Omnicast UserGuide 4 0 English

Welcome to Omnicast™
Getting Started
System Overview
System Concepts
Welcome
www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Getting Started
License Agreement
How to Read This Guide
What's New?
Welcome > Getting Started

Genetec Omnicast License Agreement
ATTENTION:
PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT. THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY INSTALLING,
COPYING, OR OTHERWISE USING THIS PRODUCT (THE “END USER” or “BUYER”) AGREES TO BE BOUND, BY THE TERMS
OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE PRODUCT.
Copyright
The Product is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and treaties. Genetec Inc. (referred hereunder
as Genetec) or its suppliers own the title, copyright, and other intellectual property rights in the Product. The Product is
licensed, not sold.
Trademarks
Genetec and Omnicast are registered trademarks of Genetec Inc.
The Genetec stylized “G” and the Omnicast logo are trademarks of Genetec Inc.
Other trade names used in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors
of the respective products.
Restrictions and Limitations

The use of Omnicast is subject to the following restrictions and limitations:
1. No right to recopy, sell, distribute, license, sub-license, alter, modify, disassemble, de-compile or reverse engineer
any software in any manner whatsoever is hereby given. Violation may result in severe civil and/or criminal
penalties, as violators will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible.
2. You are permitted to use the Software on a single computer owned or leased by you. You may not use the Software
on more than a single machine, even if you own or lease more than one machine, without prior written consent of
Genetec.
3. You may not provide or disclose the Software to any third party.
4. You may not grant any sublicense, lease or other right in the Software to others.
Mandatory Activation
The license rights granted under this license agreement are limited to the first thirty (30) days after you first install the
Product unless you supply information required to activate your licensed copy in the manner described during the setup
sequence of the Product. You can activate the Product through the use of the Internet or telephone; toll charges may
apply. You may also need to reactivate the Product if you modify your computer hardware or alter the Product. There
are technological measures in this Product that are designed to prevent unlicensed or illegal use of the Product. You
agree that we may use those measures.
Limited warranty
Genetec warrants that, for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of delivery of Omnicast to the End-User, Omnicast
will perform substantially in accordance with the accompanying user manual, and the media on which Omnicast resides
will be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. GENETEC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE
FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN OMNICAST WILL MEET THE END USER'S REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF
OMNICAST WILL BE ERROR FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED. Genetec’s entire liability and the End-User's exclusive remedy
under this limited warranty provision shall be, at Genetec's sole option, either (a) refund of the price paid for Omnicast,
or (b) repair or replacement of the portions of Omnicast that do not comply with this limited warranty.
ALL OTHER WARRANTIES – REPRESENTATIONS, TERMS AND CONDITIONS (STATUTORY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR
OTHERWISE) AS TO QUALITY, CONDITION, DESCRIPTION, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PURPOSE (EXCEPT FOR
THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE) ARE HEREBY EXPRESSLY EXCLUDED.
Protection and Security

The End-User agrees to use its best efforts and to take all reasonable steps to safeguard Omnicast to ensure that no
unauthorized person shall have access thereto and that no unauthorized copy, publication, disclosure or distribution in
whole or in part, in any form, shall be made. The End-User acknowledges that Omnicast contains valuable confidential
information and trade secrets and that unauthorized use and/or copying is harmful to Genetec.
Termination
This License is effective until terminated. This License will terminate immediately without notice from Genetec if the End-
User fails to comply with any of its provisions. Upon termination the End-User must destroy the Software and all copies
thereof, and the End-User may terminate this License at any time by doing so.
Limitation of Liability
Genetec shall have no liability in respect of any defect in Omnicast arising from: specifications or materials supplied by
the Buyer; willful damage or negligence of the Buyer or its employees or agents; abnormal working conditions at the
Buyer's premises; failure to follow Genetec’s instructions (whether oral or in writing); misuse or alteration or repair of
Omnicast without the Company's approval; if the total price for Omnicast has not been paid; accident, abuse, or
misapplication; products or equipment not specified by Genetec as being compatible with Omnicast; or if the Buyer/End-
User has not notified Genetec in writing of the defect within the applicable warranty period.
THE COMPANY SHALL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE UNDER ANY THEORY OF CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER
LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY
KIND, FROM ANY CAUSE ARISING OUT OF THE SALE, INSTALLATION, USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY PRODUCT OR
SERVICE, EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, LOST BUSINESS REVENUE, LOST GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OTHER ECONOMIC
LOSS OR ANY LOSS OF RECORDED DATA.
Genetec shall not be bound by any representations or statements on the part of its employees or agents whether oral or
in writing including those made in catalogues and other promotional material.
Copyright Acknowledgement
This Product includes Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) object code in accordance with the MSDE license agreement. End-
users are prohibited from redistributing MSDE object code separately from the Product.
This Product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit
(http://www.openssl.org). This Product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com). This
Product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com).
This Product includes Paintlib object code in accordance with the Paintlib license agreement. Paintlib is copyright (c)
1996-2000 Ulrich von Zadow.
Welcome > Getting Started > Genetec Omnicast License Agreement

How To Read This Guide
Introduction
This is an all-purpose guide to the Omnicast suite of applications. It contains material for basic users (security guards,
etc.) as well as for Omnicast system administrators. It was prepared with new users and experienced users in mind. The
information is presented in the following major sections:
Getting Started / What's New

System Overview
System Concepts
Application Reference Guides
Appendix
Whether the user is a new or returning user, system administrator or basic user, all the necessary information can be
found in one of the 5 sections above. The 5 sections are summarized below:
Section Summary
The What's New section contains a summary of new features and changes found within Omnicast version 3.0. Any users
who have experience with previous versions of Omnicast should look over the What's New section to familiarize
themselves with changes to the existing functionality as well as the addition of new features to Omnicast.
The System Overview section contains a general description of each of the client and server applications found within
Omnicast. It also includes links to more detailed pages as to how to perform the most common tasks for each
application. This section is important reading for all users and essential as a step-by-step guide for new users. It is
perhaps the best starting point for a quick overview of the system.
The System Concepts section is more of a conceptual explanation of how the various elements work. The architecture
and interoperability of the applications are discussed in more detail in this section. This section is important reading for
Omnicast system administrators or anyone who wants to learn about the various elements in more detail than a basic
user.
The Application Reference Guides (Live Viewer, Archive Player, Config Tool, Server Admin, Tools) provide in depth
documentation specific to each of the Omnicast Applications. Within each we can find screenshots, descriptions and
how-to's for all the applications and their tools. They are the most comprehensive in depth information sources for each
of the Omnicast applications. The Reference Guides can always be accessed through the multicolored menu items from
the main toolbar at the top of every page in this document (see image below):
The Appendix contains the Time Zone Abbreviations table, a link to Genetec's Online Technical Support Web site (you
need a customer account to access this site), and a Glossary of terms used in this document and within the applications
themselves.
TIP – Every page in this document contains the Main Toolbar at the top of the page and a "bread-crumb" at the
bottom. The "bread-crumb" shows the reader where in the structure of the document the current page is found
as well as providing clickable hyperlinks to move up levels in the document's structure.
Welcome > Getting Started > How To Read This Guide

What's New?
Once again, Genetec has surpassed itself by introducing Omnicast 4.0™, the latest version of its award-winning, IP based
video surveillance solution. The long list of new features has divided into three categories: New Concepts, Enhancements,
and New Features.
If you are already familiar with version 3.5, we strongly recommend you to start the discovery of Omnicast 4.0™ from
here.
New Concepts
Omnicast 4.0™ brings not only improvements to existing functionalities but brings entirely new and revolutionary
concepts to the world of video surveillance. Two of the most interesting innovations are the Federation™ and the
Metadata Engine.
Federation™
The Federation joins multiple independent Omnicast systems into a single unified system.
Users connected to the Federation can view video sources (cameras, camera sequences)
belonging to different Omnicast systems simultaneously as if they were on the same system.
Both Omnicast 3.5 and 4.0 systems can be members of the same Federation. Administrators
of the individual Omnicast systems retain total control over which cameras to share and what
privileges to grant to the Federation users. Please read Welcome – System Concepts –
Federation to find out more.
Metadata Engine
The Metadata Engine (ME) links Omnicast to third party applications such as video analytics
and points of sale systems. Through the use of specific plugins, the Metadata Engine collects
complex information (metadata) from third party applications and associates them to relevant
video/audio sequences. The Metadata Engine enables users to view the metadata as video
overlays with the Live Viewer and to query them with the Archive Player. Please read Config
Tool – Metadata Engine and the Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help to find out more.
Enhancements
Enhanced Performance
Once again, Genetec sets new standards in video surveillance technology. Omnicast 4.0 can scale up to 50,000
cameras per system and manage up to 300 cameras per server.
SQL-Based Directory
The system configuration catalog managed by the Directory has been moved to a SQL Database,
improving performance, scalability, and replication process. Read more about this under Server
Admin – Directory – General.
Simultaneous access to multiple drives by Archiver

The Archiver can be configured to write to multiple drives simultaneously, increasing the
performance of of individual Archivers, thus, the performance of the entire system. Read more about
this under Server Admin – Archiver – Archiving – Storage management.
Improved user interface to handle large scale systems

With systems capable of scaling up to tens of thousands of cameras, it is no surprise that the user
interface also needs to be made more responsive. All client applications now use smart caching
system to allow them to start up faster. To help users quickly find the entity they are looking for,
Omnicast 4.0 has embedded in all its client applications a new search engine that can be invoked any
time by typing [Ctrl+F]. Read about it under System Concepts – Entity Search.
Enhanced Reliability
With Omnicast 4.0, the automatic failover mechanism, which only protected the Directory and the Archiver in 3.5, is
now extended to all critical server applications, namely, the Directory, the Archiver, the Metadata Engine (new
concept), and the Virtual Matrix.
As added flexibility, a Directory can be configured with a global or local scope. A global Directory is one that serves
the entire Omnicast system, while a local Directory is only intended to serve a subset of it, typically within the same
LAN. Therefore, on very large systems extending over multiple LANs, the primary Directory can be backed up by a
multitude of local secondary Directories. When the primary Directory goes offline, all local Directories would start
simultaneously, each servicing its own LAN. Read about it under Config Tool – Tools Menu – Configure Directory
Failover.
Enhanced Bandwidth Usage
The IVS (now called Gateway in Omnicast 4.0), has been improved to operate in reverse mode, i.e. to take a unicast
stream from the Internet and to make it available in multicast on a remote LAN (only the opposite was possible in
version 3.5). The benefits of this new feature is a greatly improved bandwidth usage in distributed Omnicast
installations. Read about the capabilities of the new "IVS" in Config Tool – Gateway.
Enhanced Multi-Display Mode: IP Video Wall
The Live Viewer is no longer limited to a maximum two display monitors. The number of monitors you may have in
4.0 is only limited by your hardware (Windows supports up to 10 display adapters) and the number of cameras you
can display simultaneously is only limited by the power of your CPU. Read more about this enhancement in Live
Viewer – Viewing Pane – Multi-Display Configuration.
New Features
Automatic Updates
All Omnicast 4.0 client applications can be updated remotely and automatically. Through the use of Genetec's
Update Server (available separately), the system administrator can make new Omnicast updates available to all
users on the system. Genetec's Automatic Update feature works in similar way as Windows Automatic Update. An
Update Client installed on each workstation allows the user to set up a specific time to check for available updates,
up to once per day. When new updates are available, users have the option to download and apply them
automatically or to be prompted to do so.
Alarm Management
Several new features have been added to Omnicast 3.5 Alarm Management:
Context sensitive alarms

Users can trigger ad hoc alarms based on any camera he clicks on, without the need to have an alarm entity
defined before hand. This is achieved by introducing the contextual alarm template. All the user needs to
specify when triggering a context sensitive alarm is the list of recipients. Learn more.
New alarms acknowledgement types
Omnicast 3.5's alarm acknowledgement is now called the "Default acknowledgement ( )". With 4.0, users can
also use the "Alternate acknowledgement ( )" and the "Custom acknowledgement ( )". New event types are
associated to these new actions for more precise alarm handling. Learn more.
Simple alarm display mode
The Simple alarm display mode will display as many alarms as there are alarm display monitors, starting from
the alarm with the highest priority, and showing no more than one alarm camera per monitor. No alarm
cycling occurs in this mode. Learn more.
Multi-Stream Support
Video encoders capable of generating mulitple video streams from the same video source (camera) are now
represented as a single camera with multiple streaming alternatives. Omnicast 4.0 supports up to five different
streams for a single camera. Live Viewer users have the freedom to choose the video stream for live viewing
purpose, both as a default setting for the Live Viewer or on a case by case basis. To find out more about this
feature, please read Config Tool – Camera – Video Quality and "Viewing quality" under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane
– Tile contextual menu.
Integration to Active Directory
Omnicast 4.0 offers to IT managers the option to have a unified user management system within the organization
by integrating Omnicast to Windows Active Directory. Users and user groups can be imported from Active
Directory, greatly simplifying the initial setup. With this feature turned on, users no longer need to enter their
username and password to logon to Omnicast applications as long as they are recognized Windows users. Find out
more about this feature in Server Admin – Directory – Active Directory.
New Scheduling Options
The Coverage entity (now called Generic Schedule in Omnicast 4.0) has been enhanced with a host of new options,
so much so that there is virtually no scheduling need that cannot be met. The new features are:
Monthly recurrence (a specific day or a specific weekday of every month)

Yearly recurrence (a specific day or a specific weekday in a specific month of every year)
Support multiple days in monthly, yearly and specific recurrence patterns (now you can define a single
schedule to cover all the holidays in a year!)
Support multiple time ranges within a day (used to require multiple schedules in 3.5)
Support dynamic daytime and nighttime calculations.
Instead of a specific time range, you can simply specify "daytime" or "nighttime".
The exact time the sun rises and sets will then be calculated based on the day of the year and the location of
the camera!
Read about these exciting improvements under Config Tool – Generic Schedule – Properties.
Storage on Video Servers and IP Cameras
Omnicast 4.0 supports storage of video directly on video servers (Units) or IP cameras, allowing for a greater
flexibility in storage options and a reduction in bandwidth usage. For more information regarding this new feature,
please read the note under Schedule list in the section on Config Tool – Camera – Recording.
Video Sequence Protection

Important video sequences can be protected against scheduled archive cleanups.
A new Video File Query tool has been added.

See Archive Player – Tools Menu – Video File Query.
Video sequences associated to alarms can also be protected automatically.
See Config Tool – Alarm – Properties.
Video sequences containing bookmarks can also be protected.
See Archive Player – Playback Menu – Add a bookmark.
The Config Tool shows the proportion of protected video files on each Archiver.
See Config Tool – Archiver – Statistics – Protected video file statistics.
Introduction of Plugins
Omnicast 4.0 has the built-in infrastructure to support plugins. This greatly enhance the flexibility and the
expandability of Omnicast. Three classes of plugins have been introduced:
Virtual Matrix plugins

Extend the functionalities of the Virtual Matrix.
Metadata Engine plugins
Extend the functionalities of the Metadata Engine (see New Concepts).
Live Viewer plugins
Extend the functionalities of the Live Viewer.
Please refer to the Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help to find about the new features added through the plugins.
Error Notification Log
On screen message pop-ups will no longer clutter the screen. If a message is not acknowledged within 10 seconds,
it will automatically be moved to a message log that the user can check at his convenient time. Please read Live
Viewer – System Menu – Notifications.
Simple vs Advanced mode
All Omnicast client applications now offer a Simple and an Advanced operating mode. In Simple mode, only the
most common controls are visible, thus simplifying the user interface for novices. In Advanced mode, all available
controls are visible, thus giving complete control to the experienced users. Simply type [Shift+F10] to switch
between the two modes.
Fresh New Look
As the old saying goes, "no one pours new wine into old wineskins". With so many new features to boast for, it is
no surprise that Omnicast 4.0 is getting a brand new skin.
New appearance
All client applications have put on a new appearance (see Live Viewer, Archive Player , Config Tool),
and all icons have been redesigned to provide a fresh new look. To see a list of all new entity icons,
go to Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Configurable entities.
New naming
Several applications and entities have been renamed to improve on consistency and clarity.
Old names New names

Audio encoder Microphone
Audio decoder Speaker
Coverage Generic schedule
Video encoder Camera
Video decoder Analog monitor
Virtual Matrix schedule Macro schedule
Fail-Over Archiver Standby Archiver
Fail-Over Directory Directory Failover Coordinator
Internet Videotransmission Server (IVS) Gateway
Resource Administration Tool (RAT) Server Admin
Remote Site Archiver Auxiliary Archiver
Map Editor
The Map Editor is a new tool (available separately) for Omnicast 4.0 that greatly ease the creation of personalized
maps. It connects to the Omnicast Directory and allows you to add system entities such as cameras, analog
monitors, input/output pins, etc., easily on the map through simple drag-and-drop.
New Features by Application

Live Viewer Enhancements
The Live Viewer can now handle as many monitors (Viewing Panes) as your PC can take. Learn more .
Tile patterns have been increased from 13 to 17. Learn more.
Context sensitive toolbars are now customizable. You can even choose when they should be shown: never, all
the time, or only when you point to the tile. Learn more.
Display of metadata as video overlays. Learn more.
To immediately report a dangerous situation observed on any camera, the user can trigger a contextual alarm
based on that camera, without having to predefine the alarm in the Config Tool. Learn more.
The PTZ controls now have an integrated display panel that shows the current status of the PTZ controls, e.g.
who holds the lock, why the controls are not available, etc. If a user forgets to unlock the PTZ, it will unlock
automatically after a preset time. Learn more.
New "in-tile" PTZ control mode. Learn more.
The application options have been increased and restructured for better understanding. Despite all the
additional options, the administrator does not loose any bit his control. On the contrary, he can now prevent a
user from changing the application options, the layout views, or even exiting the application. Learn more.
Archive Player Enhancements
New query type: Metadata Search. Lean more.

Display of metadata as overlays over the video when available.
A new window pane called the "Tool pane" has been introduced. Learn more.
New playback controls allow users to set up a playback loop. Learn more.
Information shown in the timelines are now customizable. Learn more.
Bookmarks can now exported along with audio and video data to .G64 files.
Export operations are also logged for reporting purpose. Learn more.
Important video sequences can now be protected against routine archive cleanup procedures. Learn more.
Keyboard commands are now supported, just like in the Live Viewer. Learn more.
Tile patterns have been increased from 13 to 17. Learn more.
Config Tool Enhancements
The View Selection Pane has been redesigned to include eight different views:
Logical view
Physical view
User management view
Schedule management view
Alarm management view
Virtual Matrix management view
Add-in management view
Federation management view
The same entity can now be found under more than one site.
Applicable to the Logical view (see Tip at the end of the page).
All entities now have an Identity tab that shows the entity name, description, logical ID, logical parents
(possibility of having multiple parents) and physical parent.
Welcome > Getting Started > What's New?

System Overview
Omnicast is a video surveillance, transmission and archiving solution. It distinguishes itself in the security market by
incorporating the following innovative features:
Video compression technology based on MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and MJPEG

Network centric architecture
Wireless video transmission
Multiple site access from any location
Seamless control of different manufacturer’s equipment
Omnicast is entirely scalable from 1 to thousands of cameras. It is suitable for applications over local area networks
(LAN), wide area networks (WAN) or the Internet. The distributed architecture of Omnicast enables simultaneous live
monitoring from multiple locations and simultaneous storage both on and off site.
Omnicast is a system comprising many applications, grouped under the following two categories:
Client Applications
Server Applications
Welcome > System Overview

Omnicast Client Applications
Live Viewer
The Live Viewer ( ) is the interface that security personnel use most frequently. Up to 32 (with dual-screen setup) live
video cameras can be displayed in the Live Viewer simultaneously. A user-friendly design makes managing cameras and
alarms easy. Learn more.
Archive Player
The Archive Player ( ) retrieves and plays stored video sequences. Using a relational database, the Archive Player allows
the user to perform intelligent queries that reduce searching for alarms and events to a matter of seconds. Up to 16
archived sequences can be viewed simultaneously. Learn more.
Config Tool
The Config Tool ( ) offers the management of all system settings, from the configuration of hardware to user
preferences and privileges. It also helps the administrator program highly intelligent system behaviors, such as motion
detection, automatic recording on events, and alarm management. Learn more.
Server Admin
While the Config Tool handles all generic system configurations, the Server Admin ( ) is used to configure the machine
dependant settings for all Omnicast Server applications. It is through this application that the customer can upgrade
their system license. Learn more.
Tools
These are a collection of tools used to help the system administrator configure the advanced capabilities of the system.
They are: the Discovery Tool ( ), the Macro Editor ( ), the Report Viewer ( ) , and the WatchDog ( ). Learn more.
Welcome > System Overview > Client Applications

Omnicast Server Applications
Directory
The Directory ( ) is the main server application whose service is required to provide a centralized catalog for the other
Omnicast services and applications on the system. From the Directory, applications can view, establish connections and
receive centralized configuration information. Only one Directory service should be running at all times.
Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC)

The DFC ( ) is the special service installed on every Directory server to guarantee the continuity of the Directory service
in the context of a failover configuration. The DFC's perform two main functions: (1) Keeping the local Directory
database up to date while the Directory service is on standby; (2) Start or stop the local Directory service when it is
appropriate to do so, based on a failover list.
Gateway
The Gateway ( ) is the service that provides seamless connections between all Omnicast applications in a given system,
regardless of whether they are located on the same LAN or not. The Gateway acts as a doorway to the Directory for all
Omnicast applications. Multiple Gateways can be installed on large Omnicast systems to increase service availability and
to provide load balancing.
Archiver
The Archiver ( ) is the service responsible for dynamic discovery and status polling of units. All communications with
units are established through this service. This is also where all the video and multimedia streams are archived. There can
be as many Archivers as needed on the same system to share the archiving load.
Auxiliary Archiver
The Auxiliary Archiver ( ) is a supplemental archiving service. Unlike the Archiver, the Auxiliary Archiver is not bound to
any particular discovery port. Therefore, it is free to archive any video stream from any video encoder in the system,
including the federated encoders. Auxiliary Archivers depend on Archivers to communicate with the video units. They
cannot operate on their own.
Restore Archiver
The Restore Archiver ( ) is the Omnicast service used to make restored tape or folder backups available for search and
playback in the Archive Player.
Virtual Matrix
The Omnicast Virtual Matrix ( ) provides all of the functionality that one expects from a traditional analog matrix
without the limitations associated with hardware matrices. Since there is no hardware matrix, the Omnicast system offers
an infinite number of inputs/outputs. This makes Omnicast a truly scalable system. Furthermore, there are no location
limitations to the Virtual Matrix; it can literally manage video feeds from multiple locations from all around the world.
Metadata Engine
The Metadata Engine ( ) is the link between Omnicast and third party applications such as video analytics software and
points of sale applications. Through the use of specific ME plugins, the Metadata Engine performs live translations of
Omnicast information to and from third party applications and enables users to query this information through the
Archive Player.
Federation Server
The Federation Server ( ) is the service that is at the core of the Omnicast Federation, the virtual system formed by
joining multiple independant Omnicast systems together. It allows users on the local system to access entities belonging
to other remote Omnicast systems. The remote entities "published" by the Federation Server are called federated
entities.
WatchDog
The WatchDog ( ) is the application used to provide monitoring functionality to the other Omnicast services. Should
Omnicast services fail, the WatchDog is responsible for re-starting services as well as notifying the user by e-mail or
event log of the reason and time of the crash. The WatchDog is configured through its front end interface. Read about
WatchDog under Omnicast Tools.
Welcome > System Overview > Server Applications

System Concepts
This section is a collection of articles expounding important concepts of the system. It constitutes an important read for
Omnicast administrators and anyone who wants to understand the system more than just a basic user.
Omnicast license
User Profile
Connect Dialog
Entity Search
Network Connection Types
Logical IDs
Federation
Schedule Priorities
Archiving Management
Event Handling
Alarm Management
Welcome > System Concepts

Omnicast License Key
Basic Requirements
In order to use Omnicast, a license must be purchased for every computer that runs either the Directory or the
Archiver service.
Licenses are controlled by license keys issued by Genetec.
An Omnicast license key is required on every computer that runs the Directory and/or the Archiver. If both
Omnicast services are installed on the same machine, only one license is required for that machine.
Each license requires a license key which is valid only for that machine. A key generated for one computer cannot
be used on another computer.
Additional licenses are not required for computers in the Omnicast system that do not run the Directory nor
Archiver services allowed on the system.
Applying the New License Key:

The process of applying a license key to a machine for the first time is called activating the machine. The
procedure described below is called the manual activation. If the machine on which you wish to apply
the new license has Internet access, please follow the Web activation procedure described in the chapter
on Server Admin – System License.
Choose a PC that has Internet access.

Connect to Genetec's Web site at www.genetec.com/english/customercare/support/license.aspx
Select the link "Omnicast 4.0".
Login using the ID and password provided by your sales representative.
You will be connected to the Licensing Tool page.

If your system includes multiple servers, select the one for which the license is required.
Click on the link "Activate machine". You will then be prompted for your validation key.
The validation key is obtained from the Server Admin.
Go to the machine to which the license should be applied.
Open the Server Admin and select "System" from the resource tree on the left.
In the License tab, click on the "Save" button beside the "Validation key" field.
Copy the saved file "ValidationKey.vk" to the machine where Internet access is available.
Go back to the Licensing Tool web page and apply the validation key using the browse button.
Click on [OK].
You should then receive a confirmation message telling you that the license has been successfully created.
Click on the provided link to download the license key file (*.lic).
Copy that file to the machine where the license should be applied.
Return to the Server Admin to apply the newly downloaded license key.
Click on the browse button beside the "License key" field and point to the newly downloaded license key file
and click [Open].
Click on the [Apply] button.
The access rights granted by the new license key will then be listed.
License Details
Licensing details can be viewed and modified through the System – License tab of the Server Admin. The
license options are divided into two groups, those that apply to the Directory and those that apply to the
Archiver.
Directory options
The Directory only counts active connections. For example, if the license supports a maximum of 1 client, 2 different
computers can connect to the Directory at different moments but not simultaneously. Exceeding connection
requests will be rejected and an error message will be broadcasted.
Number of cameras/analog monitors – Maximum number of video encoders and decoders allowed
on the system. A unit with n video inputs/outputs will require n connections.
Number of stanby Directories – Maximum number of Directory Failover Coordinators allowed on
the system.
Active Directory integration – Allows the integration of Windows Active Directory to Omnicast's user
management.
Number of Gateways – Maximum number of Gateway services allowed on the system.
Number of Media Gateways – Maximum number of video encoders that can be exposed to
applications outside Omnicast through the Media Gateway application.
Number of Archivers – Maximum number of Archiver services allowed on the system.
Standby Archivers – Allows standby Archivers to be defined to support the failover mechanism.
Redundant archiving – Enables redundant archiving by Archivers. Requires Standby Archivers option
to be supported.
Number of Virtual Matrices – Maximum number of Virtual Matrix services allowed on the system.
Standby Virtual Matrices – Allows Virtual Matrices to support the failover mechanism.
Number of Metadata Engines – Maximum number of Metadata Engine services allowed on the
system.
Standby Metadata Engines – Allows Metadata Engines to support the failover mechanism.
Number of Restore Archivers – Maximum number of Restore Archiver services allowed on the
system.
Number of Auxiliary Archivers – Maximum number of Auxiliary Archiver services allowed on the
system.
Number of federated Directories – Maximum number of federated Directories allowed on the
system.
Number of federated cameras – Maximum number of federated cameras allowed on the system.
Number of client workstations – Maximum number of client connections (Live Viewer, Archive
Player, Web Live Viewer*, Web Archive Player*) allowed on the system. (*) Web clients are allowed
only if Web clients are supported.
Number of SDK – Maximum number of SDK connections allowed on the system.
Number of Pocket PC clients – Maximum number of Pocket PC (Windows CE) connections allowed
on the system.
Web clients – Allows Web Live Viewer and Web Archive Player connections. Each connection
requires a client license. See Number of client workstations.
Number of uncompressed video filters – Maximum number of uncompressed video filters allowed
on the system. This option is necessary for third party application integration (e.g. ObjectVideo's
VEW).
Number of DVR inputs – Maximum number of Digital Video Recorder inputs allowed on the system.
Number of hardware matrices – Maximum number of Hardware Matrices allowed on the system. A
Virtual Matrix is required to use this option.
Number of CCTV keyboards – Maximum number of CCTV keyboard connections allowed. A Virtual
Matrix is required to use this option.
Number of access control systems – Maximum number of access control systems allowed on the
system.
HTML maps – Allows the use of HTML maps in the Live Viewer.
Audio – Allows live audio and audio recording in Omnicast.
Macros – Allows creation and execution of macros in the Virtual Matrix. A Virtual Matrix is required
to use this option.
Database reporting – Allows the logging of system events in a database. This feature allows the user
to generate reports. See Tools – Report Viewer.
Time zones – Allows the display of date and time according to the entities' time zones. This option
is necessary only if you have Archivers or cameras installed at locations with different time zones.
Alarm management – Supports the alarm management feature. See Alarm Management under
System Concepts.
Playback on alarm – Allows the use of playback in alarm display. Must be used in conjunction to
Alarm management option.
Still images on alarm – Allows the use of still frames in alarm display. Must be used in conjunction to
Local recording – Allows users to archive what they see on screen on their local hard disk. See Local
Recording under Live Viewer – Camera Menu.
Block camera – Allows privileged users to block the live video from other users. See Block cameras
under Live Viewer – Tools Menu.
Supported languages – Indicates all the languages supported by your license.
Supported Metadata Engine plugin – Each different type of plugin requires a different license
option.
Supported Live Viewer plugin – Each different type of plugin requires a different license option.
Supported Virtual Matrix plugin – Each different type of plugin requires a different license option.
Archiver options
The Archiver options only apply to the local Archiver. Each Archiver on the system may have different license
options.
Archiving – There are tree possible options.

None – No archiving allowed on the system. The Archiver is used only for viewing live video.
On unit only – Video archives are stored directly on the units, not by the Archiver. However, the
Archiver maintains a database of associated bookmarks so subsequent archive search can be
performed.
Locally and on unit – This is the full archiving option. Video archives can be stored both locally by
the Archiver and on the units.
Number of cameras / analog monitors per Archiver – Maximum number of video encoders and
decoders allowed on this Archiver. A unit with n video inputs/outputs will require n connections.
Maximum storage capacity – The maximum storage space (in TB) allowed for the local Archiver.
Maximum archive retention period – The maximum number of days the local Archiver is allowed to
keep the archives.
SSL on Archiver – Allows the Archiver to use SSL encryption for communication with units.
ACTi MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 ACTi cameras.
AXIS MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Axis cameras.
AXIS MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Axis cameras.
JPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control generic JPEG cameras.
Sony MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Sony cameras.
Sony MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Sony cameras.
Bosch MPEG-4 cameras / analog monitors – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 VCS video
encoders and decoders.
encoders and decoders.
Verint cameras / analog monitors – Allows the Archiver to control Verint video encoders and
decoders.
Vivotek MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Vivotek cameras.
Vivotek MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Vivotek cameras.
Welcome > System Concepts > Omnicast License Key

User Profile
Purpose
All Omnicast users must be assigned a user profile in order to run any of the Omnicast front end applications. User
profiles are created with the Config Tool. Each user profile is identified by a username and a password. The user
profile defines the user's preferences, permissions (rights to access system resources) and privileges (rights to
execute system functions) and other attributes. Every user needs to know his username and password in order to
connect to the system. For more details on creating and editing user profiles, please refer to the section on User
under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
User Group
A User Group is a convenient way in Omnicast to define common attributes, such as permissions and privileges,
shared by a group of users. By becoming a member of a group, a user automatically inherits these attributes from
the group. A member of a group can be a user or another group. Circular membership is not allowed. A user can
be member of more than one group. To learn more about configuring user groups, please refer to the section on
User Group under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
Permissions granted to a group cannot be denied to any of its members. Privilege grants, however, work differently.
Each privilege grant has a priority which can either be "Undefined", "Allowed" or "Denied", with "Undefined" being
the lowest priority grant and "Denied" being the highest priority grant. Privilege grants are passed down from a
user group to its members with one simple rule: "Higher priority grants always supersede lower priority grants". To
see an example of how the privilege inheritance work, please refer to the section on Privileges under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – User.
Standard User Groups

When the Omnicast Directory is first installed, four standard user groups are created by default.
Administrators
This group has all the privileges and can access all resources in the system. This group is created with a single
member, named Admin. Neither the Administrators user group nor the Admin user can be renamed, modified or
deleted. This is the only group that grants privileges to view, create, edit and delete users and user groups.
Members of this group are also the only users who can access resources placed directly under the Directory (newly
discovered entities).
Additional users and user groups can later be created and added to the Administrators user group. There is only
one exception, the Admin user cannot be removed from the Administrators group, nor can it become member of
any other group.
For security reasons, we recommend changing the password of the Admin user immediately after installation. Using
the Admin user, the system administrator can configure the rest of the system.
Power users
This group has all the privileges given to the Administrators group, except the privileges to create, edit or view
users and user groups. This group can be renamed and its privileges can be modified.
Live Viewer users
This group has the privilege to run the Live Viewer application plus some basic privileges related to the use of the
Live Viewer. Permissions to access the sites are not included by default. Just like the Power users group, the sytem
administrator can dispose of it just like any user created group.
Archive Player users
This group has the privilege to run the Archive Player application plus some basic privileges related to the use of
the Archive Player. Permissions to access the sites are not included by default. Just like the Power users group, the
system administrator can dispose of it just like any user created group.
Welcome > System Concepts > User Profile

Connect Dialog
Connection Parameters
In order to use any of the Omnicast client applications, you must identify yourself by entering your username and
password (see User Profile) and specify a Gateway through which you would connect your application to the
Directory. These parameters should be provided to you by your system administrator.
What is the Gateway?
The name of the Gateway is the name of the machine where the Gateway service is installed. If you leave this field
blank, the application will connect through the default Gateway. The default Gateway is the last Gateway used or
the one found on your local machine if you are using the application for the first time.
Once you are connected, the username and the actual

Gateway are indicated in the application Control
Panel. The name of the Directory you are connected
to is shown as the root of the entity tree.
The actual Gateway may be different from the Gateway you typed in the Connect dialog. This is especially true on
very large systems where multiple Gateways are installed to insure load balancing and failover. For more
information concerning these two topics, please read Configure Directory Failover under Config Tool – Tools Menu.
The number following the Gateway name is the

TCP command port used by the Gateway to listen
for incoming client connections.
The default value is 5001. If your Gateway is

configured with a different port number, you must
specify it in the Connect dialog.
The TCP command port is configured with the

Server Admin.
If the application has trouble connecting to the

Directory, you will see a connection status dialog
with the following animation.
The dialog will show the application trying all the connection alternatives configured in the
Gateway failover list. If the application does not connect after a while, cancel the connection
and verify your Gateway name and port number. The behavior would be the same if either
the Gateway or the Directory service is not available.
Using Windows Credentials

Using Windows credentials means that you do not need to enter a username and a password to log on to
Omnicast. The application will use your Windows username and password instead. This option will work only if
Active Directory is enabled on the selected system.
TIP – To skip the Connect dialog altogether, open the Options dialog (Ctrl+O) of any client
application, select General options and select " Use current Windows credentials by default".
The next time you launch an Omnicast application on this machine, you will be immediately
connected without having to enter your username and password. This will be true for anyone
running Omnicast applications from that same machine, as long as that person is logged on to
Windows as an authorized Omnicast user.
Welcome > System Concepts > Connect Dialog

Entity Search
Introduction
Looking for a particular entity in a multi-level resource tree containing hundreds of elements can be quite a
challenge. This is true whether you are performing the search from the Live Viewer, the Archive Player or the Config
Tool. Aware of this dilemma, Omnicast offers you two quick methods for finding any entity in your system. All three
main Omnicast client applications offer the same search engine.
Local Search
The Local entity search can be invoked from any entity tree. It is called local search because the search is limited to
the entities found in the current entity tree. The possible places where the local search can be invoked are:
Live Viewer Camera pane

Analog Monitor pane
Archive Player History browser
Archive query
Alarm search
Metadata search
Config Tool View selection pane (all views)
To perform a search, specify the search context by clicking on a particular entity tree and type Ctrl+F. The following
controls will appear at the bottom of the entity tree.
Enter a particular text that you wish to find in the entity name and click on one of the two Find buttons. The search
is case insensitive. If an entity's name matches the text you entered, it will be selected in the tree.
If you wish to search the entire Directory or to find a match in the entity description, use the Global search instead.
Click on the Global search button to call up the Entity Search dialog (see next).
Global Search
The Global search is performed from the Entity Search dialog (shown below). It can be invoked by clicking the
Global search button from the Local Search controls or by selecting the Search... command from the application's
View menu.
Search criteria
Search for The text you are looking for. The search is case insensitive.
Search in Specify here whether you want to search only the entity names or both the entity
names and descriptions.
Restrict search You may restrict your search to a particular type of entity or to the "Current context".
to If the search dialog was invoked from Local Search, "Current context" refers to the
entities found in the current entity tree.
If the search dialog was invoked from the View menu, "Current context" refers to the
entire system.
Search under With this option, you can explore a particular branch of the Logical view.
Search results
Click on the Search button to start the search. The entities matching the specified criteria will be gradually displayed
in the result list. If the search dialog was invoked from Local Search, clicking on a entity in the result list will also
select it in the tree. If the entity is not found in the tree, it will be displayed in gray.
Name Entity name.

Path The path to the entity.
Description Entity description. The entity description can be modified from the entity's Identity tab
in the Config Tool.
Display path You have the option to display the entity's path (how to find the entity in a particular
according to tree) either according to the logical hierarchy (Logical view) or to the physical hierarchy
(Physical view). You may change this option after the search.
Welcome > System Concepts > Entity Search

Network Connection Types
Omnicast supports many network connection types. This flexibility allows the system administrator to provide the best
possible service to the users in virtually every network configuration.
Definitions
Unicast
Unicast is communication between a single sender and a single receiver over a network. Omnicast's preferred
protocol for unicast is UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for video and audio transmissions because it is more efficient
(less overhead), and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) for serial port connections. When the LAN is protected by
a firewall, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) must be used.
Unicast is recommended when the connection is made over a dialup phone line or a wireless LAN, where the
bandwidth is very low or when multicast is not permitted.
If a video encoder (camera) is configured for unicast on the system network, then only one user at a time can
receive the transmission. If later a second user connects to the same camera, the first user automatically loses the
signal.
Broadcast
Broadcast is a receiver unspecific transmission over a network. This type of connection is not used by Omnicast for
video transmission because it tends to clog up the network.
Multicast
Multicast is communication between a single sender and multiple specific receivers on a network. This is the
preferred connection type for Omnicast whenever the network permits. In this mode, multiple users in multiple
locations can receive the same video transmission simultaneously from a same source, using the bandwidth only
once. Most video units are capable of multicast transmissions.
Multicast by Archiver (from version 2.5)
Multicast by Archiver is an old connection type that no longer exists since version 3.0. In version 2.5 or earlier, it was
used when true multicast was not available (e.g. for cameras or monitors connected through wireless LAN). The
multicast effect was simulated by the Archiver. Instead of having direct communications between the sender (e.g. a
camera) and its receivers as it is in true multicast mode, with multicast by Archiver, the sender communicates in
unicast UDP with the Archiver. The Archiver then establishes multicast connections with the selected receivers. To
learn how to achieve the same result in version 3.0 or later, please read the section below on Network properties
configuration.
Best available
Best available is selected when the user does not want to be bothered by complicated decisions concerning
connection types. This is actually the default setting and is the recommended configuration in the majority of cases.
When best available is selected, the user is letting the Directory make the connection decision. When a connection
is requested between two parties, the Directory will always try its preferred mode, which is multicast. If both parties
asked for multicast or best available, then multicast will be used. If one of the parties chose unicast and the other
party chose best available, then unicast will be used. If one party chose multicast and another chose unicast, then
the connection cannot be established.
Network properties configuration
Device network properties are configured with the Config Tool in the Network tabs of each device Configuration
pane (see Audio encoder, Audio decoder, Video encoder, Video decoder, Serial port).
Two aspects of the connection type must be considered:
Between client and server
This is the connection type used between the different applications on the system network (Archiver, Live Viewer,
Config Tool, Gateway) on behalf of the selected device. This parameter is only configurable for encoders (video and
audio). For decoders, the connection type used on the system network always follow the settings of the encoders
they are connected to.
Between unit and Archiver
This is the connection type that the unit uses to send or receive data from the system network. If different from
"Best available", the stream from the unit will be redirected by the Archiver. If the network between the unit and the
Archiver does not support multicast, it is best to select "Unicast UDP" and let the Archiver redirect the stream in
multicast on the system network.
Converting multicast by Archiver from version 2.5
The connection type "Multicast by Archiver" existed in version 2.5 because the connection type between the
applications and the system network and the connection type between the unit and the system network were not
separated. Whenever "Multicast by Archiver" was selected in version 2.5, you must select "Best available" for the
"Client and server" parameter and "Unicast UDP" for the "Unit and Archiver" parameter in version 3.5 or more
recent.
Welcome > System Concepts > Network Connection Types

Logical IDs
Definition
Logical IDs are unique identifiers assigned to certain types of entities in the system for ease of reference. An entity is a
generic term used to refer to any identifiable piece of hardware or software used in Omnicast.
The entity types that use logical IDs are:
cameras ( , ), virtual cameras ( , ) , Live Viewer plugins ( ), and viewer layouts ( )

camera sequences ( )
PC monitors ( ) and analog monitors ( )
serial ports ( )
digital inputs ( )
output relays ( )
macros ( )
alarms ( )
Virtual Matrix plugins ( )
Metadata Engine plugins ( )
Logical IDs are only unique within a particular logical ID group. So, a camera and a camera sequence can have the same
logical ID because they belong to different groups.
Purpose
The reason for having these alternate identifiers is to provide a simple reference scheme to Omnicast devices as
opposed to using the GUID (Global Unique Identifier). The logical IDs are shown in the Camera Pane and the Analog
Monitor Pane of the Live Viewer application. Some of the typical uses of logical IDs are:
Referencing cameras and analog monitors with the PC keyboard

Referencing cameras and analog monitors with a CCTV keyboard
Referencing cameras, input/output contacts and monitors in HTML maps
Programming macros for the Virtual Matrix
Changing Logical IDs

The system automatically assigns a logical ID to every new device that is created or discovered. It is possible for an
administrative user to change these IDs. This can be done either from the entity's Identity tab or from the Logical IDs tab
of the Directory.
Welcome > System Concepts > Logical IDs

Federation™
The Federation™ is a virtual system formed by joining multiple independant Omnicast systems together. One of the
systems must act as the Federation host. The purpose of forming a federation is to allow Omnicast clients on the host
system to view video sources belonging to multiple independent Omnicast installations simultaneously as if they were
on the same system.
How it works
At the core of the federation is the Federation Server ( ). This special service must be part of the Omnicast
system hosting the Federation. It possesses the ability to connect to the local Directory on the host system as well
as to other independant Directories on remote systems.
The Federation Server must connect to each remote Directory using one of its local user accounts. Therefore, the
entities that the Federation Server is permitted to access on a remote system are limited to the ones that the logon
user is permitted to access.
Once connected to a remote Directory, the Federation Server creates a local representative for each remote entity it
can access. These local representatives are called federated entities. From the local user's point of view, federated
entities behave exactly like real entities, with only few limitations. The federated entities are indicated in the entity
trees with a yellow arrow superimposed on the entity icon.
In the scenario illustrated above, the Federation Server created two "federated" cameras for the two "real" cameras
on the remote system. When a client application requests the video feed from a federated camera, the Federation
Server will first get the video feed from the remote system, then multicast it on the local system. The client
application on the local system can then view the remote video feed as though it comes from the local system.
Federated entities
The types of entities that can be federated are:
Cameras
Camera sequences
Virtual cameras
PTZ motors
Microphones
Speakers
Digital inputs
Output relays
The federated entities can be used anywhere the real entities can. For example, you can define alarms or camera
sequences with federated cameras. Events associated to the remote entities can be replicated by the federated
entities as an option. Therefore, full event handling capability is also supported for federated entities. The
limitations pertaining to federated entities are discussed in the next section.
For information on how to create and configure federated entities, please refer to the section on Federated
Directory in the Config Tool reference guide.
Limitations
Configuration
The configuration of the real entities cannot be done through the federated entities. What you can change though,
are the local attributes of the federated entities:
logical ID
entity name
entity description
actions linked to the entity events (when it applies)
The above attributes belong to the federated entities. Changing them does not affect in any way the remote
entities they reference.
There is one exception worth mentionning regarding the entity name and description. These two attributes
cannot be changed if the synchronization feature is turned on. This feature forces all entities under the federated
Directory to follow the same name and hierarchy as they are configured in the remote Directory. Essentially, the
Logical view defined in the remote Directory is replicated under the federated Directory.
For more details concerning this feature, please read Synchronization under Config Tool – Federated Directory –
Properties.
Interface with older Omnicast versions
The Federation Server is able to connect to remote Directories running Omnicast 3.5 or more recent. To access
Omnicast systems running on different versions, the Federation Server uses the public SDK. This means that the
proper version of the SDK library must be installed on the machine hosting the Federation Server for the interface
to work properly.
Archive playback
Federation users can view playback and export video archives from federated cameras only if the referenced remote
system and the Federation host are both running the same software version.
Camera sequence
Federated camera sequence cannot be paused.

Welcome > System Concepts > Federation

Schedule Priorities
Purpose
A schedule is a generic entity that defines:
a recurrence pattern: specific dates, yearly, monthly, weekly, or daily

a time coverage: specific time ranges, daytime, nighttime, or all day
Schedules are used in a variety of situations where a date/time range and recurrence pattern must be specified to enable
or disable certain functions or set certain time dependant properties, such as:
alarm activation (see Alarm – Properties)

archiving (see Archiving Schedule – Properties)
macro execution (see Macro Schedule – Properties)
video streaming (see Camera – General settings)
motion detection (see Camera – Motion detection)
user logon (see User – Properties)
video encoding attributes (see Camera – Video attributes)
event/actions trigger (see all Actions tabs in Config Tool)
To learn how to create or modify schedules, please refer to the section on Schedule under Config Tool – Configuration
Pane.
Default schedule
When Omnicast Directory is first installed, a default schedule named Always is automatically created. It cannot be
renamed and it cannot be deleted. The default schedule covers 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. When one of the
above mentionned entities that need a schedule is created, it is always assigned to the default schedule. The Always
schedule has a lower priority than any other schedule created by the user.
Conflicts resolution
Since schedules are used to enable or disable certain functions or set certain properties, it is imperative to understand
how conflicts are resolved when two or more schedules overlap.
The conflict is resolved by adopting a concept of priority. Whenever two schedules overlap in a conflicting situation (for
example two archiving schedules for the same camera), priority is given to the schedule with the narrowest schedule.
In other words, Specific schedules have precedence over all other types of schedules. The Yearly schedules come in
second, followed by the Monthly, the Weekly and the Daily schedules. Finally, the default schedule Always comes last
because it is applicable at all times.
Let's use examples derived from archiving schedules to illustrate these principles.
Example 1
Let's consider Camera-1, assigned to the following four schedules:
Schedule-1: One-shot (2003-Sep-10; from 5:15 PM to 6:30 PM)

Schedule-2: Weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays; from 9 AM to 7 PM)
Schedule-3: Daily (from 7 AM to 9 PM)
Default Schedule (uses the Always schedule)
1. On September 10th, 2003, between 5:15 PM and 6:30 PM, Camera-1 will follow the archiving properties set by
Schedule-1.
2. On September 10th, 2003, between 9 AM and 5:15 PM and between 6:30 PM and 7 PM, Camera-1 will follow
the archiving properties set by Schedule-2.
3. On September 10th, 2003, between 7 AM and 9 AM and between 7 PM and 9 PM, Camera-1 will follow the
archiving properties set by Schedule-3.
4. The rest of the day, Camera-1 will follow the Default Schedule.
Example 2
Let's define four more schedules as follow:
Schedule-5: One-shot (2003-Sep-11; from 8 AM to 8 PM)

Schedule-6: Weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays; from 10 AM to 5 PM)
Schedule-7: Weekly (Saturdays; from 5 PM to 7 PM)
Schedule-8: Daily (from 3 PM to 11 PM)
1. Camera-1 can be put on Schedule-5 and Schedule-6 because they do not conflict with any other schedules
Camera-1 is on.
2. Camera-1 cannot be put on Schedule-7 because it conflicts with Schedule-2 on Saturdays between 5 PM and 7
PM, and the priority rule cannot resolve the conflict because both schedules are weekly schedules.
3. Camera-1 cannot be put on Schedule-8 because it conflicts with Schedule-3 on a daily basis between 3 PM
and 9 PM, and the priority rule cannot resolve the conflict because both schedules are daily schedules.
Welcome > System Concepts > Schedule Priorities

Archiving Management
Archiving Management is a broad subject covering all aspects concerning archive configuration, security, availability and
usage. This subject is discussed in the following major topics:
Archiving Overview
This article gives you an overview of the different types of Archivers and archiving options available in Omnicast. It
is an excellent starting point to understanding Archiving Management. Learn more
Archive Storage Management

This section teaches how to evaluate the space required for your archives and how to monitor the storage usage.
Learn more
Archiver Security
This section teaches how to protect your video archives against tampering and your system against malicious
attacks. Learn more
Archiver Availability
This section discusses the different options you have to ensure maximum availability of your surveillance video,
either live or archived, in the event of a hardware failure or media loss. Learn more
Backup and Restore

This section teaches how to make offline safeguard copies of the video archives and how to retrieve them for later
use. Learn more
Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management

Archiving Overview
Archiver Types
There are three different types of Archivers in Omnicast. The common characteristics of all archivers is that they are
all individually responsible for their own set of video archives. All video archives are digitally recorded according to
one of the three video compression standards: MPEG-4, MPEG-2 and MJPEG. Each Archiver maintains its own
catalog of video archives which enables it to quickly return the desired video sequences when a user issues a query
from the Archive Player.
The following are brief descriptions for each type of Archivers in Omnicast and the difference between them.
Archiver
The Archiver is the main archiving service in Omnicast. This is the only service capable of communicating with the
video units. The Archiver sends command and control messages to the units via specific discovery port. Typical
commands sent by the Archiver to the units are:
discovery commands (finding the active units)

start/stop streaming video
video stream redirection commands
video streaming settings (data format, video attributes, etc.)
The Archiver is also responsible to save the live video streams on disks and to create off-line safety copies of the
video archive (see Backup). For added security, all commands sent to units can be encrypted to prevent hacking and
the video data can be encrypted to prevent tampering (see Encryption).
There can be as many Archivers as needed on the same system to share the archiving load. The number of
encoders that a single Archiver can handle depends on the machine and the desired video quality. The maximum
number of Archivers permitted on a system is controlled by the Directory option "Number of Archivers" of your
Omnicast license.
Restore Archiver
The Restore Archiver is a special type of archiving service used only to restore off-line copies of video archives to
full search and playback capabilities for the Archive Player. To use this service, the Directory option "Number of
Restore Archivers" must be greater than zero in your Omnicast license.
Auxiliary Archiver
The Auxiliary Archiver is a redundant archiving service that can be installed anywhere on the Omnicast network.
Unlike the regular Archiver service, the Auxiliary Archiver is not bound to any discovery port or by the physical
location of the units it archives. The main purpose of the Auxiliary Archiver is to create off-site (outside the LAN)
copies of the video archive for selected video encoders. In other words, the Auxiliary Archiver can be considered as
a real-time off-site backup service. To use this service, the Directory option "Number of Auxiliary Archivers" must be
greater than zero in your Omnicast license.
Return to top
Archiver Options
Backup
Only Archivers are capable of creating backups. No particular license option is necessary to enable this feature.
However, you need to enable Restore Archivers in order to make use of the backups. A more expensive alternative
to backup is to use a Auxiliary Archiver. With this method, the "backups" can be created off-site for extra protection
and are readily available without delay. No extra "restore" step is necessary. To learn more about this topic, please
turn to the article on Backup and Restore.
Encryption
Encryption occurs at two different levels. (1) Commands sent by Archivers to units can be encrypted using SSL
(Secure Sockets Layer) protocol to protect against hackers. You need to have the option "SSL on Archiver" turned
on in your Omnicast license in order to use this feature. (2) Archived video data can be encrypted to protect against
tampering. This feature is both supported by the Archivers and the Auxiliary Archivers. Please turn to the article on
Archiver Security to learn more on this topic.
Standby Archiver
Archivers can be configured to be each other's failover if the Directory option "Standby Archivers" is enabled in
your Omnicast license. To learn more about how to configure Archivers as failover services, please read the article
on Archiver Availability.
Redundant archiving
As a protection against accidental data loss, the standby Archivers can be given an optional role of "redundant
Archivers" when they are not assuming the primary role of command and control. To learn more about how to
configure Archivers as redundant archiving services, please read the article on Archiver Availability.
Return to top
Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management > Archiving Overview

Archive Storage Management
Regardless the type of Archivers you use (see Archiving Overview), they all have the same storage requirements for the
same amount of video archives. This article teaches you how to evaluate your archive storage requirements and directs
you to the proper section in this user guide for storage configuration and monitoring.
Storage evaluation, Archiving configuration, Storage Usage Monitoring
Storage Evaluation
The amount of storage space required for archiving video depends on the following factors:
1. The number of cameras that need archiving
Archiving is enabled on a camera only if the camera is part of an archiving schedule.
To learn how to create and configure archiving schedules, please read the section on Archiving Schedule under
Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
To learn how to enroll a camera on archiving schedules, please read the section on Recording under Config
Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
2. The number of days you need to keep the archive online.
The Archiver uses two methods to free up storage space for new video archives. The first method is to delete
the oldest video files when running out of disk space. This is the simplest method if the need to keep the video
archives online is the same for all cameras and if the user wishes to keep as much video as possible (this
method maximizes disk usage).
The second method is to specify for each camera the number of days the archives need to be kept online.
When the archives become obsolete, they will automatically be deleted, even if the disk space is not running
out. This method allows the administrator to keep more important videos for a longer period of time. By
default, the Archiver is configured to delete the video archives after five days for all cameras.
To learn how to change the number of days to keep the archives online for each camera, please refer to the
Recording section under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
The Archiver can also be instructed not to delete any video archive before it is due. In this case, if the Archiver
ever runs out of disk space, the archiving will stop. To learn how to set up this option, please read the section
on Archiving under Server Admin – Archiver.
3. The percentage of recording time
The percentage of recording time for a given camera depends on the selected archiving mode. You can
configure a camera so archiving is (1) disabled, (2) only performed on user requests, (3) performed
automatically whenever the motion level is above a certain threshold, or (4) performed continuously. All these
modes could be applied to any period of the day and any day of the week.
The archiving mode is a property of the archiving schedule. Please refer to Archiving Mode under Config Tool
– Configuration Pane – Archiving Schedule for more details.
It is possible to enroll a camera on more than one archiving schedule. To understand how the system sorts out
the priorities between conflicting schedules, please refer to the topic on Schedule Priorities under Welcome –
System Concepts.
To learn how to configure the motion detection threshold, please read the section on Motion Detection under
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
4. The selected frame rate
The higher the frame rate, the more storage space the recording will require. To learn how to configure the
recording frame rate, please refer to the section on Video Quality under Config Tool – Configuration Pane –
Camera.
5. The selected image resolution
The higher the image resolution, the more storage space the recording will require. The image resolution is
determined by the video data format in effect. For a description of the available video data format, please refer
to the Format table under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera – Info.
The video data format used during recording can either follow the archiving schedule settings or the live video
display settings. To learn how to configure this option, please read the section on Video Quality under Config
Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
6. The expected percentage of movement
MPEG-4 encoding scheme compresses data by storing only the changes in the image between consecutive
frames instead of the whole image for every single frame. Therefore, a video containing a lot of movement
would require a lot more storage than a still image video. To simplify the movement estimation, we have
defined two categories of cameras: the fixed cameras (or cameras with less than 30% of movement) and the
PTZ cameras (or cameras with more than 30% of movement).
To calculate the disk space required for archiving based on the above criteria, please use the interactive tool below.
Disk Space Calculator

FIXED cameras PTZ cameras
Number of cameras 0 0
Days of storage 0 0
Percentage of recording time
0 % 0 %
Note: 100% = full time recording
Frame rate 15 fps

15 fps
Image resolution CIF (352x240)

CIF (352x240)
Required disk space
Total required disk space
The information provided by this tool is for your information only.
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Archiving Configuration
To store video archives, the archiving service needs a database to store the archives catalog and disk space to store
the video files. These configurations are done on the local machine where the archiving service is installed.
To learn how to configure the archiving storage space for the Archiver, please read the section on Archiving under
Server Admin – Archiver.
To learn how to configure the archiving storage space for the Auxiliary Archiver, please read the section on
Archiving under Server Admin – Auxiliary Archiver.
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Storage Usage Monitoring

An estimate, no matter how good it is, remains an estimate. Once the system is in operation, it is always
recommended to verify regularly the actual storage consumption of the system.
The Config Tool provides insightful statistics on the actual disk usage for each of the Archivers. The available
statistics are:
The remaining available space on each disk selected for archiving.

The average disk usage per day for all cameras controlled by the Archiver.
The average disk usage per day for one camera.
The estimated remaining recording time left.
The current online archives span.
To view a sample statistics page for the Archiver, please turn to Statistics under Config Tool – Configuration Pane –
Archiver.
To view a sample statistics page for the Auxiliary Archiver, please turn to Statistics under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Auxiliary Archiver.
To learn about how much space each restored backup set is using, please turn to Maintenance under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Restore Archiver.
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Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management > Archive Storage Management

Archiver Security
Access to the system

The first step to system security is always to prevent illegal access, either physically or through software. Make sure
that all privileged accounts are duly protected with passwords and that computer rooms where the Omnicast
equipments are installed are not easily accessible to everyone.
Beyond these simple security measures, Omnicast also offer some extra protection against data tampering and
hacking.
Protection against hacking

Protection against hacking is achieved by using the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol. All commands sent by the
Archiver to the units (PTZ controls, redirection of video streams, etc.) can be encrypted to prevent hackers from
remotely taking control of a camera.
To learn how to setup the Archiver to prevent hacking, please read the section on SSL under Server Admin – VSIP
Extension. Each group of units, characterized by one VSIP port, can be protected with a different SSL password.
Protection against data tampering

Protection against tampering is achieved through video encryption (or watermarking). It is the process by which a
digital signature is added to each recorded video frame to ensure its authenticity. If anyone later tries to make
changes to a recorded video sequence by adding, deleting or modifying a video image, the signatures will no
longer match, thus, showing that the video has been tampered with.
To learn how to setup the Archiver to prevent tampering, please read the section on Security under Server Admin –
Archiver. Read the corresponding Security under Server Admin for the Auxiliary Archiver.
To learn how to validate the authenticity of video files, please refer to the paragraph on Validate file ( ) under
Archive Player – Query Result Pane – File Browser Result.
Protection against sabotage or terrorism

Other aspects of security management deal with the destruction of the system hardware and data, either by
accident or by acts of terrorism. To learn what Omnicast could offer to reduce the vulnerability of the system
against such mishaps, please refer to the article on Archiver Availability.
Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management > Archiver Security

Archiver Availability
System availability issues

When it comes to the availability of the system, there are three aspects to consider:
1. Protection against service interruptions
2. Protection against data loss
3. Monitoring Archiver events
Protection against service interruptions

The archiving services (Archiver, Auxiliary Archiver and Restore Archiver) must all be running if the users are to be
able to access the full range of video archives. And most importantly, the Directory service must be running at all
time or nothing will work.
Directory Failover Coordinator
The first step in ensuring the availability of the system is to ensure the availability of the Directory service. Omnicast
offers a safety mechanism by which multiple machines located anywhere on the WAN can be setup to take over the
responsibility of the Directory service should the main Directory machine fail. When the main Directory machine is
restored, the service will automatically switch back without losing any configuration data.
To learn more about this feature, please refer to the section on Configure Directory failover under Config Tool –
Menu – Tools Menu.
Standby Archiver
The Archiver services can also be protected by a failover mechanism. Each Archiver service in the system can be
configured to oversee multiple groups of units. Each unit in the system can be configured to have a list of Archivers
that it can report to. At any one time, only one Archiver is in charge of any unit. When the primary Archiver fails, the
units that are under its care can be automatically handled by the remaining working Archivers, thus ensuring a
continuity of service.
Let's consider the following example to illustrate how this works. Suppose we have three Archivers and twelve units
configured as follow.
Unit Primary Archiver Secondary Archiver Tertiary Archiver
Unit-A1 Archiver-A Archiver-B Archiver-C
Unit-A2 Archiver-A Archiver-B Archiver-C
Unit-A3 Archiver-A Archiver-C Archiver-B
Unit-A4 Archiver-A Archiver-C Archiver-B
Unit-B1 Archiver-B Archiver-A Archiver-C
Unit-B2 Archiver-B Archiver-A Archiver-C
Unit-B3 Archiver-B Archiver-C Archiver-A
Unit-B4 Archiver-B Archiver-C Archiver-A
Unit-C1 Archiver-C Archiver-A Archiver-B
Unit-C2 Archiver-C Archiver-A Archiver-B
Unit-C3 Archiver-C Archiver-B Archiver-A
Unit-C4 Archiver-C Archiver-B Archiver-A
When everything is working fine, each Archiver takes care of four units (see Primary Archiver).
If Archiver-A fails, then the four units under the care of Archiver-A will have to fall back on their secondary Archiver.
Units A1 and A2 will be taken care by Archiver-B, while units A3 and A4 will be taken care by Archiver-C (see
Secondary Archiver).
If Archiver-B also fails, then the entire load will be assumed by Archiver-C. The same thing is true if Archiver-C fails
instead of Archiver-B.
When Archiver-A is restored to service, it will automatically pick up its units and free the load from the other two
Archivers.
From this simple example, you can see that the more Archivers you have in the system, the more evenly you can
share the load when one of them fails so the performance impact felt will be minimal.
To learn how to configure Archivers to handle more than one group of units, please refer to Archiver Extension
under Server Admin.
To learn how to configure a unit so it accepts more than one Archiver, please refer to Standby Archivers under
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Unit.
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Protection against data loss

The failover mechanisms for the Directory and the Archivers can effectively protect against service interruptions, but
not necessarily against loss of data. In the previous scenario, if the archiving disks of Archiver-A are damaged, the
command and control of the units under Archiver-A would be taken care by the other two Archivers and users
would be able to continue to view live videos from them. But the video archives managed by Archiver-A will be lost.
Moreover, even if the disks of Archiver-A are not damaged, users would not be able to access the video archives on
them if Archiver-A is not running.
Redundant archiving
The solution to the threat of data loss and to the unavailability of the video archives while the Archiver service is
down is to create redundant archives.
Redundant archives can be created individually by video encoder. To enable this feature, go to the Recording tab of
the video encoder configuration in the Config Tool and select the " Redundant archiving" option.
Note that once redundant archiving is enabled for a given video encoder, all archivers in the standby Archiver list
of its unit will start archiving. All redundant Archivers follow the same archiving schedules as specified in Recording
tab of the video encoder.
Let us revisit the previous example with twelve units shared between three Archivers. If redundant archiving is
turned on for each of the video encoders, we will get three copies of video archives for each encoder.
Suppose we want to keep all three standby Archivers but only need two copies of video archives. This can be
achieved by adopting the following configuration.
Unit Primary Archiver Secondary Archiver Tertiary Archiver

Unit-A1 Archiver-A Archiver-B Archiver-C (no archiving)
Unit-B1 Archiver-A Archiver-B Archiver-C (no archiving)
Unit-B2 Archiver-A Archiver-B Archiver-C (no archiving)
Unit-B3 Archiver-B Archiver-A Archiver-C (no archiving)
Unit-B4 Archiver-B Archiver-A Archiver-C (no archiving)
Unit-C1 Archiver-B Archiver-A Archiver-C (no archiving)
In the above scenario, only Archive-A and Archiver-B are used to create archives. Archiver-C has its archiving option
turned off (see Archiving under Server Admin – Archiver). Archiver-C will become active only if both Archiver-A and
Archiver-B have failed. In this case, the users can still view live videos but there will be no archiving.
Auxiliary Archiver
It is sometimes desirable to have a copy of the video archives kept at a remote location (not connected to the same
LAN as the core of the system) for safety reasons. In this case, the Auxiliary Archiver should be considered. The
Auxiliary Archiver is a better alternative than creating backups because the redundant archives are readily available
without the necessity to restore (see Backup and Restore), but it offers no protection against service failures,
because it cannot assume the command and control functions of the Archiver.
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Monitoring Archiver events

There are many ways to monitor the Archiver events in the system.
1. By defining user notification actions when important Archiver events arise (disk load is over 80%, disks full,
application lost, etc.). Please refer to the section on Actions under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Archiver, to
learn how to set up the Archiver for automatic notification.
2. By viewing the "Tracking reports" with the Report Viewer, if this feature is supported by your license.
3. By searching the event database for Archiver events with the Config Tool. See Event search under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Archiver.
4. By examining the log files generated by the Archivers. See Logging under Server Admin – Archiver. The Archiver
logs are not as easy to use as the "Event search" in the Config Tool, but it contains more information. It contains all
camera events as well.
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Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management > Archiver Availability

Backup and Restore
It is not always possible nor necessary to keep weeks or months worth of video archives online. Part of the archiving
management strategy is to keep part of the video archives offline to achieve the balance between archive availability and
storage cost.
In this section, we are going to look at how you can make backup copies of the online video archive and how to restore
these backups to full search and playback capabilities should the need arise.
Backup, Restore
Backup
Backup is the operation that copies a subset of the online video archives, specified by a list of cameras and a date
range, to a secondary storage (tape, RW-CD, Zip disk, etc.) for safekeeping.
Backups are handled by Archivers in Omnicast. Each Archiver must be configured to backup its own data. The
Archiver can be configured to perform the backup automatically at regular intervals or on an ad hoc basis. The data
preserved through a single backup operation is called a backup set. Backup sets are allowed to overlap each other,
providing extra data protection.
Backup not only extends the availability of the video archives beyond the capacity of the online storage, but also
protects, to a certain extent, the online data against accidental loss. This is achieved by backing up the data as soon
as possible (the earliest is the following day), versus waiting until the last minute. The drawback of such a practice is
that any bookmarks generated after a backup will not be included in the backup set.
For the backup operations to take place, the "Backup" option must be turned on. To learn how to enable this
feature on a Archiver, please refer to the section on Backup under Server Admin – Archiver.
To learn how to set up the Archiver to do periodic backups, please read the section on Backup under Config Tool –
To learn how to check the status of the last backup operation and how to perform unscheduled backups, please
read the section on Backup status under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Archiver – Backup.
The complete backup history of a specific Archiver can be viewed by searching the database for "Backup started",
"Backup success", "Backup failed" events with the Config Tool. For more details about this feature, please read the
section on Event search under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Archiver.
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Restore
Before the video archive contained in a backup set can be manipulated with the Archive Player, the backup set must
first be restored using the Restore Archiver. In order to use this application, the Directory option "Number of
Restore Archivers" must be greater than zero in your Omnicast license.
To learn how to restore a backup set, please read the section on Restore under Server Admin – Restore Archiver.
Once a backup set is restored, its characteristics (size, content description, etc.) become available through the
Config Tool. See description in the section on Backup Set under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
To learn how to delete a restored backup set, please read the Maintenance section under Config Tool –
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Welcome > System Concepts > Archiving Management > Backup and Restore

Event Handling
Introduction
The system administrator can decide to handle the system events in one or a combination of the following ways:
1. View them on screen in real-time, within the Live Viewer application. Please read the section on Event List in the
Live Viewer reference.
2. Have the system record them in event logs for viewing and analysis at a later time. The server applications that
can create event logs are the Directory and the Archiver. The locations of the log files are configured using the
Server Admin.
3. Configure the system to take actions automatically by associating actions to various types of events. This is by far
the most powerful and versatile method for handling events. The programmable event actions are described in the
various sections under the Config Tool reference. Look for the sections entitled "Actions".
4. In addition to the predefined event types, the administrator can also define custom events based on various
digital inputs through the Config Tool application.
Further reading
To learn about the different types of events supported by the system, please read the Event Definitions subsection.
To learn about the different actions that can be triggered by these events, please read the Action Definitions subsection.
Please read the section on Alarm Management to learn what features Omnicast has to offer to handle special events that
require the security personnel's immediate attention.
Welcome > System Concepts > Event Handling

Event Definitions
The following list describes all the event types that are detected in Omnicast. These events are divided into ten
categories:
Alarm events
Application events
Archiver events
Camera events
Custom events
Digital Input events
Directory events
Macro events
Plugin events
PTZ events
Unit events
User events
Viewing Events
Events can be viewed in real time in the Live Viewer application through the Event list. Camera related events can be
searched with the Archive Player to load specific video sequences for playback (see Archive Query (Events) in Archive
Player's reference). Finally, Archiver related events can be viewed with the Config Tool from the Event search tab of the
Archiver configuration page.
Alarm Events
All alarm events are indicated by the alarm icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list. The entity name corresponds to
the alarm entity's name.
Alarm acknowledged
This is the basic alarm acknowledgement event. It is generated every time an alarm is acknowledged, regardless the
acknowledgement type. A second event always accompanies this event and depicts the type of acknowlegement
used. In the case of a custom acknowlegement, the second event can be any custom event selected by the user.
Alarm acknowledged (Alternate)
This event accompanies the "Alarm acknowledged" event when the alternate acknowledgement is used.
Alarm acknowledged (Default)
This event accompanies the "Alarm acknowledged" event when the default acknowledgement is used.
Alarm activated
This event is created every time an alarm is activated, i.e. sent to a recipient. An alarm is activated when it is
triggered or forwarded to a new user, and when it awakens after being put to snooze. If the same alarm is sent to
five different recipients, this event will be created five times.
Alarm forwarded
This event is created every time an alarm is forwarded.

Alarm snoozed
This event is created every time an alarm is snoozed.
Alarm triggered
This event is created every time a new alarm instance is created. Not to be confused with "Alarm activated".
Application Events
Application events are indicated with the application icons in the Live Viewer's event list (see the two sections under
System Overview for the icons corresponding to each application type). The entity name indicates the machine
name followed by the application type.
Application connected
This event is created when an Omnicast service is started.
Application lost
This event is created when an Omnicast service is abnormally disconnected from the Directory (network problem,
computer failure, application crash).
Archiver Events
Archiver events are indicated by the Archiver icon ( , , or ) in the Live Viewer's event list. The entity name is the
Archiver's machine name.
Archiving camera limit exceeded
The maximum number of simultaneously archived encoders has been exceeded. This problem may occur during an
Archiver failover. This event means that archiving has to be suspended on certain encoders because they have a
lower archiving priority. The affected encoder name is indicated in the "Description" field. See Storage management
under Server Admin – Archiver – Archiving, for more details.
Archiving queue full
This event is issued when the Archiver cannot write the video stream (packets) to disk as fast as the encoder sends it
or when there is not enough CPU to process the video stream received from the encoder. The name of the encoder
whose packets are lost is indicated in the description field.
Archiving stopped
Archiving has stopped because the disk(s) allocated for archiving is (are) full. This event always comes with the
Disk(s) full event.
Backup failed
The backup could not complete successfully. The specific reason that triggered the event is given in the description
field. Some of the most common errors are listed below:
Backup size bigger than tape size

Unable to create file or Directory
Unable to export tables
Unable to open a session with the removable storage manager
NTBackup is not installed
There is no tape in the tape device
No video file to backup
Unable to copy files
A backup configuration is invalid
Backup started
A backup has been started by the Archiver.
Backup success
Backup completed successfully.
Cannot write on a specified location
This event is issued only when the Archiver cannot write to a specific drive. The path to the problem drive is
indicated in the description field.
Cannot write to any drive
The Archiver is unable to write to any of the disk drive(s) allotted to it for archiving. This situation may arise for any
of the following reasons:
When write accesses to shared drive(s) is(are) revoked.

When shared drive(s) is(are) inaccessible.
When shared drive(s) no longer exist.
When this happens, the archiving is stopped. The Archiver (Archiver, Restore Archiver, or Auxiliary Archiver) will re-
evaluate the drive status every 30 seconds.
Database lost
Connection to the Archiver's database was lost. This may be because the data server is down or can't be reached by
the Archiver (Archiver, Restore Archiver, or Auxiliary Archiver).
Database recovered
Connection to the Archiver's database is re-established.
Disk load is over 80%
More than 80% of the disk space allocated for archiving has been used. This situation may be caused by an under
evaluation of the disk space required or by a another application that is taking more disk space than it should. If
100% of the allotted disk space is used, the Archiver (Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver) will start to delete old archive
files prematurely to free disk space for new archive files, starting with the oldest files. See File deleted event.
Disk(s) full
All disks allotted for archiving are full and the Archiver (Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver) is unable to free disk space by
deleting existing video files. This event may occur when another application has used up all the disk space reserved
for Omnicast or when the "Delete oldest files when disks full" is not selected in the Server Admin (see "Archiving"
section). When this happens, the archiving is stopped. The Archiver will re-evaluate the disk space every 30 seconds.
Invalid custom encryption values
This warning is issued by the Archiver on startup and every 5 minutes if one of the custom encryption values (initial
fingerprint or encryption key) provided in the Server Admin is invalid.
Not enough disk space for logging
This event is issued when file logging is enabled and there is no more space on disk to write the log entry. See
Logging under System Administrator – Archiver.
Protected video threshold exceeded
The Archiver generates this event when the protected video threshold configured in the Server Admin is exceeded.
The percentage of disk space occupied by protected video files can be monitored from the Config Tool. See
Protected video statistics under Config Tool – Archiver – Archiver Statistics.
Unit not supported
This event is generated when the Archiver discovers a unit type that is not supported by the system.
Camera Events
Camera events are indicated by the camera icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list. The entity name is the camera
name set in the Config Tool.
Camera not archiving
TBD...
File deleted
This event is issued when a video file associated to a camera is deleted prematurely, i.e. before the prescribed
deadline specified by the "Keep archives for" field in the Recording tab. This happens when the Archiver runs out of
disk space and is forced to delete the older files to make room for the new files. The description field indicates the
path of the deleted video file.
Live bookmark added
This event is issued when the user adds a bookmark to live video. The description field indicates the bookmark text
followed by the time the bookmark was added. A typical use of this event is to trigger the action "Start applying
video protection" to prevent a premature deletion of the video.
Playback bookmark added
This event is issued when the user adds a bookmark during video playback. The description field indicates the
bookmark text followed by the time the bookmark was added. A typical use of this event is to trigger the action
"Start applying video protection" to prevent a premature deletion of the video.
Motion on
This event is issued when positive motion detection has been made. Please refer to "What constitutes a positive
motion detection?" under Config Tool – Camera – Motion Detection.
Motion off
The event is issued following a "motion on" event when motion (measured in terms of number of motion blocks)
has dropped below the "motion off threshold" for at least 5 seconds. Please refer to "What constitutes a positive
motion detection?" under Config Tool – Camera – Motion Detection.
Receiving RTP packets from multiple sources
This event is issued when the Archiver is receiving more than one video stream for the same camera. When this rare
situation arises, the Archiver cannot tell which stream is the correct one just by looking at their source IP address
because of the NAT (Network Address Translators), so it has to make an arbitrary choice. If the Archiver makes the
wrong choice, it will be archiving the wrong video stream! To help you solve this problem, the source IP address
and port number of both streams are indicated in the description field. The two sources are labeled "Archived" and
"Rejected". By examining both pairs of IP address and port number, you can find out which one is the faulty unit
that is causing this conflict.
Recording started (alarm)
This event is issued when the recording is started because an alarm has been triggered. This behavior ensures that
recording is always available for cameras displayed in an alarm. See Alarm recording duration under Config Tool –
Alarm – Properties.
Recording stopped (alarm)
This event is issued when the recording is stopped because the alarm recording time has elapsed. See Alarm
recording duration under Config Tool – Alarm – Properties.
Recording started (continuous)
This event is issued when the recording is started because a continuous archiving schedule is active.
Recording stopped (continuous)
This event is issued when the recording is stopped because the camera is no longer covered by a continuous
archiving schedule or that the schedule has been deactivated.
Recording started (external)
This event is issued when the recording is started by the Start recording action. The action could be triggered by an
event or executed from a macro.
Recording stopped (external)
This event is issued when the recording is stopped by the Stop recording action. The action could be triggered by
an event or executed from a macro.
Recording started (motion)
This event is issued when the recording is triggered by motion detection. See Automatic recording on motion
under Config Tool – Camera – Motion Detection.
Recording stopped (motion)
This event is issued when the recording is stopped after the motion has ceased. Read What constitutes positive
motion detection? under Config Tool – Camera – Motion Detection.
Recording started (user)
This event is issued when the recording is started manually by a user, either by clicking on the record button or by
adding a bookmark, from the Live Viewer.
Recording stopped (user)
This event is issued when the manual recording is stopped, either because the user clicked on the record button or
because the "Default manual recording length" has expired (see Recording under Config Tool – Camera).
RTP packets lost
This event is issued when there are RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) packets that the Archiver never received. This
could happen if the packets have been lost on the network or if the Archiver does not have enough CPU to process
all the packets received on the network card. The description field indicates the number of packets lost since the
last time this event was issued (no more than once every minute). This event can also be trapped as unit event
(physical parent of the camera) or as an Archiver event (physical parent of the unit).
Signal lost
This event is triggered by the unit when a camera stops sending its video signal. This means that only a camera
malfunction or a disconnected cable can trigger this event. Network problems will not trigger this event. This event
can also be trapped as a unit event (physical parent of the camera) or as an Archiver event (physical parent of the
unit).
Signal recovered
The signal from a camera has been recovered. This event can also be trapped as a unit event (physical parent of the
camera) or as an Archiver event (physical parent of the unit).
Transmission lost
The network connection to the camera is lost. This event can also be trapped as a unit event (physical parent of the
camera) or as an Archiver event (physical parent of the unit).
Custom Events
Custom events are indicated by the flag icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the name of
the macro that generated it.
To learn on how to create custom events, please read the section on Custom Events under Config Tool – Directory.
Digital Input Events

Digital input events are indicated by the digital input icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is
the digital input name set in the Config Tool.
Digital input contact opening
This event is issued when the contact on a digital input has just been opened.
Digital input contact closing
This event is issued when the contact on a digital input has just been closed.
Directory Events
Directory events are indicated by the Directory icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the
Directory name.
Connection lost with the alarm database
This event is issued when the Directory looses its connection with the alarm database. This is a serious problem.
When it happens, , Alarm Management stops to work.
Connection recovered with the alarm database
This event is issued when the Directory recovers its connection with the alarm database.
DFC integrity test failed for alarm database
This event is issued when the Directory Failover Coordinators (DFC)
DFC integrity test failed for entity database
This event is issued when the Directory Failover Coordinators (DFC)
Directory Failover Coordinators not synchronized
This event is issued when the UTC time of the Directory Failover Coordinators (DFC) installed on the system are
more than 1 minute apart. The DFCs rely on update timestamps to determine which machine has the latest
configuration. Having unsynchronized DFCs may result in loss of configuration data and problems during failover.
Not enough disk space for logging
This event is issued when file logging is enabled and there is no more space on disk to write the log entry. See
Logging under System Administrator – Directory.
Macro Events
Macro events are indicated by the macro icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the macro
name set in the Config Tool.
Macro error
This event is issued when an error occurs during the execution of a macro.
Macro started
This event is issued when a macro's execution is started.
Macro stopped
This event is issued when a macro's execution is stopped.
Plugin Events
Plugin events are indicated by the plugin icon ( , , ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the
plugin name set in the Config Tool.
Database out of disk space
This event only applies to ME plugins. It is issued when the metadata generated by the plugin cannot be saved to
the database because it ran out of disk space.
Plugin error
This event is issued when an error occurs during the execution of a plugin. The nature of the error is indicated in
the Description field.
Plugin started
This event is issued when a plugin's execution is started. The description indicates the application responsible for
the plugin.
Plugin stopped
This event is issued when a plugin's execution is stopped. The description indicates the application responsible for
the plugin.
PTZ Events
PTZ events are indicated by the PTZ motor icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name indicates the
attached camera name.
PTZ activated
This event is issued when a user starts using the PTZ after it has been idle (see Idle delay under Config Tool – PTZ
motor – Properties). The description in the event list indicates the user who activated the PTZ. This event is
regenerated every time a different user takes control of the PTZ, even when the PTZ is still active. PTZ movements
caused by a PTZ actions triggered by events do not generate this event.
PTZ locked
This event is generated when a user tries to move the PTZ while it is being locked by another user with a higher
PTZ priority. The description in the event list indicates the machine, application type and user who currently holds
the lock.
PTZ stopped
This event is issued when the PTZ hasn't been touched by any user after a predetermined period of time (see Idle
delay under Config Tool – PTZ motor – Properties). The description in the event list indicates the user who last used
the PTZ.
Unit Events
Unit events are indicated by the unit icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the unit name set
in the Config Tool.
Invalid configuration in unit
This event is issued when an invalid setting is rejected by a unit. For example, setting an invalid bit rate.
Unit discovered
The event means that a unit has been discovered (or rediscovered after it has been lost). This event will also be
triggered every time the unit reboots. This event can also be trapped as an Archiver event (physical parent of the
unit).
Unit lost
This event means that a unit has been lost. When this happens, the icons of all the devices attached to that unit will
turn red in all three front-end applications. This could be caused by the unit rebooting (when a new configuration is
being applied) or when the network cable to the unit is unplugged. This event can also be trapped as an Archiver
event (physical parent of the unit).
User Events
User events are indicated by the user icon ( ) in the Live Viewer's event list and the entity name is the user name.
User logon
A user has just logged on. The description field shows the machine name, the application type and the user name
(e.g. DTSIANG1 – Live Viewer – Daniel).
User logoff
A user has just logged off. The description field shows the machine name, the application type and the user name
(e.g. MBRAULT – Archive Player – Matthew).
Welcome > System Concepts > Event Handling > Event Definitions

Action Definitions
The actions are user-programmed behaviors that are triggered by any of the detectable events in the system. All actions
must be defined in the Config Tool by an administrative user. Collectively, the custom actions defined for the selected
event types constitute the Event Handling for your system.
The available actions are divided into the following categories:
Archiving Actions
Monitoring Actions
Web Actions
PTZ Actions
User Notification Actions
Output Relay Actions
Device Control Actions
Macro Actions
Unit Actions
Custom Actions
It is also possible to execute actions in an ad hoc fashion from the Live Viewer. Please read the topic on "Execute action"
under Live Viewer – Menu – Tools Menu.
Archiving Actions
The following actions affect the archiving.
Start recording
Start recording on the specified camera(s).

