We are making this a 'sticky' at the top of the discussions to help anyone using the Camera Calculator. This is for the new V3 calculator (feature overview here) and replaces the old discussion thread for the V2 calculator that had 170+ comments.
Just ask your question in the comments.
Related, here is our tutorial video for the Calculator below:
Again, need help, have a suggestion, just ask in the comments.
Good day, i cannot connect on camera Calculator. i am logged in but it says server not found ?
Werner, sorry about that. It should be up now or in the next few minutes. We had a DNS issue, which we resolved and the corrected information is now propagating across DNS servers worldwide.
John, I haven't been able to use the calculator for the last hour. Assuming the DNS issue hasn't be resolved
Hi ,
we cannot connect to the IPVM tool .
Link is offline (DNS)
Sorry for the issue, we are actively looking at this. DNS is working in some regions, but not others. We will update you here.
The DNS issue should be resolved, we have verified by proxy and through manual VPN connection testing from US West Coast, London, Montreal, Sydney, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong , Dubai, Belgium, Switzerland, and Norway.
If anyone continues to have issues please reach out to support@ipvm.com
There is an error in the IPVM listing for the Interlogix TVF-310x series cameras where they are listed as 180 degree cameras rather than 360. This is reflected on the map with the wrong FOV. I had to put in an Axis 360 on the map to get the correct fov but that means the camera model listed in the exported report is wrong now.
Blaine,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. These have now been updated to 360°.
Hi There,
I am plotting a new project on Camera Calculator V3 but cannot see any blind spot calculation for the Hikvision DS2CD6924FIS 180° camera? The statement onscreen is 'HFoV must be lower than 180 to enable blindspot preview' - is this a camera issue or a software issue? Could really do with this information wrt blind spot at 'x'm mounting height? In advance many thanks.
Best regards,
Andy
Andy,
This due to the combination of that camera's specifications and how the Calculator works. With that camera's 86.7 degree Vertical Field of View, unless the camera is specifically pointed with an uptilt, there would be no blind spot.
However, it is still an issue with how we model those types of cameras. We are updating multi-imager support and will take a look at how we can improve these types of cameras.
Good day John,
On the camera calculator is there a way to get a BOQ on the projects a person created?
Werner, by BOQ, do you mean Bill of quantity / line item? If so, we have a CSV export that does that, e.g., for this 4-camera sample project I created, here is what the CSV export looks like:
It is a CSV file so you then can of course edit / copy / delete / customize it, as you please.
Does that help?
How do I reorder cameras? I have 8 cameras and when I went to export it changed the order and put camera #7 as the first camera and camera #8 in third spot.
The zoom level appears to not allow us to get close enough to prints when imported. Here is an example. This is as close to the print as I can get.
Thats because the resolution on the overhead image is too low. At the bottom left of the screen switch from satellite to blank. When its blank you only see the drawing, but you can get close up. When you have added in your cameras you can pull back and flip the satellite button again.
Hi People, Iam new in IPVM, Iam doing some tests using the calculator and the projects that I´ve created are becoming without name and cameras. Any idea?
Hi There, any chance of making the zoom in/out more graduated? I.e. x2, x3, x4 etc.? Whilst it's a great feature, you can end up too close or too far away with just a single click of the '+' or'-'. Many thanks.
The GeoVision FER5701 only has 180° option. Can you add the 360° similar to the FER5700?
Thanks
Richard,
The 360° option AoV has been added. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Hi all,
Couple of questions, both probably asked before but here goes:
1. Is there a way to remove all IPVM branding for integration into our own reports? This would be during export.
With Photoshop, Acrobat and Word I can do what I want but it takes time.
2. Is it on the roadmap to allow the use of a custom image in the Simulated Person section? I would like to do some vehicle mockups in particular.
Thanks!
I just pulled up this thread with a similar question. I'd love to remove the IPVM logo from the PowerPoint export.
I am unable to see the floor plan using any of the supported formats.
It looks as though even here I can't successfully load .PNG images to show the issue.
Hi Chase,
Would you be able to send me your project permalink and the png image to my email at adam@ipvm.com I will take a look.
Hi There,
Having some issues with the 'Simulated Person' images, specifically the right hand image representing a person with or without IR. On my latest plans I have existing and new cameras mapped, and done with different fill colours. The weird thing is that a few of the existing cameras (coloured green) show 'with IR' but the rest show 'without IR' when producing a power point, PDF or word export.
