Binding a camera to an archive determines the archive to which a video stream will be recorded and how.

You can bind a single camera to an archive or bind a group of cameras by using the same settings.

To bind a camera to an archive:

1. Select the new archive.
2. Select the check box that corresponds to the camera for which you want to configure archive recording (1).
   
3. Configure settings for archive recording.
   1. In the Constant recording list, select the archive recording mode (2). 
      If No is selected, the video stream will be recorded to the archive only when an operator manually initiates an alarm or an automatic rule is initiated.
      If Always is selected, video will be recorded to the archive non-stop.
      If a time schedule is selected (see Configuring schedules), video will be recorded non-stop to the archive during the selected time period. Recording to the archive can also be initiated by the operator or an automatic rule.

   2. In the Retention, days field, set the retention time value for the given camera (in days). 

      If the history value is set at 0, all recorded video is available for playback.

      
      

      Further, if you are increasing the Archive retention time (0 — stands for unlimited time), this setting is applied for new records only. Earlier records falling outside the initial retention time become inaccessible.

      
      

   3. In the Pre-alarm recording time field (4), enter the buffering time of the video stream from the camera in seconds. This value should be in the range [0, 30].

      Pre-alarm recording is the period of pre-event recording that will be added to the beginning of an alarm event recording

      
      

      If a macro starts recording, the pre-alarm recording time may be longer, according to your settings (see Record to archive).

      
      

   4. If you want to record pruned, decimated video, choose By keyframes from Gapping, fps.  This applies to all video streams except MJPEG. With  MJPEG codec, please use the explicit value of frame rate. Video pruning by frame dropping reduces the size of recorded video and saves storage, but video with skipped frames feels like the movement is delayed, and motion feels more choppy.

      When you prune by frame dropping, in all video streams except MJPEG , only I-fames (Intra-Coded Frame or Key Frames) are saved. Different codecs feature various compression levels with key frames rates going down from 3 to under 1 I-frames per second. MJPEG video contains only I‑frames (Intra-coded pictures with a complete image), so it makes sense  to set a desired frame rate here.

      
      

   5. Select a stream for archive recording (6).

      This setting is relevant for cameras that support multistreaming.

      
      

4. Click the Apply button.

Binding of the camera to the archive is now complete.

To bind multiple cameras:

1. Select the check boxes next to the cameras for which you want to configure archive recording. To select all cameras, select the Select all check box.
   
2. Configure archive recording settings for the group of cameras (marked with yellow). The indicated settings for archive recording are applied to the selected cameras.
3. Perform custom configuration of camera recording settings, if necessary.
4. Click the Apply button.

The camera is now bound to the archive.