Exporting Video Surveillance Footage

From Intellex CCTV DVR Systems

TCDSB

Version 1.0 (draft)

Author: David Klein (Technical Services)

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 1 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
Table of Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................3
Definitions .................................................................................................................................................................3
Step 1. Gather preliminary information.........................................................................................................................4
Step 2. Review the Video (at the Intellex Console).......................................................................................................5
Step 3. Extract the Video (to the administrator’s PC)....................................................................................................6
Step 4. Export the Video................................................................................................................................................9
Step 5. Burn the Video to CD or DVD ........................................................................................................................12
Appendix A. Addition Considerations When Retrieving Video..................................................................................13
Operational and Technical Considerations when reviewing and Extracting Video.................................................13
Appendix B. Organization of Video Data ...................................................................................................................14
Naming Convention for video extracts of ‘Incidents’ .............................................................................................14
Large Video Extracts ...............................................................................................................................................14

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 2 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
INTRODUCTION
This document is intended to assist school administrators and authorized TCDSB staff to effectively and efficiently
review video footage recorded on Intellex video surveillance systems in support of a review of an incident.

The following approach is recommended based on the capabilities, and limitations, of the digital video systems as
implemented in the Intellex systems.

The approach is summarized as follows

1. Gather preliminary information

2. Review the Video (at the Intellex Console)
3. Extract the Video (to the administrator’s PC)
4. Export the Video (to a common video format)
5. Burn the Video (to blank CD or DVD)

DEFINITIONS
What some of the terms mean in this document:

• Review video – means to search for relevant video of the incident (usually at the Intellex console).
• Extract video - means to retrieve a copy of the video stored on the Intellex system to another computer,
usually the administrator’s PC.
• Export video – means to convert the extracted video from the Intellex –specific video format to a format
that can be readable on another PC without the need for special Intellex viewing software.
• Burning video – means to record the exported video file to a recording CD or DVD for transfer to another
PC.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 3 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
STEP 1. GATHER PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
Gathering preliminary information before searching for relevant video footage on the Intellex will enable a more
effective and efficient search for video.

It is recommended that a reviewer identify the following key information:

1. Approximate date and time of the incident

• Determine when the incident started and ended.

• If possible, identify a timeline of the incident.
• Note: Be aware there may be a discrepancy between the school’s clocks (or individuals’ watches) and the
Intellex DVR unit’s clock. The Intellex DVR unit’s internal clock is synchronized to the network time
clock, which in turn is based on the atomic clock time.

2. Location(s) in the school where the incident took place.

• Many incidents are not stationary. They may start in one area, but might conclude elsewhere on the
premises.

3. Identify the cameras covering the incident areas.

• If the incident took place over the course of even a few minutes, the location may also have moved
throughout the school and have been caught by different cameras.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 4 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
STEP 2. REVIEW THE VIDEO (AT THE INTELLEX CONSOLE)
It is recommended that the administrator review the video surveillance footage at the Intellex DVR console.
Reviewing video records at the Intellex console means the reviewer can access the recorded video directly on the
Intellex system’s hard drive and quickly find the desired video.

Reviewing video on the administrator’s PC using the Network Client software is subject to following limitations:

a) The Network Client software does not give direct access or remote-control capability over the Intellex DVR
unit. Instead, a copy of the video segment must be downloaded to the PC for review.

b) The information gathered in Step 1. may not be accurate. In most cases, estimates of the time of the incident
are usually simply estimates, where the actual time may have been ½ hour (or more) earlier or later. The
downloaded video might not contain the incident if the segment downloaded starts before or after the actual time
of the incident, which could result in repeated attempts to download the correct video segments.

c) Video extracts can take a long time to transfer over the network.

d) The downloaded video will require a lot of storage on the administrator’s PC hard drive or H: drive.

e) The downloaded video cannot be further edited in Network Client into smaller segments containing just the
incident. Instead, the smaller video segment would have to be extracted again.

1. When the video segment(s) of interest is/are identified, write down the following information for later retrieval to
the administrator’s PC.

Here is a sample video review of an incident that started on the 2nd floor, and the reviewer tracks the individual(s) as
they go down to the main floor, out the front door, then to the parking lot.

Date * Intellex DVR Camera ** Start Time*** End Time*** Notes

2007-05-21* 0982INTELLEX02 7** 12:55 12:57 2nd floor hallway
2007-05-21 0982INTELLEX02 8 12:57 13:05** stairs
2007-05-21 0982INTELLEX01 14 13:05 13:10 1st floor hallway
2007-05-21 0982INTELLEX01 13 13:10 13:20 main entranceway
2007-05-21 0982INTELLEX03 9 13:20 13:22 parking lot

* Date format: (Year-Month-Day) It is recommended that this format be used for identifying dates and file names
for later organizing and retrieval of video.

** Cameras may also have descriptive names e.g. HALLWAY N/W, etc.

*** Intellex video retrieval uses the 24h format for time.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 5 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
STEP 3. EXTRACT THE VIDEO (TO THE ADMINISTRATOR’S PC)

Using the information recorded in Step 2, start the ‘Network Client’ software installed on the Administrator’s PC
(Principal or Vice-Principal) and log using an authorized userid.

