AI Search: Find Video by Describing It - A Guide to Text-based Video Search

Textual Video Search (also called Descriptive Video Search) lets you find recorded video simply by typing what you're looking for, in everyday language. Type something as simple as "orange Subaru" or as specific as "person smoking a cigarette from a car window", and the system looks for recorded events that match your description, across the cameras and time range you choose.

What it searches today: Text-based Video Search looks through recorded analytics events. The Advanced Video Analytics add-on must be enabled on the cameras you want to search. It does not search all recorded footage or camera-generated motion events.

⚠️Important: Search results are investigative leads, not proof. Always verify them in the recordings. A match does not, on its own, establish a person's identity or intent.

What You Can Describe

Your description can combine any of the following:

• Objects – a vehicle, a bicycle, a bag
• People – and what they look like
• Visual attributes – colors, makes, types
• Activities – riding, cleaning, smoking
• Interactions and scene context – "from a car window", "in a parking lot"

Quick Start

1. Click the Search (magnifying glass) icon in the top toolbar.
2. Choose the cameras to search.
3. Choose the time range.
4. Type a description and click Search.
5. Use Relevance, Sort by and Show to refine what you see.
6. Click a result to watch it, or select several and click Open In Layout.

Each step is explained below.

Step 1: Open the Search

Click the magnifying-glass Search icon in the top toolbar. The search opens in a new tab, so your current view stays right where you left it.

The search page has a description box at the top and your filters underneath. Until you search, it shows a hint reminding you to describe what to find.

Step 2: Choose Cameras

1. Use the camera selector to pick the cameras you want to search.
2. Click Select All Shown to select every camera in the list currently displayed.
3. Click + Add to include entire camera groups.

Your selection is summarized in the filter bar (for example, 12 selected). Remember that only cameras with the Advanced Video Analytics add-on enabled will return results.

Step 3: Choose the Time Range

Click the time filter and pick one of:

• Last hour
• Last 24h
• Last 7 days
• Custom – set your own start and end date and time

Step 4: Describe What You're Looking For

1. Type your description in the search box.
2. Click Search.

Here's a simple description, "orange subaru", searched across 12 cameras for the last 7 days:

Each result shows the camera name, the date and time, and a similarity percentage showing how closely it matches your description.

Example Descriptions

A behavior-based search such as "cyclist riding without helmet" can return a large number of events to review (82 in this example), so use the tools in Step 5 to narrow them down:

Make Your Description More Specific

If you get too many results, add detail. In this example, adding one word narrowed the results:

Tip: if a search returns too little, try a simpler description. If it returns too much, add details such as vehicle type, color, or what the subject is doing.

Using Search to Spot Repeated Activity

Because you can search several cameras across several days, Text-based Video Search is useful for spotting patterns, such as the same kind of activity recurring at the same place. Investigators call this pattern-of-life analysis: working out when and where similar activity happens again and again.

For example, searching "white jeep cleaning in parking lot" across 12 cameras for the last 7 days and sorting by Date lets you see repeated visits to the same area over time:

The same approach can help with an investigation of repeated unauthorized activity, for example searching "person manipulating vehicle door" to surface events worth reviewing. Remember: these are leads to verify, not conclusions.

Step 5: Refine, Sort and Preview Results

Relevance slider

The RELEVANCE slider sets the minimum similarity a result needs to be shown:

• Move it right → fewer, closer matches.
• Move it left → a broader range of possible matches.

The count under the filters updates automatically. It tells you how many results are showing and how many are hidden by the current setting (for example, "10 matches, 90 below the relevance threshold").

Sort by

• Relevance – closest matches first
• Date – most recent events first

Show

• Object – a close-up of the detected subject with its bounding box
• Frame – the full camera image with the bounding box, for extra scene context

Step 6: Review Results and Open Them in a Layout

Watch a single result

Click a result to review its recorded event in the Floating Video Player.

Review several results together

1. Tick the checkbox in the top-left corner of each result you want.
2. Click Open In Layout at the bottom of the screen.

Each selected recording opens as its own tile in your current layout. In this example, eight results are selected:

• Click Select all to tick every displayed result.
• Click the X in the selection bar to clear your selection.

Step 7: Start a New Search or Close the Search

Start a new search

Click the X inside the search box (clear field) to remove the current description, then type a new one.

Close the search

Click the X on the search tab to close it completely.

⚠️Note: if the search is your only open tab, open another tab first, then close the search tab.

Which Search Should I Use?