USER MANUAL AXIS Camera Station
About This Document This manual is intended for administrators and users of AXIS Camera Station and is applicable for software release 3.50 and later. It covers configuration of AXIS Camera Station Server and AXIS Camera Station Client as well as instructions for using and managing AXIS Camera Station on your network. Later versions of this document will be posted on Axis web site, as required. See also the product’s help pages.
AXIS Camera Station Table of Contents System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AXIS Camera Station Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AXIS Camera Station Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AXIS Camera Station System Requirements System Requirements For best performance and stability these minimum requirements must be met. AXIS Camera Station Client • Windows® 7 Professional, Windows Vista® Business, Windows® XP Professional • CPU: Intel® Pentium® 4, 2 GHz (Intel® Core™ i7 recommended for larger systems) • RAM: 1 GB (4 GB recommended for larger systems) • Hard drive: 1 GB free memory • Screen: 1024 x 768 • Graphics card with DirectX® 9.
AXIS Camera Station Overview Overview AXIS Camera Station is a complete monitoring and recording system for Axis network cameras and video encoders. AXIS Camera Station is comprised of • AXIS Camera Station Server — handles all communication with the cameras and video encoders and recordings. Each server can communicate with up to 100 cameras/encoders.
AXIS Camera Station Overview The first time the application is started, AXIS Camera Station automatically finds and adds the cameras and video encoders that are on your network. If there are more cameras than you have a license for, the Camera Search dialog will pop up allowing you to select which devices to add, see Add Cameras and Video Encoders, on page 24. Multiple Servers AXIS Camera Station Client can be connected to multiple AXIS Camera Station Servers.
AXIS Camera Station Overview The Camera Management workspace and the Alarms and Tasks tabs at the bottom of the client’s main window, see Alarms and Tasks Tabs, on page 20, display devices and alarms from all connected servers. In the Live View workspace, you can create split views with cameras from different servers. Server Lists Server lists are useful when working with a large number of servers, and when using the same servers for clients on different computers.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Workspaces AXIS Camera Station is divided into workspaces: The Start page gives an overview of AXIS Camera Station, highlights new features and contains contact information for technical support. When disconnected from the server, this is the only workspace available. The Live View workspace provides a single interface to organize, monitor and control Axis network cameras and video encoders. The Recordings workspace handles recording search, playback, export and management.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Live View workspace 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Menu Server selection list Toolbar Recording indicator Workspace buttons View groups Audio, PTZ Control, Focus Control, Image Enhancement and Camera Status Alarms and Tasks tabs Alarms and Tasks toolbar Views There are five view types in AXIS Camera Station: Split View Displays up to 25 views in one window. One frame can be set as a hotspot that automatically loads the view from another frame when clicking in that frame.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Views can be used in event actions, see Event Configuration Wizard, on page 43. View Groups Views can be organized into view groups. A view group contains automatic or user-defined views. The following view groups are available in the pane in the left hand side of the Live View workspace: • Auto Views — Automatically created split views for up to 25 cameras. • My Views — User-created views. These views are available to the current user only.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces PTZ Controls AXIS Camera Station has two types of pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) controls: • Mechanical is for PTZ cameras (including cameras where digital PTZ has been enabled in the camera’s Setup page) • Digital can be used with any camera In the Live View workspace, PTZ Control is available under Tools.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Focus Control The Focus Control is available under Tools in the Live View workspace. Click AF to focus the camera automatically. If the result is not satisfactory, click the Near and Far buttons to adjust focus manually: • Use the Near buttons to focus on objects close to the camera. • Use the Far buttons to focus on objects far away from the camera. The large Near and Far buttons move the focus position in multiple steps and are used for coarse adjustments.