PTZ ComposerVISCA over IP: what it means for you
Updated
What is VISCA over IP, and how do I know whether my camera can work with it?
VISCA is a control language that most professional pan-tilt-zoom cameras speak, over a network cable or a serial one. For our purposes three things matter: your camera speaks VISCA over IP or serial, it can report back where it is pointing, and it offers a preview stream. Panasonic AW cameras speak their own language and are handled as their own path.
What VISCA is, in one paragraph
VISCA started as a camera control protocol on a serial cable and moved onto the network as VISCA over IP. It is how a joystick panel, a controller or a piece of software tells a camera to pan, tilt, zoom or go to a stored position. Most manufacturers selling into live production support it, which is why a panel from one brand can usually drive a camera from another.
It is a language, not a feature list. Two cameras can both speak it and still behave differently, in the same way two people can both speak English and give very different directions.
The three things to check on your camera
First, a control path: the camera accepts VISCA over IP on the network, or VISCA over a serial connection. Your manual will list it, usually in a section about external control, and your integrator will know it without looking.
Second, position feedback: the camera can be asked where it is currently pointing, and answers. Some cameras take instructions without ever reporting back. Third, a preview stream the software can look at while it prepares. Cameras sold for live production generally offer one.
Or, instead of all three, a Panasonic AW camera. Those speak Panasonic's own control language and have their own path with us, so the VISCA checklist does not apply to them.
Why the camera has to report back
This is the requirement people are least expecting, so it is worth a sentence. A flight is an authored camera move, with a planned route, framing and pace from departure through landing. Composing one means knowing where the camera actually is, not where it was last told to go, and a camera that never answers cannot be composed for with confidence.
It is also what lets the software be honest with you. A camera that reports its position can be asked, before you plan a production around it, whether the move you drew is a move it can hold.
The two answers we give about compatibility
Tested means a named model, firmware and control path we have flown and filmed. The manufacturer pages under Cameras list them as tapes land, and they are the ones a film or a claim may name.
Supported protocol means your camera speaks VISCA over IP or serial with position feedback and offers a preview stream, or is a Panasonic AW camera. The software measures it in minutes and tells you honestly whether it can fly it. If it cannot, it says why, in words, and you have lost nothing. We always say which of the two answers applies to you.
What to do next
Find the make, model and firmware of each camera, and how it is connected today: network or serial, and through which controller or switcher. That is everything we need to give you an answer.
Check your setup and we will tell you which of the two answers applies before you plan an evaluation. If an integrator installed the room, ask them the same question; they will have the control path on file, and they can carry the paperwork if you would rather buy through a partner.