Web cameras can cost as little as €30 and as much as €300. What you choose depends greatly on how you intend to use your web camera. In most cases you can get a camera for less than €100 that suits all your specific needs.
Typically, a camera rests in its own stand, attaches to a flat panel monitor or, for older desktop monitors, is self-mounting. Cameras that attach offer better flexibility, both for camera placement and mobility. Choose the camera that is most compatible with your workstation set-up. Do not buy a cheap camera, the results will not be to your satisfaction. I recommend choosing the best camera from a leading provider like Logitech, currently for example a Logitech Pro 5000. This will deliver a quality experience to you for several years.
First Steps?
Before you use the camera for the first time, ensure that you have installed your web camera drivers. Your operating system will automatically try to do this, but the web cam vendor will also provide you with the software which always delivers a better result than the generic software.
Some vendors offer face tracking software with their web cameras. This might seem like a cool feature but face tracking is very basic and can lead to the camera getting lost. It’s better to set yourself up correctly prior to the meeting and concentrate on not moving around too much throughout your presentation.
Choosing the right setting?
Video is typically a more bandwidth intensive experience. Combined with screen sharing and audio, it is best used in a high-bandwidth setting. If you are aware of participants on modem connections, consider only capturing video as an image or not using at all. Those people on the modem will miss several video frames due to their bandwidth and the experience will not be optimal.
You can also determine your image settings. This allows you to adjust how rapidly the image is transmitted. Standard options are “fast” for high-bandwidth meetings and “slow” if video in this meeting is secondary or you want to limit the use of bandwidth.
Positioning the camera?
Setting up your web camera is only the first step, using it is the next. You need to get used to speaking to a camera like a person. It is like “look em in the eye” when having a conversation with someone. It takes some time getting used to, because instead of talking to a person, you are focusing on a camera and talking to it like it was a person.
Once you have trained your eyes to focus on the camera, you need to place it in the correct position where it can produce the best results. Do not put it next to the mouse on the desk, below the monitor, to the right or to the left-side of the screen. The best place to put the camera is above the monitor in the centre of the monitor. You will be looking slightly up; however your view can easily glance at your content and your viewers.
Setting the scene?
What you wear can have an impact on your transmission. Wearing bright colours or white tends to wash out your face if you expect to be presenting. Muted solid colours, like pale blues and yellows work best when presenting in front of a camera. If you are making a formal presentation, it is also advisable to avoid contrasting patterns such as stripes or checker prints, which can end up looking jagged and appear to jump around on the screen.
Lighting has another big impact on the quality of your video. Not enough light and you will be hard to see, too much light and you disappear. First rule; don’t have a strong light source behind you. The most common mistake is having a window with bright sunshine behind you. This will completely wash out your video. Use desk lights and any other ambient light that will help you to “brighten up”. Take a few minutes before the meeting to make sure your face and visible area is well light up.
Your background is the last piece. Basic rule, declutter and sit in front of a plain background. Take down anything that can distract the viewer so the focus is on you and your content, not on the calendar and pictures behind you.
Ready to go – “No-No’s”
So you are ready to go. Remember this really is like being at the meeting. Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t do if you were present at a meeting. Yawning or eating are examples of things you should not do when in front of the camera. If needs be, go off camera.
What to do with your web camera?
Anything from plain video calls, online meetings up to multipoint desktop video conferencing is possible. Many people use their web camera to stay in contact with friends and family aboard and for education. Businesses use it for webcasting, webinars, web and video conferencing. Education and science usage in lecture capturing and remote online training is also increasing.
Video messaging (see top of this newsletter) is a new phenomenon that is catching on with users worldwide and delivers great benefits to business and users alike.
In our “Stand Out From the Crowd” web event we will bring global experts in the space of Webcasting and Video Messaging right to your desktop. We are starting on the 10th of March 2010, 01:30pm – 02:00pm GMT with the webcasting legend Gary Anderson CEO of Netbriefings and Webcasting Guru.