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces • Playback — Recordings from up to 25 cameras can be played simultaneously. By default, playback starts automatically after a recording search. • Timeline — View the search result on a timeline. • List — View the search result as a list. Recording Search Use Recording Search to find recordings from a desired time interval. To search and play recordings: 1. In Recording Search, specify the time interval for the search.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Selection start marker Playback marker Selection end marker Stop — Stops playback Jump to previous — Jump to the start time of the ongoing or previous recording Play/Pause — Starts, pauses and resumes playback Jump to next — Jump to the start time of the next recording Step Back — Step to the previous frame Step Forward — Step to the next frame Playback Speed — Move the slider to set the playback speed Master Mute/Unmute — Mute and unmute audio for al
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces 1. Click the Smart search button in the toolbar, a Smart search next button will appear in the playback panel, a motion window will appear in the image and a sensitivity slider will appear in the lower right-hand corner 2. Drag and size the motion window to the desired area of the image. 3. Adjust slider to the proper sensitivity. A high value indicates high sensitivity to motion. 4.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Area zoom To zoom in on a period of time, click this button and use the mouse to select the desired time period in the timeline. Zoom in/Zoom out Zoom in or out on the timeline. Show bookmarks Open the list of bookmarks Right-click the recording in the timeline to open the Recording Details dialog. The dialog provides information about the recording and includes options such as start playback, export, bookmark and take a snapshot of the recording.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Camera Management workspace 1 2 3 Search field Device Tags Alarms and Tasks tabs Tasks Tasks can be performed on one or multiple devices.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces When connected to multiple AXIS Camera Station Servers, devices on all servers are displayed in the Camera Management workspace’s main window. With the exception of assigning IP addresses, tasks can be performed on different servers at the same time. Tags For efficient management, devices can be organized using tags. A device can have more than one tag. You can for example create tags for managing different camera models and tags for cameras in different locations.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces The following toolbar buttons are available in the Logs workspace: Go to recordings (Alarms log only) Start a playback of the event that triggered the alarm. Show alarm procedure for selected alarm (Alarms log only) Display instructions for the AXIS Camera Station user. Acknowledge selected alarms (Alarms log only) Notify clients that alarms are being dealt with. Remove selected alarm entries (Live Alarms log only) Delete the alarm entry from the list.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Customize Customize the look of AXIS Camera Station at startup, the sound played when an alarm or event occurs, where to store snapshots and Playback behavior. PTZ Settings Add new or modify existing pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) preset positions. Bookmarks Edit and remove bookmarks. Alarms and Tasks Tabs The Alarms and Tasks tabs at the bottom of the Live View, Recordings and Camera Management workspaces display recent alarms and tasks.
AXIS Camera Station Workspaces Task The name of the task Status Shows if the task is: • Waiting (Waiting for another task to be completed on the server) • Running (Performing the task) • Cancel pending (Clean up after the task when the user pressed cancel) • Canceled (Cleaning is complete and the task is canceled) • Finished (Task completed) • Error (Task completed with errors, i.e.
AXIS Camera Station Licenses Licenses AXIS Camera Station can be run in three license modes: • Licensed version: Complete version allowing up to 100 video channels. • Demo: A 30 day evaluation version with up to four video channels and full functionality. • AXIS Camera Station One: A free version with one video channel. Registering Licenses Multiple licenses can be added to AXIS Camera Station to install up to 100 video channels. Contact your local Axis reseller to purchase more licenses.
AXIS Camera Station Licenses License Transition AXIS Camera Station allows changing the license mode.
AXIS Camera Station How to... How to... After installing the software, it must be configured for your cameras and video encoders. Among other things, this chapter describes how to configure and maintain AXIS Camera Station as well as how to set up recording, motion detection, and alarms. For installation instructions, refer to AXIS Camera Station Installation Guide.
