View video in the player

Please take into consideration that the camera can be set up in a different time zone. This affects the date and time when you view live streams or archived footage, as well as when you export the archive. For details, see the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) section.

If it’s an intercom camera that has the set limitations for viewing video in live and archive modes (for details, see the View and edit an intercom section > the General data tab), the following will be available to view:

• When a call is missed: 15 seconds before the call and 30 seconds after.

• When a call is answered: 15 seconds before the call was answered and during the call.

• A camera with an archive feature allows for viewing video in archive irrespective of the camera’s streaming status. The available archive range is limited by the storage time allocated to that particular camera.

• When the primary camera stream is partially unavailable, the system automatically switches to an available stream (HD or SD).

The player features the following functions:

• View live stream from the camera.

• View and export archives (if archive is available).

• Display of marks for the following events:

  • Custom

  • Analytics

  • Events, received from cameras via ONVIF and SMTP protocols

• Capture screenshots.

• Turn on and off camera audio (if audio is supported).

• PTZ camera controls (for PTZ-compatible cameras).

• Enable full-screen mode.

Select a camera from the list to view its feed. You can manage the view with the player controls.

Additional parameters such as date and time, outside temperature, and so on may be displayed on the screen, depending on the camera model and settings.

You can perform the following actions with the player controls:

1. View a camera name. Select the camera name to hide or show it.

2. Digital zoom of a camera video in its designated sell. To zoom, select the relevant zoom icon in the camera cell and adjust the image scale. Hover over the zoom slider and use your mouse wheel for fine-tuned adjustments. If the slider isn't in focus, simply hold CTRL and use your mouse wheel for rapid zoom changes.

3. When in Archive only, it shows the date and time at the moment of viewing.

4. The timeline is equipped with the following functionalities:

• In Live, it displays the current viewing time. To adjust the level of detail, hover your mouse over the timeline and use your mouse scroll wheel.

• An additional bar on the timeline indicates the archived video available on the highlighted sections. Light sections represent periods where an archive is available. Conversely, a dark section means there's no archive for that particular moment.

• The display of archive segments on the timeline player depends on whether the archive recording is made from a low-quality or high-quality stream, and on the stream quality setting selected in the player: SD, HD, or HD/SD.

  • When an archive is recorded solely from a low-quality camera stream, only SD quality will be available for playback. Consequently, the timeline will exclusively display those archive segments that were recorded in low quality. Similarly, if the archive is recorded only from a high-quality stream, then HD quality will be the sole option in the player. The timeline will then display only those archive segments captured in high quality.

  • When there are recordings available both from the HD and SD camera streams – the HD/SD selector is available. The HD/SD viewing mode visually indicates the presence of archived recordings for both HD and SD camera streams directly on the timeline. For optimal viewing, the player is configured to automatically select and display the HD stream by default when the recording exists in both formats and overlap in time, eliminating the need for manual user switching.

  • If you switch the quality from HD/SD to either SD or HD at a point in time where the corresponding quality archive isn't available, the video player will display a message like “Archive not available at this point”. You'll also see the buttons to navigate to the previous and next available archive segments.

Archive recording for each camera stream is configured by the administrator.

• Use the timeline to navigate in the archive. For this, drag the timeline with the left mouse; left-click the timeline; use the calendar to select a relevant date as described in #8.

• On the timeline, you can also track markers of custom events. For a detailed description on how to add and edit custom events, For details on how to manage custom events, see the Custom events section below.

• The timeline contains the markers for analytics events and events received from cameras via ONVIF and SMTP protocols. The color of the event marker differs depending on an event. You can navigate between markers.

5. Rewind backward or fast-forward by a selected time interval, to the beginning of the archive, or to the beginning of the live stream. Pausing and resuming video playback: simply left-click the image in the player.

6. Additional player controls. Select the horizontal ellipses button (…) to open the menu.

	Save a screenshot to a PNG file.
	Indicates the selected video stream quality. Selecting the button changes the video stream quality. Changing the quality is only possible when there are two video streams available. The possible values are HD (high definition) and SD (standard definition). In Archive mode, another HD/SD view is available. It visually indicates the presence of archived recordings for both HD and SD camera streams directly on the timeline. Archive recording for each camera stream is configured by the administrator.
Playback speed	Adjust the playback speed by selecting a relevant value: 0,25х, 0,5х, 1х, 2х, 5х, 10х. The option is available in Archive mode only.
Sound	Turn on and off audio. This function is only available for cameras with audio recording support.
	View camera feed full screen.
PTZ	Control the pan, tilt, and zoom of the selected camera. This function is only available for PTZ cameras. Selecting PTZ displays an additional PTZ control panel. Select a relevant button to adjust the pan and tilt. To zoom in and out, select this icon . To reset, select the central icon. Please be aware that there may be slight delays when controlling a PTZ camera. To avoid unintended actions, select a button only once and wait for the camera to respond.

7. The button to quickly create a custom event. For details on how to manage custom events, see the Custom events section below.

8. Select time – the Calendar icon. In the calendar, select the date and time to view the archive. Pick a year, month, and day, specify the time, and select Apply. Only dates with the recorded archive are available for selection.

