Smart Search

Along with regular archive playback and sequence exploring, Macula Monitor application provides the smart search feature, which allows you to specify a region of interest and let software search for motion events in the defined area based on the existing motion detection (MD) metadata. This advanced search option is available for all Macula servers and editions.

There are two types of motion analysis operation: grid and area (frame). Grid type detection is implemented for software-side motion analysis (both High Performance and High Accuracy modes), while most devices send their motion detection metadata in the form of areas (frames), this is, the software only knows if the motion was present in the configured zone, and exact location of the motion in that frame is not available.

Understandably, precise results of smart search can be only obtained for grid-like detectors. Searching through an area-type stream by motion region will give you motion events whenever motion has been detected in the configured detection areas. In order to get better search results with device-side detectors, please adjust the motion detection zone via device Web interface.

In order to start using smart search, click the corresponding tab on the upper panel of the main Macula Monitor window.

When you open Smart Search for the first time since Macula Monitor application startup, the main viewing area will be empty. The resources menu on the left will contain all recorded streams, just like in regular playback: simply drag and drop your desired video stream onto the viewing area in order to start working with it. The panel on top of the viewing area will have your selected channel and stream name displayed then. The loaded stream will still be there if you switch to some other tab and then go back to Smart Search.

Search Parameters

The search procedure consists of three main steps: define the region of interest, set the time period and sensitivity, and analyze the results.

Once you have selected the stream for analysis, the stream preview will appear in the upper right corner as a static picture. You can use the buttons below the picture to choose the point in time for the preview: this comes handy in case the stream comes from a PTZ capable device, or if the underlying device has been moved/replaced. Choosing a correct scene is crucial for obtaining the correct search results.

Click and drag on the picture to draw a rectangular region of interest. You can mark multiple regions and also combine them to make them overlap, creating a more complex shape. Press the Clear region button to discard all areas and start drawing again. If no region is specified, all available motion information will be searched.

Afterwards, set the search interval using the controls below the picture. You can enter the date manually or use the calendars to choose a specific day. To manipulate time, click the desired time units and then either enter the numbers from your keyboard, or use your mouse wheel, while still hovering the mouse cursor over the timestamp.

Next, set the desired threshold for the motion absence by dragging the slider. Threshold range is 5..60 seconds and it defines how much time should be there between two subsequent motion events for them to be reported as a single event. For example, if you set the threshold to 5s (minimum), all consecutive motion events with gaps between them smaller than 5s will be reported as a single search result, and events having more than 5s between them will be presented as separate results.

When ready, press the Search button to filter the motion events according to your settings. Smart search results will appear in the central viewing area; if the specified time interval is large, the results may appear not at once but rather one by one, as the search progresses.

Investigation

Each of the search results will be presented as a preview picture with a timestamp below, the timestamp designating the beginning of the sought-for motion event. At the same time, all results will be listed on the right-hand side, with the currently displayed results being highlighted. The list also shows the motion event duration for each of the results. In the very bottom of the list, the total number of results will be displayed.

You can change the presentation grid by choosing the desired layout in the drop-down list below the central area: available layouts range from 3x3 to 6x6 viewports. If there are more results than a single layout can contain, left and right - |< and >| - arrows will become highlighted, allowing you to browse back and forward. Notice how the highlighted item set changes as you browse. You can scroll the list and choose any result from the non-highlighted items; the corresponding portion of results will be then loaded in the viewing area.

Click the event of interest - either a row in the right-hand list or a picture in the central viewing area - to start working with it: the selected video clip will be looped and played back continuously.

The overlay control buttons in the bottom-right-hand of each viewport allow you to perform the following actions (from left to right):

• Play button: go the regular Playback mode to view the search result in a single channel mode

• Bookmark button: click to add a bookmark at the beginning of the selected video clip

• Video export button: selected video clip will be automatically exported

For just any video clip in the results you can go to the regular playback mode with a single click of the Play button overlaying the clip; to go back, simply click the Smart Search tab to get back right where you left off.

When you export a video clip from the search results, it is exported automatically with your pre-defined video export settings, without the need to confirm the time range. You will still be asked for the file name if you have not chosen to use pre-defined settings. In order to export longer video clips, either go to the regular Playback mode by choosing the corresponding tab in the top panel, or select a higher Motion absent duration threshold in the smart search parameters.

The Smart Search, Continuous mode.

The Continuous mode for the Smart Search allows you to review all the events found to be displayed one after another.

To enter Continuous search mode:

1. Select the 1x1 grid-size at the bottom of the Macula Monitor.

2. The Continuous mode switch will appear near the grid-size picker; turn it on, and found events will start to play one after another.

Continuous mode will bring a complete timeline for the selected channel. All the events found will be marked red on the timeline and focused accordingly on the search result list.

You also can go to the Smart Search directly from the Live view by clicking on the Send to Smart Search viewport control.