AXIS Camera Station How to... 3. Under Settings, enter the required information. Enabled — The Enabled box should be checked. Recordings and Live View are not possible from this camera, if this box is not checked. Name — Enter a descriptive name for the camera. Address — Enter the camera’s IP address or host name. Port — Enter the port number, if different than the default port 80. Video port — Multiport video encoders: Select the video port number.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Note • View areas are supported by selected HDTV and megapixel cameras. • When using multiple view areas from the same camera, each view area counts as one video channel in the total number of video channels supported by the installed AXIS Camera Station license. Add Auxiliary Devices Auxiliary devices are devices that provide additional, non-video-related functionality, for example more I/O ports or audio capabilities.
AXIS Camera Station How to... AXIS Camera Station also supports failover recordings. When enabled, a failover recording starts automatically if the connection between the camera and AXIS Camera Station is lost during an ongoing recording. See Failover Recordings, on page 30. For information on how to set up recordings triggered by signals from I/O ports, system alarms, tampering attempts etc, see Event Configuration Wizard, on page 43.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Note Multiple cameras can be configured at the same time. Motion Triggered Recording Motion can be detected by all Axis network cameras. Recording only when motion is detected will save disk space compared to other options such as recording continuously. Motion Detection Recording can be configured using the Event Configuration Wizard, see page 43, or the Recording Settings dialog as described here. To set up a motion triggered recording, follow these steps: 1.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Motion Settings Moving objects will be detected in the configured motion detection windows: • Include windows define areas where motion should be detected • Exclude windows define areas within an include window that should be ignored (areas outside include windows are always ignored) For each motion detection window you can configure: Object size - Object size is relative to the region size. At a high level, only very large objects are detected.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Failover Recordings A failover recording starts automatically if the connection between the camera and AXIS Camera Station is lost during an ongoing recording. No new recordings can be started while the connection is lost. Failover recordings will only affect H.264 recordings and can be enabled on cameras with support for storage (SD card) and firmware 5.20 or later. To set up a failover recording, follow these steps: 1. From the Configuration menu, select Recording Storage.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Configure a Recording Disk To add and configure a recording disk, follow these steps: 1. From the Configuration menu, select Recording Storage. 2. Click Add server disk or Add network disk. 3. Enter the path of the disk and click OK to save. 4. To set the maximum disk space allowed to be used by AXIS Camera Station, select the disk and use the AXIS Camera Station Recordings Limit slidebar. 5.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Create a New View Group To create a View Group, follow these steps: 1. In the Live View workspace, right-click My Views or Shared Views in the View Groups pane. 2. Choose New View Group. 3. Enter a descriptive name for the group. 4. Click OK to save and close the dialog. To add a Map, Sequence or Split View follow the instructions Create a Map, Create a Sequence or Create a Split View. Create a Split View To create a split view, follow these steps: 1.
AXIS Camera Station How to... In the image below the large frame is the hotspot, and when another frame in the Split View is clicked, the Live View of that camera will load in the hotspot. In this example the camera view shown in the hotspot is the Entrance. Create a Sequence A sequence view automatically switches between views from different cameras. Each sequence can be set as a unique combination of camera views and variable dwell times. To create a sequence, follow these steps: 1.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Create a Map A map gives a visual overview of the cameras in your installation. A map is an image, for example a drawing or a photograph, on which you place cameras and views. Maps can also be placed on other maps in a hierarchical structure. To create a map, follow these steps: 1. In the Live View workspace, right-click My Views, Shared Views or a created view group and choose New Map. 2. Enter a descriptive name. 3.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Create a Web Page View External web applications can be integrated into AXIS Camera Station by creating a web page view. Web pages can, for example, be shown in a split or a sequence together with live video. To create a web page view, follow these steps: 1. In the Live View workspace, right-click My Views, Shared Views or a created view group and choose New Web Page. 2. Enter a descriptive name. 3.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Add a PTZ Preset Position For cameras with pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) functionality, preset positions provide quick access to predefined views. Preset positions can be added to Sequence Views and can be used with the mechanical PTZ control. To add a preset position, follow these steps: 1. From the Configuration menu, select PTZ Settings. 2. Select a PTZ camera and click Configure. 3.
