How to install a WEB-camera?
You promised your relatives a long time ago to make a video call, for example, Skype or Viber, instead of texting in Odnoklassniki. And finally, you bought a WEB-camera, brought it home, maybe even connected it to a computer, but it doesn’t work. And in general, how to install the WEB-camera correctly and on the first try? About this in order.
The sequence of installing a WEB-camera on a computer
In fact, there are more words than deeds here. To install a WEB-camera, you need to take two steps:
- Physically connect the camera to the computer;
- (Often) Install a camera driver (program) that will allow the computer to recognize it as a device.
Connect the camera
WEB cameras are connected via USB.
WEB-camera is connected via USB interface
For example, connect a Genius FaceCam 1005 webcam. Find the required connector on the case of the system unit, it can be on the front panel and on the back or on the end faces of the laptop and plug the camera cord into it.
Let’s check maybe? Is everything already working? To do this, go, for example, to Skype, if it is installed. If you have NOT used this program yet, see how to install Skype.
If Skype is already installed, you need to go to the “Tools” menu and after “Settings”.
We select the item “Video settings” and lo and behold, our WEB-camera already shows the image.
As you can see, our camera is installed perfectly
This means that it is already working and you can freely call friends and acquaintances.
But, if your camera is not visible in the list of Skype cameras, most likely the reason is related to the lack of a driver.
How to install the driver on a WEB-camera?
The delivery set, as in our case, always includes a disk with drivers for the WEB-camera. Insert the disc into the drive.
Usually there is always some proprietary program for working with the camera on the disk, but we still need a driver. It is usually called “Driver” or “Drivers” or “Camera Name Drivers”. In our case, it was named Genius Utility.
Disk menu with drivers for WEB-camera
Select and Install as a regular program.
The camera driver is installed like any other program
If the camera did not work before, now it will work for sure.
By the way, as I said on the disk there is a program for working with the camera, here you can even curl up at the interlocutor or add yourself unusual effects, Turning, for example, into a fairytale hero :).
Crazytalk Cam Suit PRO allows you to add different effects to the image Here, for example
The question of how to install a WEB-camera can be considered closed. Now you have set up the camera Not only yourself, but you can also help your friends in this!
Broadcasting video from a webcam over the network
A computer webcam can be used as a video surveillance camera for broadcasting video over a local network, and if you have a dedicated IP. configure port forwarding in the router and broadcast video over the Internet.
To broadcast a picture from a webcam connected to a computer Let’s use the free VLC Media Player. First, let’s configure the program.
Setting up the player
Launch the program and select the menu option “Transfer Media.”.
Go to the “Capture Device” tab. In the “Capture mode” drop-down list, leave the “Direct Show” value, although if you select the “Screen” value, you can broadcast a picture from your computer display. In the “Video device name” list, select the connected webcam. Since my camera is built into my laptop, it is called: “Integrated Webcam.” In the “Audio device name” list, select the microphone.
In the “Options” section, click the “Other” button, in the opened dialog, put a checkmark “Device settings” and click “OK”.
Press the “Stream” button. The broadcast setup wizard will open. In the first step, just click “Next”.
At the second step, in the drop-down list “New assignment” select “HTTP” and click on the “Add” button.
A dialog will open to configure the port and URI, leave everything by default and go to the next step clicked “Next”.
In the drop-down list “Profile” select “Video. WMV WMA (ASF)”, although you can choose another codec. Click on the settings button “Screwdriver with a wrench”.
On the “video codecs” tab, set the bitrate in the encoding parameters. The lower your connection speed, the lower the bitrate.
On the audio codec tab, we also set the audio bitrate and set the number of channels. I have a mono microphone, so I chose channel 1.
Click on the “Save” button and go to the next step clicked “Next” At the last step, click on the “Stream” button.
This will launch the Detailed Video and Audio Settings. In the first window, just click “OK”.
In the second window, set the resolution of the broadcast image and click “Apply” and “OK”.
In the third window, just click “OK”. The video will start broadcasting to the network.
To open it on another computer that is on a shared network with the broadcasting computer, you need to know the IP address of the broadcasting computer. To do this, on a computer with a webcam, press the “WindowsR” key combination or click on the “Start” button in Windows 7, then type “Run” in the search box and click on the “Run” program. Type “cmd” and press Enter. This will launch the command line shell, type the command “ipconfig” and press Enter. The line “IPv4 addresses” will contain the IP address of the broadcasting computer!