Select the cameras you want to start recording in the camera tree that will appear on the right.
The recording will follow the configuration of each selected camera.
The recording length will depend on the option you select:
Default manual recording length – The recording length will follow the value of the "Default manual
recording length" set for each selected video encoder in the Recording tab.
Infinite – The recording must be explicitely stopped by calling the Stop recording action.
Specific (from 1 to 600 sec) – The recording will stop after the specified duration.
The Recording started (external) event will be generated when this action is triggered.
The recording thus started cannot be stopped manually by the user.
The Recording stopped (external) event will be generated when the recording stops, either by itself or when
the Stop recording action is executed.
Stop recording
Stop recording on the specified camera(s).

This action works only if the recording was started by the Start recording action.
Select the cameras for which you want to stop recording in the camera tree that will appear on the right.
A Recording stopped (external) event is generated when this action is triggered and applied successfully.
Add a bookmark
Add a bookmark (that can be searched later with the Archive Player) to the specified camera(s).
Select the cameras to which you want to add the bookmark in the camera tree that will appear on the right.
Enter the bookmark text.
Unlike the Add bookmark command in the Live Viewer, this action does not implicitly start the recording. To
make sure that your bookmark is associated to some video, you have to add explicitly a Start recording action.
Override with manual recording quality
Set the recording quality to the "Manual recording settings" as specified in the Boost quality dialog found in
the Video Quality configuration tab of the camera. This action supersede the " Always override general
settings on event recording" options configured in that dialog.
The effect of this action will last as long as it is not modified by another action, such as "Recording quality as
standard configuration". The effect is lost when the Archiver restarts.
The manual recording quality will be set for every camera selected in the camera tree that will appear on the
right.
Override with event recording quality
Set the recording quality to the "Event recording settings" as specified in the Boost quality dialog found in the
Video Quality configuration tab of the camera. This action supersede the " Always override general settings
on manual recording" options configured in that dialog.
The effect of this action will last as long as it is not modified by another action, such as "Recording quality as
standard configuration". The effect is lost when the Archiver restarts.
The event recording quality will be set for every camera selected in the camera tree that appears on the right.
Recording quality as standard configuration
Cancels the effect of the "Override with ... recording quality" actions. See above definitions.
The standard recording configurations will be restored on every camera selected in the camera tree that will
appear on the right.
Start applying video protection
Protect against deletion all video to be recorded within the next 'm' minutes for a period of 'n' days. If 'm' is
set to 'indefinitely', all future video recordings will be protected until the action Stop applying video protection
is issued.
The protection will in fact be applied on all video files needed to store the protected video sequence. Since no
video file can be partially protected, the actual length of the protected video sequence will depend on the
granularity of the video files. See Archive files under Server Admin – Archiver – Archiving.
When multiple "Start applying video protection" actions are applied on the same video file, the longest
protection period will be kept.
Once a video file is protected, the protection can only be removed manually from the Archive Player if it is not
set to expire automatically after 'n' days. See Video File Query under Archive Player – Tools Menu.
The video protection will be applied on all cameras selected in the camera tree that appears on the right.
Stop applying video protection
Stop protecting upcoming video recordings against deletion, either immediately or in 'n' minutes.
Note that this action does not affect the video archives that are already protected. It only affects the video
archives yet to come.
The video protection will stop to be applied on all cameras selected in the camera tree that appears on the
right.
Monitoring Actions
The following actions grab the user's attention through visual displays.
View the camera on an analog monitor
Display the current camera on the specified analog monitor(s).

Select the monitors on which you want to display the current camera in the monitor tree that will appear on
the right.
View a camera in the Live Viewer
Show the specified camera(s) in the Live Viewer application.

The specified camera(s) are shown with a red flashing border. The purpose of this action is to attract the user's
attention to the camera(s). The highlight will disappear when the user clicks on the camera in the Live Viewer.
If the camera is already displayed in the Live Viewer, this action will simply turn the red flashing highlight ON.
If the camera is not yet displayed in the Live Viewer, the camera will be displayed in a free tile of the Viewing
pane. If there is no free tile, the oldest displayed camera will be replaced by the new one.
If the connected user has no privilege to view the specified camera, the action will be ignored.
View a camera in a free viewing tile of the Live Viewer
This action is similar to the previous one, except that when there is no free viewing tile available, the action is
ignored.
To fully understand what a "free" viewing tile really means, please refer to the section on Display Management
under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane – Managing the Layouts.
Block a camera
Block the selected cameras at the specified blocking level. See Camera Blocking under Live Viewer – Tools
Menu.
Unblock a camera
Unblock the selected cameras. See Block a camera action.
Web Actions
The following actions can be used to display instructions (Web page) to Live Viewer users.
View a map in the Live Viewer
Show the selected map(s) in the Live Viewer application. A map is selected by selecting the site it is attached to
(see Maps under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Site).
The "HTML Map" option must be supported by your Omnicast license for this action to take effect.
The rest of the behavior is similar to View a map in the Live Viewer action.
Display a URL address in a Live Viewer
Display a Web page specified by its URL address in specified Live Viewers.
Select the Live Viewers on which you want to display the specified URL in the Live Viewers list that will appear
on the right.
Specify the URL address in the field below the Live Viewers list on the right.
The rest of the behavior is similar to View a map in the Live Viewer action.
PTZ Actions
The following actions send commands to a PTZ motor.
Go to preset
Command the specified PTZ motor to go to the specified preset position.

Select the PTZ motor (only one) in the PTZ motor tree that appears on the right and enter the preset number
in the Preset Number field.
Run a pattern
Run the specified pattern on the specified PTZ motor.

Select the PTZ motor (one only) in the PTZ motor tree that appears on the right and enter the pattern number
in the Pattern Number field.
Set PTZ auxiliary
Turn the specified auxiliary switch ON on the specified PTZ motor.

Select the PTZ motor (one only) in the PTZ motor tree that appears on the right and enter the auxiliary
number in the Auxiliary Number field.
Clear PTZ auxiliary
Turn the specified auxiliary switch OFF on the specified PTZ motor.
Select the PTZ motor (one only) in the PTZ motor tree that appears on the right and enter the auxiliary
number in the Auxiliary Number field.
Go home
Command the specified PTZ motor to go to its home position. Not all PTZ protocol supports this feature.
Select the PTZ motor (only one) in the PTZ motor tree that appears on the right. No argument is required.
User Notification Actions

The following actions send a message, sound or email to specific users.
Send a message
Send an on-screen message to the specified user(s) if the user(s) are connected to the Live Viewer.
The action will be ignored if the user(s) are not running the Live Viewer application.
Select the users in the user list that appears on the right and enter the message text in the Message field.
Send an alert sound
Send a sound bite to the specified user(s) if the user(s) are connected to the Live Viewer. The action will be
ignored if the user(s) are not running the Live Viewer application.
Select the users in the user list that appears on the right and enter the name of the sound file (.wav) in the
"Sound Name" field. It is not necessary to type the file extension. Warning: For the destination users to hear
the proper sound bite, the corresponding sound waves must be installed on the machines where the Live
Viewer application is running. The standard alert sound files that come with Omnicast installation are found in
the sub-folder "\AlertSounds\" under the Omnicast Client installation Directory. The folder path for the alert
sound files is configured in the Options dialog of the Live Viewer application.
To hear the sound file, click on the Play button.
Send an email
Send an email to the specified user(s). The selected users must have an email address configured (see
Properties under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – User). The action will be ignored if the user(s) do not
have an email address. The Directory must also be properly configured to handle this action (see Email under
Server Admin – Directory).
Select the users in the user list that appears on the right and type the message in the Message field.
Trigger alarm
Trigger an alarm. Select the alarm that needs to be triggered in the alarm list.
If this action is to be triggered by a camera event, an additional option will be available: " Add this encoder
to the list". Select this option to add the current encoder to the encoder list of the selected alarms. The
camera's display option will always be "Live video".
The alarm recipients are configured in the Recipients tab of the alarm.
To learn about how alarms are displayed by the system, please refer to the section on Alarm Display Mode
under Welcome – System Concepts – Alarm Management.
Output Relay Actions

Set the output relay to the opposite of its default state
Set the value of the unit's output relay to the opposite value of its default state.
This can be used to activate/deactivate a device connected to the output relay (door bell, light, etc.).
The action will be applied to the output relays selected in the list that appears on the right.
Set the output relay to its default state
Set the value of the unit's output relay to the default state value.
This can be used to activate/deactivate a device connected to the output relay (door bell, light, etc.).
The action will be applied to the output relays selected in the list that appears on the right.
Device Control Actions

The following actions send control messages (signals) to specific devices.
Send a string on the serial port
Send a character string to the specified serial port. This action can be used to control a wide array of devices
depending on what equipment is connected to the serial port of the encoder.
Select the serial port in the serial port tree that appears on the right and enter the string in the String field.
Macro Actions
Execute a macro
Start the execution of a pre-defined macro.

Select the macro to execute in the top list that will appear on the right. The Virtual matrix that will be used to
execute the macro must be selected in the bottom list.
Unit Actions
Reboot a unit
Reboot the specified unit(s).

Select the unit(s) to reboot from the unit tree that will appear on the right.
Custom actions
Custom actions are defined in the Config Tool. They can be used to control a wide array of devices by turning the
output signal on, off, or by sending a pulse.
When custom actions are defined, they are added to the available actions menu.
Welcome > System Concepts > Event Handling > Action Definitions

Alarm Management
Introduction
Alarm Management can be viewed as an extension to the basic Event Handling mechanism supported by Omnicast.
It is designed to handle situations that require immediate attention from the security personnel and where the
events can be described by displaying live or recorded videos on screen. These situations are what we call "alarm
situations".
Alarm Entity
Each type of alarm situation may require a different handling procedure from both the system and the
users. These handling requirements are defined as alarm entities in Omnicast. Each alarm entity can be
applied to different kinds of situations. The main characteristics of an alarm entity are described below.
Name Uniquely identifies the alarm entity (alarm handling procedure).
Priority Used for alarm prioritization. When multiple alarms occur at the same time,
the ones with higher priorities are displayed first. Please refer to the section
entitled "Alarm Display Mode" for further details.
Camera list List of cameras (video encoders) that should be displayed to describe the
alarm situation. Each camera can be configured to show live video, an archive
playback (usually seconds before the event's occurrence) or a sequence of
still frames. Multiple cameras could be used to provide different viewing
angles of the same scene.
If the camera list is empty, the alarm is called a silent alarm.
Recipient list List of users that should receive the alarm. The alarm recipients are the ones
responsible to take care of the alarm. The recipients can be notified all at
once or one after another, following a pre-configured sequence.
For the rest of this chapter, we will use the term "alarm" to designate an "alarm entity" when the context
is clear. There are many other characteristics concerning alarms that are not described here. To learn
them all, please refer to the Properties section under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm.
Contextual alarm
The "Contextual alarm" is a system defined alarm entity used to generate context sensitive alarms from the Live
Viewer. The purpose of this type of alarm is to report on the spot, ad hoc events observed on specific cameras. The
generated alarm will follow the properties configured for the "Contextual alarm" entity and show only live video
from the selected camera. Before sending the alarm, the user will have to choose the recipients.
The "Contextual alarm" entity cannot be deleted nor renamed. Users are allowed to change its properties and
associated actions in the Config Tool, but not its encoder list nor its recipient list. These two lists are purposely left
undefined so they can be adapted to the "context" from which the alarm is generated.
To learn how to trigger context sensitive alarms, please read the description of Trigger alarm command under Live
Viewer – Menu – Camera.
Alarm Handling
Alarm trigger
There are three ways to trigger an alarm:
1. The simplest method is to use the "Trigger alarm..." command from the Live Viewer's tile contextual menu. Using
the "Contextual alarm" as model, this command allows the user to instantly generate an alarm with any selected
camera in the Live Viewer without having to define a different alarm entity each time.
2. The second method is to associate the "Trigger alarm" action to the particular events corresponding to the alarm
situations you wish to monitor. When the specified events occur, the specified alarm will be triggered. The same
alarm can be associated to more than one event in the system.
3. The third method is to generate an alarm with the "Trigger alarm" command from a macro. Please refer to the
section on Properties under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Macro to learn about macro programming.
Alarm instance
Every time an alarm is triggered, an alarm instance is created. The alarm instance is what defines a specific
occurrence of an alarm situation, characterized by an alarm entity, the triggering event (or macro), and the instance
creation time. Each alarm instance is identified by a unique instance number for tracking purpose.
An alarm instance that has not been acknowledged is called an active alarm.
Alarm recipients
The alarm recipients are the designated people assigned to handle a specific type of alarm. They can be users, user
groups or monitor groups. Each alarm recipient has its own alarm queue to keep track of the alarms sent its way.
The alarm queues are maintained by the Directory even when the user is not logged on. The alarm queues are
cleared when the alarms are acknowledged.
Alarm instances are ordered according to their priority and their creation time (oldest first) in the alarm queue. This
order is followed by the system to determine which alarm instance should be displayed first.
Alarm display
Alarms are displayed on Live Viewer applications or on analog monitors. Only active alarms can be displayed. For
the Live Viewer to display alarms, one or more viewing tiles must be armed. Similarly, to display alarms on analog
monitors, the monitors must be part of a monitor group.
All cameras assigned to a given alarm are displayed for the same amount of time, called the "dwell time". The
cameras can be displayed all at once (Simple or Salvo) or one after another (Block), depending on the selected
display mode.
Alarm acknowledgement
An alarm acknowledgement is a specific user response to an alarm. It signals that the alarm has been taken care of.
Therefore, as soon as an alarm is acknowledged, it becomes inactive and is removed from all displays, except when
it is paused in a viewing tile. Alarm instances can be acknowledged from the alarm toolbar or from the alarm list of
the Live Viewer.
Omnicast provides three variants of alarm acknowledgement to cover all types of scenarios.
1. Default acknowledgement
This is the most common form of alarm acknowledgement and the only form in Omnicast version 3.5 and
earlier. This action generates two alarm events: "Alarm acknowledged" and "Alarm acknowledged
(Default)".
2. Alternate acknowledgement
The second form of alarm acknowledgement is identical to the first. The difference is found in the alarm
events it generates: "Alarm acknowledged" and "Alarm acknowledged (Alternate)". The alternate form of
acknowledgement is often used together with the default form to provide two opposite responses to a
same triggering event; for example, to open or not the door when someone rings the bell. The alternate
acknowledgement must be explicitly enabled from the Config Tool. See Config Tool – Alarm –
Acknowledgement.
3. Custom acknowledgement
The custom acknowledgement is designed to handle alarms that require multiple choice responses. This
action generates the alarm event "Alarm acknowledged" plus a custom event of the user's choice. To
enable the custom acknowledgement on a specific alarm, one or more custom events have to be selected
in the Acknowledgement tab of the said alarm.
For alarms of a routine nature, it is possible to tell the system to automatically acknowledge the alarm instances
after a given time, if nobody acknowledges it before. This behavior can be configured from the Alarm's Properties
tab in the Config Tool.
Forward and Snooze
A user can forward an alarm instance to another user or ask it to snooze for a preset amount of time (see alarm
display under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane – Viewing Tile). Once forwarded or snoozed, the alarm is removed from
the current user's display, but remains active for the other users.
Alarm history database
All actions performed on the alarm instances (creation, forward, snooze, acknowledge) are logged in the "alarm
history database", which can be consulted for later analysis. All three Omnicast client applications allow the user to
view the alarm history database.
To learn more about what you can do in each application concerning the alarm history, please read the appropriate
sections of the User Guide as indicated below:
Archive Player – Query Pane – Alarm Search (view and perform queries on alarm history database)
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Directory – Alarms (view all alarm instances in the system)
Live Viewer – Message Pane – Alarm list (view current user's alarm queue)
Alarm Display Mode

The alarm display mode is an alarm recipient's property. It tells the system how alarms should be displayed. The
choice of display mode is set with the Config Tool in the users' Live Viewer tab or the monitor groups' Properties
tab. Three display modes are available to choose from: Simple, Salvo and Block.
For the rest of this section, we will use the generic term "alarm monitor" to designate either an armed tile in the
Live Viewer application or an analog monitor in the monitor group, whichever applies.
Simple
The Simple alarm display mode always displays as many alarm cameras as possible while respecting alarm priorities,
but it never displays more than one alarm camera per alarm monitor (or tile). This means that there’s no cycling
between displays. As soon as an alarm is acknowledged, alarms are reorganized with the top alarm occupying the
first alarm monitors.
Let's look at an example to better describe this mode.
Example:
Consider 3 consecutive alarms having 2 cameras each, and 3 alarm monitors.

Alarm monitor 1 displays camera 1 of alarm 1
Camera 2 of alarm 2 will not be displayed until alarm 1 is acknowledged.
When alarm 1 is acknowledged, everything shift by 2 monitors and we get:

If an alarm has more cameras than there are monitors to display them, then the remaining cameras will never be
shown.
If a new alarm with a priority higher than the current one is triggered, the new alarm will occupy the first monitor in
the list, and the rest will be shifted down.
Salvo
The Salvo mode is similar to the Simple mode with regard to the use of alarm monitors. Both modes try to display
all the cameras of a given alarm simultaneously. But this is where the similarity ends. The Salvo mode differs from
the Simple mode in two aspects:
1. Only one alarm is displayed at a time.

2. All cameras of a given alarm are displayed.
The following example will illustrate these differences.
Example:
Consider 2 consecutive alarms having 5 cameras each with a dwell time of 5 seconds, and 3 alarm monitors.

After the dwell time of 5 seconds, the remaining 2 cameras of alarm 1 will be displayed.

Alarm monitor 3 displays whatever it was showing before the alarm occurred
After another 5 seconds, alarm 2 will be displayed, following the same pattern as alarm 1.
After alarm 2, if there is no new alarm is triggered, the display will switch back to alarm 1.
When there are more alarm cameras than there are monitors, then the cameras will be displayed in batches, starting
with the cameras at the top of the list (see Encoders tab under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm). Each
batch of cameras will be displayed for the amount of time specified by dwell time, until all cameras are displayed. A
5-camera alarm with a dwell time of 5 seconds will take 15 seconds to display if there are only two monitors, but
will take 5 seconds on five monitors or more.
If there is more than one alarm in the queue, the display will cycle through all of them, up to the "maximum
number of alarms to be displayed simultaneously" (a recipient's preference setting), in the order they are found in
the queue.
If a higher priority alarm is triggered while a lower priority alarm is being displayed, the display will immediately
switch to the higher priority alarm. After the new alarm's display times out, the display will resume with the next
alarm in the queue, following the order of the alarms in the queue.
Block
In this mode, all cameras assigned to an alarm are displayed sequentially on a single monitor. Each camera will be
displayed for the amount of time specified in dwell time. Therefore, a 5-camera alarm with a dwell time of 5
seconds will take 25 seconds to display, regardless the number of monitors available.
If there is more than one alarm in the queue, there could be as many alarms displayed simultaneously as there are
monitors, up to the "maximum" specified in the recipient's preference settings. The higher priority alarms will be
assigned to the lower numbered alarm monitors.
If there are more alarms to display simultaneously than there are available monitors, then the last monitor (the one
with the highest number) will be used to cycle through the remainder alarms.
Let's consider an example to better describe this mode.
Example:
Consider 4 consecutive alarms having 3 cameras each, and 3 alarm monitors.
Alarm monitor 1 displays alarm 1, cycling through all its cameras

Alarm monitor 3 displays alarm 3 and 4, cycling through all their cameras
If a 5th alarm with a priority higher than alarm 1 is triggered:

Alarm monitor 3 displays alarm 2, 3 and 4, cycling through all their cameras
If alarm 1 is acknowledged, alarm 2 will take its place in monitor 2:

Alarm monitor 3 displays alarm 3 and 4, cycling through all their cameras
If a new alarm with a priority higher than anything else in the queue is triggered, the new alarm will be displayed on
the first monitor in the list, and the rest will be shifted down.
Note that if there is only one alarm monitor available, Salvo and Block alarm display modes become identical.
Welcome > System Concepts > Alarm Management

Live Viewer
Overview
Workspace
Menu
Toolbar
Viewing Pane
Controls Pane
Message Pane
Live Viewer

Overview
Intuitive and Powerful

The Live Viewer application serves as the control and monitoring center of your entire security system. Through the Live
Viewer, security personnel can view full-motion video, control camera movements, receive on-screen alarm notifications,
save and print video snapshots, view instant replay clips, and generate bookmarks among other functions. Additionally,
the Live Viewer consolidates all metadata from third party systems into comprehensive sets of events that can be used to
trigger alarms. Both intuitive and powerful, the Live Viewer provides the tools necessary to gain a complete
understanding of events taking place within a facility in an medium streamlined for proper event management.
Feature Highlight
Viewing capabilities
View cameras in logical groupings for easy search (see Camera pane)
View any video source through simple drag and drop (see Managing the layouts)
View any video source on analog monitors (see Analog monitor pane)
View and control cameras (see Camera commands, PTZ controls, Digital zoom)
View and control camera sequences (see Camera sequence commands)
View and control maps (see Map commands and Display a map)
View and control alarms (see Alarm commands and Alarm list)
View metadata associated to cameras (see Metadata under Tile contextual menu)
Personalizing the viewing area
Easy switch between multiple screen layouts (see Viewer layout)
Personalize the screen layouts (see Layout control toolbar and Tile patterns)
Personalize the toolbars (see Customizing toolbars)
Save personalized screen layouts (see Editing/Saving the layouts)
View video in full screen (see Full screen video)
Start/stop and set up a guard tour (see Layout controls)
Set up the application as an IP video wall (see Multi-display configuration)
Controlling the cameras and marking important events
Block cameras from selected categories of users (see Camera blocking)
Use PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom), presets and patterns (see PTZ controls)
Define presets and scan patterns for automated domes (see PTZ controls)
Use digital zoom where optical zoom is not available (see Digital zoom)
Start/stop recording manually (see Record button)
Keep a local copy of everything viewed on screen (see Local recording)
Insert bookmarks into video for easy future reference (see Add a bookmark)
Instant replay of missed actions (see Instant replay)
Print or save current frame to disk (see Camera commands)
Use the PC keyboard instead of the mouse (see Keyboard commands)
Alarm management
Instant alarm notification (see Alarm indicator and Viewing alarms)
Arm/disarm tiles for alarm display (see Tile button and Alarm state)
Trigger context sensitive alarms (see Camera menu – Trigger alarm)
View and control alarms (see Alarm commands and Alarm display mode)
Acknowledge, forward, snooze alarms (see Alarm commands and Alarm list)
Configure alarm auto-forward (see Alarm sub-menu)
View alarm history (see Manipulating alarms)
Monitor other system events (see Event list)
Live Viewer > Overview

Workspace
Workspace Description
The Live Viewer workspace is divided into seven main areas (see illustration above). All of them can either be
resized or hidden from view to create more space for the Viewing pane, the only area that cannot be hidden.
Menu The application menu is a standard Windows application menu. It offers the keyboard
alternative to interacting with the application as opposed to using the mouse. However,
certain commands, such as changing the application settings, can only be reached
through the menu. Learn more
Toolbar The application toolbar provides a graphical representation of the most frequently used
commands in the Live Viewer. It also indicates the connection status as well as the
current system status, such as date, time and percentage of CPU usage. Learn more
Viewing Pane The Viewing pane is the main viewing area. Up to 16 cameras can be displayed at once
in this area. It is the only area that cannot be hidden in the workspace. In a multi-display
configuration, the Live Viewer can have as many Viewing panes as there are monitors
available. Each Viewing pane is assigned a unique ID in the system. Learn more
Tool Pane The Tool pane contains four sets of tools pertaining to the control of the entities
displayed in the Viewing pane. Learn more
Camera Pane The Camera pane contains a tree showing all viewable entities accessbile by the user.
You can drag the entities from the tree to the Viewing pane to view them. Learn more.
Analog Monitor The Analog monitor pane contains a tree showing only the analog monitors that are
Pane accessible by the user. You can drag a camera from the Camera pane to a monitor in
the analog mointor pane to display it on the selected monitor. Learn more.
Message Pane The Message pane is used to display the events that are occuring in the system. Learn
more
Customizing Your Workspace

The panes containing a title bar can be changed into a floating window by clicking on the button or closed by
clicking on the button. To make a hidden pane reappear, use the View menu.
To resize any of the panes, click on one of the edge separating two panes and drag towards the direction you want
to resize.
Live Viewer > Workspace

Menu
This Live Viewer menu is comprised of the following submenus.
System menu This menu allows the user to connect or disconnect from the Directory. Learn more
View menu This menu lets the user change the visual settings of the Live Viewer workspace. Learn more
Camera menu This menu lets the user perform specific actions on the currently selected camera in the
viewer layout. Most of the Toolbar commands are found here also. Learn more
Layouts menu This menu groups all the commands related to the control of viewer layouts. Learn more
Tools menu This menu lets the user change the Live Viewer options and call up other programs such as
the Archive Player and the Config Tool. Learn more
Help menu This menu lets the user access various help functions. Selecting "Context..." or clicking on [F1]
will open this document in the reference guide section related to the current application you
are running. Learn more
To navigate through the menus, simply click on a menu name, and the menu options will open up. Moving the mouse
cursor over the menu items will reveal other submenus. To read more about each submenu, click on the corresponding
links.
Live Viewer > Menu

System Menu
The system menu is standard for all Omnicast front-end applications. It lets the user connect to a Directory if he has not
already done so. Or it lets the user disconnect from the current Directory so he can connect to another one.
Connect... This command is only available if you are not yet connected to a Directory. This command is
equivalent to clicking on the button in the Application Control Panel. It opens up the
following dialog box.
In order to use the Live Viewer, you must identify yourself by entering your username and
password (should be provided to you by your system administrator).
To learn more about connecting to the Directory and its advanced options, please refer to
the section on Connect Dialog under Welcome – System Concepts.
Disconnect This command disconnects the Live Viewer from its current Directory, but does not exit the
application. It is equivalent to clicking on the button in the Application Control Panel.
Use this command if you wish to connect to another Directory or through another Gateway.
Note that you need the "Change client views" privilege to logoff or to exit the
application. If you do not have this privilege, you will be prompted to enter a user
that has it.
Change This command allows the currently connected user to change his own password.
Password...
To change your password, first enter your old password, then twice your new password, and
click OK. For security reasons, you may not copy and paste your new password in the second
field.
Activate CCTV Use this command when a CCTV keyboard is connected to the serial port of your PC. This
command will enable you to use the CCTV keyboard to control the camera movements
Keyboard
instead of using the mouse.
When the CCTV keyboard is activated, a keyboard icon ( ) will appear in the Tile Control
Panel in the Toolbar.
For the CCTV keyboard to work, it must be properly configured for your PC. To learn on how
to configure the CCTV keyboard for your PC, please refer to the section on Keyboard options
under Tools Menu – Options.
Deactivate Use this command to disconnect the CCTV keyboard from your serial port. This command
CCTV Keyboard becomes handy when your PC has only one serial port and you temporarily need to use that
serial port for something else.
Detect Use this command to detect the joystick(s) or game controller(s) connected to your PC. This
command is only necessary when the joystick is connected after the Liver Viewer has been
Joysticks
started.
When a joystick is detected, a joystick icon ( ) will appear in the Tile Control Panel in the
Toolbar. To learn on how to configure the joystick for the Live Viewer, please refer to the
section on Joystick options under Tools Menu – Options.
Notifications... Use this command to open the "Missed notifications" log. All notification messages displayed
by the Live Viewer that are not acknowledged by the user within a preset amount of time are
moved to this log to avoid cluttering the screen. The time a notification message stays on
screen has a default value of 10 sec. You can change this value in the User Interaction options
of the Options dialog.
When there are messages in the log, a notification button will appear in the Application
Control Panel in the Toolbar. Clicking on the notification button opens the "Notifications"
log.
The icon in front of each log entry indicates the type of message.
Notification sent by the "Send a message" action.

Warning message.
Error message.
You can clear all the messages at once or delete them one by one . You can tell that
certain messages have been displayed more than once by their number of occurrences. The
time corresponds to the time the last occurrence was displayed.
Exit This command disconnects the Live Viewer from its current Directory and exits the
application.
Live Viewer > Menu > System Menu

View Menu
This menu gives you the commands to control the look and feel of your Live Viewer's workspace.
Note that if you do not have the "Change client views" privilege, most of the commands in this menu
would be disabled.
Tool Pane (F4) Hides or shows the Tool pane (top left).
Camera Pane (F6) Hides or shows the Camera pane (middle left).
Analog Monitor Pane Hides or shows the Analog monitor pane (bottom left).
(F7)
Message Pane (F8) Hides or shows the Message pane (bottom right).
Toolbar (F9) Hides or shows the Toolbar (top).
Hide All Panes (F10) Hides or shows all the panes (F4 through F9) except the Viewing pane.
Hide Menu in Full Hides or shows the application menu in full screen mode.
Screen
Full Screen (F11) Turns the Full Screen mode on or off. The full screen mode maximizes the Live
Viewer's window and hides the task bar, the title bar and the application border. For
additional information, please read the section on Multi-Display Configuration under
Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
Full Screen Video Turns the Full Screen Video mode on or off. Turning the full screen video mode on
(Shift+F11) is equivalent to select to hide the menu in full screen mode, to hide all panes (F10),
and to turn the full screen mode on (F11). The only difference is that in full screen
video mode, the commands F4 through F9 are disabled. For additional information
on operating the Live Viewer in full screen video mode, please read the section on
Full Screen Video under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
Advanced Mode Alternates between Simple and Advanced modes. In Simple mode, only the most
(Shift+F10) common controls are visible, thus simplifying the user interface for novices. In
Advanced mode, all available controls are visible, thus giving complete control to the
experienced users.
Live Viewer > Menu > View Menu

Camera Menu
This menu groups together all commands relative to the control of the cameras (and camera sequences). The menu
items are explained below:
Expand Expands the currently selected tile so it takes the entire viewing pane. You can achieve
the same result by typing E from the keyboard or clicking on the button in the Layout
Control Toolbar.
Digital Zoom Brings to the front the Digital Zoom tab in the Tool pane. Equivalent to typing Ctrl+D
from the keyboard. However, if the Tool pane is not displayed, this command will be
ignored.
Instant Replay Brings to the front the Instant Replay tab in the Tool pane. Equivalent to typing Ctrl+I
from the keyboard. However, if the Tool pane is not displayed, this command will be
ignored.
Record Starts or stops manual recording. This command performs the same function as the
record button found in the selected tile.
Record Locally Starts or stops local recording on the selected tile (Ctrl+L) or on all tiles (Ctrl+T). When
this feature is turned on, the tile ID and the entity description are displayed in red.
Local recording Off Local recording On
Save Snapshot Saves a snapshot of the selected tile. Equivalent to clicking the button in the Entity
Control Toolbar.
Print Snapshot Prints a snapshot of the selected tile. Equivalent to clicking the button in the Entity
Control Toolbar.
Add a bookmark... Displays the following dialog to add a bookmark to the video archive of the selected
camera at the timestamp indicated in the dialog box.
You may take your time to type the text, because the timestamp of the bookmark won't
change. This command is equivalent to clicking the bookmark button in the Entity
Control Toolbar or to typing B from the keyboard.
Trigger alarm... Triggers a context sensitive alarm. This type of alarm only shows live video from the
selected camera, using the Contextual alarm as template. This means that all alarm
properties are taken from this entity. You will be prompted by a dialog to select the
recipients of this alarm. The contextual alarm can only be sent in broadcast mode, i.e. all
recipients will get the alarm at the same time. To learn more about contextual alarms,
please read the section on Alarm Management under Welcome – System Concepts.
Forward video to Displays the following dialog to forward a selected video stream to a Pocket PC Viewer
Pocket PC... of your choice.
Remove Selected Removes the entity that is shown in the selected tile from the Viewing pane. Equivalent
to clicking on the button in the Tile Control Toolbar or to dragging the current
display back to the camera tree. You may also type Backspace from the keyboard.
Remove All Removes all currently displayed entities from the current layout page.
NOTE – More camera commands are available from the tile contextual menu.
Live Viewer > Menu > Camera Menu

Local Recording
Feature Overview
The purpose of the local recording is to allow the user to create a local copy of the live video as it appears in the
Live Viewer. This feature can be turned on for an individual tile (Ctrl+L) or for all the tiles (Ctrl+T), including those
that are not visible in the current viewer layout. Whenever local recording is turned on, both the tile ID and the
entity description are displayed in red (see illustration above).
Only the live video and only what is visible is recorded. If a camera is blocked, no video will be recorded. If the live
video is part of a camera sequence or an alarm, it will be recorded as is, in the same display sequence shown in the
tile. If an alarm includes playback sequences or still frames, they will not be recorded.
In order to use this feature, the "Local recording" option must be supported by the Omnicast license and the user
must have the "Local recording" privilege.
Scope of local recording

Local recording is a property associated to a tile ID, meaning that if this feature is turned on for a given tile; it
remains on for that tile regardless of the viewer layout being used. This means that local recording will not be
interrupted by the guard tour.
Local recording is deactivated when the user manually turns it off or when the user disconnects from the Directory.
Unlike the alarm state of a tile, the local recording property is not saved as part of the layout definition, nor is it
saved as the current user's preference.
Limitations of local recording

Because local recording is carried out by the Live Viewer instead of an archiving service (see Archiver types under
Welcome – System Concepts – Archiving Management), the following limitations are to be expected:
1) You will not be able to query the local recordings with the Archive Player. You may only play the video files from
the File Browser.
2) Local recordings cannot be encrypted.
3) Audio recording is not supported.
4) Local recording is prohibited if either an Archiver or an Auxiliary Archiver is currently running on the same
machine. This is to prevent conflicting disk space requirements between the Live Viewer and the archiving service.
5) When disk space is low, the Live Viewer will not try to make space by deleting older video files. When there is not
enough free space on disk, the recording will stop without warning.
Configuring local recording

Local recording is configured from the Live Viewer's Options dialog. You must specify the Directory where the video
files should be created, the maximum size of a video file and the minimum free space to leave on your local hard
disk.
Live Viewer > Menu > Camera Menu > Local Recording

Layouts Menu
This menu offers the commands for managing the viewer layouts available in the Viewing pane.
Insert... Inserts a new layout to the Live Viewer workspace.
Remove Removes the currently selected viewer layout.
Rename... Renames the currently selected viewer layout.
Save Saves the definition of the currently selected viewer layout.
Save All Saves the definition of all the viewer layouts in the layout list.
Reload Reloads the saved definition of the currently selected layout.
The same commands available in this menu are also available as layout edit buttons. Please refer to the Editing/Saving
the Layouts under Viewing Pane – Managing the Layouts.
Live Viewer > Menu > Layouts Menu

Tools Menu
This menu allows the user to perform the following functions:
Config Tool Starts the Config Tool ( ) using the same connection parameters as the Live Viewer.
Archive Player Starts the Archive Player ( ) using the same connection parameters as the Live Viewer.
Alarm Allows you to manually trigger an alarm or to set the alarm auto-forward. See Alarm
submenu.
Entity Search... Opens the Entity Search dialog to find any entity in the system. See Welcome – System
Concepts – Entity Search.
Block cameras... Opens the Block cameras dialog which allows a user with sufficient privilege to prevent
less privileged users from viewing selected cameras. This command is enabled by the
"Block camera" option in your Omnicast license and is only available to users with the
"Block camera" privilege.
Execute Macro... Opens the "Execute action" dialog (see below) with the action type "Execute a macro"
pre-selected. You may also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M. Please see also Hot
Macros under Live Viewer – Tool Pane.
Execute Action... Opens the generic "Execute action" dialog:
This dialog allows the user to execute any of the programmable actions that are within
his privileges to run. For a full description of all the available action types and event
types, please refer to the section on Event Handling. The specifications that you must
supply in order to fully describe the desired action will depend on the selected action
type.
Options... Opens the Live Viewer Options Dialog.
Custom menu All menu items listed after "Options..." in the Tools menu are customizable. All Omnicast
client applications are installed with the custom menu item "Launch Field Report
items
Generator". If you ever need to call the technical support for any reason, this command
may prove to be very useful. It launches the Field Report Generator, a tool that gathers
pertinent information regarding the status of your system that can help the support
team diagnose your problem.
To learn how to customize the Tools menu, please refer to Customize Tools Menu under
Config Tool – Menu – Tools Menu.
Live Viewer > Menu > Tools Menu

Alarm Sub-Menu
The Alarm submenu allows you to manually trigger alarms and to set the alarm auto-forward.
To manually trigger an alarm:

1. Click on "Trigger Alarm..." in the Alarm submenu.
2. The "Execute action" dialog will appear with the action type "Trigger alarm" pre-selected:
3. Select the alarm you want and click OK. You can also call-up this dialog from the Do Action command from the
Tools menu.
You must have the privilege "Manually trigger an alarm" to be able to use this
feature.
To enable the alarm auto-forward:

The alarm auto-forward allows you to redirect all alarms sent your way to another user or group of users while you
are temporarily away from your post. To permanently change the alarm recipients, please do so from the Alarm –
Recipients tab of the Config Tool.
1. Click on "Auto forward..." in the Alarm menu. The following dialog will appear:
2. Select from the combo-box the recipient you wish to forward your alarms to and click on .
3. Alarm forward is now activated.
To select whether the alarm auto-forward is enabled or not, simply click on the Alarm menu. If the auto-forward is
enabled, the "Auto-forward" will be selected as shown below.
To disable the alarm auto-forward:

To disable the auto-forward feature, click on the "Auto forward..." in the Alarm menu.
When the "Auto forward alarms" dialog appears, select "None" and click on .
Live Viewer > Menu > Tools Menu > Alarm Sub-Menu

Camera Blocking
Feature Overview
Camera blocking is a feature that allows users with sufficient privileges to block other less privileged users from
establishing video connections with selected cameras. This feature is particularly targeted for installations that
provide the general public access to live video. In such cases, cameras may be viewing situations not suitable for
transmission to all users.
This feature is enabled by the "Block camera" option in your Omnicast license.
Camera blocking is based on a viewing priority that is assigned to all users (see Config Tool – Configuration Pane
– User – Properties). The viewing priority is defined on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest priority, and 10
the lowest.
When a camera is blocked, a blocking level is assigned to the camera. All users with a viewing priority equal or
lower than the blocking level will be denied the right to view live video from that camera.
If a video connection is already established, it will be cut off (blocked). A denied video connection is shown as a
black screen with the word "BLOCKED" displayed in the center (see illustration above).
Block cameras dialog

Camera blocking is done through the "Block cameras" dialog (see below). This dialog can be accessed from either
the Tools Menu or the Tile Contextual Menu. Only users with the "Block camera" privilege may access this dialog.
The encoders list on the left shows all the cameras with their respective blocking status. The crossed out camera
icon indicates a currently blocked camera. The number that follows the camera name indicates the blocking level.
Click on a blocked camera to see who is blocking it. Users who are currently viewing this camera are shown on the
right. Users whose viewing right has been denied are shown by a crossed out user icon. The number to the right
of the user name indicates his current viewing priority. Video connections which have been denied are also shown
with a crossed out icon.
Select " Show all users" to list all users in the system with their viewing status and priority in regard to the selected
camera.
A Virtual Matrix icon will appear in the place of a user icon in the users list if a video connection is requested
by a Virtual Matrix as in the case of a camera sequence.
Camera blocking rules:
1) A user may only block a camera at a level lower than his viewing priority. This means that users with the viewing
priority equal to 10 cannot block anyone. Conversely, users with the viewing priority equal to 1 cannot be blocked
by anyone.
2) A user may not unblock or lower the blocking level of a camera that is blocked at a level equal or higher than his
viewing priority. However, this does not preclude the user from selecting who is blocking a camera if the user has
the "Block camera" privilege.
3) A user with a viewing priority higher than the blocking level of a camera may unblock the camera or change its
blocking level. To change the blocking level, it is not necessary to unblock the camera first. Simply enter the new
blocking level and click on the Block button.
4) When a user requests a video connection with a camera, the viewing priority of the user at the moment the
request is made is attributed to the connection. Changing the viewing priority of the user after the connection is
established will not change the viewing priority of that connection.
Therefore, a user will continue to view a camera if the user's viewing priority is
lowered below the blocking level after the camera has been blocked.
Conversely, a camera will remain blocked to a user if the user's viewing

priority is raised above the blocking level after the camera has been blocked.
Live Viewer > Menu > Tools Menu > Camera Blocking

Options Dialog
The Options Dialog is accessible from the Live Viewer's Tools Menu. From this dialog, you can configure most of the Live
Viewer's default behavior to suit your preferences. Note that you must have the "Change application options" privilege
before you can change any settings in this dialog.
The dialog contains eleven tabs, one for each group of settings.
General Visual Local Recording
Network User Interaction Remote Access
Audio Peripherals Date and Time
Alarm Display
General Options
User login Restrict access to connection parameters – Enable this feature to prevent
dialog the users from changing the Gateway in the Connect dialog. The next time a user
starts a client application on this machine, the Gateway drop-down list will turn
into a read-only field.
TIP – If for some reason the connection parameters are invalidated

because of a change in the system (e.g. the Gateway has been moved to
a different machine) after you enabled this feature, users will no longer
be able to connect to the system. To make the Gateway editable again,
enter the username and password of an administrator and type
[Ctrl+Shift+Enter].
Use current Windows credentials by default – Select this option to use

Windows credentials for user login. When this option is selected, the application
will skip the Connect dialog and proceed immediately to login using the current
Windows credentials. The Active Directory must be enabled on the specified
Omnicast Directory for this option to work.
Guard tour Dwell time – Enter here the number of seconds you want the Live Viewer to
dwell on each layout page when the guard tour is activated . You may also use
the slider, whichever is more convenient for you.
Instant Replay Initial timeline duration – Enter here the duration of the video sequence to
show in the timeline when the instant replay is requested for a given camera.
Time to rewind before replay – Enter here the number of seconds to rewind
before starting the instant replay.
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Network Options
Network card If your machine is equipped with more than one network card, you will be given
the option to choose the network card to use for Omnicast here.
Connection Select here the connection type to apply to all software decoders used by this
type application. Choose between Best available, Unicast UDP, Unicast TCP and
Multicast. For a full description of each connection type, please refer to the
section on Network Connection Types under Welcome – System Concepts.
Direct connection – This option appears only when you choose "Unicast
UDP" as your connection type. You need to select this option only if your Live
Viewer is not connected to the same LAN as the Archiver and that your network
configuration forces you to use Unicast (for example when your company's
router does not allow Multicast). This option will help avoid the redirection of
video streams by the Archiver.
Default Select here the default video stream to use when showing live video in a tile, be
viewing stream it from a camera, a camera sequence or an alarm. You have five "standard" video
streams to choose from:
Live
Recording
Remote
Other 1
Other 2
The mapping of the actual video streams to the standard stream usages is done
on an individual camera basis. See Config Tool – Camera – Video Quality.
Note that this is only the default setting. The user can change the viewing stream
individually from the Tile contextual menu.
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Audio Options
Use this option to configure the preferred device for sound playback and sound recording. This tab
is visible only if "Audio" is supported in your Directory license.
Sound bites Specify here the folder where the sound files used for alarms and actions are
found. To hear the sound bites, please refer to the section on testing sound files
in the Config Tool reference. If you leave this field blank, no alert sound will be
heard.
Preferred Sound playback – If your machine is equipped with more than one sound card,
device you will be given the option to choose the card to use for sound playback.
Sound recording – If your machine is equipped with more than one sound card,
you will be given the option to choose the card to use for sound recording.
Transmission / Half duplex – Listen or talk, but not both at the same time
Reception
Full duplex – Listen and talk at the same time
Audio volume Show the volume controls in the toolbar – Clear this option if the volume
control should be hidden from the application control panel. By removing the
"Change application options" privilege, the administrator can prevent users from
ever changing the audio volume.
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Alarm Options
On new alarms Bring the Live Viewer in front of other windows – Select this option if you
want the Live Viewer application to be brought to the foreground every time a
new alarm notification is received or re-activated.
Stop guard tour if alarm video is displayed – Select this option if you want
the guard tour to stop when alarm video is displayed. Please read Layout
controls under Viewing Pane – Managing the layouts to learn how to start and
stop guard tours.
Display an overlayed warning if there are no armed tiles – Select this
option to show an overlayed warning message in the middle of the vieiwing
pane when there are active alarms in the sytem but no armed tiles to show them.
The warning message will stay on screen until the alarms are acknowledged or
when a tile is armed.
Play a sound – Select this option if you want the application to play a sound
bite every time an alarm notification is received (or when a snoozing alarm is re-
activated). If you do not wish to hear any sound when alarm notifications are
received, leave this field blank. For this option to work, the sound bites must be
configured in the Audio tab.
Snooze time Enter here the duration of the alarm snooze in seconds. To learn more about
Alarm Management, please select it out under Welcome – System Concepts.
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Visual Options
Information Show tile IDs – Select this option if you wish to show the ID of each tile in the
displayed in upper left corner. Select "Always" if you want the tile IDs to be displayed at all times.
the viewing Select "Auto-hide" if you want the tile ID to be displayed only when the mouse
pane cursor moves over the tile.
Show entity controls – Select this option if you want to show the entity control
toolbar in each tile. Select "Always" if you want the toolbar to be displayed at all
times. Select "Auto-hide" if you want the toolbar to be displayed only when the
mouse cursor moves over the bottom area of the tile.
Show layout controls – Select this option if you want to show the layout
controls at the bottom of the viewing pane. Select "Always" if you want the controls
to be displayed at all times. Select "Auto-hide" if you want the controls to be
displayed only when the mouse cursor moves over the bottom area of the viewing
pane.
Show overlayed monitor ID – Select this option to show the monitor ID as an
overlay at the lower right corner of the viewing pane. This option is recommended
only if the layout controls are never shown. Otherwise, the two will clash. Another
effect for selecting this option is to briefly display the name of the layout at the
bottom of the viewing pane every time the layout changes.
Show metadata overlays – Select this option if you want to show by default, all
metadata associated to a camera, whenever they are available. This option does not
apply to camera sequences nor alarms. Note that the user can always choose to
display or to hide any metadata overlay individually for a given camera from the tile
contextual menu.
Full path in entity names – Select this option if you wish to include the full path
(hierarchy of site names) in the entity description of each viewing tile. If the entity is
found under multiple sites, then the path is indicated as "...\".
Tile toolbar This section allows you to configure the various toolbars that appear in the viewing
commands tile.
Tile Control Toolbar
Select this tab to configure the commands that should appear in the tile control
toolbar. This is the toolbar that appears at the top of each tile. It features
generic commands pertaining to the control of the viewing tile. For each
command appearing in the list, choose "Never" to hide the command from the
toolbar or "Always" to show the command instead.
Entity Control Toolbar
The following tabs all pertain to the configuration of the entity control toolbar. This
is the toolbar that appears at the bottom of each tile. The commands featured in
this toolbar changes according to the displayed entity, thus the name "Entity
Control Toolbar".
You have three options for each command.
1. Never – Never show the command in the corresponding toolbar.
2. Always – Always show the command in the corresponding toolbar. When you
choose to show the Entity Control Toolbar at all times, the command will be
shown.
3. Extended – Only show the command in the extended section of the toolbar. The
extended section is revealed only when the mouse cursor moves over the
toolbar.
Select this tab to configure the commands pertaining to the control of cameras
(live videos).
Select this tab to configure the commands found in the PTZ control toolbar. This
toolbar only appears when a dome camera ( ) is displayed in the tile and that
the user has activated the "in tile" PTZ controls.
Select this tab to configure the commands pertaining to the control of camera
sequences.
Select this tab to configure the commands pertaining to the control of alarms.
Select this tab to configure the commands pertaining to the control of maps.
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User Interaction Options

System Show messages,... – Select this option to prevent the application from showing
messages any warning or error message. This option should be used when the application is
running in an unattended mode. When this option is selected, the next two options
will be disabled. You have to restart the application for this option to take effect.
Close automatically messages,... – Select this option if you want the notification
messages to be moved automatically to the notification message log if they are not
acknowledged by the user after a given period of time. See Notifications under
System Menu.
Prompt user when CPU usage is above... – When the CPU is near its maximum
capacity, attempting a CPU intensive operation (such as viewing a camera) can
sometimes freeze the machine. To prevent this from happening, you can ask the
system to prompt you for a confirmation before attempting any CPU intensive
operation when the percentage of CPU usage is above a preset level.
Select this option to turn this feature on. When you attempt a CPU intensive
operation when the CPU usage is above the indicated threshold, the following
message will appear.
Click on "Yes" if you wish to ignore the warning, or click on "No" to cancel the
operation.
Selecting " Never ask me that question again" and clicking "Yes" is equivalent to
turning this feature off.
On Save changes to layout list – Select here the save option for changes made to the
application layout list. The layout list is the choice of viewer layouts that appear in the Viewing
exit pane. "Yes" means to always save without asking; "Ask the user" would always ask
you before saving and "No" means to never save.
Save changes to layout properties – Select here the save option for changes made
to the viewer layouts themselves. "Yes" means to always save without asking; "Ask the
user" would always ask you before saving and "No" means to never save.
If you are only experimenting with different tile patterns, choose not to save the
viewer layouts or to prompt you before saving (default option). You can always save
the layouts explicitely one by one. See also Editing/Saving the layouts under Live
Viewer – Viewing Pane – Managing the Layouts.
Snapshots Write date, time and camera
name on snapshots – Select this
option to have the date, time
and camera name overlayed at
the bottom of the snapshots.
This option applies to both
saved and printed snapshots.
Always save the snapshots
in the same folder – Use this
option to speed up the "Save
snapshot" command.
WARNING – If the "Always save ..." option is disabled, the Save snapshot
command will prompt you to enter the name, the location and the format
(bitmap or JPEG) of the saved image file before taking the snapshot, causing
you to miss the important scene you want to save.
The name of the saved image file will follow the format "camera name -
date_time.format", where ".format" is either .bmp or .jpg.
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Peripheral Options
Joystick
The joystick tab allows you to configure the joystick connected to your PC to be used as a CCTV keyboard. If a
joystick (or any game controller supporting at least one axis) is detected on your computer, its brand and model
name will appear in the "Active joystick" combo box.
The "Import" and "Export" buttons allows you to import a previously saved joystick configuration from disk or to
save the current configuration to disk. The Clear button erases the selected command mapping.
Axis The top section is used to map the axis commands of the joystick to the desired PTZ
command of your choice. All axes supported by your joystick will be listed.
To associate a PTZ command to a joystick axis, select the axis in the list and click on the
Command field. The available commands will appear in a drop-down list.
For each axis, you have the choice to invert the commands. For example, if you
mapped the "Tilt" command to the Y axis, inverting the commands will cause the
camera to move up when you pull the joystick towards you, and down when you push
the joystick away from you.
Buttons The bottom section is used to configure the joystick buttons to perform the Live
Viewer commands of your choice. The number of buttons you can configure depends
on the type of joystick you have.
To associate a command to a joystick button, select the button in the list and click on
the Down command field or Up command field to see a list of commands you may
choose from. If the selected command requires an argument, then enter it in the
Argument field.
You may associate two different commands to each button, one to the button down
event and another to the button up event. The second command is optional.
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Keyboard
Use the keyboard tab to configure the CCTV keyboard attached to your PC.
Keyboard Select here the make and model of your CCTV keyboard.
protocol
Keyboard Only certain models require the address to be set. Please refer to your keyboard
address manufacturer's installation guide.
COM port This section allows you to configure the characteristics of the COM port (serial
port) to which the CCTV keyboard is connected. Follow the specifications of the
keyboard manufacturer.
Connect to Select this box if you want the Live Viewer to automatically connect to the
keyboard attached CCTV keyboard every time the application starts up.
automatically
If this option is turned off, you will have to connect the CCTV keyboard manually
every time you want to use it. See System menu.
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Display Options
The display options are the same for all three client applications (Live Viewer, Archive Player and
Config Tool). Changing the settings in one application will automatically change it for the other
applications installed on the same machine.
Video You can configure separately the video options for Live viewing and Playback (see
options Instant Replay). The different options are explained below.
Wait for vertical blank – Turning this option on reduces the "tearing effect"
where movements are shown in the video. The tearing effect is shown as jagged
edge or blurred video around moving objects. This effect is noticeable only when
the video is displayed in high resolutions (2cif or 4cif).
NOTE – This option is only recommended for 2 GHz processors or faster,

because it uses up more CPU.
Let's look at a concrete example. The picture below shows a 2cif video displayed
on a 2 GHz machine with the "Wait for vertical blank" option turned off.
Notice how blur the image is around the moving arms. Also notice the CPU gauge.
Displaying this video on a 2 GHz machine hardly uses any CPU.
Now let's look at the same scene with the "Wait for vertical blank" feature turned
on.
This time, the same moving arms look much sharper. Also notice that the
application is using more CPU.
DeInterlacing filter – This is another CPU intensive option to help reduce the
jagged effect around straight lines during movement. This effect affects only
videos (2cif or 4cif format).
Deblocking filter – This is a third CPU intensive option to help reduce the
appearance of blocks in low resolution videos (qcif and cif).
Video mode – Omnicast supports two video display modes: RGB and YUV. The
latter mode is the preferred mode because it offers a performance gain of 20% to
30% over the default RGB mode. However, it is not supported by all video
adapters.
The following is a list of video adapters that do support the YUV mode:
Matrox G450 or G550
nVidia GeForce2 or better
ATI Radeon 7000 or better
TIP – The surest way to know whether your video display adapter supports
YUV or not is to test it. You must restart your application after changing the
video mode. If the video is displayed correctly, then your video adapter
supports the selected video mode. Sometimes, upgrading to the latest
version of the device driver can fix some compability issues.
Select the PC This table lists all logical displays configured under Windows for your PC. The
displays... "Dispaly mode" indicates how many physical monitors are included in each display
and whether the display span horizontally or vertically. If your PC is configured
with more than one display, you can select the ones that the Live Viewer should
use in full screen mode (F11 and Shift+F11).
Enable Select this option if you plan to use the Live Viewer as a video wall.
Video Wall
Typically, a PC configured as a video wall is equipped with multiple display
adapters and runs unattended.
There are three main differences between the IP Video Wall mode and the normal
mode. They are:
1. The viewer layouts are not saved in the Directory, only locally. This means that
those layouts are specifically defined for that PC.
2. When the application starts, it will automatically switch to Full Screen mode if
the video wall mode is activated.
3. While in Full Screen mode, the selected tiles are not highlighted in yellow.
WARNING – You must restart the Live Viewer every time you change the
IP Video Wall option. Otherwise, the application will not function properly.
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Local Recording Options

Use this tab to configure your local recording preferences on your PC. This tab is absent if "local
recording" is not supported by your license or if an Archiver or an Auxiliary Archiver is currently
running on the same machine. This is to prevent conflicting disk space requirements between the
Live Viewer and the archiving service. To learn how this feature works, please read the section on
Local recording under Live Viewer – Camera Menu.
Record Enter here the root folder where you want the Live Viewer to save the video files.
path
The video files (.g64) are grouped in
subdirectories according to the monitor ID,
the tile ID, and the date.
The names of the video files created for the
local archives start with the prefix
"Monitor_", followed by the monitor ID,
followed by "_Tile_" and the tile ID, followed
by the date and time of the first frame
contained in the file.
Archive Maximum length – Set here the maximum length for the video files. The length is
files the time span between the first video frame and the last video frame stored in the
file.
Maximum size – Select this option to set a cap to the size of the video files.
Disk Minimum free space – Set here the minimum free space the Live Viewer must leave
minimum on the selected drive. If the free space on disk falls below this value, archiving will
free space stop.
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Remote Access Options
Remote access is a functionality provided by Omnicast to allow other Live Viewer users on the
system to view cameras on your PC monitors as if they were any analog monitor on the system. This
feature is particularly useful in situations where a single user needs to control multiple unattended
Live Viewer workstations.
Each monitor controlled by the Live Viewer application is assigned a unique monitor ID by the
system (see Viewing Pane). Using a CCTV keyboard, a joystick or the PC keyboard, a user can display
a camera in any tile of any Live Viewer controlled monitor, provided he has the permission to do so.
Please read the chapter on Keyboard Commands to learn how to perform this operation from a PC
keyboard.
To permit other Live Viewer users to use the monitors connected to your PC, simply select their
names in the list and click Apply.
Return to top
Date and Time Options

The time zone settings apply to all client applications. Changing a setting in one will automatically
affect the other applications installed on the same machine. Note that the date and time display
format follows the Windows settings.
Device time Display based on each device's time zone – Each device in the system follows
zone a specific time zone. Generally speaking, an application follows the time zone of
the machine where it is running and all devices (units) follow the time zone of
the application controlling it.
Display based on the following time zone – You can choose to display the
time according to each entity's time zone or to display everything following a
time zone of your choice. This change is effective immediately and affects all
client applications.
Time zone Display time zone abbreviations – Select this option to display the time
abbreviations zone abbreviation wherever time is displayed. Please refer to the Appendix for
the time zone abbreviations used in Omnicast.
Return to top
Live Viewer > Menu > Tools Menu > Options Dialog

Help Menu
Contents... Clicking on "Contents..." or the F1 key will open this help file to the table of content.
Search... Clicking on "Search..." will open this help file to the Search page.
About...
License Information
The License Information fields display information regarding the software license purchased
from Genetec.
The "Company Name" represents the name of the company to whom the license was
sold.
The "System ID" field is an identification number representing the Omnicast Directory
service for which the license was sold. A separate license must be purchased from
Genetec for each computer that runs either the Omnicast Directory service or, the
Omnicast Archiver service.
The expiration shows the date when the demo software will expire. After this date, a
license must be purchased from Genetec to continue using the software.
File Versions
Clicking on the "File versions..." button shows the software versions of all the components
used by this application.
The first 2 digits of the version number (separated by a ".") represent the application's
version number. In the example above, the software is version 4.0.
The next 5 digits (separated by a ".") represent the "build" number. In the example
above, the software is version 4.0, Build 587.03.
The first executable (.exe) in the list represents the application itself. In the case above,
information regarding the Genetec Omnicast Live Viewer application is being displayed.
The rest of the components listed below the application itself represent the dynamic link
libraries (DLL's) used by the application.
The version number of the application and it's DLL's are displayed for troubleshooting
purposes. THEY MUST ALL BE THE SAME! If they are not all the same, it may be due to
the uninstall of a previous version that did not complete successfully, followed by an
upgrade to a newer version.
More information regarding the application license can be found in the section on Omnicast
License Key under the Welcome – System Concepts.
Live Viewer > Menu > Help Menu

Toolbar
Description
The Live Viewer's toolbar is located right under the Live Viewer's menu. It can be hidden or revealed by pressing
the F9 key. It features status and control panels as well as shortcuts to other Omnicast applications.
Application Control Panel

The Application Control Panel is common to all
Omnicast client applications. It indicates various status
concerning your application and allows you to control
the volume of the PC speakers.
Connect button The round button on the left allows you to connect or disconnect from the
Directory without having to exit the application. See also Connect... command
under the System Menu.
Connection If the application is connected to a Directory, it is indicated by the username and

status the Gateway used to establish the connection. The number that follows is the TCP
command port used by the Gateway.
Current date and The current date and time are indicated below the connection status. The time
time zone abbreviation is optional. See Date and time options under Menu – Tools –
Options.
CPU The CPU gauge indicates the percentage of CPU currently being used. If your
computer seems to have trouble responding and the gauge tells you that the CPU
is always near 100%, you should probably consider reducing the number of
cameras displayed simultaneously. If this doesn't solve your problem, please talk to
your system administrator.
Video The video gauge indicates the percentage of video memory used. If the memory
usage is near 100%, the message "Not enough video memory" will be displayed
in the tile instead of the video when you drag a playback sequence to a tile. To
remedy the situation, remove some cameras from the Viewing pane and try again.
Volume control The volume slider controls the volume of your PC speakers. It corresponds to the
volume control found in Windows system tray. Tapping on the speaker icon will
toggle the speaker on or off .
To turn the sound on/off individually on live stream, use the Start/Stop listening
button found in the entity control toolbar of each tile.
Missed When notification messages sent by the system to your application are not
notifications acknowledged within 10 seconds, they are moved to a "Missed notifications" log
for later reading. When this log is not empty, the notification button will lit up in
the panel. Clicking on the button opens the notifications log. To learn how to
manage the notification log, please refer to the System menu.
Application Shortcuts
Use the application shortcuts to start the Config Tool ( ) or the Archive Player ( ) using the same connection
parameters as the Archive Player.
Tile Control Panel

The Tile Control Panel's purpose is to support the PC keyboard. To
select a tile, enter the tile ID from the PC keyboard and type '.' on the
keypad. See Keyboard Commands.
12345 The digits display is used to indicate the digit keystrokes entered from the PC
keyboard. To clear the digit keystrokes, press the [Esc] key.
Monitor The currently selected monitor is indicated here. See also Viewing Pane.
Tile The currently selected tile is indicated here. See also Viewing Tile.
Camera The currently selected camera is indicated here.
Keyboard When a CCTV keyboard is connected to your PC, a keyboard icon ( ) will appear
Indicator under the LED display. To learn how to activate the CCTV keyboard, please refer to
the System menu.
Joystick indicator When a joystick is connected to your PC, a joystick icon ( ) will appear under the
LED display. To detect a joystick that was connected after the Live Viewer has
started, select Detect Joysticks from the System menu.
Alarm Indicator The alarm indicator lights up every time a new alarm is received. If there are armed
tiles in the current layout to display the alarms, the indicator will stop "ringing"
after 5 seconds, otherwise it will continue to ring until the alarm is acknowledged
or that a tile is armed. The number of active alarms in the alarm queue is indicated
below the alarm icon ( ). Clicking on the alarm icon brings the alarm list to the
foreground in the Message pane.
Live Viewer > Toolbar

Keyboard Commands
Purpose
With the Live Viewer application, the PC keyboard can be turned into a powerful control tool, surpassing the CCTV
keyboard in functionality and ease of use. The supported keyboard commands are divided into the following
sections:
Controlling the Viewing Pane

Controlling the layouts
Selecting entities and tiles by IDs
Controlling the selected tile
Special Controls
Open dialogs
Switching focus
Common PTZ and Digital Zoom controls
Advanced PTZ controls
Instant Replay controls
Macros
Controlling the Viewing Pane

Controlling the layouts
Select the next tile with something displayed. Empty tiles are ignored. Ctrl + Tab
Select the previous tile with something displayed. Empty tiles are ignored. Ctrl + Shift + Tab
Switch to previous layout within the current Viewing pane. Ctrl + Page Up
Switch to next layout within the current Viewing pane. Ctrl + Page Down
Switch to previous tile pattern within the current layout. Ctrl + keypad '-'
Switch to next tile pattern within the current layout. Ctrl + keypad '+'
Start/stop local recording on all tiles (including the hidden ones) . Ctrl + T
Start/stop guard tour. T
Remove all currently displayed entities from the current viewer layout. Ctrl + Backspace
Enable/disable Full Screen mode. F11
Enable/disable Full Screen Video mode. Shift + F11
Selecting entities and tiles by IDs
All entities (cameras, camera sequences, tiles, layouts, monitors, etc.) are referenced via a unique ID called logical ID.
Commands that apply to specific entities are entered after the entity ID.
To help the user keep track of what number has been entered, all digit keystrokes ('0' through '9') are shown in the
LED display located in the toolbar. The number displayed in the LED will be the ID used by the next keyboard
command. Note that the keypad NUM LOCK must be on for the following commands.
Select monitor or tile xxxxx. xxxxx + keypad '.'

Note that a monitor is either an analog monitor or a Viewing pane (PC monitor) controlled by
the Live Viewer. Analog monitors and PC monitors share the same pool of logical IDs.
In a multi-display configuration, the Live Viewer controls two or more Viewing panes in the
Full Screen mode (F11), each having a different monitor ID.
Numbers greater than 32 are reserved for monitor IDs.
Numbers between 1 and 16 are reserved for tile IDs within the current monitor.
Numbers between 17 and 32 are not used.
The current monitor, tile and camera selections are all indicated in the tile control panel.
Select camera or layout xxxxx. xxxxx + keypad Enter

Cameras and layouts share the same pool of logical IDs.
If a camera is selected, it will be displayed in the current tile selection.
If there is no tile selection, the selected camera will be displayed in the first free tile of the
layout.
Select camera sequence xxxxx xxxxx + Ctrl +

keypad Enter
Clear the digit keystrokes shown in the LED display. Esc
Clear the tile selection (so no tile is selected). 0 + keypad '.'

Selected tile – Arm/disarm toggle A
Selected tile – Expand/collapse E
Selected tile – Expand/collapse + Full Screen Video On/Off Shift + E
Selected tile – Remove the displayed entity Backspace
Selected tile – start/stop local recording Ctrl + L
Alarm – Acknowledge Ctrl + Space
Alarm – Forward F
Alarm – Snooze S
Alarm – Show procedure P
Camera – Add bookmark B
Camera – Start/stop recording R
Camera – Talk (push-to-talk) , (comma)
Camera – Listen on/off . (period)
Camera – Trigger contextual alarm Ctrl + Shift + A
Camera sequence – start/stop Ctrl + Up arrow
Camera sequence – next camera Ctrl + Right arrow
Camera sequence – previous camera Ctrl + Left arrow
Special Controls
Open dialogs
Open "Execute action" dialog on "Trigger alarm" Ctrl + A

Open "Execute action" dialog on "Execute macro" Ctrl + M
Open "Options" dialog Ctrl + O
Switching focus
Switch focus to the PTZ controls tab Ctrl + P

Switch focus to the Digital Zoom controls tab Ctrl + D
Switch focus to the Instant Replay controls tab Ctrl + I
Switch focus to the Camera Tree Ctrl + C
View the currently selected entity when the focus is on the Camera Space
Tree, the Event list or the Alarm list.
Common PTZ and Digital Zoom controls
The following commands can be applied to both the PTZ and the Digital Zoom.
Pan left Shift + Left arrow
Pan right Shift + Right arrow
Tilt up Shift + Up arrow
Tilt down Shift + Down arrow
Zoom in Shift + Keypad '/'
Zoom out Shift + Keypad '*'
To resolve the potential ambiguity, the following rules are applied:
1. If the control focus is already on Digital Zoom, then the command will be applied to the Digital Zoom.
2. If the control focus is not on the Digital Zoom, then the command will be applied to the PTZ if the selected
camera supports it.
3. If the selected camera does not support PTZ, then focus will automatically switch to the Digital Zoom and the
command will be applied to it.
4. If the selected tile is not associated to a camera, then the command will be ignored.
Advanced PTZ controls
Decrease PTZ speed (slower) Shift + Keypad '-'

Increase PTZ speed (faster) Shift + Keypad '+'
Go to preset xxxxx xxxxx + Shift + Insert
Set preset xxxxx xxxxx + Ctrl + Insert
Clear preset xxxxx xxxxx + Ctrl + Shift + Insert
Run pattern xxxxx xxxxx + Shift + Home
Record pattern xxxxx (start/stop) xxxxx + Ctrl + Home
Clear pattern xxxxx xxxxx + Ctrl + Shift + Home
Set auxiliary xxxxx xxxxx + Shift + Page Up
Clear auxiliary xxxxx xxxxx + Ctrl + Shift + Page
Up
Open iris Shift + Delete
Close iris Ctrl + Delete
Focus near Shift + End
Focus far Ctrl + End
Menu – show/hide Shift + PageDown
Menu – OK Shift + Keypad 'Enter'
Menu – Up Shift + Up arrow
Menu – Down Shift + Down arrow
Menu – Left Shift + Left arrow
Menu – Right Shift + Right arrow
Instant Replay controls

Play / Pause G
Previous key frame H
Next frame J
Rewind K
Fast forward L
Play faster Shift + Keypad '+'
Play slower Shift + Keypad '-'
Expand timeline (Zoom in) Shift + Keypad '/'
Compress timeline (Zoom out) Shift + Keypad '*'
Macros
Launch hot macro (1 through 12) Ctrl + Function key nn

Open "Execute action" dialog on "Execute macro" Ctrl + M
Live Viewer > Toolbar > Keyboard Commands

Viewing Pane
Definitions
Viewing pane
The Viewing pane is the area in the Live Viewer's workspace reserved for viewing alarms and live videos. As long as
the PC is running the Live Viewer application, the PC screen is available to display videos just like any analog
monitor connected to the system. To make this possible, every monitor connected to a PC where the Live Viewer is
installed is assigned a logical ID, also called the monitor ID.
Monitor ID
The monitor ID is used by keyboards and macros to uniquely reference a monitor throughout the system. The
monitor ID assigned to each Viewing pane is indicated at the lower right corner of the Viewing pane (see picture
above). If the PC running the Live Viewer controls more than one monitor, each monitor will be assigned a different
monitor ID (see also Multi-Display Configuration below). These IDs can be changed from the Logical IDs tab of the
Directory configuration in the Config Tool.
Viewing tile
The Live Viewer can display up to 16 video streams simultaneously on a single monitor. Each video stream is
displayed in its own window called viewing tile. The circled number that appears at the top left corner of each tile
is the tile ID. Combined with the monitor ID, they uniquely identify each viewing tile in the system.
The name of the displayed content is indicated in the toolbar that appears at the bottom of the tile. This toolbar
can be configured to pop-up only when the mouse cursor moves over that area (see Auto-Hide Entity Controls in
View Menu). The number between brackets following the entity's name is the entity's logical ID. The tile that is
currently selected is highlighted with a yellow border. In the above picture, tile #1 is the selected tile. The logical IDs
corresponding to the selected tile are indicated in the Tile Control Panel found in the Toolbar.
There is a lot more to say about the viewing tiles. For a complete coverage on this subject, please refer to the topic
Viewing tile.
Tile pattern
The viewing tiles are arranged like a mosaic and follow one of the preset arrangements called tile patterns. To
change the tile pattern of the Live Viewer, click on the Change pattern button found in the Layout control
toolbar. To learn more on this subject, please refer to the topic Tile Patterns.
Viewer layout
The choice of the tile pattern, along with the selection of video source to display in each tile, form what is called the
viewer layout. Viewer layouts are kept as part of the user profile, so no matter which machine is used to connect to
the system, the same layouts will always be available to the same user. Viewer layouts can be selected from the
Camera pane.
Layout control toolbar
Multiple layouts may be defined for each user. Each available layout is represented by a different tab in the layout
control toolbar. A small icon in each tab shows the tile pattern being used.
TIP – If you do not see this toolbar, move the mouse cursor over the bottom area of the viewing
pane and the toolbar should appear. If it does not, then open the Options dialog (Ctrl+O) ,
select the Visual options and select " Show layout controls".
To switch from one layout to another, simply click on the corresponding tab. Note that you must have the "Change
layout selection" privilege to switch layouts. If no layout has been assigned yet, a "Default" layout will be created. To
learn more about controlling the layouts, please turn to the section on Managing the Layouts.
Tile Contextual Menu

The tile contextual menu appears when you right-click on
any viewing tile.
The commands found in the tile contextual menu are all

related to the currently displayed camera. Most of these
commands can be found in the Camera menu and the Tools
menu.
All the commands shown below " Trigger Alarm..." are

commands that are not available from the main application
menu. They appear only when they are applicable. See
below for description.
Viewing quality – This sub-menu appears if the selected camera supports multiple viewing streams. Click on this
sub-menu to select the desired stream for viewing. The default viewing stream is configured in the Options dialog.
See Network options.
Metadata – This sub-menu appears if addtitional information (called metadata) regarding the selection camera is
available. This information is collected from third party applications by the Metadata Engine. For example, metadata
collected from video analytics systems could be the identification of people, faces, cars or license plates from the
video and for point-of-sale systems, metadata such as credit card numbers or complete transaction details could be
gathered. This sub-menu allows you to select what metadata to display along with the video. For additional
information regarding the different types of metadata that can be collected by Omnicast, please refer to Genetec
Omnicast Plugins Help.
Connect to remote Directory – This sub-menu appears only if the selected camera is a federated camera. It allows
you to launch either the Live Viewer or the Archiver Player directly on the remote Directory. You need the "Start
client application on a remote Directory" privilege to perform this action. If you are currently running that
application, you will be disconnected from the current Directory and reconnected to the remote Directory.
Full Screen Video

The full screen video mode is designed to emulate an analog monitor with the PC screen. It is activated by typing
[Shift+F11] from the keyboard. In this mode, all visual elements of the Live Viewer's workspace are hidden from
view, except the current viewer layout.
Controlling the application
Although all menus and toolbars are hidden in full screen video mode, the user can still control the application
through the keyboard commands and the tile contextual menu (right-click).
The mouse can still be used to select tiles and to perform drag and
drop operations.
When you move the mouse cursor to the upper right corner of the
screen, the application system buttons will appear. You can use these
buttons to minimize the application, to exit the full screen video mode
or to exit the application.
All tile and layout control display options remain available in this mode. See Visual options under Options Dialog.
Alarm notifications
If there are no armed tiles in your layout while the Live Viewer is in full screen video mode, you will not get any
notification when alarms occur. To avoid this problem, you can either ask the Live Viewer to display a warning
message or to play an alarm sound when alarms occur. See Alarm options under Options Dialog.
Instant replay and Digital zoom
Both Instant replay and Digital zoom remain accessible in full screen video mode. You can activate them through
the tile contextual menu or by typing respectively [Ctrl+I] and [Ctrl+D] from the keyboard. When activated, the
corresponding controls will be shown in a floating window.
To close the window, click on the dock button .
Multi-Display Configuration
In a multi-display configuration (a PC connected to more than one monitor), the Live Viewer will create a distinct
Viewing pane for each supported screen when the user switches to Full screen mode [F11]. In this case, each
Viewing pane is identified by a different monitor ID (see above picture).
All viewer layouts configured for the user will be available in all Viewing panes. When multiple layouts are defined,
the Live Viewer will automatically select a different layout for each monitor. The guard tours can also run
independently in each Viewing pane.
Read Select PC displays under Menu – Tools – Options – Display Options, to learn how to configure the display
adapters for full screen display.
Read Enable video wall under Menu – Tools – Options – Display Options, to learn how to set up the Live Viewer as
an IP video wall.
Live Viewer > Viewing Pane

Viewing Tile
Overview
The viewing tile is a multi-purpose window in the Live Viewer's Viewing pane used to display live videos and other
pertinent information, such as alarms, maps and plugins. Depending on what is being displayed, the viewing tile will
take on a different look and feel. The Live Viewer allows you to show or hide any of the visual elements found in a
tile. To learn how to change these settings, please read the Visual options under Tools Menu – Options Dialog.
Let us now review the basic components of a viewing tile.
Tile ID The tile ID is the number that uniquely identifies each tile within its Viewing pane. You
have the option to show or hide it at all times, or to show it only when the mouse cursor
moves within the boundaries of a tile.
Tile The tile controls are commands pertaining to the generic control of the tile. They are
controls contained in a toolbar that appears when you point the mouse cursor at the upper left
corner of the tile. For a complete description of the commands available from this
toolbar, please read the section on Tile Control Toolbar below.
Entity The entity controls are part of a toolbar that appears at the bottom of the tile. You can
controls have this toolbar always displayed, never displayed, or displayed only when you move
the mouse cursor over the bottom area of the tile. The featured commands vary
according to the displayed entity type. For a complete description of the commands
available from this toolbar, please read the section on Entity Control Toolbar below.
The entity control toolbar comprises two sections: (1) The main section contains the
entity description (left justified) and the most frequently used commands (right
justified); (2) The extended section contains additional commands and appears above
the main section when the mouse cursor moves over the toolbar.
Entity The entity description is displayed within the entity control toolbar. Therefore, to show
description the description, the toolbar must be displayed.
When the displayed entity is a camera ( ), the entity description comprises the camera
name and logical ID (in brackets). You also have the option to include the path
(hierarchy of site names) in the description. See Tools Menu – Options – Visual Options.
In the case of a camera sequence ( ), the description comprises the sequence name
and logical ID followed by the current camera name and logical ID.
In the case of an alarm ( ), the description comprises the alarm name and instance
number, followed by the currently displayed camera name.
In the case of a map ( ), the description corresponds to the name of the site the map is
attached to.
Border The border highlight indicates the selection status of the tile.
highlight
Yellow indicates the current selection. This is the tile on which Camera menu
commands apply.
Orange indicates the target selection when moving entities in the Viewing pane.
Flashing red – This is a programmed behavior designed to instruct the security
personnel to focus its attention on a particular camera (see Monitoring actions
under Welcome – System Concepts – Event Handling).
Click on the tile as a mean to acknowledge the event and stop the flashing.
Background The background color indicates the alarm state of the tile.
color
Unarmed – Cannot display alarms
Armed – Ready to display alarms (see Tile control toolbar).
On alarm – Currently displaying an alarm (see Alarm commands).
Customizing Toolbars
All toolbars associated to the viewing tile are fully customizable. You can choose which commands are to be shown
in each toolbar. Toolbars are customized from the Visual options tab found in the Options dialog under the Tools
Menu.
Tile Control Toolbar
This toolbar only appears when the mouse cursor points to the upper left corner of the tile. The available
commands are:
Arm/Disarm the tile. An armed tile is a tile ready to display alarms.

