webcam Information

Interest in webcams has exploded over the past couple of years. Products like the Quickcam and Webcam32 have made it possible for everyone to have a webcam. Many of you that visit our site have webcams of your own now and have questions about them. We don't know all the answers but we would like to share what we've learned so far. Hopefully you find this guide helpful and informative

The Basics
Many people get a webcam home and then wonder "now what?". Don't feel bad, we went through the same thing. There are basically two things you can do with a webcam (a) video conferencing \ chat - using software such as Netmeeting or CuSeeMe you can directly connect to someone else using the same program. You can then talk and see each other live while you're connected via the Internet. (b) run a webcam webpage - you setup a program to send your cam images to the same Internet server that hosts your website. The images can then be displayed on one of your webpages. There are many variations but it basically it means that anyone surfing the Net can see your picture. That's how we have our website setup.

Cam Hardware
One of the first things you'll learn about webcams is not to believe everything the box or literature tells you. Almost all of the cams on the market seem to have very similar specifications. They usually claim to have about the same resolution - most say 640x480. What you will find out is that there is a huge difference in image quality between various webcams.

Before you purchase a webcam - Make sure you have the appropriate connector on your PC. For instance, don't buy a webcam that connects with a USB cable if your computer doesn't have a USB port. Most modern computers do have these ports. That said, I strongly recommend buying a USB webcam if you have Win98 - avoid parallel cams! A parallel webcam will interfere with your printer and have poor performance compared to almost all USB webcams. If you have Win95 or Windows NT you may have no choice but to buy a parallel cam. Win95 was very cranky with USB devices and some webcams do not support Win95 at all.

Installing your webcam - Trust me when I say this - follow the manufacturers instructions exactly. If they say to load the software before plugging in the webcam, do it that way. A lot of USB hardware is quite cranky and must be installed with some finesse. Read the directions even if you are a "computer expert".

Cables - One of the biggest problems with webcams is getting the damn cable to reach where you want it. Most webcams come with a relatively short 6' cable. It sounds long until you get it home and plug it in. If you buy a USB webcam you may want to get a 6' USB cable extension. Parallel cams usually can't be extended as they plug into the keyboard ports for power. Serial webcams have a distinct advantage in this area with cables easily reaching over 100' (feet!).

Cable Type	Max. Recommended Length
parallel	10'
usb	16'
serial	over 100'

The Software
Aside from a few shareware programs there are really only two major webcam programs that are worth considering. After a recent merger the programs - ISpy and Webcam32 are now owned by the same company. Both programs are excellent and are often included in the box with webcams. At this point Webcam32 has a major edge considering the amount of features and capabilities you get for $25!

Software	Price	FTP Images	Streaming video	Time Scheduler	Audio	Handles Multiple Cams	Control Motorized Cam Mounts
Webcam32	$25	X	X	X	X	X	X
ISpy	$25	X		X

Any of these programs will allow you to send a webcam image to your webpage. It's not really hard to setup the traditional kind of webcam - the advanced features like streaming video take a little bit more work. A basic webcam is little more than the a program like Webcam32 sending your cam picture to a server on the Internet - then your page displays that image. Simple right?

Webpages & HTML
If you've never created a webpage before there really isn't an easy way to explain it. Experiment with some simple webpages and read some of the "dummy" guides before you attempt a webcam page. It's not hard to make a cam page but it can be frustrating if you take on too much at the same time. To make life easier here are some links to some basic webcam pages. Just unzip the files and follow the instructions!

Cam Type	Major Feature
meta refresh	simple but slow - whole page reloads to display new webcam image
java	faster - only the cam image reloads
streaming video	very fast video - only cam images reloads - doesn't work well with slow connections

Why does it matter what reloads each time? When designing a webpage you must remember that a people do not like slow websites. This is especially true for webcam pages. Your image is going to update at an interval you choose (often 60 seconds). That means every 60 seconds the person viewing your page is going to wait for your image to download to their computer. If the whole page has to reload it takes much longer. Remember, not everyone has a fast connection to the net!

