Configuring Cameras

Configuring Cameras

Camera configuration involves the following steps:

1. Video profiles define video quality. Video profiles are used in camera profiles. To configure video profiles, go to Camera > Configuration > Video Profile. For details, see “Configuring video profiles”.
2. Camera profiles define video storage options and recording schedules (either continuous or motion detection). Camera profiles will be used when you configure the discovered cameras. To configure camera profiles, go to Camera > Configuration > Camera Profile. For details, see “Configuring camera profiles”.
3. Connect the camera to the FortiRecorder. FortiRecorder can discover the connected cameras automatically and display them under Camera > Configuration > Camera with Status as Not Configured. See “Connecting FortiRecorder to the cameras”.
4. After you configure the above settings, go to Camera > Configuration > Camera to configure all other camera settings, such as IP address, motion detection windows, and so on. See “Configuring cameras”.
5. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera Group to add individual camera to different groups to facilitate camera management. For details, see “Camera groups”. Camera groups are used in user profiles. For details, see “User configuration workflow”.

Configuring video profiles

Video profiles define the video quality that you want the camera to capture and stream to the FortiRecorder. Note that the higher the video quality, the more bandwidth it consumes. The video profiles will be used in the camera profiles. For details, see “Configuring camera profiles”.

To configure a video profile

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Video Profile.
2. Select New.
3. Configure the following settings:
   

   Setting Name	Description
   Name	Type a name (such as live-stream1) that can be referenced by other parts of the configuration. Do not use spaces or special characters. The maximum length is 35 characters.
   Codec	Select the desired video compression format, such as H.264 AVC or H.25 HEVC.
   Resolution	Select the amount of detail (the number of pixels) in the image. from the drop-down menu. Lower resolutions features less detail but are faster to transmit. Higher resolutions produce a clearer image but require more bandwidth. A higher resolution is preferable if the camera is recording a large space, such as a parking lot, where small details like faces and license plates could be important. Note: Resolution greatly impacts performance, bandwidth, and the rate at which disk space is consumed.
   Frames per second	Type the number of frames per second (FPS). Conventional video is 24 frames per second. More frames per second may be useful if you need to record very fast motion, but increasing FPS will also increase disk usage and CPU usage.
   Group of pictures	Select from the drop-down menu the duration of a Group of pictures (GOP) sequence. A GOP sequence is the interval between frames that contain the full image. Longer intervals save bandwidth, but slightly delay the start of live streams.
   Bitrate mode	Select the bit rate: Variable — Automatically adjust the stream to the minimum bit rate required by the current video frames while maintaining video quality. In variable bitrate mode the camera lowers the bitrate dynamically when little motion is present. This setting increases the presence of noise. Fixed — Manually specify a constant bit rate in Bit rate. In fixed bitrate mode the camera attempts to keep the bitrate constant at the configured level. This guarantees calculated retention time and bandwidth but might show degraded image quality. For example, if there is a sudden burst of motion, like rain. Constrained - Automatically adjusts the stream to lower the bitrate usage during periods of low activity, while enabling the ability to set the maximum bitrate the camera can stream.
   Max bitrate	Enter the maximum bitrate the camera can stream. Lower bitrates use less bandwidth by sacrificing image quality.
   Quality	Select the degree of compression. Greater compression reduces required network bandwidth but causes greater CPU usage.
   Audio	Enable or disable audio.

4. Select Create.

Configuring camera profiles

A camera profile defines the video profiles to use, video storage options, and recording schedules.

To configure camera profiles

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera Profile.
2. Select New.
3. Configure the following settings:
   