Expand/Collapse the tile. Allows the tile to fill up the entire viewing area.
Start/Stop local recording on the tile. This feature allows the user to record on the local
hard disk all live videos that are viewed in the tile. When this feature is turned on, the
entity description in the contextual toolbar is written in red.
Local recording Off Local recording On
Remove the displayed entity from the tile.
Entity Control Toolbar
Commands in this toolbar vary according to the displayed entity. The available commands are therefore grouped
by entity type in the table below. You have the choice to show a command in the main section, the extended
section or not at all. This toolbar can also be configured to appear only when the mouse cursor moves over the
bottom area of the tile. When this is the selected behavior, the extended section and the main section appear
together.
Camera commands
Start/Stop manual recording. This button also serves as a recording status indicator.
Please refer to the Record Button description below.
Push-to-talk (PTT). This button is enabled only if the displayed camera is attached to
a speaker (see Config Tool – Camera – Links).
Toggle the sound on/off. This button is enabled only if the displayed camera is
attached to a microphone (see Config Tool – Camera – Links).
Switch to PTZ mode. This button is enabled only if the displayed camera is
controlled by a PTZ motor. Switching to PTZ mode will show the PTZ toolbar at the
bottom of the tile. The PTZ mode enables the user to access the PTZ functions by
pointing and clicking on the video image instead of using the PTZ tab in the Tool
Pane.
Launch the instant replay. See Controls Pane – Instant Replay.
Opens the digital zoom window. See Controls Pane – Digital Zoom.
Add a bookmark to the video archive of the camera. This button is enabled only if
archiving is allowed on the camera.
Save a snapshot. Please read the section on Snapshots under Options Dialog – User
Interaction Options.
Print a snapshot. Please read the section on Snapshots under Options Dialog – User
Interaction Options.
Trigger a context sensitive alarm with the current camera.
Forward the video to a Pocket PC.
Open the Block cameras dialog.
Camera sequence commands

Pause the camera sequence. Once paused, the user can control each camera in the
sequence individually. See Controlling Composite Entities.
View previous camera in the sequence (only available when sequence is paused).
Resume the normal play controlled by the Virtual Matrix. Note that the dwell time
for each camera is set in the Config Tool.
View next camera in the sequence (only available when sequence is paused).
Alarm commands
Default acknowledgement. See Alarm Management under Welcome – System
Concepts.
Alternate acknowledgement.
Custom acknowledgement. Before completing this operation, the user is required to
select a custom event.
Put the alarm to snooze. The alarm is temporarily removed from the alarm display
but remains in the application's alarm list. The duration of the snooze is
configurable from the Options dialog.
Forward the alarm to another user. Once forwarded, the alarm is removed from the
alarm display but remains in the application's alarm list.
Show the alarm procedure. This button is disabled if no procedure is defined for
this alarm. Procedures are defined in the Config Tool, under Alarm – Properties.
Show alarm history. See Manipulating alarms under Message Pane – Alarm List.
View previous alarm element (only available when alarm is paused).
View next alarm element (only available when alarm is paused).
Map (URL) commands

Move back in the browser page history.
Move forward in the browser page history.
Refresh the page.
PTZ Control Toolbar
The PTZ toolbar is shown instead of the normal toolbar when the user enters the PTZ mode. While in this mode, the
mouse cursor changes into a fat white arrow while it is over the video. Holding the mouse button down will move
the camera in the direction pointed by the arrow. Pointing to the ( ) icon expands the PTZ toolbar. Clicking the (
) icon exits the PTZ mode.
Zoom in.
Zoom out.
Focus near.
Focus far.
Open iris (brighten image).
Close iris (darken image).
Exit the PTZ mode.
Controlling Composite Entities

A composite entity is an entity that comprises multiple basic elements, such as cameras ( ). There are two types of
composite entities that can be displayed in a tile. One of them is the camera sequence ( ) and the other is the
alarm ( ). These composite entities are controlled by the Virtual Matrix.
While the Virtual Matrix is running these composite entities, you have no control over the individual elements
composing them. The composite entity is like a program that the Virtual Matrix executes. To gain control over the
individual elements, you need to pause the program execution.
Pausing a camera sequence
To pause a camera sequence, you need to click on the Pause ( ) button. Once paused, you can use the Previous (
) and Next ( ) buttons to view the individual cameras. To control the individual cameras, click on the Switch
context ( ) button. The camera sequence toolbar will then be replaced with the camera toolbar.
Pausing an alarm
To pause an alarm, you need to disarm the tile by clicking on the Disarm ( ) button found in the tile control
toolbar. You may also make a working copy of the alarm by dragging it to an unarmed tile. Dragging an active
alarm from the alarm list to an unarmed tile will create the same effect.
Once the alarm is paused, you can use the Previous ( ) and Next ( ) buttons to view the individual alarm
elements. Click on the Switch context ( ) button to switch between the alarm toolbar and the element control
toolbar. If the display option of the alarm camera is "Live video", then the camera controls will become available. If
the display option is "Playback" or "Still", then the timestamp of the playback or still frame will be indicated in the
toolbar. The configuration of the alarm cameras are explained in the Cameras section under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Alarm.
NOTE – If the alarm is acknowledged while it is paused, the paused alarm will not be removed
from the tile. However, if you remove it afterwards, you will not be able to view it again in the
Live Viewer. Acknowledged alarms can only be viewed from the Archive Player (see Message
Pane – Alarm List – Viewing alarms).
Record Button
The record button serves two purposes: (1) it allows the user to start and stop the recording manually just like a
VCR; (2) it serves as a recording status indicator. The different recording statuses are explained below:
The gray button indicates that recording is enabled. Click on the gray button to start manual
recording. The button will then turn red ( ). Note that clicking on the bookmark button in the
entity control toolbar will also start the recording on the selected tile.
The red button indicates that the encoder is currently being recorded. Click on the red button to
stop recording. The button will then change to gray ( ). If the user does not stop the recording, it
will stop by itself after the number of minutes specified in "Manual recording default length"
specified for that encoder (see Recording under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera).
Note that the red button will start flashing ( ) 30 seconds before the manual recording stops.
Click again on the button to extend the recording time without interruption.
The gray button with a lock on top means that recording is disabled. Clicking on the button would
have no effect. Either archiving has been disabled, or archiving is not allowed at this time for this
camera (see Generic schedule under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Archiving Schedule –
Properties).
The red button with a lock on top means that the system is currently in charge of the recording
(see Archiving Mode under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Archiving Schedule – Properties).
In this case, the user cannot manually stop the recording.
Live Viewer > Viewing Pane > Viewing Tile

Tile Patterns
The "tile pattern" determines how many tiles are shown simultaneously and the way they are arranged within the viewer
layout. There are 17 preset patterns available for you to choose from.
To change the tile pattern of the selected layout, click on the Change tile pattern button found at the lower left
corner of the Viewing pane.
If only the first four patterns are shown, click on "More..." to show the rest.
Notes:
When switching from a pattern with a high number of

tiles to a pattern with fewer number of tiles, entities
displayed in the high numbered tiles that do not exist in
the new pattern will no longer be shown in the Viewing
pane.
However, the association of the displayed content to

the tiles is not forgotten. When a pattern with a higher
number of tiles is again selected, the entities that were
previously hidden will reappear in their respective tiles.
Live Viewer > Viewing Pane > Tile Patterns

Managing the Layouts
Viewing Live Video and Maps

Viewing video streams
To view a video stream ( or or ) on the current viewer layout, click on the desired video stream in the camera
tree (on the left) and drag it to the desired viewing tile (on the right). See illustration above. You can also view a
video stream by double-clicking on it in the camera tree. The video stream will then be displayed in the first free tile
in the current viewer layout. See Display Management.
To move a video stream from one tile to another, simply drag the image from the first tile to the second.
To copy the video stream of one tile to another, drag the image from the first tile while holding the [Ctrl] key. The
same video stream can be displayed many times in different tiles.
To remove a video stream from a viewing tile, click on the tile and drag it back to the camera tree or click on the
Remove button in the tile control toolbar.
NOTE – You need the "Change displayed entities" privilege to be able to move the entities
around in the Viewing pane. Furthermore, if you want to change the content of armed tiles, you
would need the "Change content in armed tile" privilege.
Viewing maps
To view a map on the current viewer layout, drag the desired map ( ) from the camera tree to the desired viewing
tile. If the selected site has no map attached ( ), the map attached to the site which is immediately above the
selected one will be displayed. If no map is found within the hierarchy, the action will be ignored.
NOTE – In order to move a map around, you must click in on the entity control toolbar, not on
the map itself. To remove a map from the viewer layout, you must use the remove button
from the tile control toolbar.
Viewing alarms
Alarms are automatically displayed in the armed tiles when they are activated, following the alarm display mode
(Simple, Salvo or Block) configured for the user. If there is no armed tile in the current layout, the alarms cannot be
displayed. The user will nevertheless be notified that there are active alarms by the animated alarm icon in the
toolbar. To view the alarms, the user must arm one or more tiles (by clicking on the tile button).
For an audible notification, the user can ask the application to play a sound file every time an alarm is activated. See
Alarm options under Tools Menu – Options.
Active alarms can also be viewed in a paused mode by double-clicking on them from the alarm list. In this case, the
alarm will be displayed in the first free tile available. See Display Management.
Display Management
Tile Memory
The Live Viewer has a four-layer memory associated to each viewing tile. Each layer is reserved for the viewing of
specific type(s) of entities. All layers are "transparent" when there is nothing displayed in them. When an entity is
displayed in a layer, that layer hides all layers below it. When the displayed entity is removed, whatever is in the
layer below will become visible again. Only one entity can be displayed in a layer at one time.
The top layer is reserved for alarm viewing. Both paused and active
alarms belong to this layer. This means that whenever an alarm is
activated, it will override everything else if the tile is armed. Alarms
have the highest display priority.
The third layer is reserved for control entities such as maps and plugins.
Cameras cannot be displayed in a tile showing a map or a plugin.
The second layer is used to display cameras. Cameras can override a
camera sequence at any time.
The first layer is reserved for the display of camera sequences. They
have the lowest display priority.
Double-click vs Drag-and-drop
When you double-click on an entity, you are asking the application to display the selected entity in the first free
tile it finds in the current layout. A tile is "free" when there is nothing displayed in the layer the entity is supposed to
go and there is nothing displayed in the layers above.
Suppose you have nothing displayed in your current layout. If you double-click on a camera sequence ( ) in the
camera tree, the selected camera sequence will be displayed in tile #1. Following that, if you double-click on a
second camera sequence, it will be displayed on tile #2, because tile #1 is already taken. But if you double-click on a
camera ( ), the camera will be displayed in tile #1, because cameras are displayed in layer 2, and the layer 2 of tile
#1 is still free. Similarly, if you double-click on a second camera, the second camera will be displayed in tile #2, but if
you double-click on an active alarm in the alarm list, it will be displayed in tile #1.
If there is no "free tile" for a given entity when you double-click it, it will take the place of the entity that has been
displayed for the longest time. If all tiles are occupied by active alarms, then you will get the following message.
You can either free existing tiles or change the tile pattern so more tiles can be displayed.
When you drag-and-drop a video stream to a specific tile, you are making the decision to view it in that tile. In that
case, the application will let you do what you want. If you drag a camera ( ) or a map ( ) on top of a camera
sequence ( ), the camera or the map will be displayed. But when you remove it, the camera sequence will be
revealed because the application remembers what are displayed in lower layers.
If you drag a camera sequence ( ) over a camera ( ) or a map ( ) , the current entity will be removed and the
camera sequence will be displayed. When you remove the camera sequence, the camera or the map will not be
restored because they were stored in a higher layer. To let you "see through" a layer, the entity displayed in that
layer has to be removed.
NOTE – You may not hide an active alarm by dragging something else over it.
Layout Controls
The four buttons at the lower left corner of the Viewing pane are used to change the look and the behavior of the
viewer layouts. They are explained below:
Change the tile pattern of the current layout. You must have the "Change the tile pattern"
privilege in order to use this command.
Show only the selected tile. The same result can be achieved by double-clicking on the tile.
Start the guard tour. The guard tour is the automatic rotation of the viewer layouts. Clicking on
the animated button will stop the guard tour.
You must have the "Start/stop guard tour" privilege in order to execute this command and you
need to have more than one layout for this feature to work.
The default dwell time on each layout at installation is 5 seconds. To change this value, select
"Options..." from the Tools menu. Change the guard tour dwell time (in seconds) and click on OK
to save the changes.
Show the layout edit buttons. See following section.
Editing/Saving the Layouts

To change the viewer layouts or to define new ones, the user must have the "Viewer layouts configuration"
privilege. To enter the layout "edit mode", click on the Edit button.
The individual commands are explained below:

Insert a new layout to the current user's profile. The following dialog will appear.
You have the choice to create a new layout or insert an existing one.
If you choose to create a new layout, you must specify the site under which it should be created.
The newly created layout will immediately become available to other users in the system.
If you choose to insert an existing one, the predefined layout will be added to your user profile.
You can achieve the same result by dragging a layout from the camera tree to any tile in the
Viewing pane. The administrator can also change the Live Viewer's layout configuration for any
user from the Config Tool (see Live Viewer under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – User).
Remove the current layout from the user profile. This does not delete the layout definition. To
delete a layout definition, you must do so from the Config Tool. See Viewer Layout under Config
Tool – Configuration Pane.
Rename the current layout. If this layout is used by other users, it will be renamed for them as
well.
Save the current layout definition. If it is a new layout, you will be prompted to specify the site
under which to create the layout. If it is an existing layout, other people using this layout will also
be affected by your changes the next time they logon.
Save all layout definitions.
Reload the saved definition of the currently selected layout. If you have made unsaved changes
to the current layout and wish to go back to its original definition, click on this button.
Move the current layout to the left.
Move the current layout to the right.
Layout menu
The Edit mode commands are also available from the Layout menu.
To Layout menu can be accessed from either the main application menu or by right-
clicking on any layout tab.
Using the layout menu is a convenient alternative to the "Edit mode" when the
workspace is cluttered by a long list of layouts.
Live Viewer > Viewing Pane > Managing the Layouts

Tool Pane
Description
The Tool pane contains four sets of tools pertaining to the control of the camera ( ) or camera sequence ( )
within the selected viewing tile. Each tab holds a specific set of tools for manipulating the camera that is currently
displayed in the selected tile. You can show or hide the Tool pane by clicking on the F4 key.
PTZ Controls
The PTZ controls ( ) tab allow users to control of camera movements (pan, tilt, zoom, etc.). These controls may be
disabled if the selected tile is currently not showing a camera or if the displayed camera is not linked to a PTZ
motor. To learn more about these controls, please read the section on PTZ Controls within this chapter.
Digital Zoom
The Digital zoom ( ) tab allows users to enlarge a section of the video stream. In the Live Viewer, it allows users to
monitor a particular section of the video stream when the camera is not equipped with a zoom lens. To learn how
these controls work, please read the section on Digital Zoom within this chapter.
Instant Replay
The Instant replay ( ) tab allows the user to replay the last few minutes (or seconds) of any live video currently
displayed in the Viewing pane (as long as the video is available). To learn more about these powerful controls,
please read the section on Instant Replay within this chapter.
Hot Macros
The Hot macros ( ) tab list the most used macros so the user can launch them with ease. Please read the section
on Hot Macros within this chapter for more details.
Live Viewer > Tool Pane

PTZ Controls
Normal Mode Menu Mode
The PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) controls are enabled when the selected tile displays a dome camera ( ).
These controls may remain disabled if the user does not have the privileges to use PTZ controls.
The display panel at the top indicates the status of the PTZ controls.
Normal Mode
Basic Commands
The basic commands require the "Do basic operations" privilege. They include:
Pan and You have four methods to pan and tilt the selected camera:
Tilt 1. Use the four arrow buttons found in the PTZ control tab.
2. Click and hold the Free Look button (marked with a joystick icon) to
move the camera.
3. Use the PC keyboard (Shift + Arrow key).
4. Use the mouse to control the PTZ directly on the video.
See Viewing Tile – PTZ Control Toolbar.
Home The Home button moves the camera to its default preset.
This button is disabled if the selected camera does not support this
feature.
Flip The Flip button rotates the camera by 180°.
This button is disabled if the selected camera does not support this
feature.
Zoom Click on the "+" to zoom in and "-" to zoom out.
You may also use "Shift+/" and "Shift+*" key combinations on the PC
keyboard.
Speed The speed slider (on the left) adjusts the reaction speed of the Pan, Tilt
and Zoom.
Iris and Focus
You need the "Change focus and iris settings" privilege to use the following commands.
Focus Click on the "+" to focus near and "-" to focus far.
You may also use "Shift+End" and "Ctrl+End" key combinations on the
PC keyboard.
Iris Click on the "+" to open the iris (brighten) and "-" to close the iris
(darken).
You may also use "Shift+Del" and "Ctrl+Del" key combinations on the
PC keyboard.
Presets
The row of buttons numbered 0 to 7 are camera preset buttons. Click on any of them to move the camera to the
corresponding preset position. You must have the "Use presets" privilege to be able to use this feature.
The preset buttons 0 to 7 correspond to the preset selections 0 to 7 found in the preset list. To go to a preset
found in the list, select it in the list and click on the Go to button. Note that the number of presets in the list
depends on the model of PTZ.
You need the "Edit presets" privilege to change or rename the presets. To change preset, position the camera with
the PTZ controls as desired, then select the preset number you want to replace from the preset list and click on the
Set button.
To rename a preset, select a preset from the preset list, hold the Set button for 2 seconds, then enter the new
preset name in the edit box that appears and click OK. This operation also assigns the current camera position to
the preset.
Patterns
You must have the "Use patterns" privilege to use this feature. To run a camera pattern, select the pattern you want
to run from the pattern list and click on the Play button. Note that the number of patterns in the list depends on
the model of the camera.
You need the "Edit patterns" privilege to change or rename the patterns. To record a new camera pattern, select
the pattern you want to replace from the pattern list and click on the Record button. The green LED will turn on.
Use the PTZ control buttons to make the pattern and click again on the same button to stop the recording.
To rename a pattern, select a pattern from the pattern list, hold the Record button for 2 seconds, then enter the
new pattern name in the edit box that appears and click OK.
Auxiliaries
You must have the "Use auxiliaries" privilege to use this feature. To use a camera auxiliary, select the auxiliary from
the auxiliary list and click on the Set button to turn it on or the Clear button to turn the auxiliary off.
Note that camera auxiliaries cannot be renamed from the Live Viewer. Please refer to the Config Tool reference for
more information about changing auxiliaries.
Specific Commands
Certain models of dome supports extra

commands that are not accessible through the
standard PTZ command buttons.
To execute one of them, click on the "Specific

command" button. Select a command you
want from the dialog box that apper and click on
the "Execute command" button.
When you finished, click on "Close" to close the

dialog.
Note that the "Specific command" button is

only enabled if the it is supported by the selected
camera and if you have the "Use specific
commands " privilege.
PTZ Locking
You can lock the PTZ buttons so no one else can play with them while you are using them. To lock the PTZ, you
need the "Lock PTZ" privilege, otherwise the Lock button will be disabled.
When the PTZ is locked, the red LED beside the lock
button will turn on and the name of the person who
placed the lock and the application he is using is shown
in the status display panel.
The locked PTZ can only be unlocked by the user

holding the lock or by another user with the "Override
PTZ lock" privilege. For additional information on PTZ
locking, please read PTZ priority under Config Tool –
User – Security.
When the PTZ is locked by another user, trying to unlock it will display a message box showing who is currently
holding the lock. If the user has the "Override PTZ lock" privilege, he will be offered the chance to override the lock.
If a user clicks on the PTZ controls while someone else has a lock on them, a PTZ locked event will be created. The
user must have the event list displayed in order to see these events. The event description shows the machine, the
application and the user currently holding the lock.
Menu Mode
The menu mode is activated by clicking on the Menu button. This button is enabled only if the PTZ model
supports the menu mode and if the user has the "Use specific commands" privilege. When you are in menu mode,
the red LED beside the Menu button will turn on.
In the menu mode, all arrow buttons used for Pan and
Tilt are used to move around the on-screen menu
options. The OK button in the center is used to select
menu options.
If the "T" button is enabled, you can you it to enter the

menu text mode.
Click on the Menu button again to switch to Normal

mode.
Live Viewer > Tool Pane > PTZ Controls

Digital Zoom
The digital zoom allows users to monitor a particular section of

the video when the camera is not equipped with a zoom lens.
This feature requires the "Access digital zoom" privilege.
The digital zoom can be used with any displayed camera ( ) or camera sequence ( ). Note that this feature is only
available in Advanced Mode (Shift+F10).
To use the digital zoom:

1. Select the tile in the Viewing pane showing the video you wish to zoom.
2. Select the Digital zoom ( ) tab in the Tool pane.
3. With the mouse cursor, draw a rectangle around the area of interest. The area within the blue rectangle will be
zoomed in the selected tile (see illustration above).
Changing the zoomed area

To move the zoomed area:
There are several ways to move the zoomed area around. You can either use the four arrow buttons in the digital
zoom tab or you can click inside the blue rectangle (the mouse cursor will change into a hand) and drag it to the
desired position. You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard (see Keyboard commands under Live Viewer –
Toolbar).
To zoom in and zoom out:
Use the zoom in and zoom out buttons to change the size of the zoomed area. You may also use "Shift+/"
and "Shift+*" key combinations from the PC keyboard to zoom in and zoom out.
To return to the entire view:
Click on the clear button to return to the entire view. You can also click outside the blue rectangle to achieve the
same effect.
Live Viewer > Tool Pane > Digital Zoom

Instant Replay
The instant replay allows users to replay the last few minutes
(or seconds) of any live video you are viewing in the Viewing
pane (as long as the system was archiving the video stream for
which you are requesting the playback).
Note that "Instant Replay" is only available in Advanced Mode (Shift+F10). This feature requires the "Do instant replay "
privilege.
To start the instant replay:

1. Select the tile in the Viewing pane showing the video you wish to replay.
2. Select the Instant replay ( ) tab in the Tool pane. If the instant replay tab is already selected, click on the Reload
button instead.
3. The application will rewind n seconds before starting the replay, using the current time as reference. The last m
seconds of video will be shown in the timeline. The values of these two parameters are configured in the General
options tab of the Options dialog.
NOTE
If no video archive is available for the current time, then the playback will start n seconds before
the end of the most recent recording, and the timeline will show the last m seconds of the
available recording.
If the selected camera is from an active alarm, then the alarm creation time will be used as
reference instead of the current time to calculate when the playback should start.
Timeline
The ruler like indicator is called the timeline. The timeline is a graphical representation of the selected playback
sequence. The duration of the sequence is indicated in brackets. The initial timeline duration is configured in the
General options tab of the Options dialog. . Once the sequence is loaded, the user can shorten or expand the
timeline by clicking on the Zoom in and Zoom out buttons.
The position of the current video frame in the timeline is indicated by the an orange bar called the playback
cursor. You can easily change the position of the playback frame by dragging the playback cursor to the desired
position or by clicking the desired position in the timeline.
The backbround color of the timeline has the following meaning:

White background – Section of the timeline that is in the past where video is available.
Dark gray background – Section of the timeline where no video is available.
Light purple – Section of the timeline that was in the future at the time the playback
was requested, but now is in the past. This is the reason why there is no motion
indicators in this section.
Dark purple background – Section of the timeline that is still in the future.
Event markers
The red blocks ( ) in the timeline are motion indicators. The higher the red bar, the more pronounced the motion.
The dark blue vertical bars ( ) in the timeline are bookmark indicators. The time and text associated to the
bookmark are shown above the timeline when the playback cursor is within plus or minus 5 seconds of the
bookmark position. When the bookmark text is displayed, the bookmark indicator is shown in red ( ).
Using the time range markers
The time range markers are the two triangular orange markers that appear at the top right corner on the timeline
when the mouse cursor hovers over the timeline.
You can use those markers to delimit a specific range in the timeline, either to zoom in to it or to setup a loop
playback. To set up a time range, simply drag the markers to the desired start and end positions.
To clear the range, click on the Reset markers button (x).
Playback commands
Satus panel
The status panel indicates the time and date of the current image on the first row, and the playback status and the
speed on the second row. The time of the current video image is indicated either as an absolute time stamp or as a
time difference between now and the time the video was recorded. Click on the time to toggle between the two
display modes.
Controlling the playback
Play/Pause The large button alternates between Play and Pause.

Go to next Use this button to advance the video frame by frame. Clicking on this
frame button also pauses the sequence.
Go to previous A key frame is a frame that contains a complete image by itself as
key frame opposed to a usual frame that only holds information that changed
compared to the previous frame. If the playback sequence contains key
frames at short intervals, clicking continously on this button will produced
the effect of reverse playback.
Loop playback You can set the playback to loop continuously within a specific time
range. To setup a playback loop, mark the loop sequence with the time
range markers, position the playback cursor between the two markers
and click on "Enable loop playback".
Controlling the playback speed
The playback speed is indicated in the Status panel. The speed of (1x) corresponds to normal play. When the system
is rewinding, the speed is shown as negative.
Speed selector Drag the speed selector to the right to fast forward (1x, 2x, 4x, 10x, 20x,
40x and 100x) or to the left for rewind (-10x, -20x, -40x or -100x). You
must hold the left mouse button down to keep the desired speed. The
moment you let go the mouse button, the slider will return to normal
speed (1x).
Lock playback Enable the speed lock (green LED on) to avoid holding the speed selector
speed with the left mouse button.
Slow playback You can play the video in slow motion by enabling slow playback speed
speed (green LED on). The color of the speed control slider will change. The
available slow motion speeds are 1/8x, 1/4x, 1/3x, 1/2x and 1x. While in
slow motion mode, the default playback speed is 1/8x if the speed is not
locked. Note that slow motion rewind is not supported.
Bookmark commands
Previous Find the previous bookmark and resume the playback from there. If no
bookmark bookmark is found, nothing will happen.
Add a Add a new bookmark at the current position.
bookmark
Next Find the next bookmark and resume the playback from there. If no
NOTE – When seeking a bookmark, the playback will start 5

seconds before the position of the bookmark.
Save, Print, Export
Save snapshot Save a snapshot of the current frame to disk. The application will prompt
you to enter the name, the location and the format of the saved image
file.
You have the option to save the current frame as a bitmap or a JPEG
image. Use the "Save as type:" pull-down control to select the desired
type of image. Note that JPEG images take significantly less space on disk.
The saved image is overlayed by default with the date and time when the
frame is recorded, followed by the camera name. See sample image
below.
TIP – You may change the default settings so that snapshots are
always saved in the same Directory with the same format, with or
without the overlayed information. Please refer to the section on
Snapshots under Tools Menu – Options Dialog – User interaction
options.
Print snapshot Print a snapshot of the current frame. Just like the saved images, the
printed image is stamped with the recording date and time and followed
by the camera name.
Export Export the current playback sequence. Please refer to the chapter on
sequence Archive Export under Archive Player for an in-depth description of this
feature.
TIP – The orange time range markers can also be used to delimit
the video sequence to export.
Other Controls
The following controls are specific to the Instant Replay window.
Reload the instant replay with the selected tile. The playback will start n seconds
before the current time. The value of n is configured in the General Settings tab of the
Options dialog.
Launch the Archive Player with the current playback sequence.
Close the current sequence.
Live Viewer > Tool Pane > Instant Replay

Hot Macros
The Hot macros ( ) tab lists the frequently used
macros assigned to the user.
This feature requires the "Execute macros"

privilege.
To execute a macro, simply select it in the list and

click on "Execute macro".
Note that the key combinations Ctrl+F1 to

Ctrl+F12 on the PC keyboard are mapped to the
first 12 macros in the list. See Keyboard commands
for more details.
The Hot Macros tab is only available in Advanced

Mode (Shift+F10).
Changing the Hot Macro list

The Hot Macro list is configured with the Config Tool as part of the user profile. See Live Viewer tab under Config
Tool – User for more details.
If you have the "Change macro hot keys"

privilege, you can change the hot macro list
yourself from the Live Viewer.
To do so, click on the button to enter the

hot macro edit mode. The appearance of the
hot macro tab will change to look like the
illustration en the left.
Use the add and remove buttons to

change the content of the list.
Use the up and down arrows to change

the order of the macros in the list.
When you finished, click on to exit the edit

mode.
Alternate ways to execute macros

If the Hot Macro list is empty, it doesn't necessarily mean that the user cannot execute macros. It simply means that
no macro has been mapped to the hot keys.
If the user has the "Execute macros" privilege, he can also execute macros by clicking on the "Execute Macro..."
command from the Tools menu, or by typing Ctrl+M from the keyboard. The following dialog will appear.
Macros are executed by Virtual Matrices. If you do not specify a Virtual Matrix, the
macro will be executed by the first Virtual Matrix the system finds.
To learn more about using and programming macros, please refer to section on Macro under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane.
Live Viewer > Tool Pane > Hot Macros

Camera Pane
Description
The Camera pane contains a tree showing all viewable

entities to the user in the system, called camera tree.
The entities are grouped in a hierarchy of user-defined

sites, which are created using the Config Tool
application (refer to the section on Logical View under
Config Tool reference).
The entities shown in the camera tree are described

below:
Site
Site for which a map is available
Camera (camera connected to a unit)
Dome camera
Virtual camera (camera connected to a hardware
matrix)
Virtual dome camera
Camera sequence (list of cameras controlled by a
Virtual Matrix)
Viewer layout
Live Viewer plugin
The entities currently displayed in the Viewing pane are shown in bold in the tree. The number enclosed in brackets
following an entity name corresponds to the logical ID assigned to the entity. They are used as reference numbers
for the keyboard commands.
You may use the [F6] function key to show or hide the Camera pane in the Live Viewer.
To display a video stream:

1. If necessary, expand the appropriate site ( ) in the camera tree to reveal its hierarchical content.
2. Click on the desired video stream ( or or ) and drag it to a desired tile in the Viewing pane, or double-
click on the desired entity to display it in the first free tile in the Viewing pane.
NOTE – A free tile is a tile that is not displaying anything in the layer that the selected entity is
supposed to go. See Display Management under Managing the Layouts.
TIP – To quickly find a specific camera among thousands, use the Entity Search tool by entering
Ctrl+F from the keyboard. For additional information on this tool, please read Entity Search
under Welcome – System Concepts.
To display a map or a plugin:

1. If necessary, expand the appropriate site in the camera tree to reveal its hierarchical content.
2. Click on the desired map ( ) or plugin ( ) and drag it to a desired tile in the Viewing pane, or double-click on
the desired entity to display it in the first free tile. See illustration below.
To learn how to attach an existing map to a site, please refer to the section on Map under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Site.
To display a layout:
2. Click on the desired layout ( ) and drag it anywhere in the Viewing pane.
If the layout is not yet part of the Viewing pane, it will be added.
If the layout is already in the Viewing pane, it will be brought to the foreground.
Live Viewer > Camera Pane

Analog Monitor Pane
Description
The Analog monitor pane is found at the lower left corner of

the Live Viewer's workspace. It contains a tree showing all the
analog monitors that are available to the user in the system.
Like the Camera pane, the Analog monitor pane shows the
monitors in hierarchical groupings called sites (refer to the
section on Logical View under Config Tool reference). Note
that only sites that have monitors underneath them are
shown.
You may use the [F7] function key to show or hide the
Analog monitor pane in the Live Viewer.
The entities shown in the analog monitor tree are described below:
Site
Analog monitor (or when locked for alarm display)
Camera (camera connected to a unit)
Virtual camera (camera connected to a hardware matrix)
Camera sequence (list of cameras controlled by a Virtual Matrix)
Playback sequence (playback sequence controlled by an Archive Player)
The number enclosed in brackets following an entity name corresponds to the logical ID assigned to the entity.
They are used as reference numbers for the keyboard commands.
To display a video stream on an analog monitor:
2. Click on the desired entity from the camera tree and drag it to the desired monitor ( ) in the analog monitor
tree, or click on the desired camera in the Viewing pane and drag it to the desired monitor icon in the analog
monitor tree. Note that this won't remove the camera from the Viewing pane.
3. If a video stream is already displayed on the selected monitor, the new video stream will replace the existing one.
Only one video stream may be displayed on any analog monitor at any time.
Controlling entities displayed in analog monitors:
Cameras ( and ) and camera sequences ( ) displayed on analog monitors can be controlled the same way as if
they were displayed in viewing tiles. Select any displayed entity in the analog monitor tree to show the
corresponding contextual toolbar at the bottom of the tree (see illustrations below).
Cameras controls Camera sequence controls
Please refer to Camera commands in the Please refer to Camera sequence

Viewing Tile section for an explanation of commands in the Viewing Tile section for
the control buttons. an explanation of the control buttons.
Playback sequences ( ) can only be controlled from the Archive Player (see Analog Monitor Tree under Archive
Player – Workspace).
Controlling alarms from the analog monitor tree:
Alarms are displayed in analog monitors only when monitor groups have been selected as alarm recipients (see
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm – Recipients).
When an alarm is displayed on a monitor group, all analog monitors belonging to that group are locked ( ). This
means that nothing else can be displayed on those monitors until the displayed alarm is acknowledged.
Selecting a locked monitor or the displayed entity will show
the alarm contextual toolbar at the bottom of the analog
monitor tree (see illustration on the left). The alarm name and
instance number are also indicated.
Acknowledges the alarm. To learn more on handling

alarms, please refer to Alarm commands in the Viewing
Tile section for an explanation of the control buttons.
Shows the alarm procedure. This button is disabled if no
procedure is defined for this alarm. See Procedure under
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm – Properties.
Opens the alarm history dialog. Please refer to the
section on Manipulating alarms under Message Pane –
Alarm List.
To remove a video stream from an analog monitor:

1. If necessary, expand the appropriate site ( ) in the analog monitor tree to reveal its hierarchical content.
2. Drag the unwanted entity ( or or ) from the analog monitor tree to the camera tree. The removed entity
should not longer be displayed in the analog monitor tree.
NOTE – Playback sequences ( ) and alarms ( ) cannot be removed manually. Playback

sequences are removed from the Archive Player and alarms are removed when someone
acknowledges the alarm.
Live Viewer > Analog Monitor Pane

Message Pane
Definitions
The Message pane is the area at the bottom of the Live Viewer's workspace reserved for displaying alarm and event
notifications. It contains two tabs, one for displaying alarm notifications and the other for displaying event
notifications.
To learn more, please refer to the following sections:

Alarm list
Event list (only available in Advanced Mode (Shift+F10).
Hiding/Showing the Message Pane

The Message pane can be hidden or shown by pressing the function key F8 from the keyboard or by selecting
"Message Pane " from the View menu.
Live Viewer > Message Pane

Alarm List
Description
The alarm list in the Message pane shows the content of the current user's alarm queue. The alarm queue is
updated dynamically as new alarms are sent to the user. Each alarm instance in the queue is described with the
following fields:
Status icon The status icon has the following meanings:

Active (an alarm is active if it has not yet been acknowledged)
Forwarded to another user (see Manipulating alarms below)
Snoozed (see Manipulating alarms below)
Acknowledged (default mode)
Acknowledged (alternate mode)
Acknowledged (custom mode)
Name Alarm name (see alarm entity) and alarm instance number in brackets.
The camera icon ( ) preceeding the alarm name indicates that it is a displayable
alarm. The absence of the camera icon indicates a silent alarm.
Priority Alarm priority , indicated by a number from 1 (most important) to 30 (least
important). See alarm entity.
Date Date and time the alarm instance was created.
Source Name of the entity that triggered the alarm.
Event type Type of event that triggered the alarm. If the event type is "Manual action", then the
source indicates either the Virtual Matrix or the SDK that generated the alarm.
For the complete coverage of all the event types, please refer to the section on Event
Handling under Welcome – System Concepts.
Use the function key F8 to show or hide the Message pane.
Controlling the alarm list

Show/hide alarms in the list
Unlike the event list, the alarm list cannot be cleared. However, the user can choose to hide alarms with a certain
status. To do this, use the button and select or unselect the alarm statuses you wish to see or hide.
As long as the instances are still in the alarm history database, they will always be visible to the user. The number of
days an alarm instance is kept in the database after it has been acknowledged is configured in the Config Tool.
Please refer to the section on Alarm Properties under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm.
Viewing alarms
As long as an alarm is still active, you can display it in a tile by double-clicking on it or by dragging it to an unarmed
tile (see Pausing an alarm under Live Viewer – Viewing Tile). Once an alarm has been acknowledged, you can no
longer view it in the Live Viewer. The only option you have would be to view it in playback mode from the Archive
Player (see the button below).
Manipulating alarms
The same alarm control buttons found in the alarm tile are also available here. They are explained below:
Acknowledges the alarm. To learn more on handling alarms, please refer to Alarm Management
under Welcome – System Concepts.
Forwards the alarm to another recipient than yourself. Once forwarded, the alarm is removed from
the Viewing pane but remains in the user's alarm queue.
Snoozes the alarm. The duration of the snooze is configured in the Options dialog. Once put to
snooze, the alarm is removed from the Viewing pane but remains in the user's alarm queue. The
alarm will re-appear after the snoozer times out.
Shows the alarm procedure. This button is disabled if no procedure is defined for this alarm. See
Procedure under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm – Properties.
Opens the alarm history dialog.
The alarm history dialog shows every step in the life cycle of the alarm, from its creation to the
time it is acknowledged, in reverse chronological order.
The icon indicates the event that took place.
Alarm activation. It may correspond to the initial alarm creation, a forwarded alarm, or an
alarm reactivation after a snooze. The "By" column indicates the alarm recipient.
Snoozed.
Forwarded.
Comment added. A comment may only be added through custom alarm procedures.
Acknowledged.
The description field is used to display the comment associated to the alarm when it is generated
from a script.
Launches the Archive Player to play the video recordings associated to the selected alarm. The
playback will start n seconds before the alarm instance creation time, as specified in the Archive
Player Options dialog. If there are cameras configured with the "playback" or "still frames" display
option, the specified "pre-trigger" time will also be taken into consideration to calculate when the
playback should begin. To learn more about alarm playback, please refer to the section on Archive
Player – Query Result Pane – Alarm Search Result.
Live Viewer > Message Pane > Alarm List

Event List
Description
The event list in the Message pane displays the events chronologically as they occur in the system. Each event in the
list is described by the following fields:
Source The source is the entity, indicated by an icon and a name, that issued the event.
Date The date and time at which the event occurred.
Type The type of event. For the complete coverage of all the event types, please refer to the
section on Event Handling under Welcome – System Concepts.
Description The description gives additional information that further describe the event. For example,
for the event type "User logon", the description "DTSIANG1 – Config Tool: Daniel" indicates
the PC name, the application the user has logged on to, and the user name.
Use the function key F8 to show or hide the Message pane.
To view the video associated to a camera event:

If an event is associated to a camera ( ) , you can easily view what is happening on that camera by double-clicking
on the event item in the list.
If the camera is already shown in the Viewing pane, it will be highlighted in yellow.
If the camera is not currently displayed in the current layout, it will be displayed in a free tile.
If there is no free tile in the current layout, the oldest camera in the layout (the one that has been displayed in the
layout for the longest time) will be replaced by the camera you just selected.
Event filter
The Live Viewer allows you to choose what types of events to display.
To change the event display options:
1. Click on the Modify event filter button. The Events dialog will appear.
2. Select the option "Show selected items only".
3. In the scrollable event list that becomes editable, select all event types you wish to display.
Click to select all or to clear all selections.
4. Click on OK button once you are finished.
To clear the event list:

Click on the Clear event list button.
Live Viewer > Message Pane > Event List

Archive Player
Overview
Workspace
Menu
Toolbar
Playback Pane
Query Pane
Query Result Pane
Other Tools
Archive Player

Overview
Efficiency at its best

The Archive Player offers quick and effective retrieval and playback of all stored video, audio and data. Through the
Archive Player interface, users can perform intelligent queries based on date, time, camera, event type, motion, complex
metadata tags, bookmarks, past alarms and motion in specific areas of the camera view. With the ability to view up to 16
archived sequences simultaneously, users can choose to run each sequence individually or use the synchronous playback
option to compare events across several camera fields. Video sequences can be exported or individual video frames can
be saved and printed from the Archive Player application. All these capabilities allow users to pinpoint specific events.
Feature Highlight
Archive search and retrieval

Search for available video archives by camera (see History Browser)
Search for specific events by time range on selected cameras (see Archive Query)
Search for past alarms and find out what triggered them (see Alarm Search)
Search for motion in specific areas of a camera's field of view (see Motion Search)
Search for specific metadata associated to selected cameras (see Metadata Search)
Search for video files under any disk folder (see File Browser)
Search for video files associated to selected cameras (see Video file query)
Archive playback
Simultaneous playback of up to 16 archived video streams (see Playback pane)
Playback by date, time, camera, event and motion (see Viewing video archives under Playback Pane)
Playback on analog monitors (see Analog monitor pane under Workspace)
View real-time motion graphs of selected playback sequence (see Playback tiles)
View bookmarks during playback (see Event markers under Playback Controls)
Seek and add bookmarks during playback (see Add a bookmark under Playback Menu)
Playback in slow motion, fast forward and rewind (see Playback speed under Playback Controls)
Frame by frame playback and key frame search (see Controlling the playback under Playback Controls)
Loop playback (see Controlling the playback under Playback Controls)
Print or save snapshots of video to disk (see Save, Print, Export under Playback Controls)
Use digital zoom on any playback sequence (see Digital zoom)
View associated metadata during playback (see Metadata)
Advanced features
Personalize your workspace (see View menu)
Synchronous playback of selected video sequences (see Synchronous playback)
Export selected video sequences to disk or CD-ROM (see Archive export)
Convert of .G64 video files to standard .ASF file format (see Video file conversion)
Validate video files' authenticity (see File Browser result)
Protect video files against deletion (see Video file query)
Use the PC keyboard instead of the mouse (see Keyboard commands)
Archive Player > Overview

Workspace
The Archive Player workspace is divided into seven main areas (see illustration above). All of them can either be
resized or hidden from view to create more space for the Playback pane, the only area that cannot be hidden.
Menu The application menu is a standard Windows application menu. It offers the keyboard
alternative to interacting with the application as opposed to using the mouse. However,
certain commands, such as changing the application settings, can only be reached
through this menu. Learn more
Toolbar The application toolbar provides a graphical representation of the most frequently used
commands in the Archive Player. It also indicates the connection status as well as the
current system status, such as date, time and percentage of CPU usage. Learn more
Query Pane The Query pane offers six different archive investigation tools, conveniently arranged
into six individual tabs. The first five tools provide different ways for querying the
archive database for specific video sequences to playback. The sixth tool lets the user
explore the disk folders for video files. Learn more
Playback Pane The Playback pane is the main area reserved for the viewing of video archives. Up to 16
playback sequences can be viewed simulatenously in this area (dual-screen
configurations are not supported). It is the only area that cannot be hidden in the
workspace. Learn more
Tool Pane The Tool pane contains a series of tools related to the selected playback sequence. They
range from the properties of the playback sequence to the control of the digital zoom
and the display of metadata. Learn more
Query Result Pane The Query Result pane is used to display the results from queries executed in the Query
pane. The presentation format of the query results depends on the type of query that
was executed. Learn more
Analog Monitor The Analog monitor pane contains a tree showing the analog monitors that are visible
Pane to the current user. It looks exactly the same as the Analog monitor pane found in the
Live Viewer, except that you cannot control the entities displayed by other people.
To display a playback sequence ( ) on an analog monitor ( ), simply drag the desired

sequence from either the Playback pane, or from the Query Result pane, to the analog
monitor where you wish to view the playback. The playback sequence will also be
displayed in the Archive Player's Playback pane.
If a camera ( or ) or a camera sequence ( ) was playing on the monitor before this

operation, it will be temporarily hidden by the video sequence you just selected. When
the video sequence is removed, the previous display will be restored.
WARNING – Removing a sequence from the Playback pane will also remove it
from the analog monitor.

The panes containing a title bar can be changed into a floating window by clicking on the button or closed by
clicking on the button. To make a hidden pane reappear, use the View menu.
To resize any of the panes, click on one of the edge separating two panes and drag towards the direction you want
to resize.
Archive Player > Workspace

Menu
This Archive Player menu is comprised of the following submenus.
View menu This menu lets the user change the visual settings of the Archive Player workspace. Learn
more
Playback menu This menu lets the user apply some of the toolbar commands on the currently selected
playback tile. This menu comes in handy when the toolbar is hidden from the workspace.
Learn more
Tools menu This menu lets the user change the Archive Player options and call up other programs such
as the Live Viewer and the Config Tool. Learn more
links.
Archive Player > Menu

System Menu
already done so. It also lets the user disconnect from the current Directory so he can connect to another one.
In order to use the Archive Player, you must identify yourself by entering your username and
Disconnect This command disconnects the Archive Player from its current Directory, but does not exit the
that has it.
Password...
field.
Detect Use this command to detect the joystick(s) or game controller(s) connected to your PC. This
command is only necessary when the joystick is connected after the Archive Player has been
Joysticks
started.
When a joystick is detected, a joystick icon ( ) will appear in the Tile Control Panel in the
Toolbar. To learn on how to configure the joystick for the Archive Player, please refer to the
section on Joystick options under Tools Menu – Options.
by the Live Viewer that are not acknowledged by the user within a preset amount of time are
log.
Notification sent by the "Send a message" action.

Warning message.
Error message.
Exit This command disconnects the Archive Player from its current Directory and exits the
application.
Archive Player > Menu > System Menu

View Menu
This menu gives you the commands to control the look and feel of the Archive Player's workspace.
Note that if you do not have the "Change client views" privilege, most of the commands in this menu
would be disabled.
Query Pane (F4) Shows or hides the Query pane (top left)
Query Result Pane (F6) Shows or hides the Query Result pane (bottom right)
Analog Monitor Pane Shows or hides the Analog Monitor pane (bottom left)
(F7)
Tool Pane (F8) Shows or hides the Tool pane (embedded in the Playback pane)
Toolbar (F9) Shows or hides the Toolbar (top)
Show Only Selected Fills the Playback pane with the currently selected playback tile.
Equivalent to using the "Expand" button from the Toolbar.
Tile
Tile Pattern Pops the tile patterns submenu.

Equivalent to using the "Pattern" button from the Toolbar.
Timeline Shows or hides the event markers displayed in the timeline

Motion markers (displayed as red bars )
Bookmarks (displayed as dark blue bars )
Metadata (displayed as transparent light blue overlays )
Enables or disables the timeline display in each individual playback tile.
Full Screen (F11) Displays the Archive Player without the Windows application border to maximize
the playback area. Note that the Full Screen mode does more than just maximizing
your application window. It also hides the title bar and the task bar.
Hide Menu in Full Shows or hides the application menu in Full Screen mode (F11).
Screen
Advanced Mode Alternates between Simple and Advanced modes. In Simple mode, only the most
(Shift + F10) common controls are visible, thus simplifying the user interface for novices. In
Advanced mode, all available controls are visible, thus giving complete control to
the experienced users.
Archive Player > Menu > View Menu

Playback Menu
This menu groups together all commands relative to the control of the Playback pane. The menu items are explained
below:
Add a Bookmark Displays the following dialog to add a bookmark to the selected playback sequence
at the timestamp indicated in the dialog box.
You may take your time to type the text, because the timestamp of the bookmark
won't change. This command is equivalent to clicking the bookmark button in the
playback commands.
To protect the video file containing the bookmark from being deleted during the
routine archive cleanup procedure, select the option " Protect video from deletion".
The video sequence starting 60 seconds before the bookmark and ending 4 minutes
after the bookmark will automatically be protected.
You can choose to protect the video indefinitely, for a specified number of days, or
until a specific date. For more details on video protection, please refer to Video File
Query under Tools Menu.
Digital Zoom... Displays to the Digital Zoom tab from the Tool pane and applies it to the selected
sequence in the Playback pane.
Display Overlayed Shows or hides the metadata overlays associated to the selected sequence in the
Playback pane.
Metadata
Synchronous Enables or disables synchronous playback. Equivalent to using the "Synchronize"

button from the Toolbar.
Playback
Remove Selected Removes the selected playback sequence from the Playback pane. Equivalent to
clicking on the "Remove" button in the Toolbar or to dragging the current display
back to the Query Result pane.
Remove All Removes all video sequences from the Playback pane. There is no mouse click
equivalent to this command.
Properties... Displays the Properties tab from the Tool pane and applies it to the selected
sequence in the Playback pane.
Archive Player > Menu > Playback Menu

Tools Menu
Live Viewer Starts the Live Viewer using the same Directory, username and connection type as the
Archive Player.
Config Tool Starts the Config Tool using the same Directory, username and connection type as
the Archive Player.
Video File Query Opens the Archive Player Video File Query dialog from which you can manage the
protected videos.
Entity Search... Opens the Entity Search dialog (see Welcome – System Concepts – Entity Search).
Options... Opens the Archive Player Options Dialog.
Custom menu items All menu items listed after "Options..." in the Tools menu are customizable. All
Omnicast client applications are installed with the custom menu item "Launch Field
Report Generator". If you ever need to call the technical support for any reason, this
command may prove to be very useful. It launches the Field Report Generator, a
tool that gathers pertinent information regarding the status of your system that can
help the support team diagnose your problem.
To learn how to customize the Tools menu, please refer to Customize Tools Menu
under Config Tool – Menu – Tools Menu.
Archive Player > Menu > Tools Menu

Video File Query
Description
The Video File Query is an additional query tool designed to find the video files associated to the video archives.
You can search the video files by encoder name and by date range. You can also filter the results by their video
protection status and by their video protection end date.
Needless to say, The main purpose of this tool is to help administrators manage the protected video. The following
operations are supported in this tool:
Protect selected files (indefinitely or until a specified date)

Remove the video protection from selected files
To know the percentage of protected video over the total disk space used for video archives for a given Archiver,
open the Config Tool, select the Archiver in question from the Physical view, go to its Statistics tab, and click on the
"Protected video file statistics" button.
To perform a search:
1. Select the category of archive sources:
Default Query only the default Archiver. Redundant Archivers will not be
Archiver queried.
All archivers Query all archivers.
2. Place checkmarks in the camera tree beside all the cameras for which you wish to perform the search.
3. Indicate the search time range by specifying the "From" date-time and the "To" date-time.
Be aware that the wider the range, the longer the Archive Player will take to perform the search. If the search yields
more than 1000 items, the Archive Player will ask you to refine the search criteria.
4. If you are only interested by files having certain video protection statuses, select " Filter by status" and select
the desired statuses. The meaning of the statuses are described below:
Unprotected – Files that are not protected against potential deletion.

Ending protection – Files whose protection has just been removed. See "Removing video protection".
Protected – Files that are still protected
If you chose "Protected" files, you can further reduce the search space by specifying a protection end date.
5. If you are looking for protected files, you can further limit the search results by specifying a time range for the
file protection end dates.
6. Click on the "Start" button to start the database query. While the system is searching, the animated GIF will be
shown ( ). The result will gradually appear in the result list on the right. The search is complete when the
animated GIF disappears. You may stop the search before the end by clicking on "Cancel".
Query Results
The results of your query are listed in the query dialog itself. The video files are grouped by encoder names and
Archiver names. The protection status of each video file is indicated by an icon.
Unprotected
Protected (the protection end date is indicated)
Ending protection (the protection end date is indicated)
From the result list, you can protect and unprotect the video files, or change the duration of the video protection.
Removing video protection
The Archive Player is the only place where video protection can be removed. To do this, select the files from the
result list and click on the "Remove video protection" button. The new status will be shown at your next query.
When the video protection is removed, the file does not become unprotected right away. The user will benefit from
a period of 24 hours before the file become at risk of being deleted. During that time, the file is said to be "ending
protection".
A video file that is non longer protected will eventually be deleted by its Archiver according the normal cleanup
process. See Recording properties under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
Changing the video protection
To protect or change the protection duration of video files, select them from the result list and click on the "Protect
video from deletion" button. The "Protection settings" dialog will appear.
You can either protect the file indefinitely or specify a protection duration or an expiry date. Click on "Protect" to
apply the settings. The updated status will be shown the next time you perform a query.
Note that the system will issue a warning if the total size of the protected video files exceeds the protected video
threshold configured in the Server Admin.
Archive Player > Menu > Tools Menu > Video File Query

Options Dialog
The Options Dialog is accessible from the Archive Player's Tools Menu. From this dialog, you can configure most of the
Archive Player's default behavior to suit your preferences. The dialog contains seven tabs, one for each group of settings.
General, Network, Audio, Visual, User interaction, Joystick, Display, Date and time
General options
Use this options tab to configure the general settings for the Archive Player.
dialog the user from changing the Gateway in the Connect dialog. The next time a user

[Ctrl+Shift+Enter].

Windows user credentials. The Active Directory must be enabled on the specified
On application Save search criteria – Select this option to save the state of the search tabs
exit (Events, Export, Alarms, Motion, Metadata) in the Query pane before closing the
application so that the next time the application is started, the same settings can
be restored.
If the search settings are not saved, the application will start with all time ranges
set to one hour before the current time and no entity pre-selected.
Save tiles' content – Select this option if you want the Archive Player to
reload the video sequences you are currently viewing into the same tiles the next
time you start the application.
Time to seek before a restored sequence – If you selected the previous option,
then you will need to specify the number of seconds to start the reloaded video
sequences before their saved position.
Playback Time to seek before a bookmark – Enter here the number of seconds to start
the playback before the position of a bookmark you just sought.
Time to seek before an alarm – Enter here the number of seconds to start the
playback before the creation time of an alarm instance when displaying past
alarms. See alarm search under Query Pane.
Return to top
Network options
Return to top
Audio options
in the Config Tool reference. If you leave this field blank, no alert sound will be
heard.
Reception
Return to top
Visual options
Visual elements Show timeline for each tile – Select this option to display an individual
timeline at the bottom of each playback tile.
Show metadata overlays – Select this option if you want to show by default,
all metadata associated to a recorded video, whenever they are available. Note
that the user can turn this feature on or off on each individual playback
sequence from the tile contextual menu.
Return to top
User interaction options

System Show messages,... – Select this option to prevent the application from showing
messages any warning or error message. This option should be used when the application is
running in an unattended mode. When this option is selected, the next three options
will be disabled. You have to restart the application for this option to take effect.
Close automatically messages,... – Select this option if you want the notification
messages to be moved automatically to the notification message log if they are not
acknowledged by the user after a given period of time. See Notifications under
System Menu.
Prompt user when CPU usage is above... – When the CPU is near its maximum
capacity, attempting a CPU intensive operation (such as viewing a camera) can
sometimes freeze the machine. To prevent this from happening, you can ask the
system to prompt you for a confirmation before attempting any CPU intensive
operation when the percentage of CPU usage is above a preset level.
operation.
Selecting " Never ask me that question again" and clicking "Yes" is equivalent to
turning this feature off.
Display warning if query covers multiple days – Select this option if you want
the Archive Player to issue a warning when the time range for a query exceeds 24
hours. This option is only applicable to the Archive Query, the Alarm Search, the
Motion Search, and the Metadata Search. Note that no query is permitted to return
more than 1000 items. When this limit is exceeded, an error message is issued.
Snapshots Write date, time and camera
name on snapshots – Select this
option to have the date, time
and camera name overlayed at
the bottom of the snapshots.
This option applies to both
saved and printed snapshots.
Always save the snapshots
in the same folder – Use this
option to speed up the "Save
snapshot" command.
WARNING – If the "Always save ..." option is disabled, the Save snapshot
command will prompt you to enter the name, the location and the format
(bitmap or JPEG) of the saved image file before taking the snapshot, causing
you to miss the important scene you want to save.
The name of the saved image file will follow the format "camera name -
date_time.format", where ".format" is either .bmp or .jpg.
Return to top
Joystick options
This tab allows you to configure the joystick connected to your PC to be used as a CCTV keyboard. If
a joystick (or any game controller supporting at least one axis) is detected on your computer, its
brand and model name will appear in the "Active joystick" combo box.
The Import and Export buttons allows you to import a previously saved joystick configuration
from disk or to save the current configuration to disk. The Clear button erases the selected
command mapping.
Axis Use this section to map the axis commands of the joystick to the desired PTZ
command of your choice. All the axis supported by your joystick will be listed.
To associate a PTZ command to a joystick axis, select the axis in the list and click on the
Command field. The available commands will appear in a drop-down list.
For each axis, you have the choice to invert the commands. For example, if you
mapped the "Tilt" command to the Y axis, inverting the commands will cause the
camera to move up when you pull the joystick towards you, and down when you push
the joystick away from you.
Buttons Use this section to configure the joystick buttons to perform the Live Viewer
commands of your choice. The number of buttons you can configure depends on the
type of joystick you have.
To associate a command to a joystick button, select the button in the list and click on
the Down command field or Up command field to see a list of commands you may
choose from. If the selected command requires an argument, then enter it in the
Argument field.
You may associate two different commands to each button, one to the button down
event and another to the button up event. The second command is optional.
Return to top
Display options
The display settings tab is the same for all three client applications (Live Viewer, Archive Player and
Video For the Archive Player, only the Playback video options are configurable.
options

on.
adapters.
Matrox G450 or G550
YUV or not is to test it. You must restart your application after changing
the video mode. If the video is displayed correctly, then your video adapter
List of This table lists all display adaptors installed on your PC. The type indicates whether
detected... the adapter supports single or dual monitors.
Return to top
Date and time options
Device time Display based on each device's time zone – Each device in the system follows
zone a specific time zone. Generally speaking, an application follows the time zone of
the machine where it is running and all devices (units) follow the time zone of
the application controlling it.
Display based on the following time zone – You can choose to display the
time according to each entity's time zone or to display everything following a
time zone of your choice. This change is effective immediately and affects all
client applications.
Time zone Display time zone abbreviations – Select this option to display the time
abbreviations zone abbreviation wherever time is displayed. Please refer to the Appendix for
the time zone abbreviations used in Omnicast.
Return to top
Archive Player > Menu > Tools Menu > Options Dialog

Help Menu
About...
License Information
from Genetec.
sold.
Software Version
information regarding the Genetec Omnicast Archive Player application is being
displayed.
Archive Player > Menu > Help Menu

Toolbar
Description
The Archive Player's toolbar is located right under the Archive Player's menu. It can be hidden or revealed by
pressing the F9 key. It features status and control panels, quick launch buttons for frequently used functions and
shortcuts to other Omnicast applications.


Options.
CPU The CPU gauge indicates the percentage of CPU currently being used. If your
computer seems to have trouble responding and the gauge tells you that the CPU
is always near 100%, you should probably consider reducing the number of
simultaneous playback sequences. If this doesn't solve your problem, please talk to
your system administrator.
Video The video gauge indicates the percentage of video memory used. If the memory
usage is near 100%, the message "Not enough video memory" will be displayed
in the tile instead of the video when you drag a playback sequence to a tile. To
remedy the situation, remove some video sequences from the Playback pane and
try again.
To turn the sound on/off individually on each playback stream, use the Start/Stop
listening button found in each playback tile.
Use the application shortcuts to start the Config Tool ( ) or the Live Viewer ( ) using the same connection
parameters as the Archive Player.
Tile Control Panel

The Tile Control Panel's purpose is to support the PC keyboard. To select a
tile, enter the tile ID from the PC keyboard and type '.' on the keypad. See
Keyboard Commands.
12345 The digits display is used to indicate the digit keystrokes entered from the PC
keyboard. To clear the digit keystrokes, press the [Esc] key.
Tile The currently selected tile is indicated here. See also Playback Tile.
Camera The currently selected camera is indicated here.
Joystick indicator When a joystick is connected to your PC, a joystick icon ( ) will appear under the
LED display. To detect a joystick that was connected after the Live Viewer has
started, select "Detect Joysticks" from the System menu.
Command Buttons
Also found in the toolbar are the quick launch buttons for the
frequently used functions
Pattern Use this button to change the tile pattern in the Playback pane.
Expand Click on this button to toggles between showing only the selected tile or showing
all the tiles in the current tile pattern.
Synchronous Starts or, stops the synchronous playback. Please refer to the section on
Synchronous Playback in this book to learn more about this feature.
Remove Removes the selected video sequence from the Playback pane. The same could be
achieved by dragging the selected playback sequence back to the Result pane.
Archive Player > Toolbar

Keyboard Commands
Purpose
Just like for the Live Viewer, the PC keyboard can be used to control the Archive Player instead of the mouse. The
supported keyboard commands are divided into the following sections:
Controlling the Playback Pane

Controlling the tiles
Selecting tiles by IDs
Special Controls
Switching focus
Digital Zoom controls
Playback controls
Controlling the Playback Pane

Controlling the tiles
Select the next tile with something displayed. Empty tiles are ignored. Ctrl + Tab
Select the previous tile with something displayed. Empty tiles are Ctrl + Shift + Tab
ignored.
Switch to previous tile pattern within the current layout. Ctrl + keypad '-'
Switch to next tile pattern within the current layout. Ctrl + keypad '+'
Remove all currently displayed entities from the current Playback pane. Ctrl + Backspace
Selecting tiles by IDs

Select a specific tile by its ID (the tile must be displaying a sequence). xxxxx + keypad '.'
To help the user keep track of what number has been entered, all digit
keystrokes ('0' through '9') are shown in the LED display located in the
tile control panel. Keypad NUM LOCK must be on for this to work
Clear the digit keystrokes shown in the LED display. Esc
Clear the tile selection (so no tile is selected). 0 + keypad '.'
Selected tile – Expand/collapse E

Selected tile – Remove the playback sequence Backspace
Add Bookmark B
Camera – Listen on/off . (period)
Special Controls
Switching focus
Switch focus to the Query Pane Ctrl + Q

Switch focus to the Digital Zoom window Ctrl + D
Switch focus to the Query Result Pane Ctrl + R
Move to next Query tab (while the focus is a tab itself) Right arrow
Move to previous Query tab (while the focus is a tab itself) Left arrow
Digital Zoom controls
Pan left Shift + Left arrow

Pan right Shift + Right arrow
Tilt up Shift + Up arrow
Tilt down Shift + Down arrow
Zoom in Shift + Keypad '/'
Zoom out Shift + Keypad '*'
Playback controls
Play / Pause Shift + Up arrow; or G
Previous key frame Ctrl + Left arrow; or H
Next frame Ctrl + Right arrow; or J
Rewind Shift + Left arrow; or K
Fast forward Shift + Right arrow; or L
Play faster Shift + Keypad '+'
Play slower Shift + Keypad '-'
Expand timeline (Zoom in) Shift + Keypad '/'
Compress timeline (Zoom out) Shift + Keypad '*'
Archive Player > Toolbar > Keyboard Commands

Synchronous Playback
How it works
The synchronous mode is started by clicking on the Synchronous playback button in the Archive Player's
Toolbar.
Once started, the tile background in the Playback pane will change to orange (see illustration above) signifying that
you are now in synchronous mode. During synchronous playback, the timeline in the playback controls will
continue to reflect the timeline of the selected tile.
If there were already video sequences in the Playback pane when synchronous playback is started, then the
currently selected tile (the one highlighted in yellow) will be used to set the time for all the others.
If there were no video sequences playing when the synchronous mode is started, then the first sequence being
dragged to the Playback pane will set the time for all subsequent ones.
If a camera does not have recorded video for the time you are viewing, the message "No playback sequence" will
be displayed in its playback tile.
If none of the displayed cameras have recorded video for a period of time, the playback will automatically fast
forward to the point where at least one of the displayed cameras has recorded video, and resume the playback
from there.
The synchronous mode can be stopped at any time by clicking on the Synchronous playback button.
Change of behavior
While in synchronous playback mode, clicking on "Save frame" and "Print frame" buttons will save
and print the current frame for all displayed tiles.
However, the "Export" and the "Add bookmark" buttons will only apply to the selected tile.
Archive Player > Toolbar > Synchronous Playback

Playback Pane
Description
The Playback pane is the area in the Archive Player's workspace reserved for viewing video archives. The top section
of the Playback pane can display up to 16 playback sequences simulatenously. Unlike the Live Viewer, multi-display
configurations are not supported by the Archive Player.
Each playback sequence is displayed in it's own window called a playback tile. The tiles are arranged like a mosaic
and follow one of the 17 preset tile patterns.
The bottom section of the Playback pane contains the playback controls. The controls always apply to the selected
tile, which is highlighted with a yellow border. Please refer to the subsequent sections (or follow the hyperlinks) for
a detailed description for each of these user interface elements.
Viewing Video Archives

There are two methods to play archived videos. Once started, the video sequence will keep on playing as long as
there is new video being archived.
Implicit archive query
If you just want to view the last few minutes of video from a selected camera, you can do so from the Archive Query
( ) tab. Locate the desired camera in the camera tree and drag it to a playback tile or double-click on the camera.
If archiving took place for that camera during the past four minutes, the corresponding recorded video would be
played back in the selected tile.
Explicit archive query
A better method is to issue an explicit archive query from the Query pane (on the left). The results found are listed
in the Query Result pane located right below the Playback pane.
To view any video sequence produced by your query, drag it from the Query Result pane to the desired playback
tile, or simply double-click it. With the second method, the sequence will be played in the first free tile that is
available.
To remove a playback sequence from the display, click on the tile to remove, and drag it back to the Query Result
pane. You may also click on the recycle bin button in the toolbar.
To swap the video sequence between two playback tiles, simply click on the first tile you want to swap, and drag it
to the second tile. The video streams in the two tiles will change place.
To play all video sequences in a synchronized fashion, click on the start synchronous playback button found in
the Archive Player's toolbar. Please read the section on Synchronous Playback for more details on this feature.
Archive Player > Playback Pane

Playback Tile
The "playback tile" is the window used to playback archived video sequences. Up to 16 playback tiles can be displayed in the
Archive Player's Playback pane. Each tile contains the following information:
Tile ID The tile ID is the number that uniquely identifies each tile in the Playback pane. It is used to reference a
tile with the PC keyboard. See Selecting tiles by IDs under Toolbar – Keyboard Commands.
Border The currently selected playback tile is highlighted with a yellow border. It tells the user which playback
highlight sequence is currently the focus of the playback controls.
Background The background color indicates the playback mode.
color
Asynchronous playback (dark gray) – Each sequence has its own time.
Synchronous playback (dark blue) – See Synchronous Playback.
Playback This is the viewing area of the playback video stream.
sequence
Camera The camera name tells the user from which camera the video was archived.
name
Start/stop This toggle button allows you to listen or to turn off the sound on each playback stream individually.
listening The sound is always on when you start playing a video sequence in a tile. Note that there is no sound
when you are in synchronous playback mode.
Current The time of the current video frame is shown in the lower left corner of the playback tile if the timeline is
frame displayed. See also Date and time options under Tools Menu – Options.
timestamp
Timeline The timeline is a graphic illustration of the playback sequence, showing where in time, motion,
bookmarks and metadata could be found.
The vertical orange bar is the playback cursor.

The red bars ( ) in the timeline indicate motion.
The vertical blue bar ( ) indicate bookmarks.
The areas colored in light blue ( ) indicate the presence of metadata.
The playback cursor can be dragged to the desired position in the timeline to quickly change the
position of the playback frame. For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on
Timeline under Playback Controls.
The timeline can be shown in each playback tile if so desired. To enable the individual timeline display,
go to the View menu, and select "Timeline", then "Show Timeline for Each Tile". The timeline must be
displayed to see the current frame timestamp of each playback sequence.
Contextual Right-clicking on a playback tile that is currently showing a playback sequence will pop the contextual
menu menu.
Show Only this Tile – Fills the display area with the current tile.
Display Overlayed Metadata – Shows the metadata overlays.
Digital Zoom – Opens the Digital zoom window.
Export – Opens the Export dialog.
Protect Video – Opens the Protect archives dialog.
Remove Tile – Removes the displayed sequence.
Properties – Opens the Properties window.
Archive Player > Playback Pane > Playback Tile
www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserv

Tile Patterns
The tile pattern determines how many tiles are shown simultaneously and the way they are arranged within the
Playback pane. There are 17 preset patterns available for you to choose from.
To change the tile pattern within the Archive Player, you can either click on the tile pattern button found in the
Toolbar, or select the "Change Tile Pattern" command from the View menu.
If only the first four patterns are shown, click on "More..." to show the rest.
Notes:
When switching from a pattern with a high number of

tiles to a pattern with fewer number of tiles, playback
sequences displayed in the high numbered tiles that do
not exist in the new pattern will be moved to the first
free tile in the new pattern. If there is no free tile
available, those sequences will simply be removed from
the Playback pane.
When a new pattern with a higher number of tiles is

selected, all new tiles will stay empty. Those that have
been moved to the free tiles will remain at their new
positions.
Archive Player > Playback Pane > Tile Patterns

Playback Controls
The playback controls are located at the bottom part of the Archive Player's Playback pane. These controls always apply
to the currently selected playback tile. Each of these controls are described in the sections that follow.
Timeline
Description
The ruler like indicator is called the timeline. The timeline is a graphical representation of the selected playback
sequence. The duration of the sequence is indicated in brackets. The initial duration of the timeline depends on the
selected playback sequence. See Viewing Video Archives under Playback Pane. Once the sequence is loaded, the
user can shorten or expand the timeline by clicking on the Zoom in and Zoom out buttons.
The position of the current video frame in the timeline is indicated by the an orange bar called the playback
cursor. You can easily change the position of the playback frame by dragging the playback cursor to the desired
position or by clicking the desired position in the timeline.
The backbround color of the timeline has the following meaning:

White background – Section of the timeline that is in the past where video is available.
Dark gray background – Section of the timeline where no video is available.
Light purple – Section of the timeline that was in the future at the time the playback
was requested, but now is in the past. This is the reason why there is no motion
indicators in this section.
Dark purple background – Section of the timeline that is still in the future.
Event markers
The red blocks ( ) in the timeline are motion indicators. The higher the red bar, the more pronounced the motion.
The dark blue vertical bars ( ) in the timeline are bookmark indicators. The time and text associated to the
bookmark are shown above the timeline when the playback cursor is within plus or minus 5 seconds of the
bookmark position. When the bookmark text is displayed, the bookmark indicator is shown in red ( ).
The areas colored in light blue ( ) indicate the presence of metadata. If metadata are available, you can view the
them by showing the Metadata tab in the Tool Pane (F8).
TIP – You can enable or disable the display of each type of event markers in the timeline. To do
this, select the Timeline sub-menu from the View menu and enable or disable the desired event
marker type.
Time range markers
The time range markers are the two triangular orange markers that appear at the top right corner on the timeline
when the mouse cursor hovers over the timeline.
You can use those markers to delimit a specific range in the timeline, either to zoom in to it or to setup a playback
loop. To set up a time range, simply drag the markers to the desired start and end positions.
To clear the range, click on the Reset markers button (x).
Playback commands
NOTE – Not all playback commands are supported at all times, especially if the
archive source is the unit and not the Archiver. When a given command is not
supported, the corresponding button will be disabled. To find out what playback
capabilities are supported by the selected sequence, display the Tool pane (F8) and
select the Properties tab.
Satus panel
The status panel indicates the time and date of the current image on the first row, and the playback status and the
speed on the second row.
Controlling the playback

Play/Pause The large button alternates between Play and Pause.
Go to next Use this button to advance the video frame by frame. Clicking on this
frame button also pauses the sequence.
Go to previous A key frame is a frame that contains a complete image by itself as
key frame opposed to a usual frame that only holds information that changed
compared to the previous frame. If the playback sequence contains key
frames at short intervals, clicking continously on this button will produced
the effect of reverse playback.
Loop playback You can set the playback to loop continuously within a specific time
range. To setup a playback loop, mark the loop sequence with the time
range markers, position the playback cursor between the two markers
and click on "Enable loop playback".
Playback speed
The playback speed is indicated in the Status panel. The speed of (1x) corresponds to normal play. When the system
is rewinding, the speed is shown as negative.
Speed selector Drag the speed selector to the right to fast forward (1x, 2x, 4x, 10x, 20x,
40x and 100x) or to the left for rewind (-10x, -20x, -40x or -100x). You
must hold the left mouse button down to keep the desired speed. The
moment you let go the mouse button, the slider will return to normal
speed (1x).
Lock playback Enable the speed lock (green LED on) to avoid holding the speed selector
speed with the left mouse button.
Slow playback You can play the video in slow motion by enabling slow playback speed
speed (green LED on). The color of the speed control slider will change. The
available slow motion speeds are 1/8x, 1/4x, 1/3x, 1/2x and 1x. While in
slow motion mode, the default playback speed is 1/8x if the speed is not
locked. Note that slow motion rewind is not supported.
Bookmark commands
Previous Find the previous bookmark and resume the playback from there. If no
Add a Add a new bookmark at the current position.
bookmark
Next Find the next bookmark and resume the playback from there. If no
TIP – By default, the playback will start 5 seconds before the

position of the bookmark. You may change this value by going to
the General options tab of the Options dialog found under Tools
menu.
Save, Print, Export

Save snapshot Save a snapshot of the current frame to disk. The application will prompt
you to enter the name, the location and the format of the saved image
file.
You have the option to save the current frame as a bitmap or a JPEG
image. Use the "Save as type:" pull-down control to select the desired
type of image. Note that JPEG images take significantly less space on disk.
The saved image is overlayed by default with the date and time when the
frame is recorded, followed by the camera name. See sample image
below.
TIP – You may change the default settings so that snapshots are
always saved in the same Directory with the same format, with or
without the overlayed information. Please refer to the section on
Snapshots under Tools Menu – Options Dialog – User interaction
options.
Print snapshot Print a snapshot of the current frame. Just like the saved images, the
printed image is stamped with the recording date and time and followed
by the camera name.
Export Export the current playback sequence. Please refer to the chapter on
sequence Archive Export for an in-depth description of this feature.
TIP – The orange time range markers can also be used to delimit
the video sequence to export.
Archive Player > Playback Pane > Playback Controls

Tool Pane
The Tool pane is found embedded on the right-hand side of the Playback pane.
This pane contains addtional tools for the control of the selected playback sequence. You can show or hide this pane by
clicking on F8.
Properties This tab shows the properties of the selected playback sequence.
Digital Zoom This tab allows the user to zoom in on a particular area of the playback stream.
Metadata This tab shows the metadata that is associated to the selected playback sequence..
Archive Player > Tool Pane

Properties
The Properties ( ) tab in the Tool pane provides various
useful information regarding the selected playback sequence.
Capabilities
This section indicates the playback capabilities of the selected
video sequence. If a capability is not supported, the
corresponding command in the playback controls will be
disabled. See Playback Controls for more details.
Playback statistics
This section shows the playback bit rate, frame rate, and
dimensions of the selected video sequence.
Display files on hard drive

Clicking the button will open the following dialog.
The "File locations" dialog shows status and location of the video files corresponding to the selected video
sequence. The video files are grouped according to the Archiver ( ) that created them. Each video file is described
with the following information:
Protection status icon ( unprotected; protected; ending protection)

Complete file specification (path and file name)
Start of the video sequence it contains
End of the video sequence it contains
Length of the video sequence it contains
File size
End of the video protection (if applicable)
To learn more about video protection, please read Video File Query under Tools menu.
Archive Player > Tool Pane > Properties

Digital Zoom
The Digital zoom ( ) tab allows users to

monitor a particular section of the video
during playback.
To use the Digital Zoom:

1. Select the tile in the Playback pane showing the video you wish to zoom in to.
2. Display the Tool pane if it is not shown (F8).
3. Select the Digital zoom ( ) tab (see illustration above).
4. With the mouse cursor, draw a rectangle around the area of interest.
The area within the blue rectangle will be zoomed in the selected tile (see illustration above).
5. The digital zoom is automatically cancelled when the control window is closed.
Changing the zoomed area

To move the zoomed area:
There are several ways to move the zoomed area around. You can either use the pan and tilt buttons in the digital
zoom window or you can click inside the blue rectangle (the mouse cursor will change into a hand) and drag it to
the desired position.
To zoom in and zoom out:
Use the zoom in and zoom out buttons to change the size of the zoomed area.
To return to the entire view:
Click on the clear button to return to the entire view. You can also click outside the blue rectangle to achieve the
same effect.
Archive Player > Tool Pane > Digital Zoom

Metadata
The Metadata ( ) tab in the Tool pane is used to display the
metadata associated to the selected sequence that cannot be
shown as overlays over the video.
These are the metadata used in the Metadata Search (see

Query Pane).
More than one type of metadata can be associated to the

same video sequence. Use the plugin drop-down list to select
the type of metadata you wish to view.
For a complete description of all ME plugin types, please

refer to Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help .
Archive Player > Tool Pane > Metadata

Query Pane
The Query pane is found on the left hand side of the Archive Player's workspace.
This pane is a collection of archive query tools, two in Simple mode or six in Advanced mode (Shift+F10).
Each tool is presented in a separate menu item described below.
History Browser The History Browser tells you what video archive is currently available online by showing
for each selected video encoder (camera), the months and days for which video
sequences ( ) are available.
Archive Query The Archive Query allows you to query the archive database for either Archiver events (
) or video sequences ( ) associated to selected encoders for a given time range. This
tool is only available in the Advanced mode.
Alarm Search The Alarm Search allows you to search the alarm database for current ( ) or past ( )
alarms based on a variety of criteria. Once found, the alarms can be played back in a way
that reproduce what you saw on the Live Viewer when the alarm occurred. This tool is
only available with the Advanced mode.
Motion Search The Motion Search allows you to search video sequences ( ) having motion in specific
areas of the camera's field of view. This tool is only available in the Advanced mode.
Metadata Search The Metadata Search allows you to search the video archives associated to metadata
events ( ). This tool is only available in the Advanced mode.
File Browser The File Browser allows you to scan the PC's hard disk for video files ( ) created by
Omnicast (with a .g64 extension). This tool also offers the opportunity to convert the
Omnicast video files into the ASF format for playback with the Windows Media Player.
For more details on each tab, please follow the link or read the appropriate sub-section.
Archive Player > Query Pane

History Browser
Description
The History Browser is found in the Archive Player's
Query pane. It tells the user what video archive is
currently available online by showing for a selected
camera (video encoder), the months and days for
which video sequences are available.
There are four categories of archive source you can

select from:
Default archiver is the Archiver that currently

assumes the command and control function of the
video unit to which the camera is attached. The default
Archiver is not necessarily responsible for the archiving
function since archiving can be taken care of by the
unit itself. There can be only one default Archiver per
camera at any time.
All archivers means all archiving software

applications: Archivers and Auxiliary Archivers.
All units means archives stored on the video unit,

excluding the archivers.
All sources means all archive sources, archivers and

units combined.
To list the available video archive for a given day:

1. Select the desired camera ( ) from the top section of the history browser.
The available months and dates should appear in the bottom section.
2. Select the desired date from the lower section of the history browser.
Click on the Show time button to display the video start and end times for the selected date, or
push the Always show time button to display the video start and end times for all displayed dates.
3. Click on the "Start" button to display the available video sequences in the Query Result pane.
You can also double-click on any date to achieve the same effect.
Each sequence ( ) in the list is identified by the camera name, the Archiver name (Archiver, Restore Archiver or
Auxiliary Archiver), the sequence start time, the sequence end time and a content preview, which is a mini graph
showing where motion (red bars) and bookmarks (blue bars) are found in the sequence. The darkened sections
indicate sections where no video is found.
To play any of the sequence listed in the result pane, double-click on it or drag it to the desired playback tile.
Use the refresh button to refresh the archive availability list.
Archive Player > Query Pane > History Browser

Archive Query
Events Mode Preview Mode
Description
The Archive Query is found in the Archive Player's Query pane.
The Archive Query supports two query modes: (1) Events and (2) Preview.
1. The Events query mode returns a list of events that the user can drop into the Playback pane to examine the
related video recordings.
2. The Preview query mode returns a list available video recordings within the specified time range.
It is primarily used to prepare for a synchronous playback or an archive export.
This query tool is only available in the Advanced Mode (Shift+F10).
Events Mode
1. Select the category of archive sources you wish to query from the "Source" list control ( ) at the top of the
search tab.
Four choices are available:
Default Query only the default Archiver. Redundant Archivers and units will not
archiver be queried.
All archivers Query all archivers. The units will not be queried.
All units Query only the encoder units. This option will only return video archives
stored on units.
All sources Query all sources of video archives. This option yields the maximum
result.
3. Select the "Events" tab.
4. Indicate the search time range by specifying the " From" date-time and the " To" date-time.
You may leave the time range open ended by clearing one or both date-time options.
5. Select the type of search with the "Category" list control.
All Search for all event types and actions.

events/actions
All events Search for all event types, excluding the actions.
NOTE – Be aware that "All events" does not include the custom
events..
Motion Search for all Motion on events. Indicate the minimum percentage of
motion in the field below.
NOTE – The percentage of motion recorded in the database is

based on the total image size, regardless of the size of the
motion mask used. For more information on motion detection,
please refer to Motion Detection under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Camera.
File deleted Search only for "File deleted" events. You may narrow down the search
by searching for a substring in the video file names. The video file
names are formed using the camera name (without the spaces),
followed by the date (yyyy_mm_dd), followed by the start time of the
video sequence (24h00min00s000ms.g64). The three sections separated
by underscores "_".
Recording Search only for recording events.
The event types to consider in the search are specified in the
"Recording states" list box. For more information on the available
choices, please refer to Camera events under Welcome – System
concepts – Event Handling – Event Definitions.
All actions Search for all action types.
Bookmark Search for all "Add bookmark" actions. You may narrow down the
search by searching for a substring in the bookmark text.
6. Click on the "Start" button. While the system is searching, the following animation will be shown.
Search result
The search result is presented as a list of events displayed in the Query Result pane.
Each event ( ) in the list is identified by the camera name, the Archiver name (Archiver, Restore Archiver or
Auxiliary Archiver), the type of event (or action), the time of the event (or action), and a description.
For all "Motion" events, the description indicates the percentage of motion. For "File deleted" events, the
description indicates the name of the deleted file. For "Bookmarks", the description indicates the name of the user
who added the bookmark followed by the bookmark text.
The total number of items in the result list is indicated at the bottom of the result pane.
To view the video associated to any event, double-click on the desired event to play it in the first available free
playback tile or drag it to the desired tile to play. This operation does not apply for "File deleted" event since the
associated video file no longer exists.
Preview Mode
search tab.
Four choices are available:
stored on units.
result.
3. Select the "Preview" tab.
4. Indicate the search time range by specifying the "From" date-time and the "To" date-time.
5. Click on the "Start" button. While the system is searching, the following animation will be shown.
Search result
The search result is presented as a list of video sequences found within the specified time period for the selected
cameras. It is displayed in the Query Result pane.
Each sequence ( ) in the list is identified by the camera name, the Archiver name (Archiver, Restore Archiver,
Auxiliary Archiver), the sequence start time, the sequence end time and a content preview. The content preview is a
mini graph showing where in the time range are video recordings (white background), motion (red bars) and
bookmarks (blue bars).
WARNING – If there are metadata associated to the selected video sequence, the metadata
overlays can be shown during playback only if both the video and the metadata were recorded
by the same Archiver. In the case where the video is stored on the unit, the metadata overlays
will be shown only if it were recorded by the default Archiver of the unit.
Archive Player > Query Pane > Archive Query

Alarm Search
Description
The Alarm Search tool is found in the Archive Player's
Query pane.
It allows the user to search for video archives

associated to specific alarms.
You have two ways to search for alarms.
If you know the exact alarm instance number, select

the " Alarm instance" box, enter the instance
number and click on "Start". Otherwise, follow the
procedure below.
This tool is only available in the Advanced Mode

(Shift+F10).
1. Select the names of the alarms you wish to seek in the alarm tree at the top.
2. Indicate the search range for the alarm trigger time by specifying the " From" date-time and the " To" date-
time. You may leave the time range open ended by clearing one or both date-time options.
3. Select " Alarm priority" if you wish to limit the search to a specific priority range.
4. Select " Source" if you wish to limit the search to a specific type of alarm source, and click on the browse
button. The following dialog will appear.
From the "Source" combo-box, select the type of alarm source you want. The choice of alarm source will
determine the type of entity tree that appears below. Select the entities you wish to investigate and click OK.
5. Select " Alarm status" if you wish to limit the search to specific alarm statuses, and click on the browse button.
The following dialog will appear.
If you selected "Acknowledged", you may also select

- the specific types of acknowledgement
- the users who acknowledged the alarm
- the time the alarms were acknowledged.
6. Click on "Start" to begin the search. While the system is searching, the following animation will be shown. The
search is complete when the animated GIF disappears.
Query Result
The search result is presented as a list of alarm instances matching the search criteria in the Query Result pane.
Each alarm instance in the list is identified by a status icon ( acknowledged or active), the alarm name followed
by the alarm instance number, the alarm priority, the alarm creation time, the alarm source entity name, the event
that triggered the alarm, the user who acknowledged the alarm, and the acknowledge time.
To play any of the alarms listed in the result pane, double-click on it or drag it to the desired playback tile. The
Archive Player will re-create the scenes as they appeared on the Live Viewer when the alarm occurred.
Archive Player > Query Pane > Alarm Search

Motion Search
Description
The Motion Search is found in the Archive Player's
Query pane.
The Motion Search allows the user to search the video

archives of a specific camera for sequences that
contain motion in a specific area of the image. In the
example to the left, the user can easily exclude all
unwanted motion from the search (e.g. people coming
or going to the right versus people going to the left)
by specifying exactly where in the image motion needs
to be detected.