Why don't webcam images update faster? For instance, to send a clear image every second requires a lot of bandwith and a good connection to the internet. If you are uploading a 20KB image every second that would be 1200KB transmitted a minute! The person viewing the streaming video would then need to be able to download from the Internet 1200kb a minute also!! Your computer would be uploading 72 megabytes of data an hour - impossible on a dialup modem.

Meta-Refresh
This is simplest way to get your webcam image to automatically change on your webpage. At a set interval that you choose the entire page will reload on your visitors browser. If your webcam program has sent a new image to the server the page will now show the latest image. This method is compatible with old and new browsers but can be awfully slow if your page is loaded with lots of graphics. Setting up meta-refresh is easy - simply follow the example below:

This is an example of the code to display the picture on your webpage:

<a><IMG SRC="http://www.yourserver.com/webcam32.jpg" HEIGHT=240 WIDTH=320 BORDER=1></a>

Below is an example of the code to meta refresh (reload) the page at a set interval (60 seconds) so the latest webcam picture will show up. Adjust time to match your webcam programs settings.
<head>

<Meta Http-equiv="Refresh" Content="60"> <-- insert this between <head> & </head> tags

</head>

Java
Java is a programming language mostly used on the Internet. It allows people to create programs that will run on any computer as long as they are Java compatible. How does it apply to webcams? Java allows you to have a webpage with an automatically updating webcam image (often with special effects). Most webcam sites use a java script (program) to display their webcam images. It's fairly reliable and unlike meta-refresh only the webcam image reloads every time.

To setup java on your webpage you will need to locate and download a java webcam program. There will be some files to upload to your website's server and also some html code to adjust & insert onto your page. Follow the instructions for the java script very carefully, it will save you a lot of frustration.

Sites w\java cam scripts	Link
Webcam32	click here

Streaming Video
A lot of streaming video webcams work on the same principle as a still-picture webcam. A picture is taken by your device (camcorder, digital camera, etc) and uploaded to your webpage directory on the Internet. The html code on one of your pages displays this image as the visitors downloads your page.

The difference is that streaming video is a very rapid series of images, much like a movie projector works. The "stream" of images is shown on your webpage and can give an almost real time view to your visitors. Often you'll see streaming webcams that display a new image every second. This really allows you to see movement and activity

So how do you do this practically? On the slow internet connections that most people have today you would have to do several things; make the picture small and lower the image speed which will cause jerky movement. The best way to stream video is to use a program like Webcam32 that pulls the cam image directly off your PC. It works by connecting your visitor to your IP address and skipping the website server. This eliminates the need for you to upload the cam images to your website host. The visitor's browser pulls the images from your computer as fast as both of your connections will allow. By saving the upload step you free up bandwidth and can run your webcam faster.

Get more info from the Webcam32 site @ http://www.surverorcorp.com

What are Camarades and Webcam now? These are companies that provide software that you load on your computer. This software then transmits your webcam image to their servers. To see your webcam image you must go to a page hosted by them. If you have a fast connection you can easily setup streaming video using their software - great for a beginner. The other nice thing about their service is that it's a whole group of webcams on their site and that draws a lot of traffic. Your cam page will get a fair amount of visitors by being part of this. Disadvantages? sometimes their servers run quite slowly and during peak hours can be almost impossible to use. Plus you have to live by their rules!

Getting Traffic
So you've created the ultimate webcam page and now you'd like to get some traffic coming to it. There are quite a few free resources for you to use to generate traffic. Most of them will help increase the number of visitors quite a bit.

Webrings - These are groups of sites with similar themes (webcams in this case) that are connected in a ring. Your site will be given an number and some html code to insert on your page. Visitors can use this code to visit the next or previous site in the webring. You get traffic because people are clicking on this code on other sites which brings them to your site. A big busy webring can bring a lot of traffic to your site.

Cam Ranking Lists - Ever wanted to compete with other webcam sites? This is a great way to try and get your site to number one while getting tons of traffic! You sign up and get some html to put on your site. This gives your visitors a link to click on and every time they do that you get a vote. The higher you are on the list the more traffic you get because more people see you. Check out the ranking lists below and sign up your site: