Axis 0879-010 Camera Station ACS v5 Core Device eLicense User Manual

AXIS Camera Station

User Manual

About This Document

This manual is intended for administrators and users of AXIS Camera

Station, and is applicable for software release 5.0 and later. It covers

conguration of AXIS Camera Station Server and AXIS Camera Station

Client as well as instructions for using and managing AXIS Camera

Station on your network. The latest version of this document will be

available on www.axis.com. See also the product’s help pages.

Intellectual Property Rights

Axis AB has intellectual property rights relating to technology embodied

in the product described in this document. In particular, and without

limitation, these intellectual property rights may include one or more

of the patents listed at www.axis.com/patent.htm and one or more

additional patents or pending patent applications in the US and other

countries.

Legal Considerations

Video and audio surveillance can be regulated by laws that vary from

country to country. Check the laws in your local region before using

this product for surveillance purposes.

Liability

Every care has been taken in the preparation of this document. Please

inform your local Axis ofce of any inaccuracies or omissions. Axis

Communications AB cannot be held responsible for any technical or

typographical errors and reserves the right to make changes to the

product and manuals without prior notice. Axis Communications AB

makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the material contained

within this document, including, but not limited to, the implied

warranties of merchantability and tness for a particular purpose. Axis

Communications AB shall not be liable nor responsible for incidental or

consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance

or use of this material. This product is only to be used for its intended

purpose.

Trademark Acknowledgments

AXIS COMMUNICATIONS, AXIS, ETRAX, ARTPEC and VAPIX are

registered trademarks or trademark applications of Axis AB in various

jurisdictions. All other company names and products are trademarks or

registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, WWW, Internet Explorer, DirectX,

Intel, Intel Core, Pentium and Xeon are registered trademarks of the

respective holders.

Support

Should you require any technical assistance, please contact your Axis

reseller. If your questions cannot be answered immediately, your

reseller will forward your queries through the appropriate channels to

ensure a rapid response. If you are connected to the Internet, you can:

• download user documentation and software updates

• nd answers to resolved problems in the FAQ database. Search

by product, category, or phrase

• report problems to Axis support staff by logging in to your private

support area

• chat with Axis support staff

• visit Axis Support at www.axis.com/techsup/

AXIS Camera Station

Table of Contents

System Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

AXIS Camera Station Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

AXIS Camera Station Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

AXIS Mobile Viewing App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Multiple Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Add Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Congure Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Congure AXIS Camera Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Live View Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Cameras and Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Tools in Live View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Recordings Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Search and Play Recordings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Smart Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Camera Management Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Logs Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Conguration Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Alarms and Tasks Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Alarms Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Task Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

License a system that is connected to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

License a system with no Internet connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Congure Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Congure Recording Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Add Cameras and Video Encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Add Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Add third-party devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Create Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Create Action Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Add a PTZ Preset Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Congure Video & Audio Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Add Inputs and Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Set Up Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Send E-Mail Notication on System Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Camera Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Export Recordings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Upgrade Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Assign IP Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Congure Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Event Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Create a Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Add Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Add Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Set a Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Rule Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Hotkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

AXIS T8311 Video Surveillance Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

AXIS 295 Video Surveillance Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

AXIS Camera Station

Table of Contents

Network and Security Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

NAT and Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Server Proxy Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Client Proxy Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Server Port Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

User Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

AXIS Camera Station Service Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Contact Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

AXIS Camera Station

System Recommendations

System recommendations for AXIS Camera Station. Hardware requirements are strongly dependent on the number of cameras.

For the latest information, recommendations for different system sizes and supported operating systems, see the hardware guidelines

and release notes available at http://www.axis.com/products/axis-camera-station/hardware-guidelines

Small system

System size: Up to 100 Mbit/s.

AXIS Camera Station client & server

OS: Windows® 8.1 Pro 64-bit, Windows® 10 Pro 64-bit

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 2.9 GHz or above, such as Intel Core

i5-4590 Quad Core 3.3 Ghz

RAM: 8 GB, DDR3–1600

Graphics card: 1 GB dedicated video memory, such as NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 750 1 GB

Hard drive: SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM Enterprise Class – Up to

48Mbps per drive for optimal performance

AXIS Camera Station client

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

CPU:Intel Core i7, such as Intel Core i7-4770 Quad Core 3.4 Ghz

RAM: 8 GB, DDR3–1600

Network: 1 Gbps

Graphics card: 1 GB dedicated video memory, such as GeForce

GTX 750 1 GB

Large system

System size: Up to 256 Mbit/s.

AXIS Camera Station server

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

CPU: Intel Core i7, such as Intel Core i7-4770 Quad Core 3.4 Ghz

RAM: 8 GB, DDR3-1600

Network: 1 Gbps

Hard drives: SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM Enterprise Class – Up to

48Mbps per drive for optimal performance

Multi-server system

System size: Above 256 Mbit/s

All systems with higher performance requirements should

use multiple servers. Add more AXIS Camera Station servers

and divide bandwidth load equally per server, each within the

specications for small and large systems.

AXIS Camera Station

System Recommendations

Note

• Use the latest graphics card drivers.

• Use latest service pack from Microsoft.

• Additional monitors may require extra processing power.

• For multi-screen support (up to 3 monitors per graphic card) or multi-4K stream support, it is recommended to use graphic

cards with more dedicated video memory than 1 GB (HDMI 2.0 or Display Port 1.2 support required). For example, NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 950 2 GB or NVIDIA Quadro K1200 (for 24x7 operation).

• Allowing Windows Updates to download and install automatically may downgrade network performance and cause the

system to reboot, which can corrupt the AXIS Camera Station database. Make sure to disable automatic Windows Updates.

AXIS Camera Station

Overview

AXIS Camera Station is a monitoring and recording system for small and midsize installations, such as retail shops, hotels,

manufacturing sites and schools. AXIS Camera Station is a video management software optimized to take full advantage of Axis

network cameras and video encoders, and combines easy installation and intuitive operation with powerful features for effective

video investigation.

In addition to the computer client, you can monitor your surveillance site from other locations through Axis Mobile viewing app. Axis

Mobile viewing app allows you to access multiple systems and use features such as live view with selectable streaming proles,

timeline visualization of recorded events as well as snapshots in live view and playback.

AXIS Camera Station is comprised of

• AXIS Camera Station Server — handles all communication with cameras, video encoders and auxiliary devices in the system.

The number of cameras and encoders that each Server can communicate with is limited by the total bandwidth available.

• AXIS Camera Station Client — provides access to recordings, live video, logs and conguration. The Client can be installed

on any computer enabling remote viewing and control from anywhere on the Internet or corporate network.

• AXIS Mobile Viewing App — provides access to recordings and live video on multiple systems. The app can be installed

on Android and iOS devices, and enable remote viewing from other locations.

Several Clients can be connected to the same Server, and each Client can be connected to several Servers. See Multiple Servers on

page 10.

AXIS Camera Station is available in multiple languages. The language is selected during installation but can also be changed later

by selecting Customize from the Options menu.

Installation scenario. AXIS Camera Station Server, installed on a dedicated computer, handles the communication with cameras both

inside and outside the local (corporate) network. The cameras are monitored and controlled from two AXIS Camera Station Clients

— one on the local network and one connected via the Internet. The cameras can also be monitored from mobile devices using AXIS

Mobile viewing app.

AXIS Camera Station Server

AXIS Camera Station Server handles all communication with cameras, video encoders and auxiliary devices in the system. The Server

also handles recordings, event management and user management.

The Server should be installed on a dedicated computer. Once installed, the Service Control can be used to start and stop the Server

and to modify settings if needed. See AXIS Camera Station Service Control on page 68.

AXIS Camera Station

Overview

An icon in Windows notication area shows if the service is running , is starting or has stopped . Double-click the icon

to open the Service Control.

Note

If AXIS Camera Station Server and the devices are separated by a proxy server, the server proxy settings in the Service Control

might need to be modied. See Network and Security Conguration on page 64.

AXIS Camera Station Client

AXIS Camera Station Client provides access to recordings and live video from the cameras in the system and is used to congure

AXIS Camera Station, for example to manage cameras and auxiliary devices, enable recording, set up rules and to manage licenses

and users. The Client can be installed on the same computer as the Server or on a different computer.

To start the Client:

• Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012: Go to the Start screen and type “AXIS Camera Station”.

• Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008: Go to Start > All Programs > AXIS Camera Station >

AXIS Camera Station Client

Log on to AXIS Camera Station Server

When starting the Client for the rst time, the Client automatically attempts to log on to the AXIS Camera Station Server installed

on the same computer as the Client. If the Client and Server are installed on different computers, select Remote server and enter

the host name or IP address of the server computer and a user name and password (see below). When starting the Client the

next time, the previously selected Server will be remembered.

Note

If the Client and Server are installed on different computers, it might be necessary to congure proxy and/or rewall settings.

For more information, see Network and Security Conguration on page 64.

Users

To log on to an AXIS Camera Station Server, a user name and password is required. By default (local security disabled), all

administrators on the computer on which the Server is installed will be given administrator rights to AXIS Camera Station. The

administrator can enable local security and restrict access to trusted users and groups. It is also possible to set different access

levels. For more information, see User Permissions on page 66.

Users with viewer or operator rights do not have access to all functionality described in this manual.

AXIS Mobile Viewing App

AXIS Mobile viewing app for AXIS Camera Station provides access to recordings and live video on multiple systems and is

used keep up with events from the surveillance sites from a remote location. Axis Mobile viewing app can be downloaded

on www.axis.com/products/axis-camera-station

The viewing app for AXIS Camera Station uses HTTPS to communicate with the AXIS Camera Station server. The port number for

the mobile app is calculated by adding 4 to the server port number. The port number for video streaming is calculated by adding 5

to the server port number.

Examples:

• If you use the default server HTTP port 55752, the mobile app defaults to HTTPS port 55756. And the video stream

uses HTTP over RTSP port 55757.

• If the server HTTP port is modied to 55755, the mobile app uses HTTPS port 55759. And the video stream uses HTTP

over RTSP port 55760.

AXIS Camera Station

Overview

Workspaces

AXIS Camera Station has the following workspaces:

The Live View workspace shows live video from connected cameras. See Live View Workspace on page 14.

The Recordings workspace handles recording search, playback and export. See Recordings Workspace on page 19.

The Camera Management workspace provides tools for administration and maintenance of connected devices. See

Camera Management Workspace on page 23.

The Logs workspace contains alarm, event and audit logs. See Logs Workspace on page 26.

The Conguration workspace is a collection the most important settings. See Conguration Workspace on page 27.

To go to a workspace, click on the button in the toolbar.

Note

The Camera Management workspace is hidden by default. See Camera Management Workspace on page 23.

Full Screen Mode

Full screen mode is optimized for monitoring activities and available in the Live View, Recordings and Logs workspaces. In this mode,

some functionality is hidden and can only be accessed in normal mode.

To show a camera or view in full screen mode, either press F11 on the keyboard or click

. To return to normal mode, either

press ESC or F11 on the keyboard or click

In full screen mode, the top and bottom navigation panels are hidden during inactivity. Move the cursor to the top or bottom of

the screen to display the following:

Show the workspaces for Live View, Recordings and Logs.

Show the View navigation panel.

Devices and Cameras

In AXIS Camera Station, the terms “device” and “camera” are used as follows:

Device A network product that has its own IP address. A device can be:

• a network camera

• a video encoder (video server)

• an auxiliary device, for example an I/O audio device, a network speaker or a door controller

• a door station

Camera

A video source, that is:

• a network camera

• a video port (with a connected analog camera) on a video encoder

• a view area in a network camera or video encoder

Auxiliary device A network device without video ports.

Example

AXIS Camera Station

Overview

A 4-port video encoder is one device with four cameras.

Note

Some video encoders have one IP address for each video port. In this case, each video port is treated as one device with

one camera.

Multiple Servers

AXIS Camera Station Client can be connected to multiple AXIS Camera Station Servers. Servers can be organized in server lists,

see Server Lists, below.

To connect to a new Server:

1. Go to

> Servers > New Connection.

2. Select Remote server and enter the IP address or DNS name of the computer on which the Server is installed.

3. Click Log On.

To display information about connected Servers, go to

> Servers > Connection Status.

When connected to more than one Server, the Selected server drop-down list is displayed in the toolbar in the Live View, Recordings

and Logs workspaces and in several dialogs. When Selected server is shown, the Client displays devices, recordings, logs etc on the

selected Server. Select another Server to access devices and recordings on that Server.

The Camera Management workspace and the Alarms and Tasks tabs display devices and alarms from all connected Servers.

Server Lists

Server lists are useful when working with a large number of Servers, and when using the same Servers for Clients on different

computers.

To create and edit server lists, go to File > Server Lists. A Server can belong to more than one list.

To connect to all Servers in a server list:

1. Go to

> Log Off to log off from the current Servers or server list.

2. From the log-on screen, select Server list and select a list.

3. Click Log On.

Server lists can be exported and then imported to an AXIS Camera Station Client installed on another computer:

1. Go to

> Servers > Server Lists. Select the server list and click Export Lists to save the server list le to the local

computer.

2. Copy the server list le to the other computer.

3. At the other computer, go to

> Log Off to log off from the current Servers or server list.

AXIS Camera Station

Overview

4. At the log on screen, click ImportImport

Import

serverserver

server

listlist

list

and browse to the server list le.

AXIS Camera Station

Get Started

When using AXIS Camera Station for the rst time, Get Started with AXIS Camera Station is started automatically. Get Started with

AXIS Camera Station provides a quick way to add cameras and to congure and enable recording:

1. Select cameras and video encoders to add. See Add Cameras.

2. Select recording method and where to store recordings. See Congure Recording.

3. Review settings and click Finish to add cameras and start recording.

All settings can be changed later, see Congure AXIS Camera Station on page 13.

Add Cameras

AXIS Camera Station automatically searches the network for connected cameras and displays a list of cameras found. Use the

Type to search eld to nd cameras in the list.

