10. Development Tools & Tips

Emulating Camera(s) with Local Video Files

"Testcamera" is an application that allows users to stream a video file in a loop to Nx Meta as an emulated camera. It is available as a separate application with other early access packages. It is a convenient way to create a predictable video stream for testing without the need for hardware devices (cameras, network gear, etc).

For instructions on how to use Testcamera, please refer to TestCamera: IP Camera Emulator.

Note: Testcamera streams video data from the files you choose directly, but it doesn’t ensure the validity of the stream. If you experience any problems while testing your Plugin with Testcamera, you can try to use Wowza streaming media server.

Getting Nx Meta Licenses for Developers

When you install Nx Meta on a new computer, you can activate a trial license for recording at most 4 cameras for one month.

If that is not enough, please contact us and ask for additional licenses. Include the name of the product you are integrating and the desired number and duration of licenses you need. Up to 8 cameras/streams for up to 6-months will always be free.

Note: Licenses are meant for development and demonstration purposes only and are not allowed for use in production deployments.

Installing Nx Meta on ARM-64 devices

If you’re working with NVIDIA Jetson or other ARM-64-based devices and need to install Nx Meta you’ll need to download our ARM-64 packages from Nx Developer Cloud.

To Install the ARM-64 packages for Nx Meta :

1. sudo apt update to update packages on your hardware
2. sudo dpkg -i *.deb to install Nx Meta Desktop and Nx Meta Server and dependencies using shell
3. sudo apt install -f to Install the missing dependencies (if any)

Nx Meta Server will begin running as a service: it will start with the operating system and restart automatically in case of crashes.

You can also check its state using the command: service networkoptix-metavms-mediaserver status

To start Nx Meta Desktop, find the application Nx Meta. If it doesn’t work, try rebooting the device.

Using DeepStream or TensorRT for Integration

Using the Metadata (Analytics) SDK doesn’t limit your ability to use DeepStream or other libraries inside your Video Analytics solution. The Metadata (Analytics) SDK provides a means to exchange data (video frames and metadata), while DeepStream, TensorRT or other libraries provide the ability to process data. It is possible to wrap any such library inside a Plugin.

In such an instance, Nx Meta Server will send frames to the Plugin through the Metadata (Analytics) SDK, the Plugin will send those frames to the library and the interpreted results will be sent as metadata back to Nx Meta Server using the Metadata (Analytics) SDK functions.