PTZ Control Manual
Complete guide to PTZ Control
Contents
1. Overview
PTZ Control drives your PTZ cameras over the network from one window. Pick a camera at the top, then move, zoom, focus and recall presets, or change its picture — exposure, white balance, gain and more. One click copies the selected camera's picture to all the others, so every camera looks the same.
The top bar shows your cameras (the selected one is lit red, like a tally light) and a status line that tells you whether the selected camera answers, and when a camera refuses a command.
2. Installation & Activation
System Requirements
- OS: Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
- Network: the computer and the cameras on the same network, by cable or Wi-Fi
- Cameras: any number of PTZ cameras with network control (see Supported Cameras)
Installing
- Download PTZControl-Setup.exe from the PTZ Control product page or your dashboard.
- Run the installer. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning — click More info → Run anyway to proceed.
- Follow the installer prompts. PTZ Control installs to
Program Files\Cue Congress\PTZ Controlby default. - Launch PTZ Control from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.
License Activation
- On first launch, the license activation window appears. Enter your license key and click Activate License.
- PTZ Control connects to the CueCongress license server to verify your key. An internet connection is required for the first activation.
- Once activated, the app also works offline for up to 7 days after its last check.
Deactivating (Moving to Another Computer)
Click the CueCongress logo at the top right to open About, then click Deactivate next to your license key. This frees the license so you can activate it on another computer.
Updates
PTZ Control checks for a new version when it starts. You can also check any time from About → Check for Updates. Updating keeps your license key and your cameras.
3. Adding Your Cameras
- Click Cameras… at the top (on first start, Add your cameras).
- For each camera, type a name (e.g. Stage) and its IP address.
- Click Find. PTZ Control tries every kind of camera it knows and fills in the kind and port the camera answers on.
- Click Save. The cameras appear as buttons at the top; the status line turns green when the selected camera answers.
Use + Add a camera for more rows and ✕ to remove one. You can also choose the kind of camera and port by hand; the usual port is filled in when you pick the kind.
4. Finding Cameras with Unknown Addresses
If you don't know a camera's address — for example someone switched it to DHCP and the remote isn't at hand — open Cameras… and click Search the network. After a few seconds every camera that answers is listed with its name, its current address and its MAC address (which never changes, so you can tell identical cameras apart).
- Add puts the camera in your list with the right kind and port.
- A camera marked on another network was found, but its address belongs to a different network than this computer's, so it can't be controlled until one of the two addresses changes.
Giving a Camera a New Address
- In the search results, click Change address… next to the camera.
- Type the new address, mask and gateway. For a camera on another network, the form starts from this computer's network: complete the last number with one no other device uses.
- Click Send to the camera, then click again to confirm. When the camera accepts, the search runs again so you can see it at its new address.
5. Moving, Zooming & Presets
Moving
Hold one of the eight arrows to move the camera; it stops as soon as you let go. The middle button (⌂) sends the camera to its home position. The Speed slider sets how fast it moves and zooms.
Zoom
Hold Wide − or Tele + to zoom out or in.
Presets
- Click a number (1–9) to send the camera to that preset.
- To store the current shot, click Save a preset…, then the number to store it in.
- The speed at which cameras travel to a preset is set under More.
6. Focus
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Near / Far | Moves the focus while held. |
| ‹ Fine / Fine › | One very small focus step per click, for landing exactly on a face. Switches the camera to manual focus. |
| Auto | Automatic focus. |
| Manual | Manual focus: the camera keeps its focus where it is. |
| One-shot | Focuses once on what the camera sees now, then stays there — the lens stops hunting when people walk past. |
7. Picture Settings & Matching Cameras
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Exposure | Auto, or Manual so brightness doesn't change when the scene does. Shutter, iris and gain work in manual exposure. |
| Exp. comp | Makes the automatic exposure one step brighter or darker. |
| Shutter, Iris, Gain | One step up or down per click. Keep gain low: it adds grain. |
| Backlight | Brightens a subject in front of a bright background. |
| Anti-flicker | Removes flicker and banding from LED and fluorescent lights: 50 Hz in Europe, 60 Hz in North America. |
| White balance | Auto, Indoor, Outdoor or Manual. Set from a white card: hold a white card where the speaker stands, fill the shot with it and click — the camera measures the light once. |
| Red, Blue | Fine-tunes the colour in manual white balance. |
| Sharpness | Less sharpness often looks more natural than the factory setting. |
| Flip, Mirror | For a camera mounted upside down: turn the picture top to bottom and left to right. |
Copy This Picture to the Other Cameras
Set up one camera until it looks right, select it, then click Copy this picture to the other cameras. Its exposure, white balance (including what it measured on the white card) and sharpness are given to every other camera. The result line says which cameras took it and which did not answer.
If a camera does not have a setting, the status line says "does not know this command". If it has the setting but not in its current mode (e.g. shutter while exposure is on Auto), it says "cannot do this in its current mode".
9. More Settings & Power
Click More… at the top for settings you usually set once at the venue:
- Digital zoom — keep it Off to stay sharp at the far end of the zoom.
- Noise reduction — less grain in dark rooms, at the cost of a slightly softer picture.
- Speed to a preset — Slow for moves on air, Fast while preparing.
- All cameras: Power on / Standby — switches every camera at once. Standby asks for a second click, so a stray click can't switch your cameras off during a show.
10. Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ ← → | Move the camera while held |
| + − | Zoom in / out while held |
| 1 … 9 | Go to preset (or store it, after Save a preset…) |
| F1 … F9 | Select camera 1–9 |
11. Supported Cameras
| Kind | Usual port | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Sony VISCA over IP | 52381 | All |
| PTZ Optics VISCA UDP | 1259 | All |
| VISCA over TCP | 5678 | All |
| PTZ Optics HTTP (CGI) | 80 | Movement, zoom, focus, presets |
| Panasonic CGI PTZ | 80 | Movement, zoom, focus, presets, power |
Most PTZ cameras from other makes (for example Canon CR-N, BirdDog, Lumens, Minrray and many others) offer VISCA over IP — switch it on in the camera's settings and use Find. Controls the selected camera's kind does not have are greyed out. The picture settings available depend on each camera model.
12. Troubleshooting
A camera "does not answer"
- Check that the camera is switched on and on the same network as this computer.
- Check its address with Search the network; it may have changed.
- Check that network control (VISCA over IP) is switched on in the camera's settings, and use Find to pick the right kind and port.
Search the network finds nothing
- The computer and the cameras must be on the same cable or Wi-Fi network; a router between them blocks the search.
- On a network Windows marks as Public, Windows Firewall may hold back some answers. Set the network to Private in Windows network settings and search again.
A button does nothing
- Look at the status line: if the camera refused the command, it says so. Not every camera has every setting — use the camera's own menu for those.
- Shutter, iris and gain need manual exposure; red and blue need manual white balance.
App not starting / installer warning
- Windows SmartScreen may warn about software from a new publisher. Click More info → Run anyway.
License activation fails
- Ensure an active internet connection is available during first activation.
- Check that you are entering the license key exactly as received — with dashes, no extra spaces.
- If your license is already active on its maximum number of computers, deactivate it on one of them first (About → Deactivate).
- Contact support@cuecongress.com if activation continues to fail.