   Setting Name	Description
   Name	Enter a name (such as camera-settings1) that can be referenced by other parts of the configuration. Do not use spaces or special characters. The maximum length is 35 characters.
   Video	Select the Recording stream profile used to determine the video quality of the recorded video. Select the Viewing stream profile used to determine the video quality of the streamed video when viewing. Select Add schedule to specify when to use low or high quality video. For example, you could improve the camera’s night performance without sacrificing the quality of video during the day. Note: The higher the quality, the more bandwidth the stream will use.
   Recording	Select the Recording type that will instruct the camera when to begin filming. Continuous: records video for the entire duration of the schedule, regardless of movement or any other triggers. Motion detection: records a video clip up to about 40 seconds long each time the camera’s sensor detects movement. Digital input: records a video clip up to about 40 seconds long each time the camera receives a trigger from the digital input. This option only takes effect if the camera supports DIDO. Audio detection: records a video clip up to about 40 seconds long each time the camera detects audio activities. You can define the audio sensitivity when configuring camera settings. PIR detection: PIR based motion detection senses the movement of people, animals, and other objects that produce heat energy. There are two storage options available for recording: FortiRecorder: Store your recorded video on the FortiRecorder SD card: Store your recorded video on SD card. Note: Some recording types may not be available for your camera. If you want to use different recording types at different times, click Add schedule to specify them. For example, you could instruct the camera to start recording for motion detection during the day and PIR detection at night.
   Edge Download	You can select if and when you want video downloaded from the SD card. Enable either/or continuous recording or detection recording to determine when the FortiRecorder downloads recorded video.
   Storage Options	You can select the storage options of both continuous recordings and detection recordings. Keep until overwritten: Retain video until all available disk space, no matter local or remote, is almost full. Then the oldest video will be overwritten. Delete: Remove video when it exceeds the specified maximum age. Note that if the disk if full before the maximum age is reached, the oldest video will still be overwritten. Move: Relocate video to external storage when it exceeds the specified maximum age. Note that if the local disk is full before the specified maximum age is reached, the oldest video will still be moved to remote storage. This option is only applicable if you have configured remote storage. Use continuous recordings if available: Choose to mark motion periods in continuous recordings instead of extracting a separate clip from continuous recordings. This saves CPU load but does not allow deletion of the continuous recordings and only keeps motion sections for a period of time. If remote storage is configured, video is first stored on the local disk, then transferred to remote storage when the local disk needs space for newer video. The video will finally be deleted from remote storage when the remote disk needs space for newer video. Recordings will be stored on the hard disk as multiple video files. The oldest part of the recording will be deleted first.
   Compression Options	Select whether or not FortiRecorder compresses continuous recordings. If compression is enabled, also configure the maximum amount of time to keep the files uncompressed. Files whose start time is older than the specified time will be compressed. Note: Selecting Compress will save storage space at the cost of video quality.

4. Select Create.

Configuring cameras

After connecting the cameras to FortiRecorder, configure the discovered cameras. Since most of the camera information was retrieved from the camera, the settings do not require changing; however, if you are adding a remote camera or adding a new camera before connecting it to FortiRecorder, you must specify all the camera settings.

To configure cameras

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera.
2. For each discovered camera, click its row to select it.
3. Select Configure and configure the following settings:
   

