Adding a Multi-Stream or Multi-Head Camera

IMPORTANT: The information in this article is specific to Orchid version 1.12.7 or earlier.  Equivalent instructions for Orchid versions 2.0.0 and above are available in the Orchid Core VMS Administrator Guide in the chapter "Adding and Managing Cameras: Cameras with Multiple Lenses".

Background

Many cameras offer multiple views or video streams from a single device using a single IP address.  These devices may be 360-degree cameras, panoramic cameras, or multi-channel video encoders.  Orchid supports recording multiple streams from a single device via its ONVIF Profile S or Generic RTSP drivers.  In this article, we will explain recording multiple streams from a single ONVIF Profile S device.

Recording Multiple Streams from One Device

For each camera that is added to your system, Orchid records one stream from that device (the "primary stream").  To record multiple streams from a single device, simply register that device multiple times and select a different primary stream on each registered instance.

In this example, we will show how Orchid can record all four views from an Axis F34 multi-head camera.  Begin by going to the Configuration interface and registering the auto-discovered Axis F34 device FOUR times, giving the camera a different name each time.

Multi-head or multi-stream devices will contain one or more pre-configured streams for each available view on the device (typically labeled "profile1", "profile2", etc.).  For each registered instance of the device, mark a different stream as "Primary" to record and view that stream.  Note that it may take a few minutes for the Preview thumbnail to show the new stream on both configuration page and in the bag of cameras for live view -- for immediate feedback, view the camera by dragging it out onto the stage.

In this example, we have registered an Axis F34 four times, labeling each instance as "Axis F34 View 1" through "Axis F34 View 4".  For each of the registered instances, we have marked "profile_1_h264" through "profile_4_h264" as the Primary stream.  Going back to the Orchid stage, we can now see that Orchid is recording four separate streams from our single Axis F34 camera.