(Shift+F10).
search tab. Four choices are available:
stored on units.
result.
2. Select the camera ( ) you want to investigate. Once selected, the camera name should appear in the list control.
3. Indicate the search time range by specifying the " From" date-time and the " To" date-time. You may leave
the time range open ended by clearing one or both date-time options.
4. Click on the refresh video button to play the last video sequence within the selected time range in the window
below. This image will help you define the motion mask for your search. The timestamp of the video image is
indicated under the pause or play buttons.
If the selected camera does not support motion search, the message "Search not supported" will be displayed (see
Motion detection capabilities under Config Tool – Camera – Motion Search).
If the archive does not contain any video for the selected time range, the message "No playback sequence" will be
displayed.
5. Define the motion detection zone by drawing motion detection blocks (green squares) on areas where motion is
meaningful for the search.
As an example, in the illustration above, only motion detected on the right side of the
door is important. Therefore, motion created by people walking to the left will be
ignored by the search. The tools for editing the motion detection zone are explained
below.
Use the Pen tool to draw single motion detection blocks.
Use the Eraser tool to erase the motion detection blocks that are not needed.
Use the Rectangle tool to draw a group of motion detection blocks.
Use the Fill tool to fill the whole image with motion detection blocks.
Use the Clear tool to erase all the motion detection blocks in the image.
Use the Invert tool to interchange the area with motion detection blocks with the
area without.
NOTE – A motion detection zone must be defined before you can start the search.
6. Define the motion detection criteria.
Motion threshold This value represents the minimum number of blocks within which motion
needs to be detected to qualify for the search. The total number of blocks in
the motion detection zone is indicated as the maximum value allowed for the
threshold. A value of zero means any motion detected in the motion
detection zone would qualify for the search.
Consecutive frame The consecutive frame hits allows the motion threshold to be applied over a
hits specified number of video frames. This setting helps to avoid false-positive
motion detection like video noise in a single frame. It ensures that motion
detection will not occur because of the threshold being met in a single frame,
but rather that the threshold must be met over a specified number of
consecutive frames.
Minimum time The minimum time between frames is used to control the sampling rate for
between frames the search. This setting allows the user to accelerate the search by telling the
system not to examine every single video frame. The higher this value, the
more frames the system will skip during the search, thus, performing the
search faster. A value of 30 msec or less is equivalent to telling the system not
to skip any frame. (The highest archiving frame rate is 30 frames/sec. At this
rate, we have one frame every 33 msec).
6. Click on the "Start" button to start the query. While the system is searching, the following animation will be
shown. The result will gradually appear in the Query Result pane. The search is complete when the animated GIF
disappears. You may stop the search before the end by clicking on "Cancel".
Each sequences ( ) in the list corresponds to a single result. Unless there was continuous motion in the video,
every sequence matching the detection criteria will be returned as a separate result. Each result is identified by the
camera name, the Archiver name (Archiver, Auxiliary Archiver, or Restore Archiver), the sequence start time, the
sequence end time and a mini timeline showing where motion is detected in the sequence.
TIP – If the query takes too much time, you may cancel it by clicking on the "Cancel" button and
try again with different search criteria.
Archive Player > Query Pane > Motion Search

Metadata Search
Description
The Metadata Search is found in the Archive Player's
Query pane.
It allows the user to search the archive for video

sequences associated to metadata.

(Shift+F10).
1. Select the Metadata Engine you wish to query from the "Source" list control ( ) at the top of the search tab. Two
choices are available:
Default Query only the default engine. of the selected .

engine The default engine of a given plugin is the Metadata Engine that
currently runs the plugin.
All engines Query all Metadata Engines.
3. Indicate the search time range by specifying the " From" date-time and the " To" date-time. You may leave
the time range open ended by clearing one or both date-time options.
4. Select the Metadata Engin plugin from the "Plugin" list control ( ).
You must specify a plugin in order to perform a
search.
You can either select a type of plugin ( ) or a

specific plugin instance ( ).
In the example to the left, "AutoVu1" and

"AutoVu2" are specific instances of the plugin type
"AutoVu".
If you specify a plugin type, then all plugins of that type will be included in the search.
5. The subsequent search parameters will vary depending on the plugin type you select in step 4.
For a description of each specific plugin type, please refer to Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help .
6. Click on "Start" to begin the search. While the system is searching, the following animation will be shown. The
result will gradually appear in the Query Result pane. The search is complete when the animated GIF disappears.
WARNING – The metadata overlays can be shown during playback only if both the video and
the metadata were recorded by the same Archiver. In the case where the video is stored on the
unit, the metadata overlays will be shown only if it were recorded by the default Archiver of the
unit.
Archive Player > Query Pane > Metadata Search

File Browser
Description
The File Browser is found in the Archive Player's Query
pane.
The video file browser works like Windows File

Explorer with the exception that it will only show the
folder content if it contains video files.
What are video files?
Video files are created by the Archiver to store video

archives (digitally recorded video). They are readily
playable with the Archive Player. All video files have
the file extension ".g64".
Where to find video files

The Archiver generally stores the video files under the folder "\VideoArchives" on each of the disks configured for
archiving. Please refer to the Archiving section under the Archiver configuration in the Server Admin's reference.
These files are then grouped under subfolders bearing the camera's name (with the spaces removed). Within each
camera folder, the video files are further divided by archiving dates (see illustration above). These files usually
contain no more than 60 minutes of video each, and are deleted gradually based on the value of "Keep archives
for" configured for each encoder in the Config Tool.
Video files may also be found in other places when users export selected video sequences for safekeeping, or when
the backed up archives are being restored to disk for viewing.
Browsing video files

1. Select the folder in the File Browser tab where you want to start your search.
2. Expand all subfolders if necessary.
3. Move down the folders in the folder tree with the keyboard or the mouse. Whenever a folder containing video
files is found, the content will be listed in the Query Result pane.
Each file ( ) in the list is identified by the file name, the sequence start time, the sequence end time, the sequence
length (h:mm:ss), and the video encryption status.
If a file has been tampered with, the Archive Player will indicate the timestamp of the first frame
that didn't pass the validation test in the Status column.
To play any of the files listed in the result pane, double-click on it or drag it to the desired playback tile.
Command Buttons
You may also use the following buttons to scan through the folders automatically.
Automatically move to the next folder containing video files. While the application is searching, the
following animation will be shown. Click on "Cancel" to stop the search.
Automatically move to the previous folder containing video files.
Refresh the content of the current folder listed in the Query Result pane.
Archive Player > Query Pane > File Browser

Query Result Pane
The Query Result pane is located at the bottom right of the Archive Player's workspace.
General Description
The Query Result pane lists the results found for the queries issued from the Query pane. The total number of
results found is indicated at the bottom of the result pane.
There is generally a video sequence associated to every result item in the list. To play any of these results, you can
do any of the following:
a. Double-click on a result item in the list to play it in the first free tile found in the Playback pane. If
all the tiles are taken, then this operation will not work. To view more tiles simultaneously, change
the tile pattern.
b. Drag the result item from the list to any playback tile in the Playback pane. If another sequence
was already playing in that tile, it will be replaced by the new one.
c. Drag the result item from the list to any analog monitor in the analog monitor tree. The sequence
will appear in the first free tile in the Playback pane and it will also be played on the selected
analog monitor. Note that removing the sequence from the Playback pane will also remove it from
the analog monitor.
Results Types
There are five distinct types of query results:
Video sequencesThis type of results are produced by the History Browser, the Archive Query
(Preview), and the Motion Search.
Events & actions This type of results are produced by the Archive Query (Events).
Alarms This type of results are produced by the Alarm Search.
Metadata eventsThis type of results are produced by the Metadata Search.
Video files This type of results are produced by the File Browser.
Archive Player > Query Result Pane

Archive Query Result
Archive Query Results are displayed in the Query Result pane when a query is issued from either the History Browser, the
Archive Query (Preview), or the Motion Search tab found in the Query pane.
Description
The listed result items are video sequences ( ). Each sequence is identified by:
Camera Name of the camera where the video came from.

Archiver Name of the Archiver that is responsible for the video sequence.
If it is an Archiver or an Auxiliary Archiver, it means the video sequence is part of the
online archive.
If the Archiver is a Restore Archiver, then the video sequence is part of the video restored
from backup.
If it is a Unit, then the video is stored on the unit itself.
Note that most units that support video storage provide only one playback stream.
Requesting a video playback from a unit that is already busy servicing another client will
result in the following error.
Start Start time of the video sequence.

Stop End time of the video sequence.
Preview Content preview of the video sequence. It is like a static timeline showing the presence of
motion and bookmarks in the video sequence.
The white background indicates sections in the timeline where video is available.
The dark background indicates sections in the timeline where video is not available.
The short red bars indicate motion in the video sequence. The taller the red bar, the
higher the percentage of motion.
The vertical dark blue bars indicate the presence of bookmarks.
The vertical light blue bars indicate the presence of metadata.
If the motion previews are not displayed, click on or button to make them appear.
Command Buttons
When the result is displayed for the History Browser or the Motion Search, two extra controls will appear at the
bottom of the Query Result pane.
Always show preview – When this button is pushed down, the Archive Player will automatically
query the archive database for every sequence to display the motion preview.
The motion preview display could become very time consuming if the sequences are long and the
number of sequences is high. If this is often the case, unckecking this option will speed up the
history browsing.
Preview – Use this button to display the motion preview of the selected video sequence(s) when
the "Always show preview" option is turned off.
Display files on hard drive – Clicking this button opens the "File locations" dialog.
This dialog shows the video files corresponding to the selected video sequences.
The video files are grouped according to the Archiver ( ) that created them. Each video file is
described with the following information:
Protection status icon ( unprotected; protected; ending protection)

Complete file specification (path and file name)
Start of the video sequence it contains
End of the video sequence it contains
Length of the video sequence it contains
File size
End of the video protection (if applicable)
To learn more about video protection, please read Video File Query under Tools menu.
Export selection – Click this button to export the selected video sequences.
Protect archives from deletion – Clicking this button opens the "Protect archives" dialog.
You may adjust the individual time range of each video sequence before clicking on the "Protect
all" button. Note that the video protection is applied to video files, not to the specified time range.
This means that if the specified time range overlap three video files, all three video files will be
protected in full.
You can specify the duration of this protection. If you chose to protect the video indefinitely, then
the affected video files will never be deleted until you remove their protection manually from the
Video File Query dialog found under the Tools menu.
Archive Player > Query Result Pane > Archive Query Result

Event Search Result
Event Search Results are displayed in the Query Result pane when a query is issued from the Archive Query (Events) tab
found in the Query pane.
Description
The listed result items are Archiver events ( ) or actions (Bookmark). Each event is identified by:
Camera Name of the video encoder to which the event is associated.

Archiver Name of the Archiver that recorded the video sequence.
Type Type of event or action (see camera events under Welcome – Concepts – Event Handling
– Event Definitions).
Time Event timestamp.
Description Additional information describing the event or action.
For "Motion" events, the description indicates the percentage of motion.
For "File deleted" events, the description indicates the name of the deleted file. This is
the only type of event that cannot be played back, because the associated video file no
longer exist!
For "Bookmark" action, the description indicates the name of the user who added the
bookmark followed by the added text.
Finding the corresponding video files

To see where the video files corresponding to the video sequences are stored, select the events you wish to
investigate in the query result list and click on the "Display files" button. The result will be displayed in the
following dialog.
The video files are grouped according to the Archiver that created them. The full path to each file as well as the
start time, end time and length of the video sequence it contains are indicated. Finally, the size of each file is also
indicated.
Archive Player > Query Result Pane > Event Search Result

Alarm Search Result
Alarm Search Results are displayed in the Query Result pane when a query is issued from the Alarm Search tab found in
the Query pane.
Alarm List
The listed result items are alarm instances. Each alarm instance is identified by:
Status icon The icon in the first column shows the alarm status:
Acknowledged (default mode)
Acknowledged (alternate mode)
Acknowledged (custom mode)
Active (not yet acknowledged)
Name Alarm name and instance number.
Priority Alarm priority (1:highest to 30:lowest)
Creation time Alarm instance creation time.
Source Entity that triggered the alarm.
Event type Event that triggered the alarm. See Event Definitions under Welcome – Concepts
– Event Handling for the meaning of each event type.
Acknowledged by User who acknowledged the alarm instance.
Custom If custom acknowledgement ( ) was used, this column indicate the custom event
acknowledgement that was selected. For more explanations on the different ways to acknowledge
type an alarm, please refer to the section on Alarm acknowledgement under Welcome
– System Concepts – Alarm Management.
Acknowledge Time the alarm instance was acknowledged.
time
Alarm playback
Dragging an alarm from the result list to the Playback pane will display all the cameras associated to that alarm. The
playback will start n seconds before the alarm instance creation time, as specified in the Archive Player Options
Dialog (select the setting "Time to seek before an alarm"). If there are cameras configured with the "playback" or
"still frames" display option, the specified "pre-trigger" time will also be taken into consideration to calculate when
the playback should begin.
The idea is to recreate as close as possible, the same displays as the user would have seen in the Live Viewer at the
time the alarm was triggered. To display the alarm cameras selectively, please read the following section on alarm
details.
To learn how the display options are configured, please refer to the Cameras section under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Alarm.
Command buttons
Show details – This button toggles between the Alarm List and the Alarm Details.
History – This button displays the alarm history dialog for the selected alarm. Please refer to the
section on Manipulating Alarms under Live Viewer – Message Pane – Alarm List.
Alarm Details
To display the details regarding a specific alarm, select it and click on the Show details button.
The alarm details are indicated by a camera list on the left and a recipient list on the right.
Command buttons
The command buttons for the camera list are identical to those found in the Archive Query Result.
Always show preview – When this button is pushed down, the motion preview will be displayed
automatically.
The motion preview display could become very time consuming if the sequences are long and the
number of sequences is high. If this is often the case, unckecking this option will speed up the
alarm browsing.
Turn this option off when there are a lot of video files to go through to make the browsing go
faster.
Preview – Use this button to display the motion preview of the selected video sequence(s) when
the "Always show preview" option is turned off.
Archive Player > Query Result Pane > Alarm Search Result

Metadata Search Result
Metadata Search Results are displayed in the Query Result pane when a query is issued from the Metadata Search tab
found in the Query pane.
Description
The listed result items are metadata events ( ) and their associated video sequences. Each result is identified by:
Plugin Name of the plugin that generated the event.

Metadata Name of the Metadata Engine that recorded the metadata event.
Engine
Start Start time of the video sequence associated to the metadata. In the above example,
the sequences have a zero duration, but it is not always the case.
Stop Stop time of the video sequence associated to the metadata.
Summary Summary of the associated metadata.
The see the full details, drag the result to a tile and open the Tool Pane on the
Metadata tab (F8).
For a complete description of each specific plugin type, please refer to Genetec
Omnicast Plugins Help .
Archive Player > Query Result Pane > Metadata Search Result

File Browser Result
File Browser Results are displayed in the Query Result pane when a query is issued from the File Browser found in the
Query pane.
Description
The listed result items are video files ( ). Each file is identified by:
File name Name of the video file.
Begin Start time of the video sequence contained in the file.
End End time of the video sequence contained in the file.
Length Length of the video sequence in (h:mm:ss).
Status Video encryption status.
Video file encyption is an option that must be set in the Server Admin. Please refer to the
Security section under Server Admin – Archiver.
If a file has been tampered with ( ), the Archive Player will indicate in the Status column,
the timestamp of the first frame that didn't pass the validation.
NOTE – When playing a video file, the timeline will show no information if the exported video
file was created with Omnicast version 3.5 or earlier.
Command Buttons
Always get file info – When this button is pushed down, the Archive Player will automatically
open each video file to read the start time, end time and length of each video sequence.
If the file is not encrypted, it will also be indicated in the "Status" column. However, if the file is
encrypted, nothing will be displayed, because it requires a lot of processing to select whether the
encryption is valid. In this case, use the validate file button to select each file.
Turn this option off when there are a lot of video files to go through to make the browsing go
faster.
Get file info – Use this button to get the file information of the selected file(s) when the "Always
get file info" option is turned off.
Validate file – Use this button to validate the encryption of the selected file(s). The possible
statuses are:
Empty file
File not encrypted
File encrypted and secure
File tampered at: date and time
Bad file format
Convert file(s) to ASF – Use this button to convert the selected file(s) into ASF format, so they can
be played with Windows Media Player. Please refer to the section on Video File Conversion for a
full coverage on this feature.
Cancel – While validating files or converting files, click on the Cancel button to stop the operation.
Archive Player > Query Result Pane > File Browser Result

Other Tools
Archive Export
Video File Conversion
Archive Player > Other Tools

Archive Export
Feature Overview
The Archive Export function allows you to create stand alone video files that can be played without the Archivers
that created them.
Export formats
You can choose to export the video archive in one of the three data formats below:
g64 This is the native video data format used by Omnicast. It contains bookmarks, motion events,
audio and date-time information. It supports data encryption, variable frame rate and variable
image resolution. When proper encryption is used, these files are eligible in court. You need the
Archive Player to read these files (see File Browser).
ASF The Advanced Systems Format is a Microsoft proprietary data format. It supports audio
information and variable frame rate, but not data encryption. Date-time information is not
supported either, but can be overlayed on top of the video images during the conversion (see
illustration in Other Tools – Video File Conversion). If the source video sequence uses multiple
image resolutions (CIF, 2CIF, 4CIF, etc.), the exported video sequence will follow the image
resolution of the first frame found in the source video sequence. You need Windows Media
Player to play these files.
AVI The Audio Video Interleaved format is the least efficient of all three data formats. It does not
support audio, encryption or date-time information. Variations of image resolution in the source
video will cause the Archive Player to create separate video files every time the resolution
changes. Variation of frame rate will cause the resulting video to play slower or faster. Because
of the above restrictions, we strongly recommend using ASF format over AVI format whenever
g64 is not appropriate.
Export accessibility
In order to use this feature, you must have the "Export video files" privilege. You can export the video sequence you
are currently viewing or export the entire list of video sequences returned by an archive query.
To export the video sequence you are currently viewing, right-click on the playback tile and select the "Export"
command from the contextual menu, or click on the "Export current sequence" button from the playback
controls.
To export from the query results, select the video sequences ( ) you wish to export and click on the "Export
selection" button.
Both actions will display the "Export" dialog that will carry out the rest of the export procedure.
Using the Export dialog

1. Clicking on the export button will display the following dialog.
2. Specify the Directory where you want the files to be created.
3. Next, select the export format you wish to use.
If you chose ASF (the system default), you will have the following options:
1.
1. Select the compression profile that best suits your need.
2. Select " Delete intermediary g64 file(s)" if you do not need to keep the .g64 files after the conversion to
ASF is finished.
3. Select " Export audio" to include audio information in the ASF files.
4. Select " Display date and time on video" to have the date and time overlayed on the exported video
image.
5. Select " Display metadata on video" to include the metadata overlays in the exported video.
If you chose g64, you will have the following options:
1. Select " Copy a stand-alone Archive Player in the Directory" if you want to include a Web-based light
weight version of the Archive Player with your exported video sequences. Please read the section on
"Using the stand-alone Archive Player" further down in this page for instructions on how to use this tool.
2. Select " Create an autorun file in the Directory" if you want the stand-alone Archive Player to be copied
as an autorun file. Choose this option if you plan to install the entire exported result to another machine.
3. Select " Transfer encryption with data" if you want to validate and tamper proof the exported video files.
Please read the following notes on "Export and Encryption".
If you chose AVI, you will have the following options:
1. Select " Use following codec" to choose between "Intel Indeo" and "MPEG-4".
"Intel Indeo" is the most standard codec that almost every machine supports, but it is not efficient.
"MPEG-4" is faster and takes less space. It is definitely a better choice if the target machine supports it.
2. Select " Delete intermediary g64 file(s)" if you do not wish to keep the .g64 files after the conversion to
AVI is finished.
TIP – You may also select a different codec (coder/decoder program) than the
ones suggested above by clearing " Use following codec" option. In this case,
Windows will prompt you to choose one of the codec installed on your machine.
4. Indicate the export time range for the selected video sequences.
You may specify a different time range for each video sequence.
5. Click the "Export" button in the dialog to start the operation. The following export status dialog will appear.
All selected video sequences will be exported simultaneously. The following table describes the different
elements found in this dialog.
Export status The export status is indicated at the top of the dialog with the
animated icon.
Sequence list The sequence list shows all the video sequences selected for export.
Each sequence is identified by the camera name, the Archiver used for
export, the sequence start time, the sequence end time, its current
export status (see table below), the time the export took ("Duration"),
and a progress indicator. Each sequence corresponds to a single video
file (.g64). The possible export statuses are explained below:
Transferring The export is in progress (creation of the .g64 file).

data... The progress is indicated by the number of bytes
transferred.
Conversion to If you chose to export in ASF format, this step will
ASF... follow the previous step. The progress is indicated as
a percentage of work complete.
No video There is no video from that camera for the selected
time period.
Partial export The export has to be aborted due to some
unexpected problem. Click on the sequence to see a
description of the problem in the "Error code" field
below. When this happens, the remainder of the
video is exported to a separate video file.
Archive server The Archiver that manages the selected video
not running sequence is not running.
Failed The export failed. Click on the line to see an
explanation for the failure in the "Error" field below.
Successful The export completed successfully. Select the
sequence to see the "Start" and "End" time of the
exported sequence.
NOTE – The Archive Player would normally try to export the

entire video sequence as a single video file. But unexpected
problems could force it to break the video sequence into
several files (partial export). The most common reason for a
broken sequence is when the encryption state changed in mid-
sequence. To learn more, read the section on "Export and
Encryption" below.
Elapsed time The total elapsed time since the export operation started.
Error The text explaining why the selected export failed or had to be
aborted (partial export).
Filename The name of the exported video file containing the selected video
sequence.
Cancel This button allows the user to end the selected export operation
selections... before its full completion. If you choose to do so, the following dialog
will appear.
You will have to decide whether to keep the video files that were
already created or to delete everything done so far. Clicking on
"Cancel" will resume the operation.
Cancel all This button works like the previous one, except it cancels everything
remaining... that is not yet completed.
OK button Use this button to close the dialog when the export is either
completed or cancelled.
6. Click on "Cancel all remaining..." button to end the export operation before its completion or wait for the export
to complete. All video files are created in subfolders bearing the camera name, under the specified export folder.
Export and Encryption

The option to "Transfer encryption with other data" is used to preserve the encryption within the exported video
files. Read the section on Archiver Security under System Concepts – Archiving Management to learn more about
this subject.
If the original video was not encrypted, the exported video cannot be encrypted either.
Within a single video file, the encryption state must remain the same, i.e. either everything is encrypted or nothing
is encrypted. If the encryption state changes in the middle of the sequence being exported, the Archive Player will
close the current video file it is writing to and create a new file to handle the remainder of the sequence.
In the export progress dialog, each broken part of the sequence will indicate "Partial export" and the last part of the
sequence will indicate "Successful". Each new section thus created will be inserted after the last one of each camera.
See the example of the "Progress Dialog" above.
To avoid having the sequence broken into many pieces when the encryption state changes, leave the option
"Transfer encryption with data" cleared in the first "Export" dialog.
Using the stand-alone Archive Player

If you chose to export a stand-alone version of the Archive Player along with the selected video sequences, these
two files: "ArchivePlayer.htm" and "GxArchivePlayer.CAB" will be copied to the export Directory. These files contain
the stand-alone version of the Archive Player that can run without any installation.
The stand-alone Archive Player is a web application. You need to have Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 or later
installed on your machine to be able to run it. To start the application, double-click the file "ArchivePlayer.htm". It
will start up in an Internet Explorer window like the following:
The lightweight version of the Archive Player is identical to the full-fledged version of the Archive Player with the
exception that it cannot connect to any Directory. Only the File Browser is available. Use the file browser to select
and play the exported video files.
Depending on your Internet Explorer settings, you may get the following message when starting the stand-alone
Archive Player.
If it happens, simply click on the "Yes" button.
Archive Player > Other Tools > Archive Export

Video File Conversion
Feature Overview
Video File Conversion enables the user to convert video files from the Omnicast native data format (g64) which can
only be played with the Archive Player, to the standard ASF format that can be played with Windows Media Player.
The file conversion can be performed implicitly during Archive Export or explicitly from the File Browser.
To perform an explicit video file conversion:

1. Select the File Browser from the Archive Player's Query pane.
2. Select the folder containing the video files you wish to convert to ASF format.
The available video files will be listed in the Query Result pane.
3. Select the video files ( ) you wish to convert to ASF and click on the ( ) button.
4. The "Browse for folder" dialog will appear.
Select the Directory where you want the converted files to be copied to and click OK.
5. The "ASF conversion settings" dialog will appear.

Select the compression profile that best suits your need. Use the "Description" field below to guide your
choice.
Select " Export audio" to include audio information in the ASF files.
Select " Display date and time on video" to have the date and time overlayed on the exported video image.
See illustration below.
6. Click on OK to start the conversion.
The percentage of conversion will be indicated in the status column. When all selected files are converted, the
operation will stop by itself. Click on the Cancel ( ) button to interrupt the conversion at any time.
7. Viewing with Windows Media Player.
The converted file will have the same name as the source file with the extension .asf. Double-click on the converted
file to view it with Windows Media Player (if it is installed on the same machine). Note that the converted video is
stamped with the time and date of the original video (see illustration below).
WARNING – Bear in mind that if you intend to play the ASF file on a different machine than the
one that created it, it is possible that the target machine does not have the same video
compressors installed. If this is the case, Windows Media Player will tell you that it does not
support the format you are trying to play.
Archive Player > Other Tools > Video File Conversion

Config Tool
Overview
Workspace
Menu
Toolbar
View Selection Pane
Configuration Pane
Config Tool

Overview
Control, Control, Control

The Config Tool provides an intuitive interface that enables users to manage and configure various components of the
Omnicast system such as sites, users, schedules, cameras, plugins, Virtual Matrix elements, Federation, and various other
devices. Through this same interface, security managers can program intelligent and sofisticated system behaviors to
handle virtually any type of situation. With real-time configuration, users have the flexibility of adjusting the system to
best suit their needs without hassle, at any time.
Feature Highlight
Entity configuration
Flexible and detailed configuration of all system resources (see Configurable entities)
Logical grouping of all hardware and software components (see Logical view)
Physical relationships between equipment and applications (see Physical view)
Two configuration modes to suit both new and experienced users (see Advanced mode under View
menu)
Definition of camera sequences (see Camera sequence)
Definition of macros (see Macro)
Definition of plugins (see Plugins)
Configuration of PTZ cameras (see PTZ motor)
Integration of CCTV matrices (see Hardware matrix)
Integration of CCTV keyboards (see CCTV keyboard)
Configuration replication on similar entities (see Copy Configuration Tool)
Adding video units to the system (see Discovery and Create Video Units)
Simultaneous firmware upgrade on multiple units (see Firmware upgrade)
Federation (see Federation Server and Federated Directory)
Video streaming and recording configuration
All video encoding settings (see Camera configuration)
Choice of video streams and quality settings (see Video quality)
Dynamic adjustment of video quality based on events (see Boosting recording quality)
Automatic adjustment of video attributes based on sunrises and sunsets (see Time coverage under
Generic schedules)
On demand, on motion or continuous recording (see Archiving mode under Archiving schedule)
Pre/post event recording buffer configuration (see Recording)
Motion detection on full screen or by detection zone (see Motion detection)
Individual time zone for each camera (see Time zone)
Archive management configuration
Archiving management (see Welcome – Concepts – Archiving Management)
Define archiving schedule (see Archiving schedule and Generic schedule)
Configure archive cleanup and retention period (see Archiving under Archiver)
View archive storage usage and settings (see Statistics under Archiver)
View backup status and control backup settings (see Backup under Archiver)
View and manage restored backup sets (see Backup set and Restore Archiver)
Configure redundant archiving (see Standby Archivers under Unit)
Configure the archiving of federated cameras (see Auxiliary Archiver)
Alarm management and event handling
Event handling (see Welcome – Concepts – Event handling)
Define custom events and actions (see Custom events and Custom actions)
Configure a PTZ camera to automatically go back to its home position (see Actions under PTZ motor)
Alarm management (see Welcome – Concepts – Alarm management)
Define alarm entities (see Alarm)
Choose the alarm display mode for each user (see Live Viewer under User)
View and manage alarm history (see Alarms under Directory)
System and access security configuration
Directory failover (see Configure Directory failover)
Archiver failover (see Standby Archivers)
Virtual Matrix failover (see Standby Virtual Matrices)
Meta Data Engine failover (see Standby Metadata Engines)
Control of user access rights and privileges (see User and User group)
Config Tool > Overview

Workspace
The Config Tool workspace is divided into four main areas (see illustration above).
Application Menu The application menu is a standard Windows application menu. It offers the keyboard
alternative to interacting with the application as opposed to using the mouse.
However, certain commands, such as configuring the failover system, can only be
reached through this menu. Learn more
Toolbar The toolbar indicates the connection status, the current date and time and the
percentage of CPU usage. Learn more
View Selection The View selection pane lets the user select between one of the eight viewing
schemes of the system elements: the Logical view, the Physical view, the User
Pane
Management view, the Schedule Management view, the Alarm Management view, the
Virtual Matrix Management view, the Add-In Management view, and the Federation
Management view. Learn more
Configuration The Configuration pane presents a detailed view of the selected element in the View
Pane selection pane (on the left). Every configurable element has a name and a description
in Omnicast. The specific settings depend on the selected element type. Learn more
The size of the two major panes at the bottom of the Config Tool workspace can be resized at wish. Simply click on
the edge separating the two panes and drag it to the left or to the right. Unlike the Live Viewer and the Archive
Player, no part of the Config Tool workspace can be hidden from view. To learn more about controlling the
workspace, please refer to the section on Config Tool – View menu.
Config Tool > Workspace

Menu
This Config Tool menu is comprised of the following submenus.
Action menu This menu allows the administrator to create, rename and delete system entities. It also offers
a few very useful commands that are not accessible from anywhere else in the graphic user
interface, such as applying the same configuration to a whole list of cameras. Learn more
View menu This menu lets the user select the desired view in the View selection pane as well as the sort
option (sort elements by name or by type). Learn more
Tools menu Like every Omnicast application's Tools menu, you may find here the commands to start up
the other Omnicast applications. But more important are the sound files tester and the
Directory failover configuration dialog that can only be accessed through this menu. Learn
more
links.
Config Tool > Menu

System Menu
already done so. Or it lets the user disconnect from the current Directory so he can connect to another one.
In order to use the Config Tool, you must identify yourself by entering your username and
Disconnect This command disconnects the Config Tool from its current Directory, but does not exit the
that has it.
Password...
field.
by the Config Tool that are not acknowledged by the user within a preset amount of time are
log.
Information message.
Warning message.
Error message.
Exit This command disconnects the Config Tool from its current Directory and exits the
application.
Config Tool > Menu > System Menu

Action Menu
This menu repeats most of the commands available from View selection pane's contextual menu, with a few exceptions,
such as applying and undoing the last changes made to the Configuration pane.
Undo Changes Undoes the recent changes made in the Configuration Pane.
Apply Applies the recent changes made in the Configuration Pane.

Changes
Create This command is equivalent to the create button found in the View selection pane.
The entities you can create are grouped according to the views where they are found.
To learn more about the creation of each type of entity, please click on the links provided
below.
Site
PTZ motor
Video Unit (see also Create Video Unit)
User
User Group
Generic Schedule
Archiving Schedule
Macro Schedule
Alarm
Monitor Group
Camera Group
Macro
Camera Sequence
CCTV Keyboard
Hardware Matrix
Access control
Macro
Live Viewer plugin
Virtual Matrix plugin
Metadata Engine plugin
Federated Directory
Connection...
Custom Event...
Custom Action...
NOTE – Most physical units and their attached devices (video encoders, video
decoders, serial ports, digital input, output relays) cannot be created manually. They
must be discovered by the Archiver (see Automatic discovery).
Rename Entity Renames the currently selected entity in the View selection
pane. The entity name will change into an edit box (see
illustration on the right).
Delete Entity Deletes the currently selected entity. When the command is enabled, it will indicate the type of
entity you have selected. Note that you cannot delete a discovered device (i.e. a unit or any of
its attached devices) unless it is inactive (appears in red).
Copy Entities Copies the configuration of the selected entity for the purpose of pasting it. This command
works only with user defined entities.
Paste Entities Pastes the last copied entity. The new entity will be named "Copy of <old entity name>". This
command works only with user defined entities.
Config Tool > Menu > Action Menu

Create Video Unit
Description
Video units are typically created by the Archiver as it discovers
them on the network. For units that do not support automatic
discovery (i.e. all units other than ACTi, Bosch and Verint), the
best way to add them to the system is to use the Discovery
Tool. The manual creation of video units, which is what this
command is for, is necessary only when the network
configuration does not allow the discovery request to be sent,
for example, when the network only supports unicast while the
discovery request is done in broadcast.
To manually create a video unit, select the "Create" command

from the Action menu, followed by "Physical View", then
"Video Unit...". The "Add a unit" dialog (see left) will appear.
1. First, select the Archiver to which you wish to add the unit.
2. Then, select the type of unit you wish to add.

The rest of the steps will depend on the unit type you chose.
3a. ACTi unit
For ACTi units, you must make sure that the selected Archiver
is configured with an ACTi extension in the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – ACTi).
You must specify the IP address, the discovery port and the
HTTP port of the unit.
Select " Use default login" to use the default login

configured for the ACTi extension of the selected Archiver (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – ACTi – General) or enter
them explicitly.
3b. AXIS unit
For AXIS units, you must make sure that the selected Archiver
is configured with an AXIS extension in the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – AXIS).
You must specify the IP address and the HTTP port of the unit,
and its login username and password.
Select " Use default login", to use the default login

configured for the AXIS extension of the selected Archiver (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – AXIS – General).
3c. Bosch unit
For Bosch units, you must make sure that the selected Archiver
is configured with a Bosch extension in the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Bosch).
You need to specify the IP address, the discovery port and the
command port of the unit, and a login password.

configured for the Bosch extension of the selected Archiver
(see Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Bosch – General).
3d. JPEG unit
You must make sure that the selected Archiver is configured

with a JPEG extension in the Server Admin (see Server Admin –
Archiver Extension – JPEG).
You must specify the IP address, the HTTP port, and select a
specific product type. its login username and password. Select
" Use default login" if the default login configured for the
JPEG extension of the selected Archiver is to be used.
NOTE – Use JPEG only if all other unit types fail. For
units that support more than one type of encoder, e.g.
MPEG-4 and MJPEG, you may have to configure the
unit with the manufacturer's proprietary software first.
3e. Sony unit
For Sony units, you must make sure that the selected Archiver
is configured with a Sony extension in the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Sony).
You must specify the IP address and the HTTP port of the unit,
and its login username and password.

configured for the Sony extension of the selected Archiver
(see Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Sony – General).
3f. Verint unit
For Verint units, you must make sure that the selected Archiver
is configured with a Verint extension in the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Verint).
You need to specify the IP address and the VSIP port for the
unit.
If SSL is enforced on all Verint units on the selected Archiver,

or if you know that the particular unit you wish to add uses
SSL, select " Try SSL Connection". If you are not sure, try
adding the unit without SSL. If it does not work, then try again
with SSL selected.
3g. Vivotek unit
For Vivotek units, you must make sure that the selected
Archiver is configured with a Verint extension in the Server
Admin (see Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Vivotek).
You need to specify the IP address and the HTTP port of the
unit, and its login username and password.

configured for the Sony extension of the selected Archiver
(see Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Vivotek – General).
4. Click on OK. If your settings are correct, the new unit should appear within a few seconds under the selected
Archiver in the Physical view.
5. If the selected Archiver is part of a failover configuration, the unit must also be added to the stanby Archivers
that should be part of the failover list. To have more information regarding this topic, please refer to Archiver
Availability under Welcome – System Concepts – Archiving Management.
Config Tool > Menu > Action Menu > Create Video Unit

View Menu
This menu lets the user select the desired view in the View selection pane as well as how to sort the elements (by name
or by type).
Note that the user must have "Change client views" privilege in order to access the last three items of the
menu..
Logical Select the Logical view. This view organizes the system's physical devices into a hierarchy
of logical groupings called "sites". This view also defines how the camera tree and analog
monitor tree would appear in the Live Viewer and the Archive Player.
Physical Select the Physical view. This view shows the server applications available in the system
along with the physical devices they control. The entities are structured in a hierarchy
according to their physical relationships.
User Management Select the User Management view. This view allows you to control all aspects of access
security of the system through entities such as users and user groups.
Schedule Select the Schedule Management view. This view allows you to configure all scheduling
entities of the system such as generic schedules, archiving schedules and macro
Management
schedules.
Alarm Select the Alarm Management view. This view puts together all entities pertaining to
Management alarm management, such as alarms, camera groups and monitor groups.
Virtual Matrix Select the Virtual Matrix view. This view groups in a single location all entities directly
Management controlled by a Virtual Matrix, such as camera sequences, CCTV keyboards, hardware
matrices and access control systems.
Add-In Select the Add-In Management view. This view shows all macros and plugins defined in
the system.
Management
Federation Select the Federation Management view. This view shows all federated Directories and
Management the federated entities.
Live Video Window Open the Live Video window for the selected camera. This can also be achieved by
double-clicking on a camera in the View selection pane.
Sort Entities Sort the entities either by type or by name. Note that the sorting order only applies to
the elements within the same hierarchy level.
Refresh Tree Manually refreshes the tree structure in the View selection pane. Equivalent to the
refresh button found at the bottom of the pane.
Full Screen (F11) Display the Config Tool without the Windows application border to maximize the display
area. Note that the Full Screen mode does more than just maximizing your application
window. It also hides the title bar and the task bar.
Hide Menu in Full Hide the application menu in Full Screen mode to further increase the effective display
Screen area.
Advanced Mode Alternate between Simple and Advanced modes. In Simple mode, only the most
(Shift + F10) common controls are visible, thus simplifying the user interface for novices. In Advanced
mode, all available controls are visible, thus giving complete control to the experienced
users.
Config Tool > Menu > View Menu

Tools Menu
Live Viewer Starts the Live Viewer using the same Directory, username and connection type as the
Config Tool.
Archive Player Starts the Archive Player using the same Directory, username and connection type as the
Live Viewer.
Entity Search... Open the Entity Search dialog (see Welcome – System Concepts – Entity Search).
Block cameras... Opens the "Block cameras" dialog which allows a user with sufficient privilege to prevent
less privileged users from viewing selected cameras. For more information on this topic,
please refer to Camera Blocking under Live Viewer – Menu – Tools Menu.
Test Sounds... Opens the "Test sounds" dialog to let the user hear the available sound files on the
system. These are the sounds that can be played when programming the action "Send an
alert sound" to notify a user of a particular event. To understand the context in which
sound files are used, please read the section on Event Handling.
To play a sound file, simply select it from the list and click on the play button. Use the file
browser to locate files from other Directories.
Configure Opens the "Directory Failover Configuration Wizard" dialog. Instructions on how to use
the wizard is given in the section "Configure Directory Failover".
Directory
Failover...
Copy Opens the "Copy configuration tool" dialog which lets the user copy the configuration of
Configuration a selected entity to a list of other selected entities of the same type. This dialog is also
available from the contextual menu of the View selection pane.
Tool...
To copy the configuration of a selected entity:
1. Select the type of entity you wish to copy. This will determine the available copy
options.
2. Select the entity you wish to copy the configuration from. Click on the button to
show the resource logical tree view and pick the entity you wish to use as the sample.
3. Select the configuration sections you wish to copy. Select all the options that apply.
4. Select in the options box, the configuration sections that you wish to copy. The
available options depend on the entity type selected in step 1.
5. Select the entities you wish to copy the configuration to.
6. Click on "Apply".
Transfer Video... Opens the "Transfer video" dialog. This tool is used when a video encoder (camera) has
been replaced. The new device will be detected as a new encoder ( ) while the old
encoder will become inactive ( ). In order to avoid having two sets of video archives for
the same camera, you can transfer the video associated to the inactive encoder to the
new encoder.
To transfer the video archive from one encoder to another:
1. Select the source encoder from the top drop down list.
The source encoder must be a ghost camera ( ) or an inactive camera ( ).
2. Select the destination encoder from the bottom drop down list.
3. Click on OK.
WARNING – The two cameras may not have overlapping video files, i.e. covering
the same time range. If overlapping video files are detected, the transfer would
be cancelled and an error message displayed.
Options... Opens the Config Tool Options Dialog.
Custom menu All menu items listed after "Options..." in the Tools menu are customizable. All Omnicast
items client applications are installed with the custom menu item "Launch Field Report
Generator". If you ever need to call the technical support for any reason, this command
may prove to be very useful. It launches the Field Report Generator, a tool that gathers
pertinent information regarding the status of your system that can help the support
team diagnose your problem.
To learn how to customize the Tools menu, please refer to Customize Tools Menu.
Config Tool > Menu > Tools Menu

Configure Directory Failover
What Is Failover?
Failover is a backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component (such as the Directory, the
Archiver, the Virtual Matrix, for example) are assumed by secondary system components when the primary
component becomes unavailable through either failure or scheduled down time. Used to make systems more fault-
tolerant, failover is typically an integral part of mission-critical systems that must be constantly available. The
procedure involves automatically offloading tasks to a standby system component so that the procedure is as
seamless as possible to the end user.
In Omnicast, failover is applied to the following services:
Directory and Gateway

Archiver
Virtual Matrix
Metadata Engine
The present chapter only deals with the Directory failover. The Directory failover is configured using the tool called
"Directory Failover Configuration Wizard", hereafter abbreviated as "the Wizard". To learn about the failover
configuration of other Omnicast applications, please follow the links below:
Archiver failover – Read Standby Archivers under Config Tool – Unit.

Virtual Matrix failover – Read Standby Virtual Matrices under Config Tool – Virtual Matrix.
Metadata Engine failover – Read Standby Metadata Engines under Config Tool – Plugins – Metadata Engine
Plugin.
The Wizard is invoked from the Tools menu by selecting "Configure Directory Failover". There are two ways to
configure the Directory failover. You can either let the Wizard set up everything for you by choosing the default
failover configuration or configure everything yourself manually by letting the Wizard guide your through the
configuration steps.
Default Failover Configuration

The easiest way to configure the Directory failover is to use the default configuration. It is recommended for most
Omnicast installations, namely, installations confined to a single LAN where all Directory servers are equivalent
machines.
Directory failover list
When the default failover configuration is selected, most settings are selected automatically for you. The only
aspects you need to take care of are: (1) which Directories are involved in the failover; and (2) the order of the
Directories in the failover list.
NOTE – When a new Directory server is added to the system, it will appear unselected in the list.
You must explicitly select it to make it part of the failover list.
The Directory at the top of the list is called the primary Directory. It is the one that should be running in normal
situations. The rest of the Directories in the list are called secondary Directories. They serve as backup in case the
primary Directory becomes unavailable. Only one Directory should be running at any given time. The Directory that
is presently running is referred to as the current Directory.
Directory Failover Coordinators
The Directory Failover Coordinators (DFC) are the guardians of the Directory failover list. There must be one DFC
installed on each Directory server participating in the failover. The DFCs remain in constant communication with
each other, mirroring all changes made to the Directory database, which is the central repository of all Omnicast
configurations. When a Directory becomes unavailable, the next one in line will be started by its failover
coordinator. This process can continue until there is no more Directory left in the failover list. When a higher
ranking Directory server in the list becomes available, its DFC will bring its local copy of the database up to date and
start its Directory service. At the same time, the DFC on the secondary server will stop its Directory service so that
the newly started service can take its place.
To change the order of the servers in the failover list, select a DFC in the list and use the or buttons to move it
up or down the list.
Directory scope
A Directory can be configured with a global or local scope. A global Directory is one that serves the entire system,
while a local Directory is only intended to serve a subset of the Omnicast applications, typically within the same
LAN. Therefore, on a very large Omnicast system extending over multiple LANs, the primary Directory can be
backed up by a multitude of local secondary Directories. When the primary Directory goes offline, all local
Directories will start simultaneously, each serving its own LAN. Note that the scope of the primary Directory must
always be global.
NOTE – With the default failover configuration, all secondary Directories are global.
Local address, public address and port
The local and public addresses are the two IP addresses configured for each Directory server in the Server Admin.
The public address is used to allow DFCs located on differents LANs to communicate with each other. See Server
Admin – System – Network.
The port number corresponds to the TCP command port that the DFC listens to. See Server Admin – Directory
Failover Coordinator.
Manual Failover Configuration

Although the default failover configuration will satisfy most Omnicast installations, there may be cases where it
would be better to configure the failover manually. Some common reasons are:
Not enough budget to duplicate all mission-critical servers which are often expensive high-end servers.
The system is distributed over several regional offices running on seperate LANs and you wish to continue to
operate the regional offices even when the link to the corporate LAN fails.
To illustrate the manual failover configuration, let's consider the following sample system. The sample system is
distributed over three LANs, #1, #2 and #3, where LAN #1 is the coorporate LAN and LAN #2 and #3 are remote
LANs.
The desired behavior is the following:
Four Directories ( ) and their corresponding DFCs ( ) are installed on PC #1, #2, #6 and #7.
Directory #1 is the primary Directory, and Directories #2, #6 and #7 are secondary Directories.
Directories #1 and #2 are global Directories running on the corporate LAN.
Directories #6 and #7 are local Directories for the remote LANs.
When the link to the corporate LAN fails, the remote LANs must be able to function independently.
PC #4 represents all client workstations on LAN #1 and can connect through either Gateway #1, #2 or #3.
PC #5 represents all client workstations on LAN #2 and must connect through Gateway #6.
PC #8 represents all client workstations on LAN #3 and must connect through Gateway #7.
Gateway ( ) #1, #2 and #3 must try to connect to either Directory #1 or #2.
Gateway #6 must try to connect to Gateway #1, #2, #3 or Directory #6.
Gateway #7 must try to connect to Gateway #2, #1, #3 or Directory #7.
With the default failover configuration turned off, here is how you should use the Wizard to configure the system.
Step #1: Directory Failover List
The first thing you need to do is to specify the priority and the scope of each Directory in the failover list.
In the above configuration, Directory #1 is the primary Directory.
If PC #1 becomes offline, Directory #2 will be started automatically and become the current Directory. When PC #1
is back online, Directory #2 will be stopped and Directory #1 will be started.
If both PC #1 and #2 become offline (e.g. WAN failure), Directory #6 and #7 will take over simultaneously. Clients
on LAN #2 and #3 will continue to view live and archived videos managed by Archivers on their respective LAN but
will not be able to view videos managed on any of the two other LANs.
If either PC #1 or PC #2 comes back online, Directory #6 and #7 will be stopped automatically by their respective
DFCs and all online applications will reconnect to the running global Directory.
Step #2: Gateway Connections
Since Gateways are the only links to the Directory for all other applications, you need to specify how each Gateway
is to find the current Directory. This is the object of Step #2.
A Gateway can connect to the current Directory either directly or indirectly. When both services are located on the
same LAN, the Gateway can connect directly to the Directory. When they are located on different LANs, the
Gateway must go through another Gateway. The ordered list of services (either Directory or Gateway) that the
Gateway must try in order to find the current Directory is called the Directory access path.
The following screen capture shows the configuration for Gateway #1, i.e. the Gateway installed on PC #1.
Note that Gateway #1 is only going to try Directory #1 and #2 (the only two services that are selected ). The
services that are not selected are not part of the Directory access path. Gateway #1 is connecting directly to
Directory #1 and #2 because they are located on the same LAN.
The configurations for Gateway #2 and #3 are similar to the one for Gateway #1. Simply interchange Gateway #1
and #2 to get the configuration for Gateway #2, and interchange Gateway #1 and Gateway #3 to get the
configuration for Gateway #3.
The configuration of Gateway #6 is somewhat different. Please see screen capture below.
Note that Gateway #6 cannot connect to the global Directories (#1 and #2) directly because they are not located on
the same LAN. It must go through one of the Gateway that are located on the same LAN as the global Directories,
namely Gateway #1, #2 and #3. In the case the link to the corporate LAN is down, Gateway #6 will fall back on the
local Directory #6. When this happens, LAN #2 will operate temporarily as an independent subsystem.
The configuration for Gateway #7 is similar to the one for Gateway #6. Simply interchange PC #6 and PC #7 to get
the configuration for Gateway #7.
NOTE – Using the default failover configuration is equivalent to using the Directory failover list
as the Directory access path for all Gateways on the system.
Step #3: Client Connections
The third step is used to instruct the client applications what to do when the Gateway they request is not available.
For each Gateway in the system, you need to specify a list of alternative choices when it is not available. This list of
alternatives is called the Gateway backup list.
The following screen capture shows the configuration for Gateway #1.
Note that in Gateway #1 backup list, only Gateway #2 and Gateway #3 are available as alternatives, this is because
only these three Gateway are located on the corporate LAN. It would make no sense for the Gateway #1 to failover
to Gateway #6 or Gateway #7 which are located on remote LANs.
Similarly, Gateway #2 should have Gateway #1 and Gateway #3 as backups, and Gateway #3 should have Gateway
#1 and Gateway #2 as backups.
For Gateways located on remote LANs such as Gateway #6 and #7, no backup list is available. See picture below.
The system "knows" that a Gateway is located on a remote LAN when its Directory access path starts with another
Gateway. See Step #2.
Limitations
1. A corporate Gateway cannot have a remote Gateway in its backup list, and a remote Gateway
cannot have a corporate Gateway in its backup list.
2. A second limitation is that the remote Gateway cannot have any backup list, even if more Gateways
are installed on the same remote LAN.
The above limitations only apply to the failover. For example, if Gateway #6 is offline, nothing prevents a
user located on LAN #2 to explicitely connect to a Gateway located on LAN #1.
Config Tool > Menu > Tools Menu > Configure Directory Failover

Options Dialog
The Config Tool's Options Dialog is accessible from the Tools Menu. From this dialog, you can configure most of the
Config Tool's default behavior to suit your preferences. The dialog contains five tabs, one for each group of settings.
General, Network, Audio, User interaction, Display, Date and time
General options
dialog users from changing the Gateway in the Connect dialog. The next time a user

[Ctrl+Shift+Enter].

Windows user credentials. The Active Directory must be enabled on the specified
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Network options
Connection Select here the connection type to apply to all software decoders used by this
type application. Choose between Best available, Unicast UDP, Unicast TCP and
Multicast. For a full description of each connection type, please refer to the
section on Network Connection Types under Welcome – System Concepts.
Direct connection – This option appears only when you choose "Unicast
UDP" as your connection type. You need to select this option only if your Live
Viewer is not connected to the same LAN as the Archiver and that your network
configuration forces you to use Unicast (for example when your company's
router does not allow Multicast). This option will help avoid the redirection of
video streams by the Archiver.
Return to top
Audio options
under Tools Menu. If you leave this field blank, no alert sound will be heard.
Reception
Return to top
User interaction options

System Show messages,... – Select this option to prevent the application from
messages showing any warning or error message. This option should be used when the
application is running in an unattended mode. When this option is selected, the
next two options will be disabled. You have to restart the application for this
option to take effect.
Close automatically messages,... – Select this option if you want the
notification messages to be moved automatically to the notification message log
if they are not acknowledged by the user after a given period of time. See
Notifications under System Menu.
Prompt user when CPU usage is above... – When the CPU is near its
maximum capacity, attempting a CPU intensive operation (such as viewing a
camera) can sometimes freeze the machine. To prevent this from happening, you
can ask the system to prompt you for a confirmation before attempting any CPU
intensive operation when the percentage of CPU usage is above a preset level.
operation.
Selecting " Never ask me that question again" and clicking "Yes" is equivalent
to turning this feature off.
When Rename all the devices linked to the video encoder – Select "Yes" to let the
renaming a system rename automatically all devices linked to the video encoder that you are
device renaming; "No" to leave the linked devices unchanged; and "Ask the user" to ask
you first before renaming the linked devices. The devices linked to the video
encoder are shown in the Camera – Links tab.
Rename all the devices inside the unit – Select "Yes" to let the system rename
automatically all devices attached to the unit that you are renaming; "No" to
leave the attached devices unchanged; and "Ask the user" to ask you first before
renaming the attached devices. The devices attached to the unit are shown
under the unit in the Physical view.
When moving Move all the devices linked to the video encoder – Select "Yes" to let the
a device system move automatically all devices linked to the video encoder that you are
moving in the Logical view; "No" to not move the linked devices; and "Ask the
user" to ask you first before moving the linked devices. The devices linked to the
video encoder are shown in the Camera – Links tab.
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Display options
The display settings tab is the same for all three client applications (Live Viewer, Archive Player and
Video For the Config Tool, only the Live viewing video options are configurable.
options

on.
adapters.
Matrox G450 or G550
YUV or not is to test it. You must restart your application after changing
the video mode. If the video is displayed correctly, then your video adapter
List of ... This table lists all display adaptors found on your PC. The type indicates whether
the adapter supports single or dual monitors.
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Device time Each device in the system follows a specific time zone. Generally speaking, an
zone application follows the time zone of the machine where it is running and all
devices (units) follow the time zone of the application controlling it.
You can choose to display the time according to each entity's time zone or to
display everything following a time zone of your choice. This change is effective
immediately and affects all client applications.
Time zone If you select " Display time zones abbreviations", then the time zone
abbreviations abbreviation will be indicated wherever time is displayed. Please refer to the
Appendix for the time zone abbreviations used in Omnicast.
Return to top
Config Tool > Menu > Tools Menu > Options Dialog

Customize Tools Menu
Introduction
The Tools Menu of the Live Viewer, Archive Player and Config Tool applications can be customized by the user. All
custom menu items are added after the "Options..." item in the Tools menu.
At installation, all three client applications come standard with one custom item added to the Tools menu: "Launch
Field Report Generator". The system administrator may choose to remove it, to rename it or to add other custom
items to the menu.
The .ini file

Custom menu items are configured in the omnicast.ini file located in the Directory where the client applications are
installed (typically "C:\Program Files\Genetec Omnicast Client 4.0").
The custom menu items are specified under the section [CustomMenu]. Each custom menu item is described by
three fields:
Textn The text shown in the Tools menu for the n th custom menu item.
Commandn The command associated to the nth custom menu item.
Appsn The applications in which this custom menu item should appear.
(optional,
1: Config Tool
default=all
2: Live Viewer
applications)
3: Config Tool and Live Viewer
4: Archive Player
5: Archive Player and Config Tool
6: Archive Player and Live Viewer
7: All three applications
As an example, the following entries:
[CustomMenu] will produce the following custom menu items in the

Text1=Calculator Tools menu of the Live Viewer,
Command1=calc
Apps1=7
Text2=Notepad
Command2=notepad
Apps2=6
Text3=Paint
Command3=mspaint
Apps3=2
while the Archive Player will only show "Calculator" and "Notepad", and the Config Tool will only show "Calculator".
Config Tool > Menu > Tools Menu > Customize Tools Menu

Help Menu
About...
License Information
from Genetec.
sold.
File Versions
information regarding the Genetec Omnicast Config Tool application is being displayed.
Config Tool > Menu > Help Menu

Toolbar
Description
The Config Tool's toolbar is located right under the main menu. It features status and entity display panels and
shortcuts to other Omnicast applications.


Options.
CPU The CPU gauge indicates the percentage of CPU currently being used.
Video The video gauge indicates the percentage of video memory used.
Use the application shortcuts to start the Live Viewer ( ) or the Archive Player ( ) using the same connection
parameters as the Config Tool.
Entity Display Panel

The Entity Display Panel simply displays the type and name of the currently
selected entity. The entity type is indicated by the corresponding icon. To view
a complete list of all entity icons, please refer to the Configurable entities in the
section on Configuration Pane.
Command Buttons
The buttons "Undo" and "Apply" are only enabled after you have made changes to
an entity's configuration. Click on Undo to discard the changes or Apply to save
the changes.
Config Tool > Toolbar

View Selection Pane
The View selection pane is found at the left hand side of the Config Tool's workspace.
View Descriptions
The Config Tool offers eight viewing schemes for organizing and viewing the elements composing the system. Each
view presents the system elements (also called entities) from a different perspective and eases the administrator's
configuration task. They are briefly described below.
Logical The Logical view organizes the system's physical devices into a hierarchy of
logical groupings called "sites". This view also defines how the camera tree
and analog monitor tree would appear in the Live Viewer and the Archive
Player. Learn more.
Physical The Physical view shows the server applications available in the system along
with the physical devices they control. The entities are structured in a
hierarchy according to their physical relationships. Learn more.
User Management The User Management view allows you to control all aspects of access
security of the system through entities such as users and user groups.
Schedule Management The Schedule Management view is where you can configure all scheduling
entities of the system such as generic schedules, archiving schedules and
macro schedules.
Alarm Management The Alarm Management view puts together all entities pertaining to alarm
management, such as alarms, camera groups and monitor groups.
Virtual Matrix The Virtual Matrix Management view groups in a single location all entities
Management directly controlled by a Virtual Matrix, such as camera sequences, CCTV
keyboards, hardware matrices and access control systems.
Add-In Management The Add-In Management view shows all macros and plugins defined in the
system.
Federation This view shows all federated Directories and the federated entities.
Management
To select a view, click in the view selection list or use the Config Tool's View menu.
To access the configuration page of a specific entity, select the desired entity from the tree control in the View
selection pane. The corresponding configuration page will automatically appear in the Configuration pane on the
right. All eight views share the same contextual menu and the same action buttons.
TIP – To quickly find any entity by name or by description, use the Entity Search tool by typing Ctrl+F
from any of the management views described above.
Contextual Menu
The contextual menu is displayed by right-clicking anywhere inside the View selection pane where the tree structure
is displayed. Most of the commands are also available from the Action or Tools menu.
The individual commands are explained below.
Create Creates a new entity in the system. For more details, please refer to the Create command
described in the Config Tool's Action menu. This command is equivalent to the create
button.
Rename Renames the selected entity. Note that you cannot rename a group heading (Users,
Schedules, Macros, etc.) in the system settings view.
Delete Deletes the selected entity. Note that you cannot delete a discovered device (i.e. a unit or
any of its attached devices) unless it is inactive (appears in red). This command is equivalent
to the delete button.
Copy Entities Copies the configuration of the selected entity for the purpose of pasting it. This command
works only with user defined entities.
Paste Entities Pastes the last copied entity. The new entity will be named "Copy of <old entity name>". This
command works only with user defined entities.
Block See Block Cameras under Config Tool – Menu – Tools menu.
Cameras...
Copy Config... See Copy Configuration Tool under Config Tool – Menu – Tools menu.
Sort Entities Sorts the elements either by type or by name. Note that the sorting order only applies to the
elements within the same hierarchy level.
Refresh Tree Refreshes the tree structure. Equivalent to the refresh button .
Remove unit This command only appears when the selected entity is an Axis unit. This is because Axis
from Archiver units do not support automatic discovery. Therefore, if an Axis unit is added by mistake to an
Archiver, the only way to correct the mistake is to use this command.
Command Buttons
Create button. See Create command under the contextual menu.

Delete button. See Delete command under the contextual menu.
Select visible entity types button. This button pops a contextual menu allowing you to select the entity
types you wish to display in your current view. The selection list is different for each of the available
views.
Refresh button. See Refresh Tree command under the contextual menu.
Config Tool > View Selection Pane

Logical View
The following types of devices can be accessed through the Logical
view.
Directory
Site (or site with a map )
Camera (or dome camera )
Camera sequence
Virtual camera
PTZ motor
Audio encoder (microphone)
Audio decoder (speaker)
Serial port
Digital input
Output relay
Analog monitor (video decoder)
Viewer Layout
Macro
Live Viewer plugin
Also shown in the Logical view are the federated entities. Please
refer to Federated Directory for more details.
Purpose
The purpose of this view is to allow the administrator to organize the system devices (cameras, analog monitors, etc.)
into logical structures in order to facilitate their management and monitoring. The logical groupings are called sites ( ).
The sites typically represent physical locations, but they can very well be used to represent any concept you want.
The sites can be nested to form hierarchical structures. See examples below.
The logical structure defined here is what a user would see in the Camera pane of the Live Viewer application (the tree
structure showing only entities that can be viewed from the Live Viewer) and Analog monitor pane (the same structure
showing only analog monitors).
The second function of the Logical view is to control the user's access rights to different system resources. The
administrator can easily hide a group of resources from a user by removing his permission to access one branch of the
hierarchy. All resources under that branch will then become inaccessible to that user. See Permissions under Config Tool
– Configuration Pane – User.
TIP – For resources shared by different groups of users, you can create multiple copies of the same
resource under different sites. To achieve this, simply hold the [Ctrl] key while dragging the resource to the
site it should belong to. The site that is immediately above an entity in the logical hierarchy is called the
Logical parent of that entity. Logical parents are shown in the Identity tab, the first tab in every entity's
configuration.
Use the select all visible entity types button to show or hide selected entity types from view.
Config Tool > View Selection Pane > Logical View

Physical View
The following types of entities can be accessed through the Physical
view.
Directory
Gateway
Archiver
Unit
Camera (or dome camera )
Ghost camera
PTZ motor
Audio encoder (microphone)
Audio decoder (speaker)
Digital input
Output relay
Serial port
Analog monitor (video decoder)
Auxiliary Archiver
Federation Server
Federated Directory and all federated entities
Metadata Engine
Metadata Engine plugin
Restore Archiver
Backup set
Virtual Matrix
Access control
Macro schedule
Camera sequence
CCTV keyboard
Hardware matrix
Virtual camera
Purpose
The Physical view shows all the software components of the system along with the devices they control. Unlike the
Logical view, all the components are shown here according to their physical relationships.
For example, all server applications are grouped under their default Gateway ( ).
All units ( ) are grouped under their default Archiver ( ).
All physical devices ( , , , , , , ) are grouped under the unit ( ) they belong to.
etc.
The physical relationship between the entities is shown in terms of the "Physical parent" in the Identity tab found in each
entity's configuration.
Use the select all visible entity types button to show or hide selected entity types from view.
Config Tool > View Selection Pane > Physical View

Configuration Pane
The Configuration Pane is found at the right hand side of the Config Tool's workspace.
The Configuration pane presents a detailed view of the entity selected in the View selection pane (on the left). The
configuration information is presented in a series of tabs.
Identity tab
The Identity tab is the first tab shown in the Configuration pane of every entity (with the exception of the
Directory). The following picture shows a sample Identity tab taken from the camera.
The type of the selected entity is indicated at the top with its representative icon. The rest of the descriptive fields
are:
Name Entity name. In most cases, the entity name is editable, except when it is a
software entity.
Description The description is an optional text further describing the entity. This field
is blank and non-editable for all software entities.
Logical ID The Logical ID is a unique identifier assigned to the entity by the system. It
can be modified by the user but it must remain unique within the same
category of entities. To learn more about the different entity categories,
please turn to Welcome – System Concepts – Logical IDs.
Logical parent The logical parent is the entity that is directly above the selected entity in
the Logical view. Click on the "Find" button to quickly jump to the
configuration of the logical parent. If the entity has more than one logical
parent, the static field will change into a drop down list.
Physical The physical parent is the entity that is directly above the selected entity
parent in the Physical view. Click on the "Find" button to quickly jump to the
configuration of the physical parent.
Configurable entities
Access control system Live Viewer plugin

Alarm Macro
Analog monitor (video decoder) Macro schedule
Archiver Metadata Engine
Archiving schedule Metadata Engine plugin
Auxiliary Archiver Microphone (audio encoder)
Backup set Monitor group
Camera (video encoder) Output relay
Camera group PTZ motor
Camera sequence Restore Archiver
CCTV keyboard Serial port
Digital input Site
Directory Speaker (audio decoder)
Directory Failover Coordinator Unit
Federated Directory User
Federation Server User group
Gateway Viewer Layout
Generic schedule Virtual camera
Ghost camera Virtual Matrix
Hardware matrix Virtual Matrix plugin
Config Tool > Configuration Pane

Access Control System
The access control system is an entity used in Omnicast to interface with third party access control systems. Once an
access control system is connected to a unit in Omnicast via its serial port, its commands can be interpreted and carried
out by a Virtual Matrix. Both license options: "Number of Virtual Matrices" and "Number of access controls" are required
to unlock this feature.
Access control entities can be found either in the Physical view or the Virtual Matrix Management view. Expand the
Virtual Matrix ( ) node if you are in the Physical view, or the Access control systems ( ) node if you are in the Virtual
Matrix Management view, then select the desired entity. The configuration corresponding to the selected entity will
appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The access control system's Configuration pane contains three property sheets.
Identity – Entity name, description and specific information

Properties – Access control system protocol and command mapping
Standby Virtual Matrices – List of Virtual Matrices responsible for controlling this
device.
To create a new access control system:

1. Select the Virtual Matrix Management view from the View selection pane.
2. Click on the create button at the bottom of the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Access control system". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the primary Virtual Matrix that should be controlling the access control system.
5. Click on OK to create the new entity. If you are looking at the Physical view, a new access control system will
appear under the selected Virtual Matrix. If you are looking at the Virtual Matrix Management view, the new entity
will appear under the Access Control Systems node.
6. A blank configuration page will appear on the right hand side of the screen. Enter an appropriate name for the
new access control system.
7. Click on the Properties tab and fill in the necessary information.
8. Click on the Standby Virtual Matrices tab to define the list of standby Virtual Matrices that would be controlling
this device, if applicable.
Go to Logical view Go to Physical view Go to View descriptions
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Access Control System

Access Control System – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the basic settings necessary for the Virtual Matrix to interface with the access control
system.
Permissions User profile assumed by the Virtual Matrix when executing commands received from the
and privileges access control system. Thus, the range of actions that the access control system is allowed
to perform can be limited by the permissions and privileges of the selected user.
Access control Manufacturer and model of the access control system. Only the supported protocols are
protocol listed.
Serial port Serial port to which the access control system is connected.
Script to run at Script (see macro) that the Virtual Matrix should execute every time the system starts up.
startup This script is optional.
Command Some access control systems can connect cameras to analog monitors. Use this table to
mapping map the access control system's output IDs to the Live Viewer's tile IDs of the system.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Access Control System > Properties

Access Control System – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab lists the Virtual Matrices which are selected to control this device.
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the access control system. It is the one that should
be controlling the device in normal situations. If the master fails, then the control of the device will be automatically
transferred to the next Virtual Matrix in line.
You may change the order of the standby Virtual Matrices with the up and down buttons.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Access Control System > Standby Virtual Matrices

Alarm
An alarm, from a configuration standpoint, is a set of instructions defined by the administrator to handle a particular
type of situation that typically presents the following characteristics:
Require the security personnel's immediate attention

Require a concerted effort from the security team to handle
Require all handling actions to be logged (who did what and when)
Can be described through live or recorded videos (optional)
The set of instructions programmed to handle such type of situation is called an "alarm entity". Alarms are triggered by
user configured actions (see Event Handling under Welcome – System Concepts) or through the execution of macros. To
fully understand the mechanism put in place to handle alarms in Omnicast, please refer to the section on Alarm
Management under Welcome – System Concepts.
To access an alarm entity, select it ( ) from the Alarm Management view in the View selection pane (on the left). All
alarm entities are grouped together under the alarm node. The alarm entity's property sheets will be displayed in the
Configuration pane (on the right).

