Quick Tip #1: Smart Motion Search in NX Witness
Quick Tip: How to Find an Incident Fast with Smart Motion Search in NX Witness
Key takeaways
Smart Motion Search finds every moment of movement in one part of a camera view, so you skip hours of scrubbing through footage.
You draw a box over the area you care about, such as a door, till or gate, and NX Witness highlights only the matching footage on the timeline.
It works in the NX Witness desktop app and the mobile app.
ViewIT sets up motion detection on your cameras during installation, so the feature is ready to use.
What is Smart Motion Search in NX Witness?
Smart Motion Search is a feature in NX Witness, the video management software behind ViewIT cloud CCTV. It searches recorded footage for movement inside an area you choose on the camera view. Instead of watching a whole night of footage, you see only the moments when something moved in that spot.
This matters because most incidents happen in a small part of the frame. A back door, a cash drawer or a stock cage is usually what you need to check, not the whole room.
How do I use Smart Motion Search? (5 steps)
Open the camera. In the NX Witness desktop app, open the camera that covers the area you want to check.
Turn on the motion grid. Click the Smart Motion Search button on the camera tile, or right-click the camera and choose the motion grid option. The keyboard shortcut is Alt + G.
Draw your search area. Click and drag over the part of the image you care about, such as a doorway or till. You can select more than one area.
Review the results. Red markers appear on the timeline wherever motion happened in your area. Click a marker, or a thumbnail in the Motion panel, to jump straight to that moment.
Clear the search. When you are done, clear your selection or press Alt + G again to return to normal playback.
Button names can differ slightly between NX Witness versions. If something looks different on your screen, contact our support team.
Can I use Smart Motion Search on my phone?
Yes. The NX Witness mobile app also lets you select part of a camera view and search for motion there. It is handy for a quick check when you are away from the office, such as confirming whether anyone entered the yard overnight.
Tips to get better results
Keep the area small. A tight box around a door or till returns fewer, more useful results than half the screen.
Avoid moving backgrounds. Trees, traffic and screens create motion all day, so leave them out of your selection.
Narrow the time first. If you know roughly when something happened, zoom the timeline to that window before searching.
Bookmark what you find. Once you locate the incident, bookmark it so it is easy to find again or export later.
Why it matters for your business
Finding footage quickly means faster answers when stock goes missing, a customer disputes an event or insurance needs evidence. It also means your team spends minutes, not hours, reviewing CCTV.
Need a hand?
If motion search isn't picking up the right events, we can adjust motion detection settings on your cameras as part of our managed service. Get in touch with our team, or request a free quote and demo if you're not a ViewIT customer yet.
Next month's quick tip: setting up multi-split layouts to watch every camera on one screen.
