Adding Cameras

The cameras and Door Stations can either be integrated with the Welcome wizard or added to the Device bar. These cameras also include MOBOTIX MOVE cameras and third-party cameras that provide an ONVIF S-compatible interface.

When starting MxMC for the first time, the Welcome wizard opens and automatically starts searching for cameras. The number of found cameras is shown next to the Add button . This number is updated automatically if the number of MOBOTIX cameras on the network has changed (i.e., by connecting new/disconnecting existing cameras).

Fig. 47: Integrating cameras with the Welcome Wizard

  1. Click on Add Devices.
    All found cameras are displayed either in a list or as tiles. Whether the cameras are displayed in a list or as tiles is determined by clicking on either the
    tiles or list button.
  2. The respective camera status is automatically tested and displayed:
    • = The camera cannot be interacted with under the found or entered IP address.
    • = The camera is in a different network than the computer.
    • = The camera firmware is not up to date.
    • = The camera is password protected.
    • = Incorrect user data was entered.
    • = Preview image not available.
  3. Select the cameras you would like to integrate.
    • If some of the selected cameras are password protected, click on Change Camera Access and enter the user name and password.
    • If some of the selected cameras are not in the correct network, click on Edit Network Settings. Here you can choose whether the IP address is automatically determined or whether a fixed IP address is used.
      • Determining an IP Address Automatically: If your computer automatically gets its IP address from a DHCP server (e.g., DSL router), then it also makes sense to have the system determine the camera's IP address automatically. To do so, enable the Get IP Address Automatically option.
      • Using a Fixed IP Address: If you have assigned a fixed IP address to your computer, you will probably prefer to assign a fixed IP address to the camera as well. To do so, enter the IP address and the subnet mask.
  1. Click on Apply and wait for the cameras to be reconfigured.
Note
If the icon is displayed instead of the preview image, the camera could not be reconfigured due to incorrect user data. In this case, correct the user data and try again.
  1. The number of selected cameras is shown near the Next Page button. Go to the next page.
  2. Click on Done. The selected cameras are now integrated.
Note: Clicking on Start New Project opens the application directly, and you can add the cameras using the Device bar.

Fig. 48: Adding cameras via the Device Bar

The first time you start MxMC , the Welcome wizard automatically opens, allowing you to add your cameras and Door Stations. These can also be added using the Device bar. If you prefer to use the Device bar instead of the Welcome wizard, click on Start New Project in the dialog. This opens MxMC directly in live view, and the Device bar is open.

  1. Open the edit mode at the bottom of the Device bar by clicking on .
  2. Next, click on . The Add and Import dialog opens.

The authentication data used by MxMC as well as the environment settings can be changed in one step for many cameras in the Multi-Camera Configuration dialog.

  1. To do this, open the edit mode in the Device bar by clicking on .
  2. Select the cameras as needed.
    Mac: CMD + click, Windows: CTRL + click
  3. Right-click on one of the selected cameras. The Multi-Camera Configuration dialog opens (see Multi-Camera Configuration ).
Note
For MOBOTIX MOVE cameras and third-party cameras that provide an ONVIF-compatible interface, there is no alarm function available and you can thus neither activate background monitoring nor set alarm filters. For an overview of how the camera functions differ, see Camera Feature Overview .

Events that lead to an alarm will change the background color of the Alarm bar, Alarm Info bar (see Alarm Bar And Export Bar and Alarm Processing ) and other UI items to red. You can set the event types that trigger a signal for specific cameras in the Camera Configuration dialog.

  1. To open the Device bar, click on at the bottom of the bar.
  2. Then either right-click on individual cameras or click on the icon, which is shown when you position the mouse pointer over the camera name.
  3. Click on Alarms to adjust the settings to your needs. The Alarm Events dialog opens.

