Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide. Software Release 5.1

Transcription

1 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Software Release 5.1 February 2008

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3 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Software Release 5.1 Revision: A

4 By providing this document, Verint Systems Inc. is not making any representations regarding the correctness or completeness of its contents and reserves the right to alter this document at any time without notice. All marks referenced herein with the or TM symbol are registered trademarks or trademarks of Verint Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners Verint Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Publication date: February 28, 2008

5 Contents Preface... v Who Should Read this Guide... v References... v About Us...vi Web Site...vi Extranet...vi Customer Service... vii Chapter 1 Overview... 1 Chapter 2 Creating Scenes... 3 Stitching Camera Views... 3 Tips for Creating Scenes... 5 Using Automatic or Manual Stitching... 6 Tips for Successful Manual Stitching... 8 Transforming Global Scenes... 9 Chapter 3 Viewing a Scene Viewing a Scene in the Viewing Window Viewing a Scene in the Full Screen...12 Troubleshooting...13 Chapter 4 Using the Virtual PTZ Accessing the Virtual PTZ Camera...15 Resizing the Selected Area...16 Panning, Tilting, and Zooming on the Selected Area...17 Removing the Selected Area...17 Appendix A Glossary of Terms iii

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7 Chapter The Nextiva Mosaic Operator guide provides details on the following: Viewing Scenes in Nextiva Mosaic Using the Virtual PTZ features in Nextiva Mosaic Preface Note: For details on installing and configuring Nextiva Mosaic, refer to the Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Administrator Guide. Who Should Read this Guide This guide is intended for operators who are responsible for surveilling areas using Nextiva Mosaic. These users need to be familiar with: General Windows applications General Video surveillance technology References The Nextiva documentation suite includes the following guides: Nextiva Administrator Guide Nextiva Installation Guide Nextiva IntelliView documentation suite Nextiva Maintenance and Troubleshooting Guide Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Administrator Guide Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Nextiva Review Operator Guide Nextiva System Planning Guide Nextiva WebReview Operator Guide v

8 Preface All these documents are included on the Nextiva Documentation CD shipped with the product. In addition, you have access to: Nextiva Customer Furnished Equipment Guide Nextiva Intelligent Edge Device user guides About Us Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) is a leading global provider of analytic software-based solutions for security and business intelligence. Verint solutions help organizations make sense of the vast voice, video, and data available to them, transforming this information into actionable intelligence for better decisions and highly effective performance. Since 1994, Verint has been committed to developing innovative solutions that help global organizations achieve their most important objectives. Today, organizations in over 50 countries use Verint solutions to enhance security, boost operational efficiency, and fuel profitability. Web Site For information about the Nextiva line of products, visit Extranet To download product-related documents, you need access to the Verint Video Solutions partner extranet. To register, go to vi

9 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Customer Service For assistance with the Nextiva software, contact the Verint Video Solutions customer service team. For the main service and support page on the Verint web page, visit: Location Telephone USA and Canada NEXTIVA ( ) The Service Desk is open from 9:00 am to 7:30 pm (EST) Monday to Friday. Central and Latin America Europe, Middle +44 (0) East, and Africa The Service Desk is open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (GMT) Monday to Friday. Outside these hours, calls are automatically routed to the Out of Hours team who forward them to the Customer Service Engineering Team. Asia/Pacific The service desk is open from 9:00am to 6:30pm (Monday to Thursday) and 9:00am to 5:30pm (Friday). vii