3.1
At the main screen’s top menu, select
the ‘Video’ button.

This will open the ‘Retrieve Video’

screen.

On the ‘Retrieve Video’ screen, select

the source Intellex DVR.

Set the start time and date to indicate

the beginning of the video segment to
extract.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 6 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
 Set the end time and date to indicate the
end of the video segment to extract.

In the ‘Cameras’ area, select the

cameras for which video will be
extracted, then click ‘OK”.

This screen should appear, indicating

that Network Client is querying the
specified Intellex unit to verify if video
is available for the time & date duration
on the specific cameras.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 7 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
 If the query is successful, the Network
Client will automatically start
downloading the requested video to the
local PC.

The Video Download Progress is

indicated in the lower left status bar.

(Wait for the video retrieval to

complete before going to the next step.)

1. Select an existing category, or type

in a new category if needed.

2. Name the incident (see xxx for more

information)

3. (If desired) Include any notes or

observations relevant to the incident in
the ‘Notes’ section.

Then, click ‘Save Incident’.

Note: the ‘Video Incident’ screen will

then close and return to the ‘Retrieve
Video’ screen. Click ‘Cancel’ , not
OK, or the Network Client will attempt
to retrieve the video again.

To review the video, go to the video

database (click on the ‘Database’ tab).

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 8 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
STEP 4. EXPORT THE VIDEO
4.1 Switch to ‘Database’ view
In Network Client, click on the
‘Database’ tab to view the video
extracted in Step 3.

Select one camera in the video

incident, right-click on the camera,
and choose Export, then Avi.

(Do not select ‘File’, as this will

simply export the video in the
Intellex proprietary format.)

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 9 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
 Click on the ‘options’ button

The ‘video compression’ will

determine the format of the video
extract.

The default is ‘Microsoft Video 1’,

which is relatively low-quality.

Instead, click on the ‘down’ menu to

see the other ‘Compression’ codec
options.

Choose ‘Cinepak Codec by Radius’,

then click ‘OK’.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 10 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
 On the main Screen, click on the
‘Save’ button.

Choose where the exported video file

will be stored on the local PC (or in a
network H: drive, if desired).

In the ‘File name’ section, type in the

name of the file that will be created,
then click ‘Save’.

In this example, the video file will be

saved on the Desktop with a name
‘sample video extract’. The .avi
extension will be added
automatically, and the final filename
will be ‘sample video extract.avi’.

The export process will then start,

and will display this status window.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 11 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
 Verify that the resulting file can be
played by Windows Media Player.

Once the export is completed, using

File Manager, go to the file that was
created, and double-click on the file.
The default media player should then
open up the file and start playing the
video.

STEP 5. BURN THE VIDEO TO CD OR DVD

Burning the video to CD or DVD will depend on the capability of the reviewer’s PC, including whether or not the
PC is equipped with a CD or DVD writer and the necessary software.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 12 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
APPENDIX A. ADDITION CONSIDERATIONS WHEN RETRIEVING VIDEO

When reviewing data, it is a good idea to verify how many days worth of recording may be available before the
oldest video records are overwritten by new video records.

For example, if a recording period for an Intellex DVR is 21 days, then no video would be available for an incident
that took place 22 or more days ago.

Due to the 'looping' nature of the recording system, where oldest video is overwritten by newest video, the highest
priority should be to preserve any relevant video that would otherwise be lost.

This priority is satisfied by extracting the video to a system e.g. the Administrator’s PC, on which the copied video
will not be overwritten.

OPERATIONAL AND TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN REVIEWING AND

EXTRACTING VIDEO
1. Due to the volume of video data, and the customized configuration of the Intellex DVR systems themselves, it is
not technically feasible to copy or replicate the entire contents of a DVR system. Instead, relevant segments (or
'incidents') must be identified for extract.

2. Because the Intellex DVR systems are 'production' systems e.g. they are recording on a 24/7 basis, it is not
feasible, except in extremely urgent cases, to take them offline for an extended period of time to preserve video, as
this would mean there would be no recording in the meantime.

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 13 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc
APPENDIX B. ORGANIZATION OF VIDEO DATA
NAMING CONVENTION FOR VIDEO EXTRACTS OF ‘INCIDENTS’
'Incidents' are the actual video extracts retrieved from the DVR systems. The extracted incidents are stored under
categories in the ‘Network Client’ video database on the Administrator’s PC

For organization and later identification purposes, the following naming convention is suggested.

(Note: The incident name is limited to a maximum of 29 characters)

<date> + '-' Name where:

<date> = year-month-day e.g. 2005-11-21

Name = descriptive name of the incident
(The ‘-‘ is optional)

Example:

2005-11-21 - Hallway argument

or

2005-11-21 Hallway argument

LARGE VIDEO EXTRACTS

It may be necessary to extract a long video segment in smaller sections e.g. a 45-minute extract might need to be
broken into three 15-minute segments by performing three separate extracts. To ensure that they are organized
properly, use the indicated naming convention above, but append a segment identifier at the end of the name:

1. A large video extract may be extracted in multiple 'segments':

2005-11-21 - Name - a
2005-11-21 - Name - b
2005-11-21 - Name - c

Exporting video surveillance footage from Confidential Page 14 of 14

Intellex CCTV DVR systems (draft).doc