for the video export will be pre-filled with the start time of the first event and the end-time of the last event to end
• The channels which generated the selected events will be pre-selected
  
  

To export stored video over the time range defined by selected events:

Working with Exported Surveillance

Viewing Exported Surveillance

Viewing Exports in a Web Browser

People, Cases and Events exported to XML can be viewed in a web browser. 

To view exported people using Internet Explorer:

To view exported people using Mozilla Firefox:

Viewing Exported Video in EvidenceViewer

3VR EvidenceViewer is a powerful tool that allows you to simultaneously view one or more channels of video exported from the 3VR OpCenter Video panel without requiring the purchase additional software. 3VR EvidenceViewer is ideal for sharing exported video with law enforcement or other investigators.

With 3VR EvidenceViewer

The user can,

• Simultaneously view up to 36 channels of exported video
• Select which channels to display in the current view
• Scan video using a video timeline
• Automatically verify the integrity of the video being viewed, displaying a warning if the exported video or associated information has been tampered with or modified in any way.
  
  

EvidenceViewer is fully supported in Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Obtaining 3VR EvidenceViewer

3VR EvidenceViewer is included with 3VR OpCenter. If you are connecting to a Smart Recorder over a network using OpCenter, you can opt during a video export to include the application in the folder containing exported video. However, if you will be emailing the exported video or transferring the export folder via a slow network connection, it is recommended that you do not include the 20MB

EvidenceViewer application in the exported folder; instead, advise the recipient to download EvidenceViewer from www.3VR.com/downloads/ EvidenceViewer. Instructions for obtaining 3VR EvidenceViewer are included with every video export.

Using 3VR EvidenceViewer

Instructions for using EvidenceViewer are included in the EvidenceViewer Readme file (EvidenceViewer_ReadMe.html)

Verifying Integrity of Exported Surveillance

Validating Exported XML

In the Search panel, use the Validation tab to verify that the contents of a 3VR Event Export folder have not been tampered with, and that events can successfully be imported into a 3VR system.

Importing Surveillance Exported from a Smart Recorder

Importing Events

To import events exported from another 3VR system:

To import events from XML, your 3VR system must have at least one channel configured for XML import. To learn more about configuring a channel for XML import, consult your 3VR sales representative or 3VR Technical Support.

Importing People Profiles

To import people exported from another 3VR system:

Importing from 3VR CrimeDex

Importing People from CrimeDex

To create people profiles from suspects exported from 3VR CrimeDex: