Record Video

The main function of IC-Recorder is recording video during an inspection campaign.

When you launch IC-Recorder, if the default TCP port (4500) is unavailable, IC-Recorder will sequentially ‘probe’ higher port numbers (such as 4501, 4502, and so on) to find an available port. This allows you to run multiple instances of IC-Recorder, each using a different port. IC-Recorder loads a settings file based on the discovered port number, enabling using different capture hardware and output recording folders for each IC-Recorder.

The typical scenario involves having several capture devices on a single PC or a multi-channel capture device. In such cases, you can run multiple copies of IC-Recorder on that PC. For instance, in the first IC-Recorder instance, select the first capture device (or the initial channel on your multi-channel device), and repeat this process for additional instances.

Prerequisites

To be able to record video, you must ensure the following:

  • You have set up a project location where video files will be stored and made other configurations as required. For more information, see Configuration.

  • If you’re using IC-Recorder together with IC-Inspection, you must have set up IC-Recorder as a device in IC-Inspection. For more information, see Add Video Devices.

Video Recording

  1. Start video recording in one of the following ways:

    • If you’re using IC-Recorder as a standalone device, simply click the Record toolbar button in the main recording pane of IC-Recorder.

    • If you’re using IC-Recorder alongside IC-Inspection, initiate an inspection in IC-Inspection by clicking Start. This action will automatically trigger IC-Recorder to start video recording.

    Note

    If you use IC-Recorder with IC-Inspection, we strongly recommend that you start video recording by starting the inspection in IC-Inspection. This not only initiates video recording but also begins survey data logging.

  2. During video recording, you can see the video in the main recording pane of IC-Recording and perform video commentary, capture images or create events in IC-Inspection as required. For more information, see Online Inspection.

  3. When you’ve completed online data capture, stop the recording in either of the following ways:

    • If you’ve started video recording directly in IC-Recorder, click the Stop toolbar button in the main recording pane of IC-Recorder.

    • If you’ve started video recording by initiating an inspection from IC-Inspection, click Stop from the main toolbar of the IC-Inspection screen to stop the inspection. This action will automatically stop the recording in IC-Recorder.

  4. Once you’ve stopped video recording, the recorded video file will be stored under the project location that you’ve configured. You can also see the captured video file in the Captured Video pane of IC-Recorder.

    When IC-Inspection communicates with IC-Recorder, it sends the timestamp, which IC-Recorder uses to create a filename for the recording. Throughout the recording process, this filename remains in use. After recording completes, IC-Recorder checks for any time discrepancy between when it generated the video file and actual recording starting. If a difference exists, IC-Recorder adjusts the filename accordingly — usually by just one second, depending on machine load.

    Caution

    During an inspection campaign, if Windows automatically switches to daylight saving time, it can potentially lead to confusingly named video files. For example, at the beginning of daylight saving in spring, your video recordings may appear to have a one-hour gap when, in reality, there was none. This discrepancy occurs because your PC clocks have moved forward by one hour. Similarly, during autumn/fall, video files might seem to be recorded at the same time as videos actually recorded an hour earlier. This happens because clocks have fallen back by an hour.

    For this reason, we recommend disabling automatic daylight saving adjustment on PCs running IC-Inspection or IC-Recorder. This also applies to any third-party systems that supply time via a survey string. Set your timezone at the start of any inspection campaign and remain consistent throughout.