Set Up Your PTZ500

Sensera Systems’ PTZ500 is ideal for large-scale jobsites which require a wider coverage area and high resolution images. The PTZ500 captures Panoramic images, which are large sized high-resolution photos stitched together from a series of smaller images. This camera has Pan, Tilt, and true optical Zoom capabilities, and can be manually controlled to view any portion of an active job site in great detail. This camera system also supports other SiteCloud features such as the live stream video feed, DVR, LiveView, and time-lapse imagery. The full technical specifications can be found here.

Please note that image capture modes like Panoramic and time-lapse cannot be set up until an initial Panoramic image is taken. This image will cover the full visual range of the PTZ, also known as the Field of Regard. The Field of Regard represents the entire scene that the camera can see when moved across its entire range of motion, from far-left to far-right, and far-top to far-bottom.

Unlike the MC-Series and SiteWatch camera models, it is necessary to register the PTZ500 in SiteCloud and install the PTZ before enabling scheduled image features in SiteCloud. 

1. Register the PTZ500 in your SiteCloud account 
2. Install/mount camera and aim to center of your anticipated Field of Regard
3. Initiate Live Streaming
4. Then, engage the pan slider, moving from the far left to the far right of the range and the tilt slider from the lowest to the highest angle to confirm that the entire area you wish to capture will be visible in a panoramic image
5. Fully tighten the bracket to ensure camera stability
6. Next, take the initial Panoramic image
7. To take this photo, open the Configure Panorama window from the tools menu.

Click on “Set Panorama Parameters”. This will open the PTZ settings window for the first Panoramic image capture schedule. The initial Panoramic image can be captured by clicking the “Take New Panoramic Picture” button in the upper right corner. Note that this image can be taken (or re-taken, if you want to refresh the image) in the PTZ settings window when configuring Panorama, LiveView, DVR, or time-lapse capture modes.

Live Stream and Manual PTZ Control

During live streaming, the PTZ can be controlled manually by starting live stream  - click on the orange camera icon on the left side of the screen, and select “View Live Stream”. The controls for the pan, tilt and zoom functions will appear to the top, right and left of the live video stream itself. Moving these sliders sends a command through SiteCloud to the camera to change its position or zoom level - you will see the camera begin to move once the command is received.

Important Information about your PTZ500:

• There is a 1-4 second delay between adjusting a slider control, and the PTZ executing the command. Poor quality connections can lengthen this to as much as 10 seconds.
• Note that multiple users can simultaneously view and operate the PTZ using live stream, and any movements made by one user will be visible to all viewers. However, the slider controls will not move to reflect position or zoom change commands made by another user.
• Live stream activity on the PTZ500 will consume more data than a typical live stream session therefore PTZ500 customers must purchase a 10GB or larger monthly plan to accommodate this usage.

Scheduled Panoramic Images

Panoramic images offer wide angle, ultra-high resolution images using all or part of the camera’s Field of Regard. Customers will want to be onsite while capturing their initial Panoramic image to ensure the camera’s Field of Regard is fully covering the portion of the job site that they want to see.

There are 5 Panoramic schedules available to configure. Each schedule allows one Panoramic image capture per day while each schedule can be configured individually to run on any (or all) days of the week. A total of 35 panoramic images can be captured per week. Each Panoramic schedule allows you to select a different portion of the Field of Regard to capture. Click and drag the blue corner icons to adjust the area being captured for the selected Panoramic schedule.

Web-sized Panoramic images appear in the Captured Images pane in SiteCloud. They are organized alongside all other captured media that has been uploaded to SiteCloud, such as time-lapse, LiveView, and DVR media. Full sized Panoramic images are found in the Available Downloads window. Unlike exported images and videos, full-sized Panoramic images do not expire, and will remain in this window indefinitely.

Panoramic images may impact other SiteCloud features as follows:

• The DVR video records during time-lapse, LiveView and Panoramic photography, as well as during live stream video. The DVR will capture the manual operation of the PTZ500 during live stream, as well as movements due to scheduled image capture.
• Time-lapse image capture will be delayed if Panoramic photography or live stream video is in progress when a time-lapse images is scheduled to be captured. The time-lapse images will be taken once the camera is no longer engaged in other activity.
• LiveView images will be delayed or even skipped altogether if Panoramic photography or live stream video is in progress when a LiveView image is due.
• If someone is live streaming during the time of the scheduled Pano, it will be skipped and not taken. 
• If the camera is in the middle of taking a Pano, you will not be able to live stream.

Time-lapse and LiveView Images

The PTZ500 can capture time-lapse images anywhere across its Field of Regard. These images can be taken at any zoom level, but are not designed to cover the entire Panoramic Field of Regard. The only way to capture the entire Field of Regard is through the use of Panoramic images.

There are 3 time-lapse schedules available to configure. Different time-lapse schedules can aim at different sections of the jobsite, allowing multiple different areas to be covered. Each schedule can operate at different times and on different days, and use a different interval as well, though they may not overlap. Click “Timelapse PTZ Settings” to adjust the specific area being captured for the currently selected Schedule. Note that you can zoom in and out by clicking and dragging the blue corner icons. The blue guidelines across the top and bottom of the time-lapse capture area provide an accurate reflection of the time-lapse frame being captured when using a wide aspect ratio image resolution (such as 1920x1080).

The same information applies to LiveView images captured with the PTZ500. However, LiveView images are considered a lower priority when other modes are active, and they can be cancelled entirely if there are too many other image capture modes operating during the scheduled LiveView image.

DVR Video

The DVR, when active, will record video in the background while other capture modes are in use, just as with the MC series and SiteWatch camera models. Any activity with the PTZ camera will be captured as part of the DVR video. More specifically, all camera movements and zoom commands from manual live stream video, and all camera movements associated with scheduled Panoramic, time-lapse, and LiveView image capture will be recorded as part of the DVR video files. Please note that still images are not available on the DVR feature on the PTZ500.

The DVR operates at the lowest priority on the camera. This means the DVR position selected when configuring the DVR schedules becomes the resting position of the camera when it does not have other image capture to complete. When other scheduled activities occur, the camera will move away from the DVR position to complete image capture, and return to the DVR position when capture is completed. Multiple DVR schedules can be configured, with each one focused on a different area of the Field of Regard.