How do you set up a webcam?

[rosschapman]

Hi all,

Someone asked me yesterday how they would go about getting a webcam setup and to display on their website.

My assumption was that you buy a webcam, link it to a 'puter

It appears on your website.


However, the bit in the middle is a bit beyond me - do you buy a webcam programme or what?


thanks,

R

[the_pm]

There are a couple of ways to do this, and unfortunately, I have little experience with either. But at least I can get you started.

There is software available that will allow you to maintain a steady stream. In some cases, this will require the end user to download a plug-in for his/her browser to be able to view your stream. In other cases, you log into sites with special software installed on the server, just like how we ran the IWDN BBQ :) The server then basically just passes your camera feed straight through to the end users.

The second way is to set up a system whereby the camera takes a snapshot of you and posts it to a server via FTP. It will do this periodically. from once every 30 seconds to maybe once per second (this would be very fast!). You don't get a "stream" per say, but you get a close-to-realtime snapshot of the end user. Often times, this is sufficient, and it's much easier to set up. I've only ever used te software that came with a Web cam, so I can't tell you much more than that!

[rosschapman]

thanks Paul. I like the sound of the second way better, and does sound a lot simpler. Right, now I have to do some software searching,

thanks again.

[Corey Bryant]

I used the WebCam 32 (http://www.webcam32.com/) software a long time ago (about 5 years ago and was really impressed with it. I have not used it since but I their support was great & helped me out a lot. And when I lost their program, they even emailed it to me again to re-install

[rosschapman]

nice one corey - that looks fine for the pc side.

now, are there any mac alternatives? :-)

[Corey Bryant]

I found some of these (http://www.pure-mac.com/webcam.html) actually. Not too sure if they will really help but maybe a good start

[rosschapman]

cheers corey!

[sea otter]

Ooooh, nice list for the mac! Gotta bookmark that.

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