The main window of VideoCAD is called the Graphics window. At the top of the window there is the Main menu and the Toolbar. Using the buttons from the bottom row of the Toolbar,  you can invoke drawing and editing tools. Additional windows can be invoked by the buttons from the top row of the Toolbar.   In the center of the Graphics window there is the Graphics area with 2D projection of the layout on which you will draw and place the cameras.   During drawing or editing constructions, the Current construction parameter panel appears under the Graphics area. On the panel you can change parameters of the construction, which you draw or edit. When drawing or editing does not occur, the Current construction parameter panel is hidden.   If more than one object is selected on the layout, then the Selection Editing Panel appears, where you can edit parameters of all selected objects at once.

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Navigation on the layout is convenient using a mouse with a wheel. You can move the layout by the mouse with pressed wheel, scale the layout by turning the wheel.

Press Ctrl to reduce scaling step.

The sequence: Press right mouse button> Move the mouse> Release the right button forms a black magnification frame.

If it is inconvenient to use the wheel mouse, see the buttons on the Toolbar: Move Zoom in and Zoom out

The initial mode from which all actions begin is called Select / Edit mode. You can switch to the initial mode by clicking the button on the left part of bottom row of the Toolbar or by pressing Esc on the keyboard.

VideoCAD employs a context-sensitive help system. This means that the program tries to direct you to the portion of the help system that is most likely to answer your question, based on what you are viewing or doing.

To get detailed information about any component, box or menu item, move the input focus (mouse cursor) to the component and press F1.

To get detailed information about any button on the Toolbar, right click on it then choose What's this? pop-up item..

For more information see. Graphics window, Graphics area, Current construction parameter panel, Selection editing panel, Status bar

1. Choose Main menu, Drawing>Load background> In Horizontal projection.

2. In the appeared dialog, select the file of your layout and click Open button. The layout will appear in the Graphics area.

You can quickly turn a screen image from any graphics program, Google, OSM, Yandex maps into a background:

1. Expand the program window with the terrain map on the screen. To display a full screen map from the Internet browser, press F11 on the keyboard.

2. Press Print Screen (or Alt + Print Screen) on the keyboard.

3. Open VideoCAD and select Menu> Drawing>Paste background from clipboard.

4. Click Crop background on the Adjust background box to cut out only the desired portion of the map. Next, scale the background in the usual way.

This handy method of importing maps is suitable for any program, allows to get background of several monitors size and does not depend on third-party services.

Drawing constructions

Around the places of interest that should be monitored, right on the layout, outline the elements of buildings with the help of constructions. The construction buttons are located in the middle of the bottom row of the Toolbar.

Outline the walls, columns, and slabs using the Wall and Rectangle tools. Drawing a construction is performed by two clicks on the layout.

To draw walls that will require cutting openings or inserting windows or doors, use only the Wall tool.

Set the thickness and switch the orientation of the wall while drawing it. .

To undo / redo the last action, use the buttons on the right side of the bottom row of the Toolbar or Ctrl + Z, Ctrl + Y.

To construct cylindrical surfaces, use the Circle and Arc.

To draw stairs use Stairs.

To construct vertical rectangular planes and to measure distances, use the Line. To measure angles, use Angle.

For drawing in 3D plates or any other raster images, use 3D image.

To construct inclined, transparent and complex surfaces, use Inclined rectangle.

Theoretically, by a set of Inclined rectangles you can draw anything, although it may not be easy.

To create oblique objects you can turn vertical constructions into a 3D model. 3D models can be tilted and transformed.

Use the Polygon tool to draw complex flat objects.

More complex objects can be modeled in SketchUP and imported in VideoCAD.

Editing constructions

To see your constructions in 3D, open the 3D World window by the button in the right part of top row of the Toolbar.

In the 3D World window, you can navigate in 3D space with a wheel mouse.

If you are lost in the 3D World, click on the button in the upper left corner of the 3D World window or open the Tool panel of the 3D World window by clicking on the button in the upper left corner of the window, click the buttons on the Navi tab of the 3D World window.

To make view in the 3D World stable while adding new constructions - place any 4 constructions on the corners of your "construction site" - mark its borders.

For monitoring your constructions in 3D, you can also open the 3D Video window by the button on the right part of top row of the Toolbar and direct the camera located on the layout at your constructions. Camera control will be discussed below.

As well as constructions, 3D models can be selected by the selection frame or clicking. You can Cut Copy Paste Move Rotate Scale Mirror, Filter the Selected 3D models using the buttons on the left side of the bottom row of the Toolbar.   As well as constructions, a 3D model can be transferred to the editing state by double-clicking, after which its parameters can be changed on the appeared Current construction parameter panel.   The library of 3D models can be replenished, you can edit 3D models in the library (change sizes and colors, mirror, change the license plate setting point). For this purpose there is special 3D Models window. You can open it from the Main menu, 3D Models>3D Models window or by clicking on the button on the Current construction parameter panel.

