PTZ patrolling (properties)

Cameras that do not support multiple simultaneous video streams cannot connect to the surveillance server and the Management Application at the same time. Milestone recommends that you stop the Recording Server service when you configure such devices for motion detection and PTZ.

See also View video from cameras in the Management Application.

Available functionality depends on the system you are using. See the Product comparison chart for more information.

You can only set PTZ-related properties for pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras. PTZ patrolling is the continuous movement of a PTZ camera between a number of preset positions. To use patrolling, you must specify at least two preset positions for the relevant PTZ camera. To configure PTZ patrolling, select a patrolling profile in the Patrolling profiles list and specify relevant properties to define the exact behavior of the patrolling profile. When you have defined your patrolling profiles, remember to schedule the use of patrolling profiles. Note that if users manually operate PTZ cameras, this can override patrolling. You can specify a patrolling profile with only one preset if needed. Such a patrolling profile can be useful in two cases: for moving a PTZ camera to a specific position at a specific time, and for moving a PTZ camera to a specific position upon manual control of the PTZ camera.

Patrolling profiles

A PTZ camera may patrol according to several different patrolling profiles. For example, a PTZ camera in a supermarket may patrol according to one patrolling profile during opening hours, and according to another patrolling profile when the supermarket is closed. You can reuse the names of patrolling profiles defined for other cameras. This allows you to use a single patrolling profile name across several PTZ cameras, and can make scheduling of PTZ patrolling much easier. Even though several PTZ cameras share a patrolling profile name, the movement between preset positions is individual for each camera.

From the Patrolling profiles list, select which patrolling profile to configure:

Add New

Add a new patrolling profile to the list. When you add a new patrolling profile, you can either give it a unique name, or reuse an existing name from another PTZ camera with PTZ patrolling.

Using several identically named patrolling profiles can be advantageous when you later configure scheduling. Example: If you have configured patrolling profiles identically named Night Patrolling on 25 different cameras, you can schedule the use of Night Patrolling on all 25 cameras in one go, even though Night Patrolling covers individual preset positions on each of the 25 cameras.

Delete

Delete an existing patrolling profile. Note that the selected patrolling profile is removed from the list without further warning.

Patrolling list

Having selected a patrolling profile in the Patrolling profiles list, you can specify which of the PTZ camera's preset positions to use with the selected patrolling scheme. Use the button to copy a selected preset positions to the Patrolling list. To change the sequence of preset positions in the Preset Positions list, select a preset position, and use the or buttons to move the selected preset position up or down in the list. The selected preset position is moved one step per click. If you later want to remove a preset position from the Patrolling list, select the preset position in question, and click the button.

Wait time (sec.)

Specify the number of seconds for which the PTZ camera should stay at each preset position before it moves on to the next preset position. The default is 10 seconds. The wait time applies to all presets in the patrolling profile. The PTZ camera stays at each preset position for the same number of seconds.

Transition time (sec.)

Specify the number of seconds needed for the PTZ camera to move from one preset position to another. The default is five seconds. During this transition time, motion detection is automatically disabled, as irrelevant motion is otherwise likely to be detected while the camera moves between the preset positions. After the specified number of seconds, motion detection is automatically enabled again.

The transition time applies to all presets in the patrolling profile. It is important that the camera can switch between any of the patrolling profile's preset positions within the number of seconds you specify. If not, the system is likely to detect false motion. Note that it takes longer for the PTZ camera to move between positions that are located physically far apart (for example from an extreme left position to an extreme right position) than between positions that are located physically close together.

PTZ scanning

PTZ scanning (continuous panning) is supported on a few PTZ cameras only. You can enable PTZ scanning and select a PTZ scanning speed from the list below the check box. PTZ scanning only works for PTZ type 1 cameras (where preset positions are configured and stored on the server). If the camera is a PTZ type 2 camera, and you import preset positions which have previously been defined and stored on the PTZ camera itself through the camera's own configuration interface, PTZ scanning stops working.

Pause PTZ patrolling

PTZ patrolling pauses automatically when users operate the camera manually as well if your system is using PTZ on Event. If the system detects motion, it may also pause PTZ patrolling. Pause settings are tied to the selected patrolling profile. This allows you the flexibility of having different pause settings for different patrolling profiles on the same camera.

Pause patrolling if motion is detected

To pause PTZ patrolling when the system detects motion, so that the PTZ camera remains at the position where the system detected motion for a specified period of time, do the following:

  1. Select the Pause patrolling if motion is detected check box.
  2. Select whether the PTZ camera should resume patrolling:
  3. Specify the number of seconds for the selected option (default is ten and five seconds respectively).
  4. Unless the transition time is set to zero, the system automatically disables motion detection while the camera moves between preset positions, as the system is likely to detect irrelevant motion otherwise while the camera moves between the preset positions.

Resume PTZ patrolling

The system automatically pauses PTZ patrolling when users operate the camera manually as well as if PTZ on Event is in use. You can specify how many seconds should pass before the system resumes regular patrolling after a manual or event-based interruption. The default is 30 seconds.

Apart from manual control, users of XProtect Smart Client can also stop a selected PTZ camera's patrolling entirely. For XProtect Smart Client users, the number of seconds specified in the Patrolling settings section therefore only applies when users manually control a PTZ camera and not when users stop a PTZ camera's patrolling entirely. When XProtect Smart Client users stop a PTZ camera's patrolling entirely, the camera's patrolling resumes only when the XProtect Smart Client user selects to resume it.

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