1. Select the cameras to add. A camera can be added if its Status eld is empty. For information about different statuses and

how to solve problems, see the built-in help.

2. To change the camera name, click on the name in the list and enter a new name.

3. Click Next to continue.

4. If some cameras do not have a password, Enter camera password is displayed. Enter a password and re-enter it to

conrm the spelling. The password will be set on all cameras that do not have a password. The password is used by

AXIS Camera Station to communicate with the cameras. Make sure to use a strong password.

If a camera cannot be found:

• Check that the camera is connected to the network and that power has been applied. Then click Search Again to repeat

the search. It is also possible to add cameras manually. Click Add Manually and enter the camera’s IP address or host

name. If the camera does not use the default port 80, the port number must also be specied.

• If AXIS Camera Station Client, AXIS Camera Station Server and/or cameras are located on different networks, then proxy

and rewall settings might need to be congured. See Network and Security Conguration on page 64.

Congure Recording

On the “Congure Recording” page, select recording method and where to store recordings. All recording settings can also be

changed later.

The selected recording method and the other recording settings will be enabled on all selected cameras. Video will be recorded in

video format H.264 if supported by the camera.

1. Select recording method:

- Motion recording — Record video when motion is detected. When a camera detects a moving object,

AXIS Camera Station will start record video from that camera. Recording continues until motion stops.

- Continuous recording — Record video continuously. Continuous recording requires more disk space than

motion recording.

- I want to congure this later — Do not enable recording.

2. Select the number of days to keep recordings, or select Unlimited to keep recordings until the disk is full.

3. Under Recording location, select the disks to store recordings on:

- Drives on the local computer. It is not recommended to use the disk on which the operating system is installed.

AXIS Camera Station

Get Started

- Network shares. To use a network share, click Add Network Share and enter the path to the share.

4. When satised, click Next to continue.

It is not recommended to use more than 10 cameras per disk or to use disks with less than 15 GB free space. Write-protected disks

cannot be used. If using multiple disks, newly added cameras will be automatically distributed among the disks.

Congure AXIS Camera Station

After completing Get Started with AXIS Camera Station, cameras have been added and recording is enabled.

• To view live video from the added cameras, go to the Live View workspace. See Live View Workspace on page 14.

• To search for and play recordings, go to the Recordings workspace. See Recordings Workspace on page 19.

If required, settings can be modied. Some examples:

• To change recording method, to schedule recording or to disable recording on some cameras, go to Conguration >

Event Conguration. See Congure Recording on page 33.

• To modify motion detection settings, go to Conguration > Event Conguration, select the camera, click Motion

Detection and then Motion Settings. See Motion Recording on page 33.

• To change recording settings such as video format, resolution and frame rate, go to Conguration > Event Conguration,

select the camera and recording method and then select the desired prole. See Congure Video & Audio Settings on

page 44.

• To add more recording disks or to congure recording storage settings for individual cameras, go to Conguration >

Recording Storage. See Congure Recording Storage on page 37.

• To add more cameras, go to Conguration > Add/Edit Cameras. See Add Cameras and Video Encoders on page 38.

• To add auxiliary devices such as AXIS P8221 and AXIS A1001, go to Conguration > Add/Edit Aux Devices. See Add

Auxiliary Devices on page 39.

See also How to... on page 31 and the built-in help.

AXIS Camera Station

Live View Workspace

The Live View workspace shows live video from connected cameras.

To congure video and audio settings such as video format, resolution, compression and frame rate, go to Video & Audio from the

Conguration menu.

Live View workspace

PTZ control, see Pan, Tilt and Zoom in Live View on page 17.

Find Camera, see Find Camera on page 15.

Views, see page 15.

Alarms and Tasks tabs, see page 28.

Tools (right-click to display menu), see page 16.

REC button for starting a manual recording, see page 16.

Cameras and Views

To display live video, select a camera from Find Camera or select a View.

Find Camera shows all the cameras added to AXIS Camera Station. See Find Camera.

Views provide access to all the cameras and devices added to AXIS Camera Station. A view can consist of one or several cameras,

a sequence of items, a map, a web page or a folder. See Views.

Tree view navigation for a large system shows all the cameras and devices in a folder structure that consists of two tabs, Views and

Cameras. A search eld is used to nd specic views, sequences, maps, web pages, folders or cameras in the tabs. In the Views

tab, you can create, edit and delete views, sequences, maps ,web pages and folders.

Tree view navigation is not shown per default, and must be activated in

> Options > Customize > General.

AXIS Camera Station

Live View Workspace

Find Camera

Click

to show a list with all the cameras that have been been added to AXIS Camera Station. The cameras are listed with their

camera names. By default, the model names are used as camera names.

Use the Search Cameras eld to nd a specic camera in the list. Click the camera name to show the camera as a camera view in

the workspace.

If you are connected to more than one server, the listed cameras are grouped per server.

Note

The shown camera view is not connected to any split views.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Press CTRL + F on the keyboard to show the list.

• Press ESC on the keyboard to close the list. If the list shows search results, pressing ESC clears the list of search results.

Views

Views are generated automatically when cameras and devices are added to Axis Camera Station, and the number of views are

optimized for the number of installed devices.

To display a view, click one of the view icons, for example

in the view navigation panel or drag the view to the main window or to

another monitor. It is also possible to drag a single camera view, sequence, map or web page to a frame in a split view.

When cameras and devices are added to AXIS Camera Station, new cameras and devices are added as new views.

When cameras and devices are removed from AXIS Camera Station, their split views and camera views display a message that the

cameras and devices are removed from the server. No views are removed automatically.

To edit a view, right-click

and select Edit View.

To delete a view, right-click

and select Delete View.

The following view types are available:

Split View Displays multiple views in one window. One frame can be set as a hotspot that automatically loads the view from

another frame when clicking in that frame.

Sequence Switches automatically between selected views, with variable dwell times.

Camera View Live video from one camera or video encoder. Camera views can be added to split views, sequences and maps.

Map Imported image, for example a oor plan, on which camera views, split views, sequences, web pages and other

maps can be placed. Providing a visual overview, maps make it easy to quickly locate and access individual

cameras in the network video installation.

Web Page

External web application integrated into AXIS Camera Station. Web pages can be shown in a split view or a

sequence together with live video.

Folder Folders are used to categorize items in a tree view navigation. Folders can contain split views, sequences,

camera views, maps, web pages and other folders.

For information about how to create views, sequences, maps, web pages and folders, see Create Views on page 40.

Views can be accessed by all users. For information about user access rights, see User Permissions on page 66.

For Tree view navigation for a large system, see Cameras and Views on page 14.

AXIS Camera Station

Live View Workspace

Note

My Views (private views) that were created in earlier versions of Axis Camera Station are still available after an upgrade of

Axis Camera Station, but can only be edited and removed.

Tools in Live View

The Live View workspace provides a number of tools:

• Full Screen Mode on page 9 .

• Views on page 15.

• Recording and Instant Replay on page 16.

• Pan, Tilt and Zoom in Live View on page 17.

• Audio in Live View on page 17.

Note

All tools are not supported by all camera models.

Right-click a live view area in the workspace to display the following tools:

Show on Screen - Available when using multiple monitors. Show the view on another screen. It is also possible to drag views to

another screen.

Take snapshot. Take a snapshot image from the selected camera. The snapshot is saved to the snapshot folder specied

under Options > Customize.

Image Enhancement on page 18.

Use Mechanical PTZ, see Pan, Tilt and Zoom in Live View on page 17.

Presets, see Pan, Tilt and Zoom in Live View on page 17.

Set Focus, see Focus Control on page 17.

Recording and Instant Replay

In the Live View workspace, an ongoing recording is indicated by a recording indicator in the lower part of the image:

• Red — Motion detection or rule triggered recording

• Yellow — Manual recording

• Blue — Continuous recording

• Green — Failover recording

To play an ongoing recording, hover the mouse pointer over the image and click the

Instant replay button below the REC/STOP

button. The Recordings workspace will open and the last 5 seconds of the recording will be played.

To record manually from the Live View workspace, hover the mouse pointer over the image and click the REC button. Click STOP to

stop recording.

Note

Administrators can disable manual recording for selected users, see User Permissions on page 66.

AXIS Camera Station

Live View Workspace

Audio in Live View

Audio is available if the camera has audio capabilities and if audio has been enabled in the prole used for live view. If audio is

available, the audio control will be displayed when hovering the mouse pointer over the image. Use the slider to control audio volume.

Click on the control to mute audio.

Note

Administrators can disable audio for selected users, see User Permissions on page 66.

See also Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device on page 45.

Pan, Tilt and Zoom in Live View

Pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) is the ability to pan (move left and right), tilt (move up and down) and zoom in and out. PTZ can be used with all

cameras. Mechanical PTZ can be used with PTZ cameras and cameras where digital PTZ has been enabled in the camera’s Setup

pages, see Mechanical PTZ.

Zoom – Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Alternatively, press CTRL and (+) to zoom in and CTRL and (-) to zoom out.

Digital PTZ – Use the mouse wheel to zoom in, and then click to pan and tilt.

Mechanical PTZ – For mechanical PTZ, see Mechanical PTZ.

Note

Administrators can disable mechanical PTZ for selected users. See User Permissions on page 66.

Mechanical PTZ

Mechanical PTZ is available for:

• PTZ cameras, that is, cameras with built-in mechanical PTZ.

• Fixed cameras where digital PTZ has been enabled.

To enable digital PTZ in a xed camera, open the camera’s Setup pages in a web browser. To open the Setup pages, go the Camera

Management workspace, select the camera and click on the link in the Address column. For information about how to enable digital

PTZ, see the camera’s User Manual.

Mechanical PTZ is enabled by default when available (Use Mechanical PTZ is checked in the right-click menu). Use the mouse to

zoom, pan and tilt:

• Area zoom –To magnify a selected area in the image, click in the desired area and drag to draw a rectangle surrounding

the area to be magnied. To zoom out gradually, use the mouse wheel. To zoom out fully, use CTRL + 0.

• Pan and tilt – Click a desired area in the image to pan or tilt to that area. To pan and tilt continuously in the live view

image, move the cursor to the center of the image to show the navigation arrow. Then click and hold to pan in the direction

of the navigation arrow. To pan and tilt the image at a higher pace, click and hold to make the navigation arrow longer.

To go to a preset position, right-click in the image, select Presets and then select the preset position. For information about how to

set up preset positions, see Add a PTZ Preset Position on page 43.

Note

• Area zoom: To magnify an area near the center of the image, use the right mouse button and drag to draw a rectangle.

• For information on using a joystick, see Input Devices on page 59.

• Administrators can disable audio for selected users, see User Permissions on page 66.

Focus Control

To adjust camera focus:

1. In the Live View workspace, right-click in the image and select Set Focus.

AXIS Camera Station

Live View Workspace

2. Click AF to focus the camera automatically.

3. If the result is not satisfactory, click the Near and Far buttons to adjust focus manually. Use Near to focus on objects

close to the camera. Use Far to focus on objects far away.

Note

• Focus control is not available for all camera models.

• Some cameras also have focus and/or zoom pullers on the lens.

Image Enhancement

Image enhancement can make details in the image more visible, for example in challenging conditions such as fog, smoke, heavy

rain or snow.

To enable image enhancement, right-click in the image and select Image Enhancement. Use the slider to adjust the amount of

enhancement.

Note

When zooming in, image enhancement will be disabled temporarily, unless the mechanical PTZ tools are used. When

zooming out, enhancement is re-applied automatically.

AXIS Camera Station

Recordings Workspace

The Recordings workspace handles recording search, playback and export.

To enable or disable recording, to change recording method or to modify recording settings such as resolution, compression and frame

rate, open Recording Settings from the Conguration menu.

To show the Recordings workspace in full screen mode, see Full Screen Mode on page 9 .

Recordings workspace

Smart search, see page 21.

Bookmarks, see page 22.

Date selector, see Search and Play Recordings.

Find Camera, see Search and Play Recordings and Find Camera on page 15.

Views, see Search and Play Recordings and Views on page 15.

Alarms and Tasks tabs, see page 28.

Control panel, see page 21.

Playback tools, see page 20.

Timeline, see page 20.

Tags

Tags are used to organize devices in the Camera Management workspace. Devices can for example be tagged according to model or

location. A device can have more than one tag.

Click

to expand Device Tags. Click a tag to display all devices associated with the tag.

To tag devices:

1. Select the devices to tag.

2. Right-click and select Tag Devices.

3. Select Create a new tag to create a new tag, or select Use existing tag and select a tag from the list.

To remove a tag from one or more devices:

1. Click

to expand Device Tags.

2. Select the tag. All devices associated with the tag are now displayed.

3. Select the devices.

4. Right-click and select Untag devices.

AXIS Camera Station

Camera Management Workspace

Tasks

Tasks can be performed on one or multiple devices.

To perform a task, select the devices and click the task icon in the toolbar, or right-click and select the task.

Assign IP address to selected devices, see page 49.

Set password for selected devices.

Upgrade rmware for selected devices, see page 49.

Set date and time on selected devices.

Restart selected devices.

Restore selected devices. This will reset most settings, including the password, to their factory default values. The

following settings are not reset: uploaded camera applications, boot protocol (DHCP or static), static IP address, default

router, subnet mask, product interface language, system time, IEEE 802.1x settings.

Install camera application. A camera application is software that can be uploaded to and installed on devices. For

more information, see Camera Applications on page 47.

Reload selected devices. If settings have been changed from the device’s Setup pages, click this button to update

AXIS Camera Station.

Additional tasks (available when right-clicking):

• User Management. Add, remove and list users on selected devices.

• Parameter Management. See .

The status of nished and ongoing tasks is shown in the Tasks tab at the bottom of the workspace. See Alarms and Tasks Tabs on

page 28.