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11 Overview Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View (Nextiva Mosaic) provides a scene based approach for video monitoring by linking multiple camera feeds into recognizable scenes. As part of the Nextiva Monitoring Solution platform, the Nextiva Mosaic application helps reduce the chances of poor decision making at critical points caused by viewing multiple uncorrelated screens, by stitching scenes from multiple cameras in real-time, into a single seamless view. Today, managing a plethora of video images from cameras deployed in a variety of unique environments is becoming an increasing challenge. Tasks such as tracking people, vehicles, and an assortment of objects over several camera views are difficult for a human operator to perform, and the increasing numbers of video monitors may even reduce chances of incident detection. Most cameras provide only a small fraction of the normal human view; therefore, lack of context becomes a problem to the operator. Stitching the views provided by several cameras together, thereby creating a mosaic image, allows the user to view a full scene as the human eye was meant to see it. The user is presented with an enhanced means of establishing, tracing, positioning and managing situations. Once a scene has been created and saved, you are able to view and monitor the saved scenes as any other standard camera view; in effect the Mosaic scene becomes a virtual camera. The Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View application includes: Adding and Defining Cameras Creating Scenes from a collection of two to four cameras Automatically Stitching pairs of camera Manually Stitching pairs of cameras Scene creation function (stitching of all cameras composing a scene) Saving stitched scenes Global scene transformation 1

12 1: Overview Live viewing of Scenes Zooming on a specific zone and into a separate window The Mosaic application is copyrighted as follows. This informaiton appears in the About box of the application. VERINT, the VERINT logo, ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE, POWERING ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE, STAR-GATE, RELIANT, VANTAGE, X-TRACT, NEXTIVA, ULTRA, AUDIOLOG, WITNESS, the WITNESS logo, IMPACT 360, the IMPACT 360 logo, IMPROVE EVERYTHING, EQUALITY, CONTACTSTORE, and CLICK2STAFF are trademarks or registered trademarks of Verint Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. 2

13 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Creating Scenes This chapter provides tips and procedures for creating Scenes. In Nextiva Mosaic, a Scene is a composition comprised of two to four camera views that are stitched together in order to provide a wide view. This gives the operator an unobstructed, more complete, and more natural view of a monitored area than can be achieved through a single camera view or by examining multiple camera views on separate screens. You can create multiple scenes. The operator can select a scene in the Nextiva Mosaic application and drop into the Viewing area. Then, use Virtual PTZ commands in order to pan, tilt, and zoom in on a specific areas. For details on these functionalities, refer to the Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Administrator Guide. This chapter includes the following sections: Stitching Camera Views: following Using Automatic or Manual Stitching: See page 6. Tips for Successful Manual Stitching: See page 8. Creating a Scene: See page 9. Transforming a Scene: See page 9. Stitching Camera Views The first step is to arrange the camera views in the correct order for the scene. Then, Stitch the views together, working from left to right on Camera Pairs. A camera pair is a set of two adjacent cameras. Nextiva Mosaic provides two methods for stitching camera pairs together: Automatic Camera Stitching: automatically aligning two camera views together. Manual Camera Stitching: manually identifying correlation points and aligning two camera views together. You can combine manual and automatic stitching methods in order to create a scene. In fact, for best results, it is recommended to perform automatic stitching first. View the results. Then apply manual stitching to enhance the scene. 3

14 2: Creating Scenes Use the following procedures to arrange camera views, stitch the camera views together, and design your scenes. To arrange the camera views: 1. Launch Nextiva Mosaic. 2. Open the Setup tab. 3. Select a camera from the Cameras list. 4. Drag the camera to the lower pane, using your mouse. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4, until you have all the cameras required for the scene. Note: You need to start with the left view and work towards the right, making certain that the views are in the correct order. To remove views, you do the opposite, start from the right and work towards the left. Select the view and click Delete to remove it. 4

15 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Tips for Creating Scenes For best results, follow these tips when creating scenes: Create scenes in optimal lighting conditions; for example, midday as opposed to night for outdoor views. Camera views need to physically overlap by 10% to 30%. Overlap by 20% for best results. View the overlap in the lower pane of the Setup window, when you import the views. This can give you an idea of the amount of overlap. To perform automatic camera stitching: 1. Click on the Stitch icon above the first pair of cameras to move an image of the aligned camera views to the viewing area in the top pane. 2. Click on the Auto Stitch icon. 3. Click Show Results. The results of the stitching for these two cameras are displayed in the upper pane. 4. Click OK if you are satisfied with the stitching. Otherwise, follow the procedure for manual stitching. 5

