Cameras in Video Switcher then into Codec Plus.. Video but NO CONTROL?

[Tony Poling]

In a Boardroom scenario we wanted to first send the cameras into a video production switcher for ISO recording of each camera and also for creating unique, mixed image layouts to send to the far end participants.   This then would feed a single input to the Codec Plus for the camera.    We have a a Quad Cam and two P60s in the mix that the system could support however we are not seeing any control.    We are getting video signal into the Codec Plus but not getting any control.   I do have camera control port and all cameras connected through a client provided Cisco Network Switch.   I should say too we have a custom UCI created using a Crestron controller as well for other features in the space being controlled through the Cisco Navigator panels.   I am curious of a few things we are seeing.

1. The image for the quad camera has a text layover that "no camera is connected, please plug in your camera".   Is this because it is not detecting it on a direct plug to the HDMI port or it is not finding it for control over ETH?
2. No control of any sort is showing up for any of the cameras.   

I have discovered if bypassing the video switcher I get cameras video but still no control.  If bypassing the CISCO switch and plugging cameras ETH direct to Codec Plus I do get camera control too.     It should work through the switch though correct?

Could this work as described in the initial setup?    I know with third party cameras it would work all day so trying to see a way to do it with the CISCO P60 cams.   Assuming I would get the switch working for control, could I still submix the camera video in the switcher and still have independent camera control of the camera over ETH if we created a control API for each camera?   What might I be missing or needed to make that work?    In a multi-window video layout I would still want at all times to have independent control of each camera.   Could we make a control page for each to show as a tab on the UCI?

If we must go direct to codec with video, we are now looking at a Codec Pro as the client wants to add a third P60 camera to the mix.  

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Wayne DeNardi]

For camera control to work, the cameras need Ethernet connectivity to the codec in addition to the HDMI for the video.  This Ethernet needs to be connected to the ports on the codec as the cameras need to get their IP addresses from the codec, not from any DHCP server that may be on your normal LAN.   The easiest way to do this it to put a small network switch between the codec and the cameras to allow them both to be connected to the camera control ethernet port on the codec.   If you want to use an external switch, you will need to make sure that the three ports (one for each of your cameras, and one for the camera control connectivity to the codec) are in a separate VLAN to all the other switch ports.   This means that your codec will also need two cables to the switch, one for the normal LAN port and one for the camera VLAN.

[Tony Poling]

Thanks for the response! Do the cameras HDMI connections also need to be directly connected to the codec as well, or can they come through the video switcher to be mixed then to the switch?

[Wayne DeNardi]

You can pass the video via a switcher or other video processor first. They don’t need to be directly HDMI connected to the codec.