When connected to multiple AXIS Camera Station Servers, devices on all servers are displayed in the Camera Management workspace.

With the exception of assigning IP addresses, tasks can be performed on different servers at the same time.

AXIS Camera Station

Logs Workspace

The Logs workspace contains the following logs:

Alarms

System alarms, alarms generated by event conguration rules and, if enabled, motion detection alarms. Listed are

the date and time of the alarm, the alarm title and an alarm description. For information about how to set up

rules, see Event Conguration on page 53.

Events Displays camera and server events, for example recordings, triggers, alarms, errors and system messages. Listed are

the date and time of the event, the event category and an event message.

Audit Displays all user actions, for example manual recordings, video streaming started or stopped and event conguration.

Live logs is selected by default and shows live alarms, unacknowledged alarms, events and audit logs from the current session. To

search for logs:

1. Select Search under Log Search to search for logs.

2. Select a date from the calendar. To select a range of dates, keep the SHIFT key pressed while selecting the dates.

3. Select the Start time and End time from the drop-down lists.

4. Click Search.

The tools are available in the toolbar and when right-clicking on an alarm:

Go to recordings

(Alarms log only) Go to the Recordings workspace and play the recording.

Show alarm procedure for

selected alarm

(Alarms log only) Open the alarm procedure.

Acknowledge selected alarms

(Alarms log only) Notify other clients that the alarms have been noticed.

Export alarm log

Save the log as a text le.

AXIS Camera Station

Conﬁguration Workspace

The Conguration workspace is a collection of the most important settings.

Add/Edit Cameras

Add, edit or remove cameras and video encoders.

Video & Audio

Congure prole settings such as video format, resolution, frame rate and compression.

Image Conguration

Congure image settings such as brightness, white balance, wide dynamic range and image

rotation.

PTZ

Congure pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) settings.

Event Conguration

Congure rules with triggers and actions. Also congure recording settings such as recording

type, video format, resolution, frame rate and compression.

Recording Storage Congure where to store recordings and number of days to keep recordings.

Schedules Congure schedules to be used in event conguration and recording settings.

Scheduled Export Congure scheduled recording export.

User Permissions Manage user permissions.

Licenses Manage licenses.

Customize Customize AXIS Camera Station.

AXIS Camera Station

Alarms and Tasks Tabs

The Alarms and Tasks tabs at the bottom of the Live View, Recordings, Camera Management and Conguration workspaces display

recent alarms and tasks.

Click

to show the tabs.

Alarms Tab

The Alarms tab lists the event and system alarms that have been triggered.

Time The time the alarm was triggered or took place according to a schedule.

Alarm What kind of alarm was triggered.

Description A brief description of the alarm.

Server

(Displayed when connected to more than one AXIS Camera Station Server.) The AXIS Camera Station Server

where the alarm occurred.

Alarm Procedure Lists if there is a procedure congured to take place if an alarm is triggered.

Recording

Shows if the alarm contains a recording.

When an alarm occurs, right-click the alarm in the list and select:

Go to Recordings Open the Recordings workspace and play the recording generated by the alarm.

Show Alarm Procedure Display instructions for the AXIS Camera Station user.

Acknowledge Alarms Acknowledge the alarm to notify other clients that the alarm has been taken care of.

Clear Alarm Entries

Remove the alarm from the list.

Task Tab

The Tasks tab lists tasks from the Camera Management workspace.

AXIS Camera Station

Alarms and Tasks Tabs

Task The name of the task

Status Shows if the task is:

• Cancel pending (Clean up after the task when the user pressed cancel)

• Canceled (Cleaning is complete and the task is canceled)

• Error (Task completed with errors, that is, the task failed on one or more of the selected cameras)

• Finished (Task completed)

• Finished during lost connection (Task completed. Displayed if the Client lost connection with the Server

while the task was running.)

• Lost connection (Displayed if the Client lost connection with the Server while the task was running.

Task status could not be determined.)

• Running (Performing the task)

• Waiting (Waiting for another task to be completed on the server)

Start Time

When the task was started

Owner

Who initiated the task

Progress

Shows how much of the task is left to be completed.

Server

(Displayed when connected to more than one AXIS Camera Station Server.) The AXIS Camera Station Server

performing the task

Right-click on one or more tasks and select:

Show

Display additional information about the task.

Cancel Cancel selected tasks.

Remove Remove one or more tasks from the task list.

AXIS Camera Station

Licenses

From AXIS Camera Station 5.0, there are two license types:

• Core Device licenses: Core Device licenses apply to Axis devices such as Axis network cameras. A maximum of 32 Core

Device licenses may be used on a system *.

• Universal Device licenses: Universal Device licenses add scalability above 32 devices per system * and third party device

support.

* A system may consist of one or more servers. When an AXIS Camera Station viewing client is connected to two or more AXIS Camera

Station servers at the same time, these servers are considered as part of the same system and share a common pool of maximum 32

Core Device licenses in total.

Before you purchase any licenses, you can evaluate AXIS Camera Station when adding new devices to the system. A 30-day trial

period is offered for each added device. For detailed information about how to purchase licenses and how to upgrade existing

AXIS Camera Station licenses to Core and Universal licenses, see www.axis.com/products/axis-camera-station/license.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

When using AXIS Camera Station for the rst time, Get Started with AXIS Camera Station is started automatically. After completing

Get Started with AXIS Camera Station, cameras have been added and recording is enabled on all cameras.

This chapter describes how to congure recording settings for individual cameras, how to congure live view settings and how to

add more cameras and auxiliary devices. In addition, the chapter gives examples of how to congure AXIS Camera Station to get

the most out of the system.

Your Axis account is used to activate and manage AXIS Camera Station licenses on the AXIS Camera Station License Portal.

With an Axis account, you can also download rmware and free software applications, submit questions to customer support,

subscribe to electronic newsletters and so on.

To register an account, go to www.axis.com/reg/register.php and enter the required information.

License a system that is connected to the Internet

Both the AXIS Camera Station client and the server must be connected to the Internet.

1. In the AXIS Camera Station client: Go to

> Options > Licenses > License Status tab.

2. In the AXIS Camera Station client: Click Manage licenses online.

3. On AXIS Camera Station License Portal: Log in with your Axis account.

4. On AXIS Camera Station License Portal: Enter your license key and click Add licenses.

5. In the AXIS Camera Station client: Check that your license keys are shown in

> Options > Licenses > License Keys tab.

License a system with no Internet connection

To license a system with no Internet connection, you need to visit two different platforms:

The AXIS Camera Station client installed on your ofine system.

The online AXIS Camera Station License Portal.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

Go to the two platforms in the following order:

• Start the licensing process in the AXIS Camera Station client (step 1).

• Continue by accessing the AXIS Camera Station License Portal online

(steps A-D).

• Complete the process by returning to the AXIS Camera Station client

(step 2).

Export system le

1. Go to > Options > Licenses > License Status tab.

2. Click Export system le.

3. Save your system le on a USB ash drive.

Upload system le

1. Click UploadUpload

Upload

systemsystem

system

lele

le

and select the system le on your

USB ash drive.

2. Click ManageManage

Manage

systemsystem

system

Add licenses

In Enter license key: Enter your license key and click Add licenses.

For AXIS S10 recorder systems:

Your system is automatically registered when you upload the system

le and you can nd your license details under License keys. It is

recommended that you write them down, or save them in a digital

format on a USB memory stick for future reference.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

Download license le

In License keys: Click Download license le and save the le to a USB

ash drive.

Import license le

1. Go to

> Options > Licenses > License Status tab.

2. Click Import license le and select the license le on your

USB ash drive.

3. Check that your license keys are shown in the License Keys

tab.

Congure Recording

Motion recording or continuous recording is enabled automatically when cameras are added to AXIS Camera Station. To adjust

recording settings, or to disable recording for some cameras, go to Conguration > Event Conguration.

AXIS Camera Station supports the following recording options:

• Motion recording, see page 33.

• Continuous and scheduled recording, see page 36.

• Manual recording, see page 37.

• Rule triggered recording. A rule triggered recording is started and stopped according to a rule set up in Event Conguration,

see page 53.

• Failover recording, see page 37. A failover recording starts automatically if the connection between the camera and

AXIS Camera Station is lost during an ongoing recording.

To congure prole settings such as video format, resolution and frame rate for recordings, see Congure Video & Audio Settings.

Motion Recording

Motion recording can be used with all Axis network cameras and video encoders. Recording only when motion is detected saves

considerably on disk space compared to continuous recording.

To enable or disable motion recording, or to modify settings, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Event Conguration.

2. In Basic settings: Select one or more cameras and click Motion Detection. If selecting several cameras, motion recording

can be enabled or disabled and schedule settings can be modied. Prole settings can be modied if selecting cameras of

the same model. Motion detection settings can be modied if selecting a single camera.

3. To enable motion recording, select Enabled. To disable, clear the box.

4. To adjust motion detection settings such as the area in which moving objects are detected, click Motion Settings. For

more information about motion settings, see Motion Detection on page 34.

5. To change settings such as video format, resolution, compression and frame rate, select a prole. See also Congure

Video & Audio Settings on page 44.

6. To schedule motion recording, click Custom schedule and select a schedule or create a new schedule.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

7. When satised, click OK.

If too many - or too few - moving objects are detected, use Motion Settings to modify the area in which moving objects are

detected, or use Trigger period under Conguration > Event Conguration > Motion Detection > Advanced to set the minimum

number of seconds between two successive triggers.

If the size of the recorded les is too large for the available disk space, try the following:

• Select a prole with lower resolution, lower frame rate or higher compression. Video format H.264 results in smaller

les than the other formats.

• Use a schedule to only record during specic time periods.

• Modify the Motion Settings to reduce the number of detected objects.

Note

View areas do not support motion recording.

Motion Detection

Axis network cameras and video encoders can detect motion using

• AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1

• Built-in motion detection

AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 is a camera application that can be installed on products with support for AXIS Camera Application

Platform and that have rmware 5.60 or higher.

If motion recording is selected when cameras are added to AXIS Camera Station, AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 will only be

installed on cameras with rmware 5.60 or higher. Other cameras will use the built-in motion detection.

Available motion detection settings depend on the used detection method, see

• Congure AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1

• Congure Built-In Motion Detection

It is also possible to install AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 from the Camera Management workspace, see Camera Applications on

page 47.

Congure AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1

AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 detects moving object within an area of interest. The area of interest is a polygon dened by 3

to 20 points (corners). If required, an exclude area can be added. The exclude area is an area within the area of interest in which

moving objects are ignored.

To congure AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1, follow these steps:

1. In Edit Motion Detection Recording Settings, click Motion Settings to open Edit Motion Detection.

2. The area of interest is displayed on top of the video image. Use the mouse to move and resize the area.

- To add a new point, click on the line between two points.

- To remove a point, right-click on the point or select the point and click Remove Point.

3. Optionally, click Add Exclude Area to add an exclude area. The exclude area can be moved and resized in the same

way as the area of interest.

4. When satised, click Apply.

5. To verify the settings, create motion in front of the camera. The line will turn red and ash when motion is detected.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

Congure Built-In Motion Detection

The motion detection built into Axis network cameras and video encoders detects moving objects within congured motion

detection windows:

• Include windows dene areas where motion should be detected

• Exclude windows dene areas within an include window that should be ignored (areas outside include windows are

always ignored)

For each motion detection window you can congure:

Object size - Object size is relative to the region size. At a high level, only very large objects are detected. At a low level even

very small objects trigger an event.

History - History denes how long an object needs to be in a region before it is considered to be non-moving. At a high level an

object that appears in the region will trigger the motion detection for a long period before it is considered a non-moving part of the

image. At a low level an object that appears in the region will trigger motion detection for only a very short period.

Sensitivity - Sensitivity denes the difference in luminance between the background and the object. At a high level, an ordinary

colored object on ordinary backgrounds will trigger motion. At a low level, only very bright objects on a dark background or

very dark objects on a light background will trigger an event.

To set up motion detection windows, follow these steps:

1. In Edit Motion Detection Recording Settings, click Motion Settings to open Edit Motion Detection.

2. Click Add to create a new motion detection window. Select Include to create an include window or select Exclude

to create an exclude window, as required.

3. Use the mouse to drag the window to the desired area. To resize, drag the sides of the window.

4. Set the Object size, History and Sensitivity. Begin with a predened setting and if needed ne adjust the settings using

the sliders while looking in the Activity window while there is a desired amount of motion in the motion detection window.

5. Click OK to save settings.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

Continuous and Scheduled Recordings

A continuous recording saves images continuously. This requires more disk space than the other recording options.

To enable or disable continuous recording, or to modify settings, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Event Conguration.

2. Select one or more cameras and click Continuous. If selecting several cameras, recording can be enabled or disabled and

schedule settings can be modied. Prole settings can be modied if selecting cameras of the same model.

3. To enable continuous recording, select Enabled. To disable, clear the box.

4. To change settings such as video format, resolution, compression and frame rate, select a prole. To customize a prole,

see Congure Video & Audio Settings on page 44.

5. To schedule the recording, click Custom schedule and select a schedule or create a new schedule.

6. When satised, click OK. If continuous recording was enabled, recording will now start. If continuous recording was

disabled, recording will stop.

If the size of the recorded les is too large for the available disk space, try the following:

• Select a prole with lower resolution, lower frame rate or higher compression. Video format H.264 results in smaller

les than the other formats.

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• Use a schedule to only record during specic time periods.

• Consider using motion recording.

Manual Recording

To record manually:

1. Go to the Live View workspace.

2. Hover the mouse pointer over the camera's live view frame.

3. Click the REC button in the upper right hand corner.

4. A yellow indicator appears while the camera is recording.

5. Click STOP to stop the recording.

Manual recording can also be started and stopped from the Actions menu.

To congure manual recording settings, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Event Conguration.