   Setting Name	Description
   Enable	Mark this check box to enable the FortiRecorder to communicate with this IP address. Communications are required to trigger scheduled recordings and other camera commands.
   Name	Type a name (such as front-door1) that can be referenced by other parts of the configuration. Do not use spaces or special characters. The maximum length is 35 characters.
   Location	Optional. Type a description of the camera’s physical location that can be used if the camera is hidden, in case it is forgotten or lost.
   Camera	FortiRecorder supports Fortinet cameras (FortiCam series) and third-party, ONVIF-compliant cameras. If you are configuring a discovered camera, most of the camera information has been retrieved and displayed. You can also click the Camera detail button to refresh the camera information. If you are adding a remote camera, or adding a new camera before it is connected, you must specify all the settings. For the Fortinet FortiCam cameras, you must specify the models; for the non-Fortinet cameras, you must specify the camera’s login credentials (user name and password) for FortiRecorder to access it.
   Model	Select the name of the camera model, such as FCM-20A for a FortiCam 20A.
   Address mode	Select either: Wired: Select this option if you want to keep the camera connected with the Ethernet cable on the same subnet. Wireless: Select this option if you want to change the camera connection from wired to wireless. Also configure the WiFi settings on the WiFi tab. VIP : Allow the camera to continue using DHCP to determine its IP address, but the camera will be on a remote network, and therefore the FortiRecorder will not connect to the camera’s DHCP address. Instead, the FortiRecorder will connect through the static external, usually public network IP address and port numbers (called a virtual IP or VIP on FortiGate firewalls) specified in Address, (HTTPS) Port, and (RTSP) Port. The router or firewall will translate and forward connections to the camera’s private network address. Likewise, communications in the other direction — from the camera to the FortiRecorder — are also affected: the camera will use the public IP setting as its destination (see “Configuring system timeout, ports, and public access”), not the private network address of port1, for example, which it would use if you select DHCP or Static. Tip: Use this option if the camera is not located on the same private network as the FortiRecorder due to NAT/ port forwarding, especially if the camera and FortiRecorder are separated by the Internet.
   Address	If you want to deploy the camera to a different subnet, you can specify its new IP address or the VIP that it will be using.
   (HTTPS) Port	Type the port number of configuration communications from the FortiRecorder that the firewall or router will forward to the camera. If using only a WAN/virtual IP without port forwarding/translation, leave this setting at its default value, 443. This setting is available only when Address mode is set to VIP.
   (RTSP) Port	Type the port number of video streaming commands (RTSP) from the FortiRecorder that the firewall or router will forward to the camera, such as when beginning a continuous recording schedule. If using only a WAN/virtual IP without port forwarding/translation, leave this setting at its default value, 554. This setting is available only when Address mode is set to VIP.
   Transport Type	Normally RTSP is used for video streaming, which is UDP. If you want to use TCP, you can use HTTP tunnelling. If you want the communication to be secure/encrypted, you can use HTTPS tunnelling. The tunnel is between the camera and the FortiRecorder.
   Profile	Select the camera profile that indicates the recording schedule, video quality, and other settings that will be used by this camera. Select New to create a new camera profile.

   If a camera is disabled while you change its settings, or while it would normally be scheduled to begin continuous or motion detection recording, the FortiRecorder will not connect to the camera. This can break communications between them: if you reconfigure the IP while the camera is disabled, your FortiRecorder may later attempt to communicate with the camera at the new address/gateway, but the camera will still be using the old address/gateway. It can also cause cameras to become out-of-sync, because they will not receive time setting changes while disabled. To fix this, disable the camera definition, revert the settings, enable the camera definition again, then apply your changes while the camera definition is enabled.

4. Click the Preview button to retrieve a single still image from the camera. Then click Use As Icon to use the captured image as the icon for the camera in the camera list. When you select the camera from the list, the icon will pop up.
5. If the camera is an ONVIF third party camera, the Management tab will appear, allowing you to decide if you want FortiRecorder to manage the camera’s video/audio and stream settings, or leave the settings to be configured via the camera’s management GUI without going through FortiRecorder.
6. If the address mode is wired or wireless, under the Network tab, configure the following:
   

   Setting Name	Description
   Wired settings	Select DHCP if you want the camera to continue using DHCP to dynamically determine its IP address. The FortiRecorder will attempt to keep track of any DHCP-related IP address changes automatically using periodic DNS probes. This requires that the camera remain on the same subnet as the FortiRecorder. Select Static to re-configure the camera with a static private network IP address that you specify in Address. It will no longer use DHCP. This option requires that the camera and FortiRecorder not be separated by NAT. Caution: It is strongly recommended to either: configure your cameras with a static IP, or configure your DHCP server with lease reservations (see “Configuring the DHCP server”). Without reservations, the IP address provided by the DHCP server may appear to work initially, but later, in some cases, the DHCP server could change the IP address lease. If this happens, the DHCP server will not update the list of known cameras with the camera’s new dynamic IP. Until the appliance discovers that the IP address has changed, FortiRecorder will still be trying to control the camera’s old address, which no longer works. Connections with that camera will be broken and all video from that camera will be lost during that interruption.
   Wireless settings	This area displays the wireless DHCP settings for the camera. You can change the camera to use a static IP address. For more information about wireless connection, see the following WiFi section.

7. If the camera has wireless function and you want it to connect to FortiRecorder through a wireless router, you can specify the WiFi settings on the WiFi tab. After you configure the WiFi settings, you can disconnect the discovered camera and connect it to the router.
   