16 2: Creating Scenes 5. Add the next pair of cameras and repeat this procedure. 6. Repeat until all camera pairs required for the scene are displayed in the Viewing area. Note: In order to adequately perform the stitching, it is recommended to have only still objects in your view. If your view includes moving objects, such as people or cars, you might need to change the still view. This can be done by pressing CTRL+G or by clicking the icon several times until the view is satisfactory and includes enough non-moving elements to provide good correlation points. Using Automatic or Manual Stitching To decide whether to use automatic or manual stitching: 1. Perform the automatic stitching, as described in the previous section. 2. Look at the stitched image in the Viewing window. 3. Do one of the following: Follow the Manual Stitching procedure if you need to enhance the image. Otherwise, continue with step Click Create Scene once all camera pairs are stitched together and you are satisfied with the scene. After several seconds the entire stitched scene appears. 5. Enter a name for the scene in the SceneName text box if the scene is satisfactory. Before saving, you may also perform global transformations on the image. See Transforming Global Scenes on page Click Save. Note: You can click Create Scene without performing any previous camera stitching. In this case, Nextiva Mosaic automatically stitches all camera pairs. To perform manual stitching: 1. Click Cancel to remove the existing image from the viewing area. 2. Click on the Stitch icon above the first pair of cameras to move an image of the aligned camera views to the viewing area in the top pane. 3. Click on the Manual Stitch icon 4. Search for correlation points between the two images. These are objects or areas which appear in both images and which can be used to stitch the image together. 6

17 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide 5. Click on the first point on one image and then on the same point in the second image. A red X mark is displayed on each point. Note: You need to select the same feature in both images. 6. Repeat step 5 until you have three or four correlation points. Note: To remove all points and start again, right-click and select Clear Points. To remove the last pair of points, click CTRL + Z. 7. Click the Show Results button. Note: When you click the Show Results button, a second stream is opened for each of the stitched cameras. For each camera, you have one live stream, in the filmstrip, in the lower pane, and a second live stream in the main Viewing window. Although the image seen in the filmstrip is a still jpeg image, the stream remains open on the edge device. 7

18 2: Creating Scenes If you are happy with the stitching, click OK. Then repeat the procedure for each pair of cameras. 8. Click Create Scene if you are satisfied with the Scene. After several seconds the entire stitched scene appears. 9. Enter a name for the scene in the SceneName text box if the scene is satisfactory. Before saving, you may also perform global transformations on the image. See Transforming Global Scenes on page Click Save. Note: You can combine automatic and manual stitching, applying automatic stitching for some camera pairs and manual stitching when automatically stitched pairs need to be enhanced. Tips for Successful Manual Stitching For best results, follow these tips when performing manual stitching: Choose correlation points that have high contrast, such as bright against dark, room corners, or edges of objects. Identify a maximum of four points. This way both the manual and the automatic stitching methods are being used. When you make four or less manual selections, you enhance the automatic stitching. Arrange the stitching on the image to cover as many surfaces as possible. In the following example, Scene 1 is preferred over Scene 2. Scene 1 8

19 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Scene 2 In the first scene, a variety of points are selected: a tree, in front of the building, towards the back of the image; a pole, in front of the parking area, at the front of the image; a different tree, in the center of the roundabout, and a point on the edge of the roundabout. In the second scene, three selections are made from the grassy area in the center of the roundabout with a fourth point on the edge of the roundabout. Note: If all the video streams for a camera are currently being used by Nextiva, Mosaic displays an error message or a black screen in the Viewing window. Transforming Global Scenes Nextiva Mosaic has two options for correcting scenes, in order to create a more natural and intuitive view: Global Rotation: to rotate the scene clockwise or counter-clockwise Global Distortion: to correct a scene so that it arches inwards or outwards Note: You can only apply the Global Transformations to a scene before it has been saved. Once they have been applied and saved, the transformation data becomes an integral part of the scene. The Global Transformation tools are located in the bottom-left corner of the Setup tab, in the Mosaic application. 9

