when you first receive your PTZ optics zcam the first thing you should do is
read the manual which is available at ptzoptics.com/downloads it's
important to note that there are two distinct types of z cams NDI and SDI
the PTZ optics zcam models are also available with multiple different lens
types in this video we will discuss how to set up both NDI and
SDI zcam camera models inside your box you will find the camera and included
wide-angle variable lens if you have the zcam VL and the power supply the 12x and
20x z cam models include an integrated zoom lens the variable lens z cam - VL
can support a variety of c and cs mount type lenses to fit multiple unique use
cases once you have read your manual it is time to decide whether you will power
your Z cam with the included power supply or an Ethernet cable connected to
a Power over Ethernet enabled network switch the PTZ optics Z cams support p OE
802.3 AF and the same cable used for video and connectivity can also be used
to power the camera once you have selected a method of powering your
camera you can plug it in and the camera will turn on automatically you will see
the power light illuminate once the camera has successfully powered on you
have two options for viewing video from your Z cam we can view the video over IP
connection or over the SDI video connection let's plug in your SDI
connection first to check that the video is working with your system to do this
connect the cameras SDI output to an available SDI input we will use an SDI
to USB capture card from magewell for this example once your camera is plugged
into the magewell capture card and your computer we can open up open
broadcaster software and click the plus button in the sources section we will
select the video capture device input and name our PTZ optics camera in the
input name section this will bring up the cameras video feed now we can use
the buttons on the back of the z cam to open up the on-screen display menu
inside the OSD menu you can adjust your exposure settings color image focus
noise reduction and more we can also view this information about our cameras
current IP address gateway and netmask setting let's now look at your options
for setting up a static or dynamic IP address for your camera to set up a
static IP address for your PTZ optics z cam you will need to download and use
our IP address settings tool available for Windows the IP address settings tool
can be downloaded at PTZoptics.com /downloads once you've downloaded
this tool unzip the files and put them onto your computer you can then launch
the application by clicking the upgrade .Exe file inside the folder this tool
should automatically find your camera on your network by default a new Z cam will
have the IP address of 192.168.100.99
right-click your camera showing up with the 192.168.1 hundred 99 IP address and
choose from the drop-down configuration menu this will allow you to set up a
static or dynamic IP address on your network we highly suggest setting up an
own static IP address on your network but you can select a dynamic IP address
from the drop down menu by selecting DHCP if you choose let's configure the
IP address and IP gateway let's set up an open IP address on our local area
network of 192.168.1.98 once we click the set button our camera will reboot
and turn on with the new IP address let's right-click the new camera's IP
address and hit preview so we can see the cameras video feed by clicking the
preview button in the bottom right once you have setup an IP address for your
camera you can now connect to the camera using a regular web browser by typing in
the IP address into the address bar when prompted enter the default username and
password which is admin admin you may want to consider changing this default
password in the admin area tip you can also use our free camera control
software available at PTZoptics.com/ apps this is a great tool for connecting
to your camera getting a live video preview and tweaking the camera settings
remotely navigate to the network tab and see that you can choose a fixed IP
address or DHCP from the very first drop-down menu now that you have access
to the camera over your network you can have remote control of the camera
settings now let's connect to the RTSP video stream from our camera within open
broadcaster software to test out our IP video connection the following steps
will be very similar in video production software such as
vmx Wirecast or exploit open OBS and add a scene in this scene we can add a
source with the plus button in the area right next to scenes select media source
and name the input in the properties of this media source we will uncheck the
first two boxes local file and restart playback when the source becomes active
now we simply need to enter our RTSP information into the text field which is
the following RTSP colon slash slash your camera's IP address : 5 5 4 / 1 the
last / 1 or optionally / 2 represents the 2 available RTSP streams
that you can pull from each camera stream one is your high-definition
stream and stream 2 is your standard definition stream to add audio into our
RTSP video stream we will use the road microphone with a line level output and
plug it in to the 3.5 millimeter audio input on the back of our camera the 3.5
millimeter audio input will provide an audio embedded into our IP stream now
you can configure your camera's RTSP video in the video tab of the network
interface you have the ability to tweak your camera's RTSP settings to deliver
reliable high quality video over IP note ptzoptics cameras can also support em
jpg and h.265 HEVc encode protocols if you would like to customize your RTSP
stream settings we highly recommend reviewing our PTZ optics streaming
settings guide available at ptzoptics .com/downloads if you have one of our
NDI z cams you can now set up your ndI functionality first of all we want to
download the NDI HX drivers on your Mac or PC computer these can be found at
www.newtech.com/ndiHX/products once you have downloaded and installed your
ndihx drivers we are ready to select the quality of your ndi stream tip ndi hx
video sources are generally one-tenth of the bandwidth of full ndi sources let's
take a look at the bandwidth comparison chart ndi hx low mode is set for 720p at
60 frames a second and it will consume up to 6 megabits per second of bandwidth
ndi hx medium is ideal for 1080p at 30 frames a second and that
set to eight megabits of bandwidth for reference a full ndi source at 1080p 60
can consume up to 125 to 200 megabits per second note all IP video including
ndi video sources are limited to 30 frames per second on Z cam models with
the latest ndi tool pack installed it's time to pull up your video feed and do
some final testing you can open up the NDI studio monitor application and right
click anywhere in the window to select your available ndI sources select your
camera and confirm that the video feed is working over ndI note if you have
multiple ndI cameras on your network each camera will require a unique
multicast address if multiple PTZ optics NDI cameras are using the same default
multicast address you may have issues with the same ndI video feed
interrupting each cameras feed refer to the NDI camera setup video for more
detailed information your camera is now setup and working on your network
remember that each computer you want to use your ndi hx camera with will require
the latest ndi hx drivers to be installed your camera is now setup and
you've learned how to access your camera's video over IP your camera also
has the ability to output high-definition video through SDI
simultaneously to fulfill even more advanced video production workflows
consider joining our PTZ optics user group at facebook.com/groups slash
PTZopticspals and if you have any follow-up questions do not hesitate to
reach out if you encounter any issues during the setup process feel free to
submit a support ticket at help.PTZoptics.com or simply call the phone
number listed on our website happy streaming