   Setting Name	Description
   Enable	Select to Enable the WiFi function of the camera.
   SSID	Specify the wireless router’s SSID that the camera will connect to.
   Security	Specify the security settings.

8. If the camera supports infra red recording or LED lighting, configure the settings on the Light or Infrared tab.

   Setting Name	Description
   Mode	Either off or auto. Auto means to turn on infra red mode at the threshold. In infrared mode the camera shows a black and white image and removes a filter used at daylight for more sensitivity.
   LED	Either off or auto. Infrared LEDs allow the camera to see at night and can automatically activate when it is dark. Set it to “off” if the camera is behind a glass or if enough ambient lighting is available for clear viewing.
   Enable threshold	Enter the light level when infrared mode should turn on.
   Disable threshold	Enter the light level when infrared mode should turn off.
   Threshold time	Enter the time interval (in seconds) when the camera should wait to turn on or off the infra red mode after the threshold is reached.
   Current light level	Display the current light level that the camera detects.
   Threshold time	Enter the time interval (in seconds) the camera should wait to activate infrared mode.
   Refresh	Click to get instant light level reading.

9. Configure the video settings in the Video tab. Available setting vary on different camera models. If the setting is grayed-out, the setting is not supported for the selected model.

   Setting Name	Description
   Video Orientation	Select the relative position of the camera. Normal: Regular viewing angle and position Vertical Flip: Enable if the camera is positioned on a ceiling and the preview image appears upside down. Horizontal Flip: Enable if the camera is positioned viewing a mirror or on a ceiling and the preview image appears reversed left to right. Rotate 90/180/270: Enable to view a corridor mode when the image is in the portrait format, typically for viewing hallways.
   Video display	Select the display of the video. For fisheye cameras, choose if the camera should de-warp the image into a 360 or 180 panorama or send the raw round fisheye image for client-side de-warping.
   Video mount	Select the location of the camera.
   Video Aspect	Select the desired resolution (SD or HD).
   Video Overlay mode	Enable the display of Name, Time, or Timezone on the video image.
   Image Brightness	Adjust the tonal range of an image. Lowering the value expands the shadows while increasing the value expands image highlights.
   Image Contrast	Adjust the contrast to increase the separation between dark and bright, making shadows darker and highlights brighter.
   Image Saturation	Adjust to increase the separation between colors. The lower the saturation, the more the image resembles a grayscale image.
   Image Sharpness	Adjust to increase or decrease the edge contrast of the image. Too much sharpness creates halo borders around the contours of the image.
   Image DIS	Enable or disable digital image stabilization. For cameras that are mounted on an unstable footing, image stabilization reduces image shaking from various external sources, such as wind.
   Image DNR	Select either Manual or Auto for digital noise reduction. Enabling this feature smooths the image and suppresses small noise. This is helpful for dark scenes when image noise occurs.
   Exposure Environment	Optimize the exposure for the selected environment (Indoor/Outdoor).
   Exposure WDR - Digital/Shutter	If the camera supports WDR (wide dynamic range), enable it if there is intense backlight in the camera view. WDR balances images that have high contrasting lights and darks, like an individual standing in front of a window during the day. Shutter types takes two images with different exposure and merges them into one image.
   Exposure Max gain	Exposure is the amount of light which reaches your camera sensor. Exposure determines how light or dark your image appears. Too much gain results in an image filled with noise.
   Exposure Min shutter speed	The shutter speed determines how quickly or slowly the shutter opens and closes. Set the shutter speed too low and things appear blurry.

10. Configure the audio settings in the Audio tab.

    Setting Name	Description
    Input/Output level	Adjust to change the strength of both the input and output audio signal.
    Codec	Select the supported audio codec.
    Bitrate	Enter the number of bits to process per second.
    Sample rate	Enter the number of times per second the sound is sampled in hertz.

11. If the camera supports pan/tilt/zoom function, this tab will appear, allowing you to adjust the settings:

    Setting Name	Description
    Auto focus (full/semi)	Auto-focus improves the picture quality of the camera with minimal input from the user.
    Manual focus	Adjust the focus of the camera manually and determine how fast the focus should change when using the + and - buttons.
    Zoom	Set the absolute zoom value.
    Digital zoom	When the optical zoom value is reached, enabling digital zoom allows the camera to view the subject closer by digitally zooming further.

