Queue Line Installation and Configuration Guide

Owned by Anand Rajaraman
Last updated: Jan 08, 2020
8 min read

Getting Started

Environmental Specifications

Prior to installing and configuring the Queue Line plug-in you should ensure that the location where you plan to perform Queue Line analysis meets the following specifications:

Cameras

Queue Line analysis is possible with both analog and IP cameras at any resolution. The Queue Line plug-in cannot be installed on PTZ cameras. Dynamic gain compensation should be set to the lowest level. Use wide dynamic range cameras for outdoor lighting situations.

Environment

Cameras should be positioned in areas with little background motion. Congested scenes with constant motion outside of the queue will degrade the performance of the plug-in.

Lighting

Uniform lighting is ideal. Back lighting (bright conditions) will negatively affect performance. Changes in lighting conditions throughout the day should be considered — position cameras away from exterior doors and windows to minimize the effect of lighting changes.

Field of View

The camera’s field of view should cover between 10 and 30 feet.

Mounting

Cameras should be mounted as close to straight overhead as possible, perpendicular to the ground. Positioning cameras at an angle less than 60 degrees from the horizontal is not recommended as performance can be severely impaired.

Registering with System License Key

Prior to installing and configuring analytics, you must enter the system-specific license key that was provided to you at the time of purchase.

If you do not have access to the original order confirmation email, you can look up the license key by appliance serial number on the 3VR Partner Portal (go to http://partners.3VR.com, sign in with your Partner Portal account, then click the Obtain System License Key link).

After you have obtained the license key, enter it in the License Settings dialog in System Manager:

  1. In the Configure panel of System Manager, select the appliance name. The system settings will appear to the right.

  2. Click Common Operations, then click License Settings.

  3. In the License Settings dialog, click Add/Update License Key.

  4. Type the license key in the pop-up box.

  5. Click the Add/Update License Key button.

  6. The License Settings window will update to reflect that a license key was applied.

  7. Click Close to return to the Configure panel.

Pre-Installation Checklist

  • Ensure that you have purchased the Queue plug-in for the correct number of cameras for the installation (SKUs TBD).

  • Ensure that you have at least 24 hours to complete the installation. Step 4 of the plug-in configuration process entails sending a system-specific license question to 3VR Technical Support in order to obtain the matching license key. It can take up to 1 full business day to receive the license key.

  • Plan to connect to the 3VR appliance with one of the following methods:

    • Laptop connected to the system using a D-Link USB network adapter or a network cable

    • Connection from a remote PC over the LAN

You may also configure the Queue Line plug-in with a monitor, mouse, and keyboard connected to the appliance. However, in order to license the Queue Line plug-in you will need to copy and paste very long text strings (30+ characters), and this functionality is not available from the local console.

Configuring Per Camera Plug-In Settings

  1. After binding the plug-in to cameras, links will appear under Bound Cameras for each camera.

  2. Click a link (for example Edit “7. Lobby”) to edit the settings for that camera. The following settings must be configured for each camera bound to the Queue Line plug-in:

Installing Queue Line Plug-In

Install Queue Line Plug-in Package

  1. Launch 3VR System Manager.

  2. In the Configure panel, click the plus sign beside the appliance name.

  3. Right-click the Plug-ins folder and select Add Plug-in.

  4. In the resulting Confirm dialog box, click Install to proceed.

  5. Navigate to the folder containing the plug-in file
    (Plugins.QueueLine-Release-7.0.xxxxx.3pg) and click to highlight the file.

  6. Click OK. The plug-in will now begin installing.

  7. When the plug-in is installed, it will appear below Plug-ins in System Manager.

Binding Cameras to Plug-In

  1. Click the plug-in name to view its settings.

  2. On the right side of System Manager, select the Bound Cameras field and click the ... button.

  3. In the Bind Plug-in to Cameras dialog box, click the check box beside each camera that should have Queue Line.

  4. Click OK to return to the Configure panel.

Entering Queue License Key

The next step in plug-in configuration is to license the Queue Line plug-in.

  1. In the Configure panel, select the plug-in name to view its settings.

  2. Click Edit Settings.

  3. Copy (select the text and press Ctrl+C) the 23-character code from the Licensing Question field in the Edit Global Settings dialog.

  4. Paste (press Ctrl+V) the licensing question into an email to 3VR Technical Support (@support).

    In your email, you must include the system serial number and the number of cameras of Queue Line purchased (reference the P.O. number of the order if available). Please also provide your contact information and the customer/reseller company name.

