Configuring cameras

Configuring cameras

Most settings for local cameras are automatically retrieved during discovery, so usually, you are not required to configure them. However, you might need to configure camera settings if:

• You want to adjust camera settings.
• You add a camera on a remote network, and did not use remote camera discovery.

• You want to configure a new camera before you connect it to FortiRecorder.

• The Status column indicates Not Configured.

Features vary by camera vendor and model. Therefore many settings only appear after you configure Model or FortiRecorder discovers the camera, so that it knows which options are supported. If a setting is not visible, then the setting is not supported by that model.

If FortiRecorder is in a hybrid deployment with FortiCamera Cloud, then many camera settings described in this section must be configured on FortiCamera Cloud — notFortiRecorder. For details, see Managed by cloud.

If you have many cameras, it may be useful to filter the list of cameras to focus on specific statuses, vendors, models, or locations. To do this, from the Configure View drop-down list, select Show and Hide Columns and then enable or disable each column. If you want the filter to persist for every time that you view the list of cameras, then from the Configure View drop-down list, select Save View.

To configure cameras

1. Go to Camera > Configuration > Camera.

2. Either:

   • double-click the row of a discovered camera, or
   • click New (to configure a camera that is not yet discovered yet)

3. Configure the following settings:

   Setting Name	Description
   Enable	Select this toggle to enable the FortiRecorder unit to communicate with this camera. If a camera is disabled while you change its settings, or when it would normally be scheduled to begin continuous or motion detection recording, then FortiRecorder will not connect to the camera. This can break communications between them: if you reconfigure the camera's IP address while the camera is disabled, your FortiRecorder may later attempt to communicate with the camera at the new IP address or gateway, but the camera will still be using the old address or 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.
   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. 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.
   Vendor	The vendor company and camera model. If you are configuring a discovered camera, this and other camera information was automatically retrieved. You do not need to configure it. To refresh the information, you can click Camera detail. If you are adding a new camera before it is connected or discovered, then you must configure these and other settings manually. For Fortinet FortiCam cameras, you must specify the models; for third-party cameras, you must specify the camera's login credentials (user name and password) so that FortiRecorder can connect to it.
   Model
   Address mode	Select how the camera is connected to FortiRecorder in your deployment topology: Wired: On the same (local) network or directly attached, through a Ethernet cable. Wireless: On the same network, through Wi-Fi. This setting is not available on all camera models. VIP: On a different (remote) network, through NAT and/or port forwarding, such as through the Internet or your office's WAN. To specify this connection, you must configure Address, (HTTPS) Port, and (RTSP) Port.
   Address	If Address mode is VIP, then type either an: IP address fully qualified domain name (FQDN), such as camera.example.com, that Internet DNS servers can resolve into the above IP address that FortiRecorder will connect through for communications to the camera. This setting is available only when Address mode is VIP.
   (HTTPS) Port	Enter the port number of configuration communications to the camera. If the VIP/NAT on the router or firewall does not do port forwarding or port translation, then keep this setting at its default value, 443. This setting is available only when Address mode is VIP.
   (RTSP) Port	Enter the port number of video streaming commands (RTSP) to the camera, such as when beginning a continuous recording schedule. If the VIP/NAT on the router or firewall does not do port forwarding/translation, keep this setting at its default value, 554. This setting is available only whenAddress mode is VIP.
   Transport Type	Select the transport layer protocol for video streaming from the camera to FortiRecorder. By default, RTSP communications between the camera and FortiRecorder are transported over UDP. If your router or firewall requires it, you can instead use TCP, HTTP tunneling, or HTTPS (secure/encrypted) tunneling.
   Profile	Either click New or select the camera profile that indicates the recording schedule, video quality, and other settings that this camera will use. See Configuring camera profiles.
   Managed by cloud	Enable if this camera will be managed through FortiCamera Cloud. If FortiRecorder is in a hybrid deployment with FortiCamera Cloud, then many camera settings must be configured on FortiCamera Cloud — not FortiRecorder, except: local network connection settings, including transport protocol between the camera and FortiRecorder management via third-party ONVIF GUI or FortiRecorder smart DNR settings audio input settings power frequency settings status (enable/disable camera, which disconnects it from FortiCamera Cloud)

4. If the camera supports Wi-Fi, and you want it to connect to FortiRecorder through a wireless router, expand the Wifi section and configure the following settings:

   Setting Name	Description
   Enable	Enable Wi-Fi on the camera. When enabled, these indicators appear: Status Signal strength
   SSID	Enter the SSID of the Wi-Fi access point (AP) that the camera will connect to.
   Security	Select the type of Wi-Fi encryption: None WPA personal WPA2 personal WPA enterprise WPA2 enterprise When you select an encryption type, its related settings appear, such as: WPA encryption (TKIP or AES) WPA username WPA password or WPA passphrase To strengthen security, select WPA2 enterprise or personal. For details, see your FortiAP/FortiWifi or third-party product documentation.