12. In some cases, you may want to mask an area and do not want to show a certain portion of the image. For example, for privacy reason, you may want to mask the area where an employee sits. To do this, on the Privacy Mask tab, click the plus sign beside Mask Window and tweak the window size. To add another mask window, click the plus sign again.
13. All FortiCam cameras are capable of detecting motion. Some camera models also supports audio surveillance and digital input and output (DIDO).

    Motion and other detections can be used to generate motion clips. Some cameras generate these clips internally and send them to FortiRecorder. In this case, the length and time frame depends on camera implementations. The advantage to motion detection is that the camera only records when motion is detected. Other cameras stream continuously to the recorder and only notify the recorder of a motion event. Then the recorder either copies a clip out of the camera stream and stores it or simply marks the section of the continuous recording with motion.

    For audio detection and DIDO, configure the following settings

    Setting Name	Description
    Audio Sensitivity	If the camera supports audio surveillance, specify the sensitivity level that the camera recording will be triggered. You may need to tweak the sensitivity level, for example, when there are some background noises.
    PIR Sensitivity	Adjust the sensitivity of the electronic sensor that measures the infrared light to detect motion.
    Digital input/output	Some cameras come with DIDO terminals and support digital input and output. For example, on the FortiCam MB13 camera, according to your configuration, power signal from the digital input can trigger the camera to record a video clip. You can also optionally connect other devices to the digital output, such as a relay to turn on/off another device. 4: Power output +5V 3: Digital output 2: Digital input 1: Ground The digital input (DI) can be configured to trigger when the signal is: LOW (ground) HIGH (+5V) Rising (transitioning from LOW to HIGH) or Falling (transitioning from HIGH to LOW) If not connected, the camera will see the digital input as HIGH. The digital output (DO) can be configured to either be grounded or open when in the triggered state. When not triggered it will be in the opposite state. For example, if opening a door causes a sensor switch to open, then the switch could be wired between DI and ground. DI will be grounded (LOW) while the door is closed and will go HIGH when the door opens. DI could then be configured to trigger on the rising edge. When the door opens, DO would be set to its triggered state and a video clip will also be recorded. Triggering on the rising or falling edge can be useful if the DI might be held in the triggered state for a long period. In the example above, if DI were set to trigger on HIGH and the door is left open for a long period then the camera would trigger repeatedly.

14. On the Miscellaneous tab, configure the following settings:

    Setting Name	Description
    Privacy button	FortiCam MB13 has a privacy button on it. If enabled, you can press the privacy button on the camera to stop and resume video and audio monitoring. To enable the functionality of the privacy button on the camera, select the Privacy button checkbox. To disable the functionality of the privacy button on the camera, clear the Privacy button checkbox.
    Status LEDs	Most cameras come with LED indicators (for details, see the LED description section in the camera’s QuickStart Guides). You can enable or disable the LEDs by selecting or deselecting the Status LEDS checkbox.
    Move home	For the PTZ cameras, you can specify when the camera should stop PTZ and move back the home position.

15. If the camera supports internal SD card storage, this tab will appear, allowing you to enable/disable SD card storage

    Setting Name	Description
    Enable storage	Enable or disable the camera recording to an onboard SD card. If full, the oldest recordings are overwritten.
    Network failure	Enable or disable the camera’s ability to detect network failure by pinging the recorder and then begin recording to the SD card.
    Format	Format the SD card on the camera.

16. Select OK.
    
    If you kept the Enabled check box marked, at this time, FortiRecorder connects to the camera’s discovered IP address. FortiRecorder configures the camera with the camera’s new .Address and other network settings (if Address mode is set to Static) and NTP settings. Afterward, in order to control the camera according to your selected schedules, FortiRecorder will periodically connect to the camera’s configured IP address. It will also keep video recordings sent by that camera from its new IP address.
17. To confirm that FortiRecorder can receive video from the camera at its new IP address, go to Monitor > Video > Video.

