using a web cams capture

Doug2006 · Post by **Doug2006** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 5:58 pm

I have been filming an educational video and I have one analog video camera. I use plextor convertx to get the video from that camera. (Which by the way works ten times better after I installed a separate usb pci board in the computer. The computer had usb 2.0 but for some reason the separate board makes all the difference.)
Any way to my question. I was thinking of getting a web cam and hooking it up to a computer and then when I am filming the web cam would be focused on either a marker board, a group of meters, or just an overhead shot. The camera I am thinking of is the Logitech quick cam ultra. The specs are :
* True 1.3 megapixel sensor with RightLight™ 2 Technology
* Live video: up to 640 x 480 pixels
* Built-in microphone with RightSound™ Technology
* Up to 30 frames per second live video with recommended system
* Fixed focus

Does anyone see any problem with this? I am thinking that I don't have to capture any video, it is all ready on the harddrive. Would there be any problem with integrating that video with the captured stuff from the analog camera? Do we have the ability to do picture in a picture?
I see this as a cost saving measure as if all I want is a shot of three digital electric meters do I really need to buy a whole expensive video camera? Doug

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:38 pm

The video file format from teh webcam might be a problem. You really won't know 'till you try. The further people deviate from NTSC/PAL DV or MPEG-2, the more problems they tend to encounter.

It might be MPEG-4 or MJPEG. In theory, Video Studio can import these formats, and convert them to MPEG-2 for a DVD (or to any other format), But in reality, these formats can be "hit-or-miss".

640x480 is not a standard resolution for NTSC or PAL

I'm not sure what "Up to 30 FPS" means... It needs to be exactly 29.97 FPS for NTSC or 25 FPS for PAL.

Again, Video Studio, should be able to make the conversions, but you'd have to experiment. A 3rd-party conversion might be required.

...all I want is a shot of three digital electric meters...

Another option is to take a sequence of still images from the webcam, and insert these into your video. ...I assume the webcam and it's software can generate a sequence of JPEG stills. That should not be a problem.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:01 pm

Quote:
...all I want is a shot of three digital electric meters...
Another option is to take a sequence of still images from the webcam, and insert these into your video. ...I assume the webcam and it's software can generate a sequence of JPEG stills. That should not be a problem.

Or use a digital camera, if you already have one. I'm sure it would turn out better images than a webcam. Use the Pan & Zoom filter to give it the feeling of motion if you need to.

roy wood · Post by **roy wood** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:01 pm

all I want is a shot of three digital electric meters...

Or if you want those meters to be moving use your analogue camera to film a seperate sequence of the meters doing their thing, capture it as a seperate file, trim as necessary put it on the 'Overlay Track' and resize it to provide the picture in picture effect.