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Introduction

AdvanceGuard® can control many individual Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) cameras. In order to manage potentially large numbers of devices, each individual camera is made to be a member of a camera group.

Camera Groups determine how cameras react to multiple tracked objects, according to how the group is globally configured:

  • Closest mode causes all cameras within the group to follow only the objects that are in their immediate vicinity.

  • Timeshare mode causes all cameras within the group to spread themselves between tracks, spending an adjustable amount of time on each, before moving to the next tracked object.

  • Static  mode is designed for use only with static cameras. Although static cameras can never be moved, they can participate in automatic control groups to display targets in their field of view (FOV). However, once a camera is placed in a static group it will never be tasked for automatic tracking. This does not have any impact for any camera enabled for latching, they will still operate as expected. Like automatic control, a static camera can latch in order to display targets in their FOV.

Although cameras are usually controlled automatically, you can also take direct control.

Contents

Camera Control

In the example below, the camera is in the Timeshare Group, as displayed in the Configuration Tree. It is circled in pink on the PPI Map has been selected by Left Clicking on it. This will open the Camera Mini Control on the right-hand side:

To focus a camera on a particular area, simply Right Click the area you wish to target and the camera will move to dwell there:

Camera Mini Control

The Camera Mini Control can be accessed in three ways:

  1. By selecting the camera from the Configuration Tree.

  2. By using the Selection Menu.

  3. By left clicking on the camera on the PPI Map.

The Camera Mini Control offers you the following options:

Pin to Map Viewer: This opens the Pin to Map Viewer. Please see the section below on Pin to Map Viewers.

Camera Home Position: This returns the camera to focus on its default home position.

Locate: This option locates the camera on the PPI Map.

Help: To open the Help Screen if enabled.

Automatic: This is a toggle between Automatic and Manual camera control. This is covered in the Camera Mode section below.

Height Map: Height Maps are very useful where a single camera needs to cover a region that has differing ground heights within it. For further information please visit to the Height Map page.

Viewers: This lists the available viewers, and selecting one will open the Viewer. Please see the section below on Using a Viewer.

Using the Selection Menu

There is a quick way of selecting the camera - this then displays the mini control:

  1. The Selection Menu is accessed by a Long Left Click on the PPI Map on the camera you wish to access.

  2. The The Selection Menu will open and allow you to access to the Camera Mini Control:

Accessing the Height Map

Within installations there can sometimes be situations where there is a need to adjust how cameras view the surrounding environment. Height Maps are very useful where a single camera needs to cover a region that has differing ground heights within it. Each Height Map is made up of grids, and each grid has a Height Offset option which allows you to inform the camera that when it is viewing that grid it should make tilt adjustments to account for the height difference.

  1. You can view/hide the height map by toggling it on and off via the Camera Mini Control:

Camera Modes

Automatic: The camera will be controlled automatically by AdvanceGuard® based on the camera and camera group configuration. The automatic following of targets is controlled through the use of rules.

Manual: The camera can only be controlled and moved by an operator.

If the camera has been set to Mirror Mode then the Camera Modes will not be available.

Camera Mode Change

The camera mode change in the Camera Mini Control is an operators feature:

It allows you to switch between Automatic and Manual camera mode. This option means that you can quickly take manual control of a camera to follow a target and then, once you have finished the task, you can return the camera to the Automatic setting.

Camera Latching

Typically, the software uses the cameras to automatically follow targets. However, you can take control of a camera by latching it to another target.

When a target has been selected for latching, a free camera capable of latching will follow the target.

There are two ways to latch:

  1. Select the Follow / Latch Target icon, which is outlined in pink in the image below, on the Selected Track Mini Control:

  2. Alternatively, Right Click the target.

In the example below, the selected track 2159 (in pink) had been automatically followed by the camera, however, the operator latched a camera to track 2-1197 (in red), by Right Clicking the track.

When using latching you will most likely STOP automatic camera following until the latched target is out of range.

For further information about cameras, please navigate to the Cameras page.

Using a Viewer

Video viewers allow video inputs from cameras to be displayed when required. Most usually, video viewers are used in conjunction with optical or thermal imaging cameras that can be called upon when an incident occurs in the areas that they cover.