This is in spite of the fact that I have gone to every cameras & changed them all to 'with IR' & even tried locking the camera - nothing seems to work. Any ideas?
Many thanks.
Andy,
I am not able to duplicate your issue specifically on multiple projects. I was thinking that maybe the 'without IR' images may have been due to low PPF images, which look like 'without IR' but are actually "Dark with IR":
But based on your description that is not the case. Email me at sean@ipvm.com and I can help you further.
Good evening gents (GMT+1 here :) )
English is not my mother tongue so please be indulgent...
I have two problems with pdf floor plans:
1- typically, when importing a first floor plan (let's stay floor -1), when I want to import another plan (floor 0), the second plan is locked on previous one. So far, when working on multiples floors, I had to create one project per floor.
2- unless I'm wrong, I haven't find so far the weigth limit of a pdf. I've worked today on a 1,44MB plan but the other plan weighing 2,48MB is not loaded despite having the 3 green "v".
Additionnal question, can you extract a list of all cameras used for a project?
Thx for your answer!
Dimitri,
I will answer your last question first. You can export your project as a CSV to see the full list of cameras:
Regarding the floor plans on a multi-floor project. That is correct. We would actually recommend one project per floor in cases like that. You can export as Powerpoint and combine them into one file.
Finally, the Calculator can sometimes have issues uploading PDFs of that size. Try converting your floor plan PDFs to JPGs before importing them to the Calculator. Floor plans uploaded as JPGs also have better resolution at increased zoom levels in the Calculator.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly at ryan@ipvm.com.
Hello Ryan, thx for your swift answer!
I haven't tried the csv export so far. I will do it now.
Cheers.
I like the new multi-head functionality. That was always a sore spot. I did notice an error in the Avigilon H4A multi-heads in that the 360 4K model is showing views utilizing a 4 mm lens as 70 degrees. On the Avigilon spec sheet for the 4K models 4mm is 101 degrees. The imager size is different on the 4K than the 5 megapixel and 3 megapixel units.
Hello UD#28
I've updated the HFOV to the 101 viewing angle. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please let me know if you have any questions, you can feel free to reach out to me at adam@ipvm.com
Is there a way to filter cameras by storage supported (SD card, NVR, NFS, SMB..ie)?
UD#19 You can use our camera finder tool to search if your model has an option for on-board storage. At this time we don't have any more advanced data available. Please see the below image. Let me know if you have any more questions at adam@ipvm.com
Thoughts on when the Varifocal lens adjustment will be added to the P3715 camera?
Thanks
Good Afternoon Robert,
Looks like we had a bug and the values were removed. I've gone ahead and fixed that camera for you.
The Open Eye OE-C7098-AWR is not listed as having an IR illuminator in the Calculator when in fact it has a 50m IR. Can this be corrected?
Hi Pamela,
This has been corrected. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Hi John,
Any chance of adding the Hikvision DS-2PT3306IZ please?
Many thanks.
HI UD29,
DS-2PT3306IZ has been added into the calculator. Please let me know if you have any questions or need more cameras added you can message me at Adam@ipvm.com
When exporting is there a way to have the Description/notes show up in the export. We are hoping to add more information to the file sent to the customer, such as IP, address, etc.
Yes, there is.
To export your project to CSV format click the Export button and select CSV. Exporting your project to a CSV format allows for a simple list of the cameras used in your project along with your set specifications:
This format allows you to add installation details like IP address, serial number or what server it is connected to.
PLEASE NOTE: The CSV export only shows camera data, it does not include images, so you will still need to export your project as an image, PDF, or Powerpoint for that.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Hi IPVM,
I'm having difficulty adding a floor plan to a print. Every time I add a floor plan I get the faint white outline of the page - even if I isolate the plan in photoshop. I have tried uploading in several of the accepted formats.
Thanks in advance.
Justin, thanks for your first comment!
I am able to reproduce the issue for certain uploads; I believe the issue is due to how transparent backgrounds are handled in the file conversion process. I am currently working on a fix for this and will update here when the fix is applied.
In the meantime, if you would be willing to share one of the files that uploaded improperly with me to help with testing, I would greatly appreciate it! My email is: seth@ipvm.com.
Apologies again for the inconvenience.
Justin, I just applied the fix, so you should be able to upload your floor plans without the transparent outline. If you later want to make the floor plan appear transparent in your project, you can always do so using the "Make Transparent" toggle in the sidebar:
Hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any other problems or feedback!
