The Camtrace USB Key

Description

The CamTrace USB key is a set of software allowing to transform a blank server, without operating system, into a powerful video surveillance server.

It contains all the necessary elements to build the video surveillance server, namely :

the operating system, a relational database management system, a web server and the video application itself.

The installation is guided by a user-friendly menu, less than 15 minutes are necessary to install or restore a complete system.

CamTrace runs on the Linux operating system. To install the CamTrace software on a computer of your choice you must verify that the chosen hardware is supported by Linux.

Download the specifications in PDF format.

Software provided with the distribution

CamTrace is delivered on a bootable USB key containing all the software.

The stick allows file system repair or a complete system reinstallation in one pass. When CamTrace is delivered as hardware, the software is pre-installed.

Operating System Linux Xubuntu 16.04 LTS
PostgreSQL relational database.
Apache Web Server.
CamTrace software: video engine, web interface, full web administration.
CamTrace client software: Windows©, Macintosh© or Linux compatible.
The current version of CamTrace is 8.14.1.3

Software licenses

CamTrace is sold in licenses of 1, 5, 10, 20 cameras or any combination of these licenses on the same computer. It is possible to deploy a pack of 50, 100, 500 or 1000 cameras on one or more servers but for the same end customer. Regardless of the number of cameras, a CamTrace always contains a license for one passive screen. The functionalities of the software are identical, regardless of the type of hardware on which it is installed.

Software options

Licenses for external overlay sources (cash registers, access control).
Cluster license.
Licenses for passive displays (slave PCs).

Supported cameras

- Acti, Air Live, A-Linking, Aviosis, Avtech, Arecont, Arlotto, Axis Communications, Bosch, Brickcom, CamIP, Canon, Cellvision, Dlink, Flir, Grandtec, Hikvision, Iqeye, Lilin, Mobotix, Panasonic, Pelco, Pixord, Planet, Roburcam, Samsung, Sony, Vivotek, and all ONVIF compatible cameras

Note : some cameras may not be supported in the above ranges.

Always consult with a distributor before deployment to ensure compatibility.

- Starting with version 6.12.2, CamTrace can detect and integrate a new camera model using the RTSP protocol and compliant with the ONVIF standard. The software queries the ONVIF camera to discover its streaming and PTZ management URLs if applicable. CamTrace can therefore integrate new camera models that will be released in the future (subject to ONVIF compatibility and stability of the standard).
  - Contrary to many software packages, CamTrace V12 remains compatible with most of the older camera ranges previously supported, including those from Axis Communications.

Formats supported for stream acquisition

All the acquisition protocols described below are adjustable per camera.

Push HTTP protocol. Motion jpeg format (mjpeg).
RTSP protocol. H264, mpeg4 and mjpeg formats. Support of the ONVIF standard (RTSP over UDP and TCP) – Support of RTSP over TCP

– Support of RTSP tuneling over HTTP. These operating modes depend on the possibilities of the cameras. All three modes are available on Axis Communications cameras.
Unicast or Multicast acquisition
ASP mode for remote cameras. Automatic interruption of the flow between CamTrace and the cameras and reactivation in case of visualization or alarm.

Network

Management of 1 to 10 Ethernet TCP/IP interfaces.
Console access via ssh. Ssh client provided under Windows.
Modem or ISDN PPP support
HTTPS support – management of self-signed and external certificates
Management of the maximum bandwidth allowed on each network interface and to the router.
Possibility to cut the routing with complete isolation from the corporate network and camera or surveillance networks.
Remote access via Internet : Video streams are rebroadcast by the server (video streaming). All cameras can keep their original ports. Ports 8000, 8001, 8002, must be open at the input of the server and 80 at the output.
(configurable). Cameras do not need to be accessible from outside to get the images.
Port forwarding function (without routing enabled) for transparent access to all designated devices in a network from another address range. User interface for NAT rules in ipfwrc
Transparent proxy function (without routing enabled) for access to camera administration functions from another address range (cameras using identical ports).
NTP client for permanent or scheduled synchronization.
NTP server for cameras and other peripherals.
Network installation wizard.
Automatic detection of cameras on connected networks.