2. Select one or more cameras and click Manual.

3. To change settings such as video format, resolution, compression and frame rate, select a prole. See also Congure

Video & Audio Settings on page 44.

4. Use the sliders to set the Prebuffer and Postbuffer, that is, the number of seconds to include before starting (prebuffer)

and after stopping (postbuffer) the manual recording.

5. When satised, click OK.

Failover Recordings

A failover recording starts automatically if the connection between the camera and AXIS Camera Station is lost during an ongoing

recording. No new recordings can be started while the connection is lost.

Failover recordings will only affect H.264 recordings and can be enabled on cameras with support for storage (SD card) and rmware

5.20 or later.

To set up a failover recording, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Recording Storage.

2. Under Cameras, select the camera and click Edit.

3. Check Enable failover recording.

4. Click OK to save settings.

Congure Recording Storage

Recording storage is congured when cameras are added to AXIS Camera Station. If required, storage settings for individual

cameras can be modied and additional disks can be added.

For more information, see

• Congure Storage Settings for Individual Cameras

• Add and Congure a Recording Disk

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Congure Storage Settings for Individual Cameras

When cameras are added to AXIS Camera Station, the cameras are distributed among the selected recording disks. To change the

recording disk or the number of days to keep recordings for a camera, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Recording Storage.

2. Select a camera from Cameras.

3. Click Edit to open the Edit Camera Recording Storage Settings dialog.

4. Select the disk to save recordings to.

5. Set the maximum number of days to keep recordings. Alternatively, select Unlimited to keep recordings until the disk is full.

6. Optional: enable failover recordings, see Failover Recordings on page 37.

7. Click OK.

Note

Maximum disk space has precedence over the number of days to keep recordings. Recordings will be deleted if there is no

room left in the allotted drive space.

Add and Congure a Recording Disk

Recordings can be stored on hard disk drives on the local computer or on a network share. To prevent the disk from becoming full, a

maximum disk usage should be set.

To add and congure a recording disk, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Recording Storage.

2. Click Add Disk.

Note

• It is not recommended to use the disk on which the operating system is installed.

• The recommended minimum disk space for hard disk drives and network shares added to AXIS Camera Station is 32 GB, with

at least 15 GB of free disk space available.

• If there is less than 15 GB of free disk space available, AXIS Camera Station will automatically start deleting old recordings

to free up disk space.

3. Select a hard disk drive or enter the path to a network share (for example \\ip_address\share) and click OK.

4. If authentication is required, enter the neccessary username and password to access the disk.

5. To set the maximum disk space allowed to be used by AXIS Camera Station, select the disk and use the AXIS Camera

Station Recordings Limit slider.

6. To change the folder where recordings are stored, select the disk and click Edit to specify a new folder.

Note

It is not possible to remove disks that contain recordings.

Add Cameras and Video Encoders

Cameras and video encoders are added the rst time AXIS Camera Station is started, see Get Started on page 12. To add additional

cameras and video encoders:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Add/Edit Cameras.

2. Click Add.

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3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the Add New Cameras dialog. The steps are the same as in Get Started with AXIS

Camera Station. See Get Started on page 12.

Note

• To add door controllers (AXIS A1001 Network Door Controller) or I/O audio modules (AXIS P8221 Network I/O Audio Module),

select Conguration > Add/Edit Aux Devices. See Add Auxiliary Devices on page 39.

• For information about how to add view areas, see Using View Areas on page 39.

• For information about third-party devices, see Add third-party devices on page 40.

Using View Areas

View areas are supported by selected camera models. To use view areas with AXIS Camera Station, view areas must rst be enabled

in the camera:

1. Go to the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the camera and click on the link in the Address column.

3. The camera's Setup pages are opened in a web browser. Enter the user name and password to log in.

4. In the Setup pages, go to Video & Audio > Camera Settings and click Enable View Areas.

5. Go to Video & Audio > View Areas to add and congure view areas. For instructions, see the online help.

To add view areas to AXIS Camera Station:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Add/Edit Cameras.

2. Click Add to start searching for cameras.

3. View areas congured in the camera will be displayed in the search result. Select the view areas to add.

Note

View areas do not support motion recording.

Add Auxiliary Devices

Auxiliary devices are devices without video capabilities, for example door controllers and audio devices.

Auxiliary devices can be added to AXIS Camera Station in the following ways:

• By searching for devices on the network, see Add Auxiliary Devices — Using Search.

• By specifying the device IP address or host name manually, see Add Auxiliary Devices — Manually.

See also Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device on page 45.

Add Auxiliary Devices — Using Search

To add auxiliary devices using the search function follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Add/Edit Aux Devices.

2. Click Search. The Aux Device Search window opens with a list of all auxiliary devices found on the network.

3. Select the desired devices and click OK.

Note

Select Use host name when possible to use host names instead of IP addresses when adding auxiliary devices. If an

auxiliary device is added using its host name, the host name will be used for all further communication with the device. If a

host name is not available, the IP address will be used.

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Add Auxiliary Devices — Manually

To add auxiliary devices manually follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Add/Edit Aux Devices.

2. Click Add to open the Add Aux Device dialog.

3. Under Settings, enter the required information.

Address — Enter the device’s IP address or host name.

Port — Enter the port number, if different than the default port 80.

4. Under Credentials, enter a user name and password for an administrator account on the device.

5. Click OK to add the device.

Add third-party devices

The following applies for third-party devices that are added to AXIS Camera Station:

• Third-party devices are added to AXIS Camera Station in the same way as Axis products. See Add Cameras and Video

Encoders on page 38 All third-party devices must pass the AXIS Camera Station Device Compatibility Test tool before

they can be added.

• Only a number of functions are available for third-party devices. See Support for third-party devices.

Support for third-party devices

AXIS Camera Station 5 supports ONVIF Prole S conformant devices according to denitions in the IEC62676-2-3 standard. The

following functionality is supported for third-party devices:

• Camera discovery

• Video encoding: MJPEG, H264

• Audio encodings: G.711 (one-way, from the device to AXIS Camera Station)

• One video prole per camera

• Live view

• Continuous and Manual recordings

• Recordings exports

For detailed information about support for third-party devices, see the latest technical paper about third-party device support in AXIS

Camera Station: www.axis.com/products/axis-camera-station/support-and-documentation

AXIS Camera Station Device Compatibility Tool

Download and run the AXIS Camera Station Device Compatibility Tool to verify if your network video products are compatible with

AXIS Camera Station 5 and above: www.axis.com/support/downloads/axis-camera-station-device-compatibility-tool

The tool checks if AXIS Camera Station can communicate and decode video streams from your network video products.

Create Views

AXIS Camera Station supports different view types: split view, sequence, camera view, map, web page and folder, see Views on page

15. The views can be organized into view groups, see Cameras and Views on page 14.

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Create a Split View

A split view displays multiple views in the same window. You can use camera views, sequences, web pages, maps and other split

views in the split view. One frame can be set as a hotspot that automatically loads the view from another frame when clicking in

that frame. Hotspots are particularly useful for asymmetric split views with one large and several small frames. The largest frame

is typically dened as the hotspot.

To add a new split view:

1. In the Live View or Recordings workspace, click

2. Select New Split View.

3. Enter a name for the split view

4. Select a layout from the drop-down list:

- Standard — optimized for standard resolution cameras (4:3 format)

- Wide — optimized for HDTV and megapixel cameras (16:9 format)

- Corridor — optimized for cameras using Axis’ Corridor Format (16:9 format, 90 degree rotation)

5. Double-click views in the tabs Cameras and Views to add them in the split view. It is also possible to drag views from the

tabs Cameras and Views and drop them in the empty cells in the split view.

6. Optional: To set a hotspot, select a frame in the split view and click Set Hotspot.

7. When satised, click OK to create the split view.

Note

Split views and multiple servers: When connected to more than one AXIS Camera Station Server, cameras from other servers

can be used in the split view. The split view is saved on the server selected in the main window. To add a camera from

another server, select the server from the server drop-down list under Camera.

Create a Sequence

A sequence view automatically switches between included views. The dwell time, that is, the number of seconds to show a view,

before switching to the next, can be set individually for each view. For cameras with PTZ capabilities, PTZ presets can be included in

the sequence.

To create a sequence, follow these steps:

1. In the Live View or Recordings workspace, click

2. Select New Sequence.

3. Enter a name for the sequence.

4. Double-click desired views in the tabs Cameras and Views to add them to Sequence views. It is also possible to drag

views from the tabs Cameras and Views and drop them in Sequence views.

5. Optional: To set a dwell time, select a view in the sequence and click Set Properties. Enter the desired dwell time.

6. Optional: To include a PTZ preset, select a view in the sequence and click Set Properties. Select a PTZ preset from

the drop-down list.

7. When satised, click OK to create the sequence.

Note

PTZ presets must rst be added. See Add a PTZ Preset Position on page 43.

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Note

Sequence views and multiple servers: When connected to more than one AXIS Camera Station Server, cameras from other

servers can be used in the sequence view. The sequence view is saved on the server selected in the main window. To add a

camera from another server, select the server from the server drop-down list under Camera.

Create a Map

A map is an imported image on which camera views, split views, sequences, web pages and other maps can be placed. The map gives

a visual overview and makes it easy to quickly locate and access individual cameras. To open a camera or view from a map, click on

the corresponding icon. Action buttons from Event Conguration can also be used with maps.

To create a map, follow these steps:

1. In the Live View or Recordings workspace, click

2. Select New Map.

3. Enter a name for the map.

4. Click Import Map and browse to locate the le.

5. Drag views from the tabs Cameras and Views and drop them on the map. It is also possible to double-click views in

the Cameras and Views tabs to add them to the map.

6. When satised, click OK to create the map.

Note

Map views and multiple servers: When connected to more than one AXIS Camera Station Server, cameras from other servers

can be used in the map view. The map view is saved on the server selected in the main window.To add a camera from another

server, select the server from the server drop-down list under Camera.

Create a Web Page View

External web applications can be integrated into AXIS Camera Station by creating a web page view. Web pages can, for example,

be shown in a split or a sequence together with live video.

To create a web page view, follow these steps:

1. In the Live View or Recordings workspace, click

2. Select New Web Page.

3. Enter a name for the web page.

4. Enter the Internet address in the Url eld.

Note

Web pages cannot contain other views.

Create a folder

Folders are used to categorize items in a tree view structure, see Cameras and Views on page 14.

You can drag and drop the following items to a folder: split views, sequences, camera views, maps, web pages and other folders.

To create a folder, follow these steps:

1. In the Live View or Recordings workspace, click

2. Select New Folder.

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3. Enter a name for the folder.

4. Click OK.

Create Action Buttons

Action buttons are used to start and stop actions in Live View. Action buttons are displayed on top of the live view or in a map. When

clicking the button, the action will be performed. The same button can be used with multiple cameras and maps.

There are two types of action buttons:

Command buttons - A command button is used to manually start an action. Use command buttons for actions that do not require a

stop button. Examples: Activate an output for a predened time (use output action with pulse set to the number of seconds the

output should be active), raise an alarm, send e-mail.

Toggle buttons - A toggle button is used to manually start and stop an action. The button has two states: toggle and untoggle.

Clicking the button switches between the two states. Examples: Open and Close Door (use output action with pulse set to "as

long as any trigger is active").

To create an action button, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Event Conguration.

2. Click New to create a new rule and then click Add to add a trigger.

3. Select Action Button.

4. Select Command button or Toggle button and click Next.

5. For command buttons, enter a button label and a tooltip. For toggle buttons, enter a toggle label, an untoggle label and a

tooltip. The tooltip will be displayed when hovering the mouse pointer over the button.

6. Select the Camera or Map to add the button to. Click the links to add the button to multiple cameras or maps.

7. When satised, click Next to return to the New Rule dialog.

8. Click Next to go to the Add Actions step. Click Add and select the action to use for the button.

9. Click Next to go to the Schedule step. Select a schedule and then click Next to go to the Details step. Click Finish

to create the buttons and enable the rule.

If a camera has multiple buttons, the order of the buttons can be modied. Click Arrange when adding the button to the cameras. To

arrange buttons on a map, go to the Live View workspace and edit the map.

Note

A rule can have multiple triggers but only one action button trigger.

Add a PTZ Preset Position

A PTZ preset is a saved pan, tilt and zoom position. Presets can be selected in Live View and can be used in sequences.

Presets can be created for cameras with PTZ cameras and cameras where digital PTZ has been enabled in the camera’s Setup

pages, see Mechanical PTZ on page 17.

To add a preset position, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select PTZ.

2. Select a PTZ camera and click Congure.

3. Click in the preview window or use the PTZ controls to move the camera view to the desired position.

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4. Click Add and type a name for the preset.

Note

• Presets congured in AXIS Camera Station are stored in the camera together with presets congured in the camera’s

Setup pages.

• The Presets list includes preset positions congured both in AXIS Camera Station and in the camera. Click Refresh

to update the list.

Congure Video & Audio Settings

To customize prole settings for resolution, frame rate, compression, video format and audio, go to Conguration > Video &

Audio Settings, select the camera to congure and click Edit.

For cameras of the same model that have the same conguration capabilities, multiple cameras can be congured at the same time.

To customize prole settings for recordings, see Continuous and Scheduled Recordings on page 36 and Motion Recording on page 33.

Note

The resolution and frame rate used in Live View can be limited to reduce bandwidth consumption, for example if a slow

connection is used between the AXIS Camera Station Client and AXIS Camera Station Server.

To optimize prole settings for low bandwidth:

1. Go to

> Options > Customize.

2. Click the Live View tab and check the Low bandwidth mode box.

3. Click OK.

When Low bandwidth mode is selected, the Low prole is used for all cameras in all views.

Video Proles:

A maximum number of three default proles are created for each camera. These proles are used for recordings as well as live

view. In live view, the proles are used as follows:

High - Used to display single camera screens - optimized for the highest quality and resolution.

