Night Owl F6-DVR4 User manual

www.NightOwlSP.com
NIGHT OWL
HD CMS
REMOTE VIEWING SOFTWARE
FOR PC / MAC
SETUP AND USER GUIDE

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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................4
Getting Started...............................................4
How Do I Download Night Owl’s HD CMS Software? .....................5
How Do I Add a Device to Night Owl’s HD CMS Software? ................8
How Do I Remotely View My System? ..............................18
How Do I Perform a Local Log Search? .............................21
Why Use Account Management?..................................24
Why Use File Management? .....................................25
Why Use System Configuration? ..................................26
Night Owl HD CMS Guide Table of Contents

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Night Owl
HD CMS (PC)
Night Owl
HD CMS (MAC)
Introduction
Night Owl’s HD CMS software is a powerful management tool which allows you to
control and monitor as many as 100 Night Owl DVRs from a single location. The
software allows you to adjust settings, control a PTZ camera, playback and save
recorded video directly to your PC or MAC and view live video feed. For residential
and business customers alike, the ability to view and manage up to 128 camera
channels at one time offers invaluable peace of mind.
Getting Started
System Requirements
PC: Windows®XP, Windows®Vista, Windows®7, Windows®8 and Windows®10
MAC: MAC OS® X, 10.7 and above
Internet Connection Speeds
The required minimum internet connection speed is 2Mbps download and 2Mbps
upload. Keep in mind this applies to the internet connections at the location of
the DVR and the location of the computer you are monitoring / viewing. If you are
monitoring multiple DVRs, your computer’s bandwidth requirements will increase
if you wish to monitor a large number of channels simultaneously. You can check
the speed of your internet connection by visiting www.SpeedTest.net from both a
computer connected to the same network as the DVR and also the computer you
will be using remotely.
Compatible Night Owl Security Systems
The following Night Owl Series can be accessed via the Night Owl HD CMS
software:
• F6
• F9
• AHD7
• AHD10
• NVR10
*Any subsequent “Bundled” models deriving from any of these series.
*Keep in mind you must configure each DVR to the software before viewing.
How Do I Download
Night Owl’s HD CMS Software?
In order to download software, go to www.nightowlsp.com and search for Night
Owl HD CMS software for either your PC or MAC. Please temporarily disable all
Antivirus programs so the software can be fully configured. Additionally, the Night
Owl HD CMS remote viewing software can also be uploaded via the included
software installation disk.
*If you previously installed Night Owl’s Surveillance Client Software on your PC or
MAC, you will be prompted to remove it before Night Owl’s HD CMS Software can
be successfully installed.
1. Please keep in mind you may see
a similar window appear if you
have not disabled all Antivirus
software. Click “Run” to proceed
to the next step.
2. For optimal functionality during
the initial setup, be sure to
close all other programs before
beginning to install the software.
Click “Next”.
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3. This window will allow you to
select the location to install the
HD CMS software. By default the
software will install in the Program
Files folder on your computer, but
you may click “Browse” to select
another destination. Once you
have made your selection, click
“Next”.
4. This window will allow you to
configure the location of shortcut
icons in the Start menu. Click
“Next” to proceed.
5. This window will allow you to
select if you would like a desktop
and / or quick launch icon. Click
“Next” to proceed.
6. The software is now ready to
install. Click “Install” to proceed.
7. This window will display a
progress bar as the software is
installed to your PC or MAC. If you
click “Cancel” from this window
the installation process will be
cancelled.
8. When the software installation is
complete, you will click “Finish”
to proceed.
9. If you have not disabled the
Antivirus software on your
computer, you may encounter
similar windows while trying to
open the software.
Night Owl HD CMS Guide How to Download Software

