7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: converting the plurality of rules into video characterization parameters.
1. A method for semantics based video analysis, the method comprising: accepting a textual description of a monitored scene, the textual description comprising one or more textual terms selected by a user from a plurality of predefined textual terms; accepting a plurality of rules related to the monitored scene, the rules comprising one or more textual terms from the plurality of predefined textual terms; converting the textual description of the monitored scene into video characterization parameters; receiving video data from a plurality of cameras located at the monitored scene; performing video analysis of the video data based on the video characterization parameters and the rules; converting results of the video analysis into one or more alerts selected from a plurality of predefined alerts; and issuing the one or more alerts.