The overlay function allows the user to overlay information on the camera’s video feed. The information can be such as the camera’s name, date, time, bandwidth, IP address, etc.
In this guide, we will show how to add variables to the overlay function and display various (and specific) information on the screen/camera’s video stream.
For example, you can program the camera’s settings to overlay information such as:
- Camera’s name
- Camera’s location
- Date and time
- Bitrate
- Frame rate
- Watermark or Logo
- The camera’s IP address
Moreover, Axis cameras have the ability to overlay a watermark onto the camera stream, which would appear when viewing both live and recorded video from the camera.
The default watermark is the Axis logo. However, you can use any image in a 24-bit BMP format and it will get displayed. This is convenient if you intend to show your company logo on top of the video feed.
Access your Axis camera via the web browser and on the Menu options at the bottom click on the Overlay tab (as shown below).
Click on the Create overlay option and you can enter a text of your choice. The prompt gives you the option to choose the text size, placement, color of the text and background, and many other options.
In this example, we added the camera’s name followed by some variables such as the bitrate, framerate, date&time, temperature, etc.
If you click the three dots button (…), the software will display all the available variables that you can choose from. It also allows you to select the font color, size, and background.
How to add watermark to Axis camera
To upload a watermark, open the camera’s setup menu and click the “Video & Audio” button in the left-hand side menu, then the Overlay Image button.
To set a new watermark, click the Choose File button and select your new watermark/logo image in the file explorer window that prompts. Click the Upload button once you have selected the file to upload the watermark image to the camera.
You will see a message saying “Unsupported file type” if you try uploading a file that is not a 24-bit bitmap format (.bmp). Also, the image also needs to have a height and width divisible by 4.
If the upload is successful, you will be brought to the transparency settings screen. This setting allows you to set a specific color on the image to be transparent.
Click the Save button to save the transparency setting. The new image will now appear as an option in the Use overlay image drop-down menu. Now on, you can select the new image in the drop-down list and hit the “Save” button to apply the watermark.
List of Axis Overlay variables (Modifiers)
Below you can consult the list of modifiers you can use for the camera overlay on Axis cameras. This is the official list and notes as published by the Axis support team.
The format string can contain normal text and/or modifier fields, the latter of which always start with a % or a # character, followed by another character. Anything else is considered normal text.
On the table, you’ll probably notice come notes on the brackets beside each modifier. For example, “(D, I, IP, EF, EN, M, UF)”, this show which situations the modifier can be used in.
D – Date formatting
T – Time formatting
I – Text overlay
IP – The IP address
EF – Event file name
EN – Event notification via TCP/HTTP
M – Mail subject or /message
UF – Upload folder name
The table is taken from Axis Technical Bulletin “File Naming & Date/Time Formats”
| Modifier | Description (and how you can use it) |
| %a | %a The abbreviated weekday name. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %A | %A The full weekday name. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %b | %b The abbreviated month name. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M). |
| %B | %B The full month name. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %c | %c The date and time. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %C | %C The century number (year/100) as a 2-digit integer. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %d | %d The day of the month as a decimal number (range 01 to 31). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %D | %D Date in format MM/DD/YY. |
| %e | %e As for %d, but a leading zero is replaced by a blank space. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %f | %f The 1/100 second fraction. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %F | %F The date in the format as specified in the Date & Time settings. (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %g | %g As for %G, but without the century, i.e., with a 2-digit year (00-99). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %G | %G The ISO 8601 year with century as a decimal number. The 4-digit year corresponds to the ISO week number (see %V). This has the same format and value as %y, except that if the ISO week number belongs to the previous or next year, then that year is used instead. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %h | %h Equivalent to %b. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %H | %H The hour as a decimal number, using the 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %I | %I The hour as a decimal number, using the 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %j | %j The day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %k | %k The hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 0 to 23); single digits are preceded by a blank space. (See also %H.) (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %l | %l The hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number (range 1 to 12); single digits are preceded by a blank. (See also %I.)(T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %m | %m The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %M | %M The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %p | %p AM or PM, according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for the current locale. Noon is treated as PM and midnight as AM. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %r | %r The time in a.m. or p.m. notation. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %R | %R The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M). For a version including seconds, see %T. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF) Note: Will not work on all FTP servers. |
| %s | %s The number of seconds since the Epoch, i.e., since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %S | %S The second as a decimal number (range 00 to 61). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %T | %T The time as specified in the Date & Time settings. (I,IP,EN,M,UF) Note: Will not work on all FTP servers. |