Is there a way to show the camera name or number on the calculator at all times vs hovering over the camera icon?
Jonathan,
There is not, but thank you for the request/suggestion.
Currently you can create a label for each camera with the name or number, but this would be a significant work and visually could be a problem.
This could also be an issue with always displaying the camera name or number, especially on very dense projects. Just curious what your feedback or thoughts on that would be.
Currently I will use comments from Adobe Pro Dc to add just numbers either behind the camera or in the PPF. This helps to reference the camera and location when discussing with the client. Yes time consuming with the label and sometimes automatically changes the size. Unless there was a way to upload pre-defined labels. This is what a do with comments with Adobe Pro DC
Greetings - can you please add the following analog cams to the Calculator?
Hanwha HCP-7010RA, HCP-7020RA, HCP-7030RA, HCP-7070RA
Hi Lynn,
I just responded to your email with the instructions on how to view the EOL models listed in the calculator. If you have any additional camera requests please let me know at Adam@ipvm.com
My sincerest apologies, I typed the model #s incorrectly - my request should have been: "HCO", not "HCP". They are all current analog bullet cameras. Can you add them? Thanks.
Hello
When scrolling in/out textboxes changes font size, leaving me with a lot of different text sizes regarding which zoom level applied when typing the text.
Is it my browser or are other seeing this?
/Lasse
Lasse, sorry about that! Are you scrolling with a mouse? I am trying to understand specifically what is happening.
And can you post a screenshot of what this looks like on your screen, e.g., I just did this on mine:
I am looking for some of the new Panasonic/ i-Pro fixed cameras to be added to the tool. Specifically, WV-X2571LN, WV-X2551LN, WV-X2271L, WV-X2251L, WV-X1571LN, WV-X1551LN. Thanks!
Hi UD#31.
Those cameras have been added into the calculator. You can feel free to email me at adam@ipvm.com for any future adds or any questions you might have. Thanks!
When I enter into calculator and view a project I feel as if the map should be placed into "lock Mode" by default. When entering Calculator, any slight mouse movement or finger tap will adjust the layers and eschew the cameras and the floor plans. (This makes my map commonly have cameras in "left Field" so to speak.)
When showing a customer from my mobile device it does it too. So when one returns to PC based editing it only allows me to agree to previous changes and does not allow a "revert to" one can only agree to the accidental changes.
Please add Lock Mode as default on log-in and add a "discard changes" as a choice in lieu of "accept changes from another device". (SIC)
Also did yall ever add "walls" feature? --- making the camera FOV stop due to an obstruction or wall or similar issue. Be able to chop off the red line and baby blue FOV because a wall is there.
Thank you for making people's lives better in the work place.
Chris,
Thank you for the feedback regarding floorplan/map lock-by-default. If you are trying to line up a floor plan after scaling to locate it on top of a building on the Google Map, which is a common use case, this would be an issue.
I think it might make sense if you are using a Blank background, and would not be trying to specifically locate the floorplan. We will take a look at this.
We will take a look at the discard vs accept changes option, but I do not think what you suggest is possible with the current auto-save process we have in place.
Lastly, yes, we added walls to the Calculator. Click Add Wall to try it out:
Under Advanced: Lens, IR there are two selections: Display IR Spec Range and Display PPF Zones. Both are useful options but the PPF Zone toggles all cameras and the IR Spec toggles only the selected camera. While I can see instances where you might want to show IR distance only on certain cameras toggling all of them off individually can be time consuming on larger layouts. Can that be changed or a toggle all option added?
Richard thanks for the feedback! We are looking at some additional global/project level adjustments, including IR display, camera icons and field of view display options, reorganizing what is in the current "Camera View Options" panel:
I do not have a specific date or timeline for this, but it will be addressed.
Is there a way to "lock" the street view simulated view so that I can get a good simulated view, and then move the camera to a more accurate location?
U32, there is no way to do that, but the Streetview from Google should be most accurate based on the camera location on the map, other than the fact that Streetview images (obviously) come from the middle of the street.
You can use the "Add Your Own Scene" option if you have a more accurate simulated field of view picture. This is access in the desktop version under the Scenes menu:
Or can be taken directly from your phone camera in the phone version of the Calculator:
Any chance of getting the March Networks cameras updated? They seem a bit out of date. Thanks!
