Vitamin D Video Reference Guide

Getting Started > Setting up a New Network Camera

Setting up a New Network Camera

See a short video tutorial of this topic here.

If your camera supports a feature called "Universal Plug and Play" (UPnP), Vitamin D Video can help you get your camera working on your network. This includes cameras built by Airlink, Axis, D-Link, Linksys, Panasonic and Y-Cam.

This section walks you through the following:

Installing Vitamin D Video software
Activating your upgrade to the Basic or Pro Editions (optional)
Plugging your network camera into your router so the software can find it on the network
Going to the configuration website of your camera and entering your Wi-Fi network name and password, so it can be downloaded to your camera
Disconnecting your camera and verifying you can now find it wirelessly
Telling Vitamin D Video the user name and password of your camera
Testing your camera feed
Giving your camera location a name

1. Install Vitamin D Video

Double-click the icon of the installer that you downloaded from the Vitamin D website, and follow the on-screen directions.

install icons

2. Open the Vitamin D Video application

The first time you start the Vitamin D Video application, you begin with the free Starter Edition.
- If you have not purchased the Basic or Pro Edition, click Use Starter Edition to continue. You can purchase an upgrade by clicking here.

starter upgrade

If you click Activate license..., you will see a screen asking you to locate the license file that was sent to you when you purchased the application.
- If you did not receive a license file, check your spam filter for a message from Vitamin D.
- IMPORTANT: If you are using Gmail and Internet Explorer, the file may be downloaded as a compressed .zip file. If so, right-click on the zip file and select the "Extract All" option.
- If you cannot find your license file, search your computer for a file that ends with the ".lic" file type.
- If you have a problem with your license file or need to have another license file sent to you, please contact support@vitamindinc.com.

3. Set up your camera

The first time you open Vitamin D Video, a Camera Setup Assistant opens to step you through installing a camera (it can also be accessed from Tools > Add Camera...).

Select your camera manufacturer.

Select model

Select the option to "Use Vitamin D Video to help me get my network camera working."

Use Vitamin D Video

Connect your camera to your router with an Ethernet cable (a standard networking cable), and then plug it into a power source (the order is important).

Select your camera in the list of connected network devices (it may take up to a minute for the camera to appear in the list).

If your camera does not appear in the list, your options are:

Try the troubleshooting tips below and see if you can fix the problem (some of them are simple so you may want to take a look).
Instead of Vitamin D Video, try the installation software of your camera. Then once it's working, come back to the Vitamin D Video camera setup assistant and follow the instructions for network cameras that have been set up.
If you are unable to set up your camera with the installation software that came with your camera, advanced manual setup instructions can be found here.

If your camera does not appear in the drop-down list, click here for troubleshooting tips

If your camera does not appear in the list, some possible causes are:

A temporary state of your camera.
- Try unplugging your camera, waiting for five seconds, and plugging it back in again.
- A more drastic step is to reset your camera to its factory default settings (deleting all configuration you have previously done). This typically involves pressing and holding a reset button (see your camera's documentation, or Google your camera name and "factory reset" for instructions). Then return to the beginning of this step for setting up your camera.
A temporary state of your network. Networks and devices periodically check in with each other, and can sometimes get out of sync. Resetting your computer's network connection may help:

If your computer is connected to a network wirelessly, turn off your computer's Wi-Fi connection and turn it on again.
If your computer is plugged into a network, unplug the computer Ethernet cable for 30 seconds and plug it in again.

The list is looking for a different type of camera.
- The list only displays cameras made by the manufacturer you selected in the first set up screen. For example, if you accidentally selected "Axis" as your manufacturer when you meant AirLink, your camera will not be displayed because the list is only showing Axis cameras. You can go back to the first set up screen and check the manufacturer or choose the option to show "Other" to display all cameras.
Your camera is on part of your network that your computer cannot see.
- Networks can be divided into sections (called "subnets"), for example in some cases with more than one router. If your camera is on a different subnet than your computer, the software cannot see it. This is explained in more detail here.
- If your computer is connected to a router with an Ethernet cable and your camera is on Wi-Fi, try disconnecting that cable and putting the computer on the same Wi-Fi network as the camera. Or, if your computer is connected with Wi-Fi and your camera is connected with Ethernet, try connecting your computer with Ethernet.
- If you are comfortable with configuring networks (or know someone who is!) then you can try connecting your camera directly to a PC to reconfigure it. This is described here
A configuration issue with your computer. If you have another computer available on your network, try using using that computer instead. Sometimes a given computer has a specific configuration problem that is not found in others.
Your camera does not support the "Universal Plug And Play" standard (UPnP). The setup assistant uses this standard to detect devices attached to your network. If your camera does not support UPnP, you need to select the option to "Manually specify the address of a network camera" described here. Sony and ACTi cameras, for example, do not support UPnP. You can try to Google "UPnP" and your camera model name to find out.
Your camera does not have UPnP turned on. TrendNet cameras, for example, do not have UPnP turned on out of the box. It is necessary to go to the TrendNet configuration website and find the UPnP setting. (In the current version of the website, this can be found at Network > Network. Find the UPnP setting at the bottom and click Enable.) However, to get to the website it is necessary to get partially through the set up process using the software that came with your camera. It might be simpler to complete the camera installation using the TrendNet software, then return to the setup instructions for network cameras that are already installed.
Your firewall security settings do not allow UPnP. If you have a different (i.e more secure) firewall than the Windows default firewall, UPnP may be disabled. You may be asked to give Vitamin D Video permission to have access to your network. If not. one workaround is to manually enter the IP address of your cameras . A second (advanced) workaround is to enable 'multicasts' in your firewall for Vitamin D Video. Specifically, enable it for "Vitamin D Agent." Vitamin D Video multicasts on the IP address "239.255.255.250". It listens for multicasts on UDP port 1900, but also broadcasts a multicast (and listens for responses) on a UDP port that the system assigns it. The above is needed both to populate the list of connected devices as well as to later find a camera that was selected from the list. None of the above is needed if you manually enter the IP address of the camera.