Medium - Used to display 2-4 camera split screens - optimized to balance high quality with performance.

Low - Used to display 5 or more camera split screens - optimized for performance.

Note

To enable prole settings in recordings, see Continuous and Scheduled Recordings on page 36 and Motion Recording

on page 33.

Resolution - Select resolution. Available options depend on camera model. A higher resolution gives an image with more details but

requires more bandwidth and disk space.

Frame rate - Set the desired frame rate. The actual frame rate depends on camera model, network conditions and computer

conguration.

Compression - Set compression level. Lower compression improves image quality, but requires more bandwidth and disk space.

Format - Select video format. Available options depend on camera model. H.264 is supported by most camera models and requires

less bandwidth and disk space compared to, for example, M-JPEG.

Note

Cameras congured for MPEG-4 can only have one MPEG-4 prole at a time.

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Audio:

Microphone - Select a camera microphone to enable audio in the prole. Audio can be used with MPEG-4 and H.264 video, and

is available for cameras with built-in audio and for cameras used together with an external audio device. SeeUse Audio from an

Auxiliary Device on page 45.

Use microphone for - Enable microphone audio for one or two streams. Audio can be enabled for Live view and recording, Live

view only or Recording only.

Speaker - Select a speaker to enable audio transmissions through camera speakers or auxiliary devices. Use a microphone connected

to the computer to make spoken announcements. See Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device on page 45.

The microphone

indicates that the selected camera has an enabled microphone (built-in, line-in, auxiliary device). The

microphone transmits audio from the camera to live view and recordings.

The speaker

indicates that the selected camera has an enabled speaker (built-in or external auxiliary device). In live view, use the

Speak button to transmit spoken messages through the speaker.

Note

Any built-in microphones or speakers cannot be shared with other cameras.

Advanced:

Include analytics data for Smart Search - Check this option to allow data to be gathered for smart search during video streaming.

Note

Data gathering for Smart Search can add latency in live video streaming. For Smart Search, see Smart Search on page 21.

Use Audio from an Auxiliary Device

Audio from an auxiliary device can be used together with video from a network camera or video encoder for live viewing or recording:

Follow these steps:

1. Add the auxiliary device to AXIS Camera Station, see Add Auxiliary Devices on page 39.

2. Congure the camera to use audio from the auxiliary device.

3. Enable audio for Live View or Recording.

Enable audio:

To congure proles for audio:

1. Go to

> Conguration > Video & Audio Settings.

2. Select the camera and click Edit.

3. Select MPEG-4 or H.264 under Format in the video prole settings.

4. Select a microphone under Microphone in the audio settings.

5. Select when to enable audio under Use microphone for in the audio settings. Audio can be applied for Live view and

recording, Live view only or Recording only.

6. If applicable, select a speaker under Speaker in the audio settings.

7. Click OK.

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Add Inputs and Outputs

Many cameras and video encoders have I/O ports for connection of external devices. Auxiliary devices can also have I/O ports.

There are two types of I/O ports:

• Input port — connection of devices that can toggle between an open and closed circuit. Examples: door and window

contacts, smoke detectors, glass break detectors and PIRs (Passive Infrared Detector).

• Output port — connection to devices such as relays, doors, locks and alarms. Devices connected to output ports can be

controlled from AXIS Camera Station.

I/O ports are used in rules set up in Event Conguration, see page 53. Input ports are used as triggers, that is, when

AXIS Camera Station receives a signal from a device connected to an input port, specied actions will be performed. Output ports are

used as actions, that is, when a rule is activated, AXIS Camera Station can activate or deactivate a device connected to an output port.

It is also possible to control output ports manually from Actions > I/O Monitoring.

For information about how to connect devices and how to congure I/O ports, see the Axis product's User Manual or Installation

Guide. Some products have ports that can be congured to act as input or output.

To add an input or output port, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select I/O Settings.

2. To add ports, click Add.

3. A list showing available I/O ports in devices added to AXIS Camera Station is now displayed. Select the port to add

and click OK.

4. Enter a name for the port and names for the active and inactive states. The names will appear under Logs, I/O Monitoring

dialog and in Event Conguration.

5. Output ports: To set the initial state of the output port, select On startup set to and then select the state to use as initial

state. The port will be set to the initial state each time AXIS Camera Station establishes contact with the device.

6. Click OK to add the port.

Note

Multiple ports can be added at the same time. If selecting multiple ports, the port names and names of the active and

inactive states will be set to default values.

Set Up Schedules

Schedules can be used in Recording Settings and Event Conguration. Once a schedule has been entered, it can be used as many

times as needed. Schedules can also be overridden on special dates, for example public holidays.

To set up a schedule, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, select Schedules.

2. Click Add to open the Schedule Editor.

3. Enter a name for the schedule.

4. Click in the timeline and drag to dene when the schedule should be on and off. Colored areas indicate that the

schedule is on.

5. To use a different schedule for special dates, click Override. Use the arrows to select the month, then select the special

dates and click Edit. To select several dates, keep the SHIFT or CTRL key pressed while selecting the dates.

6. Click OK.

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Send E-Mail Notication on System Alarm

A system alarm occurs when connection to a device is lost, when access to a recording disk is denied, when a recording disk is full, on

recording errors, etc. An e-mail notication can be sent when a system alarm occurs.

To set up e-mail notication, follow these steps:

1. From the Conguration menu, open System Alarm

2. Check Send e-mail on system alarm to the following recipients.

3. Enter the e-mail addresses alarm messages should be sent to.

4. Under New recipient, choose if the address should be in the To, Cc or Bcc eld of the e-mail and enter the e-mail address.

5. Click Add to enter the e-mail address into the Recipients box.

6. Click OK to save.

Note

To send emails, an SMTP server must rst be added. To add an SMTP server, select SMTP Servers from the Options menu.

Camera Applications

A camera application is software that can be uploaded to and installed on Axis network video products. Applications add functionality

to the device, for example detection, recognition, tracking or counting capabilities.

The following applications are installed automatically when cameras (that support these applications) are added to

AXIS Camera Station:

• AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 is an application that detects moving objects within an area of interest. The application

does not require any license and can be installed on cameras with rmware 5.60 and later.

• AXIS Video Content Stream 1.0 is an application that improves smart search. The application enables AXIS Video Content

Stream in the camera and can be installed on cameras with rmware 5.50 and later. The use of AXIS Video Content

Stream is only permitted through AXIS Camera Station.

Other applications must rst be downloaded from www.axis.com/applications or from the application vendor's web site.

Applications can be installed on devices with support for AXIS Camera Application Platform. Some applications also require a specic

rmware version or camera model. If the application requires a license, the license key le can be installed at the same time as the

application or it can be installed later using the devices' Setup pages.

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To obtain the license key le, the license code included with the application must be registered at

www.axis.com/techsup/compatible_applications

To install an application, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the devices to install the application on. Multiple devices can be selected.

3. Right-click and select Install Camera Application.

4. Select the application to install and click Next.

5. The Install licenses page is displayed when installing an application other than AXIS Video Motion Detection 2.1 or

AXIS Video Content Stream 1.0.

- To install licenses, select Yes and click Next. Click Browse and browse to the license le.

- If the application does not require any license, or if licenses should be installed later, select No.

6. Click Next.

7. Check that all settings are correct and click Finish to install the application.

Important

If the application is already installed, the existing application will be overwritten. Overwriting removes all application settings.

If an application cannot be installed, go to www.axis.com and check if the device model and rmware version support

AXIS Camera Application Platform.

Export Recordings

Recordings can be exported to a local disk, a network location or burned to a CD or DVD. Multiple recordings can be exported at

the same time.

Recordings are exported in ASF format and can be played by Windows Media Player or AXIS File Player. AXIS File Player is free software

for video and audio playback. AXIS File Player is automatically included with the exported recordings. No installation is required.

To play recordings, open AXIS File Player and select the recordings to play.

To export a recording:

1. To search and play a recording, see Search and Play Recordings on page 19.

2. Go to the Recordings workspace.

3. Select the recording in the timeline:

- To select a single recording, click on the recording in the timeline.

- To select all recordings in a time interval, or to select a part of a longer recording, click

to display the

selection markers. Move the selection markers to the desired time.

- To select recordings from multiple cameras, keep the SHIFT or CTRL key pressed while selecting cameras in the

timeline. Then click on the recording or use the selection markers.

4. Click

to open the Export dialog.

5. Select the location to export the recordings to.

6. Optionally, select Create playlist to create a playlist for Windows Media Player.

7. Optionally, add a digital signature. A digital signature is used to ensure image authenticity and integrity.

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8. Click Export.

Note

Recording export can also be scheduled. Go to Conguration > Scheduled Recording Export.

Upgrade Firmware

Firmware is software that determines the functionality of the Axis product. Using the latest rmware ensures that the device will

have the latest functionality and improvements.

New rmware can be:

• downloaded from Axis via AXIS Camera Station. Requires Internet connection.

• imported from a le (for example on the hard drive or on a memory stick).

Devices will be ofine during rmware upgrade. When upgrading multiple devices, the upgrade can be run in

• Sequence — one device at a time

• Parallel — upgrade all devices. This option is faster but all selected devices will be ofine at the same time

To upgrade one or more devices, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Camera Management workspace, see Camera Management Workspace on page 23.

2. Select the devices. Multiple devices can be selected.

3. Right-click and select Upgrade Firmware.

4. To check if new rmware versions are available for download, click Check for Updates. Enter the user name and password

for your MyAxis account. If you do not yet have an account, you can create one from this dialog.

6. For each device model, click the arrow under Upgrade To and select the rmware versions the devices should be upgraded

to. The following options can be available in the drop-down list:

- Firmware that has already been downloaded or imported is shown with its version number.

- Firmware that is available for download is shown with the text (Download) after its version number. The

rmware will be downloaded automatically when you click OK to start the upgrade operation.

- Browse — Select this option to browse to a rmware le.

7. Click OK to start upgrading the devices.

Note

To select upgrade order for rmware, go to > Options > Upgrade Firmware Settings and select Parallel or Sequence.

Assign IP Addresses

AXIS Camera Station can assign IP addresses to multiple devices. New IP addresses can be:

• obtained automatically from a DHCP server

• assigned from an IP address range.

To assign IP addresses to multiple devices, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the devices to congure. Multiple devices can be selected.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

3. Right-click and select Assign IP Address.

4. Select one of the following options:

- Obtain IP addresses automatically (DHCP)

- Assign the following IP address range:

Specify the IP address range, the subnet mask and the default router. Wildcards can be used, for example 10.93.*

5. Click Next.

6. The current IP address and the new IP address are displayed under New IP addresses. To modify the IP address for a

device, select the device and click Edit IP.

7. Click Finish when satised with the new IP addresses.

Congure Devices

Multiple devices can be congured at the same time by copying device settings from one device, or by applying a conguration le.

• For information about how to congure devices, see Choose Conguration Method on page 50.

• For information about which settings can be copied, see Conguration Settings on page 51.

• For information about how to create a conguration le, see Create Conguration File on page 52.

Choose Conguration Method

There are different methods to congure selected devices. AXIS Camera Station will attempt to congure all devices according to

the selected settings in the method.

For more information about settings, see Conguration Settings on page 51.

Use Conguration of Selected Device

Note

This method is only available for conguration of a single device by reusing some or all existing settings.

To use conguration of a selected device:

1. Open the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select one device to congure with existing settings.

3. Right-click and select Congure Devices > Congure.

4. Select the settings to be applied.

5. Click Next to verify the settings to be applied.

6. Click Finish to apply the selected settings to the selected device.

Copy Conguration From Another Device

To copy a conguration from another device:

1. Open the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the devices to congure with copied settings from another device. Devices of different models and rmware can

be selected.

3. Right-click and select Congure Devices > Congure.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

4. Click Device to show devices with reusable congurations.

5. Select a device to copy settings from and click OK.

Note

The details for the selected device are shown in a the Congure Devices dialogue.

6. Select the settings to be applied.

7. Click Next to verify the settings to be applied.

8. Click Finish to apply the selected settings to the selected devices.

Use Conguration File

A conguration le contains selected settings from one device. To create a conguration le, see Create Conguration File on page 52.

Conguration les can be used to:

• congure multiple devices at the same time,

• recongure a device, for example if the device is reset to its factory default settings.

To apply a conguration le to devices:

1. Open the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the devices to congure with the conguration le. Devices of different models and rmware can be selected.

3. Right-click and select Congure Devices > Congure.

4. Click Conguration File to go to the conguration le.

5. Browse to the .cfg le and click Open.

6. Click Next to verify the settings to be applied.

7. Click Finish to apply the selected settings to the selected devices.

Note

A conguration le created from a device can be applied to devices with different model or rmware even if some settings do

not exist on all selected devices. This option should only be used by experienced users.

If some settings do not exist or cannot be applied, the task status will show as Error in the Tasks tab at the bottom of

the Camera Management workspace. Right-click the task and select Show to display information about the settings

that could not be applied.

Conguration Settings

Parameters Parameters are internal device parameters that are used to control device

behavior. Parameters should only be modied by experienced users.

Note

All device parameters are not accessible from AXIS Camera Station.

For general information about parameters, see the product's User Manual

available at www.axis.com

Variables It is possible to insert variables in some text elds. To insert a variable,

right-click in the text eld and select a variable.

The variables will be replaced by text before they are applied to a device.

AXIS Camera Station

How to...

There are three variables available:

• $(Properties.System.SerialNumber) - This variable will

be replaced with the serial number of the device that the

conguration le is applied to.

• $(mgr.ServerName) - This variable will be replaced with the

name of the server used when applying the conguration le.

The server name can be found in the Server column in the

Camera Management workspace. To rename a server, use AXIS

Camera Station Service Control.