20 2: Creating Scenes To rotate the scene: 1. Click on the Rotation tool at the top of the Global Transformation tool box. 2. Slide the knob to the right to rotate the whole scene clockwise, or to the left to rotate it counter-clockwise. To arch the scene: 1. Click on the Distortion tool at the bottom of the Global Transformation tool box. 2. Slide the knob to the right to arch the scene upwards or to the left to arch the scene downwards. 10

21 Viewing a Scene A Scene is a composition of made up of two to four camera views that have been Stitched together in order to provide a more complete, unobstructed view of an area. Details, on how to create a scene and on how to set up the cameras that are required for the scene, are provided in the Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Administrator Guide. This chapter provides details on: Viewing a Scene: following Viewing a Scene at Full Size: See page 12. Troubleshooting: See page 13. Viewing a Scene in the Viewing Window To view a scene: 1. Launch Nextiva Mosaic. 2. Open the View tab. 3. Drag a scene from the Scenes list to the top pane. 11

22 3: Viewing a Scene Viewing a Scene in the Full Screen To view a scene at its maximum size: 1. Right-click anywhere in the scene. 2. Click Full Screen. 12

23 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide 3. Press the Esc key on your keyboard to return to the normal view: Alternatively, you can use the vertical and horizontal bars contract the screen. to expand and Troubleshooting Perform the following procedure, if the Stream is in use message displays, when you attempt to load streams images in the stitching phase: 1. Log on to the Mosaic workstation. 2. Launch Nextiva Mosaic. 3. Right-click the video stream, in the lower pane of the Viewing window. 4. Click Clear. 5. Reload the stream. If this solution does not work, open the Setup tab; then, switch back to the View tab. 13

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25 Using the Virtual PTZ Nextiva Mosaic includes Virtual PTZ camera functionality, which provides the same features as a physical PTZ camera. With the Virtual PTZ controls you can easily zoom in on a specific area within a scene, pan left or right across a scene, or tilt up or down on a scene. This chapter covers the following: Accessing the Virtual PTZ: See page 15 Resizing: See page 16. Panning, Tilting and Zooming: See page 17. Removing: See page 17. Accessing the Virtual PTZ Camera The Virtual PTZ controls are part of the viewing window in Nextiva Mosaic. To access the Virtual PTZ controls: 1. Launch Nextiva Mosaic. 2. Open the View tab. 3. Drag a scene from the Scenes list to the top pane. 15

26 3: Using the Virtual PTZ 4. Select the Area Selection tool, located below the top pane, to select an area. 5. Use this tool to select an area in the Viewing pane. A colored rectangle appears on the selected area. 6. Drag the selected area to one of the three windows, in the lower pane. Note: You can zoom in on a total of three areas. Each selected area is outlined in a different color. Resizing the Selected Area To resize the selected area: 1. Select the Selection tool, located below the top pane, to select an area. 2. Click on one of the sides of the rectangle outlining the selected area. 3. Drag the side with the mouse. 16

27 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Panning, Tilting, and Zooming on the Selected Area The Virtual PTZ tool is automatically placed in every window that you have selected and moved to the lower pane. To pan, tilt, or zoom on the selected area: 1. Use the right and left arrows to pan across the selected area. 2. Use the up and down arrows to adjust the tilt up and down on the selected area. 3. Use the plus and minus signs to zoom in and zoom out on the selected area. Removing the Selected Area To remove a selected area: 1. Right-click on the selected area, in the lower pane. 2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. 17