Click the link on the screen to open the configuration website of your camera and create a user name and password.

Note: make sure to write down the user name and password, because you will need them later.

Click here

Click here for more details.

Most network cameras can be configured using a web browser. Note that each camera's configuration page works a little differently--we have included a few examples below.
For most cameras, the camera configuration web page is password protected to prevent unauthorized access.
- On some cameras, you will be asked to assign a user name and/or password when you first connect to the camera.
- On other cameras, the user name and password used to access the camera starts out as a default value. See below for a list, or Google "default password" and your camera model number. Note that you should use the camera's web site to change the password to something else so that others can't access your camera.

Manufacturer	Default user name	Default password
ACTi	Admin	123456
Axis	root	pass
D-Link	admin	[none]
IQinVision	root	system
LinkSys	admin	admin
Panasonic	[none]	[none]
Sony	admin	admin
TRENDnet	admin	admin

Some sites, like Axis, provide a default user name ("root"), and you are only asked to create a password:

axis create password screen

After creating a password and/or user name, some sites immediately ask you to enter them again. Simply enter the ones you just created:

axis pw screen safari

If you wish to use your camera plugged into an Ethernet port, select the option that says, "Wired, plugged in where it is, or into an Ethernet port on this network," and then skip to Step 4.
If you wish to use your camera wirelessly, select "Wirelessly, connected to my network using Wi-Fi."

Wired or wireless

Enter your wireless network settings on the configuration website of your camera.

Note: there is usually a "Save" or "Apply" button at the bottom of the web page that you need to click to transfer these settings to your camera.

wireless settings

Click here for more information.

Your camera needs to connect to your network the same way that your computer or other devices do. It needs to know the name of your network and any security information, such as the network password.
Your camera configuration website usually has a section where you can input these settings, so they can be stored on your camera.
On the Axis website, for example, this is found by first clicking "Setup."

You will then see a screen with different sections appearing on the left-hand side:

Click "Wireless" to configure your camera with the settings needed to talk to your network. The next screen shows wireless networks within range of your computer.

Confirm the settings for your network. In this example, if you use a password to access your network, enter it next to the word Passphrase.
Web pages for other cameras have different layouts, but usually have similar features. Navigate through the settings menus to find similar settings.

Disconnect your camera from your router, unplug the power, and plug it in again. It may take a minute for the camera to power up.

Some cameras, such as Panasonic cameras, have a switch to change between "Wired" and "Wireless" modes. If so , change this switch setting before plugging the camera back in.

disconnect camera

Check to make sure that your camera works wirelessly. If the video appears frozen, try clicking the Refresh button on your browser.

4. Tell Vitamin D Video how to access your camera

Enter the user name and password of your camera into Vitamin D Video.
If you have changed the port assignment of your camera, enter the new port number in the box labeled HTTP port or RTSP port. This is most likely if you have set up "port forwarding" or advanced network management. If not, leave this box blank (the default value is 80).

camera settings

(This feature is only available in the Basic and Pro editions.) On the same screen, select the resolution you will use to save your video. A few important points:
- Make sure that your camera supports the selected resolution (specifically, not all cameras support the higher resolutions such as 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024).
- Note that you can save your video at a different resolution than the camera is streaming. To change the resolution of your camera, go to the camera configuration website described above. For example if you set your video to be saved at VGA (640 x 480), you should check your camera configuration website to make sure your camera is streaming at VGA rather than QVGA (320 x 240) or lower.
- Selecting higher resolution settings can increase processing and disk space requirements considerably. For resolutions higher than VGA, you may find it necessary to increase the amount of disk space allocated to saving video, which is described in the section Managing Your Video.

resolution setting

The set up assistant now attempts to access your camera on the network using the user name and password you entered. This may take a few seconds, or it may take up to 30 seconds or more. The blue box in the middle of the screen should change from saying "Connecting..." to displaying an image of your camera's view.

test screen

If no video image appears in the blue box, click here for troubleshooting tips

If the text "Could not connect" appears instead of a video image, that means Vitamin D Video could not access your camera.

