The Genea Video Player is where you review footage, investigate events, and act on what you see. This article walks through every control so you can move quickly when it matters.
How to get there
Video Management → Monitoring → select a camera
The player opens on the live feed, with the camera name and status indicator at the top left.
Playback controls
The control bar sits directly beneath the video. Each control is numbered in the screenshot below.
# | Control | What it does |
1 | Date & time selector | Jump to any specific moment in the recording |
2 | Go to Live | Return to the live feed from anywhere in the recording |
3 | Prev Motion | Jump back to the previous motion event, skipping quiet footage |
4 | Back 10 seconds | Step backwards in 10-second increments |
5 | Play / Pause | Start or stop playback |
6 | Forward 10 seconds | Step forwards in 10-second increments |
7 | Next Motion | Jump forward to the next motion event |
8 | Playback speed | Play at 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, or 4x for faster review |
9 | Timeline duration | Set how much time the timeline spans 5m, 10m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 12h, 24h |
💡 Tip: Prev Motion and Next Motion are the fastest way to review a long stretch of footage. Rather than scrubbing manually, you jump straight from one piece of activity to the next.
On timeline duration: shorter spans give fine-grained precision for pinpointing an exact moment, while longer spans let you see activity patterns across a whole shift or day.
Reading the timeline
The timeline is the most important part of the player. Each coloured band represents a different kind of activity.
# | Band | What it shows |
1 | Recording bar (navy blue) | When the camera was recording. Gaps mean no footage exists |
2 | Motion (amber) | General movement detected in frame |
3 | Person (green) | A person was detected |
4 | Vehicle (purple) | A vehicle was detected |
5 | Access (blue) | An access control event, such as a badge read at a mapped door |
6 | Show Events chips | Toggle each event type on or off to filter the timeline |
Continuous vs Motion Only recording
The recording bar looks different depending on how the camera is configured:
Continuous recording — the bar is unbroken, since the camera records 24/7
Motion Only recording — the bar appears in segments, one for each motion event. The length of each segment depends on the Before Motion and After Motion values configured for that camera
Filtering events
Use the Show Events chips (6) to turn each event type on or off. Turn off Motion when you only care about people, or isolate Access events to line up badge reads against footage.
Inspecting an event
Hover to preview
Hover over any event on the timeline to see a preview card containing:
A thumbnail from that moment
The event type
Start time and End time
For Access events, the preview also shows whether access was granted or denied, along with details of the person involved.
Click to open full details for access event ribbons
Click an access event ribbon to load its full details in the side panel. For an Access event, this includes:
The badge holder - name, user type, photo, and a link to their full profile
Event description - for example, "Access Granted – Full Test, Door Used"
The door involved and the exact timestamp
A Create Clip button to save that moment as a shareable clip
💡 Note: Access events only appear on the timeline if the door is mapped to this camera. If you're not seeing them, check the Mapped Devices section on the camera's settings page. For more details : How to Map Devices to a Camera
The side panel
Toggle the side panel on or off using the Side Panel switch in the top-right corner. It has two tabs.
Cameras
Lists all your cameras with a search box. Select any camera to switch the player to that feed without leaving the page — useful for following activity across multiple views.
Access Events
A chronological list of access events for this camera, searchable by description. Click any entry to load its full details, exactly as if you'd clicked it on the timeline.
Door controls
If a door is mapped to this camera [How to Map Devices to a Camera], you can act on it directly from the player without switching to Access Control.
Quick Grant - Momentarily unlocks the door to let someone through
Lock / Unlock - Changes the door's lock state
When you click either control, you'll be asked to select which door - if multiple doors are mapped to this camera, choose the relevant one. If only one door is mapped, you can act on it directly.
💡 Tip: This is what makes the player genuinely useful for live response - you can see who is at the door and let them in from the same screen.
Top bar tools
# | Tool | What it does |
1 | Side Panel toggle | Show or hide the side panel |
2 | Snapshot | Capture the current frame and downloaded as a PNG |
3 | Clips | Open the Clips module, where saved clips are managed. Learn : How to Create and Manage Clips |
4 | Search | Open Forensic Search to find events across cameras and time ranges. Learn : How to Use Search in Genea Video Player |
5 | Expand | Switch the player to full-screen |
Troubleshooting
Issue | What to check |
No Access events on the timeline | The door must be mapped to this camera under Mapped Devices on the camera settings page. How to Map Devices to a Camera |
Recording bar has gaps | Expected on Motion Only cameras gaps are periods with no motion. On Continuous cameras, gaps indicate the camera was offline |
Quick Grant or Lock unavailable | No door is mapped to this camera, or your role lacks door control permissions |
Person or Vehicle events missing | This might be due to camera sensitivity settings for motion and object. |
Timeline appears empty | Confirm the selected date and time falls within the camera's retention window, and that Show Events filters are enabled |
For details about other camera settings visit article : How to Configure Camera Settings and How to Map Devices to a Camera
If you have any questions regarding muster reports, reach out to Genea Support at any time at acsupport@getgenea.com.