Client configuration

For fixed station: minimum screen 17″ configured in 1024 x 768 or more – full HD screen recommended.
Accept cookies and loading an active X/plugin.
Minimum hardware configuration: Core I5 – 3,1 Ghz – RAM :4 Go.
Nvidia video card (GT620) recommended
Normal use in master station with keyboard and mouse, or possible configuration of the stations in slave display, without keyboard and mouse (subject to optional license).

(This type of client workstation allows you to view a mosaic of 15 thumbnails at 20 frames per second each in HD. Mobilization of 60 to 90% of the CPU)

Smartphones on Androïd or Iphone platform
CamTrace client software compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux

H264 and mpeg4 stream decoding

Ms Windows XP, 7 or 8 / Internet Explorer 9 to 11, Firefox 20
Use of Direct X – hardware acceleration support for Nvidia and ATI cards (consult us for recommended models).
Automatic switch from GPU to CPU when the number of streams exceeds the limits of the graphics card.
CamTrace automatically converts H264/Mpeg4 streams to Mjpeg if the client workstation is not capable of displaying H264/Mpeg4. For a use in professional video surveillance with decoding of multiple flows, it is necessary to provide stations under Ms Windows with the adapted decoding cards.
The CamTrace activeX allows to decode 12 Full HD streams at 25 fps with a client workstation under Ms Windows with a CoreI5 processor as main CPU and a Nvidia GeForce GT630 as GPU.

Decoding of Mjpeg streams

Ms Windows XP, 7 or 8 / Internet Explorer 9 to 11, Firefox 20
Linux / Firefox
Mac Os X / Firefox.
Phones and tablets under Androïd and IOS (Apple) with specific application CamTrace.

Internationalization

Web interface available in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German and Italian.
Choice of international keyboards, time zone settings for all countries.
Daylight saving time management.
Use of different languages simultaneously on the same server.
Management of connections from another time zone.

Video Relay

Between the cameras and the CamTrace: HTTP or RTSP transport protocol (standard UDP, http or tcp). UNICAST or MULTICAST
Mjpeg, Mxpeg (acquisition), Mpeg4 and H.264 codecs
Between the CamTrace and the visualization stations: HTTP encapsulation
Duplication of video streams by the server in mjpeg, mpeg4 and h264. CamTrace can relay 50 Mb to 500 Mb per second depending on network capacities.

Visualization of camera

Visualization in resizable windows with functions: full screen, always on top, and keep the proportions.
Change the camera displayed in the window with the mouse or with the numeric keypad.
Sending the view on a display screen.
PTZ (PTZ cameras) management in the view.
Access to the presets of each PTZ camera. Control of cameras in instant or progressive mode.
Digital magnifying glass allowing access to the details of a megapixel image in a reduced size window. Adjustment of the zoom factor and movement of the observed area with the mouse.
Display modes selectable from : Video, Alarm, Replay, Reference.
Video: normal display of the real time stream.
ALR : video stream only in case of alarm.
REPLAY : loop playback of the last alarm sequence.
REF : display of a reference image. View of a picture of the filmed scene in case of an inoperative camera.
Input of comments in the handrail.
Automatic adaptation of the video streams retransmitted by CamTrace to each client station according to the available bandwidth (mjpeg only).
Management of streams of different sizes and compression (H.264, Mpeg4, Mjpeg)
Setting the maximum number of frames per second sent by the server (mjpeg).
Launching a forced recording of the camera being viewed.
Instantaneous capture of a view on the client workstation (snapshot)
Link with the VCR to view the recorded scene.
Possibility to display overlay or next to the view of external overlay sources (cash registers, access control, or other devices). Identification information (item, name, vehicle, etc.) is visible in real time on the views. This function is subject to an option.

