Monday, February 27, 2023

Using Apple Shortcuts To Send Preset Commands To PTZ Cameras

Using Shortcuts To Send Preset Commands Using our controller to program and tweak camera positioning is wonderful. But maybe not so much so when it comes to actually doing a Live Stream Presentation. To recall a preset, is 3 to 4 steps - the first one being critical. The steps in order are: Select the camera you want to send a preset command to Press Call Press the preset number you want Press enter If you happen to have an available iPad (we are using used ones we purchased online) Apple Shortcuts is a wonderful way to send those preset commands with a lot less keystrokes. There are a few things you need to know about your cameras, and you have to already have the presets programmed. We have a 3 three camera system and each camera has a minimum of 9 presets. This just makes life so much easier when you know people are going to be consistently in the same place - like the minister in the pulpit, or a lay reader at the lecturn. Once you have all of your presets programmed, here is where Apple Shortcuts really comes into play. The picture you see here is taken from PTZ’s website showing some of the commands that can be sent to one of their cameras, and the cameras really don’t care how or where the command comes from, as long as it is in a form they understand. You can see by the script listed here that the address of this camera happens to be http: 10.1.10.210. The slash following that sets up the command structure from that point, with the very last number, in this case 1, is the preset command you are sending. To help you understand it, cgi-bin tells the camera the language we are using, so to speak. Ptzctrl is the type of command we are sending - we are controlling the camera. Next is the ptzcmd - or the command we are going to send, followed by poscall, position call as in pressing the call button on the controller, and the last is, as previously stated which preset we are calling. Learning how to create an Apple Shortcut is not hard. You can see by this page, that we are using the Expand command which we found under the Web link. At this point, you can just copy what I have here, replacing my camera’s web address with your camera’s address. It takes a little time to setup initially, but you can duplicate shortcuts and then just replace the last number in the web address with the next preset number. Using Apples Shortcuts is a life saver when it comes to setting cameras during a live event. And best of all, if you own an iPad, Shortcuts comes with it - absolutely free! Happy Streaming!