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How Do I Add a Device to
Night Owl’s HD CMS Software?
Once the Night Owl HD CMS software
has finished downloading to your PC/
MAC, the Setup Wizard should launch.
Click on “Next”.
Within the Setup Wizard, there are two
methods which can be used to add a
device to the HD CMS software: “Add
Online Device” and “Add Device”.
1. Within Setup Wizard click on
“Add Online Device”.
2. As long as your device is
connected to your router, you
will see it appear.
3. Click on your device and then
the menu to the right will
populate with information.
Click on “Add Selected Device”.
*Please keep in mind that a device can be added at any time by clicking on
Help then Open Wizard or by going to the Group Device Management icon. The
following steps will apply regardless of when device is added.
Add Online Device
4. Verify that information is correct
and then click on “Add”.
5. You should see your device in the
add screen. Once the lights turn
green, click on “Import” to add
your device to groups.
6. Click on “Modify“ to change your
device name (if desired).
7. The device should now be added
to your HD CMS software. Click on
“Finish” to exit Setup Up Wizard.
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Device Name: Choose any name you desire
(32 character max.).
IP/ID: Enter your P2P ID.
Media Port: Enter Media Port number,
which is most often 9000.
User Name: Enter the user name of your DVR or NVR.
Password: Enter the Password of your DVR or NVR.
Channels: This field will automatically populate once you select the Add tab.
Add: Please be sure to select this tab to add the DVR or NVR.
Cancel: Select this tab to cancel adding a device.
Once you have added the device (DVR or NVR), red dots will appear next to the
image of the added device.
After clicking on “Add Device” you will be directed to this screen. If you have
configured the Night Owl HD app on your smart device, you will use that same
information to populate the fields you see. If not, you will need to access your
DVR/NVR directly, go to the Main Menu, then system, then info. There, you will
see the needed information.
Add Device
Night Owl recommends downloading and configuring your Night Owl HD
application on your smart device before you begin configuring the Night Owl HD
CMS software.
*Image used for reference is of an iPad.
This is the P2P ID you
will input in the Add a
Device’s IP/ID field.
You will use your Apple or Android smart device (iPad is used in the above image)
to scan the QR Code on your DVR or NVR. The information which populates the
fields on the new device screen on your smart device is the same information you
will enter into the Night Owl HD CMS “Add Device” screen. The password will be
the same as the one used to configure your DVR/NVR.
If you choose not to configure the Night Owl HD app on a smart device before
configuring the Night Owl HD
CMS software on your PC you
must log into your DVR or
NVR to acquire the needed
information.
With your HD app configured,
or with the required information
gathered from your DVR/NVR,
please click on the “Add Device”
tab within the Setup Wizard.
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Once the connection is verified, these red dots will turn green. Please keep in
mind it may take up to two minutes for the connection to be verified.
A group name can be changed by clicking on the Modify tab and then entering the
new group name. Click on “Yes” to save the new name.
In order to import the recently added device to a group, simply choose the device
you wish to import, select the proper group and then click on “Import”.
The device (DVR or NVR) will now appear under that group.
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You can view the amount of channels connected to the device (DVR or NVR) by
left clicking on the arrow next to the device image. In order to view your security
system you will left click on the “Control Panel” icon.
Select the “Main View” icon.
In this example we have the group renamed as “Any Group Name”.
Left click on the device (DVR or NVR) while dragging the device into the main
viewing area.
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You should now see Live Video feed from the cameras connected to the selected
device (DVR or NVR)
Left to Right:
Allows you to stream video.
Allows you to view the current viewing layout in full screen mode. To exit
full screen mode you will right click anywhere on screen and then select
Exit full Screen from the dropdown menu.
Allows you to select multiple viewing layouts. Keep in mind you can view
a maximum of 128 channels simultaneously if you have multiple devices
(DVRs or NVRs) configured on this software.
Allows you to stop all video from being displayed.
Allows you to record video directly to your PC. Select the icon once
to indicate the start of the recorded video, a red “R” will appear that
indicates the recording has started. Then select the icon again to indicate
the end of the recorded video. The video file will be stored to your C drive
on your computer, in the Night Owl HD CMS folder.
Allows you to save snap shot images directly to your PC. The images will
be saved in the C drive in the Night Owl HD CMS folder.
Allows you to go to the previous viewing screen.
Allows you to go to the next viewing screen.
Allows you to configure the sequence mode controls. If you enable this
your channels will be displayed in sequential order and stay on screen
before going to the next screen for the time duration you specify.
Allows you to mute all audio. Keep in mind not all cameras are audio
enabled and this tab will have no function if your camera is not audio
enabled.
Night Owl HD CMS Guide How Do I Add a Device to Night Owl’s HD CMS Software?