There are two ways to open a viewer:

  1. By selecting it from the Configuration Tree.

  2. By selecting a viewer from the Viewers list.

Camera Viewer Screen: This is the camera viewer display screen.

Viewer & Camera Name: This labels the viewer and the camera the viewer is streaming from.

Direction & Magnification Controls: The direction keys are used to direct the view of the camera up-down and left-right, whilst the + and - icons are used to zoom in and out.

Magnification Level: This is the current magnification level of the camera display.

Close Viewer: This will close the Viewer screen.

Commands: Commands will vary for each camera model, but many use a wiper, for example.

Track ID: This is the track ID which is only displayed if the Camera is following a track.

In the example below, the camera has been automatically tasked by the system to follow the Track. The operator has selected the a viewer from the list of Viewers (highlighted in orange) from the Camera Mini Control which has opened the viewer on the top left of the PPI Map, and also the Viewer Mini Control, highlighted on the top right. The track and camera have been highlighted in the middle of the PPI Map:

Mouse Control

In addition to the Direction & Magnification Controls, you can also use your mouse to move the camera within the Viewer.

Absolute Zoom

Moving the mouse wheel when hovering over a viewer will change the magnification. Moving it upwards will increase magnification. So, for example, from x0.74…

…to x1.00:

Conversely, moving the wheel downwards will decrease the magnification.

Point to Move

You can also utilize the mouse to move to an area, by Left Click+Hold the mouse curser in the spot you wish to move the camera to.

When you begin to Left Click the mouse a green ring will appear:

This will be turn into a solid green circle once you have held the mouse for long enough:

Then the viewer will be centred to where the mouse was pointing to:

There is a limitation with Point to Move immediately after a relative move, as we don't know where a camera is. So you have to wait for an absolute move before you can use Point to Move feature again. The system will warn you as you will see a red ring on the screen, as in the image below, and the command will not be actioned.

Drag to Move

You can use the mouse to Left-Hand Click+Drag which displays a white pointer, moving the camera in the direction of the arrow. It can be moved in any direction away from the centre of the viewer. This allows you to move the camera in a diagonal direction, which the Direction & Magnification Controller can’t perform in one operation. The movement is proportional; manoeuvring it a little will move the camera a short distance, the further out you drag the arrow, will make the camera travel much further.

In the example below, the white pointer is highlighted in pink, and is moving diagonally away from the centre:

As soon as you release the mouse it stops:

Docking/Undocking Viewers

If your system has multiple cameras you can dock the viewers together by using your mouse to Drag+Drop them into position. When you align one viewer with another, you can select if you wish to put the viewer, the right, left, above or below the other by using your mouse and hovering over the selector below:

For example, if you wish to place your second viewer below the first then you will need to select the bottom option by dragging and dropping the viewer into it:

This gives you the ability to create a rich user interface with a mixture of video views:

Using Pin to Map Viewers

Pin to Map Viewers are a quick way to view the camera’s output, when you don’t have your viewers open.

Pin to Map Viewers only show the default viewer for the selected camera.

These viewers are accessed in two ways:

  1. Moving your mouse over a camera and leaving it on the camera will cause the viewer to show. Keeping the mouse over the viewer will keep it visible otherwise it will automatically close after a few seconds. Whilst the viewer is open you can pin it to the PPI Map using the pin icon to ensure it remains open.

  2. Select the camera, and then from the camera mini control select the viewer button from the title bar. Note that this approach automatically pins the viewer to the PPI Map.

There are three sizes of viewer to choose from, small, medium and large. In the example below the smallest size viewer has been selected:

You can CTRL+Drag to move the popup viewer around, change it’s size and pin it to the PPI map. When it is pinned to the PPI, then the Pin icon is removed as in the example below:

This example has the larger viewer screen selected. There is also another option to minimise the Viewer when it is pinned.

Clicking this will minimise the screen to show just the Viewer bar:

It will appear in translucent form, turning solid when your mouse hovers over it. Clicking the down arrow again will maximise the viewer as it was before.

Please navigate to Viewers for more information.

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