There are two possible configurations to include NVR in the surveillance project. A direct connection of the cameras to the cloud is preferred, for such a solution, the NVR is connected in parallel to the cloud, and thus the two systems remain fully independent. Cameras are streaming directly to the cloud, and NVR serves as a backup device for instances when there are issues with internet connectivity.
If the recommended configuration is not possible, then follow these steps to add NVR to our system:
Step 1
Turn ON and configure ONVIF access to the NVR.
Typically, you will need to go to the Security or Network settings page and locate the ONVIF menu. For some NVR models, the ONVIF user has to be created first. Consult the NVR manufacturer's user manual for specific procedure steps. Not all NVRs will have this option. If your NVR does not have a separate ONVIF user/service but does support ONVIF protocols, proceed to step 2.
Note: When integrating cameras into the NVR, it is strongly recommended to use the RTSP (Generic) method, or at a minimum, the ONVIF protocol
Step 2
Configure port forwarding for HTTP and RTSP ports on the NVR. Consult your router manufacturer's manual for specific details on how to do this.
Step 3
From the menu, Customers select a customer and go to the Cameras tab to access the list of cameras. Both NVR and regular cameras will be listed here.
Click Add and select the ONVIF Camera option to add a camera that is connected to the NVR. Repeat this for each camera that is connected to the NVR. As a result, you will have multiple copies of NVR on the list.
Step 4
Next, open each copy that was created during Step 1 and select an appropriate Streaming channel under the Quality Tab to finish the configuration. This step defines which camera will be shown in the portal under the specified name.
Step 5
Check your NVR encoder settings.
If the same camera is sending the video stream to multiple devices (3dEYE is one, NVR is the second), make sure that each device/service is using a different stream channel, otherwise, there will be a conflict of camera settings that can result in a dropped connection or other issues.
When the NVR is set to the H.265 codec, ONVIF won't show compatible streaming channels, making it impossible to select those cameras in the admin portal. To resolve this, manually switch the NVR to the H.264 codec using its web UI, and the channels will become visible in the admin portal.
IMPORTANT: If your NVR has its own plug-and-play, P2P, or any other special native protocol to communicate with the cameras, make sure to switch to the ONVIF protocol otherwise, unexpected connectivity issues will occur. These issues might range from video loss to camera switching to a much higher/lower resolution/quality than is configured in the Admin portal.