Hello Undisclosed Integrator #33,
We'd be happy to update the cameras. Did you have a list of models that we may add / update to the calculator?
Thank you,
Ben
IPVM's Calculator is an awesome tool! Thank you for pouring in the effort required to make the life of a security integrator easier.
can one summarise the camera requirements
Hi, how can i export my floorplans in high quality?
Tom, thanks for the question, and your first comment.
Currently, the maximum resolution we offer on exports is 1280x720, which is uniform across all file formats (PDF, PPT, Zip, etc). It is on our immediate roadmap to increase this, but I do not have a specific time frame.
Tom,
Thanks for following up, the Overview image is now in 4K (technically a slightly taller than 4K resolution), and each individual camera page is 1920x1170 (again, slightly taller than 1080P for page formatting purposes).
More details here: IPVM Camera Calculator - Export Resolution Increased/Blind Spot Update
Is it possible to add height to the walls in the GUI? This can be helpful for outside cameras to draw a wall around, let's say a small tree, and add a height to the wall. This way when we add the height of the camera it would look at the wall height and show the blind spots of the FOV. Just a suggestion.
Mark,
We have this logged as a long-term/low priority item, but the math as developed does not support this feature. There is also the complexity from a UX standpoint, which we have not worked out, as it relates to ground height vs wall height vs mounted height.
We definitely appreciate feedback and ideas, please continue to post or email me at sean@ipvm.com
I'm having a problem with views, settings and scenes not exporting correctly and not saving correctly. Using Chrome but got the same results when testing in IE.
I'm sorry you're having those issues, I tried duplicating and I thought I had an idea of what could be causing the problem, but on further review, I am not sure.
I was thinking that the blind spot was filling up the full FoV when it was narrowed:
However, it does not seem that you had blind spots enabled in the "Saved" view.
Can you email me directly at sean@ipvm.com ?
Sean,
Your mention about the blind spot pointed me in the correct direction. I do have blind spots enabled. The combination of the blind spot and the FOV maxed out in a corridor scene may have made the perfect storm. I switched to a wide scene and the blind spot appeared as it should, saving and exporting are working now with that camera's scene set to wide. Thanks!
Is there a way to just export the main page of a project instead of the entire scope. Would like the ability to just print out the map and cameras on said map.
Not directly, but the Overview image is a screen capture of the "View All Cameras" function. So you can right-click on the map, choose "View All Cameras" and then use Print Screen/Clipping Tool to capture the overview:
We have an update to the formats and aim of the exports on our roadmap for future release.
It is more pixelated than what you are getting in PDF/PPT/ZIP exports? What is your monitor resolution?
For example, I exported to Powerpoint and used Snipping Tool to grab an image on my 4K monitor. Powerpoint is on the left, direct/manual image snip is on the right (and is sharper):
Related to this, one of our next quality-of-life improvements for the Calculator is increased resolution on exports.
I have tried that as well on the different formats. At home my monitor only goes to 1080p but at the office I have 4K monitors. I will try tomorrow when I am in. Personally I like to send the permalink to the customer to look at but the sales dude would rather have printed out!
I appreciate the hassle and feedback Shannon, I have been pushing export resolution up to the front of the roadmap since early this year. The devs have been working on a major new feature, and 2 large existing feature upgrades, but on our development team call this morning we discussed our best (and quickest/temporary) options for increasing export resolution soon.
Thanks for the info and update. I will let the sales guy put in BlueBeam likes he wants to for now and I will probably also send the permalink.
Shannon (and other Calculator users),
We deployed an update this afternoon that increases the resolution of the Overview to 4K (technically a slightly taller than 4K resolution), and each individual camera page to 1920x1170 (again, slightly taller than 1080P for page formatting purposes).
Let us know what you think!
Thanks for the feedback.
Looks good on a PDF export but when I export a snapshot of a google earth image I keep getting something similar to this with large white squares. Also would be nice if the snapshot didn't include the first camera info at the top.
Hi Shannon,
I've just pushed a potential fix for the tile loading (white box) issue. Let us know if you still encounter this issue, and apologies for the inconvenience. The snapshot type is definitely one we will be re-examining during the format update. Apologies again, and hope this helps!
You're very welcome; we're glad you like it, and thank you for the continued feedback!
I did the zip file export for this same project and the overview didn't have any white boxes in it.