9. Download the archive. This option enables you to download the archive of the current camera for a specified date and time.

10. Close the player.

Download an archive segment

You can download up to 2 hours of archive footage in a single file.

If it is an intercom camera that has the set by the admin limitations for viewing video in live and archive modes (for more details, see the View and edit an intercom section > the General data tab), the following will be available to view:

• When a call is missed: 15 seconds before the call and 30 seconds after.

• When a call is answered: 15 seconds before the call was answered and during the call.

Downloading of an archive segment depends on the selected mode – SD, HD, or HD/SD. When downloading archive recordings, choose to save either a single video stream or both HD and SD streams at once.

If either SD or HD quality is selected, the available archive segments for the chosen period will be downloaded in the selected quality as an MP4 file. Should there be any breaks within the archive segments for the selected time frame, neighboring segments will be merged to create a single MP4 file. See the image below.

When in Archive only with the HD/SD view enabled – simultaneous download of the archives for both streams (HD and SD). In this case, downloaded files are generated according to the following principle:

• If the selected interval contains an archive for only one stream (either HD or SD), a single MP4 media file is downloaded. If there are any gaps in the archive for either the HD or SD stream (like missing data for a certain period), nearby available archive segments are automatically merged.

• If both HD and SD segments are present within the selected time interval, a single ZIP archive is created. Inside the archive, each segment (HD or SD) is saved as a separate MP4 file in chronological order. See the image below.

• When the selected archive contains segments of varying quality or gaps between segments of the same quality, a ZIP archive is generated. This archive will include all alternating segments (both HD and SD) as separate MP4. Neighboring segments of the same quality will be merged into a single MP4 file. See the image below.

• When recordings overlap, the HD quality segment is prioritized for download.

To download an archive recording for a specific period, select the Download icon. From the opened panel, select the dates of start and end for the video archive segment.

When ready, select Download.

When the archive generation is completed, a pop-up notification appears on the screen. Select the link to download the generated archive.

The generated files are available for download in the Video recordings section. The files are stored for 240 minutes from the time of creation, after which they are deleted. Additionally, when storage is filled to more than 80%, automatic deletion of the five oldest archives is performed.

File name generation

The title for the .mp4 file is generated according to the following rule: <address>_<camera name>_<start date>_<end date>

For example: Westave,17а_entrance2_20240716-100055_20240716-100255.mp4

Definitions for each component:

• Address: A concise camera location, potentially including up to three levels from the location tree, starting with the most specific.

• Camera name: The specific name of the camera.

• Start date: The date and time when the recording began, formatted as YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS in the user's timezone.

• End date: The date and time when the recording ended, formatted as YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS in the user's timezone.

File name length limitation

When downloading, the file name is generated automatically, taking into account the technical limitations of web browsers.

Most modern browsers support file names up to 255 bytes in length. This limit applies to bytes, not the number of characters. In character encodings, Cyrillic characters typically require 3 bytes per character, while Latin characters require only 1 byte. Due to the larger byte size of Cyrillic characters, the resulting file name may exceed the allowed limit. In such cases, the browser will automatically truncate the name from the end, potentially omitting information such as the camera name, recording date, or time.

Custom events

While watching your camera feed, you can manually create a custom event. This will place a marker directly on your video timeline and the event will also be saved in the Events section, under User events.

Add a custom event

Custom events can be added:

• While watching camera Live feed in the player.

• While watching cameras in a layout in Archive mode only.

There are several ways how to add a custom event.

Option #1

1. In the camera player, select the horizontal ellipses icon (…) to call out the context menu.

2. Select Add event.

3. Complete the opened form and select Add event.

Option #2

To create a custom event, hover your mouse over the relevant time on the timeline and right-click. This will bring up the event creation form. Complete the form and Add event.

Option #3. Qucik event

The quick event option is designed for those moments when you need to mark something on the timeline right away. It lets you immediately place an event marker without pausing to input a name or precise time, giving you the flexibility to add all the specifics later.

To quickly create a custom event, place a slider to a relevant time on the timeline and select the + icon at tthe right bottom on the timeline. This immediately places the event marker on the timeline at the moment where the slider was placed.

View custom events

Custom events you add are displayed on the timeline as shown in the image – with yellow markers.

The list of custom events is also available from the Events tab > the User subsection.

When you hove over the event mark, you can preview the event, edit, and delete this event.

The following information is available from the preview:

• The video preview of the event.

• The event name. For the quick event, instead of the custom title, you see the camera name and its addrerss.

• Date and time of the event.

• The context menu button to call out the Edit and Delete functions.

To view an event in the player, select the mark on the timeline.

Edit a custom event

To edit a custom event, hover over the event mark on the camera timeline. In the preview window, select the horizontal ellipses icon (…) to call out the context menu. In the opened menu, select Edit event.

In the opened form, you can edit the following:

• The event name

• The start and end date and time of the event

Select Save event to save introduced changes.

You can also edit events from within the Events tab > the User subsection.

Delete a custom event

To delete a custom event, hover over the event mark on the camera timeline. In the preview window, select the horizontal ellipses icon (…) to call out the context menu. In the opened menu, select Delete event. Confirm the action.