Visualisation of a group of cameras

Visualization by groups of n cameras in thumbnail images of adjustable size.
Possibility to merge the cells of a group horizontally and vertically.
Resizable group windows with functions: full screen, always on top, and keep the proportions.
Possibility to mix cameras with different proportions.
Ability to open each view of the group in a new single window or in separate windows on the desktop.
Ability to send each view of the group or the whole group to a display screen.
Changing the cameras displayed in each cell of the group with the mouse or with the numeric keypad.
PTZ (PTZ cameras) management directly in each group view. Control by mouse or joystick.
Access to the prepositions of each mobile camera.
Digital magnifying glass allowing access to the details of a megapixel image in each group view.
Adjustment of the zoom factor and movement of the observed area with the mouse.
Selectable display modes for the whole group or for each view individually among : Video, Alarm, Replay, Reference.
Video: normal display of the real time stream.
ALR : video stream only in case of alarm.
REPLAY : loop playback of the last alarm sequence,
REF : display of a reference image. View of a picture of the scene filmed in case of an inoperative camera.
Group visualization cycles with adjustable timer. Stop/resume cycle.
Input of comments in the handrail.
Automatic adaptation of the video streams retransmitted by CamTrace to each client station according to the available bandwidth (mjpeg only).
Management of streams of different sizes and compression (H264, Mpeg4, Mjpeg)…
Adjustment of the maximum number of images per second emitted by the server for all the cameras of the group (mjpeg).
Low bit rate mode for remote viewing of a group of cameras. Dynamic adjustment of the compression rate and color.
Instantaneous capture of one of the views on the client workstation.
Forced recording of all cameras in the group.
Forced recording of each camera in the group.
Direct links with the VCR in each view.
Ability to switch a cell in flash® mode to play a movie or animation. The cell can be set in flash® mode by default when the group is launched with automatic loading of a movie.
Possibility to switch a cell to web browser to control a network device with a web interface (contact box, door opener, etc.). The cell can be set in web browser mode by default at the group launch with automatic loading of a URL.
Ability to display a plan in a cell of a group. Possibility, from the plan, to change the views to be displayed in the other cells of the group.

Control of cameras and contacts

Control of contacts and camera options in the individual or group view interface.
Control of the mobile cameras by mouse and joystick.
Two control modes by mouse
In normal mode click to center in the image, zoom with the wheel, crop an area for moving and zooming (for cameras that support it).
In continuous PT mode continuous motion. Vector defined direction and speed (for cameras that support it).
With joystick continuous PT mode for cameras that support it or keyboard emulation mode.
Programming of the joystick buttons to: activate a contact, change the active view in an individual view or a group, forced recording of a camera or a group.

Alarms

List of alarms managed by CamTrace: dry contacts of cameras, TCP messages from all network devices (cameras or others), motion detection performed by cameras, motion detection performed by CamTrace, disconnection of a camera, CamIO contact box, network fault, general video fault.
With CamIO module: 8 inputs driven by dry contacts and 7 outputs assigned to: camera alarms, disconnections, video fault, router fault.
Alarms managed by the cameras (depending on models): motion detection, sound level, dry contacts, sudden obscuration, IR presence detector, etc.
Management of alarms from cameras in FTP, TCP or HTTP mode.
Detection of disconnection of each camera.
Motion detection performed by CamTrace (all cameras). Adjustment of detection threshold, noise and comparison delay. Definition of a grid to limit detection to a specific area of the image.
Ping failure on internal or external network device (Internet access check)

Actions on alarm

Signaling indicator in individual or group views.
Alarm recording (if requested).
Sending of e-mails
Alarm pop up with activation of customized audio messages per camera.
Alarm log entry with thumbnail creation
Action on dry contacts coming out of the CamIO box.
Execution of one or more commands on a network device.
Execution of scripts allowing the automatic export of alarm sequences to an external storage or another server.
Sending alarm messages to another CamTrace – Hierarchical alarm escalation.

Real-time alarm console

Real-time alarm console for operator. Dynamic listing of the last alarms with thumbnails of the alarm time. Pictograms representing the nature of the alarm.
Direct link to the alarm sequence (VCR) or to the visualization.
Acknowledgement of alarms.
Input of comments in the handrail.
Selections and sorting according to alarm types.