5. Expand the Network section.

   Click the Wired tab if the camera will use an Ethernet connection to the network; click the Wireless tab if the camera will use Wi-Fi.

   Configure the following settings:

   Setting Name	Description
   Address mode	Select either: DHCP — Use a DHCP server to dynamically configure the camera's IP address and other network settings. See also Making reservations on your DHCP server and Configuring the built-in DHCP server. Static — Manually configure the camera with a static private network IP address that you specify in Address. It will no longer use DHCP. Fortinet strongly recommends to either: configure your cameras with a static IP address, or configure your DHCP server with lease reservations (see also Making reservations on your DHCP server). Without reservations, the IP address provided by the DHCP server might appear to work initially, but later, when the DHCP lease expires, the DHCP server might change the IP address of the camera. DHCP servers do not notify FortiRecorder about the camera's new dynamic IP address. During this time, FortiRecorder will try to control the camera at its old IP address. This does not work. Connections with that camera will be broken and all video from that camera could be lost during that interruption. To fix this, create IP address reservations on your DHCP server and then update the camera's Address with its current IP address.
   Address	Enter the IP address of the camera. This setting is available only if Address mode is Static.
   Netmask	Enter the subnet mask of the camera. IPv4 and IPv6 subnet masks should be provided in dotted quad format. (For example, enter 255.255.255.0, not /24). This setting is available only if Address mode is Static.
   Gateway	Type the IP address of the next-hop router that will forward packets from the camera to destinations on other subnets, such as FortiRecorder or FortiCamera Cloud. For a direct Internet connection, this will be the router that forwards traffic towards the Internet, and could belong to your ISP. This setting is available only if Address mode is Static.
   DNS1	Enter the IP address of a primary DNS server. This setting is available only if Address mode is Static.
   DNS2	Enter the IP address of a secondary DNS server. This setting is available only if Address mode is Static.

6. Expand the following sections (available features vary by camera model) and configure their settings:

   • Management
   • Light or Infrared
   • Video
   • Audio
   • Pan / Tilt / Zoom / Focus
   • Privacy Mask
   • Detection
   • Miscellaneous
   • Configuring cameras
   • Scheduled Setting

7. Click OK.

   If you selected the Enabled toggle, FortiRecorder now connects to the camera and configures it. After this, in order to control the camera according to your selected schedules, FortiRecorder will periodically connect to the camera again. It will also keep video recordings sent by that camera from its IP address.

8. If you changed the Address mode setting or the Wifi and Network sections, now disconnect the temporary Ethernet connection between the discovered camera and FortiRecorder that you used during initial setup. Move the camera to the intended location on the Ethernet or Wi-Fi network.

9. To confirm that FortiRecorder can receive video from the camera at its new IP address, go to Monitor > Video > Video. (See Viewing live video.)

   If you cannot view the live video feed from that camera, verify that:

   • Other video software such as Windows Media Player or VLC has not taken the RTSP file type association from Apple 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 external NAT/virtual IP address. To confirm, go to Dashboard > Console and enter the command:

     execute ping <camera_ipv4>

     where <camera_ipv4> is the camera's IP address or external NAT/virtual IP address. 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

Management

If the camera is an ONVIF-compliant third-party camera, then the Management section appears. Expand it. For each category of the camera's settings (for example, Video/Audio settings), either:

• Enable: Use FortiRecorder to configure these settings.
• Disable: Use the third-party camera's native GUI to configure these settings.

Light or Infrared

If the camera supports infrared recording or LED lighting, expand the Light or Infrared section. Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Mode	At night or in the dark, some camera models can use infrared light to record a black-and-white image. This mode also removes a daylight filter for more sensitivity. Select either: off — Disable. auto — Automatically enable infrared mode at the darkness threshold.
LED	Infrared LEDs can help the camera to see in the darkness. Select either: off — Disable. Select this option if the camera is behind a window (glass reflects light, which can effectively blind the camera), or if enough ambient lighting is always available and therefore the infrared LED is not required. auto — Automatically activate the infrared LED at the darkness threshold.
Enable threshold	Enter the light level that specifies when infrared mode and infrared LEDs can automatically activate.
Disable threshold	Enter the light level that specifies when infrared mode and infrared LEDs can automatically deactivate.
Threshold time	Enter the amount of time in seconds after the threshold is reached that the camera waits to automatically activate or deactivate infrared mode. Wait time helps to avoid accidentally frequently enabling or disabling infrared mode. This can occur if the camera is near a blinking light (for example, passing cars, flashing advertisement signs, water reflections, tree shade, or holiday decorations).
Current light level	Displays the light level that the camera currently detects.
Refresh	Click to refresh Current light level.