Properties – Alarm priority, behavior and time constraints
Cameras – Videos (live, playback or still frames) used to show the alarm
Recipients – Users or monitor groups that should receive the alarm
Acknowledgement – Types of acknowledgement permitted for this alarm
Actions – Actions to trigger following specific alarm events
To create a new alarm:

1. Select the Alarm Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Alarm". The following dialog will appear.
Select all the alarm recipients (users, user groups, or monitor groups) that apply (at least one) and click on OK.
A new alarm will be created with the name "New alarm" under the Alarms node ( ) in the alarm managment
view, and the user configuration page will appear in the Configuration Pane on the right.
4. Enter a descriptitive name for the new alarm. Note that the alarm name must be unique. Use the Description field
to provide more details regarding the alarm if necessary, in the Identity tab.
5. Click on the Properties tab and fill in the necessary information.
6. Click on the Encoders tab and select the cameras or camera groups that should be used to show the alarm
situation to the concerned users (recipients).
7. Click on the Recipients tab to change the recipient list if necessary.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Alarm

Alarm – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the alarm's priority, behaviors and application schedule.
General
Generic schedule
Use the generic schedule to define when the alarm can be activated. To learn more about time constraints, please
refer to the section on Generic schedule under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
Priority
The alarm priority is a number that goes from 1 (most important) to 30 (least important). It only affects the alarm
display. Higher priority alarms always take precedence over lower priority alarms in terms of display. The exact
behavior depends on the display mode in effect (Simple, Salvo or Block). Note that the display mode is not an
alarm property, but a user's preference. Please refer to the section on Alarm display mode under User – Live Viewer,
for more information.
Dwell time / camera
The dwell time says how much time each camera associated to the alarm is going to take when the alarm is being
displayed. With the Salvo display mode (all cameras displayed simultaneously), the total display time of the alarm is
equal to the dwell time if there are enough armed tiles (or monitors) to display all the alarm cameras at once. With
the Block display mode (cameras displayed one after another), the total display time of the alarm is equal to the
dwell time multiplied by the number of cameras. With the Simple display mode, the dwell time is ignored.
Reactivation threshold
The reactivation threshold is the time in seconds before this alarm can be triggered again (reactivated). This
parameter is useful to avoid having the same alarm being triggered too frequently. Common sense suggests that
the threshold should be at least twice as long as the dwell time.
TIP – For the Contextual alarm, it is best to leave this value at zero since the contextual alarm
does not necessarily show the same camera.
Alarm recording duration
Whenever an alarm is triggered, recording always starts automatically on all video encoders associated to that
alarm; regardless of their display options (see Alarm – Encoders tab). This behavior serves to ensure that recordings
would always be available for alarm playbacks (see Alarm Search Results under Archive Player).
For each encoder, the automatic recording starts n seconds before the alarm is triggered, where n is the length of
the recording buffer and lasts for n+m seconds, where m is the "Alarm recording duration". The recording that lasts
n+m seconds is called the minimum recording span.
NOTE – All recording is ultimately subject to the archiving schedules in place. If an encoder is
not covered by any active archiving schedule at the time the alarm is triggered, no recording will
take place.
Protect recorded video for
Indicate here whether the live video recorded for this alarm should be protected against deletion and for how long.
The resulting behavior would be to protect the next n seconds of recording indicated in "Alarm recording duration"
for the specified number of days, starting from the moment the alarm is triggered. For more details on video
archive protection, please read about the action "Start applying video protection" under Welcome – System
Concepts – Event Handling – Action Definitions.
Procedure (URL)
This field contains the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address of the alarm procedure. If a procedure is defined,
then the Live Viewer user can display it in a separate browser window when the alarm is received by clicking on the
"Show procedure" ( ) button. See Alarm commands under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane – Viewing Tile – Viewable
Entities. The functions available for writing alarm procedures are described in "Genetec Omnicast SDK Help".
TIP – One interesting way of using this feature is to show the alarm handling instructions with
this procedure. With the ASP technology, the possiblities are endless.
Show metadata overlays
Select this option if you want all available metadata overlays to be displayed along with the video configured for
this alarm in the camera list, wherever it applies, regardless of the selected display option ("Live", "Playback" or
"Still").
Acknowledgement
This section defines the acknowledgment options.
Automatic acknowledgment after _ seconds
Alarms are usually acknowledged manually by the recipient. Select this option if the alarm should be automatically
acknowledged by the system if no one acknowledges it after x seconds. If this option is not selected, then the alarm
will remain active until someone acknowledges it.
Note that the automatic acknowledgement generates the same events as the "Default acknowledgement". See
Alarm acknowledgement under Welcome – System Concepts – Alarm Management.
Once acknowledged, delete after _ days
All alarms are saved in an alarm history database for future queries and analysis. Here, you are given the
opportunity to control how many days this particular type of alarm should be kept in the alarm history database. If
you do not select this option, the alarms will be deleted after the number of days specified in the Server Admin.
Please read Server Admin – Directory – Alarm database.
If you choose to delete the alarms after 0 days, then the alarms will be deleted as soon as they are acknowledged.
Viewing alarm history

The alarm history can be viewed in all three client applications. To learn more, please read :
Archive Player – Query Pane – Alarm Search (view and perform queries on alarm history database)
Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Directory – Alarms (view all alarm instances in the system)
Live Viewer – Message Pane – Alarm list (view current user's alarm queue)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Alarm > Properties

Alarm – Cameras
The Cameras tab defines the cameras ( ), camera sequences ( ) and camera groups ( ) that must be displayed when
the alarm is triggered. If this list is empty, the alarm is said to be silent. However, the recipients can still be aware that
the alarm has been triggered if they look at the Alarm list in the Live Viewer.
NOTE – This tab is disabled for the system defined "Contextual alarm" entity. Please read the section on Alarm
Management under Welcome – System Concepts, for more details.
Note that the alarm recipients are configured in the Recipients tab.
To add a camera to the list:

1. Click on the Add camera button at the bottom of the page. The following dialog will appear.
2. Select a camera from the Camera drop-down list.
3. Select a display option from the Display option drop-down list. Three options are available:
Live video Choose this option if you want to view live video from this camera.
Playback Choose playback if you want to show what was happening a few
seconds before the alarm was triggered. Please continue with step 5.
Note that this option is not available for camera sequences.
Still frames Choose this option to display a series of still frames. Please continue with
step 6. Note that this option is not available for camera sequences.
4. If you selected "Live video" in the previous step, click on OK and end here.
5. If you selected "Playback" in step 3, you will have to specify a "pre-trigger time".
The pre-trigger time is the number of seconds you want to go back in time for the playback, based on the
alarm triggering time. Click on OK to complete adding the camera.
6. If you selected "Still frames" in step 3, the "Add camera" dialog will take the following form.
7. Click on the Add still frame button to reveal the following dialog:
There are two ways to enter the still frames: a) using the easy fill method, or b) one at a time.
a) With the "Easy fill" method, enter the time of the first frame in the "Pre-trigger time" field in fractions of
seconds (always positive) and the number of desired frames and click OK. The system will automatically
calculate the delta time for each frame by starting the first frame at minus "pre-trigger time" seconds, and by
spacing the remaining frames evenly so they all fit within the configured alarm dwell time.
b) With the "Single frame" method, enter the frame time in fractions of seconds before (negative) or after
(positive) the alarm triggering time and click OK. A single frame will be added to the "Still frames time" list in
the "Add camera" dialog box.
8. Repeat step 7 as many times as needed to add single still frames to the list. However, every time you use the
"Easy fill" method, the entire list of still frames will be replaced.
9. Remove any unwanted frames by selecting it and clicking on the remove still frame button.
NOTE – The "frame times" only specify which still frames to select, not their
display times. As a matter of fact, regardless of the number of still frames you
have, they are all going to be displayed at regular intervals within the allotted
time frame (which is the alarm dwell time). For example, if you defined four still
frames: at -20 s, -18 s, -4 s, and -2 s, for a dwell time of 10 seconds, they will all
be displayed at 10/4 = 2.5 second interval, one after another.
There is a maximum limit of 5 still frames per second of dwell time. You will get
an error message if this limit is exceeded either by adding still frames or by
shortening the dwell time.
It is possible to define still frames up to 60 seconds after the alarm triggering

time. If the still frames are still in the future at the time the alarm is displayed, the
frames that do not yet exist will be displayed as black images (no image).
TIP – In order to generate still frames spaced more than 1 second apart with
"Easy fill", you must temporarily change the dwell time in the Properties tab to a
higher value. For example, to create 10 still frames spaced 3 seconds apart for a
total dwell time of 10 seconds, first, change the dwell time to 30 seconds, then
generate 10 still frames with a pre-trigger time of 30 seconds (the frames will be
3 seconds apart), and then change the dwell time back to 10 seconds.
Warnings
If you get a WARNING message beside one of the alarm cameras in the list, it means that part of the specified still
frame sequence or playback sequence may not be available when the alarm must be displayed. This happens when
the requested still frames or a playback fall outside of the minimum recording span. To remedy the situation, make
sure that the pre-trigger time is not greater than the length of the recording buffer. In the case of still frames, you
must also make sure that no frame is requested after the alarm recording ends.
Modifying the camera list:

You may add , delete or edit the cameras in the list by using the buttons located at the bottom of the
cameras tab.
To change the order of the cameras in the list, select an camera in the list and move it up or down the list with the
up and down buttons. The order of the cameras determines their order of appearance during the display.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Alarm > Cameras

Alarm – Recipients
The Recipients tab defines the users ( ), user groups ( ), and monitor groups ( ) that should receive the alarm. If a
user is selected as alarm recipient, then the alarm will be displayed on the Live Viewer application where this user is
logged on. If a user group is in the recipients list, then all users in that group will receive the alarm. If a monitor group is
designated as alarm recipient, then whoever is sitting in front of the monitors will get the alarm.
NOTE – This tab is disabled for the system defined "Contextual alarm" entity. Please read the section on Alarm
Management under Welcome – System Concepts, for more details.
Broadcast option
The broadcast option determines the manner in which the recipients are notified.
All at once All recipients get the alarm at the same time.
Sequential The recipients are notified one after another, according to their priority in
the list. If two recipients have the same priority, they will be notified at the
same time.
The "time out" is used to control how many seconds apart are two
consecutive notifications. If a user acknowledges the alarm before the time
out expires, then the rest of the recipients in the list will never see the alarm.
Once an alarm is sent to a user, it will remain in that user's alarm queue until
it is acknowledged by someone.
To add a recipient to the list:

1. Click on the Add recipient button at the bottom of the page. The following dialog will appear.
2. Select a "user", a "user group", or a "monitor group" from the Recipient drop-down list.
3. Enter the Priority (must be greater than zero). The priority determines the order of appearance of the recipient in
the list. The recipient with the highest priority will receive the alarm first if the "Sequential" broadcast option is
selected.
4. Click on OK.
5. Click on "Trigger alarm" button to test the alarm definition.
To change the recipient list:

You may also delete or edit the recipients in the list by selecting them and clicking on the corresponding
action button.
To change the order of the recipients in the list, select a recipient in the list and move it up or down the list with the
Up and down buttons. If two recipients with different priorities switch positions, then their corresponding
priorities will also be switched.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Alarm > Recipients

Alarm – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to trigger further actions following specific Alarm events shown in the
"Events/actions" list. Note that the "Alarm acknowledged (Alternate)" event and the custom events will appear in this list
only if the "Alternate acknowledgement" and the "Custom acknowledgement" are selected for this alarm type. See
Acknowledgement tab.
Click on the button to show all individual actions on a separate line. Click on the button to return to the
events/actions tree presentation where similar actions are represented as a single action.
The generic schedule indicates when the selected action would be in effect. Each action may be on a different schedule.
To learn more about associating actions with events, please refer to the section on Action Definitions under Welcome –
System Concepts – Event Handling.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Alarm > Actions

Analog Monitor (Video Decoder)
In Omnicast, we call analog monitors the CCTV monitors used in traditional video surveillance systems. This is to
differentiate them from the PC monitors controlled by the Live Viewer. Each analog monitor corresponds to a unique
video output in the system. To ease their identification, Omnicast automatically assigns a unique logical ID, also known as
the monitor ID, to each analog monitor,
Since all videos are stored and transmitted in digital form in Omnicast, to display video on an analog monitor requires
that the video signal be converted to an analog signal (NTSC or PAL) first. The video decoder is the device that
performs this task. The video decoder is but one of the many devices found in a decoder unit. Because of the close
relationship between the analog monitor and the video decoder, the two terms are often used interchangeably in
Omnicast.
To view or change the settings of an analog monitor, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View
selection pane (on the left). The selected analog monitor's configuration properties will be shown in the Configuration
pane (on the right).
Five tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the analog monitor:
Identity – Analog monitor name, description and specific information

Attributes – Analog video format and appearance
Info – Video decoder properties (Advanced mode)
Network – Network properties (Advanced mode)
Links – Video decoder connections (Advanced mode)
TIP – You may change the monitor ID assigned by the system. This can be done either from the Identity tab of
the entity or from the Logical IDs tab of the Directory entity. Note that analog monitors and the PC monitors
controlled by the Live Viewer share the same pool of monitor IDs. This guarantees that every video output is
uniquely identified in the system. See also Viewing Pane under Live Viewer.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Analog Monitor (Video Decoder)

Analog Monitor – Attributes
Selecting the Attributes ( ) tab of an analog monitor allows changes to be made to the video input of this decoder.
Analog format
This drop-down list allows the user to choose between NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) or PAL
(Phase Alternating Line) analog format for the video signal.
See also the Format description under the Info tab.
NOTE – Changing this setting might require the unit to reboot. If necessary, the unit will reboot
by itself within the next minute and will be temporarily unavailable (shown as inactive). You can
force the unit to reboot immediately by going to the Network tab of the corresponding unit and
clicking on the "Reboot" button.
Decoder Starve Mode

This drop-down list lets the user pick the image to display on the analog monitor when there is no more video
source connected to the decoder. Depending on the model of video decoder you have, the available options may
be different. On certain models, this control is altogether absent.
Options
Display camera name on the analog monitor
Select this option if you want to have the camera name superimposed on the video image.
Display date and time on the analog monitor (playback only)
Select this option if you want the date and time to be superimposed on the video image.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Analog Monitor (Video Decoder) > Attributes

Analog Monitor – Info
The Info ( ) tab of a video decoder displays the video decoding properties of the selected decoder unit.
Board type
Identifies the type of hardware found in the video decoder.
Video output number

Identifies the output number for units having more than one output.
Format
Displays the video standard used by the camera (NTSC or PAL). The video standard, along with the video data
format, define the resolution of the image.
Video data formats

Lists all compression types (MPEG-4, MPEG-2) and resolutions supported by the video decoder. This list may vary
depending on the model of the decoder.
The following table lists all available video data formats and their corresponding resolutions. Not all data formats
are supported by all models.
FORMAT qcif cif 2cif 2cif (480) 2/3D1 VGA 2cif H 4cif
NTSC 176 x 128 352 x 240 352 x 384 352 x 480 480 x 480 640 x 480 704 x 240 704 x 480
PAL 176 x 144 352 x 288 352 x 448 352 x 576 480 x 576 640 x 576 704 x 288 704 x 576
Viewed camera
This field displays the name of the camera currently displayed on that monitor.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Analog Monitor (Video Decoder) > Info

Analog Monitor – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the video decoder.
Network information (fixed)
Local IP address Address of the device over the network.

NIC number Network adapter identifier used by the device in multicast.
UDP port Port number used when the connection type is unicast UDP.
Connection type between (adjustable)
Client and server The choice of connection type between the client and the server is decided by
the video encoder. Therefore, it is forced to "Best available" for the decoder.
Unit and Archiver Choose here the connection type that should be used between the unit and the
Archiver for this video decoder.
Viewing quality
Select here the video stream that should be used when a video encoder is displayed on this monitor. Each encoder
can generate up to a maximum of five different video streams represented by the following generic names:
Live (typically used for viewing live video)

Recording (typically used for archiving)
Remote (typically used by Auxiliary Archiver)
Other 1 (4th video stream)
Other 2 (5th video stream)
The actual mapping of the video streams to these generic names is done individually for each encoder. Please read
Video Quality under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Camera.
For more information on the meaning of each of the connection types, please refer to the section on Network
Connection Types under Welcome – System Concepts.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Analog Monitor (Video Decoder) > Network

Analog Monitor – Links
The Links ( ) tab allows the administrator to connect any of the following devices to the selected analog monitor:
Speaker (audio decoder)

Microphone (audio encoder)
Digital input
Output relay
Serial port
This tab is where a connection can be created between specific devices.
To create a new link:

1. In the View selection pane (on the left), select the analog monitor you want to connect.
2. Select the Links tab in the Configuration pane (on the right)
3. To attach a speaker ( ) or a microphone ( ) to the analog monitor, click on the corresponding drop down list
and select the appropriate device.
4. To attach an I/O pin ( , ) or serial port ( ) to the camera, select the ones that apply in the device tree.
5. All links are applied instantly.
To remove an existing link:

1. To disconnect an audio connection, select " None".
2. To disconnect an I/O pin, clear its selection in the device tree.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Analog Monitor (Video Decoder) > Links

Archiver
The Archiver is the service responsible for dynamic discovery and status polling of units. All communications with units
are established through this service. This is also where all the video and multimedia streams are archived. There can be
as many Archivers as needed on the same system to share the archiving load. The maximum number of Archivers you
may have on your system is determined by the "Number of Archivers" option of your Omnicast license.
To access the configuration of an Archiver, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left).
The Archiver's property sheets will be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right). All units controlled by the
selected Archiver are listed below the Archiver node.

Archiving – Disk group, archive cleanup option and archive retention period for each
camera
Statistics – Statistical information on disk and bandwidth usage
Firmware upgrade – Simultaneous units firmware upgrade
Actions – Actions to perform following specific Archiver events
Backup – Periodic backup behavior configuration and status (Advanced mode)
Event search – Browser for Archiver events (Advanced mode)
Most of the Archiver configuration is done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections under Archiver in the
Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver

Archiver – Archiving
The Archiving ( ) tab lists all the cameras (video encoders) controlled by the selected Archiver and allows you to choose
individually for each, the disk group, the automatic cleanup option, and the archive retention period.
Camera list
Disk group
A disk group is a collection of one or more network drives, each with an alloted space for storing video archives.
Disk groups are created in the Server Admin. See Storage management under Server Admin – Archiver – Archiving.
The disk group of a camera is where the future video archives from that camera will be stored. The purpose of
having several disk groups is to increase the performance of the Archiver by allowing it to write simultaneously on
different disks.
If only one disk group has been defined for the Archiver, you will see a single list of cameras in this tab. If this
Archiver uses more than one disk group, you will see a tree structure (see above picture) where the cameras are
distributed according to their assigned disk group. Initially, all cameras are assigned to the Default Disk Group. You
can change the disk group of a camera any time by dragging the camera under the desired disk group.
Automatic cleanup
When selected , this option means that the Archiver will automatically delete the recorded video after the
specified retention period. If cleared, the video archives will only be deleted when the Archiver runs out of disk
space, starting from the oldest.
NOTE – You may disable the automatic cleanup only if your Archiver license permits it, i.e. that
the "Maximum archive retention period" is set to "Unlimited".
Retention period
The rentention period specifies how long the video archives should be kept for each camera when automatic
cleanup is enabled. By setting a shorter retention period for less important archives, you can free storage space for
archives you wish to keep longer.
NOTE – The maximum retention period is limited by your Archiver license ("Maximum archive
retention period").
Related topics
Config Tool – Archiver – Statistics
Server Admin – Archiver – Archiving
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Archiving

Archiver – Statistics
This Statistics ( ) tab offers statistical information on disk and bandwidth usage for the selected Archiver.
Disk group (optional)

The Disk group drop-down list will only appear if more than one disk group is defined for this Archiver. See the
section on Archiving under Server Admin – Archiver. You can view the disk usage statistics one disk group at a time
or altogether.
Disk usage
This section shows the disk usage statistics for the selected disk group. If no disk group is shown, then the statistics
correspond to the whole Archiver.
Disk list This list shows the individual status of each disk used that is part of the selected disk
group.
Disk This column shows the drive name. The green marker indicates the disk
currently used by the Archiver.
Used space This is the space used for storing video files on the disk.
Available This is the space still available on the disk for archiving purpose. The
space available space is the current free space on the disk minus the
minimum free space that the Archiver must never use. See the section
on Archiving under Server Admin – Archiver.
Free space Current free space on the disk.
Load This is the percentage of archiving space used up on the disk.
R/W Shows whether the Archiver has read/write access to the disk.
Average disk Average space used per day and average space used per camera per day.
usage
Estimated Number of days, hours, and minutes of recording left based on the average disk
remaining... usage and the current load.
Protected Click on the button to show the proportion of disk space occupied by protected
video file video files compared to the total video archive disk usage.
statistics
The "yellow" slice represents the proportion of video files unprotected manually by
the user (see Video File Query under Archive Player – Tools Menu). When a user
decides to manually unprotect a video file, the system waits 24 hours before the
unprotection becomes effective, giving the user enough time to change his mind if
necessary. During this reprieve, the file is said to be "ending protection".
Connections
Active Number of active cameras currently under the control of this Archiver. The camera
cameras assignment to each disk group is shown in the Archiving tab.
Archiving Number of archiving streams currently handled by this Archiver.
cameras
General
Archiving This is the time bracket within which video archives exist.
span
Worst-case The worst-case bandwidth is the worst-case bandwidth used for archiving only. It is
bandwidth calculated as the sum of the maximum archiving bandwidth (kbps) allowed for each
of the encoders which are currently archiving.
Last update The last time the statistics was updated.
Click on the Refresh button to refresh the statistics.
Click on the Save button to save the content of this page to a text file of your
choice.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Statistics

Archiver – Firmware Upgrade
This Firware upgrade ( ) tab serves two purposes. It shows the firmware version installed on each unit controlled by the
Archiver, and it allows the administrator to simultaneously upgrade the firmware of selected units.
To upgrade the firmware version of selected units:

1. Type the full path of the desired firmware file or use the browse button.
2. The upgrade type is always "IP". It cannot be changed because simultaneous upgrade can only be done through
IP. The control is shown here only for homogeneity with the Firmware upgrade tab found in the unit configuration.
3. Choose the unit(s) to upgrade by selecting them from the list.
NOTE – If the Archiver supports more than one type of units, the "Unit type" combo box will
appear at the right top corner of the list. Make sure you select the unit type that matches the
firmware you wish to upload.
4. Click on "Start". The upgrade status dialog will appear.

WARNING – You will get a warning message for each unit you are downgrading to an older
version. If you choose to proceed, all subsequent problems encountered will not be covered by
the warranty.
Click on Save status button to save the upgrade status log to a file.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Firmware Upgrade

Archiver – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based on the Archiver events shown
in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Actions

Archiver – Backup
The Backup ( ) tab is where the administrator can configure the backup behavior of the selected Archiver.
NOTE – This page is enabled only if Backup is enabled for this Archiver in the Server Admin. See the section on
Backup under Server Admin – Archiver.
Select the entities to backup

Select here the cameras that should be included in the backup.
Backup options
Backup every _ Frequency of the backup.

day(s)
Backup _ day(s) Number of completed days of data to be covered by the backup. This means that if
the backup is scheduled to start at 1:00 AM, the data to be backed up are the data
up to 11:59:59 PM of the previous day. Setting the number of days to backup to a
value higher than the backup frequency creates overlapping backup sets.
Start backup at Specify here the time at which the backup should start.
Export Archive Select this option if you want to include a stand-alone version of the Archive
Player Player in your backup set. Please refer to the section on Using the stand-alone
Archive Player under Archive Player – Other Tools – Video Archive Export.
Backup to Select this option if you plan to keep the backup data on disk (it could be a CD-
folder RW).
In order to use this option, the backup folder must be specified in the Server
Admin. See the section on Backup under Server Admin – Archiver.
Select " Delete oldest backup sets when disk full" to allow the Archiver to delete
old backup sets when there is not enough disk space for the new backup. If this
option is not selected, the backup will fail when there is not enough disk space.
Backup to tape Select this option if the backup data is to be copied to tape.
In order to use this option, the tape group and the tape size must be specified in
the Server Admin and NTBackup must be installed on the same machine as the
Archiver.
When this option is selected, the following NTBackup options become available:
Verify data Select this option if you want NTBackup to verify the data on tape
after backup after the backup. It offers more security but takes more time.
Restrict data Select this option if you want to restrict the access to the
access NTBackup catalog to NT "Backup operators" and "Administrators".
NTBackup Select here the NTBackup log option.
log
Backup status...
Click on the Backup status button to display the "Backup status" dialog.
This is where you can check the last backup status and perform unscheduled backups.
Last backup
Last backup start Date and time the last backup started.
Last backup end Date and time the last backup ended.
Last backup duration Duration of last backup.
Last backup size Size of the video files contained in the backup set.
Last backup status Status of the last backup.
Next backup
Next backup date Scheduled date and time for the next backup to start. This date is calculated
as the last backup date plus the backup frequency (see Archiver – Backup
configuration tab).
Note that the first time the Archiver starts with the Backup option enabled,
the current date is used as the last backup date.
Change... Click on the Change button to reset the next backup date. The backup start
time must be changed in the Backup options section..
Note that this button will be disabled if Backup is currently disabled on the
Archiver. See the section on Backup under Server Admin – Archiver.
Status
Current status If a backup is currently in progress, it would be indicated here, along with
the time the backup started. Otherwise, you will see "Idle".
Start now... Click on this button to start an unscheduled backup now.
Note that this operation may alter the periodic backup schedule. If you do
not want to alter the periodic backup schedule, remember to reset the next
backup date after the unscheduled backup completes.
Note that this button will be disabled if Backup is currently disabled on the
Archiver. See the section on Backup under Server Admin – Archiver.
Last update The last time the backup status was refreshed is indicated on the right. The
status is always refreshed after each backup.
Click on the Refresh button to refresh the backup status.
Click on the Save button to save the content of this dialog to a text file
of your choice.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Backup

Archiver – Event Search
The Event search ( ) tab in the Archiver's Configuration pane allows the administrator to search and browse the events
associated to the selected Archiver.
1. Indicate the search time range by specifying the "From" date-time and the "To" date-time. You may also leave
the time range open ended by clearing one or both the date-time options.
2. Select the types of event you want to search for.
3. Click on the "Search" button to start the search. The results are displayed in three columns on the right. For a
description of each event type, please refer to the Event Definitions section under Welcome – System Concepts –
Event Handling.
4. Use the Save button to save the search results to a file of your choice.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiver > Event Search

Archiving Schedule
Archiving schedules are generic schedules applied to archiving. Archiving schedules are followed by all archivers
(Archivers and Auxilisary Archivers) to determine when and under which conditions the video stream issued from a given
camera should be archived. An archiving schedule is characterized by the following three elements:
Generic schedule: defines when archiving should take place

Archiving mode: defines the conditions under which the archiving should take place
Camera list: defines all cameras covered under this schedule
To view or change the settings of an archiving schedule, select the Schedule Management view in the View selection
pane (on the left). Then expand the Archiving Schedules ( ) node in the tree and select the desired archiving schedule.
The selected schedule's configuration properties will be shown in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Properties – Generic schedule, archiving mode and encoder list.
To create a new archiving schedule:

1. Select the Schedule Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Archiving Schedule".
4. Enter the name and a description (optional) for the schedule.
5. Select the suitable generic schedule and archiving mode.
6. Select all the cameras that should be covered under this schedule in the camera list.
7. Click on "Apply changes".
If there are cameras that are involved in other archiving schedules that conflict with the one you just created,
you will get the following error message. All the cameras that have a problem are listed.
To find out which are the archiving schedules that are causing the conflict, select a camera in the list and the
conflicting schedule will be displayed in the schedule list. To understand how schedule conflicts are resolved in
the system, please refer to the section on Conflicts resolution under Welcome – System Concepts – Schedule
Priorities.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiving Schedule

Archiving Schedule – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab lets you define what characterizes this archiving schedule: the generic schedule, the archiving
mode, and the video encoders to which this schedule applies.
Generic schedule
The day(s) and time(s) when archiving is applicable are defined by the generic schedule.
Archiving mode
Disabled Select this mode to temporarily disable the archiving schedule. This operation is
equivalent to temporarily removing all associated video encoders from the schedule (see
Schedule encoder list below).
When a video encoder is not covered by any active schedule, the record button in the
viewing tile of the Live Viewer appears gray with a lock on top ( ), meaning that
archiving is disabled.
WARNING – Beware that when all archiving schedules are disabled for an
encoder, no recording will take place even when an alarm is triggered. See Alarm
– Properties.
Manual Select this mode when recording is allowed only when it is explicitely requested by a user
or a programmed action, or when it is triggered by an alarm. Automatic recording will
not take place when motion is detected (see Motion detection under Video Encoder).
When manual recording is allowed, the record button in the viewing tile of the Live
Viewer appears gray ( ) when it is not recording, or red ( ) when it is recording.
Continuous Select this mode if continuous recording is desired during the periods covered by the
schedule.
When the Archiver is recording in this mode, the record button in the viewing tile of the
Live Viewer appears red with a lock on top ( ), meaning that the recording cannot be
stopped manually by the user.
On motion Select this mode when both automatic (on motion) and manual recording are allowed
/ Manual during the periods covered by the schedule.
Camera list
The camera list shows all the cameras (video encoders) covered under this schedule. You can easily add or remove
cameras from the schedule by selecting or clearing the selection in the list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Archiving Schedule > Properties

Auxiliary Archiver
The Auxiliary Archiver is a supplemental archiving service. Unlike the regular Archiver, the Auxiliary Archiver is not
bound to any particular discovery port. Therefore, it is free to archive any video stream from any camera in the system,
including the federated cameras. The main purpose of the Auxiliary Archiver is to create off-site (outside the LAN) copies
of the video archive for selected cameras.
Auxiliary Archivers cannot operate on their own. They depend on the default Archivers to communicate with the video
units. For this reason, they cannot be used as standby Archivers in the context of a failover. Please refer to Archiver
Availability under Welcome – System Concepts – Archiving Management for more insights on this topic.
You may have multiple instances of Auxiliary Archivers running on the same system, but their use must be granted by
your Omnicast license (Number of Auxiliary Archivers > 0).
To access the settings of a Auxiliary Archiver, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left).
The Auxiliary Archiver's configuration properties will be shown in five property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the
right).
Five tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the Auxiliary Archiver:

Cameras – List of cameras that should be archived and video stream selection
Archiving – Disk group, archive cleanup option and archive retention period for each
camera
Statistics – Statistical information on disk and bandwidth usage
Actions – Actions to perform following specific events
A large part of the Auxiliary Archiver configuration must be done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections
under Auxiliary Archiver in the Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Auxiliary Archiver

Auxiliary Archiver – Cameras
The Cameras ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the cameras and the video streams to archive.
Camera tree
The cameras tree shows all the cameras in the system and allows you to choose the ones you want to record.
Managed cameras
The checkmarks in the camera tree indicate the cameras that are managed by this Auxiliary Archiver. It means
that the Auxiliary Archiver is keeping a copy of the video archives for these cameras. If you clear a selection in the
tree and apply the changes, the system will display the following message.
Selecting "Yes" will permanently delete all copies of the video archives kept for this camera. Choosing "No" will
cancel the operation.
Archiving
A checkmark in the "Archiving" column means that the corresponding camera is currently being archived. The
Auxiliary Archiver follows the same archiving schedules as the regular Archivers. You can stop the redundant
archiving on a camera by clearing the "Archiving" option without loosing the existing archives.
Video stream
Most video encoders can generate more than one video stream from the same video source. Unlike regular
Archivers that always archive the "Recording" stream, the Auxiliary Archiver allows you to select the video stream to
archive. By default, the "Live" stream is selected. Click on the "Video stream" column to change the video stream to
archive. This field is non-editable if the video encoder supports only one video stream.
Related topics
Config Tool – Camera – Video Quality – Single or multiple streams?
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Auxiliary Archiver > Cameras

Auxiliary Archiver – Archiving
The Archiving ( ) tab lists all the cameras (video encoders) controlled by the selected Auxiliary Archiver and allows you
to choose individually for each, the disk group, the automatic cleanup option, and the archive retention period.
Camera list
Disk group
A disk group is a collection of one or more network drives, each with an alloted space for storing video archives.
Disk groups are created in the Server Admin. See Storage management under Server Admin – Auxiliary Archiver –
Archiving. The disk group of a camera is where the future video archives from that camera will be stored. The
purpose of having several disk groups is to increase the performance of the Archiver by allowing it to write
simultaneously on different drives.
If only one disk group has been defined for the Archiver, you will see a single list of cameras in this tab. If this
Archiver uses more than one disk group, you will see a tree structure (see above picture) where the cameras are
distributed according to their assigned disk group. Initially, all cameras are assigned to the Default Disk Group. You
can change the disk group of a camera any time by dragging the camera under the desired disk group.
Automatic cleanup
When selected , this option means that the Archiver will automatically delete the recorded video after the
specified retention period. If cleared, the video archives will only be deleted when the Archiver runs out of disk
space, starting from the oldest.
Retention period
The rentention period specifies how long the video archives should be kept for each camera when automatic
cleanup is enabled. By setting a shorter retention period for less important archives, you can free some space for
archives you wish to keep longer.
Related topics
Config Tool – Auxiliary Archiver – Statistics
Server Admin – Auxiliary Archiver – Archiving
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Auxiliary Archiver > Archiving

Auxiliary Archiver – Statistics
This Statistics ( ) tab offers statistical information on disk and bandwidth usage for the selected Auxiliary Archiver.
Disk group (optional)

The Disk group drop-down list will only appear if more than one disk group is defined for this Auxiliary Archiver.
Read the section on Archiving under Server Admin – Auxiliary Archiver. You can view the disk usage statistics one
disk group at a time or altogether.
Disk usage
This section shows the disk usage statistics for the selected disk group. If no disk group is shown, then the statistics
correspond to the whole Auxiliary Archiver.
Disk list This list shows the individual status of each disk used by this Auxiliary Archiver.
Disk This column shows the drive name. The green marker indicates the disk
currently used by the Archiver.
Used space This is the space used for storing video files on the disk.
Available This is the space still available on the disk for archiving purpose. The
space available space is based on the current free space on the disk minus
the minimum free space that the Archiver must never use. See the
section on Archiving under Server Admin – Auxiliary Archiver.
Free space Current free space on the disk.
Load This is the percentage of archiving space used up on the disk.
R/W Shows whether the Archiver has R/W access to the disk.
Average disk Average space used per day and average space used per camera per day.
usage
Estimated Number of days, hours, and minutes of recording left based on the average disk
remaining... usage and the current load.
Protected Click on the button to show the proportion of disk space occupied by protected
video video files compared to the total video archive disk usage.
statistics
The "yellow" slice represents the proportion of video files unprotected manually by
the user (see Video File Query under Archive Player – Tools Menu). When a user
decides to manually unprotect a video file, the system waits 24 hours before the
unprotection becomes effective, giving the user enough time to change his mind if
necessary. During this reprieve, the file is said to be "ending protection".
Connections
Active Number of active cameras currently under the control of this Auxiliary Archiver. The
cameras camera assignment to each disk group is shown in the Archiving tab.
Archiving Number of archiving streams currently handled by this Auxiliary Archiver.
cameras
General
Archiving This is the time bracket within which video archives exist.
span
Worst-case The worst-case bandwidth is the worst-case bandwidth used for archiving only. It is
bandwidth calculated as the sum of the maximum archiving bandwidth (kbps) allowed for each
of the encoders which are currently archiving.
Last update The last time the statistics was updated.
Click on the Refresh button to refresh the statistics.
Click on the Save button to save the content of this page to a text file of your
choice.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Auxiliary Archiver > Statistics

Auxiliary Archiver – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in the Auxiliary Archiver's Configuration pane allows the administrator to program specific system
behaviors based on the Archiver events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Auxiliary Archiver > Actions

Backup Set
A backup set is a collection of video archives copied to a backup device (disk or tape) during a single backup operation.
They are created for the long term safeguard of the video archives by the Archiver. For a full description on how to
protect your video data with backups, please read the section on Backup and Restore under Welcome – System
Concepts – Archiving Management.
Backup sets are visible from the Config Tool only when they are restored through a Restore Archiver. Their properties
cannot be modified.
To view the properties of a backup set, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left). Look
for it under the Restore Archivers ( ) in the software component tree. Expand the hierarchy if necessary. The
information regarding the selected backup set will appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Info – Content description of the backup set.
By default, the backup set's name is the Archiver's name followed by the backup date.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Backup Set

Backup Set – Info
The Info ( ) tab describes the content of the restored backup set.
Backup info
This section shows the information regarding the Backup operation.
Archiver Name of the Archiver that originally created this backup set.
Type Type of backup (to a disk folder or to tape).
Range Date and time range covered by this backup set.
Size Size of the data (video files) contained in this entire backup set. This is not necessarily the
size of the restored video files if you chose to restore only part of the backup set.
Start time Time at which the backup operation started.
Restore info
This section shows the information regarding the Restore operation.
Start time Time at which the restore operation started.
End time Time at which the restore operation ended.
Size Size of the data (video files) contained in the restored portion of the backup set. This is not
necessarily the size of the entire backup set, because the administrator can decide to
restore only a subset of the cameras included in the backup set. See Restore property sheet
under Server Admin – Restore Archiver.
Camera list List of cameras (video encoders) that you have chosen to restore.
Name Name of the restored video encoder. This name is based on the video file
folder name used at the time those files were created by the Archiver (note
that spaces are removed).
Start Start time of the restored video sequence.
Stop End time of the restored video sequence.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Backup Set > Info

Camera (Video Encoder)
A camera is any video surveillance equipment used to monitor a specific area from a particular location. In other words,
each camera constitutes to a unique video input to the system. To ease their identification, Omnicast automatically
assigns a unique logical ID to each camera, also known as the camera ID.
A camera typically produces an analog signal that must be converted into a digital format before it can be transmitted
over an IP network. The video encoder is the device that converts the signal produced by the camera from analog to
digital using a standard compression algorithm (MPEG-4, MPEG-2 or MJPEG). The video encoder is one of the many
devices found on an encoder unit.
Each video encoder can generate one or mulitple video streams using different compression schemes and formats for
different purposes (see Video Quality tab). In the case of the IP cameras, the camera and the video encoder form an
inseparable unit. Because of this close relationship between the the camera and the video encoder, the two terms are
often used interchangeably in Omnicast.
To view or change the settings of a camera, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View selection
pane (on the left). The selected camera's configuration properties will be shown in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The following lists all available configuration tabs for a camera.
Identity – Camera name, description and specific information

Video quality – Video stream selection and quality settings
Recording – Recording options and schedules
Motion detection – Motion detection settings
Attributes – Analog video format and color settings
Actions – Actions to trigger, following specific camera events
Info – Video encoder properties (Advanced mode)
Links – Video encoder connections (Advanced mode)
Time zone – Time zone and geographical location (Advanced mode)
Specific settings – Other camera settings (only applicable to certain models! Advanced
mode)
TIP – You may change the camera ID assigned by the system. This can be done either from the Identity tab of
the entity or from the Logical IDs tab of the Directory entity. Note that cameras, virtual cameras and viewer
layouts all share the same pool of camera IDs.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder)

Camera – Video Quality
The Video quality ( ) tab allows you to decide on the number of video streams the encoder should generate, the usage
of each video stream, and the format and quality of each video stream based on specific schedules.
This chapter is divided into the following sections:
Single of multiple streams?

Video quality configuration principles
Boosting recording quality on special events
Schedule for the displayed configuration
Video streaming parameters
Video streaming preview
Single or multiple streams?

Certain video encoder models can produce more than one video stream from the same video input. If it is the case,
the button found at the bottom of the tab will be enabled.
Clicking on this button displays the following dialog:

The "Video stream usage" dialog allows you to specify the "usage" of each of the available video streams (their
number depends on the model of video encoder). The standard video stream usages are:
Live (used for live viewing)

Recording (used by Archivers for recording)
Remote (used for live viewing when the bandwitdh is low)
Other 1 (other usage 1)
Other 2 (other usage 2)
Each video stream usage must be associated to a video stream but the reverse is not necessary. In the above
example, the "MJPEG" stream is ignored. The Config Tool will create a separate configuration tab for each assigned
video stream. If the same stream is assigned to all five usages, the stream selection tabs (see picture below) will not
be shown.
Click on these tabs to further configure the format and quality of each video stream. Please follow the links found
under the section Video streaming parameters for a detailed description of what you can configure.
Video quality configuration principles

If your system were more focused on live monitoring, you would set a higher quality for the "Live" stream and a
lower quality for the "Recording" stream to save on disk space. However, if your requirements were more
investigative in nature, you would choose to lower quality of the "Live" stream in favor of the "Recording" stream.
Again, if you have users running the Live Viewer on Pocket PC, configuring a "Remote" stream with a low quality
("qcif" or "cif") and a low frame rate (< 10 fps) would be a good idea.
Sometimes, high quality recording is necessary only when special events occur. If this fits your situation, then you
should set the normal recording quality relatively low (5-10 fps) and boost it only when it is necessary. See Boosting
the recording quality on special events.
If bandwidth economy is an important concern for you, then you should consider using the same video stream for
all five video stream usages. This choice can be made individually for each encoder. When you are limited to one
video stream per camera, you can still optimize your disk usage by setting the quality high only during specific days
and time in a week (see next section) and by lowering the frame rate only for recording (look for "Recording frame
rate" in the specific Video streaming parameter descriptions).
Boosting recording quality on special events

It is possible to give the video quality a temporary boost when the recording is started either manually by the user
or triggered by an event. See the definitions below.
Manual recording When the user clicks on the record button in the Live Viewer.
When the user inserts a bookmark.
Event recording When start recording action is executed by a macro or triggered by an event.
When recording is started by an alarm.
When recording is triggered by motion.
The quality boost can be configured individually for these two categories of events. If both sets of events are
triggered, the "event recording" settings will have precedence over the "manual recording" settings. The duration of
the quality boost will depend on the type of event and the durations configured in the Recording tab of the
camera.
To configure the quality boost, click on the button. The following dialog will appear.
NOTE – The quality boost applies to the video stream selected for "Recording" (see Video
stream usage). Therefore, only the image quality can be changed (i.e. image resolution and
frame rate) , not the compression type (i.e. MPEG-4, MPEG-2, or MJPEG). If later the
compression type of the recording stream is changed, the quality boost configurations will be
lost.
The quality boost can be configured to be applied automatically or on demand. To have the quality boost applied
automatically, select the option " Always override video quality on...". You may select this option separately for
"manual recording" and "event recording".
To trigger a quality boost for a specific instance, execute one of the following two actions:
Override with manual recording quality

Override with event recording quality
When the quality boost is requested explicitly, the selected quality settings have precedence over any other settings
currently in effect. In this case, the quality boost can only be ended by the action:
Recording quality as standard configuration
For a description of the various quality settings, please read the section on Video streaming parameters below.

Multiple configurations can be defined for each video stream based on different days and times. Each configuration
is associated to a generic schedule which determines when the configuration is in effect. Every video stream has at
least one default configuration based on the default schedule, "Always". The default configuration may be modified
but not deleted.
Schedule overview
To visualize the combined effect of all video quality configurations for a given day, click on the schedule overview
The top section lists all video quality configurations. Each configuration is identified by its schedule name, the
selected video data format, and a brief quality setting description. The bottom section shows the different quality
settings for a given date. When two schedules of different types (i.e. using different recurrence patterns) overlap,
priority is evaluated in the following order: (1) Specific, (2) Yearly, (3) Monthly, (4) Weekly, (5) Daily, (6) Always.
Please read the section on Conflict resolution under Welcome – System Concepts – Schedule Priorities, for more
details.
To add a new configuration:
1. Click on the create configuration button. The "Add configuration" dialog will appear.
2. Select the appropriate schedule. If none exists, you must create the desired coverage first. To learn how, please
refer to Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Generic Schedule.
3. Select the option "Copy the displayed configuration" if you wish to use the current configuration as a starting
point for the new one.
4. Adjust the settings of the new configuration and click on "Apply changes" when you finish.
The meaning of each of the settings are described below.
Video streaming parameters

Video data format
The video data format drop-down list lets you select the image resolution (qcif, cif, 2cif, 4cif, etc.) for the selected
video stream (see Single or multiple streams?). The available choices may vary greatly depending on the selected
stream and the model of your video encoder. For a description of the standard cif data formats, please refer to the
Video data formats table found in the section on Camera – Info.
NOTE – On certain models of video units supporting a high number of video feeds (4 to 12),
some high resolution formats (2cif or 4cif) may be disabled when you enable all the video
streams because the unit will not be able to handle them all at those resolutions.
Quality
The quality of the video depends on a combination of settings. The Config Tool proposes a list of predefined
quality configurations for you to choose from. In order to adjust the settings individually, you must select "Custom"
from the Quality drop-down list. The individual settings vary greatly, depending on the model of your encoder and
the compression scheme (MPEG-4, MPEG-2, MJPEG) used. Please click on the following links to read about the
individual settings available for each type of video encoder.
ACTi (MPEG-4)
AXIS (MJPEG)
AXIS (MPEG-4)
Sony (MJPEG)
Sony (MPEG-4)
Bosch (MPEG-2)
Bosch (MPEG-4)
Verint (MPEG-4)
Vivotek (MPEG-4)
Video streaming preview

To preview the effects of a particular camera setting, click on the button or double-click on the
camera in the View selection pane on the left. The following window will appear.
The field "Video stream" indicates which stream is currently being displayed. Select " Fit video to window size" to
allow the video image to follow the window size. If this box is cleared, the image will stay fixed at 1:1 ratio.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality

Camera – Video Quality – AXIS (MJPEG)
Video Quality Settings

You must select "Custom" in the Quality drop-down list in order to adjust the individual settings.
Frame rate This slider sets the number of frames per second (fps). A high frame rate (10 fps or
more) produces fluid video and is essential for accurate motion detection. However,
increasing the frame rate also sends more information over the network and
therefore, requires more bandwidth.
Image quality This slider affects the image quality (100%=best). A higher imager quality also
requires more bandwidth, which sets it against the frame rate. When the bandwidth is
limited, we need to make the following compromises:
1. To retain very good image quality, it is important to restrict the number of images
per second (low frame rate).
2. To transmit more images per second (high frame rate), lowering the image quality
is necessary.
The encoder will always try to follow both quality settings the best it can. However,
when the available bandwidth does not permit it, the encoder will reduce the frame
rate in favor of the image quality.
Recording The purpose of the recording frame rate is to save storage space by recording the
frame rate video at a frame rate lower than the one used for viewing (set by "Frame rate"). This
parameter only reduces the storage usage, not the bandwidth usage.
NOTE – When the recording is done at a rate lower than one frame every 2
seconds, you will not be able to play back the video at normal speed. When
two consecutive frames are separated by more than 2 seconds during
playback, the Archiver will immediately jump to the next frame without
pausing between the two frames, creating an accelerated playback.
For additional information on the video stream settings, please read the manufacturer's documentation.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > AXIS (MJPEG)

Camera – Video Quality – AXIS (MPEG-4)

Bit rate Adjusting the maximum bit rate and setting it to variable or constant is a good way of
controlling the bandwidth used by the MPEG-4 video stream.
Leaving the Maximum bit rate as unlimited will provide consistently good image
quality, but at the expense of increased bandwith usage whenever there is more
activity in the image.
NOTE – For AXIS units, the maximum bit rate is not controlled at the encoder
level but at the unit level. See Unit – Specific settings tab.
Limiting the bit rate to a defined value will prevent excessive bandwidth usage, but
images will be lost when the limit is exceeded.
Note that a maximum bit rate can be used for both variable and constant bit rates.
The bit rate type can be set as Variable Bit Rate (VBR) or Constant Bit Rate (CBR). VBR
will adjust the bit rate according to the images' complexity, and thus uses a lot of
bandwidth for a lot of activity in the image and less when the monitored area is quiet.
Using CBR allows you to set a fixed Target bit rate that will consume a predictable
amount of bandwidth, and which will not change whatever happens in the image.
Priority – As the bit rate would usually need to increase for increased image activity,
but in this case cannot, the frame rate and image quality will be affected negatively.
To go some of the way towards compensating for this, it is possible to prioritize either
the frame rate or the image quality whenever the bit rate would normally need to be
increased. Not setting a priority means the frame rate and image quality will be
affected approximately equally.
is necessary.
Key frame A key frame is a frame that contains a complete image by itself as opposed to a
interval usual frame that only holds information that changed compared to the previous
frame. Frequent key frames require a higher bandwidth. The gain is only felt during
the playback. More key frames will enable the user to have a better control during
backward search. Please read the section on Controlling the playback sequence under
Archive Player – Playback Pane – Playback Controls.
Profile and The MPEG-4 Profile and level to use. The profile determines the tools available when
level generating the stream (e.g., interlace, B frames), and the level limits the resource
usage (e.g. max bit rate).
Video object The Video Object Type (VOT) to use for the MPEG-4 stream. The available choices are
type governed by the choice of Profile and Level.
Setting the recording frame rate to anything else than "All frames" locks the "Key
frame interval".
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > AXIS (MPEG-4)

Camera – Video Quality – Sony (MJPEG)

is necessary.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > Sony (MJPEG)

Camera – Video Quality – Sony (MPEG-4)

Bit rate This slider sets the maximum bandwidth (kbps) allowed for the encoder. A large
bandwidth enables more information to be transmitted over a network. A small
bandwidth limits the amount of data transmitted.
frame interval".
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > Sony (MPEG-4)

Camera – Video Quality – Bosch (MPEG-2)

Bit rate mode The user has the option to select if the bit rate should be variable or constant. When
selecting "Constant", there will be a constant video stream however the quality will
vary from the set bit rate. When selecting "Variable", the quality will remain constant
however the transmission rate can be above or below the set bit rate.
GOP structure Stands for "Group Of Picture" stucture. It is possible to set up to four types of GOP
structures.
I stands for Intra – frame structure. Meaning only Intra (key frames) will be sent. This is
primarily used when using an external multiplexer.
IP stands for Intra and Predicted – frame structure. This setting will result in the lowest
possible video delay.
IPB stands for Intra and Predicted and Bidirectional – frame structure. This setting
enable the user to have a higher quality and a higher delay.
IPBB stands for Intra and Predicted and Bidirectional and Bidirectional – frame
structure. This setting enables the highest quality and a highest delay.
GOP length Stands for "Group Of Picture" length. With this value it is possible to change the
distance (number of frames) between the Intra-Frames in between the MPEG-2 video
stream.
Streaming Select between VES (video elementary stream), which sends only video information, or
type PRG (program stream), which sends both video and audio information.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > Bosch (MPEG-2)

Camera – Video Quality – Bosch (MPEG-4)

Image quality The image quality can be adjusted automatically by the encoder (default). When "
Automatic setting" is selected, the slider control is hidden. To set the image quality
manually, you have to select "Custom" in the Quality drop-down list. A higher image
quality requires more bandwidth, which sets it against the frame rate. When the
bandwidth is limited, we need to make the following compromises:
is necessary.
frame interval".
Input filter The input filter mode drop-down list allows the application of a noise filter to the
mode video signal before it is encoded. It has 4 settings, None / Low / Medium / High. In
removing "noise" from the video signal the filter also reduces the sharpness of the
image. If the video signal is relatively clean, a setting of "None" should be used to
avoid losing any crispness of the video image. For video images with too much
"noise", applying the filter can help clean up the image. Keep in mind however, that
the higher the filter level, the more blurry the video image may become.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > Bosch (MPEG-4)

Camera – Video Quality – Verint (MPEG-4)

bandwidth enables more information to be transferred over a network. A small
Image quality This slider affects the image quality (10=best). A higher imager quality also requires
more bandwidth, which sets it against the frame rate. When the bandwidth is limited,
we need to make the following compromises:
is necessary.
frame interval".
Input filter The input filter mode drop-down list allows the application of a noise filter to the
mode video signal before it is encoded. It has 4 settings, None / Low / Medium / High. In
removing "noise" from the video signal the filter also reduces the sharpness of the
image. If the video signal is relatively clean, a setting of "None" should be used to
avoid losing any crispness of the video image. For video images with too much
"noise", applying the filter can help clean up the image. Keep in mind however, that
the higher the filter level, the more blurry the video image may become.
Select " Bit rate control" to let the encoder automatically lower the bit rate when
one of the decoders is reporting transmission errors (dropped packets). This usually
happens when there is a lot of motion on the camera. The encoder will drop the bit
rate as low as necessary to let all decoders receive an error free transmission. When
the motion subsides, the encoder will gradually pick up the bit rate until it reaches the
configured maximum limit.
The tradeoff between low bit rate and transmission errors is that with a low bit rate,
the image will stay crisp but the video may appear jerky, while with transmission
errors, the image will contain noises, but the video will stay fluid.
NOTE – When the encoder lowers its bit rate, it affects all decoders connected
to it, including the software decoder used for archiving. On the other hand, if
the bit rate is maintained the same when there is a lot of variations in the
video, only decoders having poor connections will be affected.
Compression Select between SM4, Verint's proprietary version of MPEG-4 compression, or ISO, the
mode standard MPEG-4 compression.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Video Quality > Verint (MPEG-4)

Camera – Recording
The Recording ( ) tab is where you configure all the recording options for the camera.
Record Audio
Audio can be recorded with video if a microphone is attached to this camera and this box is selected. This check
box is disabled if your license does not support audio.
Redundant archiving
Select this option if redundant archiving for this encoder is desired. This option is enabled only if your license
supports redundant archiving.
NOTE – This option only affects the redundant archiving performed by regular Archivers. It does
not concern the off-site archives created by the Auxiliary Archivers. To learn more about
redundant archiving, please read the section on Protection against data loss under Welcome –
System Concepts – Archiving Management – Archiver Availability.
Record metadata overlays

Metadata are additional data that enriches the video. They are generated by plugins, if such plugins are installed on
your system, and if the plugins are properly associated to this camera.
The metadata could be any kind of information. All depend on the nature of the associated plugin. For example, if
we have a camera monitoring the gate to a parking, a plugin that performs license plate recognition (see AutoVu
plugin in Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help) can be used to record the license plate number of every car passing
through the gate. The license plate number in this case constitutes the metadata.
Generally, metadata are stored by the Metadata Engine that controls the plugins. In some cases, part of the
metadata must be stored by the Archiver. This is when the metadata constitute graphic information and must be
displayed as overlays (images superimposed over the video).
Let's consider the example of license plate

recognition plugin. The metadata overlays
could be a colored bounding box
encircling the car's license plate on the
video.
Selecting " Record metadata" will ensure

that the Archiver will record all metadata
overlays along with the video. This option
has nothing to do with the recording of
the metadata performed by the Metadata
Engine.
For additional information on metadata and plugins, please read the sections on Metadata Engine and ME plugins.
Time to record before an event

Specify here the amount of time (in seconds) to be added to the recording before an event. This value represents
the length of the recording buffer that the Archiver keeps in memory. When recording is started by a user or
triggered by an event, the content of this buffer will also be saved, thus, guaranteeing that whatever happened a
few seconds before the event will also be captured on video.
Time to record after a motion event

Specify here the amount of time (in seconds) to keep on recording when the recording was started automatically
through motion detection.
Default manual recording length

Specify here the default recording time (in minutes) when recording is started manually by a user. The recording
may be stopped earlier by the user. Note that this value is also used in the Start recording action, when the default
recording length is selected.
Schedule List
The lower part of this tab lists all the archiving schedules available in the system. It is possible to use one or more
schedules for each camera by selecting the desired schedules. To stop using a schedule with a camera, clear its
corresponding box.
NOTE – For units equipped with its own storage, you may clear all archiving schedules to save
disk space on the Archiver. All archiving settings, such as schedules and archive retention period
must be configured on the unit itself. Because of the great variety of hardware models, it cannot
be done from the Config Tool. Bookmarks and motion detection continue to be supported
when the archiving is not handled by the Archiver. However, for the motion detection to work,
you must clear the option " Respect archiving schedules" in the Motion detection ( ) tab of
the encoder.
Schedule overview
To visualize the combined effect of all selected archiving schedules for a given day, click on the schedule overview
The top section lists all generic schedules currently applied to video archiving. The bottom section shows the
different schedules in use for a given date. When two schedules of different types (i.e. using different recurrence
patterns) overlap, priority is evaluated in the following order: (1) Specific, (2) Yearly, (3) Monthly, (4) Weekly, (5)
Daily, (6) Always. Please read the section on Conflict resolution under Welcome – System Concepts – Schedule
Priorities, for more details.
NOTE – Two schedules of the same type may not overlap.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Recording

Camera – Motion Detection
Use the Motion detection ( ) tab to enable or disable motion detection for the selected video encoder (camera).
General concepts
Motion detection can be used to automatically trigger recording and to generate events (by default "Motion on"
and "Motion off") in the system.
The following topics are covered:
Motion detection configuration

Motion detection mode
Motion detection capabilities
What constitutes positive motion detection?
Testing motion detection (Show video)
Testing motion detection through Web access
Motion related events
Automatic recording on motion
Motion detection configuration
Multiple motion detection configurations can be defined for a given camera, based on different days and times
of the week. Each configuration is associated to a schedule which determines when the configuration is applicable.
When two configurations have overlapping coverages, the one that applies is determined by the schedule priority
rules (see Schedule Priority under Welcome – System Concepts).
Every video encoder has at least one default motion detection configuration based on the default coverage,
"Always". The default configuration can be modified but cannot be deleted. To learn how to add new
configurations, please read the section "Adding new configurations" below.
Respect archiving schedules – Select this option if you want motion detection to be performed only when the
camera is covered by an archiving schedule. Clear this selection and the motion events will be generated even when
all archiving schedules are disabled. It is recommended to clear this option when the archiving is handled by the
unit itself. See also the note under Schedule list in the section on Camera – Recording.
Motion detection modes
For each configuration, the motion detection can operate in one of the following modes:
Disabled
Full screen – performed by the Archiver
Full screen (Unit) – performed by the unit
Detection zone – performed by the Archiver
Detection zone (Unit) – performed by the unit
Motion detection can operate either on the entire image (full screen) or within specific areas marked for motion
detection, called detection zones. The detection can either be performed by the Archiver (software) or by the Unit
(hardware).
When you choose to let the unit perform the motion detection, an extra option select-box will appear.
Selecting " Transmit only when recording" can help you save on network bandwidth and Archiver processing
time. Since the unit is detecting the motion itself, it does not need to send a continuous video stream to the
Archiver to be analyzed. Video streaming over the network will be done only when recording is required. The
disadvantage of this approach is that there will be no pre-event recording time (see Recording tab). The recording
will start a fraction of a second after motion is detected, not before. If the pre-event recording is important, then do
not select this option.
Motion detection capabilities
Clicking on the "Capabilities..." button displays the following dialog showing the motion detection capabilities of
the encoder unit.
Motion detection Full screen motion detection can be performed by the Archiver.
Detection zone(s) Motion detection by detection zone(s) can be performed by the Archiver.
Depending on the model of the unit, up to six detection zones may be
defined within a given configuration.
Motion detection in the Full screen motion detection can be performed by the unit.
unit
Detection zone(s) in the Motion detection can be confined to a specific zone when it is performed
unit by the unit.
Multiple detection zones Multiple detection zones can be defined for the motion detection
in the unit performed by the unit.
Irregular shape detection Motion detection zone can take any shape you want. If not supported,
zone you may only draw rectangular shapes.
Test motion through Web Motion detection can only be tested from a Web page provided by the
access unit manufacturer. Please read the important notes regarding Web access.
Support motion search in Detailed motion search on specific areas can be performed with the
Archive Player Archive Player on archived video.
What constitutes positive motion detection?
Four parameters are considered by Omnicast to make a positive motion detection. They are:
Sensitivity The sensitivity controls how much difference must be detected in a block between
two consecutive frames before it is highlighted as a motion block. With the sensibility
set to the maximum (100%), the slightest variation in an image block will be detected
as motion. Lowering the sensitivity will reduce the number of motion blocks detected
in the video. It is recommended to set the sensitivity lower than 100% only if your
equipment is prone to generate noise. Also note that a plain image, such as a view on
a wall, is more prone to generate noise than an image containing a lot of details.
Consecutive A frame whose number of motion blocks reaches the motion on threshold is called a
frames hit hit. The "consecutive frames hit" (when set higher than 1) can help avoid making
false-positive motion detection like video noise in a single frame. It ensures that a
positive motion detection will not be reported because a hit has been observed in a
single frame, but rather that it has been observed over a specified number of
consecutive frames. When enough consecutive hits have been observed, the first hit
in the series is marked as the beginning of motion.
Motion on This parameter indicates the minimum number of motion blocks that must be
threshold detected before the motion is significant enough to be reported. Together with the
consecutive frames hit parameter, a positive detection of motion is made.
Motion off In the same way the "motion on threshold" detects the beginning of motion, the
threshold "motion off threshold" detects the end of motion. Motion is ended when the
number of motion blocks has dropped below the "motion off threshold" for at least 5
seconds.
WARNING – Light reflections (e.g. in glass facades), switching on or off of floodlights or light
level changes caused by cloud movement in bright daylight can cause undesirable responses
from the motion detection algorithm and thereby generate false alarms. Carry out a number of
tests for different day and night time conditions in order to ensure correct interpretation of
the video images. For surveillance of indoor areas, ensure a constant lighting of the areas
during the day and at night. Uniform surfaces without contrast can trigger false alarms even
with uniform lighting.
Testing motion detection (Show video)
To view the effect of the motion detection settings, click on the "Show video" button. The following window will
appear.
For the purpose of motion detection, the video image is divided into a large number of 16x16 pixels blocks (1,320
for NTSC encoding standard and 1,584 for PAL). To detect motion, consecutive video frames are compared block
by block. The ones that are different are highlighted in green. The green squares, called motion blocks, show areas
in the video image where motion is being detected.
Whenever positive motion detections are made, the LED at the bottom of the window will turn red and the motion
blocks are also displayed in red.
Testing motion through Web access
For units that require Web access to test the motion detection (see Motion detection capabilities), an extra "Web
access..." button will be provided in the "Motion detection" window.
Click on that button to open a separate browser window showing a configuration Web page provided by the
manufacturer. From that Web page, you should find tools to help you test the motion. Since these Web pages are
manufacturer dependant, they will not be described here.
WARNING – The Web access should only be used to test the motion detection, not to configure
it. To configure the motion detection, always make the changes using the "Motion detection"
window (see Edit mode). Any change made directly through the Web will not be remembered
when Omnicast switches configurations based on the schedule.
Motion related events
By default, the system will generate the "Motion on" event at the beginning of motion and the "Motion off" event
at the end of motion. However, the user can silence these events by selecting "No event" in the appropriate drop-
down list or replace the default events with a custom event.
Automatic recording on motion
Selecting " Trigger recording upon motion" will cause the recording to start when the beginning of motion is
detected. See "What constitutes positive motion detection?".
Recording start Recording starts n seconds ("Time to record before an event") before the beginning
of motion (first hit in the series of hits required by the "consecutive frames hit"
parameter), if the motion detection is performed by the Archiver, or immediately after
if the motion detection is performed by the unit.
Recording end Recording stops automatically m seconds ("Time to record after a motion event")
after the motion has officially ended, i.e. 5 seconds after the number of motion blocks
has dropped below the "Motion off threshold" and stayed below.
The time to record before and after an event are specified in the Recording tab of the video encoder.
Return to top
Adding new configurations

1. Click on the create configuration button. The "Add configuration" dialog will appear.
2. Select the appropriate schedule. If none exists, you must create the desired schedule first. To learn how, please
refer to Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Generic Schedule.
3. Select the option "Copy the displayed configuration" if you wish to use the current configuration as a starting
point for the new one.
4. Define the characteristics of the new configuration based on the criteria described under "General concepts".
5. To learn how to define detection zones, read the next section.
6. Click on "Apply changes" to save your configuration.
Return to top
Detection zone
Using motion detection zones allows the motion detection to be confined to specific areas of the video image
marked for motion detection. Motion outside the marked areas are ignored. The advantage of using this method is
that it enables the system to detect motions only where it matters. For example, movement at the door versus
movement created by people walking inside a room. Up to six motion detection zones can be defined within each
configuration.
To switch to motion detection by zones, select "Detection zone" or "Detection zone (Unit)" in the Motion detection
drop-down list. The extra controls beside the "Current detection zone" separator will be added to the configuration
page (see below).
The settings shown above the "Current detection zone" separator are common settings for all detection zones
within the current configuration. The settings below the separator are settings specific to each detection zone.
Create a new detection zone. This button is disabled if you have already created six
detection zones.
Remove the current detection zone.
Rename the current detection zone.
In the above illustration, the current detection zone is called "At the door". The "Motion on" event has been
replaced by the custom event "Door open" and the "Motion off" event has been silenced.
TIP – The advantage of having multiple detection zones is that it allows you to generate
different events depending on where the motion is detected. Based on these events, specific
actions may be programmed. See Actions tab under Video Encoder.
WARNING – When switching the motion detection mode from "Detection zone" to "Detection
zone (Unit)", all previously defined zones may be lost, except the first one, if the unit cannot
support as many zones as the Archiver.
Click on the "Show video" button to display the motion detection window (see below).
View all motion – This mode

allows you to test the motion
detection as though in "Full
screen" mode. See Show video.
Edit current zone – This mode
allows you to edit the
detection blocks for the
current zone. See Edit mode.
Test recording – This mode
shows all the detection zones
at the same time and shows
the number of motion blocks
detected in each zone.
Recording is triggered when all
the motion blocks are shown
in red.
Test current zone – This mode
shows only the current zone
(see opposite image). The
detection zone is highlighted
in blue. Notice that the motion
blocks only appear within the
defined zone.
The LED beside the zone name turns red when the "motion on threshold" is met.
The detection zone can be defined to cover a door, a window, an entrance, a hallway, etc. As an example, in the
above illustration, only motions detected near the door are considered. Therefore, motion created by people
walking inside the office hallway will be ignored by this detection zone. The tools for editing the motion detection
zone are explained below.
Edit mode
To enter the edit mode, click on the "Edit current zone" button. Use the following edit buttons to draw the
desired detection zone.
Use the Pen tool to draw single motion detection blocks.

Use the Eraser tool to erase the motion detection blocks that are not needed.
Use the Rectangle tool to draw a group of motion detection blocks.
Use the Fill tool to fill the whole image with motion detection blocks.
Use the Clear tool to erase all the motion detection blocks in the image.
Use the Invert tool to interchange the area with motion detection blocks with the area without
motion detection blocks.
Use this button to turn on the Learning mode. The learning mode lets the computer analyze what
is typical motion in the image. When typical motion occurs, the motion detection blocks in the
affected areas will be turned off, so it can be ignored.
The current detection zone is

shown by green blocks on the
video image.
The detection blocks making up
the motion detection zone may or
may not be contiguous. It all
depends on whether your unit
supports "irregular shapes" or not.
If other detection zones are
defined for the current
configuration, they will be shown
in blue. In the opposite picture, a
separate zone is defined to detect
movements in the hallway.
Individual zones are allowed to
overlap each other.
Once the motion detection zone is set, you may test it by clicking on the "Test current zone" button.
Use the "Load default" button to use the default settings (in percentage) for the detection zone you just defined.
When multiple motion detection zones are being used, any zone that meets the "Consecutive frames hit" can
trigger the recording. When showing the video in "Test recording" mode, the motion blocks are shown in red if
a positive motion detection is made by any one of the detection zones.
Return to top
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Motion Detection

Camera – Attributes
Selecting the Attributes ( ) tab of a camera allows changes to be made to the video output of this encoder.
Analog format
This drop-down list allows the user to choose between NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) or PAL
(Phase Alternating Line) analog format for the video signal.
NOTE – Changing this setting might require the unit to reboot. If necessary, the unit will reboot
by itself within the next minute and will be temporarily unavailable (shown as inactive). You can
force the unit to reboot immediately by going to the Network tab of the corresponding unit and
clicking on the "Reboot" button.

It is possible to set different video attributes based on different days and times. This is achieved by creating
different configurations based on different generic schedules. Clicking on the drop down button lets you select
one of the existing configurations.
To create a new configuration, click on . The following dialog will appear:
Select the desired schedule from the list of available schedules and click OK. If you wish to start with the current
configuration, select the " Copy" option. When you finished adjusting the encoding properties, click on "Apply
changes".
The video attributes controls are described below:
Brightness Adjusts the brightness of the encoded video stream. A positive value
makes the image brighter.
Contrast Adjusts the contrast of the encoded video stream.
Hue Adjusts the colors of the encoded video stream. A positive value will
increase the warm colors (red). A negative value will increase the cold
colors (blue).
Saturation Adjusts the strength of the colors. You can remove all colors by setting it
to -128.
Resets all attributes to zero.
Displays the live video window to test your settings. Please turn to Video
Quality settings for an example of live preview window.
Schedule overview
To visualize the changes in video attributes settings for a given day, click on the schedule overview button. The
following dialog will appear.
The top section lists all video attribute configurations. Each configuration is identified by its schedule name and the
selected video attributes. The bottom section shows the different attribute settings for a given date. When two
schedules of different types (i.e. using different recurrence patterns) overlap, priority is evaluated in the following
order: (1) Specific, (2) Yearly, (3) Monthly, (4) Weekly, (5) Daily, (6) Always. Please read the section on Conflict
resolution under Welcome – System Concepts – Schedule Priorities, for more details.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Attributes

Camera – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in a video encoder's Configuration pane allows the administrator to program specific system
behaviors based on the camera events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Actions

Camera – Info
The Info ( ) tab of a video encoder displays the video encoding properties of the selected encoder unit.
Board type
Identifies the type of hardware found in the video encoder.
Video input number

Identifies the input number for units having more than one input.
Format
Displays the video standard used by the camera (NTSC or PAL). The video standard, along with the video data
format, define the resolution of the image.
Video data formats

Lists all video streams supported by the video encoder and the available compression types (MPEG-4, MPEG-2,
MJPEG) and resolutions for each. This list may vary depending on the model of the encoder.
The following table lists all available video data formats and their corresponding resolutions. Not all data formats
are supported by all models.
FORMAT qcif cif 2cif 2cif (480) 2/3D1 VGA 2cif H 4cif
NTSC 176 x 128 352 x 240 352 x 384 352 x 480 480 x 480 640 x 480 704 x 240 704 x 480
PAL 176 x 144 352 x 288 352 x 448 352 x 576 480 x 576 640 x 576 704 x 288 704 x 576
Viewing video decoders

This field displays the names of all video decoders that are currently viewing the selected camera.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Info

Camera – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the video encoder.

UDP port Port number used when the connection type is unicast UDP. If the encoder
supports multiple video streams, this parameter is different for each stream.
Client and server Choose here the connection type that should be used between the client and the
server for this video encoder.
Archiver for this video encoder.
Multicast address (adjustable)

The multicast address and port number are assigned automatically by the system when the unit is discovered.
Each video encoder is assigned a different multicast address with a fixed port number. If the encoder is capable of
generating multiple video streams, then a multicast addresses should be assigned to each stream. This is the most
efficient configuration.
Normally, you do not need to be concerned with the multicast addresses. However, if you are short of multicast
addresses (certain switches are limited to 128), you can solve the problem by using the same multicast address on
multiple encoders and by assigning a different port number to each. Note that this solution is less efficient than
using a different address for each encoder because it will cause more traffic than it is necessary on the network.
NOTE – All multicast addresses must be between the range 224.0.1.0 and 239.255.255.255. For
these changes to be effective, you must reboot the unit. To do so, go to the Network tab of the
corresponding unit and click on the "Reboot" button.
Multiple streams
If this encoder generates more than one video stream, the connection types and the multicast address must be
configured separately. See example below.
For more information on multiple stream encoders, please read the section "Single or multiple streams?" under
Camera – Video Quality.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Network

Camera – Links
The Links ( ) tab allows the administrator to attach any of the following devices to the selected camera:
Speaker (audio decoder)

Microphone (audio encoder)
PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) motor
Digital input
Output relay
Serial port
Metadata Engine plugin (read only)
To create a new link:

1. In the View selection pane (on the left), select the camera you want to connect.
2. Select the Links tab in the Configuration pane (on the right)
3. To attach a speaker ( ), a microphone ( ) or a PTZ motor ( ) to the camera, click on the corresponding drop
down list and select the appropriate device.
NOTE – It is not necessary for the attached devices to belong to the same unit. However, for
audio recording to work, you have to make sure that the microphone belongs to a unit that is
controlled by the same Archiver through the same Archiver extension as the unit that the
camera belongs to. Audio recording is an option that you must enable by selecting " Record
audio" from the Camera – Recording tab.
4. To attach an I/O pin ( , ) or serial port ( ) to the camera, select the ones that apply in the device tree.
5. Unlike the audio devices, more than one ME plugin ( ) can be linked to a camera.
The "Attached metadata" list shows the ME plugins that are currently associated to the camera.
New camera-plugin links must be created from the ME Plugin – Links tab.
Please refer to Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help for details.
6. All links are applied instantly.
To remove an existing link:

1. To disconnect an audio or PTZ connection, select " None".
2. To disconnect an I/O pin, clear its selection in the device tree.
3. To dissociate a ME plugin, you must remove the camera from the Links tab of the associated plugin.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Links

Camera – Time Zone
The Time zone ( ) tab allows you to define the time zone and the geographical location of the camera.
Time Zone
This section allows the video recording to be associated to a specific time zone. Note that this section would be
disabled if the "Time zones" option is not supported by your Omnicast license.
Current time zone
This field displays the current time zone attributed to this video encoder.
This field is disabled if " Same time zone as application" is selected. Selecting this option lets the camera follow
the time zone of the Archiver application, which is the time zone of the machine where it is running.
Current local time
Shows the current local time for this encoder as determined by the above settings.
Geographical Location
The geographical location of the camera is necessary for daytime and nighttime calculations. The Archiver will use
the specified location and the time of year to calculate the time the sun rises and sets. See Coverage – Properties –
Time options – Daytime and Nighttime.
Predefined location
Use the predefined location seletors to select the country and the city where the video encoder is located.
Custom location
If you cannot find the desired city, you can enter the nearest major city or use the custom location option to enter
the exact coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the location.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Time Zone

Camera – Specific Settings
The Specific settings ( ) tab is only available for certain models of camera.
Other settings
The settings found in this tab may vary depending on the model.
Image rotation
Use this parameter to correct the orientation of the image when the camera is mounted upside down or at a 90
degree angle. The rotation options may vary depending on the model of the camera.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera (Video Encoder) > Specific Settings

Camera Group
A camera group is a logical grouping of related cameras (video encoders) used to simplify alarm definitions. Typically,
cameras monitoring the same area from different angles (room, lobby, etc.) are put together in the same camera group.
Camera groups are only referenced in the Cameras tab of the alarms configuration.
To access the definition of a camera group, select it ( ) from the Alarm Management view in the View selection pane
(on the left). All camera groups are grouped together under the camera groups node. The information regarding the
selected camera group will appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Cameras – List of cameras belonging to the group.
To create a ew camera group:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Camera Group ". A new camera group ( ) will be created.
4. Click on the Cameras tab to define the constituents of the camera group.
5. Select all cameras that apply and click on "Apply".
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Group

Camera Group – Cameras
The Cameras ( ) tab defines the cameras that belong to the camera group.
To add a camera to the list:

1. Click on the Add camera button at the bottom of the tab. The following dialog will appear.
2. Select all the cameras that should belong to the group and click OK.
3. Use the up and down buttons to change the order of the cameras in the list. When a camera group is used
to display alarms, the order of appearance in the list will determine which camera will be displayed first.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Group > Cameras

Camera Sequence
A camera sequence is a list of cameras controlled by the Virtual Matrix, where each camera is given a preset amount of
time to play, following a cycling program. The purpose of having a camera sequence is so that multiple cameras can be
displayed on a single analog monitor or a single viewing tile within the Live Viewer application.
Camera sequences must be executed by Virtual Matrices. In order to use camera sequences in your system, Virtual
Matrices must be allowed by your Omnicast license (Number of Virtual Matrices greater than zero).
To modify the settings of a camera sequence, select it ( ) from either the Logical view, the Physical view or the Virtual
Matrix Management view in the View selection pane (on the left). The configuration of the selected camera sequence will
appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The camera sequence's Configuration pane contains the following tabs:

Cameras – Defines the composition of the camera sequence
Schedules – Scheduling information for automatic execution
Network – Allows you to change the multicast address and port number (Advanced
mode)
Standby Virtual Matrices – Configure the standy Virtual Matrices (Advanced mode)
To create a new camera sequence:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Camera Sequence". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be controlling the camera sequence. If more than one Virtual Matrix are
available in your system, the best choice would be the one that is physically nearer to the Archiver that controls the
cameras that will appear in the sequence. This strategy would minimize the network traffic.
5. Click on OK to create the new camera sequence. The new camera sequence will appear under the Camera
Sequences ( ) node.
6. A blank page will open on the Cameras tab on the right hand side of the screen.
7. Add the cameras to the camera sequence following the instructions found in section regarding the Cameras tab.
NOTE – Each camera sequence requires 3 MB of virtual memory on the machine that runs the
Virtual Matrix that controls the camera sequence.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Sequence

Camera Sequence – Cameras
The Cameras ( ) tab defines the composition of the camera sequence and allows you to test it.
Tab description
Sequence Use these buttons to test the camera sequence while viewing it in the Live video
controls window.
Pause the sequence. When paused, this button changes to .

Resume sequence. When resumed, this button changes to .
Move to previous camera. Only available when the sequence is paused.
Move to next camera. Only available when the sequence is paused.
Live video Click on this button to display the Live video window shown below.
Step list The camera sequence is defined as a sequence of steps that the Virtual Matrix executes
repetitively. Each step has the following characteristics:
Camera Camera name

Dwell (sec) Dwell time in seconds
PTZ command Optional PTZ command (Go to Preset # or Run Pattern #)
Auxiliary Optional auxiliary switch # to turn ON or OFF
Use the up and down buttons to move a selected step up or down the list.
Use these buttons to Add, Remove or Edit a step.
To add a step to the camera sequence :

1. Click on the Add step button at the bottom of the camera sequence properties tab:
2. Click in the encoder list to select a camera.
3. Enter the time, in seconds, you want the Virtual Matrix to dwell on that camera.
4. Select an optional PTZ command if necessary. Choose "Preset" to go to a specific preset or "Pattern" to run a
specific pattern. Leave it at "None" if no PTZ command is required.
5. Enter the preset or pattern number in the Command parameter field if a PTZ command is selected.
6. Enter an Auxiliary switch number if applicable and indicate the desired position (ON or OFF).
7. Click on OK to add the step at the bottom of the list. Use the up and down buttons to change the position
of the encoder in the list if necessary.
8. Click on "Apply changes" at the top of the Configuration pane to save your changes.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Sequence > Cameras

Camera Sequence – Schedules
The Schedules ( ) tab is used to set up automatic execution of the camera sequence by the Virtual Matrix. Multiple
schedules may be defined if the camera sequence is to be displayed at different times on different monitors.
Schedule list
Generic schedule Generic schedule specifying when the camera sequence is to be executed.
Current decoder The analog monitor selected to display the camera sequence.
Use these buttons to Add, Remove or Edit a schedule.
To add a new schedule:

1. Click on the Add step button at the bottom of the schedules tab:
2. Select a schedule.
3. Select a video decoder.
4. Click on OK to add the schedule.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Sequence > Schedules

Camera Sequence – Network
The Network ( ) tab is used to change the default multicast address and port number assigned to the camera sequence
when these parameters are invalidated by a change in your Directory settings.
Network information
Please ignore this section.
Unit and Archiver Not applicable.

The multicast address and port number are assigned automatically by the system when the camera sequence is
created. Each camera sequence is assigned a different multicast address with a fixed port number. This is the most
efficient configuration.
Normally, you do not need to be concerned with the multicast addresses. However, if for some reason you have to
change the general settings of your Directory (see Server Admin – Directory – General), you may stop receiving
video streams from the camera sequences created before the change took place. If it is the case, you will have to
change their multicast addresses accordingly. If you choose to use the same multicast address as another entity in
the system, make sure that their port numbers differ.
NOTE – All multicast addresses must be between the range 224.0.1.0 and 239.255.255.255.
These changes will become effective the next time you view the camera sequence.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Sequence > Network

Camera Sequence – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab lists the Virtual Matrices which are selected to control this camera sequence.
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the camera sequence. It is the one that should be
controlling the camera sequence in normal situations. If the master fails, then the control of the camera sequence will be
automatically transferred to the next Virtual Matrix in line.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Camera Sequence > Standby Virtual Matrices

CCTV Keyboard
CCTV keyboards can be used with Omnicast when connected to a PC or to a unit.
To use the CCTV keyboard with a PC, the Live Viewer application must be installed on the PC. To learn how to configure
the keyboard to be used with the Live Viewer, please refer to the section on Keyboard Settings under Live Viewer –
Application Menu – Tools Menu – Options Dialog.
To use the CCTV keyboard without a PC, the keyboard has to be connected to a unit via its serial port and controlled by
a Virtual Matrix. Both Omnicast license options: "Number of Virtual Matrices" and "Number of CCTV keyboards", must be
greater than 0 for keyboards to be used.
To access a keyboard configuration, select it ( ) either from the Physical view or the Virtual Matrix Management view.
Expand the Virtual Matrix ( ) node if you are in the Physical view, or the CCTV Keyboards node if you are in the Virtual
Matrix Management view, then select the desired keyboard. The configuration of the selected keyboard will appear in
the Configuration pane (on the right).
The CCTV keyboard's Configuration pane contains three property sheets.

Properties – Keyboard protocol and access control information
Standby Virtual Matrices – Configure the standy Virtual Matrices (Advanced mode)
To add a new keyboard configuration:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "CCTV Keyboard". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be controlling the keyboard and click on OK.
5. The new keyboard will appear under the CCTV Keyboards node.
6. A blank Properties page will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
7. Fill in the necessary information (serial port, protocol, etc.) and give a meaningful name to the new keyboard.
this keyboard, if applicable.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > CCTV Keyboard

CCTV Keyboard – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the basic settings necessary to control the CCTV keyboard.
Serial port The serial port to which the keyboard is connected.