| %u | %u The day of the week as a decimal, range 1 to 7, Monday = 1. See also %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %U | %U The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of week 01. See also %V and %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %v | Adds support for 1000 Milliseconds Time Overlay |
| %V | %V The ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number, in the range 01 to 53, where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week. See also %U, %v and %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %w | %w The day of the week as a decimal, in the range 0 to 6. Sunday = 0. See also %u. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %W | %W The week number of the current year as a decimal number, in the range 00 to 53, starting with the first Monday as the first day of week 01. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %X | %X The time representation without the date. (D,I,IP,EN,M,UF). |
| %y | %y The year as a decimal number without the century (range 00 to 99). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %Y | %Y The year as a decimal number, including the century. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %z | %z Zoom coordinates (1–19999). |
| %Z | %Z Zoom magnification in one-decimal format. |
| %% | %% The literal % character. (All). |
| #b | #b The bit rate in Kbit/s (with no decimals). (I,IP,UF). |
| #B | #B The bit rate in Mbit/s (with two decimals) (I,IP,UF). |
| #c | #c The compression rate (Stream > General > Compression). |
| #e | #e The action performed by the Action Rule, for example, Send Notification. (EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #F | #F The frame size in Kbit/s. |
| #D | #D Displays a text on top of a video stream image when the Action Rule is triggered. (I,EF,EN,M). |
| #i | #i The IP address. (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %m | %m The month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %M | %M The minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %p | %p AM or PM, according to the given time value, or the corresponding strings for the current locale. Noon is treated as PM and midnight as AM. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %r | %r The time in a.m. or p.m. notation. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %R | %R The time in 24-hour notation (%H:%M). For a version including seconds, see %T. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF) Note: Will not work on all FTP servers. |
| %s | %s The number of seconds since the Epoch, i.e., since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %S | %S The second as a decimal number (range 00 to 61). (T,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %T | %T The time as specified in the Date & Time settings. (I,IP,EN,M,UF) Note: Will not work on all FTP servers. |
| %u | %u The day of the week as a decimal, range 1 to 7, Monday = 1. See also %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %U | %U The week number of the current year as a decimal number, range 00 to 53, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of week 01. See also %V and %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %v | Adds support for 1000 Milliseconds Time Overlay |
| %V | %V The ISO 8601:1988 week number of the current year as a decimal number, in the range 01 to 53, where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week. See also %U, %v and %W. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %w | %w The day of the week as a decimal, in the range 0 to 6. Sunday = 0. See also %u. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %W | %W The week number of the current year as a decimal number, in the range 00 to 53, starting with the first Monday as the first day of week 01. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %X | %X The time representation without the date. (D,I,IP,EN,M,UF). |
| %y | %y The year as a decimal number without the century (range 00 to 99). (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %Y | %Y The year as a decimal number, including the century. (D,I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| %z | %z Zoom coordinates (1–19999). |
| %Z | %Z Zoom magnification in one-decimal format. |
| %% | %% The literal % character. (All). |
| #b | #b The bit rate in Kbit/s (with no decimals). (I,IP,UF). |
| #B | #B The bit rate in Mbit/s (with two decimals) (I,IP,UF). |
| #c | #c The compression rate (Stream > General > Compression). |
| #e | #e The action performed by the Action Rule, for example, Send Notification. (EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #F | #F The frame size in Kbit/s. |
| #D | #D Displays a text on top of a video stream image when the Action Rule is triggered. (I,EF,EN,M). |
| #i | #i The IP address. (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #m | #m The short MAC address (last 6 characters). (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #M | #M The long MAC address (all characters). (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #n | #n The host name. (I,IP,EF,EN,M,UF). |
| #op | #op The tilt angle in degrees. |
| #or | #or The pan tilt angle in degrees. |
| #p | #p Preset position ID as a number. |
| #P | #P Preset position ID as a name. |
| #r | #r The frame rate (with two decimals). (I,IP,UF). |
| #R | #R The frame rate (with no decimals). (I,IP,UF). |
| #s | #s The sequence number (5 digits). |
| #S | #s The sequence number (10 digits). |
| #t | #t The name of the Action Rule, for example MyActionRule. (EF,EN,M). |
| #TC<n> | #TC<n> The sensor temperature in Celsius and <n> is the sensor number. For example, to show the status of sensor number 1, enter #TC1 in the text overlay field (I). |
| #TF<n> | #TF<n> The sensor temperature in Fahrenheit and <n> is the sensor number. For example, to show the status of sensor number 1, enter #TF1 in the text overlay field (I). |
| #v | #v The video source number. (I,IP,EN,M,UF). |
| #V | #V The video source number. (I,IP,EN,M,UF) as two digits, for example 01. |
| #w | #w The name of the motion detection window triggering an event. (EN,M,UF). |
| #x | #x Pan coordinates in two-decimal format. |
| #y | #y Tilt coordinates in two-decimal format. |
| #z | #z Zoom coordinates (1–19999). |
| #Z | #Z Zoom magnification in one-decimal format. |
| ## | ## The literal # character (All). |