Video

Expand the Video section. Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Orientation	Select the relative position of the camera: Normal — Regular viewing angle and position. Vertical Flip — The camera is positioned on a ceiling and the preview image appears upside down. Horizontal Flip — The camera is positioned viewing a mirror or on a ceiling and the preview image appears reversed left to right. Rotate 90/180/270 — The camera is in a hallway or corridor. The image is in portrait format.
Video display	If the camera has a fisheye lens, select how to display video from the camera: Fisheye — Use the raw, circle-shaped image. This option is suitable if de-warping is done on FortiCentral instead of FortiRecorder. Panorama — De-warp the image into a rectangle-shaped, 360- or 180-degree panorama.
Mount	Select the mount type of the camera, either: Ceiling Table Wall
Video aspect	Select the video resolution. Options vary by camera model, but can be: SD HD
Overlay mode	Select which to display on the video image: Name (camera name) Date & Time Timezone
Date format	If Overlay mode has Date & Time enabled, then select the order of the day (DD), month (MM), and year (YYYY) numbers in the timestamp overlay.
Brightness	Adjust the tonal range of an image. Low brightness increases the area of shadows; high brightness expands the area of highlights.
Contrast	Adjust the contrast to increase the separation between dark and light areas of the image, making shadows darker and highlights brighter.
Saturation	Adjust to increase the separation between colors. Low saturation resembles a grayscale image.
Sharpness	Adjust to increase or decrease the edge contrast of the image. Too much sharpness creates grainy borders around the contours of the image.
DIS	Enable or disable digital image stabilization (DIS). For cameras that are mounted on an unstable footing, image stabilization reduces image shaking from various external sources, such as wind.
DNR	Select the type of digital noise reduction (DNR). Options vary by camera model, but can be: Off 2dnr 3dnr This feature smooths the image and suppresses small noise that causes image graininess in low lighting.
DNR level	If you enabled DNR, then select how might DNR to apply.
Smart DNR	Select either On or Off. Smart DNR saves bandwidth by focusing on the moving parts of a camera's feed. It is only available on FortiCam-FD50 and FB50 models.
Exposure mode	Select whether to automatically optimize the exposure for the camera location. Options vary by camera model, but can be: Indoor Outdoor Manual
Max gain	If Exposure mode is Manual, select the amount of exposure gain: Off 1 2 3 Exposure is the amount of light which reaches your camera sensor. It determines how light, dark, and color saturated your image appears. Gain can amplify the light from a fast exposure so that lighting appears more normal. If the gain is too much, however, then the image is grainy and noisy.
Max exposure time	If Exposure mode is Manual, select the shutter speed, such as 1/4 or 1/10000. If the shutter speed is too slow, the image is blurry and overexposed (bright). If the shutter speed is too fast, then the image is underexposed and dark.
Digital WDR	Select whether or not to apply WDR digitally, and how many exposures to merge. Options vary by model, but can be: Off On 1 2 3 If the camera model supports wide dynamic range (WDR), enable it if there is intense backlight in the camera view. WDR balances images that have high contrast between light and dark, such as a person standing in front of a window during the day. The camera takes two images with different exposure (one optimized for the extreme light, and the other for the extreme dark) and merges them into one image.
Shutter WDR	Select whether or not to apply WDR, and how many exposures to merge. Options vary by model, but can be: Off On Auto 1 2
Power frequency	Select the AC frequency of the power line (main) in hertz (Hz). AC frequency varies by geographic region. Select the frequency that matches the region where the camera is located.
Media profile	Select which ONVIF media profile on the camera to use. Options vary by camera model. This option is only available on third-party ONVIF compatible cameras.

Audio

Expand the Audio section. Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Input level Output level	Adjust to change the strength of both the input and output level of the audio signal.
Codec	Select the audio codec.
Bitrate	Enter the amount of information to record in bits per second (bps).
Sample rate	Enter the number of times per second to measure sound in hertz (Hz). Greater bitrate and sample rate increases file size and disk usage, but gives better quality audio.