AXIS Camera Station How to... 2. Select a camera and click Continuous, Motion Detection or Manual. 3. From the Profile drop-down list, select a media profile where audio is enabled. If there is no such profile, click Change and create one. Select H.264 or MPEG-4; audio is not supported with M-JPEG. 4. Click OK. Configure a Media Profile Media profiles are video and audio settings used for live viewing and recording. To configure a media profile, follow these steps: 1.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device Audio from an auxiliary device (for example AXIS P8221 Network I/O Audio Module) can be used together with live or recorded video from a network camera. Follow these steps: 1. Add the auxiliary device to AXIS Camera Station, see Add Auxiliary Devices, on page 26. 2. Add the camera to AXIS Camera Station, see Add Cameras and Video Encoders, on page 24. 3. From the Configuration menu, select Add/Edit Cameras. 4. Select the camera and click Edit.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Set Up Schedules Timetables can be set up to be used in Event Configuration Wizard and Recording Settings. Once a schedule has been entered, it can be reused as often as necessary. On special dates, for example public holidays, special schedules can be used. To set up a schedule, follow these steps: 1. From the Configuration menu, select Schedules. 2. Click Add to open the Schedule Editor. 3. Enter a descriptive name for the schedule. 4.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Send E-Mail Notification on System Alarm A system alarm occurs when connection to a device is lost, when access to a recording disk is denied, when a recording disk is full, on recording errors, etc. An e-mail notification can be sent when a system alarm occurs. To set up e-mail notification, follow these steps: 1. From the Configuration menu, open System Alarm 2. Check Send e-mail on system alarm to the following recipients. 3.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Devices will be offline during firmware upgrade. When upgrading multiple devices you can choose to upgrade in • Sequence — one device at a time • Parallel — upgrade all devices. This option is faster but all selected devices will be offline at the same time. To upgrade one or more devices, follow these steps: 1. Navigate to the Camera Management workspace. 2. Select the devices you want to upgrade. 3. Open the Actions menu and select Upgrade Firmware. 4.
AXIS Camera Station How to... Assign IP Addresses The Camera Management workspace allows you to configure IP addresses for multiple devices at the same time. You can • Obtain IP addresses automatically from a DHCP server • Search for available IP addresses in a specified range To assign IP addresses to multiple devices, follow these steps: 1. Navigate to the Camera Management workspace. 2. Select the devices that you want to configure. 3. Open the Actions menu and select Assign IP Address. 4.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard Event Configuration Wizard Event Configuration Wizard helps you set up rules for triggers and actions in AXIS Camera Station. By setting up a rule you can assign actions to triggers; for instance when motion is detected, a siren will sound and recording will begin on designated cameras. Triggers are classified as: Motion Detection A motion detection event is triggered when an Axis camera detects motion within its defined area.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard The rule is configured in four steps, described in the following sections: • Triggers — add one or more triggers • Actions — add one or more actions • Schedule — select a schedule for the rule • Details — check settings and enable the rule Add Triggers A rule can have one or more triggers. When using several triggers, only one of the triggers needs to become active to activate the rule. In this example, an I/O trigger will be created.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard Add Actions The rule can have one or more actions. In this example, three actions will be created: record, raise alarm and send e-mail. Add a Recording Action To create a recording action, follow these steps: 1. In the New Rule dialog, Actions step, click Add and select Record. 2. In Create Recording Action select the camera that should start recording. In this example, Entrance. 3.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard Add a Raise Alarm Action To create a raise alarm action, follow these steps: 1. In the New Rule dialog, Actions step, click Add and select Raise alarm. 2. Type a title for the alarm message and a description. 3. To include an alarm procedure, select Alarm procedure, click Upload and browse to locate the file. 4. Click OK to save. Note An alarm procedure is an uploaded file, for example a text or image file.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard 6. To attach camera snapshots, select Attach snapshots and click Cameras to select the cameras to include snapshots from. 7. To reduce the number of e-mails, select Send one e-mail for each event or Don’t send another e-mail for. 8. Click OK to save. Set a Schedule The rule can be configured to be active at all times or according to a schedule. For more information about schedules, see Set Up Schedules, on page 39. To set a schedule, follow these steps: 1.
