AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec Software User Manual

: June 4, 2024
: AXIS

Table of Contents

About AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec
Requirements
Get started
Perform a search
Learn more about the report
Limitations
Troubleshooting
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

Forensic Search for Genetec Software
User Manual

About AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec

AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec adds forensic search possibilities for Axis devices to Genetec Security Center. Investigators working with Axis devices can use the plugin to get an overview of all activity in the scene or quickly find a specific object or event of interest. Axis cameras with firmware 9.50 or higher generate metadata that describes all currently moving objects in a camera’s field of view. Genetec Security Center can record this data together with the corresponding video and audio. AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec allows you to analyze and search this data.

Requirements

Note
Before you start, verify that you have:

Genetec Security Center Version 5.10 or later
Latest Driver Pack from Genetec
Axis camera(s) with firmware version 9.50 or later
Camera time synchronized with NTP To filter on object types Human or Vehicle, you need:
Metadata from the camera(s) with firmware version 10.6 or later and with AXIS Object Analytics. To filter on object types Car, Bus, Truck or Bike, you also need:
Camera(s) with a deep learning processing unit (DLPU).

Get started

Workflow
To install and configure AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec, follow this workflow:

Verify camera settings in Con fig Tool on page 5
Install the plugin on a server on page 5
Update Security Center license on page 5
Configure the plugin on page 5
Install the plugin on a client on page 6
Note
You must install the plugin both on server and client machines. If you have a system with multiple servers, only install the plugin on one of them.

Verify camera settings in Config Tool
Verify that the cameras your want to use the forensic search on have the correct settings:

If the cameras are not already added, go to Config Tool and add them.
Update the cameras’ recording settings as you need. To use the forensic search plugin, you must record both video and metadata. Forensic search only searches recorded data. If no recording has been done, a forensic search will not find any data.
If the camera supports AXIS Object Analytics, click the camera’s Video unit and go to Properties > Applications. Then select AXIS Object Analytics. For more information about which products that support AXIS Object Analytics, go to https://www.axis.com/products/axis-object-analytics/support#compatible-products.
Set the recording frame rate to All frames, or at least 10.

Install the plugin on a server

Locate the installation file.
On the Genetec Server, run Axis forensic search for Genetec .exe. The installation file will restart the Security Center Server.

Update Security Center license
Update your Security Center license to include a certificate for the plugin:
1. Contact Genetec and ask them to add the following part number to your license GSC-1SDK-AXIS-ForensicSearch.

Configure the plugin

To watch this video, go to the web version of this document.
www.axis.com/products/online- manual/77677#t10177303

To configure the plugin on the server:

Add AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec:
1.1 In Config Tool, go to Tasks > Plugins.
1.2 Click Add an entity and select Plugin.
1.3 Select AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec, click Next, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Select which cameras you allow operators to perform forensic searches on. The operator can then select among these cameras when creating a forensic search report in Security Desk.
2.1 Click the plugin name.
2.2 Go to Camera selection and click Add camera.
You’ll see a list of Axis cameras that have metadata enabled in the Security Center.
2.3 Select relevant cameras and click OK, then Apply
Configure region of interest filter.
To use the region of interest filter in Security Desk, you must create a snapshot for the specific camera. If no snapshot is available you need to set it up:
3.1 In the Config tool, go to Tasks > Video and select the relevant camera.
3.2 In the thumbnail window, click the arrow.
3.3 Click Update thumbnail, then Apply.
Wait at least 20 min to let the system record video and metadata. After that, you can start searching, see Perform a search on page 8

Install the plugin on a client

On the client computer, run Axis forensic search for Genetec.exe. Now you can start searching, see Perform a search on page 8
Note
Client setup tips
These settings are general and affect the whole Security Desk, not only AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec.
• To make the experience when playing a video from the report better:
Go to Options > Video > Seek time and set Playback to offset to 0. Now the video will start at the actual time of the event.
• To increase the number of search results that you can have in a report:
Go to Options > Performance > Reports and modify a Maximum number of results.

