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Live Video

VisualCortex is right at home with live video. Live video can be processed within seconds, and can trigger external services and send alerts in near real-time.

Technical Requirements​

VisualCortex supports several video transport mechanisms. These include:

  • Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)
  • Real-Time Streaming Protocol Secure (RTSPS)
  • Motion JPEG (MJPEG)
  • HTTP Live Stream (HLS)

Within RTSP(S), VisualCortex supports the following protocols:

  • H264
  • HEVC / H265

VisualCortex supports a minimum resolution of 200x200, and a maximum resolution of 4K (3840x2160). VisualCortex supports from 1-30 frames per second (fps).

Your cameras must be accessible via network from the Edge Cluster you add them to.

Adding cameras via ONVIF scan​

The easiest way of getting live video into VisualCortex is via the ONVIF scanning feature. This allows you to add large numbers of cameras quickly and easily.

ONVIF is an open industry standard for IP-based physical security products. Most IP cameras, Video Management Systems (VMS) and Network Video Recorders (NVR) support ONVIF. Check with your vendor to see if ONVIF is supported

It's easy to get started with ONVIF scanning. The only prerequisite is to have an Edge Cluster which has access to the Camera/VMS/NVR you want to scan.

As an Administrator, Simply click the ONVIF Scan icon at the top of the screen.

Getting to ONVIF Scan

From here, you'll be presented with a wizard. The first step is to select an Edge Cluster. This cluster must be able to access the live video source. Make sure appropriate firewall rules are in place to allow this.

Filling out ONVIF Information

In step 2, you'll get to fill out the information for an ONVIF scan. In the IP Scan Range, you can either put a single IP address if you know the IP of your Camera / VMS / NVR, or a range like 192.168.1.4-192.168.1.254. Ranges are useful if you have multiple cameras on the same network which use the same credentials.

Make sure you put in your username and password, as well as the ONVIF scan port. This is usually 80, but is often a separate port on VMSs or NVRs - check with your vendor documentation.

Once you've filled in the information, click Scan. VisualCortex will attempt to make an ONVIF connection, and you'll be greeted with a screen similar to the one below.

ONVIF Scan Results

From here, you can either click Add to add a single Camera. VisualCortex will ask you what folder you want to add the camera to.

If you want to add many cameras to the same folder you can click the + icon to choose the cameras you want, then select the Bulk Add Selected Cameras button. You'll be prompted for a folder to all all the cameras to.

Manually adding a Camera​

If your video device doesn't support ONVIF, you can add a camera manually to VisualCortex.

On the Landing Page or any folder, simply click New and choose Live Camera.

Adding a Live Camera

You'll be asked to add a camera name, description, and specify the connection details of the camera.

What's next?​

Once you have configured your camera, you can add models to it, and set up alerting and dashboards.