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29 Glossary of Terms Camera Setup The placement of cameras for creating the Mosaic scene. Convex Camera Setup: A Camera Setup where the outer cameras are turned out from the middle camera. Concave Camera Setup: A Camera Setup where the outer cameras are turned in towards the middle camera. Parallel Camera Setup: A Camera Setup where all cameras are placed in a corresponding angle. CIF See Common Image Format Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) A television system in which signals are not publicly distributed. Cameras are connected to television monitors in a limited area such as a store, office building, or on a college campus. CCTV is commonly used in surveillance systems. Common Image Format (CIF) A video format that easily supports both NTSC and PAL signals. Many CIF flavors are available, namely CIF, QCIF, 2CIF, and 4CIF. Each flavor corresponds to a specific number of lines and columns per video frame. See NTSC and Phase Alternation by Line (PAL). Decoder A networked unit that connects to a monitor. See VRU. Digital Surveillance The business of using cameras and monitors to watch activities. 19

30 A: Glossary of Terms Encoder A networked unit that connects to one or more cameras. See VTU. Enterprise Storage Manager (ESM) A Verint software package installed on a designated server. It supports virtually any central disk storage device, including disk arrays with iscsi connectivity and Storage Area Network (SAN) devices. ESM dynamically grooms (deletes) extraneous video from hard drives to make space for newer incoming video, while recognizing and preserving video clips marked by the system as important, usually corresponding to a specific event or alarm situation. fps A measurement of video performance that refers to the number of frames a device can capture per second. It comprises the video capture, compression, and storage. Each frame is a still image. When multiple images are displayed in quick succession, the illusion of motion is created. NTSC uses 30 fps. Frame An image or delta from a preceding image in a video stream. frs Frames recorded per second (FPS) Global Security A unique Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for securing the IP connection of Nextiva Edge Devices. When a device is in secure mode, you cannot access it with Telnet, and you cannot perform firmware updates through the IP network. By default, this option is disabled. Global Transformation Global Distortion: An option in Nextiva Mosaic used to correct a scene by arching it upwards or downwards. Global Rotation: An option in Nextiva Mosaic used to correct a scene by rotating it clockwise or counter-clockwise. IntelliView Video Analytics Processor (IVAP) The IntelliView Video Analytics Processor (IVAP) server runs the IVAP software, which manages sensors; each sensor monitors a single video feed for security events. IP Camera An IP camera can be described as a camera and computer combined in one unit. An IP camera does not need to be connected to a PC since it operates independently and can be placed wherever there is an IP network connection. The video signal is digitized and compressed inside the camera which captures and transmits live images directly over an IP network, enabling authorized users to locally or remotely view, store, and manage video (and audio) over standard network infrastructure. National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) The North American standard (525-line interlaced raster-scanned video) for the generation, transmission, and reception of television signals. In addition to North 20

31 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide America, the NTSC standard is used in Central America, a number of South American countries, and some Asian countries, including Japan. See Phase Alternation by Line (PAL). Nextiva Client SDK The Nextiva Client SDK is a Software Development Kit accessible using the open.net framework. It is used to develop and integrate new customer Client applications. Programmers can build customized applications that meet the operational needs and requirements of the client s security operations. These Nextiva Client Services can run on other platforms and integrate with other systems, such as access control, presenting a unified interface to the customer. Nextiva Control Center A software application for administering, configuring, managing, and monitoring the Nextiva system. This is installed on the Nextiva Master Server or Master Recorder. Nextiva Edge Devices A Nextiva device transmitting or receiving video signals through an IP network. The devices can be wireless or wired; some transmitters are IP cameras. Nextiva IntelliFlow An analytics tool that provides automatic event notification, video distribution, and process activation in response to events and behaviors, based on user-defined rules, scenarios and responses. Nextiva IntelliStream The Nextiva Virtual Matrix, IntelliStream, receives commands from a traditional CCTV keyboard, and displays the video on analog CCTV Monitors. Serial commands from the keyboard are sent to the Nextiva Master Server which translates these commands into the appropriate protocol and sends them to the camera. Video from any camera can be displayed on a CCTV monitor. The CCTV monitor will receive the live stream if the source is configured in dual stream mode. Nextiva IntelliView A software application that analyzes video streams for specific conditions to raise events based on defined rules, such as somebody crossing a line. An event triggers an alarm if a rule has been created in IntelliFlow. Nextiva Investigation Management A reporting feature used to gather important data from recorded video, such as alarm and event conditions. Nextiva Master Recorder The Nextiva Master Recorder hosts Nextiva Control Center, Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Edition (MSDE) for the CCTVware database and a Recorder Server on a single computer. No external Recorder Servers are connected. Like the Nextiva Master Server, the Nextiva Master Recorder performs the administration of the Nextiva system. All network access is via the Master Recorder. 21

