This guide walks through getting an Axis network camera from box to a working RTSP feed you can add to a Genea Video Gateway - physical setup, first-time login, and building the RTSP URL Genea needs.
It applies to any Axis camera. If your model is a multi-sensor panoramic camera (the P37 series, for example), there's an extra step: each sensor head is its own channel, and you need the right one in your RTSP URL. This guide covers that case specifically.
If your camera is already online and you just need to add it to Genea Video, skip ahead to How to Add a Camera on Gateway - this article is the step before that one.
Before You Start
You'll need:
Item | Why |
PoE power (injector, switch, or NVR PoE port) | Most Axis cameras draw power from the network cable |
A computer on the same network as the camera | Needed for initial discovery and configuration |
AXIS IP Utility | Finds Axis devices on your local network by IP and MAC address |
A Genea Gateway already installed and online | Every camera in Genea Video connects through a gateway |
VLC (or another RTSP-capable player) | Lets you confirm the stream is correct before wiring it into Genea |
Genea Video connects to cameras over RTSP. If your camera ships with RTSP disabled, enable it during setup - most Axis cameras have it on by default.
Step 1: Mount, Power On, and Find the Camera on Your Network
Mount and power the camera. Most Axis cameras run on PoE, so a single Ethernet cable handles both.
Give the camera a minute to boot, then open AXIS IP Utility on a computer connected to the same network.
Run a scan. The camera should appear with its MAC address and current IP.
On a network with DHCP, it shows up with an address assigned by your router.
On a network with no DHCP server, older firmware defaults to
192.168.0.90; firmware 11.8 and later falls back to a link-local169.254.x.xaddress instead. If your computer isn't on that same subnet, you won't see it - temporarily set your adapter's IP into that range, or connect through a switch with DHCP.
Once you can reach the camera, assign it a static IP or a DHCP reservation on your router. This matters more than it sounds: the RTSP URL you build later includes this IP, and if the camera's address changes, the feed breaks in Genea until you update it.
Step 2: Log In and Complete First-Time Setup
Enter the camera's IP address in a browser. Your browser will likely warn you the connection isn't secure (self-signed certificate) - this is expected on first login.
Log in with username
root. Axis cameras don't ship with a default password - you'll be prompted to create one on first access. Use at least 8 characters; a password manager-generated one works well.If the interface offers a firmware update, install it before going further. Current firmware avoids known bugs in streaming and RTSP authentication.
Set the date and time, or point the camera at an NTP server. This keeps recording timestamps accurate and matters later for correlating video with access control events.
If you're setting up a multi-sensor camera (the P37 series, for example), use the live view for each individual head to aim, zoom, and focus it now, before building RTSP URLs per channel. It's easier to get the framing right here than after the feed is already wired into Genea.
Step 3: Understand Channels vs. Stream Profiles (Multi-Sensor Cameras)
Skip this step if your camera has a single sensor - go straight to Step 4.
Axis multi-sensor cameras (the P37 panoramic series is the common example) pack several physical camera heads into one housing - four, in the case of the P3735-PLE. Each head is a separate video channel, and you select which one you want with a camera= parameter in the RTSP URL:
Parameter | Selects |
| An individual sensor head |
| All four heads combined into one split view |
This is separate from a stream profile (streamprofile=), which is a named preset for resolution, frame rate, bitrate, and codec that you configure under Settings > Stream > Stream profiles. A stream profile doesn't pick a sensor - it controls how the sensor you already selected gets encoded. You can use one, both, or neither; Step 5 covers when a profile is worth setting up.
Step 4: Build the RTSP URL
The base format for any Axis camera is:
rtsp://<camera-ip>/axis-media/media.amp
For a multi-sensor camera, add the channel:
rtsp://<camera-ip>/axis-media/media.amp?camera=3
Example, for sensor 3 on a camera at 192.168.1.50:
rtsp://192.168.1.50/axis-media/media.amp?camera=3
A few things that trip people up:
Single-sensor cameras don't take a
camera=parameter at all - just use the base format.You can layer on resolution, frame rate, or audio if needed:
&resolution=1920x1080,&fps=10,&audio=1.
Step 5 (Optional): Create a Stream Profile
A stream profile is worth setting up when you want to lock in specific encoding settings - resolution, frame rate, bitrate control - rather than relying on the camera's current defaults, which can change if someone edits global video settings later.
In the camera's web interface, go to Settings > Stream > Stream profiles.
Click Add stream profile, name it, and check the boxes for the settings you want to fix (resolution, frame rate, compression, and so on). Leave a box unchecked to keep inheriting the camera default for that setting.
Save the profile.
Reference it in your RTSP URL alongside the channel:
rtsp://<camera-ip>/axis-media/media.amp?camera=3&streamprofile=<profile-name>
If you don't check any boxes in the profile, it isn't doing anything yet - the feed will look identical to just using camera=3 on its own. Skip this step entirely unless you have a specific setting you need to pin down.
Step 6: Test the RTSP URL Before Connecting It to Genea
Confirm the stream works on its own before wiring it into the gateway:
Open VLC.
Go to Media > Open Network Stream.
Paste in your RTSP URL and click Play.
Confirm you're looking at the right physical view (correct sensor, correct framing) and that video loads within a few seconds.
If VLC can't connect, the issue is with the camera or network, not Genea - fix it here first. See Troubleshooting below for common causes.
Step 7: Add the Camera to Genea Video
Once the RTSP URL is confirmed working, add it in Genea Video:
Go to Video Management > Device Management > Cameras and click + Add.
Select Manually.
Enter the camera name, the RTSP URL, the camera's IP and MAC address, and assign it to your gateway.
Set retention and indoor/outdoor placement, then click Save.
The camera should show Online within a few minutes. Full details on all three add methods, including scanning the network and CSV bulk import, are in How to Add a Camera on Gateway.
Note: Genea Video's AI features currently work best on H.264. Confirm the camera (or the stream profile you're using) is set to H.264 before adding it.
Troubleshooting
Issue | Likely Cause | Fix |
VLC can't connect at all | Wrong IP, RTSP disabled, or camera not on the network yet | Re-check the IP in AXIS IP Utility; confirm RTSP is enabled in the camera settings |
VLC connects but shows the wrong view | Wrong | Try each channel (1-4) until you find the right one |
"401 Unauthorized" or similar auth error | Root password not yet set, wrong password, or unencoded special characters | Log into the camera's web UI to confirm the password; URL-encode special characters ( |
Camera shows Offline in Genea after adding | RTSP URL typo, gateway and camera on different subnets, or the camera's IP changed | Re-test the URL in VLC; confirm the gateway can reach the camera's IP; revisit Step 1 on static IPs |
Feed is choppy or low quality | Camera defaulting to a high-bitrate or mismatched codec setting | Set up a stream profile (Step 5) with explicit resolution, bitrate, and codec values |
Questions or something not covered here? Reach out to Genea Support at acsupport@getgenea.com.