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How Do I Remotely
View My System?
To view Playback Recordings:
1. Select the group, the DVR, and the channels whose recordings you wish to
view.
2. Select “File Type”, either “Continuous” or “Alarm”.
3. Choose “Synchronous Playback” if you wish for the selected channels to be
played on the monitor simultaneously.
4. Whichever days on the calendar have recordings for the channels selected will
have an orange triangle.
5. Then select the date you wish to choose and left click “Search”.
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Within the Control Panel, click on the Remote Playback icon. From there simply
follow the steps and direction below to access your recordings.
6. The recordings for the selected date will appear as yellow markings in the
appropriate window (window numbers correlate directly with channel number).
Yellow recordings will be placed under the time they were recorded.
7. Click the “Play” button to begin playing the recording.
8. Click the “Pause” button to pause the recording.
9. Click on the “Stop” button to stop the recording.
10. Click the “Back” button to slow the playback speed.
11. Click the “Forward” button to speed up the playback speed.
12. Click the “Screen” button to proceed through the recording screen by screen.
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13. Click on the “Zoom” icon to zoom in on the recording.
14. Click on the “Capture” icon to take a picture of an image that appears in the
recording. These images can be accessed in File Management.
15. Click on the “Recording” icon to take a shorter recording of something in the
initial recording. These recordings can be accessed in File Management.
16. Click on the “Audio” icon to stop or resume sound.
17. Click on the “Download” icon to download the recording and save it to your
computer.
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How Do I Perform a
Local Log Search?
1. User Name allows you to switch users.
2. Log Type allows you to choose to view the Alarm Log, Operation Log or
System Log.
3. Minor Type allows you to further narrow down your search by specific
content type.
4. The Group drop down menus allow the user to choose between different
DVRs and multiple channel groupings.
5. The Start Time and End Time drop downs allow the user to choose the date
and time range of the impending search.
6. A copy of each log can be backed up to your hard drive and those logs can be
accessed from this screen.
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The Alarm Log will pull up a log of all alarms for the selected date range. The log
will contain the date and time of the alarm, the content, the user name (for those
with multiple DVRs interconnected), the group name, group device name and the
channel the alarm was triggered on. The Minor Type menu can be used to narrow
down the search parameter as well.
The Operation Log is a log of all activity occurring via use of the surveillance
software. As is the Alarm Log, the Operation Log is readily categorized to make
searching simple. The Minor Type menu can be used to narrow down the search
parameter as well.
The System Log is a log of all user logins, logoffs, locks and unlocks. As are the
other two logs, this log is simple to search and readily categorized.
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Why Use Account Management?
The Account Management Tab allows the user to add new accounts and modify
account settings. To modify, simply click on the account you wish to modify, then
select the modify tab. The Modify User box will pop up, and upon entering the
correct password the user can adjust the displayed settings.
Why Use File Management?
File Management provides the user access to captured images and recordings
taken from both Live View mode and those taken while viewing recordings. Simply,
1, choose the channel you captured the image or recording on then, 2, select
either Picture (for captured images) or Video (for captured recordings).
Then, 3, choose whether to view Selected (current) or Deleted items and 4,
select the target date and time range. Then simply hit the search tab, 5, and all
available images or recordings for the specified range will appear.
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Why Use System Configuration?
Under the General Tab in System Configuration, the user can access the language
settings, adjust the time frame the logs are stored (choosing between one week,
half a month and one month), enable audio on multiple channels simultaneously,
enable auto- login and resume live view status.
Under the File Tab, users can easily adjust where captured videos and pictures
are stored in their computer. In addition, the user can set an alarm to go off when
disk space reaches a specified level.
Under the Alarm Sound Tab, users can adjust the alarm sounds for motion
activation, video exception and alarm input with sounds stored on their computer.
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