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It is recommended to avoid overload of the project with details that have no influence on the design decisions. For beautiful images you will be able to add details during the final design of the project. For comfortable work with complex plans, it is recommended to move unnecessary details to separate layers, which you can turn on and off. See more: Program speed and system requirements

Open the 3D Video window by the button in the right part of top row of the Toolbar.

If you move the mouse cursor over the 3D Video window with the left mouse button pressed, the camera will change direction following the cursor.

Open the Pixel density box by the button in the center of top row of the Toolbar.

If you move the mouse cursor over the images, then the expanded image under the cursor will appear at the top of the box. Clicking on the image opens The Table of Images.

By comparing the colors on the colored view area on the layout and in the table, you can estimate pixel density of the camera at each point on the layout. From the pictures in the table, you can estimate with what resolution a person and a license plate can be displayed and what part of the frame they can occupy.

You can select cameras as well as constructions: using the selection frame or by clicking. Use the Move and Rotate buttons or the pop-up menu to move and rotate the selected cameras.  You can find these buttons on the left of bottom row of the Toolbar.

Current value of the Lens focal length can be seen and changed in the Lens focal length combobox in the middle of top row of the Toolbar and in the Camera Geometry box.

By moving and rotating the camera on the layout, choose the optimal installation location. If the camera can be installed at different heights, select the camera installation height in the Camera Geometry box.

If you can change the lens, choose the lens focal length by moving the grips at the corners of the view area or by selecting values in the comboboxes.

If you can change model of the camera, select the resolution in pixels in the Camera Geometry box.

Thus, the choice of position and parameters of a camera is a task with large number of variables. VideoCAD is designed to help in solving such problems.

Note that a fragment of the area of interest, bounded by a yellow frame, is shown in a green frame with the real camera resolution. This is how the PiP tool works (picture in picture).

To enable PiP, enable the Image processing, clear the item in the Main Menu of the 3D Video window, Speed> Disable image processing.

Specify a place for the yellow frame by clicking by the middle mouse button (wheel) on the image.

To change options of the PiP mode, right-click on the image and switch to the PiP tab of the appeared Image parameter panel.

See more: PiP

To create a copy of a camera:   • select the camera by clicking on its lens or by the selection frame; • Copy and paste the camera using the buttons on the left side of bottom row of the Toolbar Copy Paste or Ctrl+C > Ctrl+V.   To copy, you can simply move the camera with the left mouse button and Ctrl key pressed.

Active camera

Place and adjust new cameras on the layout as well as the first camera.

The group of buttons on the left side of top row of the Toolbar controls the view of the view area projection of the active camera on the layout and in 3D. There are a lot of combinations of these buttons with the drop-down menus. You can read about them later and try how they work. At the first stage of learning, leave these buttons in default positions.

If there are selected cameras, then these buttons are colored by crimson and control all the selected cameras at once.

The Shadow button controls calculation of shading the view area from surrounding objects.

To enable shadow calculation, select Within projection in the drop-down menu of the button. To turn off shadows for the active camera, select Off.

Automatic calculation of shadows is carried out only for the active camera. For other cameras, shadows are displayed from memory. If you need to recalculate shadows for a particular camera - activate it. To recalculate shadows for all selected cameras, click Main menu> View> Recalculate shadows.

In the case of a large number of shading objects, the calculation of shadows becomes a complex resource-intensive operation. It is not recommended to keep the shadow calculation turned on permanently.

To disable the automatic calculation of shadows (with keeping the already calculated shadows), uncheck the item Main menu> View> Calculate shadows for active camera.

While calculating shadows, the red frame flashes on the Shadows button.

See more Shadows, Program speed and system requirements

Instead of entering camera parameters one by one from the specification, you can select a camera model from the Table of camera models.

You can open the Table of camera models using the button in the center of the top row of the Toolbar.

There are 2 tabs in the Table of camera models window:

To select a previously unused camera model, switch to the All Models tab. The tab selector is located in the upper left corner of the Table of camera model window.

The set of visible parameters in the table is flexibly configured. Try to select predefined parameter sets in the list in the Views panel at the bottom of the table.

You can control visibility of individual columns using the menu in the upper left corner of the Table.

Select by clicking a row with the desired model and click on the button in the lower left corner of the window. At the moment of choosing a model, its parameters will be assigned to the active camera.

You can also assign a model to the active camera without the Table of camera models, by selecting the model name in the Model of active camera combobox in the center of the top row of the Graphics window Toolbar. By default, only the models used in the project are listed in the combobox. But you can display all models.

See more: Table of camera models, Model of active camera.

Open the Monitor window by the button in the right part of the top row of the Toolbar.

Select on the layout the cameras you want to display on the monitor.

