HiroPro

Thanks for this post. It seems ACTi is the Asian Axis cam OEM equivalent ehh... but with better pricing... they also seem to think out other features better and have better mechanical design. How well does those ACTi cameras work with Avigilon, Genetek or Exacq? (BTW that corp name total sucks and is hard to remember and spell but I won't hold that against you Indianapolis) PS what's ACTi's soon to be released free boxed NVR/VMS like? are you a beta tester or something?

hahah yup they are smart in Richmond ehh... Just place a hat on it with larger diameter! DOH! What's with Axis not thinking mechanically regarding water droplet issues... Dumb! hmm... I gotta visit these guys as they clearly make the best cams in the biz ehh! I can't believe they even do PCB fab and SMT laydown in Richmond. Clearly they care about doing it all inhouse! VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE Avigilon!

edit

xellby here is a search for camara housing at alibaba http://www.alibaba.com/CCTV-Camera-Housing_pid301107 As you can see you can get them rather cheaply as in under $20 bucks for an aluminum unit with IR illumination and IP66 ratings and even a heater! I have to say something that instantly occured to me regarding outdoor domes. Every design I've seen will have water droplets when it rains. Don't any of the manufacturers have a brain and have a chevron shaped top cover to divert the water so it doesn't collect at the dome bottom... RETARDED Here is a hack an Axis user did http://custforum.axis.com/viewtopic.php?p=5732 I can see a mechanical design change that could prevent that issue so easily I'm amazed manufacturers haven't thought of it. HINT you ever see those Comb Morion Military helmets !?! I'm also curious what type of HD arrays you guys use. My current server has a Crucial SSD for OS and a 2TB Seagate that I can get more drives and RAID, JBOD etc. Four WD RE4s at 3TB would be a great choice no? What RAID level or JBOD would you guys use? PS I can instantly think of a mechanical utility patent to fix droplets on domes that would make $$$ and I haven't even got started...

Thanks for the blog dude it's really great stuff for people in this field! If you follow my other thread are you willing to make some suggestions regarding cameras?

WOW sorry dude! I do appreciate your input! Perhaps you can correct me on my wrong assumptions? And sorry for my tone with everyone it's just I right away got the same vibe I've had with point of sale integrators and dealing with them in the past.

Rich cat homes and small business. I can't wait till you see Genetec's pricing Why not just share round about pricing with me on this forum now ehh!?! You guys behave like point of sales guys beating around the bush etc with no straight answers... pushing your linecards and other stuff with no forthright answers and talk reminiscent of a politician interview on TV. Yup I'm 100% not going to use Avigilon due to these kinda channel BS and everyone parroting it due to margins they make on the software and no real public info on pricing. I have to be a partner to even buy it... but I guess that's how all three I'm looking at market their product. I guess to get that I gotta pay the outfit with the testing website 30 bucks a month ehh for access to real no BS info. Why can't you guys just be honest with people ehh! Dude I'm not in your area down in the states and I'm no competition to you! I guess pricing can't be made public even if your not a vendor for said software? Not even willing to share a roundabout idea of pricing ehh thewireguys? Even via PM?

Vandal proof housings from mainland China are available and CHEAP. BTW what does legacy analog cameras have to do with elevator deployments anyway!?! You'd think a UBNT wireless AP would make sense for that kinda thing as I'm sure you can only pull power into the elevator right? I'd stick two APs like Nanostations on the top and/or bottom of the elevator shaft then I'd use a cheap M10, heck why not it has a light and two way audio, and I'd stick it into a cheap mainland housing. Done deal.

Rich cat homes and small business. I'm unconventional compared to most in my thinking. For example I figure analytics makes a lot of sense for SMALL DEPLOYMENTS. I bet you think the opposite right... Well dude... when the monitoring is UNATTENDED as it is in most small business or home deployments doesn't it make sense to automate it! Being oldschool and screwing around with hybrid legacy frame capture card BS to integrate into existing legacy installs is a way to make extra $$$ on labour right... and I'm sure old schoolers do it for posterity/reminiscing sake etc. Plus I bet a lot of them don't know jack **** about IT other than their weekend training sessions or vendor conventions etc.