The camera may be rebooting. In that case, the image may reappear after 30 seconds or so.
You can click the link in the middle of the screen that says view your camera from your browser. This launches your default browser and attempts to find the configuration website of your camera.
- If you can connect to the website, that means that the settings are correct and your camera is working properly, but Vitamin D Video cannot access it. The most common cause might be that the user name or password entered in the previous screen is incorrect. Otherwise, it might be an intermittent network problem, where clicking Back and Next to retry the connection might work. Or it could be some random state where rebooting the computer and trying again will work.
If you cannot connect to the website, that suggests the problem is somewhere between the camera and the network, such as:
- The camera is not powered on or is malfunctioning.
- Note that your computer needs to be on the same network as your camera. If you set up your camera on a laptop and took the laptop to a different location outside the range of your Wi-Fi network, you will not be able to see your camera (even if you have Internet access on that computer using a different Wi-Fi network).
Some cameras use the "RTSP" protocol rather than the "HTTP" protocol. You can verify this by clicking Back to view the Settings screen. If so, check if it has settings for the rtsp authentication method on its configuration page. If so, 'digest' mode is not supported by Vitamin D Video, it must be configured to use either 'basic' or 'none."

5. Create a name for your camera location.

Enter a Camera location name, which is used in various places by Vitamin D Video. For example, when looking for video clips, it might be easier to choose between "Front yard" and "Backyard" than it would to choose between "Camera 1" and "Camera 2."
To edit a camera location name after quitting the setup assistant, select Tools > Edit Camera Location.

location name

6. Choose to finish or add another camera

finish

7. Mount your camera

If you have not yet mounted your camera, click the link below for some tips. Where you mount your cameras and how you position them can impact your results significantly.

Click here for tips on how to mount your camera.

Where do I put my cameras?
- Most cameras cover a relatively narrow angle (e.g., less than 60 degrees). If you want to cover the entire outside of your house, for example, you'll find that with blind spots you could easily need 6 to 8 cameras. An alternate approach might be to set up cameras inside of your house, in common areas or where valuable items are. To protect privacy, you can set the internal cameras to record when people aren't around, or when you go on vacation.
- If you want to scan general activity, such as when gardeners are in your backyard, you might want to put the camera in a second story window looking for a wider view. Be aware, however, that people in the distance are more likely to be labeled as unknown objects.
- If you want to get the best shot of a person's face (e.g., to identify intruders), it is best to mount the camera at eye level. If you mount it higher, a baseball cap can shield a face.
- If you are interested in security for your office or retail location, a few specific options are listed below. Also, there is a video tutorial on this topic..
  - Place it at entrance points where people may break in.
  - Place it on a door to a room containing valuable items, e.g., a stockroom.
  - Point it directly at a cash register or safe.
  - Point it outside to cover an area where you are concerned about vandalism.
  - Place it in a location where people are likely to walk through to get to areas where valuables are kept.
How to get the best results. If you can place the camera in a well-lit area where you can see the entire person, your results should be very good. The following are categories of problems that can affect recognition:
- Poor light. If you want to use the system at night, it won't recognize people outside of well-lit areas. Leaving a porch light on, for example, will increase accuracy.
- Dark shadows and low contrast. If it's possible, avoid areas where a person will blend into the background, e.g., pointing it against a wall rather than under shady trees.
- Parts of people covered up.
  - When people pass behind objects like trees or table, they appear to be split into smaller objects, which can be difficult to detect.
  - Accuracy is best if the full figure is visible for as long as possible. For example, the camera may be at an angle where people passing through are partially cut off through most of the clip. Repositioning the camera can eliminate many of these problems.
  - If people are too close to the camera, and large parts are out of the frame, it may be difficult to detect them accurately.
- Trees and branches. Swaying branches and shifting leaves in bushes can be picked up as objects or even people. Sometimes pointing the camera towards the lawn can crop out problem parts. A branch near the camera may be detected as an object if the hard edges of the leaves sway in the wind.
- Reflections. Windows or water surfaces near streets can reflect headlights that may appear to be objects. If you have a camera inside a window pointing out, you may get reflections from the inside. Try to place the lens flush against the glass if possible.
- Overhead angles. The software has not been trained with overhead views, so pointing a camera straight down on someone will not generate good results.