Play on another computer
Now open the built-in Windows Media Player on another computer, and click “File Open URL”, or press “CtrlU”.
Enter the address in the format “http: // IP-address: port” and click the “OK” button.
We are waiting for a few seconds (maybe more than a minute, depending on the connection speed and buffering time) and a picture from the camera of the second computer will appear.
Play on phone
Also, the video broadcast can be viewed on the screen of a mobile phone on Android using the IP Cam Viewer application.
Taking a photo with a webcam
You can take a selfie on a laptop’s “WEB-camera” in different ways.
- Standard software from the manufacturer supplied with the device.
- Third-party software that allows in some cases to expand the capabilities of the camera and add various effects.
- Online services powered by a Flash player.
- Windows built-in paint editor.
There is another not obvious, but at the same time reliable way, in which we will talk at the very end.
Third party software
A great variety of programs have been developed that can replace standard software. Next, consider two representatives of this segment.
Manycam is a program that can expand the capabilities of your webcam by adding effects, texts, pictures and other elements to the screen. In this case, the interlocutor or viewer will also be able to see them. In addition, the software allows you to broadcast image and sound, add multiple cameras to the workspace and even videos from YouTube. We, in the context of this article, are only interested in how to “take a picture” with its help, which is quite simple.
- After starting the program, just press the button with the camera icon and the picture will be automatically saved to the folder specified in the settings.
This program is similar in functionality to the previous one. It can also apply effects, play videos from different sources, draw on the screen, and have a picture-in-picture function.
- Press the button with the same camera icon, after which the picture goes to the gallery.
To save it to your computer, click on the RMB thumbnail and select the “Export” item.
Next, specify the location of the file and click “Save”.
Standard program
Most laptop manufacturers supply proprietary webcam control software with the device. Let’s look at an example with a program from HP. You can find it in the “All programs” list or on the desktop (shortcut).
The snapshot is taken using the corresponding button on the interface and saved in the “Pictures” folder of the Windows user library.
Online services
We will not consider here any specific resource, of which there are quite a few on the network. It is enough to type in a search engine a query like “photo on webcam online” and follow any link (you can follow the first link, we will do so).
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Next, you will need to perform several actions, in this case, click on the “Let’s go!”.
Then allow the resource to access your webcam.
Then everything is simple: click on the icon already familiar to us.
Save the snapshot to your computer or social media account.
Paint
This is the easiest way in terms of the number of manipulations. Finding Paint is easy: It’s in the Start menu. “All programs”. “Standard”. You can also get to it by opening the Run menu (WinR) and entering the command
Next, you need to press the button indicated in the screenshot and select the item “From scanner or camera”.
The program will automatically capture the image from the selected camera and place it on the canvas. The disadvantage of this method is that the paint cannot always turn on the webcam on its own, as indicated by the inactive menu item indicated above.
Skype
There are two ways to take pictures in Skype. One of them involves the use of program funds, and the other. image editor.
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Go to the program settings.
We go to the section “Video settings”.
Here we press the button “Change avatar”.
In the window that opens, click “Take a picture”, after which a characteristic sound will be heard and the image will freeze.
Using the slider, you can adjust the scale of the photo, as well as the movements of its cursor across the canvas.
To save, click “Use this image”.
The photo will be saved to the folder
The disadvantage of this method, except for a small picture, is that after all the actions, your avatar will also change.
Going into the video settings, we are NOT doing anything except pressing the Print Screen button. After that, if the program for creating screenshots is NOT attached to it, the result can be opened in any image editor, the same Paint. Then everything is simple. cutting off the excess, if required, add something, remove it, and then save the finished photo.
As you can see, this method is somewhat simpler, but it leads to exactly the same result. Disadvantage. the need to process the image in the editor.
Problem solving
If for some reason it is impossible to take a picture, you should check if your webcam is turned on at all. This requires a few simple steps.
Read more: Enabling the camera in Windows 8, Windows 10
In the event that the camera is still turned on, but functions normally, more serious measures will be required. This is both a check of system settings and diagnostics of various problems.
We can say that all the methods described in this article have the right to exist, but lead to different results. If you need to create a photo in high resolution, then you should use programs or online services. If you need an avatar for a website or forum, then Skype will be enough.