AcuPick — a video search engine that finds a person or vehicle in one click

AcuPick solves the most tedious part of video surveillance: going through the recordings. You click a person or a vehicle in the footage and the system brings up every other place the same target passed a camera. AcuPick 2.0 (2024) added pre-search, new search types, a trajectory on the map, and support for third-party cameras.

1. Where it came from

Searching recordings has gone through four stages: scrolling frame by frame, then SMD (human/vehicle), then searching AI events, and finally AcuPick — where you no longer describe the target, you point at it.

How search evolved: manual scrolling → SMD → AI events → AcuPick

2. Before the search: finding the target in the first place

To use AcuPick you first have to locate the target. 2.0 added pre-search for exactly that: you draw an area or a line straight onto the image and get the clips where someone crossed it. It works both in the live view and in playback.

Drawing an area or line in live view and in playback — live on the left, playback with the targets found on the right

Two things make this practical:

Self-learning IVS — recurring false alarms in the same view can be added to an experience database, after which they stop cluttering the results.
Pre-search by attributes — when the time and place are unknown but the target's attributes are (clothing colour and so on), you can search by those. Requires a WizMind S or X series camera.

3. What can be searched for

AcuPick 2.0 searches for people, vehicles, faces and animals. Animal search is new in 2.0. Combined with face recognition (on NVR5-XI or NVR6-XI), a separate alert can be configured for when a person who behaved suspiciously returns.

4. It works with third-party cameras too

This is the most important practical change in AcuPick 2.0. The analysis runs on the recorder, not in the camera — so AcuPick can be used with ordinary Dahua cameras and with other manufacturers' cameras. The existing system does not have to be replaced.

Analysis runs on the recorder: video from both Dahua and third-party cameras

Through CGI and SDK, AcuPick can be integrated with third-party software platforms

5. Trajectory on the map

Cameras can be placed on a floor plan and AcuPick draws the target's route onto that map. Instead of working through one camera at a time, you see at once where the target came in and where they went.

On the left, placing cameras on the plan; on the right, the route of the target found

6. Where it helps most

Situation	What changes
Property has gone missing	Draw an area around where the item was and get the clips where someone approached it — no scrolling through hours of footage.
A suspicious person	When the exact time is unknown, search by attributes helps; the trajectory on the map shows where they went next.
A pet at home	Animal search finds the day's clips without watching the whole recording.

What you need: AcuPick requires a recorder that supports it — that is where the analysis runs. On cameras 2.0 is forgiving: ordinary Dahua and third-party cameras will do. Some functions (search by attributes, face recognition) still require specific camera and recorder series. Ask us what your current set-up can do.

Can AcuPick work with your current system?

Tell us what cameras and recorder are on site — we will check whether changing the recorder is enough. For installers, technical help and support in designing the solution are free of charge.

Get in touch All Dahua camera technologies

Source: Dahua Technology, “AcuPick 2.0” (dahuasecurity.com, Key Technologies). Images: the same page.