    If no video is available from that camera, verify that:

    • Other video software such as Windows Media Player or VLC has not stolen the RTSP file type association from QuickTime (Installing other video software after QuickTime is a common cause of changes to media file type associations.)
    • A route exists to the camera’s new IP address and, if applicable, its virtual IP/port forward. To confirm, go to Dashboard > Console and enter the command:
      execute ping <camera_ipv4>
      where <camera_ipv4> is the camera’s IP address or virtual IP/port forward. If you receive messages such as Timeout..., to locate the point of failure on the network, enter the command:
      execute traceroute <camera_ipv4>

    • Firewalls and routers, if any, allow both RTSP and RTCP components of the RTP streaming video protocol between FortiRecorder and the camera and between your computer and FortiRecorder.

    • Web proxies or firewalls, if any, support streaming video

      If you did not discover the camera but instead manually configured FortiRecorder with the camera’s IP address, confirm that the camera is actually located at that address

18. If desired, you can specify different camera settings, such as brightness and contrast, for the camera to use as different times.

Once your cameras have been created, the camera list populates and provides a summary of each individual camera's settings. The settings displayed on the camera list are fully customizable. Select Show and Hide Columns from the Configure View drop-down menu. Enable or disable the displayed settings on the camera list and select OK. When finished, select Save View from the Configure View drop-down menu.

Creating camera groups

After you have configured the cameras, you can group them to facilitate the camera management. When you edit Access Controls you can specify which groups of cameras users can access.

To configure camera groups

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera Group.
2. Select New.
3. Enter the name for the group.
4. Select the cameras you wish to add to the group and then select the double right arrow.
5. Select Create.

Upgrading or downgrading camera firmware

Once the FortiRecorder is connected to your cameras, you can upgrade/downgrade the camera firmware through the FortiRecorder web UI.

Fortinet does not recommend downgrading firmware. Downgrading firmware could result in a loss of configuration information.

To upgrade/downgrade your cameras’ firmware

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Firmware to check the availability of the camera firmware. For the corresponding camera model, if the Availability column says Fortinet Support, that means the firmware is available to download from the Fortinet Technical Support web site.
2. Download the firmware file from the Fortinet Technical Support web site and save the file on your PC: https://support.fortinet.com/
3. Go to Camera > Configuration > Firmware.
4. Select the Upload button to upload the downloaded firmware images. After the firmware is successfully uploaded, the Availability column will show Local.
5. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera.
6. Select the camera that you want to upgrade/downgrade and select the Upgrade button. You can select multiple cameras and upgrade/downgrade them at the same time.
7. From the available firmware list, select the firmware version you want to upgrade to and select OK. The camera installs the new firmware. During this time, the camera will not be able to record video if it was scheduled; you may notice a gap in the recorded video clips.

Using DIDO terminal connectors on FortiCam MB13 cameras

FortiCam MB13 (FCM-MB13) cameras come with Digital input and output (DIDO) terminal connectors. According to your configuration, a digital input can trigger the camera to record a video clip. You can also optionally connect other devices to the digital output, such as a relay to turn on/off another device.

To configure DIDO on MB13 cameras

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera, select the MB13 camera from the camera list and select Edit.
2. Expand the Detection section.
3. Configure the digital input and output settings. Note that this setting is only available on FortiCam MB13 cameras. More cameras will support this feature in the future.

   The digital input can be configured to trigger when the signal is:

   • LOW (ground)
   • HIGH (+5V)
   • Rising (transitioning from LOW to HIGH)
   • or Falling (transitioning from HIGH to LOW)

   If not connected, the camera will see the digital input as HIGH.

   The digital output can be configured to be either grounded or open when in the triggered state. When not triggered, it will be in the opposite state.

   For example, if opening a door causes a sensor switch to open, then the switch could be wired between DI and ground. DI will be grounded (LOW) while the door is closed and will go HIGH when the door opens. DI could then be configured to trigger on the rising edge. When the door opens, DO would be set to its triggered state and a video clip will also be recorded.

   Triggering on the rising or falling edge can be useful if the DI might be held in the triggered state for a long period. In the example above, if DI were set to trigger on HIGH and the door is left open for a long period then the camera would trigger repeatedly.

4. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera Profile and enable Digital input when creating a camera profile that uses a recording schedule.