💡 At a Glance
The video timeline lets you pinpoint exact moments in recordings using zoom, playback tools, and activity markers for people, vehicles, motion, and more.
⚡ Key Features
Filter by Time
Click the Filter by Time button to set a start and end time. A time selector appears on the timeline that you can resize and reposition to define your focus range.
Timeline Zoom
Scroll up and down to zoom in and out from a full 24-hour view to a few minutes of footage.
Playback Time and Current Time Indicators
A grey dotted line marks the current time, and a red line shows your playback time.
Activity markers
Colored blocks in the timeline indicate instances of people, vehicles, or motion, letting you quickly spot significant events and click to watch them.
Region of Interest (ROI) Search
Draw a box or free-form polygon over the video feed to filter bottom-panel events by region. Click Entire Image to reset.
View Results for People, Faces, Vehicles, Motion, and Custom Searches
Below the video timeline is a set of tabs that shows clips of all key moments during the day.
For detailed information, keep reading below.
Overview
The video timeline is a key feature of a camera's Timeline view. It allows you to explore all of a camera's recordings, showing instances of people, vehicles, and other motion. It also allows you to filter and search for practically any events captured by the camera.
To learn more about Timeline view, refer to Introduction to Timeline View.
Video Timeline Features
Date Picker
A screenshot that shows the date picker.
By default, the video timeline is set to the current date, and the time frame is set to a 24-hour view of the day. The date picker allows you to quickly navigate to a video recording from a specific date and time and define the video time frame.
To set the date for video playback do any of the following:
Click Today to open the calendar, then select a day.
Click the left and right arrows to move sequentially between days.
Click View by Day, then click the video thumbnail day you want to view.
A screenshot that shows the Filter by Day button.
Filter by Time
Click Filter by Time to add a dynamic time selector to the timeline.
A screenshot that shows the Filter by Time button.
A screenshot that shows the time selector.
Choose start and end times to filter the results tabs.
Click and drag either end of the selector to adjust the range.
Click within the selector to begin playback from that point (without moving the selector).
Click and drag within the selector to move the selector (without adjusting the length of the selector).
Click outside the selector to re-center the selection around that moment.
Tip: As you adjust the selector, the results tabs for People, Vehicles, Faces, Motion, and Discover, update in real-time to match your defined time range.
Instances of Activity (People, Vehicles, Motion)
A screenshot that shows icons for instances of activity.
Instances of activity from people (
) and vehicles (
), and any instances of motion (
), are represented by coloured blocks in the timeline view. To expand the timeline and see instances of activity in more detail, hover your mouse over the timeline and scroll up. To view the instance of activity, click on the timeline to move the current playback time indicator. The video plays.
Timeline Scale
A screenshot that shows the timeline scale.
The timeline scale provides a representation of time across the selected date. By default, it displays a 24-hour view, allowing you to quickly navigate through the entire day. To zoom in on the timeline, place your cursor within the timeline and scroll up. The timeline scale adjusts to show finer increments, such as hours or minutes, offering more precise time selection. To move the zoomed-in timeline, click and drag left or right .
Current Time Indicator
A screenshot that shows the current time indicator if playback is in the past.
Current Playback Time Indicator
When playback is in the past, the current playback time indicator is a solid grey vertical line that shows the current playback time of the video.
A screenshot that shows the current playback time indicator if playback is in the past.
When playback is live, the current playback time indicator is a solid green vertical line.
A screenshot that shows the current playback time indicator if playback is live.
To move the playback time indicator, click in the timeline, or use the date and time picker to navigate to a start time in the past. When you move the current playback time indicator, the video feed updates automatically, and the video plays.
Go Live Button
If you set the timeline to a date or time in the past, the Live indicator changes to a Go Live button. Click Go Live to return to the live view.
A screenshot that shows the Go Live button.
Region of Interest (ROI) Search
Click the ROI icon above the video to draw a square or polygon over the video frame. This filters activity tabs by what occurred within the selected region. To remove the ROI filter, click the Entire Image icon.
A screenshot that shows the Region of Interest tool.
Reviewing Activity and Events in Timeline View
After setting your desired date, time period, and region of interest, you can navigate through the activity sub-tabs at the bottom of the page to view results according to various criteria. Each sub-tab contains clickable thumbnails of each event instance. Click a thumbnail to view the video clip of the event.
A screenshot that shows the location of the activity sub-tabs.
Tips:
On smaller or lower-resolution screens, the sub-tabs can be hidden below the video timeline. Scroll down to find them.
For People, Vehicles, Faces, and Motion, video clips are organized from most recent to oldest, ensuring you see the latest activities first.
For Discover, search results are organized by relevance, so that you can see the most accurate results first.
All results are automatically filtered based on the time frame and region of interest set in the main video timeline, providing a seamless and unified browsing experience.
People
The People sub-tab displays thumbnails of any video clips that include any people captured by the camera. This category does not require the person’s face to be visible, making it versatile for various monitoring scenarios.
Vehicles
The Vehicles sub-tab displays thumbnails of video clips that include any vehicles detected by the camera during the selected time frame. Similar to the People sub-tab, the visibility of the plate is not necessary for a vehicle to be captured.
Faces
The Faces sub-tab is dedicated to video clips where the camera has captured a person's face. If a profile exists for that person, the profile appears in the list of results. This feature relies on the visibility and clarity of a person’s face to function effectively.
Motion
The Motion sub-tab highlights video clips where any form of motion has been detected. This category is versatile, allowing you to filter motion events by people, vehicles, or all types of motion.
Tips:
You can sort motion events by descending or ascending order based on the event time.
You can use the slider to modify the length of each clip to reduce bandwidth usage or expand the coverage of a clip.
Discover
The Discover sub-tab enhances your search capabilities by allowing you to use natural language queries to find specific results. Unlike the other sub-tabs, Discover does not pre-populate results based on broad categories but instead sorts them by relevance to your search terms.
Tip: Enter queries in everyday language, such as “delivery truck" or "security guard on telephone", to locate specific events without needing to know exact details.
Best Practices
Define Clear Time frames and regions of interest: Start with broad time periods and regions of interest, and narrow down as needed to efficiently locate relevant footage.
Leverage Filters: Utilize the filtering options within each sub-tab to focus on specific event types, reducing the time spent searching through irrelevant clips.
Utilize Discover for Specific Searches: When looking for particular events or actions, use the Discover sub-tab to perform targeted searches using natural language, enhancing the precision of your investigations.
Regularly Review Faces and Profiles: Keep your face recognition profiles up-to-date to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the Faces sub-tab.