Pan / Tilt / Zoom / Focus

Expand the Pan / Tilt / Zoom / Focus section. Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Auto focus (full/semi)	Automatic focus improves the sharpness of the image 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	Select the optical zoom value.
Digital zoom	Once the maximum optical zoom is reached, digital zoom allows the camera to view a larger image of the subject closer by digitally zooming. Unlike optical zoom, increased digital zoom cannot record better detail. It only increases the size of details that are seen with optical zoom. If you need better detail, and optical zoom is at its maximum, put the camera closer to the details that you need to record.

Privacy Mask

Expand the Privacy Mask section. If you want to omit an area of the image from recording (for example, for privacy reasons, perhaps you want to mask the area where an employee sits), then click the plus sign beside Mask Window and adjust the rectangle size. To add another mask, click the plus sign again.

Detection

Expand the Detection section.

All FortiCam cameras can detect motion. Motion and other detections can be used to trigger video clip recordings. Some cameras record these clips and then send them to FortiRecorder. In this case, the length and time frame varies by the camera. The advantage to motion detection is that the camera only records when motion is detected. Other cameras stream continuously to FortiRecorder, and only notify it about the motion detection event. Then FortiRecorder either copies a video clip from part of the video stream and saves it, or simply marks the section of the continuous recording with the time range when motion was detected. These detections ("alarms") can be used to trigger notification emails and text messages.

Some camera models can also use other inputs to trigger events and video clip recording: audio noise, tamper detection, passive infrared sensors, and more.

Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Monitor Window	Click the + (plus) button to add a rectangle to the video. The rectangle defines the area of the video that can trigger motion detection. Drag its edges and corners if you want to specify only a part of the video. Then optionally also adjust the percentage of change in the area (Pixel change) and Sensitivity.
Audio Sensitivity	Specify the audio sensitivity level that will trigger a detection. You may need to adjust the sensitivity level, for example, when there are background noises.
Tamper Sensitivity	Specify the tamper sensitivity level that will trigger a detection.
PIR Sensitivity	Adjust the sensitivity of the electronic sensor that measures passive infrared (PIR) light to detect motion.
Digital input Digital output	Enter the voltage pattern that will trigger a detection alarm. For details, see Using DIDO terminal connectors on FortiCam MB13 cameras.
Pre-Alarm (sec)	Specify the amount of time in seconds that the camera must continuously sense an event in order to trigger a detection.
Post-Alarm (sec)	Specify the minimum amount of time in seconds that must elapse after detection before another detection can occur (a cool-down period) .

Miscellaneous

Expand the Miscellaneous section. 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 pause and resume video and audio monitoring. To enable the functionality of the privacy button on the camera, select Privacy button. To disable the functionality of the privacy button on the camera, clear the Privacy button checkbox.
Status LEDs	Most cameras have LED indicators (for details, see the LED description section in the camera's QuickStart Guide). You can enable or disable the LEDs by selecting or deselecting Status LEDs.
Move home	For the PTZ cameras, you can specify when the camera should stop PTZ and reset aim to the home position.

SD Card

Expand the SD Card section. Configure the following settings:

Setting Name	Description
Enable storage	Enable or disable the recording to the camera's internal SD card ("edge recording"). If the disk is full, the oldest recordings are overwritten.
Network failure	Enable or disable the camera's ability to detect network connection failure by periodically pinging FortiRecorder. If the network connection is disrupted, the camera will begin recording to the SD card. This is only supported by some camera models, such as FortiCam FE120B.
Format	Click this button to format the SD card on the camera. This is only supported by some camera models, such as FortiCam FE120B. Back up all required files before you format the disk. Formatting the disk will delete all files stored on it. The files cannot be recovered.

Scheduled Setting

Expand the Scheduled Setting section. Optionally, you can specify different camera settings, such as brightness, contrast, and DNR level, that the camera will use as different times. To do this, click New to select a schedule and specify which settings.

Using DIDO terminal connectors on FortiCam MB13 cameras

FortiCam MB13 (FCM-MB13) cameras have digital input and output (DIDO) terminal connectors. You can configure the digital input to trigger the camera to record a video clip. Optionally, you can also connect other devices to the digital output, such as a relay to turn on or turn off another device.

• 4: Power output +5V
• 3: Digital output
• 2: Digital input
• 1: Ground

To configure DIDO on FortiCam 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.

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

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

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

   The digital output can be configured to be either grounded or open when triggered. 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 HIGH when the door opens. DI could then be configured to trigger on the rising edge. When the door opens, DO would be triggered 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 time. In the example above, if DI trigger was HIGH and the door was left open for a long time, then the camera would trigger repeatedly.

4. Go to Camera > Configuration >Camera Profile. When you create a camera profile that uses a recording schedule, enable Digital input.