• $(mgr.POSIXTimeZone) - This variable will be replaced with

the POSIX time zone of the server used when applying the

conguration le. This can be used with the POSIX time zone

parameter to set the correct time zone of all devices in a

network with servers in different time zones.

Action Rules Action rules can be copied between devices. Action rules should only be

modied by experienced users.

For general information about action rules, see the product's User Manual

available at www.axis.com

Additional Settings Stream Proles - A stream prole is a pre-programmed live view

conguration prole for video encoding, image and audio settings. Stream

proles can be copied between devices.

Motion Detection Windows - Motion detection windows are used to dene

specic areas in the camera's eld of view. Typically, alarms are generated

whenever movement occurs (or stops) within the specied areas. Motion

detection windows can be copied between devices.

Create Conguration File

A conguration le contains selected settings from one device. These settings can then be applied to other devices. For information

on how to use the conguration le, see Choose Conguration Method on page 50.

The displayed settings are the device settings that can be accessed using AXIS Camera Station. To nd a particular setting, use the

Type to search eld.

To create a conguration le:

1. Open the Camera Management workspace.

2. Select the device to create the conguration le from.

3. Right-click and select Congure Devices > Create Conguration File.

4. Select the settings to include and modify their values as required. For more information, see Conguration Settings

on page 51.

5. Click Next to verify the settings to be saved.

6. Click Finish to create the conguration le.

7. Click Save to save the selected settings to a .cfg le.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

Event conguration is a powerful tool to reduce the number of recordings, to interact with devices connected to I/O ports and to alert

operators about important events.

To congure events, AXIS Camera Station uses rules. A rule is a set of conditions that dene how and when actions should be

performed. A rule consists of triggers and actions. Triggers dene when the rule should be activated. A rule can have multiple

triggers and will be active as long as any of the triggers is active. If the rule has multiple actions, all actions will be performed

when the rule is activated.

Triggers

The following triggers are available:

Motion Detection The motion detection trigger is activated when the selected camera detects motion within a

dened area. Detection is performed by the camera which means that no processing load to

AXIS Camera Station Server.

Avoid using the motion detection trigger to start recordings if motion recording is enabled in the

camera. To nd out if motion recording is enabled, go to Conguration > Recording Settings.

Active Tampering Alarm The tampering trigger is activated when the selected camera is repositioned or when the lens is

covered, sprayed or severely defocused. Tampering detection is preformed by the camera which

means that no processing load is added to AXIS Camera Station Server.

Active Tampering Alarm is available for cameras with support for Camera Tampering and with

rmware 5.11 or later.

AXIS Cross Line Detection AXIS Cross Line Detection is an application that can be installed on cameras and video encoders.

The application detects moving objects that cross a virtual line and can, for example, be used to

monitor entrance and exit points.

Before using AXIS Cross Line Detection as a trigger, the application must be installed on the

camera. Download the application from www.axis.com. Then go to the Camera Management

workspace, select the camera, right-click and select Install camera application. See Camera

Applications on page 47.

The trigger is activated when an application detects a moving object. Since detection is performed

by the application on the camera, no processing load is added to AXIS Camera Station Server.

AXIS Cross Line Detection can be installed on products with support for AXIS Camera Application

Platform.

System Event and Error

A system event an error trigger is activated when recording errors occur, when a disk becomes full,

when a network share cannot be contacted or when connection to one or more devices is lost.

Input/Output

The Input/Output (I/O) trigger is activated when a device’s I/O port receives a signal from, for

example, a connected door, smoke detector or switch.

Before using an I/O trigger, the I/O port must be added to AXIS Camera Station. Go to

Conguration > I/O Settings. See Add Inputs and Outputs on page 46.

Device Event The device event trigger is intended for advanced users. The trigger uses events from the camera

or auxiliary device and can be used if no other trigger is applicable. Supported by products

with rmware 5.40 and later.

Action Button Action buttons are used to start and stop actions in Live View. Action buttons are displayed on

top of the live view or in a map. When clicking the button, the action will be performed. For more

information, see Create Action Buttons on page 43.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

Actions

The following actions are available:

Record The record action starts a recording from the selected camera. The recording can be accessed and played

from the Recordings workspace.

The recording is saved to the disk specied under Conguration > Recording Storage.

Raise alarm

The raise alarm action sends an alarm to all connected AXIS Camera Station Clients. The alarm will be

displayed in the Alarms tab (see Alarms and Tasks Tabs on page 28) and as a taskbar notication. Instructions

in form of a le with alarm procedures can be included with the alarm.

Send e-mail The e-mail action sends an e-mail to one or multiple recipients. Snapshots from selected cameras can be sent

as e-mail attachments. To be able to send e-mails, an SMTP server must rst be congured,

Live View The live view action opens the Live View workspace with a specied camera, view or preset position. The Live

View workspace will open in all connected AXIS Camera Station Clients.

If the Live View workspace shows a split view with a hotspot, the camera selected in the live view action

will be loaded in the hotspot.

The live view action can also be used to restore open AXIS Camera Station Clients from the taskbar or

bring the clients to the front of other applications.

Set Output

The output action sets the state of an output port. This is used to control the device connected to the output

port, for example to switch on a light or lock a door.

Before using the output action, an output port must be added to AXIS Camera Station. Go to Conguration >

I/O Settings. See Add Inputs and Outputs on page 46.

Send HTTP

Notication

The HTTP notication action sends an HTTP request to a camera, a door controller or an external web server.

HTTP notications can for example be used to enable or disable a feature in the camera, or to open, close, lock

or unlock a door connected to a door controller.

Create a Rule

The example described in this chapter demonstrates how to use Event Conguration to create a rule that starts a recording,

raises an alarm and sends an e-mail each time a door is opened. The door switch is connected to an input port of the camera

monitoring the door.

Start by creating a new rule:

1. Open the Conguration menu and select Event Conguration.

2. Click New to open the New Rule dialog.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

The rule is congured in four steps, described in the following sections:

• Triggers — add one or more triggers

• Actions — add one or more actions

• Schedule — select a schedule for the rule

• Details — check settings and enable the rule

Add Triggers

A rule can have one or more triggers. When using several triggers, only one of the triggers needs to become active to activate the rule.

In this example, an I/O trigger will be created.

Add an I/O Trigger

To create an I/O trigger, follow these steps:

1. In the New Rule dialog, click Add to open the Add Trigger dialog.

2. Click Advanced and select Input/Output. The Create I/O Trigger dialog opens.

3. Select the input port on the camera monitoring the door and select the trigger state that will activate the rule when

the door is open (the state Active in this example). Available values depend on how the I/O port was dened under

Conguration > I/O Settings. See Add Inputs and Outputs on page 46 for more information.

4. Since the trigger can go off many times and create unwanted events, an option is to set the Trigger period slider so that

any triggers that come in under this period will be treated as one trigger.

5. Click OK to save the trigger settings.

6. When all triggers have been added, click Next to move to the Actions step.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

Add Actions

The rule can have one or more actions. In this example, three actions will be created: record, raise alarm and send e-mail.

Add a Recording Action

To create a recording action, follow these steps:

1. In the New Rule dialog, Actions step, click Add and select Record.

2. In Create Recording Action select the camera that should start recording. In this example, Entrance.

3. Select the Video setting prole from the drop-down list or click Change to enter a new prole. See for more information.

4. With the sliders select the number of seconds to include before the trigger (Prebuffer) and after the trigger stops

(Postbuffer).

5. Click OK.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

Add a Raise Alarm Action

To create a raise alarm action, follow these steps:

1. In the New Rule dialog, Actions step, click Add and select Raise alarm.

2. Type a title for the alarm message and a description.

3. To include an alarm procedure, select Alarm procedure, click Upload and browse to locate the le.

4. Click OK to save.

Note

An alarm procedure is an uploaded le, for example a text or image le.

Add a Send E-Mail Action

Note

To send e-mails from AXIS Camera Station an SMTP server must rst be added. Open the Options menu and select SMTP

servers.

To create a send e-mail action, follow these steps:

1. In the New Rule dialog, Actions step, click Add and select Send e-mail.

2. Enter the e-mail addresses that alarm messages should be sent to. Under New Recipient, choose if the address should be

in the To, Cc or Bcc eld of the e-mail and enter the e-mail address.

3. Click Add to enter the e-mail address into the Recipients box.

4. Enter a subject for the e-mail in the Subject eld.

5. Enter a message to the recipient.

6. To attach camera snapshots, select Attach snapshots and click Cameras to select the cameras to include snapshots from.

7. To reduce the number of e-mails, select Send one e-mail for each event or Don’t send another e-mail for.

8. Click OK to save.

AXIS Camera Station

Event Conﬁguration

Set a Schedule

The rule can be congured to be active at all times or according to a schedule. For more information about schedules, see Set Up

Schedules on page 46.

To set a schedule, follow these steps:

1. When all actions have been added, click Next to move to the Schedule step.

2. Select Always to let the rule be active at all times or select a Custom Schedule

3. Click Next to go to the Details step.

Rule Details

The nal Details step shows the rule settings.

1. Enter a Name for the rule.

2. Check that all settings are correct.

3. Make sure that Enable this rule is selected and click Finish to save the rule.

AXIS Camera Station

Input Devices

The following input devices can be used with AXIS Camera Station:

• AXIS T8311 Video Surveillance Joystick

• AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad

• AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial

• AXIS 295 Video Surveillance Joystick

Hotkeys

Hotkeys give quick access to commonly used actions. A hotkey can be

• a keyboard combination

• a keypad combination

• a joystick button

• a jog dial button

To display a list of all currently assigned hotkeys for all input devices, open Assigned hotkeys from the Help menu.

Hotkeys dened as Global are available in all workspaces; other hotkeys are available in only one workspace.

To add, edit and remove hotkeys, open Hotkeys from the Options menu. Click Restore defaults to reset the hotkey conguration to

default.

AXIS T8311 Video Surveillance Joystick

AXIS T8311 Video Surveillance Joystick is a USB device that can used

• to pan, tilt and zoom in the camera view (cameras with mechanical PTZ only)

• as a computer mouse

Connect the joystick before starting AXIS Camera Station. The joystick is detected and installed automatically.

The joystick can be congured to toggle between the PTZ and mouse modes. Go to

> Options > Hotkeys, select Joystick and

then Add. Select Global, Turn on/off joystick PTZ controlling and assign an unused joystick button.

The table below lists the default conguration for joystick hotkeys.

AXIS Camera Station

Input Devices

AXIS T8311

Button

Function (Global) Function (Live View) Function (Recordings)

Go to preset 1

Play/Pause

Go to preset 2 Stop

Go to preset 3

Jump to previous recording start

Go to preset 4

Jump to next recording start

L Left mouse button

R Right mouse button

AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad

AXIS T8312 Video Surveillance Keypad is a USB device used to quickly navigate between workspaces, cameras, views and PTZ presets.

Connect the keypad before starting AXIS Camera Station. The keypad is detected and installed automatically.

The table below lists the default conguration for keypad hotkeys.

AXIS T8312

AXIS Camera Station

Input Devices

Key

Function (Global) Function (Live View) Function (Recordings)

F1 Navigate to Live View

F2 Navigate to Recordings

F3 Navigate to Logs

Navigate to Conguration

View

Go to the next user-created

view.

Press 3+

to go to view

number 3.

Press ALT+

to go to the

previous view.

Camera Go to next camera view.

Press 3+

to go to camera

number 3.

Press ALT+ to go to the

previous camera view.

Preset

Go to the next PTZ preset of the

currently selected camera.

Press 3+

to go to PTZ preset 3.

Time

Enter a time (format hhmm) and press this

key to start playback from the corresponding

time.

Example: 2000+

starts playback from

20:00 (8 pm).

Tool

Select the next alarm in the

alarm list.

Press ALT+

to select the

previous alarm in the list.

Tab

Navigate forward in a split view.

Press ALT+

to navigate

backward.

The View, Camera, Preset, Time and Tool keys are backlit when the keys can be used. For example, the Time key is backlit when

you are in the Recordings workspace.

AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial

AXIS T8313 Video Surveillance Jog Dial is a USB device used to jog and shuttle through recorded video.

Connect the jog dial before starting AXIS Camera Station. The jog dial is detected and installed automatically.

The table below lists the default conguration for jog dial hotkeys.

AXIS Camera Station

Input Devices

AXIS T8313

Button

Function (Global) Function (Live View) Function (Recordings)

Bookmark

Add a bookmark

Go to previous

Go to the previous recording.

Play/Pause

Play/pause the recording.

Go to next

Go to the next recording.

L Take a snapshot

R Toggle search

AXIS 295 Video Surveillance Joystick

AXIS 295 Video Surveillance Joystick is a USB device that can used

• to pan, tilt and zoom in the camera view (cameras with mechanical PTZ only)

• as a computer mouse

Connect the joystick before starting AXIS Camera Station. The joystick is detected and installed automatically.

The joystick can be congured to toggle between the PTZ and mouse modes. Go to

> Options > Hotkeys, select Joystick and

then Add. Select Global, Turn on/off joystick PTZ controlling and assign an unused joystick button.

AXIS Camera Station

Input Devices

AXIS 295

Button

Function (Global) Function (Live View) Function (Recordings)

Go to preset 1

Play/Pause

Go to preset 2 Stop

Go to preset 3

Jump to previous recording start

Go to preset 4

Jump to next recording start

F5 Left mouse button

F6 Right mouse button

Show split/single view Show split/single view

F8 Toggle full screen Take a snapshot

F9 Navigate back

F10

Start/Stop manual recording

F11 Increase joystick speed. Keep

the button pressed while

moving the joystick.

F12 Reduce joystick speed. Keep

the button pressed while

moving the joystick.

AXIS Camera Station

Network and Security Conﬁguration

If AXIS Camera Station Client, AXIS Camera Station Server and the connected network devices are installed on different networks, it

might be necessary to congure proxy and/or rewall settings.