AXIS Camera Station Event Configuration Wizard 48
AXIS Camera Station Network and Security Configuration Network and Security Configuration If AXIS Camera Station Client, AXIS Camera Station Server and the connected network devices are installed on different networks you might need to configure the proxy and/or firewall settings. • If the client and the server are separated by a proxy server, the client proxy settings should be modified, see Client Proxy Settings, on page 50.
AXIS Camera Station Network and Security Configuration To configure the server proxy settings, follow these steps: 1. Open Service Control from Start > All Programs > AXIS Camera Station 3 > AXIS Camera Station Tools. 2. Check the box Modify server settings. 3. Under Proxy settings, select Use manual proxy settings. 4. Enter the address and port number of the proxy server. This is usually the same address and port number as under Internet Options in Windows Control Panel. 5.
AXIS Camera Station Network and Security Configuration 3. If Manual settings was selected, enter the proxy server’s IP address/host name and port number. If there are local servers that do not go through the proxy server, check Bypass proxy for local addresses and enter the servers’ addresses in the box separated by semicolons.
AXIS Camera Station Network and Security Configuration Note • If the domain user search fails, make sure that AXIS Camera Station Service is logged on as a Windows user with access to the Active Directory. To change the user account for AXIS Camera Station Service, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. • For Input/Output ports to be visible here, they must first have been added to AXIS Camera Station. See Add Inputs and Outputs, on page 38.
AXIS Camera Station Input Devices Input Devices The following input devices can be used with AXIS Camera Station: • AXIS T8311 Video Surveillance Joystick • AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad • AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial • AXIS 295 Video Surveillance Joystick Hotkeys Hotkeys give quick access to commonly used actions.
AXIS Camera Station Input Devices AXIS T8311 Button Function (Global) Function (Live View) Function (Recordings) J1 Go to preset 1 Play/Pause J2 Go to preset 2 Stop J3 Go to preset 3 Jump to previous recording start J4 Go to preset 4 Jump to next recording start L Left mouse button R Right mouse button AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad is a USB device used to quickly navigate between workspaces, cameras, views and PTZ presets.
AXIS Camera Station Input Devices AXIS T8312 Key Function (Global) F1 Navigate to Start page F2 Navigate to Live View F3 Navigate to Recordings F4 Navigate to Logs F5 Navigate to Configuration View Go to the next user-created view (in My Views or Shared Views). Press 3+ to go to view number 3. to go to the Press ALT+ previous view. Camera Go to next camera view. to go to camera Press 3+ number 3. Press ALT+ to go to the previous camera view.
AXIS Camera Station Input Devices The View, Camera, Preset, Time and Tool keys are backlit when the keys can be used. For example, the Time key is backlit when you are in the Recordings workspace. AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial is a USB device used to jog and shuttle through recorded video. Connect the jog dial before you start AXIS Camera Station. The jog dial is detected and installed automatically.
AXIS Camera Station Input Devices Note If the joystick is connected after AXIS Camera Station has been started, click Refresh in the Live View workspace. You can configure the joystick to toggle between the PTZ and mouse modes. Go to Options > Hotkeys, select Joystick and then Add. Select Global, Turn on/off joystick PTZ controlling and assign an unused joystick button.
AXIS Camera Station AXIS Camera Station Service Control AXIS Camera Station Service Control AXIS Camera Station Service Control is the application that controls the AXIS Camera Station Service. The Service Control is started when the user logs on to Windows and is located in the system tray. In most installations, the Service Control’s default settings are sufficient, but in some cases (see page 49 for details) the proxy settings will need to be adjusted. or stopped .