I've exported a dozen or more snapshots (and Zip exports) and have not been able to duplicate the white boxes. but I did see a few rendering issues; I think its a matter of timing and Seth is taking a look.
Hi Shannon,
As Sean mentioned, the Overview image is a screenshot taken after the "View All Cameras" function runs. As a workaround for now, you can always export a .zip file of all the screenshots, which includes the Overview image. Unfortunately, it is currently limited to the export resolution.
As Sean mentioned, among with other export improvements, we are currently discussing the best way to increase the screenshot resolution, taking into account how the overall page layout scales. We hope to have an update on resolution in the next few weeks.
Feature Request:
Add an option to remove the camera arks from floorplans with walls. The new walls feature is AWESOME and I use it a lot, but while seeing the arc extent is useful while designing, it just looks cluttered when I export it and show it to clients. Thanks!
U33,
Thanks for the feedback. I will add that as an option to look at when we update our Export functionality. Just a little background, during the design phase we looked at options to remove/de-emphasize the arcs, but then found it difficult to visually locate the "person" target when designing. But I agree that on dense designs, they can result in better-but-still-cluttered views.
Thanks Sean, I really appreciate all the work the team puts in on this project.
When I export to a PDF, I am finding that the satellite view is a different zoom perspective than what I'm using while designing the layouts. Is there a way to utilize a zoomed-in layout while exporting?
I just don't need all the landscape surrounding the site.
Alex,
Thanks for the feedback, the zoom level is set automatically based on Google Maps API available zoom levels.
We are looking into ways to allow a manual crop/zoom by users.
An option right now is to export as a PPT file, and then use the image tools in Power Point to crop/resize the overview image. We recognize this is not ideal but should help as a workaround.
What upper limits are you guys seeing for complexity? I got it near 100 cameras, walled out and quite a few labels, and if I even looked at the zoom button, I was in a world of pain. I'm currently separating things out to three different projects to see if that speeds things back up.
I'm running a Dell XPS laptop with an i7, 32 GB RAM, an SSD, Windows 11, and Chrome browser if that helps.
I've also noticed that it has resized and moved all of my labels.
Johnathan,
Thanks for your question, I will have to investigate the impact of labels, but often "stress test" the Calculator with 200+ camera projects with unrealistic and challenging wall scenarios. There is definitely a performance drop when you reach higher count projects, but I can still zoom/pan, and use satellite backgrounds. I have similar specs (i7, 32GB RAM, Chrome/Firefox) with my laptop as yourself, excluding Windows 11.
Please email me at sean@ipvm.com so we can take a look at your specific project and see if there is anything in particular that we can identify as an issue.
Hi, I'm looking to collaborate on a project with my group. Are projects shared with my group by default, with read/write access?
Tim,
Thanks for your first comment; current projects are only accessible by your account. This is the case for all users and projects. This is both a security measure and a system architectural design choice. IPVM staff does not even have access to your projects, which is why when you need support for a specific project, we ask you to share the project link.
That being said, having more robust project collaboration is on our roadmap, as part of an upcoming backend improvement. I do not have a specific timeline for this, but it will be coming after our release of access control design features.
Can you add GeoVision TVD-4810 to the calculator?
Thanks!
Hello Richard,
The camera you requested has been added to the Designer Tool (screenshot attached for reference). Please note the NDAA compliance as I was not able to find information via Geovision's NDAA list stating otherwise. Should you have any updated data stating compliance, please send it to me, ben@ipvm.com, and I'll be happy to make the adjustment.
Lastly, please let me know should you find any discrepancies.
Thanks for your addition.
Regards,Ben
Exports of my Calculator are not exporting all objects. Specifically missing one of my 3 network cabinets and the drawn connections to its cameras. I tried all different exports and I get the same issue.
C,
Sorry for the issues, I am not seeing any errors when exporting my projects, though we have seen the problem you described in the past. Please email me, sean@ipvm.com so we can troubleshoot your issue.
Axis Communication came out with two new cameras; M4317-PVE and M4318-PVE. These are not in the camera calculator yet. Is there an ETA for when they will be added?
The Axis cameras have been added to the Design Calculator (screenshots attached for reference).
Please note the nomenclature has been adjusted slightly to reflect that of the specification sheets from Axis.
Please let me know should you find any discrepancies and the necessary adjustments will be applied.
Thanks for your additions.
Regards,Ben
Thank you for getting these added so quickly. I will let you know if I notice any issues.
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