Searching video archives for motion events

You can search the video archives for video sequences that detect motion in specific areas of a camera's field of view, using the Motion search report.

To search the video archives for motion events:

1. From the home page, open the Motion search task.
2. In the Filters tab, select a camera from the drop-down list.
   When a camera is selected, a preview image based on the default time range appears. If the selected camera does not support motion search, the message "Motion search not available for this camera" is displayed instead of the preview image.
3. To refresh the preview image based on the new time range, click .
4. To view a video instead of a still image, click .
5. Set the time range for the motion search.
6. To define a motion detection zone over the preview image, draw motion detection blocks (blue rectangles) on areas where motion is meaningful for the search, using the following tools:
   • To cover the entire image with motion detection blocks, use theFill () tool.
   • To draw a group of motion detection blocks, use the Rectangle () tool.
   • To draw single motion detection blocks, use the Pen () tool.
   • To interchange the area with motion detection blocks and the area without any selected blocks, use the Invert () tool.
   • To erase all the motion detection blocks in the image, use the Clear all () tool.
   • To erase the motion detection blocks that are not needed, use the Eraser () tool.
7. To influence the speed and accuracy of the motion query, configure the motion detection criteria options as follows:
   • Motion threshold:

     Sets the minimum number of blocks that must be activated for a motion detection result to show up in the query. The total number of blocks in the motion detection zone is indicated as the maximum value allowed for the threshold. A value of zero means any motion detected in the defined zone would qualify for the search.
   • Consecutive frame hits:

     Applies the motion threshold to a specified number of video frames. This setting helps to avoid false-positive motion detection (for example, video noise in a single frame). It ensures that motion is detected when the threshold is met over a specified number of consecutive frames, not in a single frame.
   • Minimum time between frames:

     Controls the sampling rate for the search by telling the system not to examine every single video frame. The higher the value, the more frames the system skips during the search, thus performing the search faster. To examine every frame, set the value to 33 ms or less. The highest archiving frame rate is 30 frames/sec. At this rate, the time between two consecutive frames is only 33 ms.
8. Click Generate report.

   The motion events are listed in the report pane.

9. To show the corresponding video of a motion event in a tile, double-click or drag an item from the report pane to the canvas.

   The selected sequence immediately starts playing.

10. To control the video recording, use the camera widget.
11. To export an important video archive, select the item in the report pane, and then click Export ().