Interface by plan

Plan mode. Layout of the cameras on a floor plan of the premises or on a background image in jpeg or swf.
Real-time alarm feedback by color code and direct access to the visualization and the VCR.
Support of nested floor plans with dynamic alarm feedback between the different levels.
Hierarchical classification of the objects managed by the plan: cameras, presets of mobile cameras, groups, screens.
Management of visualization by dragging and dropping cameras or presets to individual windows, groups or screens.
Possibility of classification by keywords, logical classification (e.g. reception, computer rooms, external accesses, etc.).

Alarm pop-up windows

Pop-up viewing window with customizable sound signal per camera. Spontaneous opening on the screen in case of alarm.
Activation of the pop up by camera and on calendar.
Opening of the pop-ups in the same window or in separate windows.
Dressing and recall of a desktop
Memorization of the desktop. Possibility for each user to save and recall a window layout on the screen.
Choice of different skins for the interface.

Dressing and recall of a desktop

Memorization of the desktop. Possibility for each user to save and recall a window layout on the screen.
Choice of different skins for the interface.

Screen walls with slave PCs

Full screen display of individual, cycle or group views on dedicated display PCs. Creation of PC-based “screen walls” under Ms-Windows (mandatory in H264) or Linux without keyboard or mouse.
Automatic launching of a CamTrace client in passive mode with the URL IP_de_Camtrace/start.php
Ability to change the display of screen walls from individual views, groups and plans.

Registration

Permanent and alarm recordings are independent and can be simultaneous.
Weekly calendars with 1/4 h resolution, applicable to standard or alarm recordings.
Automatic indexing of image files in the database.
Adjustable pre-alarm buffer for each camera from 2 to 128 MB allowing the recording of several minutes of pre-alarm images.
Recording mode with real-time search and storage of all movements in a sequence.
Programmable recording time per camera.
Resumption of recordings as is after a shutdown of video services or server.
Recording Streams RTSP H264 and mpeg4
Recording of 1 image/hour at 50 fps continuously and/or on alarm.
Storage of images in .mp4 format files.
Ability to record a text data stream coming from a network device such as a cash register, access control, or other. The data is stored in predefined fields in the database and associated with a camera. This function is subject to option.
Mjpeg stream recording. HTTP and RTSP push protocol. Mjpeg.
Recording of 1 frame/sec at 50 fps permanent and/or on alarm.
The number of images recorded per second may be less than that emitted by the camera.
Storage of images in files containing up to 1000 images.
Simultaneous recording of up to 500 images of 40 KB per second. Or 10 to 50 cameras depending on the network and camera capacities.

Full web-based system administration

Setting up network interfaces.
Gateway, network name and DNS parameterization.
Time server configuration (NTP).
Mounting, unmounting and formatting of storage volumes.
Detection of cameras on the network.
Creation of templates on OnVif camera detection.
Stopping or restarting the server and each service.
Modification of the ports of the different services.
Deactivation of the graphical interface.
Advanced database repair,
Export logs and statistics over one year.
Return of the server to the factory outlet
Changing the system administration password

User management

Management of an unlimited number of users through the database. Each user belongs to a profile.
Rights of CamTrace administration and consultation of records by profile. Rights on visualization, recordings, pop-up, piloting, dry contacts and emails, assigned by profile and by camera. Special rights for remote viewing at low speed.
Control of connection times by profile. Control of the number of simultaneous connections per profile.
Monitoring of the number of connections and the number of visualization streams with indication of IP addresses.
Manual logout of unwanted or overflow users. Sending messages to users.
Display modification rights on passive screens (slave PCs).

VCR (player)

Scroll bar with color overlay (alarms, standard and activity).
Moving the cursor with the mouse.
Adjustable time scale from several weeks to a few seconds.
Change of camera in the player.
Very fast access to images, independent of disk filling.
Minute, hour, day, all keys for easy access to the most common time ranges.
Protection of recordings against deletion on the selected time range.
Recording image by image or in sequence on the client workstation.
Possibility to search and store, in the background, all the movements in a sequence.
Histogram and activity count for any area of the image. Instant access at any time of activity.
Ability to continuously replay every moment of activity in a given area.
Synchronized player, possibility to play several sequences simultaneously.
Adjustable image reading speed from 1 to 50 fps (depending on the capacity of the client workstation)
H264/Mpeg4 :
Locating i- and p-images in the scrollbar
Jump from image i to image i during playback adjustable from 1 to 8 times
Single frame forward button
i-frame by i-frame backward button
Mjpeg :
Skip Mjpeg images in adjustable replay from 1 to 256 times.
Frame by frame forward and backward button.
Possibility to display overlay or next to the view of overlay sources interfaced to the server (cash registers, access control, or other devices). Recorded identification information (items, name, vehicle, etc.) is visible on the VCR views. This feature is optional.