32 A: Glossary of Terms Nextiva Master Server The Nextiva Master Server maintains coherent operations between all servers and workstations. It hosts Nextiva Control Center, where the administration of the Nextiva system is performed and Microsoft SQL Server for the CCTVware database. It monitors one or more Recorder Servers on separate dedicated computers, storage devices, IP-compatible devices and one or more workstations, hosting Nextiva Review. Nextiva Recorder Server The Nextiva Recorder Servers store and process video. Nextiva Review A software application that provides live and recorded video viewing from either a computer desktop or a Web browser. Nextiva Review includes the Camera Map and Nextiva Investigation Management features. NTSC See National Television Standards Committee (NTSC). PAL See Phase Alternation by Line (PAL). Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) An electronic camera that can be rotated left, right, up, or down and zoomed in or wide to get a magnified view of an object or area. A PTZ camera monitors a larger area than a fixed camera. Phase Alternation by Line (PAL) A television signal standard (625 lines) used in the United Kingdom, much of western Europe, several South American countries, some Middle East and Asian countries, several African countries, Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific island countries. Compare with NTSC. Pin The transmitting or receiving end of a data stream, typically a video stream. Port Either a physical jack on a network device or a way of identifying the type of data being sent in an Internet connection. Every Internet service has its own port number. PTZ Acronym of Pan, Tilt, Zoom: indicates a camera lens that can be dynamically oriented. Receiver A device converting a digital video signal into an analog form. Also called a decoder. Recording Profiles A recording profile defines a combination of Coverage Profiles and Video Quality Profiles for one or more cameras. A user can configure multiple recording profiles for use in various recording situations. For example, a define a recording profile with a low frame rate for routine recording; then, switch to a profile with a higher frame rate when specific conditions, such as events and alarms occur. 22

33 Nextiva Mosaic Virtual View Operator Guide Resolution See Sampling Resolution. Sampling Resolution The rate (in seconds) at which the software scans selected video. For example, if you select 2 seconds, one video frame is analyzed out of every two seconds of video. A higher rate speeds up the scanning process, but may cause the system to miss some activity. A lower rate slows the process. Scene A collection of several cameras composing a panorama type view. Stitching The process of combining two camera views into a single seamless panoramic view. Automatic Camera Stitching: The automatic option in Mosaic to combine camera views together. Manual Camera Stitching: The manual process of combining camera views by selecting matching points in two images. Streaming The action of sending video data across the network. Video Analytics A set of algorithms for analyzing and understanding video activity and events. Video Profile A user-defined setting for the resolution, frame rate, target bit rate, maximum bit rate, and video input filter. You can create different video profiles for different recording or viewing circumstances, such as time of day, geographic areas, event and alarm conditions. Video Quality Profile A user-assigned setting that includes the frame rate, resolution, and storage rate for a video recording scenario. The default video profile is automatically assigned to cameras and monitors when they are added to the system. If the video quality is not supported by the device, the best available resolution is assigned. Video Resolution The number of pixels a frame contains (typically defined by the Video Standard NTSC or PAL). e.g. CIF, 2CIF, QCIF, 4CIF. Video Services over IP (VSIP) A proprietary communication protocol for sending messages between a computer and a unit, or between two units. Virtual PTZ A technology providing panning, tilting, and zooming functionality to non-ptz cameras, through a user interface. 23

34 VRU The acronym for Video Reception Unit, a synonym of decoder See Decoder. VTU The acronym for Video Transmission Unit, a synonym of encoder. See Encoder. 24

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