Come on man what's an M11 or M10 go for... Under $250 for the M10 right... That's LESS than the labour to hookup the old system and get a frame grabber for god's sake! Doesn't make any sense what so ever to me... Yes I am extreme when it comes to DOING IT PROPERLY and in a cost affective way. Anyone that claims adding a frame grabber and using legacy analog cam is cheaper than simply yanking it and replacing with M10 for example is full of BS and is looking to make labour $$$ f'ing around with that old gear and cabling BS. PS most of the time it's LAZYNESS not willing to re-run the necessary structured wiring IMHO!

To answer to these questions you need experience installing many difference systems and spending tens of thousands dollars on gear to find out what works without having someone pulling the levers. Or a guy like me finds someone that knows all that stuff and is willing to share and not use this forum to try to sell crap to people that aren't even in their region/area. At this point for cameras I'm back to what I always thought was the best brand, Axis! As for software it's really for my region two choices, Genetec or Exacq. I don't f around ehh so I'll prob order a good 5k worth of **** to run in my lab for testing. Is there not a trade organization or a pay website that actually reviews this stuff PROPERLY AND UNBIASED !

100% on the money! Fantastic post! Can I friend you!?! lol I'll tell ya because I know these channel partner games etc and what motivates POS and CCTV resellers. 100% the decision is MARGIN on the cameras and software... I am the ANTITHESIS of this brother! I make my money on the QUALITY of integration, my structured wiring perfection with thin wall conduit and JDSU verification and certification. My IT skills and expertise with IP networks and service and support. Screw margins on cams and backend soft man! And WTF would anyone care about a "hybrid"! WTF would I use a legacy cam on a new deployment... YANK THAT ANTIQUATED GARBAGE PS PoE ALONE is enough reason to yank that oldschool CRAP

I have no idea what the server seat and channel costs are for Genetec but it can't be that far from Exacq can it! Also considering the software pricing unless I cared about PROFIT on selling the software, and I don't, and the cost of cameras I personally feel deciding on NVR/VMS based on pricing is STUPID... STUPID considering the costs of the actually IP cameras right! duh! Like one decent megapixel cam is the cost of the software seat right! Doesn't make any logical sense to me to decide based on server soft pricing... Not in the channel counts I'd deploy... Not at all!

This is GREAT NEWS if it's subpar because that seems to be a big deployment in my region. Genetec with Axis would kick it's ass IMHO (especially with VideoIQ analytics) and This opinion is without using ANY of it or having ANY deployment experience... PS I have a good nose for BS ehh PSS I've actually eyeballed the gas station deployments using that stuff and wasn't every impressed AT ALL... YAY!

I'm doing it for a friend and also considering getting into this industry. Thanks for the info on Exacq camera connection issues. Can you share particulars like camera makes etc that had those issues? When you changed the software out for Avigilon the issues were solved? This could mean many things like cam firmware issue with Exacq that wasn't there with Avigilon thus it was a camera firmware issue not the NVR/VMS backend right... or it could be Exacq having issues... or it could even be poor structured wiring... I have a VERY EXPENSIVE JDSU tester that certifies and I find a LOT of idiots install the friggin cabling WRONG and terminate 8P8C screwy etc. or punchdown with the cutter blade orientation backwards nicking the conductor etc. It's systemic actually! PS you'd think people in these fields would be competent at crimping a bloody 8P8C properly....NOOO.... ROTFL

I just checked that out... FANTASTIC old school frame grabber hybrid systems... FANTASTIC that's my competition! heheh uhh If I install systems it will be 100% IP with camera SBC encoding and PoE. Any existing cameras I'd YANK!

Hey thanks Soundy for the offer and information! I very much appreciate it! Vigil uses what software? I'm a nerd that has a history of building custom PCs for one of the three tier one custom PC vendors. I couldn't bring myself to purchase an appliance like device. I have a server for this job already built and if you checkout my earlier post you'll see it's a real hotrod machine with a Lian Li hot swap HD system. I don't think any of them have a Z77 chipset 3770K offering ehh!!! PS if I get into this Vigil will be a COMPETITOR and ENEMY PSS is this Ownen Business Machines dealing these system? Who is the dealer?

Is this an honest response or a lame attempt at being facetious? I've never deployed this stuff nor have CCTV expertise but this is the conclusion I come to with little research. #1 Genetec Security Center #2 ExacqVision #3 Avigilon #4 Milestone I'm sure each slot is debatable but the list of 4 seems on the money to me. Now I just need to know what cameras are decent for the money. Looking at the following Axis cams: P3367 Q1602 Q1604 and the M11 series for in-store isle monitoring etc for cost affective deployments. BTW do any of them leverage the power of a GPU for analytics and H-264 decoding with APIs like CUDA, OpenCL or DirectCompute? The only software I've seen that does this is Bikal Eyesoft.

You said it not me. You were very quick to throw Avigilon under the bus for no reason. I've hardly thrown it under the bus and I have a good reason to do business with them as I'm about 20 miles from the factory and headquarters! I have not used the software but from what I can see both Genetec and ExacqVision APPEAR to have better software just scratching the surface. I take it the indirect insults and emotional responses are coming from Avigilon dealers right... So I'm supposed to believe your opinions are not BIASED ! WHAT EVER

Hey dude... I'm a stranger on the internet right. Why would you indirectly insult me !?! I'm open to everything and to suggest I don't have an open mind is somewhat INSULTING... DON'T YOU THINK! WTF

Thanks for all the responses guys! For cameras I'm now looking at these three Axis models. P3367 Q1602 Q1604 I've seen Q1604 on a PTZ vid on youtube. I take it that's a separate PTZ mechanism that's not controlled by the camera's SBC/firmare? Must require a secondary 802.11f run then right? Sorry for my ignorance. PS BTW those new Axis with HDR and better low light look great to me

Hi John, What makes of Axis cameras are using the latest generation SBC platform etc?

You guys... It's even a PITA to get pricing on cameras. What online shop actually lists pricing and has a decent linecard so I can get an idea of what decent cameras cost these days.

Interesting.......Avigilon's player software is identical to the client software Avigilon is a hardware/camera manufacturer. I'd almost be willing to bet my left nut that software is a whitebox from someone else. It looks good and everything but I'm certain without even trying it that Genetec and Exacq are better. Exacq whiteboxes to other vendors BTW... It seems Genetec has a more advanced backend but the Exacq guys have really nice iOS devs and software. The cost of server and channels from Exacq was really impressive talking to the rep. I wonder if Genetec's pricing is in line with Exacq. It seems I'm now getting a handle on the software available. Now I need some serious education about cameras considering my somewhat idiocy of purchasing those UBNT cams. It's just the customer when I looked over the job was like all customers... camera here camera there camera here... ... they all think you need a good three to four times the cameras than what is really needed logically for the integration and with wide FOV multi megapixel one camera can do the work of many. LOL typical I bet working in this field...

Ok.... Sorry this video shows some use of the software but the person demoing it can't even be bothered to talk... lkokaY27qEM Here is a video of Genetec being used and explained. JhCLdPq0X_w It's PR in terms of the fancy voice hired and production values... BUT it explains technical stuff... This not only speaks for the PR firm hired for production BUT it also speaks to the mentality of Genetec right! Genetec and Exacq looks like the software/companies I'd do business with... Genetec's alpha channel UI in video window wins me over and tells me the devs are much more advanced dev with prob game/graphics dev background. Also checkout this 3D "Immersive Map" interface they have. Clearly the Genetec dev team are much much more skilled than others in the DVR/VMS software industry less those Eyesoft guys with their CUDA leveraged analytics. I'm amazed the only oufit I can find that is leveraging GPUs is those guys in England. Weird... as it's a natural for H.264 decode and analytics! nGK0d_iY8kg Genetec looks like it has a really nice iOS app as well. IybDI9gJmK4 Exacq also looks like it has decent iOS apps as well. 6B6MOBOtzS8 Both of these iOS examples of apps are not VNC/VPN Desktop sharing trickery but proper STAND ALONE APPLICATIONS.