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Configuring Hanwha’s AI Camera Plug-In with Milestone XProtect: A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn how to step up your video surveillance game with the Hanwha AI plugin for Milestone XProtect so you can perform advanced analytics such as object detection and classification, facial recognition, and license plate recognition. This blog covers the basics of the plugin and walks you through the configuration process.
Table of Contents

Buckle up because we’re getting you up to speed on Hanwha’s AI Camera Plug-In. We’ll zoom through the basics of the integration and then talk you through the steps for how to configure it with your Milestone XProtect VMS!

What is the Hanwha AI plugin all about?

The Hanwha AI Plug-In for Milestone XProtect bridges Hanwha’s onboard advanced AI video analytics capabilities to Milestone XProtect.  It provides powerful search right inside XProtect Smart Client.

It uses AI analytics metadata to perform complex analytics like object detection and classification, facial recognition, and license plate recognition, among others.

Searchable events include:

  • Persons detected with attribute extraction (video below)
  • Faces detected with attribute extraction
  • Vehicles detected with attribute extraction (video below)
  • Vehicle license plate detection 

Check out this demo of this AI vehicle search:

Check out this demo of this AI person search:

By adding AI-powered analytics to the video management system, it’s easier than ever to detect potential security threats and anomalies in real-time. Plus, with the ability to gain greater insights into your video data, you can automate your workflows and improve your overall efficiency.

How does the AI plugin improve the accuracy of video analytics in XProtect?

By leveraging deep learning algorithms and advanced image processing, Hanwha’s AI can detect and classify objects with greater precision than traditional video analytics. This capability coupled with the AI-plugin enables XProtect to provide more accurate alerts and notifications to users, improving their ability to detect potential security threats and anomalies.

Compatibility

Which version of Milestone is AI compatible with?

To use Hanwha’s AI Plug-In you must be on Milestone 2019 R3 or higher, Milestone Expert or Corporate level.

Does the Hanwha AI Camera Plug-In work with all Hanwha cameras?

The Hanwha AI Camera Plug-In only works with Hanwha’s Wisenet series of cameras, including the Wisenet X series and the Wisenet P series. These cameras feature advanced AI capabilities, like deep learning algorithms and advanced image processing, that are necessary for the plugin to function effectively.

Installation

Download the Plugin

First things first, head over to the Downloads section of Hanwha’s website and grab the server and client plugins. You’ll need these bad boys to get started.

Plugin Installation

Now that you’ve got the plugins, it’s time to install them:

  1. Server Plugin: Install the server plugin on your Milestone Event Server.
  2. Client Plugin: Install the client plugin on each client where you’d like to view Hanwha metadata.

Configuration

Configure the Hanwha Camera

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In Basic > Date & Time, set the Time Zone and hit Apply.
  3. Click the radio button to synchronize with an NTP server.
  4. Enter the DNS name or IP address, and press Apply.

Create Your Alerts

Navigate to Analytics > Enable IVA to turn on the analytics engine. This will allow you to create alerts in Milestone.

Time to set up some alerts! Let’s start with Virtual Line:

  1. Click anywhere on the video to start your line, then click where you’d like to end it.
  2. Change the direction of interest by clicking on the arrow.
  3. To delete a line, right-click on the line itself (not the arrow or the end points). You’ll get a pop-up where you can press OK to delete. It’s a bit tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it!
  4. Name your line and select the object type (person or vehicle) you want to alert on.
  5. Click Apply.

Now, let’s create a Virtual Area:

  1. Click anywhere on the video to start your area and select three additional corners.
  2. Name your area, select the object type (person or vehicle) you want to alert on, and choose the type of alert (intrusion, enter, exit, appear, or loitering).
  3. Click Apply.

Configure Object Detection

Moving on to configuring object detection. Object detection will power Milestone’s forensic search capabilities.

  1. Go to Analytics > Object Detection.
  2. Under the Object tab, check the box next to Enable object detection.
  3. Select the object types you want to detect (person, vehicle, face, or license plate).
  4. Ensure the Best Shot function is enabled and that you have selected the appropriate objects.

Configure Milestone XProtect

Next, let’s configure Milestone XProtect:

  1. In the Management Client, navigate to Metadata Use > Metadata Search.
  2. Select the People and Vehicles category and enable both options.
  3. Under Recording Servers, find your camera and enable the metadata device.
  4. Under Rules, create a rule to always record metadata. I like to do this so that I don’t miss anything, but it’s not mandatory. Your call!

Milestone XProtect Forensic Search

Next, let’s configure Milestone XProtect:

  1. Click the Search tab.
  2. Select the time period and the camera you’d like to search.
  3. Be patient! It could take several minutes for it to start populating metadata.

And that’s it!

Congratulations, you’ve successfully installed and configured the Hanwha AI plugin for Milestone XProtect.

Enjoy your new setup and have fun exploring all the features it has to offer!

Well, there you have it folks: a quick and dirty overview of the Hanwha Camera AI Plug-In and the step-by-step instructions for congifuring it with your Milestone VMS.

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