• If the Client and the Server are separated by a proxy server, the client proxy settings should be modied, see Client

Proxy Settings on page 65.

• If the Client and the Server are separated by a NAT, rewall or similar, the NAT or rewall should be modied, see NAT

and Firewall, below.

• If network devices and the Server are separated by a proxy server, the server proxy settings should be modied, see

Server Proxy Settings, below.

If the local network uses a proxy for Internet connection, it might be necessary to congure the proxy settings to:

• register licenses using the automatic registration option (server proxy settings)

• check for and download rmware updates (client proxy settings).

Security Considerations

To prevent unauthorized access to cameras and recordings, keep the following in mind:

• Use strong passwords for all network devices (cameras, video encoders and auxiliary devices).

• Install AXIS Camera Station Server, cameras, video encoders and auxiliary devices on a secure network separated from

the ofce network. AXIS Camera Station Client can be installed on a computer on another network, for example

a network with Internet access.

• Make sure all users have strong passwords. Using Windows Active Directory a high level of security can be implemented,

see User Permissions on page 66.

NAT and Firewall

If there is a NAT, rewall or similar that separates AXIS Camera Station Server from AXIS Camera Station Client, it might be necessary

to congure the NAT and/or rewall to allow access to the network. Make sure that the HTTP port, TCP port and streaming port

specied in AXIS Camera Station Service Control are allowed to pass through the rewall and/or NAT.

For information about the Service Control, see AXIS Camera Station Service Control on page 68. For instructions how to congure the

NAT or rewall, contact the network administrator.

Note

Some antivirus programs also block applications from accessing the network, similar to a rewall. To congure the antivirus

program to allow the Client and/or Server to access the network, refer to the documentation provided with the program.

Server Proxy Settings

The server proxy settings need to be congured if:

• AXIS Camera Station Server and the network devices are separated by a proxy server

• the network uses a proxy for Internet connection and you want to register licenses.

AXIS Camera Station

Network and Security Conﬁguration

Devices outside of the local network. To access the devices on the other side of the proxy server from AXIS Camera Station, the

server proxy settings must be congured.

To congure the server proxy settings, follow these steps:

1. Open the AXIS Camera Station Service Control by double-clicking the icon

in Windows notication area. See AXIS

Camera Station Service Control on page 68.

2. Select Modify settings.

3. Under Proxy settings, select Use manual proxy settings.

4. Enter the address and port number of the proxy server. This is usually the same address and port number as in Internet

Options in Windows Control Panel.

5. If there are local devices that do not go through the proxy server, select Bypass proxy for local addresses and enter the

devices’ addresses in the box separated by semicolons.

Note

If you don’t know the proxy server settings contact the network administrator.

For more information on AXIS Camera Station Service Control, see page 68.

Client Proxy Settings

The client proxy settings need to be congured if:

• AXIS Camera Station Client and AXIS Camera Station Server are separated by a proxy server

• the network uses a proxy for Internet connection and you want to check for and download rmware updates.

AXIS Camera Station

Network and Security Conﬁguration

AXIS Camera Station Client behind a proxy. To connect to an AXIS Camera Station Server on the other side of the proxy, the client proxy

settings must be congured.

To congure the client proxy settings, follow these steps:

1. From the File menu, select Log Off to open the Log on screen.

2. Click Change client proxy settings.

3. Select the appropriate option:

- Direct connection — Select this option if there is no proxy server between AXIS Camera Station Client and

AXIS Camera Station Server.

- Use Internet Explorer settings — AXIS Camera Station will use the same proxy settings as Internet Explorer.

- Use manual proxy settings — Select this option to specify proxy settings manually.

4. If using manual proxy settings, enter the proxy server’s IP address or host name and port number under Manual settings. It

is also possible to bypass the proxy server for devices on the local network:

- Select Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with to exclude certain servers from access by the

proxy. Use semicolons to separate entries.

- Select Always bypass proxy server for local addresses to bypass the proxy server when connecting to the

AXIS Camera Station Server installed on same computer as the Client.

Server Port Conguration

The ports 55752 (HTTP), 55754 (TCP) and 55753 (streaming) are used on the AXIS Camera Station Server computer for communication

between the Server and the AXIS Camera Station Client. If required, the ports can be changed from AXIS Camera Station Service

Control, see AXIS Camera Station Service Control on page 68.

User Permissions

Using Windows Active Directory, a high level of security can be implemented in AXIS Camera Station when granting user permissions.

Before users can be granted access to AXIS Camera Station, they must be added to the local computer or have an Active Directory

user account.

A user can be granted access as an individual or as part of a group. In cases where a user is granted access as an individual he will

retain this right plus receive the rights he receives as part of a group. For example, a user is given access to camera X as an individual.

The user is also a member of a group. The group is given access to cameras Y and Z. The user then has access to cameras X, Y and Z.

Administrators of the computer on which the AXIS Camera Station Server is installed are automatically given administrator privileges

to AXIS Camera Station. It is not possible to change or remove the administrators group's privileges.

AXIS Camera Station

Network and Security Conﬁguration

To congure user access rights, open the Conguration menu and select User Permissions.

Local Security

By default, local security is Disabled which means all users, who log onto AXIS Camera Station Server installed on the same computer

as the AXIS Camera Station Client, will be given Administrator access. When local security is Enabled, access to AXIS Camera Station

is restricted to trusted users and groups for both remote and local clients. For remote clients, local security is always enabled.

To change the local security settings, open the Conguration menu, select User Permissions and click Security Settings.

Add a User or a Group

To add a user or a group, follow these steps:

1. Open the Conguration menu and select User Permissions.

2. Click Add to open the Add User/Group dialog.

3. Select the AXIS Camera Station Server or Domain. The available users and groups are listed under Available domain

users/groups. To narrow the list, select Users or Groups.

4. Select a user or group from the list and click Add to open the User/Group Privileges dialog.

5. Select a role for the user or group:

- Administrator - Full access to all functionality and all added devices.

- Operator - Full access to all functionality except Conguration menu, Conguration workspace, Camera

Management workspace and Audit logs. Full access to selected cameras and I/O ports. Access to playback

and recording export can be restricted.

- Viewer - Access to live video from selected cameras and access to selected I/O ports.

6. For users with viewer or operator rights, click Cameras and select the cameras and camera features to give access to.

Click Advanced to view all options

7. For users with viewer or operator rights, click I/O and select the I/O ports to give access to. Click Advanced to view all

options.

8. For users with operator rights, click Playback to restrict playback access.

9. When satised, click OK.

Note

• If the domain user search fails, make sure that AXIS Camera Station Service is logged on as a Windows user with access

to the Active Directory. To change the user account for AXIS Camera Station Service, open Windows Control Panel,

select Administrative Tools and then Services.

• For Input/Output ports to be visible here, they must rst be added to AXIS Camera Station. See Add Inputs and Outputs

on page 46.

AXIS Camera Station

AXIS Camera Station Service Control

AXIS Camera Station Service Control is the application that controls the AXIS Camera Station Service. The Service Control is started

when the user logs on to Windows.

An icon in Windows notication area shows if the service is running

, is starting or has stopped .

To open the Service Control, double-click the icon.

Note

The Service Control can also be opened from:

Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012: Go to the Start screen and type “Service Control”.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008: Open the Start menu and select All Programs > AXIS Camera

Station > AXIS Camera Station Tools > Service Control.

The Server Control settings are divided on tabs:

• General — Start and stop the server, see page 69. Modify server settings, see page 69. Modify server proxy settings,

see page 69.

• Database — Start database maintenance and modify backup settings. See page 70.

• Developer API — Settings for AXIS Camera Station SDK users.

To change service settings, rst select the Modify settings option. Click Restore Default Settings to restore the default values for

the server, streaming ports and proxy settings.

When satised, click Save to save the settings. The service will be restarted for the changes to take effect.

AXIS Camera Station

AXIS Camera Station Service Control

General

Start and Stop the Server

To start, stop or restart AXIS Camera Station Server, open the Service Control and click Start, Stop or Restart.

Server Settings

The server name and server ports can be changed from the General tab in the Service Control.

Server name is the name of the Server. The name is displayed in AXIS Camera Station Client.

Server HTTP port, Server TCP port and Streaming port are the ports that the Server uses to communicate with the Client. If

there is a NAT, rewall or similar between the Server and the Client, the NAT and/or rewall must be congured to allow these

ports to pass through.

Note

The server port number must lie in the range 1024-65534.

Proxy Settings

Proxy settings in the Service Control are the proxy settings for AXIS Camera Station Server.

Select Direct connection if the Server is in direct connection with the network devices in the system.

Select Use manual proxy settings if the Server and devices are separated by a proxy server. Enter the proxy server’s address and port

number. These settings are usually the same as those under Internet Options in Windows Control Panel.

AXIS Camera Station

AXIS Camera Station Service Control

If there are local devices that do not go through the proxy server, select Bypass proxy for local addresses and enter the device’s

addresses or host names.

For more information about proxy settings, see Network and Security Conguration on page 64.

Database

The AXIS Camera Station database stores recording and conguration information that is needed for the system to work properly.

The database is backed up every night. See Database Backup on page 70.

Database maintenance should be performed if the alarm "Database maintenance is required" is displayed or if the system was shut

down unexpectedly, for example after a power outage. See Database Maintenance on page 70.

For information about database best practice, see page 77.

For information about how to recover the database, see Recover Lost Data on page 76.

Database Backup

The AXIS Camera Station database is backed up every night. The backups can be stored on the local computer or the network. To

change the Backup folder, open the Service Control and select the Database tab. The oldest backups will be deleted after the

number of days specied in Days to keep backups.

Important

Recordings are stored in the location specied in Conguration > Recording storage and not in the database. Recordings

should be backed up separately.

Note

• The backup will be saved to the default location if it cannot be written to the folder specied, for example if the Server

cannot access the folder. The default location is:

C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\AXIS Camera Station Server\backup

• The backup les are named acs_system_<date_time>.fdb and license_system_<date_time>.fdb

For information on how to restore the database, see Recover Lost Data on page 76.

Database Maintenance

Database maintenance should be performed if the alarm "Database maintenance is required" is displayed or if the system was

shut down unexpectedly, for example after a power outage.

During maintenance, AXIS Camera Station Server and all ongoing recordings will be stopped. The Server is started automatically after

maintenance.

To start database maintenance:

1. Open the Service Control, see page 68.

2. Go to Tools > Database maintainer.

3. Click Run.

4. The estimated downtime will be displayed. Click Yes to continue or click No to cancel. Note: Once started, the process

cannot be canceled.

Important

Do not turn off the computer during maintenance.

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

Audio Problems

Problem

Solution

No audio in Live View If there is no audio in Live View, check the following:

• Check that the camera has audio capabilities.

• Check that the computer has an audio card and that the card is enabled.

• Check that audio is enabled in Live View, see Audio in Live View on page 17.

• Make sure the user has access rights to audio.

To check and modify user access rights:

Note: To follow these steps you must have administrator rights to AXIS Camera Station

1. Go to Conguration > User Permissions.

2. Select the user or group and click Edit

3. Click Advanced. Make sure that Audio is selected

No audio in sequence views Make sure that audio is enabled in the prole used by the rst view in the sequence. This

prole is used for all views in the sequence.

No audio in playback Audio is available in playback if audio was enabled in the prole used for the recording.

Note: Audio cannot be used with M-JPEG video. Select another video format.

Continuous, motion detection and manual recordings

To enable audio:

1. Go to Conguration > Recording Settings.

2. Select the camera and click Continuous, Motion Detection or Manual.

3. Select a prole where audio is enabled.

Rule-triggered recordings

To enable audio in an existing rule:

1. Go to Conguration > Event Conguration.

2. Select the rule and click Edit

3. In step Actions, select the Record action and click Edit.

4. Select a prole where audio is enabled.

5. Click Finish to save.

AXIS Cross Line Detection

Problem

Solution

AXIS Cross Line Detection does

not work

AXIS Cross Line Detection is an application that can be used with network cameras and video

encoders that support AXIS Camera Application Platform.

To use AXIS Cross Line Detection as a trigger, the application must rst be installed as

described in Camera Applications on page 47.

For instructions how to congure and use the application, see AXIS Cross Line Detection

User Guide.

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

Domain User Search Fails

Problem

Solution

Cannot nd domain users If the domain user search fails, change the Service logon account:

1. Open Windows Control Panel.

2. From the System & Security category, select Administrative Tools and then

Services.

3. Right-click AXIS Camera Station and select Properties.

4. Select the Log On tab.

5. Change from Local System account to This account.

6. Select a user with access to Windows Active Directory.

Graphics Card Problems

Problem

Solution

The graphics card driver is more

than 6 months old

See Update Graphics Card Driver on page 75.

Graphics card error See Update Graphics Card Driver on page 75.

Graphics card warning The graphics card does not meet the minimum system requirements, see System

Recommendations on page 5 .

The graphics card must support DirectX 9.0c and support Windows Presentation Foundation

tier 2.

To check the graphics card’s tier level, open the Help menu and select Client Conguration

Sheet. Render Capability Tier is listed in the General Conguration Information section.

It is also possible to use the CPU for video rendering, instead of using the graphics card,

see Hardware decoding on page 76.

Live View Problems

Problem

Solution

Repeated error message "Media

Failed"

Try the following:

Reduce the CPU load. Go to Conguration > Video & Audio Settings. Reduce the resolution,

increase compression and lower the frame rate.

Check that the computer is not running low on memory.

Check that the graphics card has been updated with the latest driver, see Update Graphics

Card Driver on page 75.