The logistics of this and general live webcast deliveries
How to interact with the audience in a live web event
How to run live web events and record video messages with one solution
How to use this in sales, marketing, training and corporate communication
How does this fit into other forms of communication
What is live collaboration and what are live webinars
What is roll-in video and how to use it
What reporting functions should you expect
How does this fit together with a blog
How does this compare to WebEx, GoToMeeting, YouTube and others
Have a look at different camera options
If you are interested in attending this web event or have any questions or comments please leave a comment in the “Comments” option above or drop us an email to webcast’at’meeting.ie
Aoiffee and Steve paired up this week for the Microsoft Live Meeting task on Ireland’s The Apprentice, and we’re delighted to see our favourite Polycom CX5000 featured as the 360-degree video and voice hardware of choice. We’re covering the pros and cons of this odd looking device, but if you want to see it in action, there’s a preview clip from The Apprentice:
The Polycom CX5000 (or as it was formerly known, the Microsoft Office Roundtable Camera) is a video conferencing device that produces a 360 panoramic view of the room. It also has a automatic speaker selection that brings the current speaker right up in the main video screen when they talk. This feature works well if the meeting participants behave and don’t make unnecessary noise.
The CX5000 achieves its 360 view by combining the feed of five web cameras fitted into the dome of the CX5000 into one 360 panoramic view.
I have been watching this product’s development now since July 2006. The earliest video of the Roundtable is from 12 July 2006 and features Dwight Schrute from the comedy televisions series The Office US:
It took a further 18 months for the Roundtable to be finally released, and in November 2007 at an Intercall Partner event in London I got my hands on one to see it in action with Microsoft Live Meeting 2007. After that, the camera disappeared for over a year and was nearly impossible to purchase anywhere in Europe until it was announced that Polycom has licensed the right to distribute RoundTable, effective April 13, 2009. It was renamed into the Polycom CX5000 Unified Conference Station and will be sold though the Polycom partner network.
The CX5000 is used in conjunction with Office Live Meeting service, or as part of Office Communications Server 2007 and combines content and a panoramic 360-degree view of the entire meeting room plus the separate view of the active speaker for a unique and engaging voice and video experience.
I had several opportunities to test the equipment for myself and think it is a good piece of kit that produces an OK visual image. It comes a t a price of around €3650 where you get the camera, the in-built audio conferencing unit and two extension microphones. Unfortunately it now is completely locked into the Polycom and Microsoft solutions so a cross usage with other browser based Video Conferencing solutions is not possible. Normally a company that is into a serious OCS deployment and rollout with a technical team onsite will bring the CX5000 it into the scenario and deploy across various rooms and locations.
However regardless of the long time it took to emerge fully on the market, I congratulate Microsoft and now Polycom to the novel and functional design that produces an alternative, practical view of a video conferencing environment and believe that we will be seeing many more of these devises on boardrooms and in meeting rooms around the world in the future.
Comparison of the Konftel 300 VS Polycom Soundstation2/VSX. The conferencing market is booming. Small, Medium, Large or Enterprise business as well as Government and the Academic world all are changing their way how they communicate. Cost reductions, simplifying meetings, travel restrictions, using staff time efficient rather than wasting it on the road, train or plane… all of this drives business to rethink how they communicate. Green conscience and Carbon Footprint reductions are also contributing to rethink and change. High quality browser based Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing and Audio conferencing solutions are all very easy to use affordable and an accessible way to have a very good conversation, without travelling. Meetings – even High Quality Face to Face or high end traning, do not afford travelling anymore! Good hardware for in and output of Audio and Video play a crucial part in combination with the best software on the market to achieve a quality result. We are regularly testing all hardware available on the market (Video/Audio/related) in house and with our customers and give you our honest opinion on what works and what doesn’t. Today we look at two contenders in the audio conferencing market Konftel and Polycom. Polycom have increased their pricing twice in 2009! They are up a hefty 25% in recession times! Even though prices can rise, I don’t think this is the right move and it shows that corporations that can do it still tend to cash in, even more in tough times. Konftel had a moderate increase of 10% which I think is justifiable. Have a look and let us know you opinion. Happy watching, contact us for questions. And just in case you want to order, YES we ship worldwide and Yes we have competitive prices – Googel SVConferencing or CLICK HERE for our shop.
The days of leaving boring emails and voicemails are over. Video is the most engaging way to get your message across. With Proclaim, you are able to easily send a personal video along with PowerPoint slides and rich media clips to create a truly dynamic presentation. Quick. Unique. Effective.
The ability to utilize standard web browsers, off-the-shelf web cameras and headsets, in addition to the existing network infrastructure, has accelerated the popularity and growth of web and video conferencing and has helped to drive it into most vertical markets, including finance, manufacturing, healthcare, engineering, construction, law, commercial training and business services, among many others.
Call us on 021 4928954 or join me online every Friday @ 12pm.
Tips and tools for better online meetings, presentations and broadcast communications from Meeting.ie.