  5. 3VR Technical Support will respond with the matching 27-character key within 1 business day.

  6. Copy (CTRL-C) and paste (CTRL-V) the key from the email into the License Key box in System Manager.

  7. Click OK to save and return to the Configure panel.

Drawing Queue Zone

In the Queue Zone tab of the Edit Settings window, you will define the area of the camera’s field of view that will be analyzed for Queue events.

This is a required step. If you do not draw a queue zone, no Queue events will be generated on the camera.

Use the following steps to configure the Queue Zone:

Need to include as Video

Set Person Size Estimates

  • Farthest Person:

The Farthest Person tab contains a single orange rectangle on top of the video feed. Move and resize the rectangle until it represents the size and position of the farthest person in the queue. “Farthest person” refers to the person standing in the queue position that is the greatest distance from the camera.

In the example shown to the right, the farthest person is the person standing at the front of the queue. However, the farthest person in your queue may be at the end of the queue depending on the
position of the Queue Line camera.

Nearest Person:

The Nearest Person tab contains a single orange rectangle on top of the video feed.

Move and resize the rectangle until it represents the size of the nearest person in the queue. “Nearest person” refers to the person standing in the queue position that is closest to the camera.

In the example shown to the right, the nearest person is the person standing at the back of the queue. However, your queue may be different depending on the position of the Queue Line camera.

Ensure that the Nearest Person and Farthest Person boxes are drawn accurately (in both position and size) on the image. These parameters calibrate the camera’s perspective on the scene. If they are incorrect, the plug-in will not be able to accurately measure the size of the queue. Refer below diagram for more information.

The position and size of the Nearest Person and Farthest Person boxes approximate the perspective of the camera in the above image. The same person will appear larger when standing close to the camera than at the farthest position from the camera.

Typical Person

The Typical Person tab contains a single orange rectangle on top of the video feed.
Resize the rectangle until it represents the size of a typical person in the queue. “Typical person” refers to a person standing in the queue at the most common waiting position.

For example, if the queue is usually short (1-3 people), the typical person is the person standing at the front of the line. If the queue is usually longer (10-15 people), the typical person would be farther
back in the line.

Event Generation Settings

Edit the following settings in the Parameters tab to configure how frequently the Queue Line plug-in outputs Queue events:

Generating events with the following interval

Default: 2
Range: .25-60.0

This setting controls how frequently Queue events are generated.

Generating event when Average Queue is Greater

Default: 0
Range: 0-20

“Average queue” is one of the metrics reported by the Queue Line analytic. A queue event will only be generated if the average queue value exceeds this number. By default, queue events will be generated at the interval specified in the Generate events with
the following interval setting even if the average queue is zero.

Generating Event when Peak Queue is Greater

“Peak queue” is one of the metrics reported by the Queue Line analytic. A queue event will only be generated if the peak queue value exceeds this number. By default, queue events will be generated at the interval specified in the Generate events with the following interval setting even if the peak queue is zero.

Saving Settings

When you are finished editing the Queue Line settings for the current camera, click the OK button at the bottom of the Edit Settings dialog.

Repeat the steps in this section for any remaining cameras bound to the Queue Line plug-in.

Final Configuration

Restarting System Configuration

  1. In the Configure panel, right-click the appliance name and select Restart 3VR Software.

  2. In the pop-up box that appears, click Restart to proceed. Wait 1-2 minutes for the software to restart.

Verifying Successful Configuration

To verify that the Queue Line plug-in has been correctly configured, check for recent Queue events in 3VR OpCenter:

  1. In 3VR OpCenter, click the Monitor tab to go to the Monitor panel.

  2. Click camera numbers to select the cameras bound to the Queue Line plug-in.

  3. Click the arrow below the camera selector to open the event type drop-down menu.

  4. Select [√]Queue and click OK.

  5. If the plug-in has been correctly configured, Queue events will appear in the Monitor panel at the interval specified during plug-in configuration.

  6. Verify that Queue events are being generated correctly on all cameras bound to the plug-in.

Fine Tuning Plug-In Performance With Optional Settings

The following settings in the Parameters tab of the Edit Settings dialog should only be modified from their defaults if Queue Line results are unsatisfactory.

This setting controls how the video resolution is down sampled before analyzing for Queue events. When left at 0 (default), the plug-in will use the full resolution of the camera, which is highly CPU intensive. Installations running many Queue Line cameras (or other analytics) at the same time may see improved performance by increasing the Downs ample Factor of each Queue Line camera.