Permissions and The user profile to lend to the keyboard. The actual keyboard user will inherit the same
privileges privileges as the specified user. See User – Privileges.
Keyboard The manufacturer and the model of the keyboard.
protocol
Keyboard address The keyboard address is needed only for certain types of keyboard. Certain models
accept more than one keyboard to be connected to the same serial port.
Do not remove When connecting a camera to a monitor that is already displaying that camera, the
selected camera default behavior is to remove that camera (it works as a toggle). If this option is
selected, the camera will not be removed at every second connection attempt.
Access control Select this box only if you are defining a keyboard for the purpose of interfacing with an
behavior access control system. Do not select this option otherwise. If this is really what you are
trying to achieve, we recommend that you use the Access Control System entity type
instead.
Live Viewer list Select all the Live Viewer applications that the keyboard user is allowed to use as
monitors.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > CCTV Keyboard > Properties

CCTV Keyboard – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the CCTV keyboard. It is the one that should be
controlling the device in normal situations. If the master fails, then the control of the keyboard will be automatically
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > CCTV Keyboard > Standby Virtual Matrices

Digital Input
A digital input is an input pin found on a unit that can be used by Omnicast to receive On/Off signals from external
devices such as door contacts, motion detectors, card readers, etc. The opening and closing of the input contact are
interpreted by Omnicast as digital input events which can be used to trigger actions. To learn more about handling
events and actions in Omnicast, please read Event Handling under Welcome – System Concepts.
To access the configuration of a digital input, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View
selection pane (on the left). The digital input's configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the digital input:

Properties – Digital input event mapping
Actions – Digital input event handling specifications
Network – Digital input network properties (Advanced mode)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Digital Input

Digital Input – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab allows the administrator to map the standard digital input events ("Digital input contact closing"
and "Digital input contact opening") to specific custom events. The purpose of this mapping is to give a meaningful
name to these events.
Please refer to the Custom Events section under Configuration Pane – Directory to learn how to create a new custom
event.
Property descriptions
Digital input contact closing
This drop-down list allows the administrator to map the "Digital input contact closing" event to any custom events
already defined in the system.
Digital input contact opening
This drop-down list allows the administrator to map the "Digital input contact opening" event to any custom events
already defined in the system.
Click on the button to jump to the Custom Events configuration page.
Respect archiving schedules of attached cameras
Select this option if the digital input events should only be generated during the time when one of the linked
cameras is covered by at least one schedule. Clear this option if the digital input events should be generated at all
times.
Schedule list of all attached entities
This section appears only when " Respect archiving schedules..." is selected.
The schedule list shows all the archiving schedules used by the cameras linked to this digital input. The associated
cameras are shown in the list below.
To link a camera to the digital input:

Cameras are linked to digital inputs from the Camera's Links tab. Please refer to Links under Config Tool – Camera.
To remove a camera association:

Select a camera from the camera list and click on the remove button .
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Digital Input > Properties

Digital Input – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in a digital input's Configuration pane allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors
based on the digital input events shown in the Events/actions list. If a standard input event has been mapped to a
custom event, the custom event will appear in the list instead. Please refer to the Help on the Properties tab.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Digital Input > Actions

Digital Input – Network
The Network ( ) tab shows the network properties of the digital input.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Digital Input > Network

Directory
The Directory is the main server application whose service is required to provide a centralized catalog for the other
Omnicast services and applications on the system. From the Directory, applications can view, establish connections and
receive centralized configuration information.
Unlike other entities, the Directory is not configured with the Config Tool, but with the Server Admin. Please refer to the
sections under Directory in the Server Admin reference.
Generic information regarding the system are found in the Directory's Configuration pane (See below). To access this
page, select the Directory ( ) from any of the views found in the View selection pane (on the left). The Directory is
always the root of the entity tree. The following property sheets would be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the
right).
License – Shows the license information for this Directory

Online users – Shows all users currently connected to the Directory
Connections – Shows all current connections in the system
Logical IDs – Displays/Edits the logical IDs by entity type
Custom events – Lists all user-defined events in the system
Custom actions – Lists all user-defined actions in the system
Alarms – Displays the entire alarm history and gives possibility to delete alarms
Discovery – Discovery tool for finding all archivers and units on the LAN
Actions – Actions to perform following specific Directory events
Time zones – Shows the time zones of all applications connected to the Directory (Advanced
mode)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory

Directory – License
The License ( ) tab shows the access rights granted by your Directory license. This page is similar to what you get on
the License tab of the Server Admin, under System, in regards to the Directory options. The access rights granted to each
individual Archiver on the system can only be shown on the Server Admin.
Access rights
computers can connect to the Directory at different moments but not simultaneously. Exceeding connection requests
will be rejected and an error message will be broadcasted.
Number of cameras/analog monitors – Maximum number of video encoders and decoders allowed on
the system. A unit with n video inputs/outputs will require n connections.
Number of stanby Directories – Maximum number of Directory Failover Coordinators allowed on the
system.
management.
Number of Media Gateways – Maximum number of video encoders that can be exposed to applications
outside Omnicast through the Media Gateway application.
Redundant archiving – Enables redundant archiving by Archivers. Requires Standby Archivers option to
be supported.
Number of Metadata Engines – Maximum number of Metadata Engine services allowed on the system.
Number of Restore Archivers – Maximum number of Restore Archiver services allowed on the system.
Number of Auxiliary Archivers – Maximum number of Auxiliary Archiver services allowed on the system.
Number of federated Directories – Maximum number of federated Directories allowed on the system.
Number of client workstations – Maximum number of client connections (Live Viewer, Archive Player,
Web Live Viewer*, Web Archive Player*) allowed on the system. (*) Web clients are allowed only if
Web clients are supported.
Number of Pocket PC clients – Maximum number of Pocket PC (Windows CE) connections allowed on
the system.
Web clients – Allows Web Live Viewer and Web Archive Player connections. Each connection requires a
client license. See Number of client workstations.
Number of uncompressed video filters – Maximum number of uncompressed video filters allowed on
the system. This option is necessary for third party application integration (e.g. ObjectVideo's VEW).
Number of access control systems – Maximum number of access control systems allowed on the system.
Macros – Allows creation and execution of macros in the Virtual Matrix. A Virtual Matrix is required to
use this option.
Database reporting – Allows the logging of system events in a database. This feature allows the user to
generate reports. See Tools – Report Viewer.
Time zones – Allows the display of date and time according to the entities' time zones. This option is
necessary only if you have Archivers or cameras installed at locations with different time zones.
Alarm management – Supports the alarm management feature. See Alarm Management under System
Concepts.
Playback on alarm – Allows the use of playback in alarm display. Must be used in conjunction to Alarm
management option.
Supported Metadata Engine plugin – Each different type of plugin requires a different license option.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > License

Directory – Online Users
The Online users ( ) tab in the Directory configuration page shows all the client applications and users currently
connected to the Directory.
Each online connection is indicated by an application icon, the machine name and the application name (written in the
language it was installed). The connected username is also indicated.
Click on the Refresh button to refresh the list of online users.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Online Users

Directory – Connections
The Connections ( ) tab in the Directory configuration page shows all current connections in the system. The
connections can occur between:
1. a video encoder ( , , , ) and a video decoder ( , , , , , , , , )

2. an audio encoder ( ) and an audio decoder ( , , , )
3. a serial port ( ) and another serial port ( )
Software decoders are indicated by the application icon followed by the machine name and the application name. Note
that the application name is written in the language it is installed. To find out who are running the applications, go to
the Online users tab of the Directory configuration page.
Command Buttons
Create a new Use this button to open the "New connection" dialog.
connection
The Connection type drop-down list offers three connection possibilities:

1. Video: associate a video encoder to a video decoder.
2. Audio: associate a microphone to a speaker.
3. Serial: associate a serial port to another serial port.
Once the connection type is set, select the appropriate units in both panes and
click on the OK button to establish the connection.
NOTE – A viewing priority must be specified for video and audio

connections. This property is necessary in the context of camera blocking.
By default, the connection would be established using the user's own
profile. Only Administrators are allowed to create connections using
someone else's profile.
Remove the Use this button to remove an existing connection. Select a decoder to remove a
current single connection or select an encoder to remove all connections to that encoder.
connection
The administrator can use this feature to disconnect a user from viewing a camera
that he is not supposed to.
Stop Click on the stop button to stop the automatic screen refresh. This feature could
automatic prove to be very useful when there are many camera sequences running in the
refresh system. Click again on the start button to start the automatic refresh.
Refresh Refreshes the screen when the automatic refresh is paused.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Connections

Directory – Logical IDs
The Logical IDs ( ) tab in the Directory configuration page allows the administrator to view and change the logical IDs
assigned to the various entities in the system.
Use the drop-down list control at the top of the page to select the type of entities you wish to view. Select "All types" to
view all entity types together (the list may be very long).
Use the delete button to delete a selected inactive device.
NOTE – The reason the system does not automatically remove inactive devices from the Directory is to preserve
the logical IDs. Logical IDs are used in macros to refer to specific devices. If a device is removed while it is
temporarily inactive (e.g. Live Viewer application), the next time it is discovered by the system, it may not be
assigned the same logical ID, thus invalidating the scripts written to handle it. As a general rule, do not delete
inactive devices unless you are absolutely sure that you won't need it again.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Logical IDs

Directory – Custom Events
Custom events ( ) are names and identifiers given to digital input events to ease the configuration and programming
of event handling behaviors.
Every custom event is defined by a description and a value. The value associated to each custom event must be unique.
They are used to identify the custom events when writing macro scripts.
To create a custom event:

1. Click on the add button at the bottom of the Configuration pane on the right. The following dialog will
appear.
2. Enter the event name in the "Description" field and click OK. The "Value" field can be left blank as the system will
automatically assign a value if none is entered.
TIP – Once a custom event is created, it can be used to rename any digital input event. Please
read the section on Properties under Config Tool – Digital Input, to learn how.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Custom Events
Directory – Custom Actions
Custom actions ( ) are names and identifiers given to output relay behaviors to ease the configuration and
programming of event handling behaviors.
Every custom action is defined by a description and a value. The value associated to each custom action must be unique.
They are used to identify the custom actions when writing macro scripts.
To create a custom action:

1. Click on the add button at the bottom of the Configuration pane on the right. The following dialog will
appear.
2. Enter the action name in the "Description" field and click OK. The "Value" field can be left blank as the system will
automatically assign a value if none is entered.
TIP – Once a custom action is created, it can be mapped to any output relay behavior. Please
read the section on Properties under Config Tool – Output Relay, to learn how.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Custom Actions
Directory – Alarms
The Alarms ( ) tab shows the content of the alarm history database. After an alarm instance has been acknowledged, it
is kept in the database for a certain number of days which is configurable for each alarm entity. Please refer to the
section on Alarm Properties under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Alarm.
Limiting the number of alarms loaded

The check box at the top the tab allows you to limit the number of alarm instances loaded, starting from the oldest.
The current number of items in the list is shown at the bottom of the tab. Clearing this option permits you to load the
entire content of the database.
Changing the maximum items limit does not automatically reload the alarm instances shown in the list. To reload the
alarm list, you must click on the Refresh button.
Command buttons
Opens the alarm history dialog.
The alarm history dialog shows every step in the life cycle of the alarm, from creation to
acknowledgement ( ), in reverse chronological order.
The icon shows the type of action that took place.
This icon is used every time the alarm is activated, i.e. sent, forwarded or re-activated.
The "By" column indicates the alarm recipient.
This icon is used every time the alarm is forwared by a user.
This icon is used every time the alarm is put to snooze by a user.
Comment added. A comment may only be added through custom alarm procedures.
Acknowledged.
The description field is used to display the comment associated to the alarm when it is generated from
a script.
Deletes the selected alarm, even if it is still "active", i.e. not yet acknowledged. You must have the
"Delete alarm instances" privilege to use this command.
Refreshes the alarm list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Alarms

Directory – Discovery
The Discovery ( ) tab contains an embedded version of the Discovery Tool described in the Tools section of the user
guide.
There are two minor differences between the embedded version and the stand-alone version of the Discovery Tool.
1. The embedded version allows you to add the discovered units to the Archiver of your choice. See Add units under
Tools – Discovery Tool.
2. The stand-alone version allows you to save the search result to a text file. See Application menu under Tools –
Discovery Tool.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Discovery

Directory – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in the Directory's Configuration pane allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors
based on the Directory events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Actions

Directory – Time Zones
The Time zones ( ) tab in the Directory configuration page shows the individual time zones of all the applications
currently connected to this Directory. The time zone of an application is the time zone of the machine where the
application is running.
NOTE – This tab would not appear if the "Time zones" option is not supported by your Omnicast license.
TIP – You can change the time display in the Config Tool so that it shows the local time of a particular time zone
without changing the Windows settings. Please refer to the Date and time options under Config Tool –
Application Menu – Tools Menu – Options Dialog – Display.
Click on the Refresh button to refresh the list of online applications.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory > Time Zones

The Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC) is an integral part of Omnicast failover mechanism. This service is installed on
every server machine hosting the Directory service to guarantee the continuity of the latter in the context of a failover
configuration.
The DFC's perform two main functions:
1. Keeping the local Directory database up to date while the Directory service is on standby.
2. Start or stop the local Directory service when it is appropriate to do so, based on a failover list.
General concepts on the Directory failover mechanism are discussed in the presentation of the Directory Failover
Configuration Wizard found in the section entitled "Configure Directory Failover" under Config Tool – Menu – Tools
Menu.
The Directory Failover Coordinator ( ) is also shown in the Physical view. Its property sheets are described below.

Statistics – Directory failover list and synchronization status.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory Failover Coordinator

Directory Failover Coordinator – Statistics
The Statistics ( ) tab shows the synchronization status of the selected DFC.
Directory failover list

This list corresponds to the Directory failover list configured in the Directory Failover Configuration Wizard. All DFC
on the same system should show exactly the same list. See Tools Menu – Configure Directory Failover.
Status
This section shows the latest synchronization status of the DFC.
Only the DFC installed on the current Directory server should have an "Active" status.
All other DFCs on the system should have a "Backup" status.
When all DFCs on the system are synchronized, they should all show the same values for "Entity count", "Entity
config count", and "Alarm count".
Click on Refresh to update the status.
The replication status may take one of the three following values:
Active – The DFC is configured to synchronize with the primary server.

Synchronizing – Currently synchronizing.
Inactive – Database synchronization is disabled. See Server Admin – Directory Failover Coordinator.
If for some reason a DFC is not properly synchronized, you can use the "Manual sync" button to force a
synchronization.
You need to be connected as an administrator in order to use this command.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Directory Failover Coordinator > Statistics

Federated Directory
The federated Directory is a proxy (representative) of a remote Directory, created by the Federation Server to allow
local users to view entities on the remote system as if they were on the local system.
To access the configuration of a federated Directory, select it ( ) either from the Physical view under the Federation
Server ( ) node, or from the Federation management view. The federated Directory's property sheets will be displayed
in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Properties – Connection parameters for the federated Directory.
Entities – Shows all visible entities and their federated counterparts.
To create a new federated Directory:

1. Select the Federation Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Federated Directory ". The following dialog will appear.
a. Select the Federation Server that will handle the connections with the remote Directory and manage the
federated entities.
b. Select the software version of the remote Directory to federate. The software versions shown in the drop-
down list are the ones supported by the Federation Server.
c. Enter the name of the remote Directory and choose the synchronization option.
WARNING – With the exception of the Directory name, the choices made in this dialog
cannot be modified subsequently once the federated Directory is created. A complete
description of these parameters can be found in the section on Federated Directory –
Properties.
d. Click OK to create the new federated Directory ( ).
4. Select the Properties tab.
Enter the username and password that the Federation Server should use to connect to the remote Directory.
Apply the changes and wait until the "Status" indicates "Connected" with a green LED.
5. Select the Entities tab.
Choose among the available remote entities, the ones you wish to publish to the Federation users (i.e. users on
your local system).
6. Adjust the user permissions.
Adding a federated Directory to the system will add federated sites ( ) to the system. You must adjust the
users' access rights in the Permissions tab under the users and user groups configurations.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Federated Directory

Federated Directory – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab shows the descriptive attributes of the federated Directory. It only allows you to change the
connecting user account and the viewing quality. All other paramters are fixed at creation time.
Properties
Status
The status LED shows the connection status to the remote Directory.
User name / password
Enter here the user name and password that the Federation Server should use to connect to the remote Directory.
The permissions and privileges granted to this user account will dictate what you will be able to do through the
federated Directory.
The selected user must have the "SDK" privilege. If not, the Federation Server will not
be able to connect to the remote Directory.
You can blank the user name to temporarily disconnect the Federation Server from the remote Directory.
Directory
The name of the remote Directory.
Software version (fixed)
The software version of the remote Directory. This parameter is fixed at the time of creation and cannot be changed
afterwards.
Viewing quality
Specify here the default video stream used for viewing live video from federated cameras. This feature is available
only if the remote Directory is at version 4.0 or more recent. For additional information on video stream selections,
please turn to Camera – Video Quality and read the section on "Single or multiple streams?".
Synchronized (fixed)
Synchronization is another option that is fixed at creation time. The two possible choices are:
On Turning the synchronization on forces all entities under the federated Directory to
follow the same name and hierarchy as configured in the remote Directory. In other
words, the Logical view defined in the remote Directory is replicated under the
federated Directory.
This option prevents you from changing the name or the description of the federated
entities. When the real entities are renamed or moved in the remote Directory, their
local representatives will also be renamed or moved under the federated Directory.
Off Turning the synchonization off allows you to move the federated entities freely in the
Logical view of the Federation host system. The sites defined in the remote system are
not shown.
This option allows you to change the name and description of the federated entities.
Allow events on federated Archivers
Select this option if you wish to process the events generated by the remote entities on the local system. See
Entities tab for more details.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Federated Directory > Properties

Federated Directory – Entities
The Entities ( ) tab shows all the remote entities that are the Federation Server can access.
Though this tab, the administrator can decide which entities to publish to the Federation users.
Remote entities
The first column shows the Logical view as seen by the user selected in the Properties tab.
The entity types eligible to join the Federation are:
Cameras ( and )
Camera sequences ( )
Virtual cameras ( )
PTZ motors ( )
Microphones ( )
Speakers ( )
Digital inputs ( )
Output relays ( )
When the Federation Server connects to the remote Directory, the remote entities do not automatically become
available to the Federation users. To make them available to the Federation, you must publish them. This is done
by selecting the boxes beside the entity names and clicking on "Apply". A name will then appear in the
"Federated entities" column. You can later change this name from the Logical view.
Federated entities
Definition
Federated entities are local entities created by the Federation Server to reference the remote entities. The federated
entities can be used anywhere the real entities can. For example, you can define alarms or camera sequences with
federated cameras.
Entity creation
The federated entities will be created in the local Directory when you apply the changes. The new entities will
appear in the Physical view under the federated Directory ( ) and in the Logical view under a federated site ( )
named after the federated Directory.
Federated Archivers
The physical devices typically found under the units will appear directly under federated Archivers ( ). The
federated Archivers cannot be configured and serve no other purpose than to indicate the physical grouping of the
federated devices and event processing.
Federated sites
Sites in the remote Directory are shown as federated sites ( ) in the Logical view only if synchronization is turned
on. Synchronization is an option that must be selected at the time the federated Directory is created and cannot be
changed thereafter. When synchronization is turned off, all federated entities will appear directly under the
federated Directory (shown as a site ) in the Logical view. You can then move them wherever you see fit, within
the local site hierarchy.
Entity configuration
Most of the federated entities have only two configuration tabs: "Identity" and "Actions". This is because the other
properties cannot be changed on the Federation system. Note that the federated cameras ( and ) also feature
the Recording tab. This is to allow you to configure the recording by Auxiliary Archivers. Please read the chapter on
Federation under Welcome – Concepts for more details.
Event handling
Select the boxes found under the "Receive events" column if you wish to handle locally the events generated by
the entities on the remote sysptem. Note that you must first enable the enabled only if you selected For more
details on event-action programming, please read Event Handling under Welcome – System Concepts.
Command Buttons
The Refresh button refreshes the remote entity tree.
The "Synchronize" button is only available when synchronization is turned off. It resets the names and descriptions
of the federated entities to their original values.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Federated Directory > Entities

Federation Server
The Federation Server is the service that is at the core of the Omnicast Federation, the virtual system formed by joining
multiple independant Omnicast systems together. It allows users on the local system to access entities belonging to
other remote Omnicast systems. The remote entities "published" by the Federation Server are called federated entities.
All federated entities are indicated with a yellow arrow superimposed on the regular icon. For more details on the
federated entities, please read Federated entities under Federated Directory – Entities.
Federated Directory Federated microphone

Federated Archiver Federated speaker
Federated camera (fixed) Federated input pin
Federated camera (dome) Federated output pin
Federated camera sequence Federated PTZ motor
Federated virtual camera Federated site
To access the configuration of a Federation Server, select it ( ) from the Physical view. The federated Directory's
property sheets will be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Actions – Actions to perform following specific Metadata Engine events
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Federation Server

Federation Server – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to configure specific system behaviors based on the Application events
shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Federation Server > Actions

Gateway
The Gateway is the service that provides seamless connections between all Omnicast applications in a given system,
regardless of whether they are located on the same LAN or not. The Gateway acts as a doorway to the Directory for all
Omnicast applications. Multiple Gateways can be installed on large Omnicast systems to increase service availability and
to provide load balancing.
You may have multiple instances of Gateways running on the same system, but their use must be granted by your
Omnicast license (Number of Gateways > 0).
To access the configuration of a Gateway, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left).
The Gateway' property sheets will be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Connections – Connected applications and supported connection types
Actions – Actions to perform following specific application events
Part of the Gateway configuration is done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections under Gateway in the
Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Gateway

Gateway – Connections
The Connections ( ) tab in the Gateway configuration page shows all applications currently connected to the Directory
through this Gateway.
Each connected application is indicated by an application icon, the machine name and the application name (written in
the language it was installed). The connected username is only indicated for client applications.
The last two columns indicate the supported connection types for transmission (Tx) and for reception (Rx). The
connection types are indicated by the following codes:
MC Multicast
Udp Unicast UDP
Tcp Unicast TCP
For more details regarding connection types, please read Network Connection Types under Welcome – System
Concepts.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Gateway > Connections

Gateway – Actions
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Gateway > Actions

Generic Schedule
The generic schedule defines a set of time constraints that can be applied to multiple situations in the system. To learn
about the entire range of possible schedule applications, please refer to the Linked entities tab.
The time constraints are defined by the following characteristics:

1. Recurrence pattern: Specific dates, yearly, monthly, weekly, or daily
2. Time coverage: Specific ranges, Daytime, Nighttime, or All day
To change a schedule definition, select the Schedule Management view in the View selection pane (on the left). Then
expand the Generic Schedules ( ) node in the tree and select the one you wish to modify. The configuration of the
selected schedule will be shown in the Configuration pane (on the right).
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet:
Identity – Schedule name, description and specific information

Properties – Defines the recurrence pattern and the time coverage
Linked entities – Lists the entities in the system that use this schedule (Advanced mode)
To create a new schedule:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Generic Schedule".
4. Enter the name and a description (optional) for the new schedule.
4. Select the Properties tab to define the recurrence pattern and time coverage.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Generic Schedule

Generic Schedule – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the Recurrence Pattern and Time Coverage characterizing this schedule.
Recurrence Pattern
The definition of a schedule starts with the selection of a recurrence pattern. Only one pattern may be selected per
schedule. The choices are:
Daily – Repeats every day

Weekly – Repeats every week on the selected days
Monthly – Repeats every month on the selected days
Yearly – Repeats every year on the selected months and days
Specific – Applies only once on selected dates
Each recurrence option offers different date and time settings that are described below.
Daily
Use the daily option to create a schedule that repeats the same pattern every day. For the different time
coverage options, please refer to the section on Time Coverage.
Weekly
Select this option for schedules that repeat on a weekly basis. Only the weekly time grid is available for this
option. For more advanced time coverage specifications, use the Monthly option instead.
Monthly
Select this option to cover the recurring monthly events. You can either select a specific day or a variable day.
For the time coverage settings, please refer to the section on Time Coverage.
To combine multiple monthly entries in the same schedule, switch to the advanced mode by clicking on the
button. The advanced mode shows a list of monthly events that you may configure individually.
Use the and buttons to add or delete the entries in the list. Note that you may not revert to the simple
mode as long as you have more than one entry in your list.
Yearly
Select this option to cover the recurring yearly events. You can either select a specific day or a variable day of
any particular month. For the time coverage settings, please refer to the section on Time Coverage.
To combine multiple yearly entries in the same schedule, switch to the advanced mode by clicking on the
button. The advanced mode shows a list of yearly events that you may configure individually.
Use the and buttons to add or delete the entries in the list. Note that you may not revert to the simple
mode as long as you have more than one entry in your list.
Specific
Specific date schedules are suitable for events that occur only once. Multiple individual dates can be selected
as well as multiple ranges of dates.
To select the dates, use the calendar control (see image below). Left-click on a date to select it, right-click on a
date to remove its selection. You may also use click and drag to select a range of dates.
To specify the time range for the selected dates, click on the button to switch to the time specification page
(see image below). You may use Ctrl-Click or Shift-Click to select multiple dates in the date entry list. For
details on how to set the time coverage, please refer to the section on Time Coverage.
Time Coverage
To describe the time coverage for a given day, you have the following options:
All day
Covers the whole day.

Range
Use this option to define a single or multiple time ranges. Use the left mouse button to select a time block or
the right mouse button to remove it.
When defining a single time range, you may extend the time range to the next day. To specify a precise time,
use the time controls.
To define multiple time ranges, you must use the mouse. The moment you have more than one time range
defined, the precise time controls can no longer be used.
Daytime and Nighttime
The daytime and nighttime options define variable time ranges based on when the sun rises and sets. The
sunrise and sunset times are calculated based on the day of year and a geographical location. For this reason,
this time option is only applicable to cameras for which a geographical location is defined.
You may offset the sunrise and sunset times by up to plus or minus 3 hours for added flexibility.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Generic Schedule > Properties

Generic Schedule – Linked entities
The Linked entities ( ) tab lists all the entities that uses the generic schedule.
Schedule usages
Use this drop-down list to select all entities linked to a particular application of the schedule.
The following table shows the different usage contexts of a generic schedule and when the Daytime/Nighttime
option is applicable.
Usage context Entity – Config Tab Daytime/Nighttime
Generic schedule Archiving schedule – Properties Yes

Macro schedule – Properties No
Video quality Camera – Video quality Yes
Motion detection Camera – Motion detection Yes
Video attributes Camera – Attributes Yes
User logon User – Properties No
Action Event handling (any entity) No
Alarm Alarm – Properties No
Virtual Matrix plugin VM plugin – Schedules No
Metadata Engine plugin ME plugin – Properties No
Camera sequence Camera sequence – Schedules No
Linked entity list

The list shows the type of entity involved (entity icon), the name of the entity and the usage of the schedule.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Generic Schedule > Linked entities

Ghost Camera
A ghost camera is a stand in camera that is automatically created by the system when video archives must be restored
for a camera (video encoder) whose definition has been deleted from the Directory, either because the physical device
no longer exists or because the entity has been deleted by mistake. Ghost cameras cannot be configured like real
cameras. They are created so that users can query the video archives that still remain. The only properties that can be
changed on a ghost camera are its name and description.
Ghost cameras ( ) are only visible from the Config Tool and the Archive Player, not the Live Viewer. Like a deceased
person, only memories remain (which are the video archives). If you delete a ghost camera, the restored video associated
to it will also be deleted.
Another situation that may cause the creation of a ghost camera is when a camera is deleted while its default Archiver is
not running. When the default Archiver is back in service, it will create a ghost camera for every camera it has in its
database that cannot be matched to a physical device. Once the unit to which the video encoder belongs to is
discovered, the Archiver will convert the ghost camera into a regular camera. However, previous configurations will not
be restored.
WARNING – If you delete an inactive camera while its default Archiver is running, the associated video archives
will be permanently lost.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Ghost Camera

Hardware Matrix
The hardware matrix is an entity type used in Omnicast to represent conventional CCTV matrices to ensure their
seamless integration to the rest of the system. The interaction between the Omnicast user and the CCTV matrix is
handled by the Virtual Matrix. All control settings of the CCTV matrix are captured in the hardware matrix configuration.
Once this is done, Omnicast users can view any camera connected to the inputs of the CCTV matrix with the Live Viewer
without ever having to worry about the manual switching commands.
To access the configuration of a hardware matrix, select it ( ) either from the Physical view or the Virtual Matrix
Management view. You will find them under the Virtual Matrix ( ) node. The hardware matrix' property sheets will be
displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right).

Properties – Hardware matrix properties (protocol and users)
Inputs – Video input configurations (virtual cameras)
Outputs – Video output configurations (video encoders)
Connections – Current applications connected to the outputs of the hardware matrix
Standby Virtual Matrices – List of Virtual Matrices responsible for controlling this device
(Advanced mode)
To create a new hardware matrix:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Hardware Matrix ". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be controlling the hardware matrix.
5. Click on OK to create the new hardware matrix. The new hardware matrix will appear under the Hardware
matrices ( ) node.
6. Enter the name and a description (optional) for the new hardware matrix you just created. A good suggestion
would be to use the name of the CCTV matrix it represents.
7. Select the Properties tab to define the control macro and the hardware matrix users.
8. Select the Inputs tab to define the cameras connected to the inputs of the hardware matrix.
9. Select the Outputs tab to define the video encoders connected to the outputs of the hardware matrix.
this device, if applicable.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix

Hardware Matrix – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab allows you to monitor the running status of the hardware matrix and to configure its main
properties.
Status
This is the global status of the hardware matrix. The hardware matrix is running if at least one of the serial port
connected to the hardware matrix is running. See Hardware Matrix Users below for details.
Access control protocol

Use this drop-down list to select the appropriate access control protocol used by the hardware manufacturer..
Hardware Matrix Users

The list of hardware matrix users indicates the serial ports connected to the keyboard inputs of the CCTV matrix.
These are the serial ports through which the Virtual Matrix sends the control commands to the hardware matrix.
There must be at least one hardware matrix user defined for the hardware matrix to work.
PTZ support
The number of hardware matrix users available determines how many users can control the PTZ enabled virtual
cameras (shown as in the Live Viewer) simultaneously. To learn how to configure PTZ enabled virtual cameras,
please refer to the section on Config Tool – Configuration Pane – PTZ motor.
Status
Running – The serial port is properly configured and running.

Wrong PIN – The PIN number used does not match the one expected by the hardware matrix.
Serial link broken – The macro is running but the serial link between the Virtual Matrix and the
hardware matrix is broken. Make sure the selected serial port is properly configured and active.
Macro not running – Either no control macro is assigned or the assigned macro is incorrect.
Serial port
Serial port associated to this hardware matrix user.
PIN
PIN number used to authenticate each command sent to the hardware matrix. The PIN number is only required by
certain models of hardware matrix.
Password
Password used to authenticate each command sent to the hardware matrix. The password is only required by
certain models of hardware matrix.
Updating the hardware matrix user list
Add a new hardware matrix user. The following dialog will appear.
Only the serial port is compulsory. The PIN and password are required only if your model of
hardware matrix requires them.
Removes the selected hardware matrix user.
Edits the selected hardware matrix user.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix > Properties

Hardware Matrix – Inputs
The Inputs ( ) tab allows you to define the cameras connected to the video inputs of the CCTV matrix. These cameras
are called virtual cameras because they are not directly connected to video encoders controlled by Omnicast.
To add virtual cameras:

1. Enter the number of video inputs you have on your CCTV matrix and click on the "Add input" button. The
specified number of inputs (virtual cameras) will be added. Note that the system will not let you add more than 10
inputs at a time. This restriction is in place to prevent you from overloading the Directory application. The total
number of inputs that you may add can go as high as what your model of CCTV matrix can accept.
2. Click on each of the newly created virtual cameras to change their names to something more meaningful. Once
defined, these virtual cameras will appear in the camera tree of the Live Viewer just like any other cameras.
3. The visibility of the newly created virtual cameras depends on their placement in the camera tree and on each
user's permissions. To modify the visibility of the virtual cameras, select the Logical view ( ) in the View Selection
Pane and move the virtual cameras to the appropriate sites.
4. A camera number is automatically assigned to each virtual camera by the system. To view this number, click on
the virtual camera icon ( ) in the resource tree. The camera number is shown at the top of the Configuration Pane.
To learn how to change the assigned camera number, please refer to Logical IDs under Config Tool – Configuration
Pane – Directory.
Special note about viewing virtual cameras
Because there are generally more inputs than outputs on a CCTV matrix, not all virtual cameras can be viewed at
the same time. If a user tries to view a virtual camera while all the video encoders connected to the CCTV matrix'
outputs are already taken, the following error message will be displayed if the request is made from the Config
Tool.
If the request is issued from the Live Viewer, the message "No output" will be shown in the selected display tile.
If several users are viewing the same virtual camera, only one video encoder is necessary.
To delete virtual cameras:

1. Select the virtual cameras you wish to delete from the list and click on the "Delete input" button.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix > Inputs

Hardware Matrix – Outputs
The Outputs ( ) tab allows you to define the video encoders connected to the video outputs of the CCTV matrix.
To assign video encoders to the outputs:

1. Enter the number of video outputs you have on your CCTV matrix and click on the "Add output" button. The
specified number of outputs will be added.
2. Select one by one the newly added outputs and assign a video encoder to each. Use the pull-down encoder list
located at the bottom of the Outputs tab to pick the video encoders ( ).
3. Click on "Apply changes" when you finished.
To dissociate a video encoder from an output:

1. Select the output you wish to dissociate the video encoder from and select "None" from the pull-down encoder
list.
2. Click on "Apply changes".
To delete an output:
1. Select the output you wish to delete from the list and click on the "Delete output" button.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix > Outputs

Hardware Matrix – Connections
The Connections ( ) tab of the hardware matrix shows all video decoders that are currently connected to the virtual
cameras.
Action buttons
Remove the Use this button to remove an existing connection. Select a decoder to remove a
current single connection or select a virtual camera to remove all connections to that
connection camera.
The administrator can use this feature to disconnect a user from viewing a virtual
camera to free the video encoders.
Stop Click on the stop button to stop the automatic screen refresh. This feature could
automatic prove to be very useful when there are many camera sequences running in the
refresh system. Click again on the start button to start the automatic refresh.
Refresh Refreshes the screen when the automatic refresh is paused.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix > Connections

Hardware Matrix – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the hardware matrix. It is the one that should be
controlling the device in normal situations. If the master fails, then the control of the device will be automatically
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Hardware Matrix > Standby Virtual Matrices

Macro
A macro is a sequence of commands (or a script) that can be saved, recalled and executed quickly when needed. Macros
can be used to create custom actions. For example, a bookmark could be added to a video archive everytime someone
swipes a security card to walk through a door (if the card reader is connected to Omnicast through a digital input pin).
Another example would be to show a rotation of cameras at preset intervals in the Live Viewer application.
Macros must be executed by Virtual Matrices. In order to use macros in your system, Virtual Matrices must be allowed by
your Omnicast license (Number of Virtual Matrices > 0) and the "Macros" option must be supported.
Macro executions can be launched manually from:
the Config Tool – See Statistics tab under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Virtual Matrix
the Live Viewer – See Hot Macros under Live Viewer – Controls Pane
the PC keyboard – See Macros under Live Viewer – Toolbar – Keyboard Commands
or automatically from:
the Virtual Matrix – See Macro Schedule

any event – See Event Handling – Action Definitions – Macro Actions
To modify the settings of a macro, select the Logical view or the Add-In Management view in the View selection pane
(on the left). Then expand the Macros ( ) node in the tree and select the macro you wish to modify. The selected
macro's configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the right).
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the macro:

Properties – Macro definition Wizard (step by step definition)
Actions – Actions to perform following specific macro and custom events
Code – Wizard generated or user-defined VBScript using Virtual Matrix SDK (Advanced
mode)
To create a new macro:

1. Select the Add-In Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Macro". A new macro will be created with the name "New macro", and
the Macro configuration page will appear in the Configuration Pane on the right.
4. The Properties tab should be on top. Enter an appropriate name for your macro and follow the instructions
found in the Macro – Properties section.
5. If you have already written the code and just wish to import it, read the Macro – Code section.
6. Macros can also be executed by basic users (from the Live Viewer or from a keyboard). So do not forget to
change its visibility by dragging or copying it to the appropriate site in the Logical view. Please refer to Config Tool
– Configuration Pane – User – Logical, to learn how to control basic users' access to cameras and macros.
NOTE – Each macro requires 1 MB of virtual memory while it is being executed by the Virtual
Matrix. Therefore, if you plan on executing many macros simultaneously, make sure to take the
virtual memory requirements into consideration.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro

Macro – Properties
The Macro Properties tab allows the administrator to define the macro command steps with the help of the Macro
Wizard. This is the simplest method for defining macros.
A macro is composed of three sections:
1. Main section
2. OnAction section
3. OnEvent section
You may edit the steps within each individual section.
To add a macro step:

1. Select the section you wish to edit from the section selection list at the top.
2. Click on the Add step button at the bottom of the macro Properties tab (see above illustration).
3. In the Step dialog that appears, select the desired command from the drop-down list.
Depending on the selected command, the rest of the dialog will change its appearance to prompt the user to
enter the appropriate arguments. The following table summarizes the available commands from the Wizard
with their corresponding arguments.
Command Argument 1 Argument 2 Argument 3

Acknowledge alarm Alarm instance ID
Acknowledge alarm in Live Monitor ID

Viewer
Acknowledge alarm in Live Monitor ID Acknowledgement Custom event ID

Viewer using type type
Acknowledge alarm using Context string

context
Acknowledge alarm using Context string Acknowledgement Custom event ID

context and type type
Acknowledge alarm using type Alarm instance ID Acknowledgement Custom event ID

type
Add a bookmark Camera Bookmark text
Add find results Return value First find value Second find value
Arm/disarm active tile for Monitor ID Action (arm, disarm)

alarms
Block a camera Camera Block level
Change input focus in Live Monitor ID Region (see Live

Viewer Viewer Workspace)
Change instant replay Monitor ID Operation (increase,

playback speed decrease)
Change PTZ speed of the Monitor ID Operation (increase,

viewed camera decrease)
Close serial port Handle
Connect encoder to decoder Encoder Decoder
Control PTZ Camera PTZ operation Parameters 1 & 2

(optional)
Create custom action Description Action ID
Create custom event Description Event ID
Create object ProgID Name of the object
Cycle layout Monitor ID Direction (next,

previous)
Cycle pattern Monitor ID Direction (next,
previous)
Cycle tile Monitor ID Direction (next,

previous)
Destroy object ProgID
Disconnect encoder from Encoder Decoder

decoder
Display a camera Camera Monitor Tile ID
Display a sequence Camera sequence Monitor Tile ID
Display a URL address in a Live URL Monitor Tile ID

Viewer
End macro
Expand current tile Monitor ID
Find Find criteria List of results
For each block Opens a definition dialog
Foward alarm Alarm instance ID User or user group
Foward alarm using context Context string User or user group
Get connected decoders list Encoder Result variable name
Get connected encoder Decoder Result variable name
Get current decoder ID Return value
Get current decoder type Return value
Get current encoder ID Return value
Get current encoder type Return value
Get current macro arguments Return value
Get current macro GUID Return value
Get current tile Return value
Get current user GUID Return value
Get custom action description Return value Action ID
Get custom event description Return value Event ID
Get entity Return value Entity GUID
Get entity GUID Return value Entity ID Entity type
Get entity ID Return value Entity GUID
Get entity type Return value Entity GUID
Get number of result Return value List of result
Get user GUID Return value User name
Go to preset Camera Preset number
Go to step Step number
Hold sequence Sequence Monitor
If block Opens a definition dialog
Listen audio on viewed camera Monitor ID Operation (start, stop)
Next sequence Sequence Monitor
Open serial port Handle Serial port ID
Override with event recording Camera

quality
Override with manual Camera
recording quality
Prevent replacement of Flag (true, false)

connected tiles
Previous sequence Sequence Monitor
Record viewed camera Monitor ID Operation (start, stop)
Recording quality as standard Camera

configuration
Remove camera from tile Monitor Camera Tile ID
Remove current tile Monitor ID
Remove sequence from tile Monitor Sequence Tile ID
Resume sequence Sequence Monitor
Run a pattern Camera Pattern number On (true, false)
Run macro Macro
Run macro instance Macro Instance name Arguments
Run macro instance with Macro Current user Seven other

context parameters
Send a message User Message
Send a message through the User Message

Archive Player
Send a message through the User Message

Live Viewer
Send an alert sound User Sound name
Send an email User Text
Send custom action Action ID Destination GUID Parameter, notes
Send custom event Event ID Source GUID Parameter, notes
Set callback interface Object name Tile ID
Set current tile Monitor Tile ID
Set logged on user User name
Set PTZ auxiliary Camera Auxiliary number On (true, false)
Set the output relay to its Output relay

default state
Set the output relay to the Output relay

opposite of its default state
Set tile pattern Monitor ID Pattern code Layout number
Start backup Archiver
Start recording Camera Duration
Stop macro Instance name
Stop recording Camera Duration
Talk on viewed camera Monitor ID Operation (start, stop)
Trigger alarm Alarm
Trigger alarm using a context Alarm Context string
Unblock a camera Camera
View a map in the Live Viewer Site Monitor ID Tile ID
Wait Time (milliseconds)

Write serial port Handle Data to write
For an explanation on some of the above commands, please refer to the section on Action Definitions in
Welcome – System Concepts – Event Handling.
Note that more commands than the ones listed above are supported by the Genetec Omnicast SDK. For a
complete reference of all the SDK methods and sample codes, please refer to "Genetec Omnicast SDK Help ".
A shortcut to this documentation is found in the Help folder of the Genetec Omnicast program group.
4. Enter the values or make the proper selections for the command arguments and click on OK. The new step will
be added at the bottom of the list.
5. Use the up and down buttons to change the steps ordering in the sequence.
6. Use the Edit button to modify a selected step.
7. Use the Remove step button to remove a step.
8. Click on "Apply changes" at the top of the Configuration pane to save your changes.
9. The generated VBScript can be viewed in the Macro – Code tab.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro > Properties

Macro – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based on the generic Macro Events
and the Custom events.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro > Actions

Macro – Code
The Macro Code ( ) tab allows users to modify the VBScript generated by the Macro Wizard (see Properties tab) or to
write their own code.
Use the "Import" button to import existing VBScript from a file.
Use the "Export" button to export the current VBScript to a file.
The above options allow the users to work with a more sophisticated editor to write the VBScript programs for the
macros. See Macro Editor under Tools reference.
If the user decides to edit the VBScript manually, the Macro Wizard can no longer be used. Once the code has been
modified manually, the steps shown in the Properties tab will disappear. Conversely, if the user decides to use the Macro
Wizard after manually changing the code, all previously hand-written code will be lost.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro > Code

Macro Schedule
A macro schedule is a generic schedules applied to the automatic execution of a specific macro by a Virtual Matrix.
Other than the macro and the generic schedule, the macro schedule also specifies the context variables necessary for the
macro execution.
To modify the settings of a macro schedule, select the Physical view or the Schedule Management view in the View
selection pane (on the left). Expand the Virtual Matrix ( ) node if you are in the Physical View, or the Macro schedules (
) node if you are in the Schedule Management view, then select the desired macro schedule. The configuration of the
selected schedule will appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The macro schedule's Configuration pane contains the following property sheets.

Properties – Defines the schedule, macro and context variables
Standby Virtual Matrices – List of Virtual Matrices responsible for running the schedule
(Advanced mode)
To create a macro schedule:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Macro Schedule". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be executing the macro.
5. Click on OK to create the new macro schedule. If you are looking at the Physical view, a new macro schedule will
appear under the selected Virtual Matrix ( ). If you are looking at the Schedule Management view, the new entity
will appear under the Macro Schedules ( ) node.
6. Enter the name and a description (optional) for the schedule.
7. From the Properties tab, select the script to execute and define the execution time and context.
8. Click on the Standby Virtual Matrices tab to define the list of standby Virtual Matrices that would be following
this schedule, if applicable.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro Schedule

Macro Schedule – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the schedule and the context variables for running the specified macro.
Generic schedule
The day(s) and time(s) when the macro should be running are defined by the generic schedule.
Execute
Specify here the macro to execute.
Context variables
The next six parameters set the values for the "current" context variables. The "current" context variables are
typically set according to the calling context of the macro (e.g. Live Viewer, CCTV keyboard, Config Tool, triggering
event, etc.).
When a macro is executed from the Config Tool, no context variables are set.
Current camera Specify the "current" camera (or camera sequence).
Current decoder Specify the "current" decoder (Live Viewer or analog monitor).
Current user Specify the "current" user.
Instance name This string used to identify this macro instance in case we need to stop
this macro instance from another macro. See "Stop macro" under Macro
– Properties.
Note that if more than one macro instance bear the same name, the
"Stop macro" command will stop them all.
Arguments Use this string to pass arguments to the selected macro. There is no
particular format to follow here. The parsing of the argument string
depends on the implementation of the selected macro.
Current tile Specify the "current" tile ID.
Applicable only if the selected "current" decoder is the Live Viewer.
Use the drop-down button to select the applicable entity for each context variable.
Further readings
To learn more about the "current" context variables and their use, please refer to the section on "How to use the
'Current' Properties " from the "Genetec Omnicast SDK " Help. A shortcut to this documentation is found in the
Help folder of the Genetec Omnicast Help program group.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro Schedule > Properties

Macro Schedule – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab lists the Virtual Matrices which are selected to run this macro schedule.
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the schedule. It is the one that should be running
the macro schedule in normal situations. If the master fails, then the execution of the schedule will be automatically
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Macro Schedule > Standby Virtual Matrices

Metadata Engine
The Metadata Engine (ME) is the link between Omnicast and third party applications such as video analytics software
and points of sale applications. Through the use of specific ME plugins, the Metadata Engine performs live translations of
Omnicast information to and from third party applications and enables users to view this information with live video or
to query them through the Archive Player. The maximum number of Metadata Engines you may have on your system is
determined by the "Number of Metadata Engines" option of your Omnicast license.
To access the configuration of a Metadata Engine, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the
left). The ME's property sheets will be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right). All plugins controlled by the
selected ME are listed below the ME node.

Plugins – Plugins supported by this Metadata Engine
Actions – Actions to perform following specific Metadata Engine events
Part of the Metadata Engine configuration is done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections under Archiver
in the Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Metadata Engine

Metadata Engine – Plugins
The Plugins ( ) tab lists all the plugin instances controlled by this Metadata Engine.
To learn how to create a new plugin instance for the Metadata Engine, please read To create a new plugin under
Configuration Pane – ME Plugin.
To delete a ME plugin instance, select the Metadata Engine from the Physical view. All the plugins controlled by the
selected Metadata Engine will appear under the Metadata Engine ( ) node. Select the plugin you wish to delete and
click on at the bottom of the View selection pane.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Metadata Engine > Plugins

Metadata Engine – Actions
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Metadata Engine > Actions

Microphone (Audio Encoder)
A microphone is a device which converts sound waves into electronic signals for recording. The audio encoder is the
device that converts the analog signal produced by the microphone into digital form so it can be transmitted over an IP
network. The audio encoder is but one of the many devices found on an encoder unit. The microphone and the audio
encoder are so closely related that the two terms are used interchangeably in Omnicast.
To view or change the settings of a microphone, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View
selection pane (on the left). The selected microphone's configuration properties will be shown in the Configuration pane
(on the right).
Four tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the microphone:
Identity – Microphone name, description and specific information

Properties – Audio encoder properties
Specific settings – Audio mode setting for the unit (only applicable to certain models!)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Microphone (Audio Encoder)

Microphone – Properties
Selecting the Properties ( ) tab allows the configuration of the selected audio encoder (microphone).
Sampling rate (fixed)

The rate at which the amplitude of an analog sound wave is "sampled" when converting into digital format. Some
models of unit allow you to adjust the samling rate. If it is the case, you can change it from the Specific settings tab.
Data format
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation is an algorithm used to convert an analog wave into digital signals. No compression
is used in the algorithm just straight conversion from analog to digital formats.
Mulaw – is an algorithm used to convert an analog wave into digital signals using a compression algorithm that
encodes and compresses the signal information. Mulaw is the recommended format when it is available.
GSM – Global System for Mobile telecommunication is a protocol used for digital cellular phones. GSM offers the
highest compression ratio. Therefore, it saves on bandwidth usage at the expense of audio quality.
Channel (fixed)
Mono or, Stereo audio encoding. While this software supports both mono and stereo formats, the choice may not
be available due to the hardware limitations of some audio encoder units.
Input type
Input source as microphone or line-in source. If your source is pre-amplified, you should select "Line in". Use "Mic
in" if the microphone is directly connected to the unit. In the latter case, the signal is amplified by 20 dB through
hardware.
Sensitivity
Position the slider to the desired amplification level (default=68). The lower the level, the less sensitive is the
microphone to ambiant noise, but the recording level would also be lower.
Attached cameras
The camera tree shows the camera(s) that are connected to the microphone and allows the user to change the
microphone connections to cameras.
When a camera is connected to a microphone, the speaker on/off button ( ) will become enabled in the viewing
tile of the Live Viewer where the camera is displayed.
Note that a microphone can be associated to many cameras (e.g. cameras showing different angles of a same
room), but a camera can only be associated to one microphone. See also the Links tab under Camera configuration.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Microphone (Audio Encoder) > Properties

Microphone – Specific Settings
The Specific settings ( ) tab of the microphone is the same as the Audio tab of its unit. Changing anything in this tab
will affect all audio devices of the same unit.
Audio mode
Select "Full-Duplex" to be able to speak (send signals through the audio encoder) and listen (receive signals
through the audio decoder) at the same time. This is the default setting and should be used in most situations.
Select "Push-To-Talk (PTT)" to operate in half-duplex mode (alternate between speaking and listening). This
particular setting is only necessary when two units are connected together and that the audio must be controlled
through digital inputs.
Changing the audio mode here also changes the audio mode on the speaker (audio decoder) belonging to the
same unit.
Note that changing this setting might require the unit to reboot. If necessary, the unit will reboot by itself within
the next minute and will be temporarily unavailable (shown as inactive). You can force the unit to reboot
immediately by going to the Network tab of the corresponding unit and clicking on the "Reboot" button.
Sampling rate
This control is enabled only if the unit model you have allows you to configure the sampling rate. A high sampling
rate is recommended for languages that have a lot of intonation subtleties, such as Chinese. You may select the
current sampling rate from the Properties tab.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Microphone (Audio Encoder) > Specific Settings

Microphone – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the audio encoder.

server for this audio encoder.
Archiver for this audio encoder.

The multicast address and port number are assigned automatically by the system when the unit is discovered.
Each audio encoder is assigned a different multicast address with a fixed port number. This is the most efficient
configuration.
Normally, you do not need to be concerned with the multicast addresses. However, if you are short of multicast
addresses (certain switches are limited to 128), you can solve the problem by using the same multicast address on
multiple devices and by assigning a different port number to each. Note that this solution is less efficient than using
a different address for each device because it will cause more traffic than it is necessary on the network.
Note that all multicast addresses must be between the range 224.0.1.0 and 239.255.255.255. For this change to
be effective, you must reboot the unit. To do so, go to the Network tab of the corresponding unit and click on the
"Reboot" button.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Microphone (Audio Encoder) > Network

Monitor Group
Monitor groups are used to configure analog monitors for alarm display. The only other way to display alarms is to use
the Live Viewer application (see Viewing Tiles under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane). In the same way a viewing tile in the
Live Viewer can be compared to an analog monitor, arming a viewing tile can be compared to assigning a monitor to a
monitor group.
To access a monitor group's configuration, select it from the Alarm Management view in the View selection pane (on the
left). Expand the monitor groups ( ) node, then select the desired monitor group. The configuration of the selected
entity will appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The monitor group's Configuration pane contains two property sheets.

Properties – Defines the alarm display options and the analog monitors in the group
Standby Virtual Matrices – List of Virtual Matrices responsible for managing the monitor
group (Advanced mode)
To create a new monitor group:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Monitor Group ". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be controlling the monitor group.
5. Click on OK to create the new monitor group. If you are looking at the Physical view, a new monitor group will
appear under the selected Virtual Matrix. If you are looking at the Alarm Management view, the new monitor group
will appear under the monitor groups node.
6. A blank configuration page will appear on the right hand side of the screen. Type in the name of the new
monitor group.
7. Click on the Properties tab to define the constituents of the monitor group.
8. Click on the Standby Virtual Matrices tab to define the list of standby Virtual Matrices that would be managing
this monitor group, if applicable.
NOTE – Each monitor group requires at least 10 MB of virtual memory on the machine that runs
the Virtual Matrix which controls the monitor group.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Monitor Group

Monitor Group – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the basic settings necessary to control the CCTV keyboard.
Alarm display mode
There are three distinct alarm display modes to choose from in Omnicast:
Simple Alarm cameras are displayed one per armed viewing tile, following their alarm
priority. Multiple alarms can be displayed simultaneously as long as there are
enough armed tiles to fit them all.
Salvo All cameras assigned to the alarm are displayed simultaneously, using as many
armed viewing tiles as needed. Only one alarm can be displayed at a time.
Block All cameras assigned to the alarm cycle through a same viewing tile. Multiple
alarms can be displayed simultaneously, up to the number of armed tiles
available in the Live Viewer or to the maximum number of alarms to be
displayed simultaneously for that user.
To learn more about the characteristics of each display mode, please refer to the section on Alarm Display Mode
Maximum number of alarms to be displayed simultaneously
Specify here the maximum number of alarms that can be displayed simultaneously on the monitors.
With the Block display mode, the best is to use the number of monitors in the group as the maximum.
Analog monitor list
List of analog monitors belonging to the group. The alarm with the highest priority will be displayed on the first
monitor in the list, and so on and so forth.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Monitor Group > Properties

Monitor Group – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab lists the Virtual Matrices which are selected to manage this monitor group.
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the master of the monitor group. It is the one that should be
managing the monitor group in normal situations. If the master fails, then the control of the monitor group will be
automatically transferred to the next Virtual Matrix in line.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Monitor Group > Standby Virtual Matrices

Output Relay
An output relay is an output pin found on a unit that can be used by Omnicast to send an On/Off or Pulse signal to an
external device, such as a buzzer, a light switch, a door lock, etc.
To access the configuration of an output relay, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View
selection pane (on the left). The output relay's configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the output relay:

Properties – Output relay configuration properties
Network – Output relay network properties (Advanced mode)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Output Relay

Output Relay – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab is used to associate specific output relay behaviors to custom actions (see Directory – Custom
Actions). Once a custom action is associated to a specific output relay behavior, it is said that the custom action is
supported by the output relay.
Properties description
Default mode
Decide here in which mode (On/Off) you want the unit to start with when the Archiver is started or when the unit is
rebooted.
Click on the ( ) button to jump to the Custom Actions configuration page.
To jump back, click on the Physical view ( ) tab in the View selection pane (on the left).
Custom action list
This list shows all the custom actions currently mapped to an output relay behavior (Signal on, Signal off, or Pulse
signal).
Action buttons
Add Associate a new behavior to a custom action

Delete Delete the behavior associated to the selected custom action
Edit Edit the behavior associated to the selected custom action
To associate a new behavior to a custom action:

1. Click on the add button at the bottom of the Output Relay Properties tab.
2. The New custom action dialog will appear.
3. Select the custom action to support from the Action drop-down list. The custom actions must be defined in the
Custom actions tab under the Directory configuration before you can select them from the list. To define a new
custom action, click on the "Go to custom actions" button.
A same custom action cannot be associated to two different behaviors.
4. Select the type of behavior, or signal mode (Off, On or Pulse) from the Mode drop-down list. If Pulse is selected,
three extra fields will appear in the New custom action dialog.
Indicate the duration of the pulse (Period) in milliseconds. Indicate the proportion of the On signal within the
period in the Duty cycle field. Indicate the number of pulses in the last field.
5. Click OK to add the new behavior to the custom action list.
6. Click on "Apply changes" to save the changes.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Output Relay > Properties

Output Relay – Network
The Network ( ) tab shows the network properties of the output relay.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Output Relay > Network

Plugins
A plugin is a software module that adds a specific feature or service to a larger system. The idea is that the new
component simply "plugs in" to the existing system. Plugins are used in Omnicast to extend the capabilities of the Virtual
Matrix, the Metadata Engine, and the Live Viewer.
In Omnicast, the plugins are named after to the application they seek to augment.
Please follow the links below to learn more about each class of plugins.

Metadata Engine plugins
Live Viewer plugins
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins

Virtual Matrix Plugin
Virtual Matrix plugins (or VM plugins) are specific plugins designed to be used with the Virtual Matrix.
Configuration
The LV plugins can only be found in the Add-In Management view under the Virtual Matrix plugins group ( ). The
LV plugins are described in five property sheets.
Identity – Plugin name, description and specific information

Properties – Properties specific to the plugin type
Schedules – Schedules and context variables for the execution of this plugin
Actions – Actions to perform following specific plugin events
Standby Virtual Matrices – Virtual Matrix failover list for this plugin (Advanced mode)
To create a new VM plugin:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Virtual Matrix Plugin".

The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Virtual Matrix that should be running the new plugin.
The list of plugin types hosted by the selected Virtual Matrix will appear in the lower part of the dialog. Your
installation might differ from the example shown above.
5. Select the desired plugin type and click OK.

In the Physical view, the new plugin will appear under the selected Virtual Matrix ( ).
In the Add-In Management view, the new plugin will appear under the VM plugins node ( ).
6. Because each plugin type requires a different configuration, you will be prompted by the Config Tool to go
through the pertinent configuration tabs. See the description of each configuration tab for more details.
7. Configure the Actions and the Standby Virtual Matrices if necessary.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > VM Plugin

VM Plugin – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab shows the settings specific to this type of VM plugin.
TBD...
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > VM Plugin > Properties

VM Plugin – Schedules
The Schedules ( ) tab is used to ...
To add a schedule:
1. Click on the Add button. The following dialog will appear.
2. Select the entity you wish to map and enter the external identifier.
Note that each Omnicast entity and each external identifier can only appear once in the list.
3. Click on OK.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > VM Plugin > Schedules

VM Plugin – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in the VM plugin configuration allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based
on the Plugin events shown in the Events/actions list.
The Schedule indicates when the selected action would be in effect. Each action may be on a different schedule.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > VM Plugin > Actions

VM Plugin – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab helps you define the Virtual Matrix failover list for this plugin.
The Virtual Matrix that appears at the top of the list is the primary Virtual Matrix. It is the one that should be running
this plugin in normal situations. If the primary Virtual Matrix fails, then the execution of the plugin will fall on the next
Virtual Matrix in line.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > VM Plugin > Standby Virtual Matrices

Metadata Engine Plugins
Metadata Engine plugins (or ME plugins) are specific plugins designed to be used with the Metadata Engine.
Definition
There are four categories of ME plugins in Omnicast.
1. Video Analytics
Plugins that interface Omnicast with video analytics applications.
The latter receive video feeds from Omnicast and extract meaningful information by analyzing the video
images. Such plugins can detect objects from the video, such as persons, faces, vehicles, license plates, etc.
2. Point of Sale
Plugins that interface Omnicast with point of sale systems..
3. Access Control
Plugins that interface Omnicast with access control systems.
4. Incident Reporting
Plugins implementing custom data entry forms for the purpose of incident reporting.
Configuration
The ME plugins can be found in the Physical view under their respective Metadata Engine ( ) or in the Add-In
Management view under the ME plugins ( ) group. The ME plugins are described in six property sheets, two of
which are type dependent.

Properties – General plugin properties (type dependent)
Database – Storage options for this particular plugin instance
Links – Links between the plugin and cameras (type dependent)
Standby Metadata Engines – Metadata engine failover list for this plugin (Advanced mode)
To create a new ME plugin:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Metadata Engine Plugin". The following dialog will appear.
4. Select the Metadata Engine that should be running the new plugin.
The list of plugin types hosted by the selected Metadata Engine will appear in the lower part of the dialog. Your
installation might differ from the example shown above.
5. Select the desired plugin type and click OK.

In the Physical view, the new plugin will appear under the selected Metadata Engine ( ).
In the Add-In Management view, the new plugin will appear under the ME plugins node ( ) .
6. Configure the general plugin properties from the "Properties" tab.

7. Associate the plugin to cameras on the system from the "Links" tab.
8. Configure the Actions and Standby Metadata Engines as needed.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > ME Plugins

ME Plugin – Database
The Database ( ) tab is a common configuration tab for all ME plugins. You can use it to tell the Metadata Engine how
it should handle the database entries generated by the selected plugin. Note that not all metadata generated by the
plugins are stored in the ME database. All visual metadata (overlays) are stored along the video by the Archiver, not the
Metadata Engine. See Camera – Recording.
Database management
Delete entries that are older than __ days
Enter here the retention period for the metadata of this plugin in terms of days.
If database runs out of space
Indicate here what the Metadata Engine should do when the database is full. It can either stop archiving or free
space for the new records by deleting the oldest entries.
Metadata security
In order to protect your metadata against tampering, you can enable the record fingerprinting. This feature adds a
digital signature to each data record so that if someone tries to alter the data after the fact, the data will no longer
match the signature, thus indicating that the data has been tampered with.
The private key used for fingerprinting the metadata records is configured in the Server Admin. See Security
Settings under Server Admin – Metadata Engine – General.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > ME Plugin > Database

ME Plugin – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab is a common configuration tab for all ME plugins. It allows the administrator to program specific
system behaviors based on the Plugin events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > ME Plugin > Actions

ME Plugin – Standby Metadata Engines
The Standby Metadata Engines ( ) tab helps you define the Metadata Engine failover list for this ME plugin.
The Metadata Engine that appears at the top of the list is the primary Metadata Engine. It is the one that should be
running this plugin in normal situations. If the primary Metadata Engine fails, then the execution of the plugin will fall on
the next Metadata Engine in line.
You may change the order of the standby Metadata Engines with the up and down buttons.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > ME Plugin > Standby Metadata Engines

Live Viewer Plugin
Live Viewer plugins (or LV plugins) are specific plugins designed to be used with the Live Viewer application.
Configuration
The LV plugins can only be found in the Add-In Management view under the Live Viewer plugins group ( ). The LV
plugins are described in three property sheets, one of which is type dependent.

Properties – Specific plugin properties (type dependent)
Each LV plugin is assigned a logical ID so they can be easily referenced. The LV plugins share the same pool of
logical IDs with the cameras, virtual cameras and viewer layouts.
To create a new LV plugin:

3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Live Viewer Plugin". The following dialog will appear.
Only the plugins installed on your local machine will be listed.
WARNING – For the plugin to work, the same plugin must also be installed on
every Live Viewer PC where you intend to run the plugin from.
4. Select the type of LV plugin you want to create and click OK.
5. Select the "Properties" tab and configure the specific settings.

Please refer to "Genetec Omnicast Plugins Help " for details.
6. Configure specific Actions to handle the plugin events if necessary.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > LV Plugin

LV Plugin – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab in the LV plugin configuration allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based
on the Plugin events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Plugins > LV Plugin > Actions

PTZ Motor
A PTZ motor allows physical control over a camera's movement. PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) commands can be issued from
either the Live Viewer, the Config Tool or a CCTV keyboard. Omnicast relays these commands to the appropriate PTZ
motor through the unit to which the PTZ motor is connected, via the serial port.
To access the configuration of a PTZ motor, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View selection
pane (on the left). It is always connected to a serial port ( ) in the device tree. The PTZ motor's configuration properties
will be shown in three property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The PTZ motor's Configuration pane contains three tabs, one for each property sheet:

Properties – PTZ motor control protocol and attached camera(s)
Test – Test and renaming of the advanced PTZ controls
Actions – PTZ motor event handling specifications
Network – PTZ motor network properties (Advanced mode)
Coordinates – Reserved for PTZ with direct positioning capabilities (Advanced mode)
To add a new PTZ motor configuration:

1. Select the Logical view or the Physical view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Hardware Matrix ". The following dialog will appear.
2. Expand the camera tree and select the camera that you wish the PTZ motor to control.
If you selected a virtual camera ( ), click on OK and end here. The remainder controls should all be disabled.
If you selected a video encoder ( ) instead, please continue with the next step.
3. Select the serial port ( ) that the PTZ motor is connected to.
The PTZ motor is typically connected to a serial port belonging to the same unit as the video encoder you
selected. If this is the case, click on "Serial port(s) on the same unit". Depending on the type of unit you are
using, you could get one or more serial ports. Select the appropriate one.
It happens sometimes that the only available serial port on the encoder unit is being used for something else.
If this is your case, you can connect the PTZ motor to any other unit in your system. To pick a serial port from
a different unit than the one of the video encoder, click on "Any serial port" and select the appropriate port
from the drop-down list.
4. Choose the appropriate protocol matching the PTZ model you are using.
5. Click on OK.
Now, whenever a user with the proper privileges displays the controlled camera in the Live Viewer, the PTZ
controls will become available. The subsequent steps are optional.
6. If necessary, fine-tune the PTZ properties from the Properties and Network tabs.
7. Test that everything works fine with the Test tab.
8. To control the accessibility of the PTZ motor by system users, select the Logical view and drag the PTZ motor ( )
to the site corresponding to the desired visibility level.
To delete a PTZ motor:

1. Right-click on a PTZ motor in the View selection pane and choose Delete.
2. Click on "Yes".
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor

PTZ Motor – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab allows the administrator to change the PTZ protocol and the attached cameras. Note that you
may not change anything if the PTZ motor is attached to a virtual camera.
Protocol
Use this drop-down list to select the appropriate PTZ protocol used by the hardware manufacturer.
PTZ number
The PTZ number is the number identifying the selected PTZ motor on the serial port. This number is very important
as it is possible to connect more than one PTZ motor on the same serial port. Moreover, this number has to
correspond to the dip switch settings on the PTZ hardware.
Idle delay
The idle delay defines the period of inactivity after which the PTZ is considered idle. When a user starts moving the
PTZ when it idle, the PTZ activated event will be generated. When the idle delay expires, the PTZ stopped event will
be generated. As long as there are users who continue to move the PTZ, the countdown timer will be continuously
restarted. Please refer to the description of the PTZ Motor – Actions tab for a sample application.
Note that the "PTZ activated" event can only be triggered by a user. If the PTZ movement is caused by a PTZ
action associated to an event, the "PTZ activated" event will not be generated.
Lock delay
The lock delay defines the maximum time a user can keep the PTZ locked once it has become idle. With this feature
in place, a PTZ cannot be locked indefinitely when a user forgets to unlock it.
Example: Let a PTZ motor be configured with the idle delay at 20 seconds and the lock delay at 10 seconds. If a
user locks the PTZ and forgets about it, the lock will be automatically released 30 seconds after the moment the
user stopped moving the camera with the PTZ.
Attached cameras
Select in this camera tree all the video encoders that correspond to the same physical camera that is controlled by
the PTZ motor. You may select more than one video encoder since it is possible to connect more than one video
encoder to the same physical camera.
If more than one video encoder is selected, they should all correspond to the same physical camera. Note that a
video encoder cannot be attached to more than one PTZ motor. If you select a video encoder that is attached to
another PTZ motor, it will be implicitly detached from the former PTZ motor.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor > Properties

PTZ Motor – Test
The Test ( ) tab allows the configuration and testing of the advanced PTZ controls. This is also the only place where the
auxiliary switches can be renamed.
Advanced PTZ controls configuration:

The PTZ controls shown in the Test tab are the same as those found in the PTZ Controls tab of the Live Viewer
application, with additional buttons for Preset, Pattern and Auxiliary controls. The behavior of these extra buttons
are explained below.
To rename a preset, a pattern or an auxiliary:
1. Select the preset, pattern or auxiliary you want to rename from the list control.
2. Click on the Rename button .
3. Enter the new name and choose OK.
To delete a preset or a pattern:
1. Select the preset or pattern you want to delete.
2. Press on the delete button .
Live video button

Click on this button to display a window showing live video from the selected video encoder. The live video can be
used to test the response of the PTZ motor with the PTZ controls found in this tab.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor > Test

PTZ Motor – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab is where the administrator can program specific system behaviors based on the PTZ events shown in
the Events/actions list.
Typical application
A typical application of these events is to program the PTZ to go back automatically to a preset position after a specified
period of inactivity. To do so, add a "Go to preset" action to the "PTZ stopped" event. The period of inactivity is
configured in the PTZ Motor – Properties tab (see Idle delay). For some PTZ protocols, you may use the "Go home"
action instead of "Go to preset".
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor > Actions

PTZ Motor – Network
The Network ( ) tab shows the network properties of the PTZ motor.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor > Network

PTZ Motor – Coordinates
The Coordinates ( ) tab allows the user to configure a dome camera for direct XYZ positioning.
Note that this tab will not be available if the selected PTZ motor does not support this feature.
Concept
Direct XYZ positioning is a special type of PTZ command supported by certain models of dome cameras which
allows the PTZ motor to turn the camera to any position and zoom setting based on a triplet of values (X, Y, Z),
where X is a pan setting (-360° to 360°), Y is a tilt setting (-180° to 180°) and Z is a zoom factor (-999 to 999). An
XYZ position is always expressed in terms of a reference position, called the zero position.
A typical application of direct XYZ positioning is to support the "point-and-show" feature. The idea of "point-and-
show" is to control a selected dome camera ( ) through a map (see Live Viewer – Camera Pane). Instead of using
the PTZ controls in the Live Viewer, the user can simply point and click on a map to have the camera turn to the
selected location.
The purpose of this tab is to allow the user to set the zero position to a meaningful location that can be used as a
reference point on a map.
NOTE – that the "point-and-show" feature must be programmed in a map, using Genetec
Omnicast SDK. For a complete reference of all the SDK methods and sample codes, please refer
to "Genetec Omnicast SDK Help". A shortcut to this documentation is found in the Help folder
of the Genetec Omnicast program group.
Setting the zero position

Current position
The current position is given in terms of the zero position. You can refresh the current position by clicking on the
Refresh button or by setting an automatic refresh rate.
Change position
The way to change the zero position is to set it to the current position.
You have three methods to change the current position:
1. Use the PTZ commands found int the Test tab.

2. Enter a new XYZ position based on the zero position and click on the "Absolute" button.
3. Enter a new XYZ position based on the current position and click on the "Relative" button.
Note that you can enter positive as well as negative values. Illegal values not supported by your PTZ will be ignored.
Once you feel that you have obtained the desired zero position, click on the "Use current position" button. Once
the current position becomes the zero position, the current position should indicate (0, 0, 1).
Max zoom factor
The "Max zoom factor" tells the system how far the zoom can go on the selected model of PTZ camera. This
information is necessary because not all domes supporting the same PTZ protocol offers the same maximum zoom
factor.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > PTZ Motor > Coordinates

Restore Archiver
The Restore Archiver is the Omnicast service that is responsible to make restored tape or folder backups available for
search and playback in the Archive Player. In order to use this service, the "Number of Restore Archivers" granted by
your Omnicast license must be greater than 0.
To access the settings of a Restore Archiver, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left).
The Restore Archiver's configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the
right).
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the Restore Archiver:

Backup sets – View and delete restored backup sets
Actions – Actions to perform following specific events
A great deal of the Restore Archiver configuration must be done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections
under Restore Archiver in the Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Restore Archiver

Restore Archiver – Backup Sets
The Backup Sets ( ) tab in the Restore Archiver's Configuration pane lists all the backup sets currently restored in the
system by this Restore Archiver. The only function allowed from this tab is to delete the restored backup sets to free disk
space.
To view the content of each backup set:

To view the content of each backup set, please go to the backup set configuration page by selecting the backup set
icon ( ) from the Physical view.
To delete a backup set:

Select a backup set from the list and click Delete .
When a backup set loaded from tape with NT Backup is handed over to a Restore Archiver, the latter takes full
ownership of the associated files. Therefore, when a backup set is later deleted through the Config Tool, all
associated video files also get deleted through the process. If only part of the backup set is restored by the Restore
Archiver (see Restore under Server Admin – Restore Archiver), all files that are not restored are immediately deleted
after the restore operation.
The same principle applies to Backup copied to a folder (see Archiver – Backup), except that this time, if you
delete the restored backup set, you could be deleting your only original copy! For this reason, for backup sets
stored on disk, we strongly recommend that you make a copy to another location before attempting a restore.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Restore Archiver > Backup Sets

Restore Archiver – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to configure specific system behaviors based on the Application events and
Database events shown in the Events/actions list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Restore Archiver > Actions

Serial Port
Serial ports are typically used by Omnicast to relay hardware specific commands to external devices such as domes and
keyboards. Another common use of the serial port is to control security related products such as variable message signs.
There is typically one serial port on every unit, but certain models may have two.
To access the settings of a serial port, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View selection pane
(on the left). The serial port's configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the Configuration pane
(on the right).
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the serial port:

Properties – Serial port properties
Network – Serial port network properties (Advanced mode)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Serial Port

Serial Port – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab is used to configure the different settings of the selected serial port. Please refer to your serial
equipment manufacturer's specifications.
Data bits
Number of data bits used for serial communication (5 to 8).
Parity
Parity used for serial communication (None, Even, or Odd).
Stop bits
Number of stop bits used for serial communication (1 or 2).
Baud rate
Baud rate used for serial communication (1200 to 115200).
Line Driver
Line driver
This static field indicates the modes supported by the serial port. If this field indicates "RS232" only, then the mode
selection combo-box will not be shown. This is usually the case when the unit ( ) supports two independant serial
ports ( ). The first port is always fixed at "RS232".
Mode (RS422/485)
This combo-box allows choosing between RS-422 4-wire, RS-485 4-wire and RS-485 2-wire for the serial port
mode. The correct choice will depend on the type of serial equipment connected to the port.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Serial Port > Properties

Serial Port – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the serial port.

Connection type (adjustable)
Client and server The choice of connection type between the client and server does not apply for
serial ports.
Archiver for this serial port.
You should choose "Unicast TCP" instead of "Best available" if you want the
stream to be redirected by the Archiver when you connect 2 serial ports together.
Otherwise, they will connect to each other directly.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Serial Port > Network

Site
A site is a user created entity for grouping related system resources together for ease of viewing and management.
Typically, a site corresponds to a physical location, like a building or a floor, but it may very well represent any concept in
the real world. To learn more about the purpose and use of sites in Omnicast, please read the section on Logical View
under Config Tool – View Selection Pane.
To access the configuration of a site, select it ( ) from the Logical view in the View selection pane (on the left). The site's
configuration properties will be shown in three property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the right).
Three tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the site:

Accepted users – Users that have been granted access to the site
Maps – View, test and attach HTML maps to the site
To create a new site:

1. Select the Logical view from the View selection pane.
2. Select the site (or the Directory if no site has been created yet) under which the new site should be created.
4. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Site". A new site ( ) will be created under the selected site, and the
Site configuration page will appear in the Configuration Pane on the right.
5. Enter an appropriate name and description for the new site.
6. You can easily change the position of a site in the hierarchy by dragging it to a new position.
7. To grant access to the new site to basic users, go to the Accepted users tab.
8. To attach a HTML map to the new site, go to the Maps tab.
To delete a site:
1. Select the site you wish to delete and click on the Delete button at the bottom of the View selection pane. The
following confirmation dialog will appear:
WARNING – When a selected site is deleted, all inactive devices under that site will also be
deleted. If there were video encoders among them, all video archives associated to the deleted
encoders will be deleted as well. If you do not wish to loose the video archives, move the
inactive encoders under another site before deleting the site.
2. Click on Yes to confirm the deletion. The active devices that were under the deleted site will be moved under the
parent site in the site hierarchy.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Site

Site – Accepted Users
The Accepted users ( ) tab of a site is used to grant or deny access to the selected site to the Omnicast users.
Permission list
On this page are listed all the users ( ) and user groups ( ) that have permission to access this site. If the
permission is inherited from a parent site, the parent site from which the permission is inherited is shown in the
"Inherited from" column.
To add a user or user group to the permission list, click on the add button at the bottom of the page. The list of
users and user groups that have not yet been granted access to the site will be shown is a dialog box. Select the
ones you wish to add and click on "Add".
To remove a user or user group from the permission list, simply select it and click on the remove button . Note
that you cannot remove a permission that is inherited from a parent site.
Inheritance option
The admnistrator has the option of letting a site inherit the access permission from its parent site or to set its own.
To inherit from the parent site, simply select the " Inherit parent permission entries" box.
When removing the inheritance option, the user has the choice to keep the inherited permissions as its own
("Copy") or to remove all permissions that were inherited from a parent site ("Remove").
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Site > Accepted Users

Site – Maps
The Maps ( ) tab of a site allows users to attach, view, and test HTML maps to the selected site. This tab is shown only if
the "HTML maps" option is supported by your Omnicast license.
HTML maps have a wide variety of applications in Omnicast. Using them to display floor plans with the location and
statuses of the cameras like in the above illustration is only one example. If you have cameras with "direct XYZ
positioning" capability, you can even implement maps with the "point-and-show" feature (see PTZ Motor – Coordinates).
The possible applications are only limited by your imagination.
Map address (URL)

The "Map address" field displays the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address or Web address of the map currently
attached to the site. Enter a different address in this field to change the map associated to the site. Click on the
"Go" button to view the HTML map in the browser window below.
Testing the HTML map

Click on the "Go" button to view the HTML map in the browser window below. If the map contains action buttons,
clicking on them will display the events they send to the application in the list box right below the browser window.
Current map/Set current

The URL displayed right on top of the browser window corresponds to the URL of the map you are currently
viewing. If this is the map address associated to the site, the field will be preceeded by the label "Current site".
When you navigate to a different map, the label "Current map" will change into a button labeled "Set current". Click
on this button to associate the map currently displayed in the browser window to the site.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Site > Maps

Speaker (Audio Decoder)
A speaker is a device which converts electronic signals into audible sound waves. The audio decoder is the device that
converts the digital audio signal received from the IP network into an analog signal so it can be played on the speaker.
The audio decoder is but one of the many devices found on an decoder unit. The speaker and the audio decoder are so
closely related that the two terms are used interchangeably in Omnicast.
To view or change the settings of a speaker, select it ( ) from the Logical view or the Physical view in the View selection
pane (on the left). The selected microphone's configuration properties will be shown in the Configuration pane (on the
right).
Four tabs are available, one for each property sheet of the speaker:

Properties – Audio decoder properties
Specific settings – Audio mode setting for the unit (only applicable to certain models!)
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Speaker (Audio Decoder)

Speaker – Properties
Selecting the Properties ( ) tab of an audio decoder allows the administrator to control the volume of the speaker.
Volume
Position the slider to the desired volume setting (default=68). You may also type the volume setting in the edit field
: 0 equals to mute the speaker, and 100% equals maximum volume.
Attached cameras
The camera tree shows the camera(s) that are connected to the speaker and allows the user to change the speaker
connections to cameras.
When a camera is connected to a speaker, the push to talk button ( ) will become enabled in the viewing tile of
the Live Viewer where the camera is displayed.
Note that a speaker can be associated to many cameras (e.g. cameras showing different angles of a same room),
but a camera can only be associated to one speaker. See also the Links tab under Camera configuration.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Speaker (Audio Decoder) > Properties

Speaker – Specific Settings
The Specific settings ( ) tab of the speaker is the same as the Audio tab of its unit. Changing anything in this tab will
affect all audio devices of the same unit.
Audio mode
Changing the audio mode here also changes the audio mode on the microphone (audio encoder) belonging to the
same unit.
Sampling rate (fixed)

The sampling rate is not applicable to the speaker.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Speaker (Audio Decoder) > Specific Settings

Speaker – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the audio decoder.