Perform a search

Forensic search works in the same way as any other report that you generate in Security Desk. Before you can use this search function, you need to configure it in the Config Tool. To learn how to do this, see Get started on page 5 .

To watch this video, go to the web version of this document.
www.axis.com/products/online- manual/77677#t10174969

In Security Desk, go to Tasks > AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec.
Select one or several cameras.
Select one or several object types. Depending on your system, you can search for object types human, vehicle, bike, bus, car or truck.
Select a time interval.
Select one or several regions of interest.
5.1 Select a camera.
5.2 Select one or several regions.
-Only objects that have been in these areas will be shown in the search results.
–The same search can contain multiple regions of interest in multiple cameras.
To remove all regions from a camera, click Clear.
Click Generate report.
For more information about the report, see Learn more about the report on page 9
For each search result, you’ll see the object in the thumbnail.
-The thumbnail shows the video frame when the object was the most visible.
Note
Analytics applications that run on the camera, for example, AXIS Object Analytics and AXIS Loitering Guard, might also burn in overlays in the video. To remove these overlays, go to the application’s web configuration page. To see the complete video sequence for a search result, select it and click Play forward in the preview panel.

Learn more about the report

Forensic search works in the same way as any other report that you generate in Security Desk. The report contains the following columns:

Time
The camera’s time when the system detected the object.
Camera
The camera which detected the object.
Snapshot
A zoomed in image of the detected object.
Type
Type of objects: human, vehicle, bike, bus, car, truck or object if no type is detected.
Travel distance (%)
Same as Travel distance but shown as an integer.
Relative speed (%/s)
Same as Relative speed but shown as an integer.
Duration (s)
Time the object was tracked by the camera in seconds. Sometimes tracking could be lost if the object is far away or temporarily obscured by another object.

Limitations

To get the correct video footage for the search results, it’s important to have the correct clock synchronization.
The data analyzed by the forensic search plugin doesn’t take the scene’s perspective into consideration. This means that an object’s size and speed differ depending on how close to the camera the object is.
If there’s a good contrast of the object in low light scenes, the analysis will become more accurate.
A single object can, under some circumstances, generate multiple results. For example, when tracking is lost when an object is temporarily obscured by another object.
For the forensic search to work on video streams that have been rotated 180 degrees, you must use firmware 10.6 or later on the camera(s).
Forensic search doesn’t work if you use a resolution with a different aspect ratio than the native camera resolution.
It takes up to 20 min for an object that’s visible in the scene to become searchable.

Troubleshooting

The report is empty

It can take some time before data is received. Wait around 20 min and make sure events take place in the scene.
Verify that the correct firmware is installed on the camera.
Verify that the latest driver pack is installed on the Security Center Server.
Verify that the camera is correctly configured for metadata:
1. In the Config Tool go to Tasks > Video.
2. Select the camera you want to use and go to the Recording tab.
3. Click Show advanced settings.
4. Turn on Record metadata. If you can’t see Record metadata, verify that the Latest Genetec Driver pack is installed.
In Security Desk, verify that metadata is saved:
1.Click Tasks > Maintenance > Archive storage details.
2. Select the camera and click Generate report. The saved data should include both metadata and video. If no metadata is stored, the forensic search won’t work.

The bounding box is not in sync with the objects in the playback

Check that the Security Center Server and the camera are synchronized with an NTP server.
Check that the recorded video resolution has the same aspect ratio as the default stream or sensor resolution.

I can’t see the playback video in the report
To playback video in the search report, the operator must have the user right “View Playback”. Without this, the operator will only see the camera’s live view.

How do I uninstall the plugin?

Uninstall the plugin from the server:
1.1 In Config Tool, go to Tasks > Plugins.
1.2 Select AXIS Forensic Search for Genetec and click Delete.
This removes the database and all saved information.
1.3 Go to Windows Settings and open Add or remove programs.
1.4 Uninstall the plugin from the server.
Uninstall the plugin from all clients:
2.1 Go to Windows Settings and open Add or remove programs.
2.2 Uninstall the plugin from the client.

Need more help?
Contact support
Contact support at axis.com/support