This security camera planner is a free CCTV design tool that runs in your browser. Pull up a floor plan or a satellite view of the site, drop in cameras, and watch the coverage fill in — field of view, useful range, and the blind spots behind every wall.
It works with any camera brand. Pick a make and model and the tool uses that camera's real lens, sensor, and resolution to draw the coverage — so an Axis, Hikvision, Dahua, or mixed-brand job all plan the same way. No download, no Windows-only desktop app, no account to get started.
And it goes past the cones: place the PoE switches and the recorder, size the storage, and export a device schedule or a branded PDF proposal your client can actually read.
What This CCTV Design Tool Does
Place Cameras on a Floor Plan or Satellite View
Upload a PDF floor plan, pull a satellite/aerial image of the site, or draw the structure. Drop cameras where they go, set the lens and mounting height, and aim them. Walls and obstructions cast real sightline shadows.
See Field of View, Range, and Blind Spots
Every camera draws its field-of-view cone and useful range from the actual lens and sensor — not a generic wedge. Mounting height and tilt shift the near and far coverage, so you catch blind spots on screen instead of on site.
DORI / PPF Coverage by Goal
Shade each camera by what it can actually do at distance: general view, facial recognition, or license plate. The bands follow the EN 62676-4 DORI standard and pixel-density (PPF/PPM) thresholds, so you size the lens for the job before you buy.
Cameras, PoE/NVR, and Storage in One Tool
Place PoE switches and a recorder, assign cameras, and get the PoE budget and port count per unit. Set retention and RAID and it sizes the drives. Then export a device schedule and a branded PDF proposal.
Field of View, DORI Coverage, and the System Behind It
A coverage calculator tells you where a camera looks. This planner tells you what it can actually do at distance — and what it takes to power and record it. Everything updates live as you place cameras.
Field-of-View Calculator
Coverage cone from real lens + sensor, live as you aim
DORI / PPF Zones
Detect, observe, recognize, identify by pixels-per-foot
License Plate (LPR) Goal
Narrow high-density band for plate capture distance
Facial Recognition Goal
Pixel density required to identify a person
Floor Plan + Satellite Import
PDF plan, aerial map, or a structure you draw
PoE Switch + NVR Placement
Per-unit PoE budget, ports, and camera assignment
Storage + Retention Sizing
Drive count and total TB by RAID and retention
Proposal Export
Device schedule CSV and branded multi-page PDF
Who Uses This Security Camera Planner
Installers & Integrators — Bid the Job Right
Lay out the cameras on the client's floor plan, prove the coverage with DORI bands, size the PoE and storage, and export a branded proposal — without a Windows-only desktop tool or a per-seat subscription. Win the bid with a one-page plan that shows exactly which camera goes where.
Contractors & Estimators — Plan a Camera Job in Minutes
Not a security specialist? Pull the site on a satellite map, drop cameras, and the coverage tells you how many you need and where the gaps are. It's a fast camera coverage calculator and layout tool for anyone estimating a job, not just CCTV pros.
Owners & Facility Managers — See Coverage Before You Buy
Planning cameras for a store, warehouse, parking lot, or home? See your coverage on screen before you buy a single camera. Find out whether that corner can read a license plate or just spot motion — and how many cameras it really takes to cover the property.
DORI, Field of View, and PoE — Calculated As You Place Cameras
Detection, recognition, and identification each need a different pixel density on target. The planner shades the distance where each camera still meets the threshold — the difference between "I see something" and "I can identify who".
Horizontal field of view comes from focal length and sensor size. A 2.8mm lens sees wide and short; a longer lens sees narrow and far. The tool draws the real cone so you pick the lens before the truck roll.
Each camera has a real PoE draw. Assign cameras to a switch or NVR and the budget and port count roll up. Set retention and RAID and the drive sizing falls out — the whole system, not just the cones.
No spreadsheet, no trig by hand, no desktop install. The math runs live in the browser as you place and aim each camera — the reason this is more than a field-of-view calculator. It catches real coverage problems before the truck rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. It runs in your browser — nothing to download, no Windows install, no account to start a design. You place cameras, see coverage, and export. Your work saves locally between sessions. Most pro design tools either lock you to a desktop app, cap a free tier at three cameras, or sit behind a paid subscription. This one opens in a tab and works.
Any brand. The planner is vendor-agnostic — pick a make and model and it uses that camera's real lens, sensor, and resolution to draw coverage. Manufacturer tools like Axis Site Designer, Hikvision HiTools, or i-PRO's planner only work with their own cameras. This one plans an Axis, Hikvision, Dahua, Hanwha, or any mixed-brand job the same way.
Field of view comes from the lens focal length and the sensor size; useful range comes from how many pixels land on your target at distance. Instead of doing the trig by hand, you place the camera on a floor plan or aerial map and the tool draws the field-of-view cone and the coverage bands for you — updating live as you change the lens, mounting height, or aim.
DORI is the EN 62676-4 standard for how much detail a camera delivers at a given distance, measured in pixels per foot (PPF) or pixels per meter (PPM). Detection needs few pixels; identifying a face or reading a license plate needs many. The planner shades each camera's coverage by goal — general view vs. facial recognition vs. license plate — so you can see exactly how far out the camera still meets the requirement.
It depends on the lens and resolution, not just the camera's rated range. License plate capture (LPR) typically needs a high pixel density on a narrow target, so the usable distance is much shorter than general surveillance. Facial identification sits in between. Set the camera's goal in the planner and it shows the exact distance band where the camera still meets that pixel-density threshold — so you size the lens before you buy.
That comes down to the area you need to cover, the detail you need at each spot, and the blind spots created by walls and mounting height. Drop cameras onto your floor plan or a satellite view of the property, watch the coverage fill in, and add cameras until the gaps close. It's faster — and cheaper — to find the right count on screen than to discover a blind spot after the install.
Yes, and this is where it goes past a coverage calculator. Place PoE switches and an NVR, assign cameras to them, and the tool rolls up the PoE budget and port count per unit. Set your retention and RAID and it sizes the drives and total storage for the whole job. Most planning tools stop at camera coverage; this one plans the system behind the cameras.
Yes. Export a device schedule as CSV, or a branded multi-page PDF proposal — each floor's plan with labeled cameras plus a combined bill of materials. The camera labels on the plan match the schedule, so a client (or the install crew) can see exactly which camera goes where.