Client and server The choice of connection type between the client and the server is decided by
the audio encoder. Therefore, it is forced to "Best available" for the decoder.
Archiver for this audio decoder.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Speaker (Audio Decoder) > Network

Unit
Units (also known as video units) are video encoding or decoding devices capable of communicating on IP networks.
They come in a wide variety of brands and models. Some support audio, others support wireless communication. Certain
encoding models support multiple video inputs (up to 12) and others come integrated with the camera, such as IP
cameras.
To access the settings of a unit, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the left). Units are
controlled by Archivers, so you may have to expand the Archiver nodes ( ) to be able to find the unit you are looking
for. The configuration of the selected unit will appear in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The Unit configuration page contains the following tabs:

Audio – Audio mode configuration (only available on certain models!)
Firmware upgrade – Firmware version and upgrade
Specific settings – Extra unit settings (only applicable to certain models!)
Actions – Unit event handling specifications
Network – Unit discovery port and network properties (Advanced mode)
Security – Security options (only available on certain models! Advanced mode)
Standby Archivers – List of Archivers responsible for this unit (Advanced mode)
To add a new video unit:

Video units are normally created automatically by the Archiver as it discovers them on the network. There are,
however, some situations where the unit needs to be added manually. A special section of the User Guide is
dedicated to describe the manual unit creation process. Please turn to the section Create Video Unit found under
Config Tool – Menu – Action Menu.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit

Unit – Audio
The Audio ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the audio mode for the unit. This tab is only available on units
equipped with audio encoders and decoders. The same settings are found in the "Specific settings" tab of the
microphone and speaker belonging to that unit.
Audio mode
Changing the audio mode here changes the audio mode on both the audio encoder (microphone) and the audio
decoder (speaker) belonging to this Unit.
immediately by going to the Network tab and clicking on the "Reboot" button.
Sampling rate
This control is enabled only if the unit model you have allows you to configure the sampling rate. A high sampling
rate is recommended for languages that have a lot of intonation subtleties, such as Chinese.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Audio

Unit – Firmware Upgrade
The Firmware upgrade ( ) tab allows the administrator to verify and upgrade the firmware version of the unit.
To upgrade the firmware of a unit:

1. Select the appropriate unit ( ) from the Physical view.
2. Enter the full path of the firmware file or use the browse button to locate the desired firmware file.
3. Select the upgrade link: IP or Serial (i.e. connected to the serial port of the PC). If Serial is selected, specify also
the COM port.
4. Click on Start. The upgrade status dialog will appear.
Note that you will get a warning if you attempt to downgrade the firmware to an older version. If you choose to
proceed, all subsequent problems encountered will not be covered by the warranty.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Firmware Upgrade

Unit – Specific Settings
The Specific settings ( ) tab allows the administrator to configure the model specific settings of the unit. This tab is
present only when specific settings are necessary.
NOTE: The examples shown in this page are for the AXIS 241Q units.
Web access
URL (fixed)
This field shows the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address of the Web page for the unit configuration. The URL is
set by the system when the unit is discovered. It cannot be modified by the user.
Launch Web Access
Click on this button to open a browser window on the specified Web page. You may be prompted to enter a
username and a password if security is activated on the unit.
User authentication
Enter here the username and password required by the Archiver to access the unit configuration.
Select the option " Use default login" to use the default login configured for this unit type in the Server Admin
(see Server Admin – Archiver Extension – Axis – General).
Other settings
Number of MJPEG streams
Depending on the model of the unit, you may be able to select the number of MJPEG streams you want the
encoder to generate.
Bit rate
For AXIS units, the maximum bit rate cannot be controlled individually for each encoder. It can only be limited for
the entire unit.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Specific Settings

Unit – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based on the unit events shown in
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Actions

Unit – Network
The Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to configure the network settings of the unit.
Port (HTTP, Discovery, VSIP)

This is the port number used by the Archiver to connect to the unit. For an AXIS units, this port is called the HTTP
port. For VCS units, it is called the Discovery port. For Verint units, it corresponds to the VSIP port. For VCS and
Verint, the value of this field determines to which Archiver(s) the unit belongs (see Server Admin – Archiver
Extension). The port number can also be changed through the Discovery Tool.
Obtain an IP address automatically

Select this radio button to let the IP address be assigned dynamically.
Use the following IP address

Select this radio button to enable the next three fields.
Local IP Fixed IP address.

Subnet mask Subnet mask.
Gateway Gateway IP address.
Action buttons
Reboot This button reboots the unit.

button
Identify This button causes the Status LED on either side of the unit to flash very
button quickly in red for about 30 seconds. This feature is used to quickly find the
corresponding physical unit on a rack.
Note that changing any setting on this tab might require the unit to reboot. If necessary, the unit will reboot by itself
within the next minute and will be temporarily unavailable (shown as inactive). You can force the unit to reboot
immediately by clicking on the "Reboot" button.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Network

Unit – Security
The Security ( ) tab allows the administrator to configure the security settings of a unit. This tab is only available on
certain types of units (notably the Verint units).
Enable SSL
Select this option if SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol is to be used with this unit. Not all units support the SSL
protocol. This check box will be disabled if the unit does not support SSL or if SSL encryption is not allowed on the
Archiver supporting this unit (see Omnicast License Key under Welcome – System Concepts).
Allow Telnet session

Select this option if Telnet sessions are allowed (default at shipment). If this option is turned off, users will have to
use a serial cable connecting a PC and the unit to configure the unit. The only reason to disable this option is to
increase the security.
Allow firmware upgrade

Select this option if firmware upgrade is allowed (default at shipment). If this option is turned off, firmware
upgrades will be ignored. The only reason to turn this option off is to increase the security.
Firmware upgrade port

Port number used for firmware upgrade (default=12345). Change this value only if you have problems with
firewalls.
Note that changing this setting might require the unit to reboot. If necessary, the unit will reboot by itself within the
next minute and will be temporarily unavailable (shown as inactive). You can force the unit to reboot immediately by
going to the Network tab and clicking on the "Reboot" button.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Security

Unit – Standby Archivers
The Standby Archivers ( ) tab helps you define the Archiver failover list for this unit.
Description
The Archivers appearing in this list are the ones that have been configured to control this unit. The Archiver that
appears at the top of the list is called the primary Archiver. It is the one that should be controlling the unit in
normal situations. If the primary Archiver fails, then the control of the unit will be transferred to the next Archiver in
line. For more information on this topic, please refer to Archiver Availability under Welcome – System Concepts –
Archiving Management.
NOTE – When the standby achivers are not acting as the primary Archiver, they can be used to
produce redundant archives. Redundant archiving is a feature that can be turned on or off on a
camera by camera basis. See " Redundant archiving" under Camera – Recording.
You may change the order of the standby Archivers with the up and down buttons.
NOTE – A unit become associated to an Archiver either through automatic discovery or by being
manually assigned to an Archiver. The manual assignment can be done through the Discovery
Tool or through the "Add a unit" dialog (see Menu – Action Menu – Create Video Unit).
How it works
Each unit listens to commands from its Archiver on a specific port (see the Network tab).
Archivers on the other hand, can be configured to communicate with multiple groups of units (see Server Admin –
Archiver Extension). Only one Archiver can be actively controlling a unit at any time.
In the Config Tool's Physical view, the unit ( ) always appears under the Archiver ( ) that currently has control
over it.
In the following example, we have 13 units evenly distributed between two Archivers. If one of them fails, all the
units that were originally controlled by the one that failed are automatically transferred to the one that is still
working.
Both Archivers working One Archiver failed
NOTE – Once an Archiver becomes part of a unit's failover list, it cannot be removed from that
list until it becomes inactive (shown in red).
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Unit > Standby Archivers

User
Every Omnicast user is characterized by a user profile in the Directory. In this document, the term "user" designates both
the human user and the user profile stored in the Directory, depending on the context.
To access the properties of a user, select the User Management view and expand the Users node ( ) of the tree in the
View selection pane (on the left). A list of created users will expand under the Users node. The user's configuration will
be shown in the following property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The user configuration page contains the following tabs:

Properties – Preferences and basic attributes
Permissions – Permissions to access system resources
Privileges – Privileges to perform specific operations
Live Viewer – Layouts and Macros
Actions – User event handling specifications
Security – Additional parameters to expand or limit the actions of the user (Advanced
mode)
To add a new user:

1. Select the User Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "User". A new user will be created with the name "NewUser" under the
Users node.
4. Enter an appropriate name for the new user. Note that the user name must be unique and cannot contain
spaces. Use the Description field to enter the user's personal information.
5. If the user should belong to a group, select the appropriate user group and and add the user as a member of
that group. Repeat this step as many times as necessary.
6. Select the Properties tab and fill in the necessary information.

7. Select the Permissions tab and select the sites the user should be allowed to access.
8. Select the Privileges tab and add or deny privileges according to the user's need.
9. Select the Live Viewer tab and add the layouts and macros that the user is permitted to use.
10. Define the user events handling if necessary in the Actions tab.
11. Select the Security tab to further expand or limit the range of actions granted to the user through its
permissions and privileges.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User

User – Properties
The Properties ( ) tab defines the user's basic information, such as the password, the email address and the allowed
logon time.
Information
Email
The email address is used when executing the Send an email action. Read Action Definitions under Welcome –
System Concepts – Event Handling for more on defining actions.
Password
Passwords are optional in Omnicast. All new users are created without a password. However, for security reasons, it
is recommended to protect each user account with a password, especially the special "Admin" account and all users
belonging to the "Administrator" group.
To set or change the password, click on the Change password button. The Change password dialog will appear.
The new password must be entered twice for confirmation purpose.
To clear the password, click on the Clear password button and reply "Yes" when the system ask you to confirm
your action.
When the Active Directory option is enabled in Omnicast, you can no longer change
the username, the password and the email through the Config Tool. For more
information, read the section on Active Directory under Server Admin – Directory.
User logon
This section allows the administrator to limit the logon time of a user to specific periods of day and time during the
week. By default, all users are allowed to logon at all time, defined by the generic schedule "Always".
You may combine several schedules if necessary, using them either to "allow" user logon during a certain period of
time or to "block" it during a certain period of time. The move left and move right buttons allow you to
change the usage (allowing or blocking) of a selected schedule. Use the add and remove buttons to control
the combination of schedules in each list.
Schedule overview
To visualize the combined effect of all schedules on user logon for a given day, click on the schedule overview
The top section lists all logon schedules applied to this user. The bottom section shows the different periods during
the day where logon is either allowed or blocked. When two schedules of different types (i.e. using different
recurrence patterns) overlap, priority is evaluated in the following order: (1) Specific, (2) Yearly, (3) Monthly, (4)
Weekly, (5) Daily, (6) Always. Please read the section on Conflict resolution under Welcome – System Concepts –
Schedule Priorities, for more details.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Properties

User – Permissions
The Permissions ( ) tab is used to control the user's access rights to system resources. Access to system resources in
Omnicast is controlled by the Logical view. This control tab is not applicable to members of the system defined user
group Administrators. They will always have full access to everything.
Access rights
The column on the left shows the access permissions granted on each site to the user. If a permission is inherited
from a parent group, then the parent group's name is indicated in brackets, and the permission cannot be removed
from the user.
NOTE – If the user has the privilege Always view all entities, then it will automatically
gain access to all sites. In this case, "User privilege" is indicated in brackets instead of
the parent group name.
The following are the access permission indicators:

No permission granted to the site nor to any of its children sites
Permission granted to some children sites but not to the site itself
Permission granted to the site but not to all its children sites
Permission granted to the site and to all its children sites (select Exception)
To grant access to a site, simply select the box adjacent to it. Selecting a parent site will automatically select all its
children sites and clearing a parent site will automatically clear all its children sites.
Note that you can always grant the permission to access a site without necessarily granting it for its parent site. But
to remove the permission from a site while it is granted for the parent, you must make sure that the site is not
configured to inherit its access grants from its parent (see the section on Accepted users under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Site).
WARNING – Note that access to the Directory is only granted to the
Administrators group and its members. Other users are not allowed to access
anything placed directly under the Directory. You are allowed to select the Directory
as a shortcut to select all its children sites. But unless the user is a member of the
Administrators group, no permission will be granted to access anything directly
placed under the Directory, even if the Directory is selected.
TIP – You can use the access rights to control the access to devices that are not
shown in the Live Viewer application, such as the PTZ motors, the microphones and
the speakers. For example, if a given user should only be allowed to view a camera
but not to use its PTZ controls, you can achieve this by placing the camera under a
site that is visible to the user, and placing the related PTZ motor under a site that is
not visible to the user.
Member of
The column on the right lists all the user groups ( ) that the selected user is a member of. If the user is a member
of a group that itself belongs to another group, the entire hierarchy is shown. To learn more about user groups,
please refer to section on User Group in this guide.
You may add the user's membership to new groups or remove its membership from existing groups with the add
and remove buttons.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Permissions

User – Privileges
The Privileges ( ) tab is used to view and control the range of operations that a user is permitted to do with the system.
The operations accessible to a user are limited by its "privileges". For other privilege related topics, please read "PTZ
priority" under User – Preferences, and "Access rights" under User – Permissions.
Privileges:
The scrollable list control shown in this tab enumerates all the privileges that can be granted to a user in Omnicast.
These privileges are grouped into six categories: Applications, Config Tool privileges, Live Viewer privileges, PTZ
controls and General privileges.
The privileges are arranged hierarchically, which means that when a higher level privilege is denied, all the privileges
attached to it at a lower level are also denied. As an illustration, a user may be allowed to "Record manually" but not
to "Add bookmarks". However, reversing the permissions is not possible, because adding a bookmark has the effect
of starting the manual recording.
Privilege inheritance
A privilege can be inherited from a parent user group or explicitly granted to a user. Each privilege has a grant
priority which can either be "Undefined", "Allowed" or "Denied", with "Undefined" being the lowest priority grant
and "Denied" being the highest priority grant. Privilege grants are passed down from a user group to its members
with one simple rule: "Higher priority grants always supersede lower priority grants".
The following example shows how the privilege grants work:

Group-A Privileges Inherited Explicit Combined End result / comments
Member of grant grant grant
no one Privilege1 Undefined Undefined Privilege1 is not granted
Privilege2 Undefined Undefined Privilege2 is not granted
Privilege3 Undefined Allowed Allowed Privilege3 is granted explicitly to Group-A
Privilege4 Undefined Allowed Allowed Privilege4 is granted explicitly to Group-A
Group-B Privileges Inherited Explicit Combined End result / comments

Group-A Privilege1 Undefined Undefined Privilege1 is not granted
Privilege2 Undefined Allowed Allowed Privilege2 is granted explicitly to Group-B
Privilege3 Allowed Allowed Privilege3 is inherited from Group-A
Privilege4 Allowed Denied Denied Privilege4 is denied (supersedes grant from

Group-A)
Peter Privileges Inherited Explicit Combined End result / comments

Group-B Privilege1 Undefined Allowed Allowed Privilege1 is granted explicitly to Peter

Privilege2 Allowed Allowed Privilege2 is inherited from Group-B
Privilege3 Allowed Allowed Privilege3 is inherited from Group-A
Privilege4 Denied Denied Privilege4 is denied by Group-B (cannot be

superseded by Group-B members)
The "Inherited from" column shows the names of all the group (or groups) that the privilege is inherited from.
When the user's name is also part of the list, it means that the privilege is both inherited and explicitly granted to
the user. This happens when the privilege was granted to the user prior to its adhesion to the group. That way,
when the user is removed from the group, it will keep its old privileges.
Modifying the privileges
The radio buttons "Allow", "Deny" and "Undefined" located at the right hand side of the privileges allow the explicit
modification of the privilege grants. If a radio button is disabled, it means that the option is no longer available
because of higher priority inherited grants.
Privilege Descriptions
The user privileges are divided into six categories:
Applications
Live Viewer Allows the user to run the Live Viewer application without the privileges
described under Live Viewer privileges, PTZ controls and General privileges.
Archive Player Allows the user to run the Archive Player application without the privileges
described under General privileges.
Config Tool Allows the user to run the Config Tool application, without the Config Tool
privileges.
Macro Editor Allows the user to run the Macro Editor application.
Web Live Viewer Allows the user to run the Web Live Viewer.
Web Archive Player Allows the user to run the Web Archive Player.
SDK Allows the user to run applications written with Omnicast SDK.
Pocket PC Allows the user to run the Pocket PC application.
Media Gateway Allows the user to establish connections with the Media Gateway.
Uncompressed Video Filter Allows the user to establish connections with the Uncompressed Video Filter.
Config Tool privileges

Always view all entities Allows the user to view all entity configurations. With this privilege, the user
automatically gain access to all sites in the Logical view. See User –
Permissions.
Site configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of existing sites and the Logical
view hierarchy.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete sites.
Unit configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of units.
Firware upgrade Allows the user to upgrade the firmware of units.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete units. See Create Video Unit under Action
menu.
Camera configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of video encoders, except the
general settings, the recording and dynamic recording settings, and the
motion detection settings.
Video quality settings Allows the user to change the video quality settings.
Recording settings Allows the user to change the recording settings.
Motion detection settings Allows the user to change the motion detection settings.
Analog monitor configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of analog monitors.
Audio configutation Allows the user to change the configuration of audio devices.
Serial port configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of serial ports.
Digital input configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of digital inputs.
Output relay configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of output relays.
PTZ configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of PTZ motors.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete PTZ motors.
Hadware matrix configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of hardware matrices.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete hardware matrices.
Schedule configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of schedules and coverages.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete schedules and coverages.
Event and action configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of custom events and actions.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete custom events and actions.
Alarm configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of alarm entities.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete alarm entities.
Delete alarm instances Allows the user to delete alarm instances before they are due to be deleted.
Macro configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of macros.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete macros.
Camera sequence configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of camera sequences.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete camera sequences.
CCTV keyboard configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of CCTV keyboards.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete CCTV keyboards.
Access control system configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of access control systems.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete access controls.
Monitor group configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of monitor groups.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete monitor groups.
Camera group configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of camera groups.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete camera groups.
Viewer layout configuration Allows the user to rename the viewer layouts.
Deletion Allows the user to delete viewer layouts.
Backup operator Allows the user to perform backups operations. See Archiver - Backup.
Modify logical IDs Allows the user to change the logical IDs of entities.
Plugin configuration Allows the user to change the configuration of plugins.
Creation and deletion Allows the user to create and delete plugins.
Live Viewer privileges

Change displayed entities Allows the user to change the displayed entities while running the Live Viewer
application.
Change layout selection Allows the user to change the selected viewer layout in each Viewing pane.
Change tile pattern Allows the user to change the tile pattern of any viewer layout he has access
to.
Edit/save the layout Allows the user to save the changes to the layouts and the configuration of
configuration the Viewing pane.
Change content in armed tiles Allows the user to change the displayed entities in armed tiles.
Arm/Disarm tiles Allows the user to arm and disarm tiles in the Viewing pane.
Start/stop guard tour Allows the user to start and stop the guard tour.
Edit guard tour dwell time Allows the user to change the guard tour dwell time.
Acknowledge alarms Allows the user to acknowledge alarms.
Forward alarms Allows the user to forward alarms and to set alarms auto-forward.
Snooze alarms Allows the user to put alarms to snooze.
Audio (listen/talk) Allows the user to use the audio controls.

Access digital zoom Allows the user to use the digital zoom controls.
Do instant replay Allows the user to use the instant replay controls.
Execute macros Allows the user to execute the macros.
Change macro hot keys Allows the user to change the macro hot key mappings.
Local recording Allows the user to record locally on the PC hard disk.
PTZ controls
Do basic operations Allows the user to use the basic PTZ commands.
Change focus and iris settings Allows the user to play with the focus and iris controls.
Use presets Allows the user to use the camera presets.
Edit presets Allows the user to change or rename the camera presets.
Use patterns Allows the user to run the camera patterns.
Edit patterns Allows the user to change or rename the camera patterns.
Use auxiliaries Allows the user to use the auxiliary controls.
Edit auxiliaries Allows the user to rename the auxiliaries.
Use specific commands Allows the user to use the PTZ specific commands and the menu mode.
Lock PTZ Allows the user to lock the PTZ.
Override PTZ locks Allows the user to override PTZ locks.
General privileges
Record manually Allows the user to do manual recording in the Live Viewer.
Add bookmarks Allows the user to add bookmarks in Live Viewer and Archive Player.
View a camera on an analog monitor Allows the user to connect a camera to an analog monitor.
Block camera Allows the user to deny video connections to a camera from other users.
Send messages Allows the user to do the "send a message" action.
Send sounds Allows the user to do the "send an alert sound" action.
Send emails Allows the user to do the "send an email" action.
Send on serial ports Allows the user to do the "send a string on a serial port" action.
Execute custom actions Allows the user to execute custom actions.
Save and print snapshots Allows the user to save or print snapshots.
Manually trigger an alarm Allows the user to trigger alarms manually.
Start client application on a remote Allows the user to view federated entities by connecting directly to the remote
Directory Directory. See Tile Contextual Menu under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
Control camera sequences Allows the user to pause and step through the camera sequences.
Export video files Allows the user to export video files.
Change own password Allows the user to change his own password.
Protect video from deletion Allows the user to protect video from deletion.
Remove video protection Allows the user to remove video protections.
Change application options Allows the user to change the settings in the Options dialog.
Change client views Allows the user to change the appearance settings of the application. Withtout
this privilege, the user can't move the application window and cannot logout.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Privileges

User – Live Viewer
The Live Viewer ( ) tab allows the administrator to control the visibility of layouts and hot macros in the Live Viewer
application for the selected user.
Alarms
Alarm display mode
There are three distinct alarm display modes to choose from in Omnicast:
Simple Alarm cameras are displayed one per armed viewing tile, following their alarm
priority. Multiple alarms can be displayed simultaneously as long as there are
enough armed tiles to fit them all.
Salvo All cameras assigned to the alarm are displayed simultaneously, using as many
armed viewing tiles as needed. Only one alarm can be displayed at a time.
Block All cameras assigned to the alarm cycle through a same viewing tile. Multiple
alarms can be displayed simultaneously, up to the number of armed tiles
available in the Live Viewer or to the maximum number of alarms to be
displayed simultaneously for that user.
To learn more about the characteristics of each display mode, please refer to the section on Alarm Display Mode
Maximum displayed alarms
Specify here the maximum number of alarms that can be displayed simultaneously in the Live Viewer.
Preferences
List of layouts in Workspace
The list of viewer layouts indicates which viewer layouts are available to the user from the Live Viewer application.
The order of appearance in the list corresponds to their order of appearance in the Live Viewer (left to right). See
Managing the Layouts under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
To add a layout to the list, click on the add button at the bottom of the list. Select the desired macro from the
dialog box that appear and click on OK. If a layout appears shaded , it means that the user has no permission to
view the layout. However, if the user has access to the layout but not to all the cameras shown by the layout, the
layout will be displayed in the Live Viewer but the tiles showing inaccessible cameras will be empty.
To remove a layout from the list, select it from the list and click on the remove button . To change the order of
the layouts, select a layout in the list and click on the up and down arrows to move it up or down the list.
Users with the appropriate privileges can also change the layout configuration themselves from the Live Viewer
application. See Editing/saving the layout configuration under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane – Managing the Layouts.
List of hot macros
The list of hot macros (right) defines the macros that should appear in the Hot Macros ( ) tab of the Live Viewer
application. The order of appearance in the list corresponds to their order of appearance in the Live Viewer.
To add a macro to the list, click on the add button at the bottom of the list. Select the desired macro from the
dialog box that appear and click on OK. If a macro appears shaded , it means that the user has no permission to
use this macro.
To remove a macro from the list, select it from the list and click on the remove button . To change the order of
the macros, select a macro in the list and click on the up and down arrows to move it up or down the list.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Live Viewer

User – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab is where the administrator can program specific system behaviors based on the user events shown
in the Events/actions list. For example, when a user logs on, a message can be sent to the head of security.
The Schedule indicates when the selected action would be in effect. Each action may be on a different schedule.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Actions

User – Security
The Security ( ) tab is only visible in the Advanced mode (Shift+F10). It pertains to parameters that can further expand
or limit the actions of the user granted by its permissions and privileges. They are:
PTZ priority
Viewing priority
Archive viewing limitation
PTZ priority
The PTZ priority is used by Omnicast to determine which user has priority over a camera's PTZ controls when two or
more users are trying to control the movement of the same camera. The value of 1 corresponds to the highest
priority, and the value of 255 corresponds to the lowest priority.
Sorting out controls over the PTZ
Between users with different PTZ priorities, the system always grants precedence to the user with the higher
priority. Between users having the same PTZ priority, it is decided on a first come first served basis. Once a user
gains control over a PTZ camera, it is implicitly locked by that user. This means that other users cannot snatch the
control away from him unless they have a higher PTZ priority. The control over the PTZ camera is automatically
relinquished after 5 seconds of inactivity.
Dealing with PTZ locks
It is possible for a user with the "Lock PTZ" privilege to explicitly lock the PTZ controls from either the Live Viewer or
Config Tool application. Please refer to the description of the Lock/Unlock PTZ toggle button under Live Viewer –
Control Pane – Camera Controls – PTZ Controls.
In the Live Viewer application, whenever a PTZ control attempt is denied by the system, a PTZ locked event is
generated to inform the user who is trying to gain control over the PTZ, who is currently holding the lock. When a
PTZ is explicitly locked, having a higher PTZ priority than the person who locked it will not allow you to unlock the
PTZ. You will need the "Override PTZ locks" privilege.
Setting the PTZ priority
The PTZ priority can be set explicitly for a user or inherited from a parent user group. If the option " Inherit from
parent" is selected, then the user will inherit the PTZ priority of its parent group. If the user has more than one
parent group, the highest PTZ priority will be inherited. If the user has no parent group, the lowest PTZ priority
(255) will be inherited.
Viewing priority
The viewing priority is used by Omnicast to manage camera blocking, which allows users with higher viewing
priorities to block the live video on selected cameras to users with lower viewing priorities.
The viewing priority can be set explicitly for a user or inherited from a parent user group. If the option " Inherit
from parent" is selected, then the user will inherit the viewing priority of its parent group. If the user has more than
one parent group, the highest viewing priority will be inherited. If the user has no parent group, the lowest viewing
priority (11) will be inherited.
To learn about this feature, please read the description of Block Cameras Dialog under Live Viewer – Tools Menu.

The archive viewing limitation serves to restrict the user's access to archived video to the last n days.
This limitation can be defined explicitly for a user or inherited from a parent user group. If the option " Inherit
from parent" is selected, then the user will inherit its archive viewing limitation from its parent group. If the user has
more than one parent group, the most restrictive limitation will be inherited. If the user has no parent group, no
limitation will be imposed.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User > Security

User Group
A user group is a convenient way in Omnicast to define common user attributes, such as permissions and privileges. By
becoming a member of a group, a user automatically inherits all the attributes of the group. A user can be member of
many groups.
To access the properties of a user group, select the User Management view and expand the User groups node ( ) of
the tree in the View selection pane (on the left). A list of created user groups will expand under the User groups node of
the tree. The user group's configuration will be shown in four property sheets in the Configuration pane (on the right).
The user configuration page contains the following tabs:

Members – Members of the group
Permissions – Permissions to access system resources
Privileges – Privileges to perform specific actions
Security – Additional parameters to expand or limit the actions of the user group
(Advanced mode)
Please read the section on Standard User Groups under Welcome – System Concepts – User Profile to learn more about
the default user groups that are created at system installation.
To add a new user group:

1. Select the User Management view from the View selection pane.
3. In the pop-up menu that appears, select "User Group". A new user group will be created with the name "New
User Group" under the User groups node.
4. Enter an appropriate name for the new user group. Note that the user group name must be unique and cannot
contain spaces. Use the Description field to enter a brief description for the user group.
5. Select the Members tab to add members to the group.
6. Select the Permissions tab and select the sites that the group members should be allowed to access.
7. Select the Privileges tab and add or deny privileges from the members of this group.
8. Select the Security tab to further expand or limit the range of actions granted to the user group through its
permissions and privileges.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User Group

User Group – Members
The Members ( ) tab is used to add or delete members from the user group. A group member can either be a user or
another user group. The only restriction is that a user group cannot become a member of one of its own members (no
cyclic membership).
To add members:
1. Click on the add button at the bottom of the members list.
2. In the pop up dialog box that appears, select the users and the groups you wish to add and click on the "Add"
button. To select more than one member at a time, hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the user or group names.
To remove members:
Select the members you wish to remove from the list and click on the remove button at the bottom of the
members list. To select more than one member at a time, hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the user or group
names.
When the Active Directory option is enabled in Omnicast, you can no longer change
the group name and group members through the Config Tool. For more
information, read the section on Active Directory under Server Admin – Directory.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User Group > Members

User Group – Permissions
The Permissions ( ) tab is used to control the access permissions granted to the group members. Access to system
resources in Omnicast is controlled through the Logical view.
Access rights
The column on the left shows the access permissions granted on each site to the user. If a permission is inherited
from a parent group, then the parent group's name is indicated in brackets, and the permission cannot be removed
from the user.
If the user group has the privilege Always view all entities, then it will automatically
gain access to all sites. In this case, "User privilege" is indicated in brackets instead of
the parent group name.
The following are the access permission indicators:

No permission granted to the site nor to any of its children sites
Permission granted to some children sites but not to the site itself
Permission granted to the site but not to all its children sites
Permission granted to the site and to all its children sites (select Exception)
To grant access to a site, simply select the box adjacent to it. Selecting a parent site will automatically select all its
children sites and clearing a parent site will automatically clear all its children sites.
Note that you can always grant the permission to access a site without necessarily granting it for its parent site. But
to remove the permission from a site while it is granted for the parent, you must make sure that the site is not
configured to inherit its access grants from its parent (see the section on Accepted users under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Site).
Exception
Note that access to the Directory is only granted to the Administrators group
and its members. Other users are not allowed to access anything placed directly
under the Directory. You are allowed to select the Directory as a shortcut to select all
its children sites. But unless the user group is a member of the Administrators group,
no permission will be granted to access anything directly placed under the Directory,
even if the Directory is selected.
You can use the access rights to control the access to devices that are not shown in
the Live Viewer application, such as the PTZ motors, the microphones and the
speakers. For example, if a given user should only be allowed to view a camera but
not to use its PTZ controls, you can achieve this by placing the camera under a site
that is visible to the user, and placing the related PTZ motor under a site that is not
visible to the user.
Member of
The column on the right lists all the user groups ( ) that the selected group is a member of. If the group is a
member of another group that itself belongs to another group, the entire hierarchy is shown.
You may add the group's membership to new groups or remove its membership from existing groups with the add
and remove buttons.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User Group > Permissions

User Group – Privileges
The Privileges ( ) tab is used to view and control the privileges granted to the group members.
A privilege granted to the group is automatically granted to all its members, but it can be denied to its members on an
individual basis.
A privilege denied to the group is automatically denied to all its members, and it cannot be overridden on an individual
basis.
To understand more about the privilege inheritance, please read the section on Privileges under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – User.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User Group > Privileges

User Group – Security
The Security ( ) tab is only visible in the Advanced mode (Shift+F10). It pertains to parameters that can further expand
or limit the actions of the user group granted by its permissions and privileges. They are:
PTZ priority
Viewing priority
PTZ priority
The PTZ priority is used by Omnicast to determine which user has priority over a camera's PTZ controls when two or
more users are trying to control the movement of the same camera. The value of 1 corresponds to the highest
priority, and the value of 255 corresponds to the lowest priority.
Sorting out controls over the PTZ
Between users with different PTZ priorities, the system always grants precedence to the user with the higher
priority. Between users having the same PTZ priority, it is decided on a first come first served basis. Once a user
gains control over a PTZ camera, it is implicitly locked by that user. This means that other users cannot snatch the
control away from him unless they have a higher PTZ priority. The control over the PTZ camera is automatically
relinquished after 5 seconds of inactivity.
Dealing with PTZ locks
It is possible for a user with the "Lock PTZ" privilege to explicitly lock the PTZ controls from either the Live Viewer or
Config Tool application. Please refer to the description of the Lock/Unlock PTZ toggle button under Live Viewer –
Control Pane – Camera Controls – PTZ Controls.
In the Live Viewer application, whenever a PTZ control attempt is denied by the system, a PTZ locked event is
generated to inform the user who is trying to gain control over the PTZ, who is currently holding the lock. When a
PTZ is explicitly locked, having a higher PTZ priority than the person who locked it will not allow you to unlock the
PTZ. You will need the "Override PTZ lock" privilege.
Setting the PTZ priority
The PTZ priority can be set explicitly for a user group or inherited from a parent user group. If the box " Inherit
PTZ priority from parent" is selected, then the group will inherit the PTZ priority of its parent group. If the group
has more than one parent groups, the highest PTZ priority will be inherited. If the group has no parent group, the
lowest PTZ priority (255) will be inherited.
Viewing priority
The viewing priority is used by Omnicast to manage camera blocking, which allows users with higher viewing
priorities to block the live video on selected cameras to users with lower viewing priorities.
The viewing priority can be set explicitly for a user group or inherited from a parent user group. If the box "
Inherit viewing priority from parent" is selected, then the user group will inherit the viewing priority of its parent
group. If the user group has more than one parent group, the highest viewing priority will be inherited. If the user
group has no parent group, the lowest viewing priority (11) will be inherited.
To learn about this feature, please read the description of Block Cameras Dialog under Live Viewer – Menu – Tools
Menu.

The archive viewing limitation serves to restrict the user group's access to archived video to the last n days.
This limitation can be defined explicitly for a user group or inherited from a parent user group. If the option "
Inherit from parent" is selected, then the group will inherit its archive viewing limitation from its parent group. If the
group has more than one parent group, the most restrictive limitation will be inherited. If the group has no parent
group, no limitation will be imposed.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > User Group > Security

Viewer Layout
Viewer layouts are layout definitions for the Live Viewer's Viewing pane that can be shared among different users.
Definition
Each viewer layout defines the following:
1. the choice of tile pattern (number and disposition of the tiles in the layout)
2. the entity mapping to each viewing tile, and
3. the alarm state ("armed" or "disarmed") of each viewing tile.
Viewer layouts can only be created and modified from the Live Viewer, but they can be renamed, deleted and
assigned to different users from the Config Tool. To learn how to change their assignment to user, please read the
Live Viewer section under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – User.
Each viewer layout is assigned a layout ID (logical ID) so they can be easily referenced. The viewer layouts share the
same pool of logical IDs with the cameras and virtual cameras.
To delete a viewer layout:

1. Select the Logical view in the View selection pane (on the left).
2. Make sure that viewer layouts are selected as visible entities by clicking on the Show/Hide button.
3. Expand the nodes in the tree if necessary and select the layout you wish to delete.
4. Click on [Delete] and click on "Yes".
Addtional readings
To learn how to create and configure viewer layouts, please refer to the section on Managing the Layouts under
Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
To learn how to assign viewer layouts to users, please refer to the section on Layout list under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – User – Live Viewer.

Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Viewer Layout

Virtual Camera
A virtual camera is a camera that is indirectly controlled by Omnicast through a conventional CCTV matrix (see
hardware matrix). It differs from a regualr camera that is directly controlled by Omnicast because it has no permanent
connection to a video encoder. Virtual cameras are created automatically when hardware matrices are configured (See
Hardware Matrix – Inputs).
WARNING – Virtual cameras are viewed through the outputs of the CCTV matrix which are connected to video
encoders. Because a CCTV matrix has typically more inputs than outputs, not all virtual cameras can be viewed at
the same time.
To access the configuration of a virtual camera, select it ( ) from the Physical view. You will find them under the
hardware matrix ( ) node. The virtual camera features two configuration tabs.

The logical ID assigned to virtual cameras share the same pool of logical IDs with cameras, LV plugins and viewer layouts.
TIP – To find out which user/application is currently viewing a virtual camera, click on the Connections tab of the
corresponding Hardware Matrix.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Camera

Virtual Camera – Network
Selecting the Network ( ) tab allows the administrator to choose the connection type used by the video encoder
associated to the virtual camera.

UDP port Port number used when the connection type is unicast UDP. If the encoder
supports multiple video streams, this parameter is different for each stream.
Unit and Archiver Not applicable.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Camera > Network

Virtual Matrix
The Virtual Matrix is the Omnicast server application that provides all of the functionality that one expects from an
traditional CCTV matrix without the hardware limitations associated with it. Unlike its hardware counterparts, the Virtual
Matrix offers an infinite number of inputs/outputs. Through the Virtual Matrix, legacy hardware can be seamlessly
integrated to the new IP solution.
The Virtual Matrix is required for the execution and control of the following Omnicast entities:
Access control system

Camera sequence
CCTV keyboard
Hardware matrix
Macros
Monitor groups
Virtual Matrix plugin
In order to use this service, the "Number of Virtual Matrices" allowed by your Omnicast license must be greater or equal
to 1.
To access the configuration of a Virtual Matrix, select it ( ) from the Physical view in the View selection pane (on the
left). The Virtual Matrix's property sheets will be displayed in the Configuration pane (on the right). All entities controlled
by the selected Virtual Matrix are listed below the Virtual Matrix node.

Statistics – Various status and statistical information on entities controlled by the Virtual
Matrix
Plugins – Plugins installed for this Virtual Matrix
Actions – Event Handling for Virtual Matrix events
Standby Virtual Matrices – Configure the current Virtual Matrix as standby for other
Virtual Matrices on the system (Advanced mode)
Part of the Virtual Matrix's configuration must be done through the Server Admin. Please refer to the sections under
Virtual Matrix in the Server Admin reference.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Matrix

Virtual Matrix – Statistics
The Statistics ( ) tab in the Virtual Matrix's configuration is divided in two sections. The top section allows the
administrator to execute and monitor macros and plugins defined in the system. The bottom section lists the CCTV
equipements (keyboards and hardware matrices) currently controlled by the Virtual Matrix.
To execute a macro or a plugin:

1. Click on the Start macro button . The following dialog will appear.
2. Select the macro or plugin you wish to execute from the list and click OK. You may start the same macro as many
times as necessary.
3. The started macro will be added to the macro list at the top section of the page. The macro name, the start time
and the current step are indicated. Click on the refresh button to refresh the list.
4. To stop a macro, select it from the list and click the Stop macro button .
Keyboard list
Select the "Keyboard" tab to show the list of CCTV keyboards controlled by this Virtual Matrix. The same CCTV
keyboards ( ) should appear under the Virtual Matrix node ( ) in the Physical view.
Keyboard Name of the CCTV keyboard

name
Keyboard Keyboard status (either "Connected" or "Disconnected")
status
Bytes received Number of bytes received from the keyboard. Click on to refresh this value.
Hardware matrix list

Select the "Hardware matrix" tab to show the list of hardware matrices controlled by this Virtual Matrix. The same
hardware matrices ( ) should appear under the Virtual Matrix node ( ) in the Physical view.
Hardware Name of the hardware matrix

matrix
Serial port
Status
Bytes
transmitted
Bytes received Number of bytes received from the hardware matrix. Click on to refresh this value.
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Matrix > Statistics

Virtual Matrix – Plugins
The Plugins ( ) tab in the Virtual Matrix's Configuration pane.
To execute a macro:
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Matrix > Plugins

Virtual Matrix – Actions
The Actions ( ) tab allows the administrator to program specific system behaviors based on application events shown in
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Matrix > Actions

Virtual Matrix – Standby Virtual Matrices
The Standby Virtual Matrices ( ) tab allows you to configure the current Virtual Matrix as a hot standby for other Virtual
Matrices on the system.
To set the current VM as a standby for another VM on the system:

1. Select a Virtual Matrix for which the current Virtual Matrix should act as a standby from the drop-down list.
2. The entities controlled by the selected Virtual Matrix are shown in the list below. The ones that are selected are
the ones for which the current Virtual Matrix is already configured as a standby.
3. Select the entities for which you wish to protect with the current Virtual Matrix as a standby, and clear the ones
you do not want the current Virtual Matrix to protect.
4. Click on "Apply changes" to save the changes. The current Virtual Matrix will be automatically added to the end
of the failover list of the entities you selected, or removed from the failover list of the ones you cleared.
If you wish to set the current Virtual Matrix as the master (or primary controller) of an entity, you must do so
directly from the "Standby Virtual Matrices" tab of the targeted entity.
The entities that need to be controlled by a Virtual Matrix are listed below.
Access control systems

Camera sequences
CCTV keyboards
Hardware matrices
Macro schedules
Monitor groups
Config Tool > Configuration Pane > Virtual Matrix > Standby Virtual Matrices

Server Admin
Overview
Menu
System
Directory
Gateway
Federation Server
Archiver / Archiver Extensions
Auxiliary Archiver
Restore Archiver
Metadata Engine
Virtual Matrix
Server Admin

Overview
The Server Admin is the application used to update the Omnicast license and configure the server applications. It must
always be executed on the machine where the services are installed.
The Server Admin workspace is divided into two panes (see illustration above). The left pane displays the resource tree.
Selecting any of the elements in the resource tree will display the configuration tabs on the right.
The resources that can be configured are:
System – Update license key on the local machine and view access rights.
Directory – Directory configuration for the local machine.
Directory Failover Coordinator – DFC configuration for the local machine.
Gateway – Gateway configuration for the local machine.
Federation Server – Federation Server configuration for the local machine.
Archiver – Archiver configuration for the local machine.
Archiver extensions – Additional Archiver settings for individual unit groups.
Auxiliary Archiver – Auxiliary Archiver configuration for the local machine.
Restore Archiver – Restore Archiver configuration for the local machine.
Metadata Engine – Metadata Engine configuration for the local machine.
Virtual Matrix – Virtual Matrix configuration for the local machine.
Note: Only the services installed on the local machine are visible in the resource tree.
Server Admin > Overview

Menu
The Server Admin menu is comprised of the following submenus:
System menu You may exit the application from here.
Action menu The Action menu is identical to the contextual menu when you right-click in the resource
tree. You can start, stop or restart the selected application. These same functions are also
available from the WatchDog user interface found in the system tray. If the selected item is
the Archiver, you can also create the Archiver extensions.
Tools menu This menu lets you access one of the following tools:
Select Database Status...
Options...
Help menu This menu lets the user access various help functions. Selecting "Contents..." or clicking the F1
key will open this document in the reference guide section related to the current application
you are running.
links.
Server Admin > Menu

Menu – Select Database Status
Description
"Check database status" is a tool to list all databases located on a MSSQL Server (whether they are Omnicast
databases or not) and display their status. The purpose of this tool is to find any "suspicious" database that you may
have on your machine so you can either delete it or reset its status to normal.
This tool becomes necessary when you need to delete a database that has become corrupted (flagged as suspect).
You cannot delete a corrupted database by normal means because the corrupted databases are not listed in the
database search tabs found in the Server Admin:
Directory database (DirectorySQL) in Directory – General

Alarm database (AlarmSQL) in Directory – General
Report database (ReportingSQL) in Directory – Logging
Archive database (VideoArchiveSQL) in Archiver – Archiving
Archive database (AuxiliaryArchiveSQL) in Auxiliary Archiver – Archiving
A sure indication that a corrupted database exists is when you try to create a new database from one of the above
listed tabs and the program tells you that the name you chose is already being used by another database.
How to use this tool

1. From the Tools menu, select "Select Database Status...".
2. Select the data server from the drop-down list.
3. All databases known to that server will be listed in the "Database list".
4. You may only delete or reset the ones that are flagged as "suspect".
TIP – If you delete an archive database, the referenced video files (if they exist) will not be
deleted. If you are in that situation, you can use the Find Orphan Files tool to locate them on
disk.
It is sometimes possible to clear the "suspect" flag on a database if it is just a temporary problem, but it does not
always work. If this tool cannot restore the database status, the flag will not be cleared.
Server Admin > Menu > Select Database Status

Menu – Options Dialog
The Server Admin's Options Dialog is accessible from the Tools menu.

The time zone settings apply to all client applications. Changing a setting in one will automatically affect the other
applications installed on the same machine. Note that the date and time display format follows the Windows
settings.
Device time zone Each device in the system follows a specific time zone. Generally speaking, an application
follows the time zone of the machine where it is running and all devices (units) follow
the time zone of the application controlling it.
You can choose to display the time according to each entity's time zone or to display
everything following a time zone of your choice. This change is effective immediately
and affects all client applications.
Time zone If you select " Display time zones abbreviations", then the time zone abbreviation will
abbreviations be indicated wherever time is displayed. Please refer to the Appendix for the time zone
abbreviations used in Omnicast.
Return to top
Server Admin > Menu > Options Dialog

Find Orphan Files
Description
"Find Orphan Files" is a tool to help you find orphan files in a specified folder (e.g. C:\VideoArchives). An orphan
file is a that is no longer referenced by the archive database. These files, if not deleted manually, will stay on disk
forever, since the archiver can only delete files that are referenced by its database. This is to address a situation that
may arise when the user changes the database.
How to use this tool

1. Select from the resource tree, the archiving service (Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver ) you want to verify.
2. Select the corresponding "Archiving" tab of the selected service.
3. Opposite the "Database" field, click on the Find orphan files button.
4. The "Find orphan files" dialog illustrated above will appear. The "Folder list" will show all the folders assigned to
the selected archiver. You may add or remove folders from that list.
5. Select a folder and click on "Search". A search progress window will be displayed while the tool is searching for
orphan files under the selected folder.
6. All G64 files ( ) which are not referenced by the archiver database will be listed in the "Orphan files" list.
You have the choice to delete or to quarantine the selected files.

If you choose to quarantine the selected files, you will be prompted to enter a quarantine folder.
7. Click on "OK" when you are finished.
Server Admin > Menu > Find Orphan Files

System – License
The System License ( ) tab shows the details about the license key applied to the local machine and allows the user to
update it if necessary. To learn how to install or update your license key, please refer to Omnicast license under
Welcome – System Concepts or follow the Web activation procedure described below.
The license options are divided in two parts. The Directory options apply to the whole system while the Archiver options
only apply to the local Archiver.
Description
Validation key Validation key created by Omnicast Installer for each specific machine. Use this
key to apply for your new license key.
You may use the copy button to copy the validation key to the clipboard or
the save button to save it to a file on disk.
Web activation The Web activation is a quick and simple method to install or update your license
key if your machine has Internet access.
Click on the "Web activation" button to display the Web activation page.
If you have never applied a license to this machine before, you will be asked to
enter the System ID and the password sent to you by your software provider.
If the information you provided is correct, the following screen will appear.
You will find more than one name in the drop-down list if your system includes
more than one server machine. Pick the correct one and click OK. The license key
will be automatically applied for you and you should see your license options
appear on screen.
License key License key applied to this machine. If you have not yet activated this machine,
this field and everything else below it will be blank.
If you are following the manual activation procedure, click on the browse
button to find the license file (.lic) and select it to apply the license key to your
machine.
Expiration If you have a trial license, the expiry date will be indicated here.
System ID The System ID indentifies the system the current machine belongs to. An
Omnicast system is characterized by a single Directory.
A given customer (company) may have more than one Omnicast system. Each
system is comprised of one to many machines. Each machine needs a separate
license key.
Technical support This is the number of your integrator. Call this number for technical support.
Company name Your company name or your Omnicast client name.
Package name The type of package you have. The typical packages are Light, Professional and
Enterprise, but are not limited to those.
Directory Options
computers can connect to the Directory at different moments but not simultaneously. Exceeding connection
requests will be rejected and an error message will be broadcasted.
Number of cameras/analog monitors – Maximum number of video encoders and decoders allowed
on the system. A unit with n video inputs/outputs will require n connections.
Number of stanby Directories – Maximum number of Directory Failover Coordinators allowed on
the system.
management.
Number of Media Gateways – Maximum number of video encoders that can be exposed to
applications outside Omnicast through the Media Gateway application.
Redundant archiving – Enables redundant archiving by Archivers. Requires Standby Archivers option
to be supported.
Number of Metadata Engines – Maximum number of Metadata Engine services allowed on the
system.
Number of Restore Archivers – Maximum number of Restore Archiver services allowed on the
system.
Number of Auxiliary Archivers – Maximum number of Auxiliary Archiver services allowed on the
system.
Number of federated Directories – Maximum number of federated Directories allowed on the
system.
Number of client workstations – Maximum number of client connections (Live Viewer, Archive
Player, Web Live Viewer*, Web Archive Player*) allowed on the system. (*) Web clients are allowed
only if Web clients are supported.
Number of Pocket PC clients – Maximum number of Pocket PC (Windows CE) connections allowed
on the system.
Web clients – Allows Web Live Viewer and Web Archive Player connections. Each connection
requires a client license. See Number of client workstations.
Number of uncompressed video filters – Maximum number of uncompressed video filters allowed
on the system. This option is necessary for third party application integration (e.g. ObjectVideo's
VEW).
Number of access control systems – Maximum number of access control systems allowed on the
system.
Macros – Allows creation and execution of macros in the Virtual Matrix. A Virtual Matrix is required
to use this option.
Database reporting – Allows the logging of system events in a database. This feature allows the user
to generate reports. See Tools – Report Viewer.
Time zones – Allows the display of date and time according to the entities' time zones. This option
is necessary only if you have Archivers or cameras installed at locations with different time zones.
Alarm management – Supports the alarm management feature. See Alarm Management under
System Concepts.
Playback on alarm – Allows the use of playback in alarm display. Must be used in conjunction to
Supported Metadata Engine plugin – Each different type of plugin requires a different license
option.
Archiver Options
The Archiver options only apply to the local Archiver. Each Archiver on the system may have different license
options.
Archiving – There are tree possible options.

None – No archiving allowed on the system. The Archiver is used only for viewing live video.
On unit only – Video archives are stored directly on the units, not by the Archiver. However, the
Archiver maintains a database of associated bookmarks so subsequent archive search can be
performed.
Locally and on unit – This is the full archiving option. Video archives can be stored both locally by
the Archiver and on the units.
Number of cameras / analog monitors per Archiver – Maximum number of video encoders and
decoders allowed on this Archiver. A unit with n video inputs/outputs will require n connections.
Maximum storage capacity – The maximum storage space (in TB) allowed for the local Archiver.
Maximum archive retention period – The maximum number of days the local Archiver is allowed to
keep the archives.
SSL on Archiver – Allows the Archiver to use SSL encryption for communication with units. For more
information, read the section on Archiver – Security.
ACTi MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 ACTi cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – ACTi.
AXIS MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Axis cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – Axis.
AXIS MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Axis cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – Axis.
JPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control generic JPEG cameras. See also Archiver Extension –
JPEG.
Sony MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Sony cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – Sony.
Sony MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Sony cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – Sony.
encoders and decoders. See also Archiver Extension – Bosch.
encoders and decoders. See also Archiver Extension – Bosch.
Verint cameras / analog monitors – Allows the Archiver to control Verint video encoders and
decoders. See also Archiver Extension – Verint.
Vivotek MPEG-4 cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MPEG-4 Vivotek cameras. See also
Archiver Extension – Vivotek.
Vivotek MJPEG cameras – Allows the Archiver to control MJPEG Vivotek cameras. See also Archiver
Extension – Vivotek.
Server Admin > System > License

Directory
Selecting Directory ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Directory service on the local machine.
The Directory settings are divided into four property sheets:
General – General settings (multicast streaming and alarm management)

Email – Email settings (SMTP server, SMTP domain, reply address, etc.)
Logging – Logging settings (for both file logging and database logging)
Active Directory – Synchronize the user profiles with Windows Active Directory
Server Admin > Directory

Directory – General
The General ( ) tab is used to configure the Directory for multicast streaming and for alarm management.
General settings
Directory port This port number is used by the Gateways (Gateway) to detect the presence of the
Directory service. Its value should match the Directory port configured in the
General settings of all Gateway directly connected to this Directory.
Start multicast In multicast, all sources (audio and video) are streamed using the same port but
address with a different multicast IP address for each, since multicast switches and routers
use the destination IP to make their routing decisions.
The Directory assigns the same port to each encoder but increments the multicast
address starting with "Start multicast address". The first encoder will use "Start
multicast address" and the next one will use "Start multicast address" + 1, so on and
so forth.
Port This is the common port number that the Directory assigns to all multicast
encoders.
Directory database
The Directory database is where all Omnicast configurations are stored.
Database type A separate database instance must be created to store the configuration data. The
database type installed by default is MSSQL.
Data server Specify the data server you wish to use. Unless you already have a data server
installed on another machine, the data server should be on the same machine as
the Directory. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on your
LAN.
Database Select the database instance you wish to use. A data server can manage many
database instances. Unless you selected an existing data server during installation,
the database instance name should be "DirectorySQL".
Use this button to refresh the list of available database instances for the
selected data server.
Use this button to either overwrite the existing database instance or create a
new one. You will need to create a new database instance if you chose to use
an existing data server.
Use this button to delete any database instance from the selected data server.
Warning: all past and current configurations will be lost.
Use this button to display the database properties.
Alarm database
The option must be selected for the alarm management feature to be activated. Note that you also need to have
the Directory option "Alarm management" enabled in your license key.
Database type A separate database instance must be created to store the alarm history. The
installed on another machine, the data server should be on the same machine as
the Directory. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on your
LAN.
database instances. Unless you selected an existing data server during installation,
the database instance name should be "AlarmSQL".
Use this button to refresh the list of available database instances for the
selected data server.
new one. You will need to create a new database instance if you chose to use
an existing data server.
Warning: all past and current alarm instances will be lost.
Keep history for Specifies the number of days the alarm history should be kept in the database. This
value should normally be kept high, around 90 days, since the administrator can set
an earlier delete date for each specific alarm type with the Config Tool.
Read the section on Acknowledgement under Config Tool – Alarm – Properties.
Server Admin > Directory > General

Directory – Email
The Email ( ) tab is used to configure the mail server for handling the "Send an email" actions (see User notification
actions under Welcome – System Concepts – Event Handling – Action Definitions).
SMTP settings
The following parameters must be properly set before the Directory can carry out the "Send an email" actions. The
sent email will identify the type of event, the source of the event, the date and time the event was triggered, and
the message specified in the action.
SMTP server Name of the mail server on your company's network.

SMTP port Port number used by your company's mail server. Port 25 is a standard.
Domain Your company's domain name.
Reply address Email address representing the sender. Use a valid email address if you want the
email recipients to be able to reply to the emails sent by the Directory.
Minimum time The number of seconds to wait before the Directory sends an identical email to
between 2 someone. A value of zero cancels this feature.
identical emails
Send link to web applications...

When this option is selected, the Directory will include links to the Web Live Viewer and the Web Archive Player to
the message body of the emails sent according to the "Send an email" action, when the event source is a video
encoder.
This feature allows the email recipients to view the live video or the archived video immediately upon reception of
the email, even if they are not on machines where Omnicast clients are installed. In order to use this feature, the
"Web clients" Directory option must be enabled (see System License).
Web Live Web address of the Web Live Viewer. It should point to the ASP page "Live
Viewer URL Viewer.asp".
Web Archive Web address of the Web Archive Player. It should point to the ASP page
Player URL "ArchivePlayer.asp".
External Machine name where the Gateway is installed.
Gateway name
Server Admin > Directory > Email

Directory – Logging
The Logging ( ) tab is used to configure the logging of all system events. Please refer to Event Definitions under
Welcome – System Concepts – Event Handling, for a description of all system events. Two logging methods are available.
Enable file logging

The file logging option keeps a copy of all system events on disk. All events that go through the Live Viewer's Event
List are logged here. The log files contain tab seperated values, so they can be easily viewed with Microsoft
Notepad or Excel.
Folder Specifies the location of the log files.

Prefix Indicates the prefix used for the log file names. The file name consists of the prefix,
followed by the date (yyyy-mm-dd), followed by a 3-digit sequence number. Example:
"_DIR_2006-07-17_000.log".
Keep log for Specifies the number of days the log files should be kept on-line.
Maximum size Specifies the maximum number of lines each log file may contain. When the
maximum number of lines is reached, the Directory will open a new file. All log files
use the tab separated values format, therefore they can be manipulated with
Microsoft Excel.
Enable database logging

Database logging is a much more powerful logging alternative if you can spare the hardware resources. Database
logs are viewed with the Report Viewer. Please read Report Viewer under Tools to find out what standard reports
are available.
Database type A separate database instance must be created to carry out this function. The database
type installed by default is MSSQL.
installed on another machine, the data server should be on the same machine as the
Directory. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on your LAN.
database instances. Unless you selected an existing data server during installation, the
database instance name should be "ReportingSQL".
Use this button to refresh the list of available database instances for the selected
data server.
new one. You will need to create a new database instance if you chose to use an
existing data server.
Keep log for Specifies the number of days the log entries should be kept in the database.
Filter... Click on the "Filter..." button to select the event categories that you want to log in the
database. The following dialog will appear.
Expand the "Entity modification" node to select the individual entity types whose
change of configuration you wish to track.
Use the select all button to select them all or the select none button to clear
them all.
Server Admin > Directory > Logging

Directory – Active Directory
The Active Directory ( ) tab allows you to integrate Omnicast's user management with Windows Active Directory.
Description
The purpose of integrating Omnicast to Windows Active Directory is to have a unified user management system
within the organization and to simplify the initial Omnicast setup. The system administrator can import any group
of users defined in the Active Directory as Omnicast users and user groups.
Once the Active Directory is enabled, only the imported users will be able to run Omnicast applications.
NOTE – Exceptions to this rule are the Admin user and the Administrators user group.
These two system entities will remain under the sole control of Omnicast. Always protect
the Admin user's password.
As long as Omnicast is integrated to the Active Directory, the creation and deletion of users and user groups must
all be handled through the Windows "Active Directory Users and Computers" management tool. Passwords and
email addresses will also be managed under the Active Directory. Omnicast will continue to manage the properties
that are specific to Omnicast, such as permissions, privileges, etc. (see Config Tool – User).
WARNING – All users and user groups that were defined in Omnicast prior to the
integration that are not found in the Active Directory will be deleted.
A potential benefit for the end-users is that they will no longer need to enter their username and password every
time they start an Omnicast application. Please refer to Using Windows Credentials under Welcome – System
Concepts – Connect Dialog, for details.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Enabling the Active Directory

Disabling the Active Directory
Enabling the Active Directory

Assuming that the Active Directory is currently inactive...
1. You must first stop the Directory service before you can activate the integration to the Active Directory.
NOTE – If the Directory is part of a failover system, you must first stop the
Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC) before you can stop the Directory. Otherwise, the
DFC will automatically restart the Directory service every time you try to stop it. If you
enable the Active Directory integration on one Directory server, you must also enable it on
all Directory servers that are part of the same failover configuration.
2. Click on the "Activate" button. You will be prompted to select a "Base group".
The Base group is the group that contains all the users and user groups that should have access to Omnicast.
The Base group cannot be any container in the Active Directory. It has to be an Active Directory security group.
If the selected group is not a valid candidate for the Base group, the "OK" button will remain disabled.
TIP – We recommend that you create a new security group in your Active
Directory prior to the integration. Add all existing user groups that should have
access to Omnicast as members of the new security group and use it as your
Base group.
Click on "OK" once you have made your choice.

The application will start comparing what is currently defined in Omnicast with what is in the Active Directory.
3. Once the comparison is finished, the following dialog will appear, showing all the conflicts found.
There are three types of conflicts:
1. Username match
When this happens, the password and email address will be replaced by the information found in the
Active Directory. All other user properties (such as permissions and privileges) will be preserved.
2. Email match
When this happens, the username and email address will be replaced by the information found in the
Active Directory. All other user properties (such as permissions and privileges) will be preserved.
3. Exist only in Omnicast

This is when the Merge Tool cannot find a match for an Omnicast user or user group in the Active
Directory. When this happens, the Omnicast entity will be deleted.
Click on the button to view the details regarding any selected conflict.
Click on "Activate" to proceed with the Active Directory integration.

WARNING – THIS OPERATION IS IRREVERSIBLE!
All users and user groups that are not found in Omnicast will be created.
All users and user groups that have no match in the Active Directory will be
deleted.
4. After the integration is complete, a status message will appear.
Click on "OK" to acknowledge this message.
5. The name of the selected Base group as well as the name of the Domain will be shown.
The duration of the "Resynchronization period" says how frequently Omnicast Directory must check for
updates in the Active Directory. The default value is 900 seconds (or 15 minutes), which is usually the
replication frequency used by the Active Directory Domain Controllers. If the Domain Controllers on your
system use a different value for the replication frequency, you must change the value used by Omnicast to
match that value.
6. Before you restart the Directory, its service logon user must be changed to a domain user.
NOTE – The default user ".\OmnicastSvcUsr"created at Omnicast Server

installation is a local user. It will not be able to access the Active Directory. It
must be changed to a domain user with the rights to access the Active Directory.
To change the Directory service logon user:
1) From Windows Start Menu, select "Programs", "Administrative Tools", then "Services".
2) In the "Services" dialog that appears, find "Genetec Omnicast Directory". Note that this service should be
stopped.
3) Double-click on it and select the "Log On" tab.

4) Click on the "Browse..." button to select a domain user.
5) Click on the "Locations..." button to change the location from your local machine to the Active Directory's
domain.
6) Enter the domain user name and click on "Check Names" to validate the name.
TIP – We recommend that you create a new domain user as the logon user
for Omnicast Directory. This user must have the rights to read the
information on the users and user groups which are members of the
selected Base group.
7) Once the system has found the user you want, click on "OK".
8) Enter the password of the newly selected user, click on "OK".
9) Restart the "Genetec Omnicast Directory" service.
7. To complete the user management configuration...
Open the Config Tool and set up the permissions and privileges of all new entities imported from the Active
Directory.
Please refer to Config Tool, User and User Group to find the description of all the parameters you can
configure.
Disabling the Active Directory

Assuming that the Active Directory is currently active...
1. You must first stop the Directory service before you can disable the Active Directory integration.
NOTE – If the Directory is part of a failover system, you must first stop the
Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC) before you can stop the Directory. Otherwise, the
DFC will automatically restart the Directory service every time you try to stop it.
2. Click on the "Deactivate" button. You will get the following warning message.
This warning message says two things:
1. All new users created in Omnicast as a result of the integration with the Active Directory will remain in the
system after the Active Directory is deactivated. Since their passwords were managed by the Active Directory,
these new users will have no password under Omnicast. This means that anyone can log on to the system
using one of these new user names.
To reduce the security risk, immediately assign a password to all new users. If this is a temporary measure, stop
the Gateway services to prevent anyone from connecting to this Directory while you are making the changes.
2. All Omnicast users that were merged to an Active Directory user, either by username or by email address, will
have their old password restored.
3. Click on Yes to proceed with the changes.
4. Restart the Directory service after the deactivation is complete.
Server Admin > Directory > Active Directory

The Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC) is the service installed on every server machine hosting the Directory service to
guarantee the continuity of the latter in the context of a failover configuration. The DFC's perform two main functions:
(1) Keeping the local Directory databases up to date while the Directory service is on standby; (2) Start or stop the local
Directory service when it is appropriate to do so, based on a failover list.
Selecting DFC ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of this service on the local machine. To learn more
about the Directory failover mechanism and its system wide configuration, please refer to the section on Configure
Directory Failover under Config Tool – Tools Menu.
General settings
Gateway Name of the Gateway that the DFC must use to connect to the primary Directory. This
information is necessary for the service to report its presence when the Directory
failover list is not yet configured.
Network card Network interface used to communicate with the Directory. If your machine is
equipped with more than one network card, you will have to specify here which card
is to be used for Omnicast.
TCP command This is the TCP connection port where the DFC service listens for incoming client
port connections.
Ping period The frequency at which the DFC pings for its Directory service.
Password The optional password serves to protect the DFC service from talking to the wrong
peer.
To set a new password or to change the password, click on the button.
Enter the same password twice and click "OK". Use to clear the password.
Enable Select this option if the DFC must keep the entity configuration tables synchronized.
entity This option should be disabled if the secondary Directory server shares the same
replication database as the primary server.
Enable Select this option if the DFC must keep the alarm database tables synchronized. This
alarm option should be disabled if the secondary Directory server shares the same database
replication as the primary server.
Server Admin > Directory Failover Coordinator

Gateway
Selecting Gateway ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Gateway on the local machine. Other
Gateway settings are found in the Config Tool. Please read the section on Gateway under Config Tool – Configuration
Pane.
General settings
Connection type The connection type indicates whether the Gateway should connect directly to a
Directory (local area network) or indirectly via another Gateway (Internet).
If "Local area network" is the selected connection type, you must enter a Directory
name in the following field. You may leave the field blank if the Directory and the
Gateway are installed on the same machine.
If "Internet" is the selected connection type, you must enter the name of another
Gateway. This latter cannot be left blank. Furthermore, the specified Gateway must
be one that connects directly to the primary Directory.
For more information on Directory and Gateway configuration, please read the
chapter on Directory Failover Configuration under Config Tool – Menu – Tools
Menu.
Directory / This field is called Directory or Gateway depending on the choice of connection
Gateway type.
You may have to append a port number (separated by a colon ":") if it is different
from the system default.
For a Directory, the default value is 7998. See Directory – General settings.
For a Gateway, the default value is 5001. See TCP command port.
equipped with more than one network card, you will have to specify here which
card is to be used for Omnicast.
Incoming TCP connection settings
TCP command Enter here the TCP connection port where the Gateway should listen for incoming
port client connections.
The default connection port used by Omnicast is 5001. If you choose a different
port number, users must explicitly specify it in the Connect dialog. See example
below.
TCP video port This is the port that Gateway uses to listen for incoming TCP video connections. If
Gateway is running behind a firewall, make sure that this port is unlocked for
inbound packets for TCP connections.
Outgoing UDP data settings

Specify here the range of ports that the Gateway can use to send video using UDP. The first port number is also
used as a discovery port, i.e. to determine if unicast connections are supported between the Gateway and the
remote client. If Gateway is running behind a firewall, make sure that these ports are unlocked for outbound
packets for UDP connections
Connection settings
This section specifies the parameters used by the Gateway when establishing a connection with a client. While
processing a client connection, the Gateway detects the video connection types (Multicast, Unicast UDP or Unicast
TCP) supported by the client.
Multicast Test Multicast address used to determine if multicast connections are supported
Address between the Gateway and the connected client.
Retry attempts Number of times each of the connection tests (Multicast Discovery and Unicast
Discovery) should be attempted.
If the Gateway is running behind a firewall, be sure that the ports used by the Gateway are unlocked. The following
rules should apply:
Port Protocol Direction

TCP Command Port TCP Inbound
TCP Video Port TCP Inbound
UDP Video Ports UDP Outbound
Server Admin > Gateway

Federation Server
Selecting Federation Server ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Federation Server on the local
machine. Other Federation Server settings are found in the Config Tool. Please read the section on Federation Server
under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
General settings
Gateway Name of the Gateway that the Federation Server must use to connect to the
Directory. If the Gateway is installed on the same machine as the Federation Server,
leave this field blank.
Network card Network interface used for the multicast transmission of live video from the
federated cameras. If your machine is equipped with more than one network card,
you will have to specify here which card is to be used for Omnicast.
Video port The starting port number used by the Federation Server for video connections used
for federated cameras.
Server Admin > Federation Server

Archiver
Selecting Archiver ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Archiver service on the local machine. To
learn more about the machine independent settings of the Archiver, please refer to the section on Archiver under Config
The machine specific settings of the Archiver is divided into five property sheets:
General – General Archiver settings (system, network card)

Archiving – Archiving settings (database, storage disks, etc.)
Backup – Backup settings (backup folder, tape group and size, etc.)
Security – Security settings (video encryption, SSL settings)
Logging – Logging settings (log folder, log auto cleanup, etc.)
The Archiver is responsible for the automatic discovery and status polling of the video units. All communications with
video units are established through this service. The specific communication parameters with the units are defined as
Archiver extensions. Each Archiver extension describes a group of units that the Archiver is intended to control.
Therefore, you need to create the appropriate Archiver extensions based on the model of units you have in order to
complete the Archiver configuration. Please refer to the section on Archiver Extension to learn how.
Server Admin > Archiver

Archiver – General
The General ( ) tab is used to configure the Archiver's Directory connection.
Gateway
Name of the Gateway that the Archiver must use to connect to the Directory. If the Gateway is installed on the same
machine as the Archiver, leave this field blank.
Network card
If your machine is equipped with more than one network card, you will have to specify here which card is to be
used to connect to the Directory or the Gateway (if Internet connection is selected).
Server Admin > Archiver > General

Archiver – Archiving
The Archiving ( ) tab is a page that the administrator must visit when an Archiver is first installed on a machine.
Archive
Select this option to turn archiving ON. Note that you also need to have the "Archiving" option set to "Locally and
on unit" in your Archiver license. If archiving is set to "None", recording will be disabled on all units controlled by
this Archiver. Adding bookmarks would also be impossible.
Database type Each Archiver requires its own database instance to store the archives catalog (events,
video files, etc.). The database type installed by default is MSSQL.
Archiver. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on your LAN.
database instance name should be "VideoArchiveSQL".
data server.
Warning: all video files referenced by the database will be deleted as well.
Use this button to find the orphan files for this Archiver.
Storage management
Disks
While the archive database is used to store the archive catalog, the actual video files are stored directly on disks.
You may designate any local hard disk ( ) or network location ( ) on your LAN as a location to store your video
files. Multiple disks may be assigned to the same Archiver.
At installation, the default disk location assigned to the Archiver is "C:\VideoArchives". You may change it or add
more network locations to the Archiver by clicking on the Add network location button.
WARNING – Disk space are not allocated in advance for the Archiver, but rather, the Archiver is
allowed to use the available space on the selected disk up to a given maximum, which is limited
by the minimum free space that it must preserve on the disk. This means that there is nothing
to prevent other applications from using up the disk space set aside for the Archiver. The
responsibility to make sure that this does not happen is left to the care of the administrator.
The free space indicates the actual free space remaining disk. The allotted space is the total capacity of the disk
minus the minimum free space. If the selected disk is not dedicated to Omnicast use, then the actual space available
for archiving may be less than the allotted space. The total size indicates the total capacity of the disk.
The disks are used by the Archiver in the order they appear in the list. Use the and buttons to move a selected
disk up or down the list.
Disk groups
The main bottleneck on the Archiver is the disk throughput. Omnicast has a way to alleviate this problem by
allowing the Archiver to write to multiple disks simultaneously. This optimization is achieved by defining multiple
disk groups. Each disk group should correspond to a separate disk controller. By judiciously splitting the video
archive over several disk groups, the administrator can effectively attain the maximum throughput in terms of disk
access. The way the video archive should be distributed among the available disk groups is defined in the Config
Tool, under the Archiver – Archiving tab.
When the Archiver is first installed, only the "Default Disk Group" is defined. The disk groups are shown in the list
only if there are more than one group defined. You may add more disk groups by clicking on the Add disk group
button. Then use the and buttons to move the disk from one group to another.
Use the Remove button to remove the selected disk or disk group.
Cick on the button to refresh the remaining free space on each disk.
Archiving options
Clicking on the "Archiving options..." button allows you to specify additional archiving options.
General Delete oldest files when disks full – Select this option if you want cyclic archiving
(the default mode), i.e. oldest files are deleted to make space for new files when disks
are full. If this selection is cleared, then the Archiver will stop archiving when the disks
are full.
NOTE – If multiple disk groups are used, each disk group is considered as a
single storage unit. The disk group is considered full when all the disks whithin
that group are full.
Another way to manage the archiving space is to set individual archive retention
period for each video encoder (see Archiving under Config Tool – Archiver). This
method allows you to keep the more important data for a longer period of time and
to purge the less important video first.
Limit the number of simultaneously archived encoders – This option is only
relevant when the Archiver is part of a failover pool. Setting a limit to the number of
encoders that the Archiver can simultaneously archive helps to prevent the host
server from being crushed by a load heavier than what it can handle, typically during
a failover. An encoder is said to be "archived" when it is currently covered by one or
more archiving schedules. This option should be used in conjunction to the archiving
priority assigned to each Archiver extension.
When the number of archived encoders reaches the configured limit, the Archiver will
refuse all new archiving requests unless the requesting encoder has a higher archiving
priority than one that is currently being archived. If this is the case, the encoder with
the lowest archiving priority which was the last to be added to the archiving list will
be bumped off in favor of the new comer.
This option does not affect the viewing of live video and the controls of the cameras.
Protected video threshold – This is a safety threshold that limits the total amount of
space that protected video files are allowed to occupy on disks. Protected video files
are files that cannot be deleted by normal archive cleanup procedures. When this
threshold is exceeded, the Archiver will generate the "Protected video threshold
exceeded" event once every 15 minutes for as long as the condition is true, but will
continue to apply video protection wherever it is configured to.
Archive files The archive files (or video files) are the files used to store video archives. They have
the extension .g64. You have two methods for controlling the size of the archive files:
Maximum length – Set here the maximum length for the video files. The length is
the time span between the first video frame and the last video frame stored in the file.
Server Admin > Archiver > Archiving

Archiver – Backup
The Backup ( ) tab is where the backup feature can be turned On or Off and where the physical devices for backup are
configured.
Backup
This check box is used to turn the backup feature On or Off.
Folder Backup folder used when "Backup to folder" is selected in the Config Tool.
Tape group Select here NTBackup tape group to use if "Backup to tape" is selected in the Config
Tool. This control is enabled only if a tape backup device is available on this machine.
Tape size Formatted size of each tape cartridge in GB.
Launch This button serves to launch the NTBackup using the same username as the Archiver.
NTBackup This is very helpful, because if NTBackup is launched with another username than the
one used by the Archiver, the backup catalog will not be visible.
Server Admin > Archiver > Backup

Archiver – Security
The Security ( ) tab allows the administrator to tighten the security around the Archiver, namely, to prevent tampering
and hacking.
Video encryption
Video encryption (or watermarking) is the process by which a digital signature is added to each recorded video
frame to ensure its authenticity. If anyone later tries to make changes to the video (add, delete or modify a frame),
the signatures will no longer match, thus, showing that the video has been tampered with.
The validity of the encryption can be selected with the Archive Player (see Validate file under Archive Player – Query
Result Pane – File Browser Result).
Video encryption can be turned on or off with the "Video encryption" check box. If video encryption is selected, the
administrator has two options:
Use default Select this option to use the default encryption values provided with the system.
encryption
Use custom Select this option to use a custom encryption key instead of the default one. To
encryption apply custom encryption values, follow the steps below:
1. Run the program named EncryptionKeyGenerator.exe found in the folder where
the Omnicast Server executables are installed (usually C:\Program Files\Genetec
Omnicast Server).
2. The program will generate two 1 KB files named fingerprint.bin and private.bin.
The first file contains a random 20 bytes initial fingerprint used for the encryption.
The second file contains a RSA 248-bits encryption key. These two files will be
different every time the program is executed.
3. Move those files to a safe location.
4. Select "Use Custom Encryption Values" in the Security tab of the Archiver.
5. Using the browse button, enter the path to fingerprint.bin in the "Initial
Fingerprint" field, and the path to private.bin in the "Private key" field.
6. Click on Apply. The Archiver will restart.
Server Admin > Archiver > Security

Archiver – Logging
The Logging ( ) tab is used to configure the Archiver logging. The logging option keeps a copy of all Archiver events
on disk. Note that Archiver events can also be viewed from the Config Tool. See Event search under Config Tool –
Enable file logging

Select this option to turn file logging on. The parameters you can set are:
Folder Specifies the location of the log files.

Prefix Indicates the prefix used for the log file names. The file name consists of the prefix,
followed by the date (yyyy-mm-dd), followed by a 3-digit sequence number. Example:
"_ARC_2004-12-01_000.log".
Keep log for Specifies the number of days the log files should be kept on-line.
Maximum size Specifies the maximum number of lines each log file may contain. When the
maximum number of lines is reached, the Archiver will open a new file. All log files
use the tab separated values format, therefore they can be manipulated with
Microsoft Excel.
Server Admin > Archiver > Logging

Archiver Extensions
Archiver extensions are additional Archiver settings pertaining to the control of specific groups of units. These settings
cover areas such as automatic discovery, communications between the Archiver and the units, archiving priority, and
security. An Archiver may have multiple extensions.
Archiving priority
Archiving priority is a property common to all types of Archiver extensions.
It is used in conjunction to the maximum number of simultaneously archived encoders accepted by the Archiver to
avoid overloading the Archiver when a failover occurs. All encoders referenced by the same Archiver extension are
assigned the same archiving priority.
With a judicious choice of archiving priorities, the administrator can ensure that the archiving of important encoders
in the system will not be jeopardized by a failover, regardless which Archiver fails.
To create a new Archiver extension:

1. Right-click on the Archiver in the resource tree and select Create and the type of extension.
2. The following message will appear.
If you do not intend to change anything from the default settings, click "Yes". The Archiver will immediately
restart. Otherwise, click "No" and follow the subsequent steps. A new extension of the selected type will be
created under the Archiver ( ) in the resource tree.
3. Select the new extension (always the last one) from the resource tree and change its settings accordingly. The
different types of Archiver extensions supported by Omnicast are:
ACTi extension – Multiple instances allowed

AXIS extension – Maximum one per Archiver
Bosch extension – Multiple instances allowed
JPEG extension – Maximum one per Archiver
Sony extension – Maximum one per Archiver
Verint extension – Multiple instances allowed
Vivotek extension – Maximum one per Archiver
Each correspond to a specific brand of units.
4. Restart the Archiver service using Action menu or the WatchDog application.
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions

Archiver Extension – ACTi
The ACTi extension is used to configure the general settings of all ACTi video servers controlled by the Archiver.
To define ACTi extensions, you must have the Archiver license option: "ACTi cameras".
All ACTi extension settings are found in a single tab:
General – General settings (Discovery, Retries delay, Default login, Archiving priority)
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > ACTi

Archiver Extension – ACTi – General
The General ( ) tab for ACTi extension is used to configure the communication parameters and the archiving priority.
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the ACTi IP cameras,
if more than one card is installed on the machine.
Discovery port Corresponds to "Search server port 1" in the ACTi video server settings.
1
Discovery port Corresponds to "Search server port 2" in the ACTi video server settings.
2
Discovery Time interval in seconds for the ACTi extension to send the discovery broadcast
timeout message on the LAN. The broadcast message is used to discover new units as well
as inactive units. A unit is consideered lost if it does not respond after three
broadcast attempts.
Transaction Time to wait for a response before resending a command to the unit. A unit is
timeout considered lost after three failed attempts.
Default login
All ACTi units require a username and a password for access control. What is specified here corresponds to default
username and password used when the option " Use default login" is selected in the "Add a unit" dialog found in
the Config Tool's Action Menu (see Config Tool – Menu – Action Menu – Create Video Unit).
Use the delete or edit button to clear or change the password.