Mobile application

Management of Androïd and i Os interfaces
Adaptation of the real-time flow to cell phones. Dynamic settings of the size and compression level of the images sent by the server. Group visualization
Control of pan tilt and zoom cameras.
Access to alarm thumbnails with link to recorded sequences.
VCR with dynamic adjustment of the size and compression level of the images sent by the server.

Organization of multiple CamTrace

Cluster mode provides a single operating interface for several dozen CamTrace servers. The user interface on a given client workstation allows access to all cameras on all servers and to organize them logically. This function is subject to option.
The hierarchical mode allows to chain CamTrace between them. The outgoing streams from one CamTrace are captured and recorded by another CamTrace. This mode allows a doubling of certain critical recordings and also provides a unified interface.
CamTrace’s management of multiple network interfaces makes it very easy to create redundant architectures. Simultaneous recording on two servers of the same cameras.

Disk fill management

Manual deletion of standard or alarm recordings, per camera, or before a specified date.
Automatic deletion beyond the recording time independently for each camera.
Automatic deletion of the oldest images if the disk occupancy reaches an adjustable limit. Erasing is done in the proportion of the times assigned to each camera.
Automatic compression and then purging of all logs and text files created by CamTrace.
Dashboard of total disk fill and per camera. Detail of the fill occupied by the system, image storage space, protected space not available for recordings.
Alert system in case of disk space occupation by non-indexed files in the database. Visual alert if the occupancy rate exceeds a percentage (adjustable).
Video protection and export

Video protection and export

Protection of camera video between two specified dates. The protection prevents the deletion of the sequence by automatic apuration procedures.
Video export in .mp4 or AVI format to a client computer (via the network) or to an export media (USB key or disk connected to the server).

H264/Mpeg4 :

- - Export of .mp4 files directly readable with VLC or media player. The mp4 files are grouped in a .zip file.
  - Possibility to request a concatenation in a single .mp4 file for export.

Mjpeg :

- Conversion of videos to AVI format and export to a client computer.
- Conversion of multiple alarms into a single AVI.
- Exported movies can be viewed standalone with Windows media player or VLC.
- Short sequences. On-the-fly conversion and export of protected videos on the client workstation or on a USB key.
- Long sequences. Background conversion of videos on the internal disk for later export. Or convert videos to the background with direct writing to an external USB key or disk.

Event logs

Logs that can be viewed in web mode with search by character string.
Possibility to export newspapers in .csv. format to a spreadsheet program.
Automatic cyclic compression and cleaning of the logs.
System log with sorting by character strings.
Log of camera disconnections with sorting by character string.
Action log with the possibility of sorting by action type, user, IP address, time range.
Alarm log with thumbnails and links to recordings. Sorting by character string.
Consultation log of external logs such as cash register or access control. Search for a video sequence using multiple criteria such as: ticket number, item title, vendor, cash register number, amount or access door, building, name of a person. This function is optional.

Network Services Monitor

Server connection control
Video Service Control
Control of the web service
Control of the database service
Connection control of each camera
Disk state control (smartd)
RAID system control

(Monitor_c is a Ms Windows client that informs a user about the status of a CamTrace server farm. Monitor_c is the client part while Monitor_d runs on each CamTrace server).

SNMTP notifications for monitoring software
Resource usage statistics, running processes and system messages
Unified web-based export of all system messages and statistics.

Programming Interface

For programmers, CamTrace has a library of functions that allows access to individual video streams, groups and recordings from other applications in various fields, e.g. BMS (building management system), supervisors, electronic payment applications, etc.