Firewall and antivirus software sometimes block video signals. Check that your rewall and

antivirus program do not block the following les:

• AcsAdmin.exe

• AcsAdminConsole.exe

• ACSService.exe

• Server.exe

• AcsClient.exe

• All content of C:\Program Files\Axis Communications\Components

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

Empty “ActiveMovie Window”

popup

An empty "ActiveMovie Window" popup indicates problems with the graphics card's video

memory and hardware acceleration.

Possible solutions:

Install the latest graphics card driver, see Update Graphics Card Driver on page 75.

Upgrade to a graphics card with more video memory and higher performance.

Use the CPU for video rendering, see .

Repeated message "Reconnecting

to camera in 15 seconds"

A repeated message "Reconnecting to camera in 15 seconds" might indicate that:

• The network is overloaded.

• The camera is not accessible. Check that the camera is still connected to the

network and that power is applied.

• Problems with the graphics card.

Possible solutions for graphics card problems:

• Install the latest graphics card driver, see Update Graphics Card Driver on page 75.

• Upgrade to a graphics card with more video memory and higher performance.

• Use the CPU for video rendering, see .

• Modify the live view settings, for example, resolution or frame rate.

Log On and Connection Problems

Problem

Solution

User name or password is

incorrect

If the user name or password is reported as "incorrect":

• Check that the user name and password are valid.

• Check that the user has access rights to AXIS Camera Station Server.

• Check that the clocks in AXIS Camera Station Server and Client are synchronized.

For domain users, also check that the domain server clock is synchronized with

the Server and Client.

• A user who has not been added to the Server, but is a member of the local

administrators group on the Server, must run the Client as administrator on

Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

For information about user access rights, see User Permissions on page 66.

AXIS Camera Station Server was

unable to verify message security.

Please make sure server and

client UTC times are reasonably

synchronized

The clocks in AXIS Camera Station Server and Client are not synchronized. When the Server

and Client are installed on different computers, the computer clocks should be synchronized

to use the same UTC time. Adjust the clock in either the Server or Client so that they have

the same date and time properties.

Unable to connect to server. If the message "Unable to connect to server" is displayed:

• Check that the address and port of the AXIS Camera Station Server are correct.

• Check that there is no NAT, rewall or antivirus software blocking the connection

to the Server.

• Use AXIS Camera Station Service Control to check that the Server is running.

Open the Service Control by double-clicking the icon

in Windows notication

area. See AXIS Camera Station Service Control on page 68. The server status is

displayed on the General tab. If status is "Stopped", click Start to start the Server.

• Verify that the computers the Server and Client are installed on are up to date

and have the latest service packs/patches.

• Verify that the network is correctly installed and congured on the Server and

Client computers.

Unable to locate the server

computer. Please make sure that

If the message "Unable to locate the server computer. Please make sure that the server

computer is connected to the network." is displayed:

• Check that the server computer is connected to the network.

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

the server computer is connected

to the network.

• Check that the address and port of the AXIS Camera Station Server are correct.

• Check that there is no NAT, rewall or antivirus software blocking the connection

to the Server.

License Problems

Problem

Solution

License registration problems If automatic registration fails, try the following:

• Check that the license key has been entered correctly.

• Modify the client proxy settings to allow AXIS Camera Station to access the

Internet.

• Select the option The server is not connected to the Internet. Make a note of

the Server ID and activate AXIS Camera Station from www.axis.com/techsup/acs.

License registered too many times If the initial installation and license registration was successful, but the computer or software

needs to be reinstalled, ask Axis Customer Support to deactivate the license. Include the

original license key and the name of the company and person the license is registered to. Use

AXIS Camera Station in grace mode until the request has been processed.

For information about how to register licenses, see AXIS Camera Station Installation Guide.

Menu Item

Problem

Solution

I can't see the Conguration

You do not have administrator privileges. Menu items are hidden from users that are not

granted access under User Permissions.

Playback Problems

Problem

Solution

Not enough disk space to buffer Increase the buffer size:

1. From the Options menu, open Customize and select the Recordings tab

2. Under Playback buffering select Use at most and use the slider to increase the

buffer size

How do I play exported

recordings?

Exported recordings can be played using:

• Windows Media Player

• AXIS File Player

AXIS File Player is free software for video and audio playback, and is automatically included

with the exported recordings. No installation is required. To play recordings, open AXIS

File Player and select the recordings to play.

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

PTZ Problems

Problem

Solution

Mechanical PTZ and presets are

not available

Mechanical PTZ and PTZ presets are available for PTZ cameras and for cameras where digital

PTZ has been enabled in the camera's web pages. For information about how to enable

digital PTZ, see the camera's User Manual.

Mechanical PTZ and PTZ presets are not available if the camera's control queue is enabled.

The control queue can be disabled from the camera's web pages. For more information about

the control queue, see the camera's User Manual.

Area zoom does not work

Area zoom is not supported by AXIS 209MFD and AXIS 212 PTZ.

Recording Storage Problems

Problem

Solution

Network share is not accessible

To use network shares on other computers, the Local System account cannot be used to log on

to AXIS Camera Station Service. To change the service login account, follow these instructions:

1. Open Windows Control Panel.

2. From the System & Security category, select Administrative Tools and then

Services.

3. Right-click AXIS Camera Station and select Properties.

4. Select the Log On tab.

5. Change from Local System account to This account.

6. Select a user with access to Windows Active Directory.

Network share is listed as

"Unavailable"

The computer that AXIS Camera Station Server is installed on should be part of the same

domain as the shared folder that is entered as a network share.

Can't reconnect to a network

share with new username and

password

If your network share requires authentication, it is important to disconnect the network share

from all ongoing connections before you change your username and password.

To change the username and password for a network share and reconnect:

1. Disconnect your network share from all ongoing connections.

2. When your network share is disconnected: Change the username and password.

3. Go to

> Conguration > Recording Storage and reconnect your network

share using your new username and password.

Recordings are deleted Recordings will be deleted after the number of days set as "days to keep". To change the

number of days, go to

Conguration > Recording Storage.

If the disk becomes full, recordings will be deleted before designated the number of days. If

so, try the following:

• Add more disks. See Congure Recording Storage on page 37.

• Change the amount of disk space reserved for AXIS Camera Station. Congure

Recording Storage on page 37.

• Reduce the size of recorded les by modifying for example resolution or frame

rate. Video format H.264 results in smaller les than MJPEG. See Congure

Recording on page 33.

Update Graphics Card Driver

For AXIS Camera Station to run properly, the graphics card in the computer must use the latest driver.

Update the graphics card driver if "The graphics card is more than 12 months old" or "Graphics card error" is displayed.

To nd out what graphics card is installed in the computer, the diagnostic program dxdiag can be used.

1. Open dxdiag.exe

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

- Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012: Go to the Start screen and type dxdiag.

- Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008: Open the Start menu and type dxdiag in the search eld.

2. If a prompt appears for the Diagnostic Tool, click Yes.

3. Select the Display tab. The name of the graphics card appears under Device.

To download the latest driver go to the graphics card manufacturer's web site. Some of the more common ones are

• nVidia - www.nvidia.com

• ATI - www.ati.com

• S3 - www.s3graphics.com

To upgrade the graphics card driver:

1. Download the driver from the manufacturer's web site.

2. Make sure that there are no other programs running on the computer.

3. Run the installer and follow the wizard to install necessary les.

4. Restart the computer.

Hardware decoding

Hardware decoding makes use of your graphics card to decode video. If you have a high performance graphics card, hardware

decoding is a good way to improve performance and reduce CPU usage, especially when streaming high-resolution video.

To use hardware decoding, follow these steps:

1. Go to

> Options > Customize > General.

2. Under Hardware Decoding: Select a Mode.

- Automatic - Streams with a resolution above 3840x2160p@25fps (also known as 4K or UHD) are decoded with

hardware if the graphics card supports it.

- On - Streams with a resolution above 1920x1080p@25fps (also known as 1080p or HD) are decoded with

hardware if the graphics card supports it.

- Off - Hardware decoding is turned off and AXIS Camera Station uses the CPU to decode video.

3. Under Hardware Decoding: Select a Graphics card.

4. Click OK.

Note

• For cameras with a resolution below 1080p: Hardware decoding is not used for these cameras, even if hardware decoding

is turned On.

• For cameras with 4K streaming: If your graphics card does not support 4K decoding, hardware decoding is only used on

1080p streams and not for 4K streams, even if hardware decoding is turned On.

Recover Lost Data

If AXIS Camera Station database is lost due to hardware failure or other problems, the database can be restored from a saved

backup. By default, backup les are kept for 14 days.

Important

Recordings are stored in the location specied in Conguration > Recording storage and not in the database. Recordings

should be backed up separately.

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

To restore the database, follow these steps:

1. Open AXIS Camera Station Service Control by double-clicking the icon

in Windows notication area. See AXIS Camera

Station Service Control on page 68.

2. Click Stop to stop the service.

3. Go to the folder where the backup les are stored. The backup folder is specied on the Database tab in the Service Control.

The backup folder contains timestamped backup les named acs_system_<date_time>.fdb and

license_system_<date_time>.fdb

4. Copy acs_system_<date_time>.fdb and license_system_<date_time>.fdb to

C:\ProgramData\AXIS Communication\AXIS Camera Station Server\

5. Delete the les ACS.FDB and LICENSE.FDB.

6. Rename acs_system_<date_time>.fdb to ACS.FDB.

7. Rename license_system_<date_time>.fdb to LICENSE.FDB.

8. Go back to the Service Control and click Start to start the service.

For information about the database and database backups, see page 70.

Database Best Practice

To avoid problems with the database, keep the following in mind:

Database maintenance: Run database maintenance a regularly, for example a few times per year. For instructions, see Database

Maintenance on page 70.

Check for disk errors: Disk errors can cause database corruption. Use a tool such as chkdsk (Check disk, also known as Error checking)

to check for damaged sectors on the hard drive where the database is located. To start chkdsk, go to Windows Start screen (Windows

8.1, Windows Server 2012) or Start menu and type “chkdsk” in the search eld. Run chkdsk regularly.

Antivirus software and external backups: Some antivirus software can corrupt the database. Exclude the database from virus scans

and external backups. Instead, external backups can be run from the AXIS Camera Station backup folder.

Power failure: An unexpected shutdown, for example due to power failure, can corrupt the database. Use a UPS (uninterruptible

power supply) for critical installations.

Out of space: The database can become corrupted if the hard drive runs out of space. To avoid this, install AXIS Camera Station

Server on a dedicated computer with sufcient memory. For hardware recommendations, see System Recommendations on page 5 .

Corrupted RAM memory: Run Windows Memory Diagnostic regularly to check for errors in the RAM memory.

Move AXIS Camera Station Installation

To move the current installation to another computer, follow these steps:

1. Install AXIS Camera Station (same version) on the new computer.

2. Open AXIS Camera Station at the new location. If license registration fails, ask Axis Customer Support to deactivate the

license. Use AXIS Camera Station in grace mode until the request has been processed.

3. At the old location, open the Service Control by double-clicking the icon

in Windows notication area. See AXIS

Camera Station Service Control on page 68.

4. Click Stop to stop the service.

5. Move the le ACS.FDB to the new location. The le is located at:

C:\ProgramData\AXIS Communication\AXIS Camera Station Server

AXIS Camera Station

Troubleshooting

6. Move the recordings from the old location to the new location. The recording paths must be exactly the same on the

new computer.

Contact Customer Support

Technical support is available for licensed versions of AXIS Camera Station.

If you contact Axis Customer Support, please help us resolve your problem expediently by attaching the following les to your

online support case.

System Report The system report is a .zip le containing parameters and log les that helps Axis Customer Support to

analyze your system. Always include a system report when contacting Customer Support.

To generate a system report, follow these steps:

1. Open AXIS Camera Station Client.

2. From the Help menu, select System Report.

3. Click OK to save the system report as a zip le.

Screenshots

To copy what is currently displayed on the screen to a le, follow these steps:

1. Press ALT - PRT SCR.

2. Open the Paint program included with Microsoft Windows.

3. In Paint, open the Edit menu and select Paste.

4. Save the le.

5. Attach the screenshot to your support case.

System Report Cannot Be Generated

If a system report cannot be generated, for example if AXIS Camera Station Server does not start, follow the steps below based

on your version of AXIS Camera Station, and attach the les to your support case:

For AXIS Camera Station 4.30 or later: If the server cannot be accessed for unexpected reasons, generate a partial system

report as described below.

Partial System Report 1. Right-click AXIS Camera Station Service Control in the Windows taskbar.

2. Select Open AXIS Camera Station Service Control.

3. Go to Tools > System Report.

4. Click Run to generate a partial system report with the System Report Tool.

For AXIS Camera Station 4.20 or earlier: Run DirectX Diagnostic Tool as described below and provide debug logs and Windows

Event Logs with your support case.

DirectX Diagnostic

Tool

To generate information about DirectX components and drivers, follow these steps:

1. Open dxdiag.exe

- Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012: Go to the Start screen and type dxdiag.

- Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008: Open the Start

menu and type dxdiag in the search eld.

2. If a prompt appears for the Diagnostic Tool, click Yes.

3. Click Save All Information and save as a text (txt) le.

4. Attach the text le to the support case.

Debug logs To create debug logs, zip the following folder:

C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\AXIS Camera Station\4.xx

Note: ProgramData is a hidden folder. Activate “Show hidden les and folders” to display it.

Windows Event Logs:

Application and

System

To generate event logs, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Control Panel.

2. From the System & Security category, select Administrative Tools and then Event Viewer.

3. Select Windows Logs and then Application.

4. From the Action menu, select Save All Events As and save as an event log (evt) le.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 but select System instead of Application.

6. Zip both les and attach them to the support case.

User Manual Ver. M7.2

AXIS Camera Station

Date: June 2016

Part No. 1509369

Axis 0879-010 Camera Station ACS v5 Core Device eLicense

Product's Documents

Axis Camera Station User Manual

Specifications

Axis 0879-010 Questions and Answers