AXIS Camera Station AXIS Camera Station Service Control Once satisfied with the changes click Save. You will be prompted to restart the service for the changes to take effect. Database Backup The database stores information about configurations, recordings etc that is needed for AXIS Camera Station to work properly. The database is backed up every night. The backups are saved to a Backup folder which can be located on the local computer or the network.
AXIS Camera Station AXIS Camera Station Service Control Server Status Server status shows the current status of the AXIS Camera Station Server. The buttons Start, Stop and Restart change the server status. Developer API The settings under the Developer API tab are intended for AXIS Camera Station SDK users. Please refer to Windows Development on the Partner Pages at www.axis.com for more information.
AXIS Camera Station AXIS Camera Station Service Administration AXIS Camera Station Service Administration AXIS Camera Station Service Administration is a console application that has the same functions as AXIS Camera Station Service Control. It can be used from the command prompt or from a batch script to start and stop the service or backup the database, etc., which allows for automating and scheduling of administrative tasks.
AXIS Camera Station AXIS Camera Station Service Administration Command Description AcsAdminConsole --port= Set server port (e.g. AcsAdminConsole --port=55762) AcsAdminConsole --manualproxy --proxyaddress= --proxyport= --bypassproxy= --bypassproxyaddresses= --disableproxy Use manual proxy settings. Set the proxy address and port (default 80). Bypass proxy for local addresses. Example: bypassproxyaddress=192.*, *mydomain.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Area zoom Area zoom does not work Area zoom is not supported by AXIS 209MFD and AXIS 212 PTZ. Use the digital or mechanical PTZ controls instead. Audio There is no audio in Live View Make sure the camera has audio capabilities. Check that audio is activated in Live view settings: 1. From the Configuration menu, select Live View Settings 2. Click on the desired camera and then Edit to open Live View Settings 3. Click Change to open Change Media Profile.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting Note: Audio is not possible in M-JPEG; choose MPEG-4 or H.264. Missing AAC decoder To use the AAC audio format, a decoder must be installed. Click the link to install the decoder. If using Demo mode or AXIS Camera Station One, download the decoder from the camera’s Live View page. AXIS Cross Line Detection AXIS Cross Line Detection does not work AXIS Cross Line Detection can be used with network cameras and video encoders that support AXIS Camera Application Platform.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting To check the graphics card’s tier level, open the Help menu and select Client Configuration Sheet. Render Capability Tier is listed in the General Configuration Information section. It is also possible to use the CPU for video rendering, instead of using the graphics card, see Empty “ActiveMovieWindow” popup below. Live view No image from camera Proper decoders must be installed for MPEG-4 and H.264 video formats.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting A user who has not been added to the server, but is a member of the local administrators group on the server, must run the client as administrator on Windows 7/Vista. Right-click the AXIS Camera Station Client icon and select Run as administrator. AXIS Camera Station Server was unable to verify message security. Please make sure server and client UTC times are reasonably synchronized The clocks in AXIS Camera Station server and client are not synchronized.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting Menu item I can't see the Configuration menu You do not have administrator privileges. Menu items are hidden from users that are not granted access under User Permissions. Playback problems Not enough disk space to buffer Increase the buffer size: 1. From the Options menu, open Customize and select the Recordings tab 2.
AXIS Camera Station Troubleshooting Server Report To generate a Server Report, follow these steps: 1. Open AXIS Camera Station Client. 2. From the Help menu, select Server Report. 3. Click OK to save the Server Report as a zip file. Windows Event Logs: Application and System To generate event logs, follow these steps: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 1. Click the Start button, right-click Computer and select Manage to open Computer Management. 2.
User Manual AXIS Camera Station © Axis Communications AB, 2004 - 2011 Ver. M2.7 Date: October 2011 Part No.