Archiving
Please refer to Archiving priority under Server Admin – Archiver Extension.
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > ACTi > General

Archiver Extension – AXIS
The AXIS extension is used to configure the general and security settings of all Axis units controlled by the Archiver.
To define an Axis extension, you must have either one of the following two Archiver license options:
AXIS MPEG-4 encoders
AXIS MJPEG encoders
AXIS units do not support automatic discovery. For this reason, only one AXIS extension can be configured
per Archiver because theres is no discovery port to distinguish one Axis extension from another.
Because AXIS units cannot be automatically discovered by the Archiver, they have to be added manually. To learn how to
add undiscovered units to the system, please refer to the section on Create Video Unit under Config Tool – Menu –
Action Menu.
All AXIS extension settings are found in a single tab:
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > AXIS

Archiver Extension – AXIS – General
The General ( ) tab for AXIS extension is used to configure the communication parameters and the archiving priority.
General
Network Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the AXIS units, if more
card than one card is installed on the machine.
Discovery Time interval in seconds between two consecutive pings that the AXIS extension sends
timeout to each unit to select whether it is still active in the system.
Number of All AXIS units support MJPEG. Indicate here the number of MJPEG streams (1 to 4) you
MJPEG want each AXIS unit to generate. For units that also supports MPEG-4, the MPEG-4
streams stream will be added to the MJPEG streams..
Default login
All AXIS units require a username and a password for access control. What is specified here corresponds to default
Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > AXIS > General

Archiver Extension – Bosch
Bosch extensions are used to configure the general settings of Bosch units. Each Bosch extension allows the Archiver to
access a group of Bosch units sharing the same discovery port. A given Archiver may use several Bosch extensions. Each
Bosch extension must be configured with a different discovery port.
To define Bosch extensions, you must have either one of the following two Archiver license options:
Bosch MPEG-4 encoders/decoders
Bosch MPEG-2 encoders/decoders
All Bosch extension settings are found in a single tab:
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Bosch

Archiver Extension – Bosch – General
The General ( ) tab is where the unit discovery port is defined for this Bosch extension, as well as its archiving priority.
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the Bosch units, if
more than one card is installed on the machine.
Multicast IP The standard Multicast IP address used by Omnicast is "224.16.32.1". Change it only
if this address is already used for something else.
Discovery port This is the port used for automatic discovery. All units that should be controlled
through this Bosch extension must be configured with the same discovery port.
The Bosch extensions associated to the same Archiver must all have different
discovery ports. If the Archiver is configured as a standby for another Archiver
installed on a different machine, make sure that the two have a Bosch extension
configured in exactly the same way (i.e. same discovery port and same login
password).
Discovery Time interval in seconds for the Bosch extension to send the discovery broadcast
broadcast attempts.
Default login
The default password is the password for the user "service". The Archiver needs to connect as the "service" user in
order to change the unit configurations. Use the delete or edit button to clear or change the password.
Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Bosch > General

Archiver Extension – JPEG
JPEG extensions are used to configure generic JPEG encoders. By default, Omnicast supports generic JPEG encoders
from Axis, IQEye, Panasonic and Sony. For any other brand of JPEG encoders, please contact the technical support.
To define JPEG extensions, you must have the following Archiver license options:
JPEG encoders
All JPEG extension settings are found in a single tab:
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the JPEG units, if
more than one card is installed on your machine.
Discovery Time interval in seconds between two consecutive pings that the JPEG extension
timeout sends to each unit to select whether it is still active in the system.
Default login
Certain JPEG units require a username and a password for access control. Enter here the default username and
password to use when the option " Use default login" is selected in the "Add a unit" dialog found in the Config
Tool's Action Menu (see Config Tool – Menu – Action Menu – Create Video Unit).
Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > JPEG

Archiver Extension – Sony
The Sony extension is used to configure the general settings of all Sony IP cameras controlled by the Archiver.
To define Sony extensions, you must have either one of the following two Archiver license options:
Sony MPEG-4 encoders
Sony MJPEG encoders
All Sony extension settings are found in a single tab:
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Sony

Archiver Extension – Sony – General
The General ( ) tab for Sony extension is used to configure the communication parameters and the archiving priority.
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the Sony IP cameras,
if more than one card is installed on the machine.
Discovery Time interval in seconds between two consecutive pings that the AXIS extension
timeout sends to each unit to select whether it is still active in the system.
Default camera This is the default camera type (MJPEG or MPEG-4) that the Archiver should try to
create for every newly discovered unit. All Sony IP cameras support the MJPEG
encoder.
This setting merely indicates a preference, not an absolute requirement. If a unit
does not support the default encoder type, the one that is supported will be
created instead.
Default login
All Sony units require a username and a password for access control. What is specified here corresponds to default

Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Sony > General

Archiver Extension – Verint
Verint extensions are used to configure the discovery and security parameters of Verint SmartSight units. Each Verint
extension allows the Archiver to access a specific group of Verint SmartSight units sharing the same VSIP port. An
Archiver may oversee multiple Verint extensions. Each Verint extension must be configured with a different VSIP port.
To define Verint extensions, you must have the Archiver license option: "Verint encoders/decoders".
The Verint extension settings are divided into two tabs:
General – General settings (Discovery, Retries delay, Archiving priority)

SSL – SSL security settings
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Verint

Archiver Extension – Verint – General
The General ( ) tab is where the unit discovery port is defined for this Verint extension, as well as its archiving priority.
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the Verint units, if
Multicast IP The standard Multicast IP address used by Omnicast is "224.16.32.1". Change it only
if this address is already used for something else.
VSIP port This is the port used for automatic discovery. All units that should be controlled
through this Verint extension must be configured with the same VSIP port.
The Verint extensions associated to the same Archiver must all have different VSIP
ports. If the Archiver is configured as a standby for another Archiver installed on a
different machine, make sure that the two have a Verint extension configured in
exactly the same way.
Discovery Time interval in seconds for the Verint extension to send the discovery broadcast
broadcast attempts.
Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Verint > General

Archiver Extension – Verint – SSL
The SSL ( ) tab allows the administrator to tighten the security around a group of units answering to the same VSIP
port to prevent tampering and hacking.
SSL Settings
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol used to secure applications that need to communicate over a network.
Omnicast supports SSL on all message transmissions between the Archiver and the units, with the exception of the
video streams, because the data volume would be prohibitive. The purpose for using SSL in Omnicast is to prevent
malicious attacks, not to stop eavesdropping.
The option "SSL on Archiver" must be supported in your Omnicast license before you can access the SSL
configuration of the Verint extension.
CA certificate The CA certificate is the common agreement over SSL between the Archivers and
the units. Do not change this certificate unless being instructed by the
manufacturer.
SSL password The SSL password is an additional security over the SSL encryption. All units with
SSL enabled must use the same password.
To set a new password or to change the password, click on the button.
Enter the same password twice and click "OK". Use to clear the password.
Enforce SSL Select this option only if SSL must be enforced on all units controlled by this
Archiver. If this option is not selected, the Archiver will only use SSL to communicate
with the units on which SSL is enabled (see Security under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane – Unit).
If standby Archivers are being configured in your system, you have to ensure that all Verint extensions
corresponding to the same VSIP port share the same SSL settings.
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Verint > SSL

Archiver Extension – Vivotek
Vivotek extensions are used to configure the general settings of Vivotek units. Each Vivotek extension allows the Archiver
to access a group of Vivotek units sharing the same discovery port. A given Archiver may use several Vivotek extensions.
Each Vivotek extension must be configured with a different discovery port.
To define Vivotek extensions, you must have either one of the following two Archiver license options:
Vivotek MPEG-4 encoders/decoders
Vivotek MPEG-2 encoders/decoders
All Vivotek extension settings are found in a single tab:
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Vivotek

Archiver Extension – Vivotek – General
The General ( ) tab is where the unit discovery port is defined for this Vivotek extension, as well as its archiving priority.
General
Network card Select here the network card to be used to communicate with the Vivotek units, if
Discovery Time interval in seconds for the Vivotek extension to send the discovery broadcast
broadcast attempts.
Default camera
Default login
The default password is the password for the user "service". The Archiver needs to connect as the "service" user in
order to change the unit configurations. Use the delete or edit button to clear or change the password.
Archiving
Server Admin > Archiver Extensions > Vivotek > General

Auxiliary Archiver
Selecting Auxiliary Archiver ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Auxiliary Archiver service on the
local machine. To learn more about the machine independent settings of this service, please refer to the section on
Auxiliary Archiver under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
Note that you need to have "Number of Auxiliary Archivers" higher than zero in your Omnicast license to be able to use
this service.
The machine specific settings of the Auxiliary Archiver is divided into three property sheets:
General – General Auxiliary Archiver settings (system, network card)

Archiving – Archiving settings (database, storage disks, etc.)
Security – Security settings (video encryption)
Server Admin > Auxiliary Archiver

Auxiliary Archiver – General
The General ( ) tab is used to configure the Auxiliary Archiver's Directory connection.
Gateway
Name of the Gateway that the Auxiliary Archiver must use to connect to the Directory. If the Gateway is installed on
the same machine as the Auxiliary Archiver, leave this field blank.
Network card
If your machine is equipped with more than one network card, you will have to specify here which card is to be
used for Omnicast.
Server Admin > Auxiliary Archiver > General

Auxiliary Archiver – Archiving
The Archiving ( ) tab is used to configure the Auxiliary Archiver's database and storage space. Unlike the regular
Auxiliary Archiver, the Auxiliary Archiver has no other purpose but to create redundant off-site archives. For this reason,
archiving is not an option.
Archive database
Database type Each Auxiliary Archiver requires its own database instance to store the archives
catalog (events, video files, etc.). The database type installed by default is MSSQL.
Auxiliary Archiver. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on
your LAN.
database instance name should be "RemoteSiteSQL".
data server.
Warning: all video files referenced by the database will be deleted as well.
Use this button to find the orphan files for this Auxiliary Archiver.
Storage management
Disks
While the archive database is used to store the archive catalog, the actual video files are stored directly on disks.
You may designate any local hard disk ( ) or network location ( ) on your LAN as a location to store your video
files. Multiple disks may be assigned to the same Auxiliary Archiver.
At installation, the default disk location assigned to the Auxiliary Archiver is "C:\AuxiliaryArchives". You may change
it or add more network locations to the Auxiliary Archiver by clicking on the Add network location button.
WARNING – Disk space are not allocated in advance for the Auxiliary Archiver, but rather, the
Auxiliary Archiver is allowed to use the available space on the selected disk up to a given
maximum, which is limited by the minimum free space that it must preserve on the disk. This
means that there is nothing to prevent other applications from using up the disk space set aside
for the Auxiliary Archiver. The responsibility to make sure that this does not happen is left to the
care of the administrator.
The free space indicates the actual free space remaining disk. The allotted space is the total capacity of the disk
minus the minimum free space. If the selected disk is not dedicated to Omnicast use, then the actual space available
for archiving may be less than the allotted space. The total size indicates the total capacity of the disk.
The disks are used by the Auxiliary Archiver in the order they appear in the list. Use the and buttons to move
a selected disk up or down the list.
Disk groups
The main bottleneck on the Auxiliary Archiver is the disk throughput. Omnicast has a way to alleviate this problem
by allowing the Auxiliary Archiver to write to multiple disks simultaneously. This optimization is achieved by defining
multiple disk groups. Each disk group should correspond to a separate disk controller. By judiciously splitting the
video archive over several disk groups, the administrator can effectively attain the maximum throughput in terms of
disk access. The way the video archive should be distributed among the available disk groups is defined in the
Config Tool, under the Auxiliary Archiver – Archiving tab.
When the Auxiliary Archiver is first installed, only the "Default Disk Group" is defined. The disk groups are shown in
the list only if there are more than one group defined. You may add more disk groups by clicking on the Add disk
group button. Then use the and buttons to move the disk from one group to another.
Use the Remove button to remove the selected disk or disk group.
Cick on the button to refresh the remaining free space on each disk.
Archiving options
Clicking on the "Archiving options..." button allows you to specify additional archiving options.
General Delete oldest files when disks full – Select this option if you want cyclic archiving
(the default mode), i.e. oldest files are deleted to make space for new files when disks
are full. If this selection is cleared, then the Auxiliary Archiver will stop archiving when
the disks are full.
NOTE – If multiple disk groups are used, each disk group is considered as a
single storage unit. The disk group is considered full when all the disks whithin
that group are full.
Another way to manage the archiving space is to set individual archive retention
period for each video encoder (see Archiving under Config Tool – Auxiliary Archiver).
This method allows you to keep the more important data for a longer period of time
and to purge the less important video first.
Archive files The archive files (or video files) are the files used to store video archives. They have
the extension .g64. You have two methods for controlling the size of the archive files:
Maximum length – Set here the maximum length for the video files. The length is
the time span between the first video frame and the last video frame stored in the file.
Server Admin > Auxiliary Archiver > Archiving

Auxiliary Archiver – Security
The Security ( ) tab allows the administrator to tighten the security around the Auxiliary Archiver, namely, to prevent
tampering and hacking.
Video encryption
Video encryption (or watermarking) is the process by which a digital signature is added to each recorded video
frame to ensure its authenticity. If anyone later tries to make changes to the video (add, delete or modify a frame),
the signatures will no longer match, thus, showing that the video has been tampered with.
The validity of the encryption can be selected with the Archive Player (see Validate file under Archive Player – Query
Result Pane – File Browser Result).
Video encryption can be turned on or off with the "Video encryption" check box. If video encryption is selected, the
administrator has two options:
Use default Select this option to use the default encryption values provided with the system.
encryption
Use custom Select this option to use a custom encryption key instead of the default one. To
encryption apply custom encryption values, follow the steps below:
1. Run the program named EncryptionKeyGenerator.exe found in the folder where
the Omnicast Server executables are installed (usually C:\Program Files\Genetec
Omnicast Server).
2. The program will generate two 1 KB files named fingerprint.bin and private.bin.
The first file contains a random 20 bytes initial fingerprint used for the encryption.
The second file contains a RSA 248-bits encryption key. These two files will be
different every time the program is executed.
3. Move those files to a safe location.
4. Select "Use Custom Encryption Values" in the Security tab of the Auxiliary
Archiver.
5. Using the browse button, enter the path to fingerprint.bin in the "Initial
Fingerprint" field, and the path to private.bin in the "Private key" field.
6. Click on Apply. The Archiver will restart.
Server Admin > Auxiliary Archiver > Security

Restore Archiver
Selecting Restore Archiver ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Restore Archiver service on the
local machine. To learn more about the machine independent settings of the Restore Archiver, please refer to the
section on Restore Archiver under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
The machine specific settings of the Restore Archiver is divided into two property sheets:
General – General information about the Restore Archiver

Restore – Restore control panel
Server Admin > Restore Archiver

Restore Archiver – General
The General ( ) tab is a page that the administrator must visit when a Restore Archiver is first installed on a machine.
Connection settings
Gateway Name of the Gateway that the Restore Archiver must use to connect to the Directory.
If the Gateway is installed on the same machine as the Restore Archiver, leave this
field blank.
Network card If your machine is equipped with more than one network card, you will have to
specify here which card is to be used for Omnicast.
Restore database
Database Each Restore Archiver requires its own database instance to store the archives catalog
type (events, video files, etc.). The database type installed by default is MSSQL.
Data server Specify the data server you wish to use. Unless you already have a data server installed
on another machine, the data server should be on the same machine as the Archiver.
Use this button to refresh the list of available data servers found on your LAN.
Use this button to delete all databases created by this Restore Archiver.
This is a very dangerous operation and should only be used in extreme situations,
as it may introduce major inconsistencies in the database.
If deleting restored backup sets is what you really want, use the Config Tool
instead. Please refer to the Maintenance section under Config Tool –
Discovery
Backup set Define here the frequency at which the Restore Archiver should check for the
poll timeout presence of newly restored backup sets. Backup sets ( ) are shown under Restore
Archivers ( ) in the Config Tool's Physical view.
Server Admin > Restore Archiver > General

Restore Archiver – Restore
This tab is used to restore offline video archive kept in backup sets to full search and playback capabilities with the
Archive Player.
To restore a backup set:

1. Load the backup set on disk.
Omnicast can only restore a backup set from disk. The Restore Archiver does not move nor copy the files it
restores, so before the restore operation starts, make sure that the entire backup set is copied to where you
want it to be.
If the original backup was created on tape, the backup set must first be loaded on disk using the NTBackup
application provided by Windows. Use the button "Launch NTBackup" to start this program.
When doing so, the user must absolutely use the “Restore files to an alternate location” option. The
specified alternate location will become the main folder you need to restore the backup set from (see Step 2).
If the backup was created on disk, it is recommended to restore from a copy of the backup set. This precaution
is necessary because the Restore Archiver takes full ownership of the video files contained in the backup set it
restores. Data that are not restored are deleted, and restored data will be deleted when the backup set is no
longer needed (see Maintenance under Config Tool – Configuration Pane – Restore Archiver).
In other words, a backup set can only be restored once. If you think you may need to restore the backup set
another time in the future, you must first make a copy of the backup set before restoring it.
2. Select the folder you want to restore from.
All files belonging to a backup set are placed under a main folder named after the date and time the backup
started (e.g. \2003-03-05_01h00). Under that main folder are two sub-folders: \Tables and \VideoBackup. The
first contains the archive catalog and the second contains the video files.
From the Restore tab of the Server Admin (see illustration above), use the browse button to select the folder
containing the backup set you want to restore.
3. Analyze the backup set folder.
Click on the "Analyze folder" button to display the content of the backup set. This operation may take several
minutes. If the specified folder does not contain a valid backup set, you will get an error message.
All available video found in the backup set are listed according to their encoder names (see illustration above).
The list will contain as many encoders as there are encoders selected for the backup in the Archiver
configuration (see Backup under Config Tool – Configuration pane – Archiver). If video is available for a
particular encoder, the encoder name as well as the start and end time of the video sequence will be displayed.
All encoders that do not have video for the backup period are indicated as "(Unknown name)".
4. Select the encoders to restore.
You may choose to restore all encoders contained in the backup set or only selected ones. If you chose to
restore only selected encoders, use to select them all or to clear them all.
All data relative to the unselected encoders will be deleted immediately after the restore operation. This is why
it is important to always make a copy before restoring the data, unless you are sure you will no longer need
the data afterwards.
5. Restore the video archive.
Click on the "Restore" button to start the restore. This may take a long time if you have large amount of data
to restore. A message window will appear when the operation is completed.
The restored backup set ( ) will appear under the Restore Archiver ( ) in the Config Tool's Physical view.
Server Admin > Restore Archiver > Restore

Metadata Engine
Selecting Metadata Engine ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Metadata Engine service on the
local machine.
The Metadata Engine settings are divided into two property sheets:
General – System name, database configuration and security configuration

Plugins – Install/uninstall plugins
Server Admin > Metadata Engine

Metadata Engine – General
The General ( ) tab is used to configure the Metadata Engine.
General settings
Gateway Name of the Gateway that the Metadata Engine must use to connect to the Directory.
If the Gateway is installed on the same machine as the Metadata Engine, leave this
field blank.
Network card If your machine is equipped with more than one network card, you will have to
specify here which card is to be used for Omnicast.
Metadata Engine database

The Metadata Engine database is where the non visual metadata are stored.
Database type A separate database instance must be created to store the configuration data. The
Directory. Use the button to refresh the list of data servers available on your LAN.
database instance name should be "DirectorySQL".
data server.
Warning: all past and current configurations will be lost.
Security settings
Using the browse button, enter the path to MEPrivateKey.xml.
Server Admin > Metadata Engine > General

Metadata Engine – Plugins
The Plugins ( ) tab lists all the ME plugins currently installed on this machine. It also allows you to install new ones or
uninstall the existing ones.
To install a new plugin

1. Click on the Install plugin button.
2. Use the browser window that appears to locate the folder where your plugin DLL is located.
3. Select the file you wish to install and click OK. If the file you selected an incompatible plugin, you will get an error
message.
4. In order to complete the plugin installation, the Metadata Engine must be restarted. Choose Yes when you are
being asked to confirm the operation.
To uninstall a plugin
1. Select from the list the plugin you wish to uninstall.
2. Click on the Uninstall plugin button.
3. Choose Yes when you are being asked to confirm the operation.
Server Admin > Metadata Engine > Plugins

Virtual Matrix
Selecting Virtual Matrix ( ) from the resource tree allows the configuration of the Virtual Matrix on the local machine.
To learn more about the Virtual Matrix and its system wide configuration, please read the following topics under Config
Virtual Matrix
Access Control System
Camera Sequence
Macro
Macro Schedule
CCTV Keyboard
Hardware Matrix
The Virtual Matrix settings are divided into two property sheets:
General – General Virtual Matrix settings (system, network card)

Plugins – Install/uninstall Virtual Matrix plugins
Server Admin > Virtual Matrix

Virtual Matrix – General
The General ( ) tab is used to configure the Virtual Matrix.
Description
Gateway Name of the Gateway that the Virtual Matrix must use to connect to the Directory.
If the Gateway is installed on the same machine as the Virtual Matrix , leave this
field blank.
equipped with more than one network card, you will have to specify here which
card is to be used for Omnicast.
Video port The starting port number used by the Virtual Matrix for video connections used for
camera sequences.
Server Admin > Virtual Matrix > General

Virtual Matrix – Plugins
The Plugins ( ) tab lists all the Virtual Matrix plugins currently installed on this machine. It also allows you to install new
ones or uninstall the existing ones.
To install a new plugin

1. Click on the Install plugin button.
2. Use the browser window that appears to locate the folder where your plugin DLL is located.
3. Select the file you wish to install and click OK. If the file you selected an incompatible plugin, you will get an error
message.
4. In order to complete the plugin installation, the Virtual Matrix must be restarted. Choose Yes when you are being
asked to confirm the operation.
To uninstall a plugin
1. Select from the list the plugin you wish to uninstall.
2. Click on the Uninstall plugin button.
3. Choose Yes when you are being asked to confirm the operation.
Server Admin > Virtual Matrix > Plugins

Tools
Discovery Tool
Macro Editor
Report Viewer
WatchDog
Tools

Discovery Tool
Overview
The Discovery Tool is used to find all video units and Archivers connected to the LAN. It can also be used to add
units that do not support automatic discovery to the system. It is available as a stand-alone application and as an
embedded application in the Config Tool (see Configuration Pane – Directory – Discovery).
This chapter contains the following sections:
Using the Discovery Tool

Discovery Results
Result columns
Show and hide columns
Command buttons
Application menu
Command menu
Using the Discovery Tool

1. Open the Tools folder from the "Genetec Omnicast 4.0" program group.
2. Double-click on the Discovery Tool shortcut to start the application. The window shown above will appear.
3. Select the desired discovery option.
Archiver - Extension
Use this option to quickly find all archivers and their Extensions on the LAN. This search
constitutes an excellent starting point if you do not know what is available on your LAN.
AXIS
This option will discover all Axis extensions and units on your network. You must enter a
range of IP addresses and a HTTP port number. Proper user authentication is also
necessary or you may not find anything. If you are not sure of the IP addresses and the
port numbers your Axis units use, it would be a good idea to try "UPnP" first.
GE
Use this option to discover all GE extensions and units on your LAN. You must supply a
Discovery port range. A wider range may help you discover more units but will take
more time. If some GE units are password protected, you will have to enter the proper
password to find them. Please click on the Advanced settings button.
In the "Search settings", the higher the value of "Packets/sec", the faster the search will
be. The default value is 1000. It is sometimes necessary to reduce the number of packets
per second because some network switches are configured to block high traffic for
security reasons.
Sony
Use "Sony" to find all Sony extensions and units on your network. Use the authentication
button to specify the "service" username and password if necessary. Note that this
authentication is not required for unit discovery. It is only necessary if you need to
change the unit configuration. See Command menu below.
UPnP
"UPnP" is designed to find units that support the Universal Plug and Play protocol. It is
only available under Windows XP or more recent versions of Windows. This discovery
method runs very fast, therefore, it is recommended to try it first if you are not sure
where to find the units. For a complete identification of the units, the discovery
parameters for the other unit types must be properly configured. Otherwise, the
discovered units will be of unknown type.
VCS
Use "VCS" to find all VCS extensions and units on your network. Use the authentication
button to specify the "service" user password if necessary. Note that this password is
not required for unit discovery. It is only necessary if you need to change the unit
configuration. See Command menu below.
Verint
To discover Verint extensions and units on your LAN, you must supply a VSIP port range.
If some Verint units have SSL enabled, you must also provide a CA certificate and a SSL
password through the "Advanced settings" dialog.
In the "Search settings", the higher the value of "Packets/sec", the faster the search will
be. The default value is 1000. It is sometimes necessary to reduce the number of packets
per second because some network switches are configured to block high traffic for
security reasons.
Zero Configuration
"Zero Configuration" is designed to find units that support the Zero Configuration
protocol. Several unit types support this protocol. For a complete identification of the
units, the discovery parameters for the other unit types must be properly configured.
Otherwise, the discovered units will be of unknown type.
4. Click on the Run button to start the discovery. The Run button will change into a Stop button during the
search. The units found will appear gradually in the result list. The discovery is complete when the Run button
reappears.
Discovery Results
Result columns
The result is shown in eight standard columns. You may sort the results according to any of these columns by
clicking on the corresponding column heading. These columns are:
Unit type The unit type is represented by one of the following icons.
Archiver
Encoder unit (Camera)
Decoder unit (Analog monitor)
Combined encoder/decoder unit
VBridge (used as a communication relay for wireless units)
Unknown unit (not enough information to determine the unit type)
Name Name of the unit.
IP address IP address of the unit.
Port Discovery port for the unit. Sorting the result list on this column helps group
the units belonging to the same Archiver together.
SSL A( ) icon is shown in this column if the unit supports SSL.
Software For a unit, this value represents the firmware version. For an Archiver, it
version represents the Omnicast software version.
Audio A( ) icon is shown in this column if the unit supports audio.
Product The model name of the unit.
type
Show and hide columns
Right-clicking anywhere on the result headings will show the

column selection menu (see illustration on the left).
You can show or hide the result columns by clicking in the select-
box beside each column name.
The columns that are hidden by default are:
Hardware version
GUID (global unique identifier)
Command Buttons
Run – Starts a new search.
Stop – Stops the discovery (only shown when the discovery is in progress).
Add unit – This button is only present in the embedded version of the Discovery Tool.
See Add Units command below.
Clear – Clears the result list.
Select visible entity types.
Application menu
The application menu is only available in the stand-alone version of the Discovery Tool. It gives access to the
following commands:
Save results... Accessed from the File menu, this command allows you to save the
content of the result list to a text file.
Options... Accessed from the Tools menu, the Options dialog offers the following
options:
Run search on application startup
Select this option if you want the application to run the last selected
search configuration at start up.
Clear results before running a new search
Select this option to clear the result list before a new search. If you
wish to combine your search results for different sets of parameters,
then clear this option.
Help The Help menu gives access to various help functions. Selecting
"Contents..." or clicking on [F1] will open this document in the reference
guide section related to the current application you are running.
Command menu
The Command menu is shown by right-clicking anywhere in

the result list. The commands that do not apply to your
current selection will appear grayed out.
Note that the "Add Units..." command is only available in the
embedded version of the application.
The commands are described below.
Change Ports... Changes the discovery port of all selected units. It takes a few
seconds for the change to take effect. If you are viewing the
units in the Live Viewer, the video will disappear while the
units reboot.
The port of an Archiver cannot be changed from this
application. It must be changed from the Server Admin (see
Server Admin – Archiver Extension).
Change IP Address... Changes the IP Address of the selected unit (one at a time).
Reboot Units Reboots all selected units.
Identify Units Causes the Status LED on either side of the selected units to
flash very quickly in red for about 30 seconds. This feature is
used to quickly find the physical units on a rack.
Add Units... This command tells an Archiver of your choice to discover the
selected units. The Archiver will find the selected units only if it
is configured with the proper discovery ports (see Server
Admin – Archiver Extension).
For certain brands of unit (such as Axis), this is the only way to
add the units to an Archiver because they do not support
automatic discovery.
Clear Results Clears the result list.
Select Visible Entity Allows you to select the types of units you wish to see in the
Types... result list.
Tools > Discovery Tool

Macro Editor
Overview
The Macro Editor is an integrated development environment for writing macros for Omnicast Virtual Matrix. It
allows the user to write and test the macro all from the same environment.
The Macro Editor is like four tools in one
1. A code editor, equivalent to the one found in the Config Tool under Macro – Code.
2. A script monitor, equivalent to the one found in the Config Tool under Virtual Matrix – Statistics.
3.
1.
2.
3. A debugger. Syntax errors are indicated with the line and column numbers when running the script. Please
read the next section for more details.
4. An event monitor (bottom pane), equivalent to the event list found in the Live Viewer application.
Conditions and limitations
The Macro Editor can only modify existing macros. This is why the tool must always be connected to a Directory. To
connect to a Directory with the Macro Editor, you must have the "Macro Editor" application privilege.
To create new macros, use the Config Tool instead. Please refer to the macro creation steps found under Config
Tool – Configuration Pane – Macro.
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Using the Macro Editor

The following illustrates the typical steps that one will go through while using the Macro Editor.
1. Start the Macro Editor and click on to connect to the Directory as an administrative user.
2. Select a macro with the browse button .
3. If there is already a script associated to the macro, the code will appear in the code editing area.
You may also load the script from disk using the "Import" button.
4. Replace the line (usually the 3rd line from the top)
<?component error="false" debug="false"?>
with
<?component error="true" debug="false"?>
This will cause the Virtual Matrix to pop error messages when syntax errors are encountered during execution.
5. Edit the macro and commit the changes to the Directory by clicking on "Apply changes".
6. Click on the play button to test the macro.
If there is a syntax error, an error message like the one shown below with pop up. The numbers in brackets
indicate the line and the column where the error is found.
The events created by the macro will be displayed in the event list at the lower part of the application window.
7. Click on the "Running scripts..." button to pop the script monitor.

The script monitor is the only place where you can stop the scripts started by your main script. Use the refresh
button to refresh the list. To stop a script, select it from the list and click on the stop button .
8. You may save at any time the script to disk using the "Export" button.
Remember to set the error handling to "false" (step 4) before putting the macro in "production". If not, the error
messages might be displayed on the server running the Virtual Matrix and freeze the Virtual Matrix.
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Tools > Macro Editor

Report Viewer
Overview
The Report Viewer is an easy to use reporting tool that offers seven standard reports for the administrator to
monitor various aspects of the system. The report can be customized by sort and filters options.
In order to generate reports, the Directory option "Database reporting" must be supported by your Omnicast
license and the option "Enable database logging" must be selected in your Directory configuration. See Server
Admin – Directory – Logging.
Using the Report Viewer

To generate a report, follow these simple steps.
1. Open the Report Viewer by double-clicking on its shortcut ( ).
2. Click on the Report menu and select "Open". You will be given a choice of seven report models.
3. Select the model you want and click on "Open".
Note that if you have already openned a report, you must close it first before you can open another report.
4. Select a date range.
The common filter to all types of report is the date range. This filter helps you avoid to browse the entire
database. To remove a date range criterion, simply clear the corresponding selectbox. Click on OK to start the
report generation.
If you feel that the report is taking too

much time to show up, it is probably because
your selection criteria are too broad.
Click on the Stop ( ) button in the toolbar to
stop the report generation.
The report will appear with the data it has
gathered so far. Read the following steps to
learn how to personalize the report filters.
5. Use the following tools to customize your report.

Select Use this tool to add "filters" to your report.
expert
To add a new filter, click on "New" in the "Select Expert" dialog and select a
field on which you wish to apply the filter.
A new tab will be added to the "Select Expert" dialog (see above).
Select the comparision operator and a value it should be compared to.
Repeat as many times as necessary. Click "OK" when finished.
Search Use this tool to search for a particular text in the report. The field in which the
text searched text is found will be circled in red.
Export Use this tool to export the report to another document:
report
Select the format from the format drop-down list (Acrobat, Crystal Report,
Excel, Word, etc.). Note that the option "Crystal Report (RPT)" is a report
template. It is meant to save your custom options to generate new reports with
fresh data. It does not contain actual data.
Leave the destination as "Disk file".
Refresh Refresh the content of the report from the database.
Print Print the report
report
6. Other report customizations can be done through the Report menu.
Changing the report properties
Click on Report menu and select "Properties...". The following dialog will appear.
Enter a new title in the "Title" field, your name in the "Author" field, and a comment describing your report in
the "Comments" field if necessary. The title and the author will appear in the report heading. The comment
appears at to the end of the report.
Changing the sort option
Click on Report menu and select "Sort Expert...". The following dialog will appear.
The "Sort Expert" will list all available fields in the selected report. To sort by a particular field, select it and click
on the right arrow to add it to the sort fields. Don't forget to specify the sort order (ascending or descending)
for each selected field. The sort can be based on multiple fields. Use the up and down arrows to change the
priority of the sorted fields.
When you finished, click on "Apply". The Report Viewer will then regenerate the report based on the new sort
criteria.
7. Once the report is exactly how you want it, you may print it ( ), or save it ( ) to a file in one of the many
document format offered. If you have customized your report with the "Select expert" ( ), you can export it as a
"Crystal Report (RPT)" specification, so you can always re-execute the report with new data anytime in the future.
If you do not find the expected log entries in your report, select the log filters under Directory – Logging –
Database logging. By default, the system does not log user actions.
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Report descriptions
User Logon Report
Purpose Track all user logon and logoff events. The report shows who are using the system, when
they are using it and for how long.
Columns User name User name
Time Date and time of the event
Machine Machine from which the user was running the application
Application Application used (Live Viewer, Archive Player or Config Tool)
Action Logon succeeded, Logon failed, or Logoff
Description Reason in case of a logon failure
User Tracking Report
Purpose Track all user actions (view cameras, start/stop recording, add bookmark, etc.). User and
entity configuration actions are excluded. They are respectively shown in User
Configuration Report and Entity Configuration Report.
Columns User name User name
Machine Machine from which the user was running the application
Application Application used (Live Viewer, Archive Player or Config Tool)
User action Type of user action (see Entity type, Entity name and Description)
Entity type Entity type (video encoder, audio encoder, etc.)
Entity name Entity name and logical ID
Description Details of the user action
User Configuration Report
Purpose Track all user configuration actions: user creation/deletion/renaming, modifications to user
properties, privileges, permissions and password change.
Columns Initiator User or application making the change
Action Type of user action (see Entity type, Entity name and Description)
Affected Name of the user being created, deleted or modified
user
Description Description of the change
Application Failure Report
Purpose Track all major incidents affecting the server applications: startup, shutdown, backup
failures, etc.
Columns Machine Machine where the server application is running.
Application Application name.
Time Date and time of the event.
Event type Event type (Application logon, Application logoff, Application lost) .
Affected Applicable only to "Application lost" event. Indicates the application that was
service lost, detected by the Directory.
Description Details of the event when applicable.
Equipment Failure Report
Purpose Track all occurrences of equipment failures (unit lost/discovered, signal loss, etc.).
Columns Entity name Entity name.
Event type Event type (Application logon, Application logoff, Application lost) .
Description Supplemental details when applicable.
Entity Configuration Report
Purpose Track all entity configuration changes made by human users, except changes to user
configurations which are tracked separately in the User Configuration Report.
Columns Initiator User or application making the change
Action Action type (creation, modification, deletion)
Entity type Type of the affected entity.
Entity name Name of the affected entity.
Description Description of the change.
System Monitoring Report
Purpose Monitor all system activities (i.e. not initiated by human users), such as unit discovery,
automatic start/stop recording, backup start/stop, file deletion, etc.).
Columns Machine Machine where the server application is running.
Application Server application that generated the event.
System Event type or action, depending on the circumstance.
action
Entity type Type of the affected entity (unit, video encoder, alarm, etc.).
Entity name Name of the affected entity.
Description Supplemental details when applicable.
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Tools > Report Viewer

WatchDog
Overview
The WatchDog is a generic service that provides monitoring functionality to the Omnicast Server applications (or
services). Should an Omnicast server application fail, the WatchDog is responsible for re-starting that application as
well as notifying the responsible users by e-mail.
The WatchDog is always installed along with Omnicast server applications. It is configured by default to monitor all
installed Omnicast server applications. However, its behavior can be modified by the user through the WatchDog
Configuration interface, described further down.
Because the Watchdog is a generic product, not all of its features are used in Omnicast.
WatchDog Menu
The WatchDog menu is accessed by right-clicking on the WatchDog icon ( ) in the system tray.
The following actions can be performed from this menu.
To start/stop an Omnicast service:
1. Select the service that you want to start or stop. A submenu will appear.
2. Select "Start" or "Stop" depending on the current state of the application. Only one command should be
enabled.
To stop all Omnicast services:
1. Select "Exit & Stop WatchDog". The program will ask: "Do you wish to stop all registered applications?"
2. Select "Yes" to stop all registered applications. If you select "No", the WatchDog configuration program will
be removed from the system tray, but the services will not be stopped.
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To kill an unresponsive process:
If for some reason, an application is jammed and you cannot stop it by ending the process from the Windows
Task Manager, then you can use the WatchDog to "kill" the process.
1. Select "Kill a process…". The following window will appear.
2. Select the process you want to kill and click on "Kill selected".
The Omnicast Server processes are: OmniDir.exe (Directory), OmniArc.exe (Archiver), OmniGateway.exe
(Gateway), OmniRA (Restore Archiver), OmniRSA (Auxiliary Archiver), OmniTray (WatchDog configuration
interface), OmniVM (Virtual Matrix), OmniWD (WatchDog).
3. Click "Refresh list" to refresh the process list or "Close" to exit.
To restart the WatchDog configuration program:
1. Click on Windows Start button. Select "Programs", then "Startup", then "Genetec Omnicast WatchDog".
2. The Genetec Omnicast WatchDog icon will again appear in the system tray.
3. Using the Omnicast WatchDog, you can restart the other Omnicast services.
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WatchDog Configuration
To call up the WatchDog configuration interface, double-click on the WatchDog icon ( ) in the system tray or
select "Properties..." from the WatchDog's contextual menu. The following window will appear:
At the top of the window is a drop-down list that shows the names of all applications susbcribed to the WatchDog
monitoring service. All Omnicast server applications are subscribed to its service. The controls and properties shown
in this window all pertain to the selected application.
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Process control
The top section of this window is reserved for controlling the application process.
Start Starts the selected application, if the process is stopped.

Stop Stops the selected application, if the process is running.
Console... Opens the debug console, if the process is running. Works only for
applications that support the debug console.
Process ID Process ID of the selected application, if it is running.
Cookie Cookie ID useful for debugging purposes.
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Live Viewering properties
The "Properties" section of this window is reserved for configuring the monitoring behavior of the WatchDog
for the selected application.
Instance name Application instance name (or service name). The instance name is set
by the Omnicast Installer.
Full path name Path to the application executable. This field is preset by the Omnicast
Installer.
Arguments Command line arguments required by the application. None of the
Omnicast server applications require any command line argument.
Kill timeout Time in milliseconds that the WatchDog must wait before killing an
application, after telling it to quit. If the application does not quit after
the timeout, the WatchDog will kill it.
Poll timeout Time interval in milliseconds that the WatchDog must wait after
receiving a poll message from the application. If the application fails
to poll the WatchDog after the specified time, the WatchDog will kill
the application and restart it. The Poll timeout cannot be lower than
30 seconds, because that's the frequency at which the Omnicast
server applications are polling the WatchDog.
Stop after _ Enter here the tolerated crash frequency in terms of the maximum
times in _ sec number of crashes for a given time period. If the application crashes
and "action" more often than the tolerated limit within the specified time period,
the WatchDog will stop attempting to restart the application.
When the "stop" condition is reached, the WatchDog can be
instructed to reboot or not to reboot the machine. This feature is
designed to handle situations where the system is rendered unstable
by frequent application crashes.
Email threshold The WatchDog can be configured to send emails to selected users
when it has to restart applications (see explanations on Crash
notifications... below). Enter here the minimum number of seconds to
wait before the WatchDog sends another email. This feature avoids
flooding the users with emails when an application crashes too
frequently. This setting has nothing to do with the SMTP settings for
the Omnicast Directory in the Server Admin.
Application This check box tells the WatchDog whether the application is a
is a Windows Windows service or a normal application. This affects the way the
service WatchDog handles the application. All Omnicast server applications
are Windows services.
Application Select this box to activate the "Console..." button. The debug console
supports is used by developpers to help debug the application. All Omnicast
debug console server applications support the debug console.
Application Select this box if you want the WatchDog to be able to start the
can be started application. In situations where an application is started by another
by the one, it is necessary to clear this option to prevent the WatchDog from
WatchDog starting the application twice.
Crash strings... The WatchDog automatically detects all GPF (General Protection
Fault) errors. If you need the WatchDog to detect other types of
errors, "Run-time errors" for example, you have to specify the crash
strings for it to catch. Click on the Crash strings button, and the
following window will appear.
Enter the strings (case insensitive) you wish the WatchDog to catch in
the edit field and click on "Add". You may enter as many strings as
needed. The WatchDog will regularly select the content of the pop-up
windows attached to the application being monitored. If it finds one
of the crash strings in a pop-up window, it will kill the application and
restart it.
Dependencies... Use this button to specify the instance names of the applications that
depend on the current application to run. The Dependencies dialog
box works in exactly the same way as the Crash strings dialog box.
Suppose you have applications A and B that depend on your current
application, let's call it C, to run. When application C crashes, the
WatchDog will also kill applications A and B. Then it will restart
application C, followed by applications A and B. The dependant
applications must also subscribe to the WatchDog for this to work.
Crash Use the Crash notifications dialog box to enter the email addresses of
notifications... the persons you want to notify when the application crashes. For the
mail notifications to work, the user must properly configure the Mail
Server (see "Options..." button description).
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Command buttons
The following is the description of the buttons found at the bottom of the window.
Options... In order to use the Crash notifications feature of the WatchDog, you
must tell the WatchDog, the domain, IP address and port used by
your SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Server.
Click on this button to open the following dialog.
The Use default email option allows you to specify a single email
address for all crash notifications.
Help... Click on this button to open the online help on Omnicast WatchDog.
Apply Applies the changes you've just made to the configuration.
Cancel Cancel your changes and closes the window.
OK Applies the changes and closes the window.
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Tools > WatchDog

Appendix
Time Zone Abbreviations

Third Party Integration
Frequently Asked Questions
Glossary
Appendix

Time Zone Abbreviations
Time zone abbreviation display is controlled from the "Date and Time" tab of the Options dialog of the three main client
applications: Live Viewer, Archive Player and Config Tool. Select the option " Display time zone abbreviations" to have
the time zone abbreviation displayed along the time.
Time zone Abbrev. Description

(GMT-12:00) International Date Line West IDLW International Date Line West
(GMT-11:00) Midway Island, Samoa SST Samoa Standard Time
(GMT-10:00) Hawaii HST Hawaiian Standard Time
(GMT-09:00) Alaska AKST Alaska Standard Time
AKDT Alaska Daylight Time
(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada); Tijuana PST Pacific Standard Time
PDT Pacific Daylight Time
(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada) MST Mountain Standard Time
MDT Mountain Daylight Time
(GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan MST Mountain Standard Time
MDT Mountain Daylight Time
(GMT-07:00) Arizona MST Mountain Standard Time
(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) CST Central Standard Time
CDT Central Daylight Time
(GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan CST Central Standard Time
(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey CST Central Standard Time
CDT Central Daylight Time
(GMT-06:00) Central America CST Central Standard Time
(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) EST Eastern Standard Time
EDT Eastern Daylight Time
(GMT-05:00) Indiana (East) EST Eastern Standard Time
(GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito COT Colombia Time
(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada) AST Atlantic Standard Time
ADT Atlantic Daylight Time
(GMT-04:00) Caracas, La Paz VET Venezuela Time
(GMT-04:00) Santiago CLT Chile Time
CLST Chile Summer Time
(GMT-03:30) Newfoundland NST Newfoundland Standard Time
NDT Newfoundland Daylight Time
(GMT-03:00) Brasilia BST Brazil Standard Time
BDT Brazil Daylight Time
(GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires, Georgetown ART Argentina Time
(GMT-03:00) Greenland GST Greenland Standard Time
GDT Greenland Daylight Time
(GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic MAST Mid-Atlantic Standard Time
MADT Mid-Atlantic Daylight Time
(GMT-01:00) Azores AZOT Azores Time
AZOST Azores Summer Time
(GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is. CVT Cape Verde Time
(GMT) Greenwich Mean Time GMT Greenwich Mean Time
GMST Greenwich Mean Summer Time
(GMT) Casablanca, Monrovia GMT Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT+01:00) Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest,... CET Central Europe Time
CEST Central Europe Summer Time
(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo, Skopje, Warsaw, Zagreb CET Central Europe Time
(GMT+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris CET Central Europe Time
(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome,... CET Central Europe Time
(GMT+01:00) West Central Africa WAT West Africa Time
(GMT+02:00) Bucharest EET Eastern Europe Time
EEST Eastern Europe Summer Time
(GMT+02:00) Cairo EET Eastern Europe Time
(GMT+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia,... EET Eastern Europe Time
(GMT+02:00) Athens, Istanbul, Minsk EET Eastern Europe Time
(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem IST Israeli Standard Time
(GMT+02:00) Harare, Pretoria SAST South Africa Standard Time
(GMT+03:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd MSK Moscow Time
MSKS Moscow Summer Time
(GMT+03:00) Kuwait, Riyadh AST Arabia Standard Time
(GMT+03:00) Nairobi EAT East Africa Time
(GMT+03:00) Baghdad AST Arabia Standard Time
ADT Arabia Daylight Time
(GMT+03:30) Tehran IRT Iran Time
IRST Iran Summer Time
(GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi, Muscat GST Gulf Standard Time
(GMT+04:00) Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan AZT Azerbaijan Time
AZST Azerbaijan Summer Time
(GMT+04:30) Kabul AFT Afghanistan Time
(GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg YEKT Yekaterinburg Time
YEKST Yekaterinburg Summer Time
(GMT+05:00) Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent PKT Pakistan Time
(GMT+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai,... IST Indian Standard Time
(GMT+05:45) Kathmandu NPT Nepal Time
(GMT+06:00) Astana, Dhaka BDT Bangladesh Time
(GMT+06:00) Sri Jayawardenepura LKT Lanka Time
(GMT+06:00) Almaty, Novosibirsk NOVT Novosibirsk Time
NOVST Novosibirsk Summer Time
(GMT+06:30) Rangoon MMT Myanmar Time
(GMT+07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta ICT Indochina Time
KServer
(GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk Time
Admin
KRAST Krasnoyarsk Summer Time
(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong,... CST China Time
(GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore MYT Malaysia Time
(GMT+08:00) Taipei CST China Time
(GMT+08:00) Perth AWST Aus. Western Standard Time
(GMT+08:00) Irkutsk, Ulaan Bataar IRKT Irkutsk Time
IRKST Irkutsk Summer Time
(GMT+09:00) Seoul KST Korean Standard Time
(GMT+09:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo JST Japan Standard Time
(GMT+09:00) Yakutsk YAKT Yakutsk Time
YAKST Yakutsk Summer Time
(GMT+09:30) Darwin ACST Australian Central Standard Time
ACDT Australian Central Daylight Time
(GMT+09:30) Adelaide ACST Australian Central Standard Time
ACDT Australian Central Daylight Time
(GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time
AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time
(GMT+10:00) Brisbane AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time
(GMT+10:00) Hobart AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time
AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time
(GMT+10:00) Vladivostok VLAT Vladivostok Time
VLAST Vladivostok Summer Time
(GMT+10:00) Guam, Port Moresby PGT Papua New Guinea Time
(GMT+11:00) Magadan, Solomon Island,... MAGT Magadan Time
(GMT+12:00) Fiji, Kamchatka, Marshall Is. FJT Fiji Time
(GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington NZST New Zealand Standard Time
NZDT New Zealand Daylight Time
(GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa TOT Tonga Time
Appendix > Time Zone Abbreviations

Glossary
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Access control system – In Omnicast, this term designates all third party card access control systems
A operated by computers. In such systems, an electronic or electromechanical device replaces or supplements
mechanical key door access. Magnetic card keys (normally credit card style) are used to unlock doors. Some
high-end access control systems can control a wide range of security devices, including cameras and alarms.
Omnicast allows the integration of such systems through the use of its Virtual Matrix.
Action – User-programmed behaviors that are triggered by specifically defined events (motion detected,
doorbell rung, alarm triggered, etc.).
Active alarm – An active alarm is an alarm that has not yet been acknowledged. Only active alarms can be
viewed from the Live Viewer. Alarms that are no longer active may only be viewed from the Archive Player.
Active Directory – Active Directory is Microsoft's trademarked Directory service, an integral part of the
Windows 2000 architecture. Active Directory is a centralized and standardized system that automates network
management of user data, security, and distributed resources, and enables interoperation with other
Directories. Omnicast has the ability to synchronize its user and user group definitions with an existing Active
Directory for the purpose of having a unified user management system within an organization. Learn more.
Add-in – Small program added to another program in order to expand the program's options. Omnicast uses
two types of add-ins: plugins and macros.
Alarm – An alarm is a particular situation (motion detected, doorbell rung, signal lost, etc.) that requires the
security guard's immediate attention. Typically, these situations can be described by showing live videos or
playbacks from a list of cameras. Omnicast has a special mechanism put in place to handle alarms. Please refer
to the chapter on Alarm Management under Welcome – System Concepts to have a complete description.
Alarm acknowledgement – User response to an alarm. There are three variants of alarm acknowledgement
in Omnicast: (1) Default acknowledgement; (2) Alternate acknowledgement; (3) Custom acknowledgement.
Each variant is associated to a different event so that specific actions can be programmed based on the alarm
response selected by the user. Learn more.
Alarm entity – The set of specific handling procedures pertaining to a particular alarm is called "alarm entity".
To understand how alarm entities are configured, please refer to the section on Alarm under Config Tool –
Configuration Pane.
Analog monitor – External hardware monitor requiring a video decoder to view video streams and archives.
We use this term in Omnicast to refer to monitors not controlled by a PC.
Application shortcut – Single “quick launch” button that allows users to automatically open and log on to
another Omnicast application using the same username, password and Directory.
Archive playback – Playing back or viewing a video archive (previously recorded video).
Archive Player – Omnicast application used to playback and search through archived videos. To learn how to
use this application, please refer to the section on Archive Player in this user guide.
Archiver – The main Omnicast service that is responsible for dynamic discovery and status polling of units
(see also Archiver extension). All communications with units are established through this service. This is also
where all the video and multimedia streams are archived. For more details on this subject, please refer to
Archiving Overview under Welcome – System Concepts – Archiving Management.
Archiver extension – Archiver extensions are additional Archiver settings pertaining to the control of specific
groups of units. These settings cover areas such as automatic discovery, communications between the Archiver
and the units, archiving priority, and security. Archiver extensions are defined in the Server Admin.
Archiving mode – The criteria by which the Archiver schedules the recording of video streams. There are four
possible archiving modes: Disabled (do not record), Manual (record only at user requests), Continuous (always
record), and On motion / manual (record according to the motion detection settings or at user requests).
Archiving schedule – Omnicast schedule applied to the archiving function. Archiving schedules are followed
by all archivers to determine when (see schedule) and under which conditions (see archiving mode) the video
stream issued from a given camera must be archived.
Armed tile – An "armed" tile is a viewing tile that is ready to display alarms. An armed tile is shown with a
silver background. To arm a tile, click on the "Arm/Disarm" ( ) button in the tile control toolbar or select it
and type "A" from the keyboard. See Viewing Tile under Live Viewer – Viewing Pane.
ASF – ASF (Advanced Systems Format) is an extensible file format designed to store synchronized multimedia
data. It supports data delivery over a wide variety of networks and protocols while still proving suitable for
local playback. ASF supports advanced multimedia capabilities including extensible media types, component
download, scalable media types, author-specified stream prioritization, multiple language support, and
extensive bibliographic capabilities, including document and content management. ASF files can be played
back with the Windows Media Player (provided that the appropriate codecs are installed).
Asynchronous playback – Simultaneous playback of archived videos without regard to synchronization of

time between them.
Audio decoder – Device or software that decodes compressed audio streams for playback.
Audio encoder – Device or software that encodes audio streams using a compression algorithm.
Automatic discovery – The process by which units on a network are automatically discovered by the Archiver
service. This is done by broadcasting a discovery request on an appropriate discovery port and expecting all
units listening on that port to respond to the request by identifying themselves to the Archiver. Not all units
support this feature.
Auxiliary Archiver – The Auxiliary Archiver is a supplemental archiving service. Unlike the regular Archiver,
the Auxiliary Archiver is not bound to any particular discovery port. Therefore, it is free to archive any video
stream from any video encoder in the system, including the federated encoders. Auxiliary Archivers depend
on the default Archivers to communicate with the video units. They cannot operate on their own.
AVI file – An AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) file is a sound and motion picture file that conforms to the
Microsoft Windows Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) specification. AVI files (which end with an .avi
extension) require a special player that may be included with your Web browser or may require downloading.
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Backup set – Collection of video archives copied to a backup device (disk or tape) during a single backup
B operation. They are created for the long term safeguard of the video archive by the Archiver. To view backed
up data, a backup set must first be restored to full playback capabilities with the Restore Archiver.
Bit rate – Data transfer rate expressed in kilobits per second (kbps).
Block – Alarm display mode which consists in displaying all cameras assigned to an alarm one after another
on a single monitor. Each camera is being displayed for the amount of time specified in the alarm "dwell
time". Therefore, a 5-camera alarm with a dwell time of 5 seconds will take 25 seconds to display, regardless
the number of monitors available. The alarm display mode is part of the user configuration. See also Salvo
display mode.
Bookmark – Descriptive text that is tagged to a specific point in time on a selected camera or video archive.
Bookmarks can later be easily searched and retrieved from the database using the Archive Player application.
Broadcast – Receiver unspecific transmission over a network.

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Camera blocking – Feature that allows users with sufficient privileges to block other less privileged users
C from establishing video connections with selected cameras. This feature is particularly targeted for installations
that provide the general public access to live video. In such cases, cameras may be viewing situations not
suitable for transmission to all users. Learn more.
Camera group – Logical grouping of related cameras (video encoders) used to simplify alarm entity
definitions. Typically, cameras showing different angles of a same area (room, lobby, etc.) are put together in
the same camera group. The only place that camera groups are used in the system is in the encoder list
specification of alarm entities.
Camera sequence – A list of cameras (video encoders) controlled by an analog matrix or Omnicast's Virtual
Matrix, where each camera is given a preset amount of time to play, following a cycling program. The purpose
of having a camera sequence is so that multiple cameras can be displayed on a single analog monitor or a
single viewing tile within the Live Viewer application.
Camera tree – Hierarchical list of all the available cameras in the system. The cameras can be grouped in a
hierarchy of user-defined sites.
Cold standby – A backup system which needs to be started manually in case of failure of the main system.
See also hot standby, warm standby.
Command port – Communication port used by the Failover System (FOS) and the Gateway to communicate
system commands with the Omnicast Directory.
Config Tool – Omnicast front-end application that enables management and configuration of many
components of the Omnicast system like sites, users, archiving schedules, devices and applications. To learn
how to use this application, please refer to the section on Config Tool in this user guide.
Connection type –
1) A setting in the log on dialog that allows a user to choose between logging on to an Omnicast
Directory across a local area network (LAN) or the Internet.
2) A setting in the Network tab of the Config Tool that allows choice of unicast, multicast, or auto-
detected “Best Available”. This connection type setting only applies to certain devices such as
cameras/encoders, serial ports/PTZ controls, microphones and speakers. Learn more about the
differences between these connection types, please read the section on Network Connection Types
under System Concepts.
Contextual alarm – System defined alarm entity used to generate "context sensitive alarms" from the Live
Viewer. The purpose of this type of alarms is to report on the spot, ad hoc events observed on specific
cameras. The generated alarm will follow the properties configured for the "Contextual alarm" entity and show
only live video from the selected camera. Learn more.
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Data server – An application that manages data in databases and handles requests made by client
D applications.
Database – Collection of data that is organized so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed, and
updated.
Database type – Type or format of the database. Omnicast currently supports MSSQL and JET databases.
Default Archiver – The default Archiver of a unit is the Archiver that currently assumes the command and
control function of that unit. The default Archiver does not necessarily handle the archiving function since
some units are capable of storing the video archive on the unit itself. A unit may have only one default
Archiver at any given time. See also standby Archiver and redundant archiving.
Detection zone – Motion detection zone. A user defined template that watches for motion in a specific part
of the video image, as opposed to simply detecting motion anywhere in the image.
Device – In Omnicast, any identifiable piece of hardware or software is called a device. Examples of devices
used in Omnicast are: video encoders ( ), video decoders ( ), camera sequences ( ), digital input ( ),
output relays ( ), serial ports ( ), macros ( ), applications ( ), etc.
DFC – Directory Failover Coordinator.
Digital input – An external device that interfaces with Omnicast providing an On/Off signal to the application.
Omnicast can then use the digital input to associate it with a pre-determined action. Digital input sources can
include devices like door contacts, motion detectors, card readers, etc.
Digital zoom – Software manipulation of an image whereby the image is cropped and enlarged creating
pixels through interpolation.
Directory – The Omnicast Directory is the main server application whose service is required to provide a
centralized catalog for all other Omnicast services and applications on the system. From the Directory,
applications can view, establish connections and receive centralized configuration information. See also
Directory Failover Coordinator.
Directory failover – The safety mechanism by which Omnicast switches over to a backup Directory when the
main Directory service fails. The Directory failover is configured in the Config Tool.
Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC) – The DFC is the special service installed on every Directory server to
guarantee the continuity of the Directory service in the context of a failover configuration. The DFC's perform
two main functions: (1) Keeping the local Directory database up to date while the Directory service is on
standby; (2) Start or stop the local Directory service when it is appropriate to do so, based on a failover list.
Discovery port – The discovery port is the port used by the Archiver service to find units on the LAN (see
automatic discovery).
Discovery Tool – Tool used to list all units and Archivers connected to the LAN. Learn more.
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Entity – Any identifiable physical (see device) or conceptual object in Omnicast. Most entities are uniquely
E identified in Omnicast by a logical ID for ease of reference. Their properties can be viewed and modified using
the Config Tool.
Entity tree – Any graphical representation of system entities in a tree structure illustrating the hierarchical
nature of their relationships.
Event – A circumstance or state that is usually linked to an alarm and/or an action. Events can arise from many
sources such as cameras, Archivers, Directories, digital inputs, etc. They can include start-recording states, loss
of signal states, disk full messages, user logons, digital input triggers, etc. For more information, please read
the section on Event Definitions under Welcome – System Concepts – Event Handling.
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Failover – A backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component are assumed by
F secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through either failure or
scheduled down time. Used to make systems more fault-tolerant, failover is typically an integral part of
mission-critical systems that must be constantly available. The procedure involves automatically offloading
tasks to a standby system component so that the procedure is as seamless as possible to the end user. In
Omnicast, all mission-critical server applications can be protected by the failover mechanism.
Failover list – An ordered list of similar system components intended to provide a same service and meant as
a series of successive backups for the purpose of keeping that service available when disasters strike. See also
failover.
Federated Directory – The federated Directory is a proxy (representative) of a remote Directory, created by
the Federation Server to allow local users to view entities on the remote system as if they were on the local
system. Learn more.
Federated entity – A federated entity is a local representative of an external entity belonging to a remote
Omnicast system. Through these federated entities, local system users can manipulate the external entities
(cameras, camera sequences, digital inputs, etc.) as through they belong to the local system. Such a
configuration is called a Federation. Please read the definition of Federation Server and the section Config
Tool – Federated Directory – Entities for additional information.
Federation – The Federation is a virtual system formed by joining multiple independant Omnicast systems
together. The purpose of the Federation is to allow Omnicast clients to view video sources belonging to
multiple independent Omnicast installations simultaneously as if they were on the same system. Lean more.
Federation Server – Omnicast service at the core of the Federation, allowing users on the local Omnicast
system to access entities belonging to other remote Omnicast systems. The remote entities "published" by the
Federation Server are called federated entities.
Filter – A filter is "pass-through" code that takes input data, makes some specific decision about it and
possible transformation of it, and passes it on to another program in a kind of pipeline. Usually, a filter does
no input/output operation on its own.
Frame – A single video image.
Frame rate – The number of video frames transmitted per second.

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Gateway – The Gateway is the service that provides seamless connections between all Omnicast applications
G in a given system, regardless of whether they are located on the same LAN or not. The Gateway acts as a
doorway to the Directory for all Omnicast applications. Multiple Gateways can be installed on large Omnicast
systems to increase service availability and provide load balancing.
Ghost camera – A ghost camera is a stand in camera that is automatically created by the system when video
archives must be restored for a camera whose definition has been deleted from the Directory, either because
the physical device no longer exists or because the entity has been deleted by mistake. Ghost cameras cannot
be configured like real cameras. They are created so that users can query the video archives that still remain.
Learn more.
Global Directory – In the context of Directory failover, a global Directory is a Directory server that serves the
entire system as opposed to the local Directory that serves only a subset of the Omnicast applications,
typically within the same LAN. For more information on this subject, please refer to Directory scope under
Config Tool – Tools Menu – Configure Directory Failover.
GUID – Global unique identifier.

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Hardware matrix – The hardware matrix is an entity type used in Omnicast to represent conventional CCTV
H matrices to ensure their seamless integration to the rest of the system. All interactions between Omnicast
users and the CCTV matrix are handled by the Virtual Matrix. Omnicast users can view any camera connected
to the inputs of the CCTV matrix with the Live Viewer without ever having to worry about the manual
switching commands.
Hot standby – A backup system which starts up immediately in case of failure of the main system. See also
warm standby, cold standby.
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I-frame – or Intra-frame. See key frame.

I
Image quality – An adjustable setting in the Display quality tab for encoders (cameras) found in the Config
Tool. The adjustable slider control ranges from 1 to 10 and reflects the degree of compression used by the
encoder when encoding/compressing the video signal. Setting the slider to 1 tells the encoder to use as much
compression as possible (reducing the bandwidth requirements, file sizes and picture quality). Setting the
slider to 10 tells the encoder to use as little compression as possible (increasing the bandwidth requirements,
file sizes and picture quality).
Inactive device – Devices listed in the Logical or Physical views of the Config Tool that are configured to
connect to the Omnicast Directory but are not currently connected. Inactive devices appear in red in the entity
trees.
Instant replay – Allows immediate replay of recently recorded video side by side with the live video stream
for a given camera in the Live Viewer application.
IP – The Internet Protocol is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on
the Internet.
IP Camera – A stand-alone device incorporating a camera and a video encoder which allows users to view
live, full motion video from anywhere on a computer network, even over the Internet, using a standard web-
browser. IP cameras are viewed as an encoding unit in Omnicast.
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Key frame – A key frame (or I-frame, or intra-frame) is a frame that contains a complete image by itself as
K opposed to a usual frame that only holds information that changed compared to the previous frame. It is
used as reference in video image compression.
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LAN – Local Area Network.

L
Layout – (or viewer layout) Choice of the tile pattern combined with the selection of video source to display
in each tile. Viewer layouts are kept as part of the user profile, so no matter which machine is used to connect
to the system, the same layouts will always be available to the same user.
License key – Serial number issued by Genetec Information Systems reflecting the type of software licensing
options purchased for the Omnicast application. The license controls the expiry date, the maximum number of
simultaneous connections allowed, and the availability of optional Omnicast features. See the chapter on
Omnicast License Key for a complete description of all available options.
Live Viewer – The Live Viewer is the main Omnicast application used to observe all live camera streams in the
system. From a single workstation, a user can view up to 16 cameras simultaneously on a single monitor. To
learn how to use this application, please refer to the section on Live Viewer in this user guide.
Load balancing – In Omnicast, load balancing refers to the distribution of client connections among the
available Gateways. It can be done automatically by the system or configured manually by the administrator
through the Directory Failover Configuration Wizard.
Local Directory – In the context of Directory failover, a local Directory is a Directory server that serves only a
subset of the Omnicast applications, typically within the same LAN, as opposed to the global Directory that
serves the entire system. For more information on this subject, please refer to Directory scope under Config
Tool – Tools Menu – Configure Directory Failover.
Local recording – Local recording is a special feature of the Live Viewer that allows the user to keep a local
record of all live video displayed in the Viewing pane at any given point in time. Learn more about this
feature, please read the description of Local recording command under Live Viewer – Camera Menu.
Logical ID – Logical IDs are unique IDs assigned to each entity in the system for ease of reference. Logical IDs
are only unique within a particular entity type. Typical use of logical IDs are CCTV keyboards and Virtual Matrix
programming.
Logical view – Tree or list of system resources (devices) shown in the Config Tool that are grouped logically
by site. The logical grouping or sorting of the resources may not reflect their physical connections to each
other, but rather their relationships to concepts found in the real world.
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Macro – A sequence of commands that can be saved, recalled and executed quickly when needed. Macros
M can be used to create custom actions. For example, a bookmark could be added to a video archive everytime
someone swipes a security card to walk through a door (if the card reader is connected to Omnicast through a
digital input pin), or a rotation of cameras could be presented at preset intervals in the Live Viewer
application.
Macro Editor – The Macro Editor is an integrated development environment for writing macros for Omnicast
Virtual Matrix. It allows the user to write and test the macro all from the same environment. See Tools – Macro
Editor for more details.
Macro schedule – A schedule followed by the Virtual Matrix for the timed execution of macros. Not to be
confused with archiving schedules which are followed by Archivers to record videos.
Media Gateway – The Media Gateway is a stand alone application that emulates video capture devices from
Omnicast managed video encoders. The purpose of this utility is to allow any third party application that can
use video devices (such as Windows Media Encoder) to process, display or broadcast the live video managed
by Omnicast.
Metadata – Metadata is data about data. In Omnicast, the metadata is the information that describes or
enriches the video (the intitial data). This metadata is collected from third party applications by the Metadata
Engine. For example, metadata collected from video analytics systems could be the identification of people,
faces, cars or license plates from the video and for point-of-sale systems, metadata such as credit card
numbers or complete transaction details could be gathered.
Metadata Engine – The Metadata Engine (ME) is the link between Omnicast and third party applications such
as "video analytics" and "point-of-sale" systems with the goal of enriching its captured video with additional
information called metadata. Through the use of specific plugins, the Metadata Engine performs live
translations of Omnicast video to and from third party applications and enables users to view the collected
metadata along with live video or to search for events captured in the metadata stream.
Metadata overlay – Metadata overlays refers to visual metadata that are displayed as transparent layers over
the associated video. This is typically shown as a colored bounding box around an object identified in the
video or an inscription such as a license plate number. Both the Live Viewer and the Archive Player allow you
to show or hide these metadata overlays when viewing live or archived video.
Monitor group – Monitor groups are used to configure analog monitors for alarm display. The only other
way to display alarms is to use the Live Viewer application. With respect to alarm display, the monitors in a
monitor group can be compared to the armed tiles found in the Live Viewer's Viewing pane.
Motion detection – The software component within Omnicast that watches for changes in the video image.
The definition of what constitutes "motion" in a video can be based on highly sophisticated criteria. Learn
more on this subject, please read the section on Motion detection under Config Tool – Configuration Pane –
Camera.
Motion search – The database search functionnality of Omnicast that searches saved video archives for
motion in a specific region of the video image.
MPEG-4 – Standard for coded representation of digital audio and video for multimedia in fixed and mobile
Web applications.
Multicast – Communication between a single sender and multiple receivers on a network.
Multicast by Archiver – When true multicast is not available, multicast can be simulated by Omnicast. Instead
of having direct communications established in the true multicast mode, the sender will communicate in
unicast UDP with the Archiver, and the Archiver will then establish multicast connections with the selected
receivers. This simulated multicast is useful when true multicast is not available, for example cameras or Live
Viewers connected through wireless LAN.
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N Network camera – See IP Camera.
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Output relay – Omnicast can send a signal through an output relay to an external device. The signal can be
O pulsed or constant. It can be useful for creating actions such as turning on a light, ringing an alarm, etc.
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Physical view – Tree or list of applications, services and Units currently connected to the Directory shown in
P the Config Tool that are grouped physically.
Playback pane – Area in the Archive Player's workspace reserved for viewing video archives. The Playback
pane is comprised of the playback tiles and the playback controls. Up to 16 video streams can be played
simultaneously. Learn more.
Playback sequence – A sequence of archived video streams for a given time period that can be viewed with
the Archive Player.
Playback tile – A section (tile) in the Playback pane used to display a single video stream. See also Playback
pane. Learn more.
Plugin – A software module that adds a specific feature or service to a larger system. The idea is that the new
component simply plugs in to the existing system. Plugins are used in Omnicast to extend the capabilities of
the Virtual Matrix, the Metadata Engine, and the Live Viewer.
Port –
1) On computer and telecommunication devices, a port (noun) is generally a specific place for being
physically connected to some other device, usually with a socket and plug of some kind. Typically, a
personal computer is provided with one or more serial ports and usually one parallel port. The serial port
supports sequential, one bit-at-a-time transmission to peripheral devices such as scanners and the
parallel port supports multiple-bit-at-a-time transmission to devices such as printers.
2) In programming, a port (noun) is a "logical connection place" and specifically, using the Internet's
protocol, TCP/IP, the way a client program specifies a particular server program on a computer in a
network. Higher-level applications that use TCP/IP such as the Web protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol,
have ports with preassigned numbers. These are known as "well-known ports" that have been assigned
by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Other application processes are given port numbers
dynamically for each connection. When a service (server program) initially is started, it is said to bind to
its designated port number. As any client program wants to use that server, it also must request to bind
to the designated port number.
Port numbers are from 0 to 65535. Ports 0 to 1024 are reserved for use by certain privileged services. For
the HTTP service, port 80 is defined as a default and it does not have to be specified in the Uniform
Resource Locator (URL).
Primary server – The default server chosen to perform a specific function in the system. To increase the
system's fault-tolerance, the primary server can be backed up by one or many secondary servers that can take
its place when the primary server becomes unavailable. See also failover list.
Protocol – A set of formalized rules that describe how data is transmitted over a network. Low-level protocols
define the electrical and physical standard, while high-level protocols deal with formatting of data. TCP and IP
are examples of high-level LAN protocols.
PTZ priority – The PTZ priority is a user attribute used by Omnicast to determine which user has priority over
a camera's PTZ controls when two or more users are trying to control the movement of the same camera. The
value of 1 corresponds to the highest priority, and the value of 255 corresponds to the lowest priority. Learn
more.
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Recording state – Current recording status of a given camera. There are four possible recording states:
R Enabled, Disabled, Currently recording (unlocked) and Currentlty recording (locked).
Redundant archiving – Option granted to the Archiver service through the Omnicast license key that allows
multiple copies of the same video streams to be archived simultaneously as a protection against accidental
data loss. Learn more about this topic, please refer to Protection against data loss under Welcome – System
Concepts – Archiving Management – Archiver Availability.
Report Viewer – Tool used to generate reports on various aspects of the system. All seven standard reports
proposed by the tool are user configurable. See Tools – Report Viewer for more details.
Restore Archiver – Omnicast server application used to make restored tape or folder backups available for
search and playback in the Archive Player. For more details on this subject, please refer to Archiving Overview
under Welcome – System Concepts – Archiving Management.
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Salvo – Alarm display mode which consists in displaying all cameras assigned to an alarm simultaneously,
S using as many available monitors as needed. Only one alarm is displayed at a time. The alarm display mode is
configured as a user preference. See also Block display mode.
Schedule – Omnicast entity defining a generic set of time constraints that can be applied to a multitude of
situations in the system. The time constraints are defined by (1) a recurrence pattern: daily, weekly, monthly,
yearly, or specific dates; and (2) a time coverage: all day, daytime, nighttime, or specific time ranges. Learn
more.
SDK – Software Development Kit that can be used to develop custom applications that can interface with the
Omnicast system, such as Web clients.
Secondary server - Any alternate server intended to replace the primary server in the case the latter becomes
unavailable. See also failover list.
Server Admin – Application used to configure the Omnicast Server license and services on each local
machine. To learn how to use this application, please refer to the section on Server Admin in this user guide.
Silent alarm – A silent alarm is an alarm that has no associated cameras. Therefore, it cannot be displayed.
Other features associated to alarm management such as alarm prioritization, alarm tracking, pre-selection of
users for alarm handling, alarm snoozing, alarm forwarding, etc., remain all available.
Site – User created entity for grouping related system resources together for ease of viewing and
management. Typically, a site corresponds to a physical location, like a building or a floor, but it may very well
be used to represent any concept in the real world.
SSL – Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol used to secure applications that need to communicate over a
network.
Standby Archiver – Option granted to the Archiver service through the Omnicast license key that allows
multiple Archivers to be configured as each other's backup for a given pool of units. The Archiver that
currently assumes the command and control function of a given unit is called the "default Archiver" of that
unit. Learn more about this topic, please refer to Archiver Availability under Welcome – System Concepts –
Archiving Management.
Synchronous playback – Simultaneous playback of archived videos that are synchronized in time. Please refer
to Archive Player – Toolbar – Synchronous playback for more details.
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TCP – The Transmission Control Protocol is a connection-oriented protocol used to send data over an IP
T network. The TCP/IP protocol defines how data can be transmitted in a secure manner between networks.
TCP/IP is the most widely used communications standard and is the basis for the Internet.
Tile ID – The number displayed at the lower left corner of the viewing tile. This number uniquely identifies
each tile within the layout.
Tile pattern – Prefixed arrangement of viewing tiles within a viewer layout.
Timeline – A graphic illustration of a video sequence, showing where in time motion and bookmarks are
found. Please refer to Timeline under Archive Player – Playback Pane – Playback Controls for more details.
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UDP – The User Datagram Protocol is a connectionless protocol used to exchange data over an IP network.
U UDP is more efficient than TCP for video transmission because of lower overhead.
Uncompressed video filter – The uncompressed video filter is a filter program that takes an encoded video
stream from Omnicast and produces an uncompressed video stream as output. This program implements the
interface of a "source filter" defined by Microsoft's DirectShow. The uncompressed video filter is provided in
the form of a dynamic link library (DLL) which can be called from third party applications (such as
ObjectVideo's VEW 2.0) to perform live video analysis.
Unicast – Communication between a single sender and a single receiver over a network.
Unit – A unit (also called video unit) is a video encoding or decoding device capable of communicating on an
IP network. They come in a wide variety of brands and models. Some support audio, others support wireless
communication. Certain encoding models support multiple video inputs (up to 12) and others come
integrated with a camera, such as IP cameras.
URL – A URL (Uniform Resource Locator, previously Universal Resource Locator) - usually pronounced by
sounding out each letter but, in some quarters, pronounced "Earl" - is the unique address for a file that is
accessible on the Internet. The URL contains the name of the protocol ("http:", "ftp:", "file:") to be used to
access the file resource, a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and a pathname, a
hierarchical description that specifies the location of a file in that computer. On the Web (which uses the
Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP), an example of a URL is:
http://www.genetec.com/omnicast/overview.aspx
which specifies the use of a HTTP (Web browser) application, a unique computer named www.genetec.com,
and the location of a text file or page to be accessed on that computer whose pathname is
/omnicast/overview.aspx.
USB – (Universal Serial Bus) A plug-and-play interface between a computer and peripheral devices (scanners,
printers etc).
User group – User groups are used to define common user attributes, such as permissions, privileges, PTZ
priority and Viewing priority. By becoming a member of a group, a user automatically inherits all the attributes
of the group. A user can be member of many groups.
User privileges – Particular rights granted to a user to perform certain system functions. User privileges can
be inherited from user groups.
User profile – List of information concerning a particular user, such as the password, the email, the privileges,
etc. Each user profile is identified by a unique username. Learn more.
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Validation key – Serial number generated by the Server Admin that must be provided to obtain a license key.
V
Video archive – Digitally recorded video available for playback through the Archive Player.
Video data format – Resolution of the video. There are typically eight video data formats available: qcif, cif,
2cif, 2cif (480), 2/3D1, VGA, 2cif H and 4cif. The standard video resolution is cif.
Video decoder – Device or software that decodes video streams for playback.
Video encoder – Device or software that encodes video streams.
Video file – File created by the Archiver to store archived video. The file extension is .g64.
Video sequence –
1) A sequence of images forming a video illustrating moving scenes.
2) Any recorded video stream. When this definition is employed, we recommend using the term playback
sequence to avoid any confusion.
3) A list of video encoders (cameras) controlled by an analog matrix or Omnicast's Virtual Matrix, where
each encoder is given a preset amount of time to play, following a cycling program. When this definition
is used, we suggest using the term camera sequence instead, to avoid potential confusion.
Viewer layout – Common layout definitions for the Live Viewer's Viewing pane that can be shared among
different users. The viewer layout defines 1) the tile pattern, 2) the entity mapping to each viewing tile, and 3)
the alarm state ("armed" or "disarmed") of each viewing tile. Viewer layouts can only be created and modified
from the Live Viewer.
Viewing pane – Area of the Live Viewer workspace reserved for viewing alarms and live videos. Learn more.
Viewing priority – The viewing priority is a user attribute used by Omnicast to manage camera blocking,
which allows users with higher viewing priorities to block the live video on selected cameras to users with
lower viewing priorities. Learn more.
Viewing tile – A section (tile) in the Viewing pane used to display a single video stream. See also Viewing
pane. Learn more.
Virtual camera – A virtual camera is a camera that is controlled by Omnicast through a conventional CCTV
matrix (see Hardware Matrix). It differs from a camera directly controlled by Omnicast because it has no
permanent connection to a video encoder. Virtual cameras are viewed through the outputs of the CCTV
matrix which are connected to video encoders. Because a CCTV matrix has typically more inputs than outputs,
not all virtual cameras can be viewed at the same time.
Virtual Matrix – The Virtual Matrix is the Omnicast server application that provides all of the functionality that
one expects from an traditional CCTV matrix without the hardware limitations associated with it. Unlike its
hardware counterparts, the Virtual Matrix offers an infinite number of inputs/outputs. Like any other Omnicast
applications, the Virtual Matrix has no location limitations; this makes it possible for the Virtual Matrix to
manage video feeds from multiple locations all around the world. For more details on this subject, please refer
to Virtual Matrix under Config Tool – Configuration Pane.
VSIP port – The VSIP port is the discovery port used by the Archiver service to find Verint SmartSight units on
the LAN (see automatic discovery). A given Archiver can be configured to oversee multiple VSIP ports. For
more information, please read Verint extension under Server Admin – Archiver Extension.
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WAN – Wide Area Network.
W
Warm standby – A backup system which starts up after a period of a few seconds in case of failure of the
main system. See also hot standby, cold standby.
WatchDog – Application used to provide monitoring functionality to the other Omnicast services. Should
Omnicast services fail, the WatchDog is responsible for re-starting services as well as notifying the user by e-
mail or event log of the reason and time of the crash. To learn how to use this application, please read the
section on WatchDog under Tools.
Watermarking – Process by which a digital signature is added to each recorded video frame to ensure its
authenticity. If anyone later tries to make changes to the video (add, delete or modify a frame), the signatures
will no longer match, thus, showing that the video has been tampered with.
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Welcome to Omnicast™

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Read This Guide

Welcome > Getting Started

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Restrictions and Limitations

Protection and Security

Welcome > Getting Started > Genetec Omnicast License Agreement

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Getting Started / What's New

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous access to multiple drives by Archiver

Improved user interface to handle large scale systems

Enhanced Bandwidth Usage

Enhanced Multi-Display Mode: IP Video Wall

Context sensitive alarms

Integration to Active Directory

New Scheduling Options

Monthly recurrence (a specific day or a specific weekday of every month)

Storage on Video Servers and IP Cameras

Video Sequence Protection

A new Video File Query tool has been added.

Virtual Matrix plugins

Error Notification Log

Simple vs Advanced mode

Fresh New Look

Old names New names

New Features by Application

Archive Player Enhancements

New query type: Metadata Search. Lean more.

Config Tool Enhancements

Welcome > Getting Started > What's New?

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Video compression technology based on MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and MJPEG

Welcome > System Overview

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Welcome > System Overview > Client Applications

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Directory Failover Coordinator (DFC)

Welcome > System Overview > Server Applications

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Network Connection Types

Welcome > System Concepts

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Applying the New License Key:

Choose a PC that has Internet access.

You will be connected to the Licensing Tool page.

Archiving – There are tree possible options.

Welcome > System Concepts > Omnicast License Key

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

Standard User Groups

Live Viewer users

Archive Player users

Welcome > System Concepts > User Profile

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.

What is the Gateway?

Once you are connected, the username and the actual

The number following the Gateway name is the

The default value is 5001. If your Gateway is

The TCP command port is configured with the

If the application has trouble connecting to the

Using Windows Credentials

Welcome > System Concepts > Connect Dialog

www.genetec.com Copyright © 2006 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved.