Exporting videos

As we have established in Basics Lesson 5 “Storing and backing up recorded videos with AREC”, it is possible to reuse the same drive for storage on the latest Media Stations and regular Windows/Mac computers (and thus moving the recordings with the drive), but only after the Media Station formats this drive. Alternatively, there are other ways of exporting recordings, starting with USB export.

USB export

To begin with, all AREC Media Stations are able to copy videos on connected USB drives without formatting or altering in any way their file systems. This can be done both automatically (after the recording is finished) and manually (before or after the recording). Latest AREC Media Stations (e.g. LS-210, LS-310, LS-410) support FAT32, NTFS, ext3, ext4, and exFAT USB drives, whereas TI-series models (e.g. LS-200, LS-300, LS-400) only support FAT32 and NTFS.

To do this automatically on the latest AREC Media Stations, enable “Copy to USB” on the “Administrator” → “Video” → “Recording” page of the Media Station and connect a USB drive to the USB port just below the “Overlay” front panel button. To achieve the same effect on the TI-series models, enable “Front USB Storage” and connect a USB drive to the front USB port of your station. This feature will ensure that your video is saved both on the station's primary storage and on the connected USB drive.

Note that both “Copy to USB” and “Front USB Storage” only copy the mixed video. If you need to copy individual video channel recordings, you will need to use other ways of exporting videos.

Manual export to USB using the GUI

Unlike with automatic USB video export, manual USB export can be used on all USB ports of the station. Videos can be exported manually using the GUI or the RS-232/TCP commands. Using the GUI, click “Playback” and a list of previously recorded videos will appear. Tick the boxes next to videos that you need to export, then press the button with an arrow down to download them.

Individual channel export

The GUI also allows exporting individual components of a recording, including its individual video channel recordings, metadata, and snapshots. To do that, click on a video you need to export and use the export button inside. Tick the boxes next to items you need to export.

Using RS-232/TCP commands to export to USB

As for the RS-232/TCP method, you can use the 2.3.10.3 “Set Backup to USB” command.

To copy the latest recording, send 0x55 0xF0 0x05 0x01 0x73 0x42 0x55 0x30 0x0D

To stop copying, send 0x55 0xF0 0x05 0x01 0x73 0x42 0x55 0x31 0x0D

This command works on the Media Stations using the latest firmware version. If you do not have the latest firmware, or would like to get a complete command list, visit our website’s Firmware & Resources page and download it there.

If you are not sure how to use commands, you can take a look at the example below. Using any tool that can send commands, such as "Packet Sender", send the command above to the IP address of the Media Station using TCP and port 5080. Refer to the example image below:

Sending "Set Backup to USB" command example – Packet Sender

Exporting videos through the "Video Manager"

All AREC Media Stations have a “Video Manager” page. This page is described in detail in In-Depth Lesson 2 “Review of the Video Manager interface”.

The page allows you to download recorded videos and particular channels within recorded videos. To download videos, simply tick checkboxes next to the videos you want to download, then press the “Download” button. This works the same way on mobile phones and tablets as well, so it is not necessary to have a computer to download videos from the station's web page.

Exporting specific video channel recordings

To download video channels individually, click on any video you need and tick the boxes next to individual video channels. Press “Download” when finished to download only the ticked videos.

Exporting videos to cloud storage and services

Lastly, AREC Media Stations can export videos to FTP and SFTP servers, Google Drive, and integrated VCMS platforms. We have described the configuration process for these methods in Basics Lesson 5 “Storing and backing up recorded videos with AREC”.

Once a backup location is configured, newly recorded videos can be exported automatically with one of the two “Auto upload” methods selected on the “Administrator” → “Upload” page.

To export videos manually, open “Video Manager” instead and tick checkboxes next to videos you would like to export, then press the “Upload” button. Which files are exported this way is determined by the “Upload files” option on the “Administrator” → “Upload” page.

That concludes the lesson. You can now answer the questions about this lesson’s material to test your knowledge and watch the linked video before moving on to the next lesson.

After you submit your answers, make sure to click “View Scores” to see if you answered correctly. You will also receive an email on the address you used when starting this lesson with your answers and “View Scores” link.

Training videos

Training Video – Download videos from the Media Station to your USB flash drive

Training Video – Download videos from the Media Station using the Video Manager

Video de entrenamiento – Cómo exportar vídeos vía USB directamente de una Media Station

Video de entrenamiento – Cómo exportar vídeos desde el Gestor de Videos AREC

Видео на русском – как экспортировать видео из медиастанций AREC