Fig. 49: Setting Alarm Filters

  1. Make sure that the Alarms option has been activated.
  2. Select the event types that should create an alarm.
  3. In addition, you can select a weekly profile for every event type that should trigger an alarm. As long as no other weekly profile has been selected, the setting is valid from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 24:00.
    • Click on Edit weekly profiles to create new weekly profiles. The Weekly Profiles dialog opens. Several predefined profiles are available, such as the Weekend profile (Saturday 00:00 to Sunday 24:00).
    • To add a profile, click on . Enter a description. Next, highlight the desired active times in the table using the mouse. You can resize an active time block by clicking on the time block and then moving the borders accordingly It is also possible to move a block. Click on the block to select it, then drag the block to the new position. To delete a time block, click on .

    Fig. 50: Alarm Filter profiles

  1. You can change the description of an existing profile. Right-click on the name and overwrite it.
  2. To select a weekly profile, click on the Weekly Profile drop down list next to the event type and select the desired profile.
  3. Click on the calendar icon to easily invert the settings of the weekly profile. For example, if you have created a profile with opening hours and would like to activate the alarms for the closing times, click on the Invert weekly profile checkbox and the profile is used in inverted fashion.

The program can access the stored recordings using the following methods: Access to recordings via the camera (remote playback) or to a local directory where the recordings are stored or directly to a file server.

When accessing via the camera (MOBOTIX camera), no further settings are required. If you want to access the recordings directly (file server or local directory), you need to define recordings paths and assign these to the cameras. Direct access offers the advantage of an extremely fast playback speed (up to 60x).

Note
Recordings of MOBOTIX MOVE cameras and third-party cameras that provide an ONVIF S-compatible interface can only be saved on MOBOTIX NAS. To do this, first configure the MOBOTIX NAS and then set up the recording path in MxMC.

Fig. 51: Defining the Recording Path

  1. Open Settings in the MxManagementCenter > Settings > Recording Paths (Mac) or File > Settings > Recording Paths (Windows) menu.
  2. Click on "+" and enter the desired name. Under this name, the path can be selected as the recording path in the Camera Configuration dialog.
  3. Select the type:
    • Local
      Contains a local folder on this computer or on a connected network drive. You can either enter the folder path manually, drag & drop a folder to the input field or select the local or linked folder.
      Path: You must select the path that contains the recording folders created by the camera.
    • Network Share
      The program directly accesses a shared folder on a file server. In this case, you need to enter the computer, the folder and the access data.
      File Server (IP): IP address or DNS name of the file server with the share.
      Directory: Name of the share on the file server.
      Important: Make sure that the path ends before the folder containing the factory IP address of the camera.
      User Name/Password: Access data for the network share.
    • MOBOTIX NAS
      Data is accessed directly on a shared folder on a MOBOTIX NAS.
      File Server (IP): IP address or DNS name and port of the MOBOTIX NAS.
      Directory: Name of the share on the MOBOTIX NAS.
      Important: Make sure that the path ends before the folder containing the factory IP address of the camera.
      User Name/Password: Access data for the MOBOTIX NAS.
    • MOBOTIX NAS (ONVIF)
      The ONVIF recordings are accessed on a MOBOTIX NAS.
      File Server (IP): IP address or DNS name of the file server.
      User Name/Password: Access data for the file server.

Fig. 52: Assigning recording paths to the cameras

  1. Open the Camera Configuration dialog in the Device bar. To do so, click on at the bottom of the bar.
  2. Then either right-click on individual cameras or click on the icon, which is shown when you position the mouse pointer over the camera name.
  3. Select the appropriate recording path in the recording settings. The following options are available:
    • Via camera: When accessing via the camera (MOBOTIX camera), no further settings are required.
    • Local Path: Set the appropriate recording format: Use MxFFS, if the recordings have been stored in an MxFFS archive. Use MxFileServer, if the recordings have been stored in the classic MOBOTIX folder/file structure. Then enter the local directory in the Device Directory text box.
    Note:
    Click on the pen icon in the text field to open a file selection dialog.
    • File Server: If file server access is used, MxMC searches the specified file server path for sub folders with the corresponding recordings. Once the search has been completed, you can select the folder for this camera in the Device Directory selection box.
    • MOBOTIX NAS: When accessing a MOBOTIX NAS, select the appropriate camera IP in the Device Directory selection box.