Any ONVIF-compliant device (camera or NVR) can be added using the ONVIF option. To add a device using the ONVIF option, you will need to set up port forwarding for the HTTP and RTSP ports of the device.
The recommended sequence of steps to add a device using the ONVIF option is as follows:
1. Make sure that the camera has the latest firmware updates installed
Follow the camera's manufacturer's instructions on the proper upgrade procedure.
2. Configure the camera (IP and general settings)
Configure the Network settings of the camera, make sure to use the appropriate Gateway and DNS settings for your local network, and check HTTP and RTSP port settings.
We recommend configuring the camera to a Static IP address; otherwise, the Port forwarding rule will be invalid if the camera is reassigned to a new local IP address by the DHCP service.
3. Make sure that the ONVIF user is configured
⚠️IMPORTANT: For some camera models, a separate ONVIF user has to be created. On this page↗️, you can learn how to do this.
For steps to enable ONVIF users on newer versions of HikVision firmware, please visit this page↗️
For troubleshooting on the ONVIF Authentication error, please visit this page↗️
4. Configure Port Forwarding on your router
The exact procedure to create a port forwarding rule will depend on the model of your router and/or modem. In general, you will need to have Administrator level access to the router at the camera's location.
In the router web interface, search for the Port Forwarding option. Under the Port Forwarding menu, you will need to create a port forwarding rule that will specify Public (sometimes called External) ports and Local (sometimes called Inbound or Private) ports.
For the Public ports, you can use any unused port. For the Local port, make sure to use the RTSP port of the camera, the default is 554 for the first rule, and for the HTTP port of the camera for the second rule, the default is 80. Make sure to select TCP/UDP for the protocol, in some routers, this mode is called "Dual" for both rules. And provide the local IP address of the camera.
5. Add the camera to the 3dEYE cloud service
After you have configured the camera and your router, you can add this camera to our Admin portal↗️. In the Admin portal, select a customer and open the Cameras Menu, click the Add button, and select the ONVIF option. Then select the "URL" as the connection mode.
We recommend using a DNS service to map the path to the camera. If you do not have DNS service configured, you can use the direct IP address of the LOCATION where the camera is installed. To find the IP address of the location, connect a computer to the router through which the camera is connected to the internet, and do a Google search for: “What is my IP”. The first link in the results list will show the IP address of the location. Copy the IPv4 address and use it in the HTTP access URL line.
If you use the direct IP address, be aware that when your internet service provider changes the IP address for your modem all cameras at this location that use a direct IP address to stream will lose connection to our servers and you will need to provide a new direct IP address for each camera in our system to resume services.
For the HTTP ports, use the PUBLIC Port number that was configured on the router for HTTP access.
For the RTSP port, use the PUBLIC Port number that was configured on the router for RTSP access.
Use the camera’s ONVIF user credentials for the Username and Password fields. These credentials can be the same as the ones used to access the web interface of the camera but if the camera has a separate ONVIF user, then use credentials for the ONVIF user (not all cameras have a separate ONVIF user).
Click on "Get Channels" to get the different channel profiles from the camera, then select the desired profile from the dropdown menu. Using the Quality Preset slider to configure desired quality settings for the camera, our system will adjust the camera streaming profiles according to the camera's available resolution list and quality presets. Click Create to add the camera to our system.
6. Adjust the streaming quality after the addition of the camera
After the camera integration process is completed, you can check the camera settings and adjust them if needed.
To access the camera configuration page, click on the camera name from the Cameras table and go to the Quality tab. Here you can change the Streaming profile, resolution, image quality, and target bitrate settings.
Archive duration is set according to the customer's default settings, though it can be changed from the Recording tab of the camera properties.
If the camera supports ONVIF event configuration, you will be able to modify the camera's motion detection, line crossing, and/or any other analytical modules from the Analytics tab. Also from the Analytics tab, server-side analytics can be turned on. For details, please visit this page↗️. For more information on how to optimize image parameters, please visit this article↗️.
For troubleshooting on the ONVIF analytics, please visit this page↗️.
For ONVIF cameras, only the Pay-as-you-go billing option is available at this time, so the total monthly bill for each camera will consist of the total storage used by the archives of this camera, plus the total traffic that was used when the camera was viewed either through the Video portal or through the mobile application.
You can download a PDF version of this tutorial here↗️.
To add an NVR using the ONVIF method, please visit this page↗️.