Camera Control

Camera Control drives your PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras: move and zoom them, focus, recall and store position presets, and watch their pictures.

Where to find it

Open Produce > Camera Control. You can also get there from a camera's Open PTZ Control button on Patch > Devices, or by clicking a camera name in the PTZ Cameras card on Produce > Dashboard.

• In Tech Manager (the desktop app on the booth computer), commands go straight to the cameras over VISCA or ONVIF on the booth's network, and the picture is live from the camera.
• On the web app, every command is passed through your booth's Tech Manager, so Tech Manager must be running and paired. The header shows which booth carried the last command and how long it took (for example "via Booth · 40 ms").

Only cameras that have PTZ Control enabled in Patch > Devices appear here.

Add a PTZ camera

1. Go to Produce > Camera Control.
2. Click Add camera (at the bottom of the camera list, or on the empty page), or the plus icon above the list.
3. Fill in Camera label and Camera IP. Leave VISCA port at 52381 unless your camera uses another port, and leave VISCA dialect on Detect automatically.
4. To see a picture, add the RTSP URL (and Username and Password if the camera needs them). Click Test RTSP preview to check it.
5. Click Add camera. It appears in the list and in Patch > Devices.

To look for cameras on the network instead, click Discover cameras (or the search icon above the list). Scanning runs only in Tech Manager on the booth; on the web app you are told to scan from the booth or add the camera by IP. A camera the scan finds shows up here once it is in Patch > Devices with PTZ control turned on.

Move and zoom a camera

1. Go to Produce > Camera Control and click the camera in the list on the left.
2. Use the Move panel on the right: hold an arrow to pan and tilt, hold the zoom buttons to zoom. The centre button and Stop all stop every motion.
3. Or use the picture itself with the pointer tools above it:
   • Move — drag on the picture to pan and tilt, scroll to zoom (Tech Manager only).
   • Target — click a spot to centre the camera on it.
   • Frame — a box follows the pointer; scroll to size it, click to take that shot.
   • Search — click where the subject went; the camera re-centres there and briefly zooms out so you can find them.
4. Set speed under Pan & tilt and Zoom: Fixed gives Slow, Med and Fast; Variable gives a slider.

The Move panel can also show a Virtual joystick instead of the button pad.

Recall and store presets

1. Go to Produce > Camera Control and pick the camera.
2. Under Position presets, click a preset to send the camera there.
3. To save a new position: aim the camera, click Store, then click the preset to save into. A thumbnail is captured for reference. Click Cancel to leave store mode.
4. To rename presets, click Labels, type the names and click Save labels.

Each camera holds up to 9 presets. To add or remove preset slots, click the gear (Camera settings), use + Add preset or the remove button under Preset Labels, and click Save changes.

Focus the camera

On Produce > Camera Control, in the Controls tab on the right, under Focus:

1. Auto keeps the camera focusing by itself. Manual lets you use Near and Far (they only work in Manual).
2. One-push auto-focus focuses once and then holds.
3. The focus lock button (it reads "Focus unlocked" or "Focus locked") freezes focus so someone walking through the shot does not pull it.
4. AF sensitivity and AF zone tune auto-focus.

Use the keyboard or a game controller

1. On Produce > Camera Control, click the keyboard button above the picture to turn keyboard control on.
2. Keys: W A S D pan and tilt, R / F zoom in and out, T / G focus far and near, 1–9 recall a preset, Shift+1–9 save a preset, Space or X stop, Y auto-focus, [ / ] speed down and up, Esc exit.
3. For a controller, click the gamepad button and press any button on the controller. The right stick pans and tilts, the left stick zooms, and A B X Y recall presets 1–4.

Click the ? button (Control methods) to see which inputs work where you are.

Watch all cameras at once

1. On Produce > Camera Control, click the grid button (All cameras) above the picture.
2. Every camera shows as a tile. Click a tile to open that camera.

If the computer cannot keep up, tiles drop to a lower quality. Click Try full quality to try again.

Adjust the picture and preview

On Produce > Camera Control, in the Image tab on the right:

• Image adjustment changes brightness and colour on the camera itself, when Tech Manager supports that camera's brand. Click Read current values from camera to load the current values. If the panel says the booth build has no image-adjustment support, update Tech Manager.
• Orientation Mirror and Flip only change the preview in this app, not the camera's output.
• Preview stream picks Main or Sub, TCP or UDP, and the width.
• Thumbnail refresh sets how often the list thumbnails update: Auto, On open or Manual.
• Test this camera walks through the camera checks and sends the result to WorshipMetrics.

Troubleshooting

The page says "No PTZ Cameras Ready"

No device has PTZ control turned on. Open Patch > Devices, click View on the camera, open its Camera tab, turn on PTZ control and click Apply changes. Or click Add camera here.

The camera will not move

• A yellow banner saying Tech Manager is offline means the booth link is down: controls and previews pause. Click Check now, or Reconnect booth if the booth looks online but controls stopped responding.
• If the camera shows Offline or Unreachable, check its power and network, then click Refresh.
• If the header says someone else is driving, click Take control. They are told you took it.
• If it never answers, open Camera settings and check the Camera IP, VISCA port and VISCA dialect. Many PTZOptics-style cameras use port 5678.

The web picture is only a slow snapshot

The badge on the picture says why, for example "live relay not installed". In Tech Manager on the booth, open Produce > Dashboard and click Install or Start on the Live video relay card. When it runs, the web picture shows LIVE.

The picture says "No RTSP URL"

Add the camera's RTSP URL in Camera settings. Without it you can still move the camera, but there is no picture.

Auto tracking shows an error

Auto tracking runs on the camera itself, so it only works on cameras that have it (such as PTZOptics Move, SimplTrack and OBSBOT). Other cameras refuse it.

A preview went dark with a Resume button

The page paused the video to save bandwidth. Click Resume.

Good to know

• Moving the camera reserves it for you ("You are driving"); it frees itself a few seconds after your last move.
• On the web app, the Move pointer tool is not offered because drag-to-pan lags through the booth; use Target, Frame, the button pad, keyboard or a controller.
• The Audio tab in the camera list shows the audio gear in Patch > Devices, for reference only.