You can select cameras as well as constructions: by the selection frame or by clicking on its lens. To select all cameras, press Ctrl + A.

Click on the upper left cell of the Monitor window. A 3D Video window will appear in which images from the selected cameras will be generated and uploaded to the monitor. Wait until the end of the process.

In the Main menu of the Monitor window, select: Image> Export to * .html and save the monitor to *.html file.

Click on the cell of the html file opened in the browser.

See more: Monitor window, Example of a monitor.

VideoCAD has built-in Bandwidth and Storage space calculator – a professional tool integrated into VideoCAD for calculating network traffic generated by IP video cameras (video servers) and required storage space for storing video archive.

With Bandwidth and Storage Space Calculator you can:

See more: Bandwidth and Storage space calculator

2D Camera layout drawing

To save the resulting placement of cameras in a graphic file, use the Main Menu: Drawing> Save As. You can save the drawing in AutoCAD formats (* .dxf, * .dwg) and in other raster and vector formats. File resolution may exceed screen resolution. Saving in different formats has different limitations.

Before saving, you will be prompted to change the export settings. At the first stage of mastering the program, you can leave the parameters unchanged. These parameters will be useful to you when you want to change something in the output file.

See more: Save As

Export to 3D file COLLADA (* .dae)

The results of 3D modeling of VideoCAD can be exported to a file of the open 3D format COLLADA. COLLADA files can be imported into a variety of 3D editors, including SketchUP, and converted to other 3D formats. See more about COLLADA file https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COLLADA

Almost everything that you see in the 3D World window can be exported.

Exporting is simple:

1. Select what you want to export on the layout in the Graphics window (2D).

2. Chose Main Menu> 3D Models> Export selection to 3D file COLLADA

You can adjust some of the export options in the Options box> Export>COLLADA

VideoCAD can also import COLLADA files. It is now possible to import a 3D layout, for example, created in SketchUP, from a COLLADA file, place cameras and export the design result with 3D camera view areas back to SketchUP.

Camera layout in 3D

You can save images from the 3D World window to many formats. Resolution of obtained images can exceed Windows screen resolution.

See more: Save and Print

Images from cameras

You can get ordinary 3D images or images based on real parameters of cameras and scenes in different combinations (real resolution of camera and lens, exposure and target speed, sensitivity and illumination, depth of field, lens distortion, etc.), you can get images with real resolution of tens of megapixels, static and animated, separate and integrated into monitors.

For accurate modeling of camera parameters, it is necessary to understand their operation. However, to obtain ordinary 3D images, no special knowledge is required.

See details: 3D Video, Monitor window, Examples of work with VideoCAD

Table of cameras

To get information from the project in tabular form, use the Table of cameras button in the left part of the top row of the Toolbar.

The interface of the Table of cameras  is similar to the Table of camera models interface. You can also select Views, filter cameras, search for parameters, select columns to display, and so on.

Using the Table of cameras, you can get a variety of tabular reports that can be exported to * .txt, *. csv formats (csv separator can be changed), *. htm, *. rtf, *.xls, *. Xlsx, *. xml or simply copy in Excel.

To export the entire table to a file, click the button on the Table panel in the lower left corner of the window and select a file format to export.

See more: Table of cameras

PDF Report

To get a report in PDF format with texts, tables and pictures of the project, use the Main Menu: Project> PDF Report.

At the first stage of mastering the program, leave report parameters unchanged, just click on the button in the lower left corner of the PDF report window. The ability to flexibly customize the report comes in handy when you will want to make changes in the report.

During the preparation of the report windows will open and close, images will show. Please wait until the end of the process.

In the next step of mastering the program, try to select prepared patterns in the Patterns combobox in the lower right corner of the PDF Report window.

See examples of reports:

To see the Real camera resolution, zoom-in images in Acrobat Reader. Especial interesting are Camera 3 and Camera 4.

See more: PDF Report, Getting report in PDF format

Other output files

Print from VideoCAD

VideoCAD offers tools that simplify and speed up work with complex projects, as well as allow you to solve problems that go beyond simple examples.

3D Test and 3D Test on view area bounds

3D Test allows you to quickly evaluate how any 3D model from the VideoCAD library can look at any point in space through an active camera.

You can select any 3D model from the library or directly on the layout, click on its location and evaluate how it will look. On the Current construction parameters panel, you can change sizes of the 3D model and its height above the ground. You can rotate and scale the test model with the mouse in the 3D Test window to examine it closely.

See more: 3D Test

Line types

Instead of setting parameters for each construction separately, you can choose pre-configured line types for constructions, cameras, 3D models and cables. Each line type contains information about the style, thickness, color of the line separately in 2D, 3D and in printing, the preset heights for the constructions and 3D models, whether the line type is a cable and whether this line type should be considered an obstacle when calculating shadows.

See more: Line types

Fonts

For text labels, titles and captions there are customizable fonts. The font parameters include: name, style, color, size, mark whether the font is scalable.

See more: Fonts

Snaps

During drawing, the mouse cursor "sticks" to points, lines, and directions. The snap settings can be quickly changed during working in the Snap panel, which can be opened by the Global snap button in the right part of the bottom row of the Toolbar.

See more: Snaps

Vertical projection of the layout

When necessary, you can open the vertical projection of the layout using the Hide vertical projection button in the right part of the top row of the Toolbar. In the vertical projection, you can also place constructions, 3D models and cables.

To move the horizontal projection relative to the vertical projection - move the mouse with the middle button (wheel) pressed and holding the Ctrl key.

To study the vertical projection of the active camera's view area, there is the Graphical editing state of the active camera. .

See more: Graphics area, Hide vertical projection

Customization of the interface

You can customize visibility of buttons on the Toolbar, your own keyboard shortcuts for all menu items, response to rotation of the mouse wheel, sensitivity of snaps.

All text resources (headers, messages, headings of tables and lines in reports..) are stored in text files with * .lng extension and can be customized.

Layouts

There can be up to 10 layouts in a project. Layouts can correspond to a separated parts of an object of video surveillance. In the PDF report, you can print plan drawings separately.

See more: Layouts

Layers

Constructions, cameras and 3D models can be distributed by layers. You can control activity, visibility, color, height and other parameters of each layer. When exporting a drawing, the layers are exported into layers of AutoCAD * .dxf and * .dwg file formats.

See more: Layers

Camera Groups

Cameras can be combined into groups. You can control the activity, visibility, color and other parameters of groups. In the PDF report, you can print group drawings separately.

See more: Camera Groups

Camera Positions

Cameras may contain "snapshots" of their parameters and positions - positions. You can copy positions to cameras and copy cameras to positions. Positions can be displayed in 2D and 3D as well as cameras. Positions allow you to model multisensor cameras, PTZ camera presets and Fisheye cameras. But their use is not limited to this.

See more: Camera Positions

Numerate cameras tool

There is a special tool for renaming cameras on layouts with sequential numbering.

See more: Numerate cameras

Selection filter

The tool allows you to quickly filter selected objects and cameras by many criteria and their combinations: type of construction or 3D models, camera models, lens focal lengths and camera resolutions, layers, line types, color in 2D and 3D, materials.

You can filter only objects that get fully or partially within the specified range of heights.

See more: Selection filter

Import of lines in AutoCAD * .dxf * .dwg format to VideoCAD constructions

There is a tool that allows you to automatically convert simple 2D backgrounds in AutoCAD format into 3-dimensional VideoCAD constructions.

See more: Import DXF/DWG background

Control the display order of objects and cameras on the layout and in 3D

There are tools that control how intersecting objects will overshadow each other in 2D and 3D.

See more: Cameras over constructions, High resolution on top, Bring to front, Send to back.

Combining constructions

Individual constructions can be combined into more complex structures. You can merge contour of the constructions.

See more: Combine in block. Merge contour.

Cable length calculation

There is a cable length counter, cable report generator and cable laying tool.

See more. Signal cable, Length calculation of line segments, Cable report, Cable laying

Calculation of electrical parameters of cables

There is a calculator for calculating the voltage on the camera, depending on the parameters of the source, camera and cable.

See more: Power cable

VideoCAD offers tools for modeling special cameras:

Estimation of possibility of person detection, person identification and reading a license plate only by the pixel density (pixel density) is convenient, but inaccurate.

The license plate or face of a person can simply not get into the view area in height, or get at too big angle and the task of identification or reading license plate will not be solved.

At the same time, to detect a person it is not necessary to get the whole person in the frame, it is enough to see a part of his body. Possible height range of appearance of a License plate does not equal the height range of appearance of a person’s face.

Therefore, the real area of person identification will be less than the colored region on the view area projection, the real area of license plate reading will be shifted relative to the colored region, and the real area of person detection will be more than on the projection.

To eliminate this error VideoCAD offers more rigorous tools, taking into account the height restriction and limiting angles. You can read about them by the links below.

You can use these tools when you need a more accurate result.

VideoCAD offers unique tools for physically accurate modeling internal functionality of video cameras.

Effective use of such modeling tools requires sufficient understanding of camera operation. Some of parameters required for accurate modeling are missing in the manufacturers specifications or their values in the specifications are overrated or ambiguous. Therefore, these parameters have to be obtained or verified experimentally.

In the current practice of CCTV designing such modeling is not mandatory. However, these tools allow to increase accuracy of the projects, to model cases that can not be modeled in other design programs.

These tools allow qualified designers to effectively apply and demonstrate their skills, convincingly justify their decisions, create projects and business proposals that are superior to competitors' products.

Modeling tools are described in detail in the help system: