Duke Report post Posted May 26, 2008 ok, so ive been thinking about this for a while, and mulling it over and wondering if anyone else has thought about putting a webcam in thier workspace. I was thinkin bout doing this since there is alot of interest in leathercrafting and no other way for people to be able to watch and learn( for those that need visual stimulus) other than just pictures. I was thinking that since my laptop sits on a corner of my workbench anyways, it would be pretty easy for me to do a webcam forum for people to ask questions and make comments on the project that I happen to be working on at the time. any ideas on a decent webcam? a good cam host? any kind of things I need to take into consideration before going ahead with this? COMMENTS PLEASE!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carr52 Report post Posted May 26, 2008 ok, so ive been thinking about this for a while, and mulling it over and wondering if anyone else has thought about putting a webcam in thier workspace. I was thinkin bout doing this since there is alot of interest in leathercrafting and no other way for people to be able to watch and learn( for those that need visual stimulus) other than just pictures. I was thinking that since my laptop sits on a corner of my workbench anyways, it would be pretty easy for me to do a webcam forum for people to ask questions and make comments on the project that I happen to be working on at the time. any ideas on a decent webcam? a good cam host? any kind of things I need to take into consideration before going ahead with this?COMMENTS PLEASE!!!!!! I think it's a really good idea. As far as the tech part of it I have no idea. I cant even post pics on this web site properly. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rawhide Report post Posted May 26, 2008 ok, so ive been thinking about this for a while, and mulling it over and wondering if anyone else has thought about putting a webcam in thier workspace. I was thinkin bout doing this since there is alot of interest in leathercrafting and no other way for people to be able to watch and learn( for those that need visual stimulus) other than just pictures. I was thinking that since my laptop sits on a corner of my workbench anyways, it would be pretty easy for me to do a webcam forum for people to ask questions and make comments on the project that I happen to be working on at the time. any ideas on a decent webcam? a good cam host? any kind of things I need to take into consideration before going ahead with this?COMMENTS PLEASE!!!!!! Well since I like to work nude, it might not be a good idea for me. (just kidding). I would probably forget to turn it off though and I may curse myself out loud or something embarrassing. This might be a great idea for classes as well. As far as cameras go, I think technology has come far enough that you almost can't buy a bad one. For the host, I think as long as you have High speed, your provider may host it for you. And considerations....Don't walk around naked. Marlon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johanna Report post Posted May 27, 2008 Congrats, Duke! You will be our first victim test subject in the video integration project! Any other volunteers? Johanna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 27, 2008 Congrats, Duke! You will be our first victim test subject in the video integration project! Any other volunteers? Johanna hey johanna, you seem to know your way around a computer pretty well, any suggestions on ways to set this up? im thinking just mount a webcam right above my workbench looking down, so that the viewer can get an unobstructed view.whats the best way to run that, just plugged into my laptop, or through a server, or? any programs I should be using to run this? anything else???????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kani Report post Posted May 27, 2008 I think it's a real good idea. Especially for us newbies. You can get a pretty good webcam for around $30.00 to $40.00. Some are even cheaper if you can get them on sale. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patrice Report post Posted May 27, 2008 I juste read about your project Duke and think that't a great idea. h give you One of my friend is making medieval armor here in Quebec. He made some videos showing him making of various armour parts. Her's the link (it's both in english and french): http://www.armurerieduduche.com/Fabricatio...cation%20de.htm It might give you a good idea as to proceed Patrice Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
walletman Report post Posted May 27, 2008 hi yesss brill idea go for it when is the first show ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 27, 2008 well I have2 old webcams lying around somewhere, I need to test them and see if they work. also, I need to find a decent program to use. I guess I could use yahoo, but I have noticed that the quality isnt that great.anyways, I have to concentrate on work at the moment, so maybe I will pick a few of my customers brains and see what theythink. someone suggested using ifriends, but I thought that that was a subscription site only, and about 89% of it was porn. as for walking around naked, Idont think that would happen as my work shop is out in the garage.but ya never know. patrice, I saw your friends videos before, he does an excellent job. I think someone posted them on www.youtube.com for him, as that is where I remember seeing them. well, off to work for now, feel free to give comment or ideas on this an I will reply asap Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TroyS Report post Posted May 27, 2008 You know, I was just sitting here this morning having coffee and got to thinking about how the old masters did it, then got to thinking about how the new masters do it and started comparing ideas and notes. How technology has allowed us to do the same things today, but in much more modern, up to date techniques. For example, hand buffing a piece of leather with lamb's wool for a shiny finish yesterday, or a high speed buff using a dremel tool and a buffing pad in about 1/10 th the time today. Dry-Brush fading dyes yesterday, or airbrushed fades which have no streaks today. Old photo's turned into books, passed on to read and understand the best a newcomer can yesterday, or have a place like LEATHERWORKER.net to come to gather more knowledge from people who know how to do what you are trying to achieve but don't quite know how it's done today. Now, the future is here! With webcams in 50% of today's homes, and the cost of a webcam under $20 at Wal-Mart(http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5750839), what an EASY way to "SEE HOW IT'S DONE"! We can LOGIN to a MEMBERS ONLY chat room, and talk to each other, see faces, watch the NEW MASTERS at work. We can even watch pre-recorded videos. Wait! How about VIDEO TUTORIALS from our own members! No more having to worry about proper grammer (spell check is good but...) No more time spent typing it all out, now we sit, have coffee and talk about "WHAT'S GOING ON"... No more forgetting to type a step, just record as you do it. Ok, as it turns out, I know a little about PC's... well, ok, a lot about PC's... and even more about Webcams/Video chat. I happen to know of a way that the idea can be done, and it can be done pretty easy.The BEST PART is I can show you a way to make this happen for FREE!! It will be slow and lathargic at first, but it will be free. We can see how it takes off and what the response is, then if we all want more, we can pull together and invest a small amount of cash and go bigger. If we did want to expand later, there would be a small, one time investment for the software, but I'm sure we could all pull together and contribute enough to cover the costs. We can make the room a "G" rated room for all ages and assign room moderators to act as hall monitors and other officers/moderators to help run the room so there would always be someone around to help, even if it's only to point someone in the right direction. We could have WEEKLY video gatherings to discuss projects and ideas, techniques and likes and dislikes. Its an AWESOME way to LEARN ! Then, outta nowhere, DUKE hits the nail right on the head! GREAT IDEA DUKE!! I'm willing to help put this whole thing together for the benefit of the LEATHERWORKER.net users if you want. I could have it up and running in just a few hours... we could all "LEATHER TEST" it and make improvments on the fly... Troy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hilly Report post Posted May 27, 2008 Congrats, Duke! You will be our first victim test subject in the video integration project! Any other volunteers? Johanna Sure. I can show anyone how not to get a head knife sharp, or how to make scrap leather, or how to cut fingers on dull blades.... Is there anything else I can help with? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jordan Report post Posted May 27, 2008 so true, I can barely sharpen a pencil, and always seem to run out of 1st aid stuff at the most inopportune moments! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Regis Report post Posted May 27, 2008 This has gotten me worried...... We were closing in on this discussion before the &%@$@#&* day. Does anyone else remember???? ....check on backup guy and backup of the backups....... Johanna ----- save save save what's current cost for five 9's and mirrored sites over fiber .....ogh....just couldn't take it again....... Regis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skipknives Report post Posted May 27, 2008 (edited) I have a coment about the web cam,,,, it would be nice if as the carera looks down at his hands working,,that it appears on the screen as "I" would be doing the work instead of looking across the table and watching someone else do the job. Did that make since to anyone else?? Edited May 27, 2008 by Skipknives Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hilly Report post Posted May 27, 2008 I have a coment about the web cam,,,,it would be nice if as the carera looks down at his hands working,,that it appears on the screen as "I" would be doing the work instead of looking across the table and watching someone else do the job. Did that make since to anyone else?? Like having the cam hanging around the neck like a necklace or looking just over the shoulder like a boss? Or perched on the shoulder like a parrott. That would give the viewer the proper perspective, wouldn't it? That might be hard to do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 28, 2008 troy, THANK YOU! I could use all the hel I can get on figuring this thing out. hopefully in a way that doesnt crash my computer or anyone elses.especially this site. i dont think any of us could stand another crash. also, about having the camera looking the direction you would be if you were doing it yourself is exactly what I was thinking.I am also a wood worker, and I am sure I can figure out some kind of bracket to hang it over my bench without it shaking when im pounding. any more good ideas anyone??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TroyS Report post Posted May 28, 2008 This is NOT going to crash your pc, nor the server that the forum board is on! I know because it's not attached to this server in any way. There are several ways to do this.... A) Streaming LIVE webcam on a homepage that everyone has to go to the webpage (requires webcam software setup, webpage setup, FTP transfers, proper port usage, xml, basically a real pain in the !) "Suedo-LIVE" images are uploaded to a webpage (pictures, not video, uploaded about once a minute) C) ONE LIVE VIDEO CHATROOM where everyone can congregate and talk, share ideas and broadcast AND recieve video simultaneously! I personally opt for Option "C" ! Here's the way it would all go down ... 1.) Each user in this forum would have to download and install a small program called "Camfrog Video Chat" http://download.camfrog.com/ (apprx 7.55 MB Download with NO SPYWARE, NO ADWARE, NO SPAMWARE) The FREE version of the program allows you to view one camera at a time, but if you decide you like it, you can purchase the UPGRADE for about $50 LIFETIME USAGE but it is not required that you BUY... (FREE SO FAR!) [This step is only required the FIRST time you use the software.] 2.) Once installed, the software will guide you thru the setup procedures for you WEBCAM. Once your webcam is setup, you will have to create an account with a Username & Password. (STILL FREE!) [This step is only required the FIRST time you use the software.] 3.) Once your username & pw are created, you are ready to go. Now, you would log into the room that we create, and VIOLA! All done! You are now sitting in a private room for Leatherworker.net users and can talk (YES, TALK IN REAL TIME) and see video coming from other users. (With the FREE version of the software, you are only able to see one camera at a time, but if you decide to purchase the upgrade, you can view up to 100 cams at a time) 4.) That's it! It isn't hard. No worries about this forum server crashing because the program doesn't reside on this server. We could all try it out, and if we like it and think it'll work out, then we can discuss faster servers, and things like that, but that's only if everyone agrees... NOTICE: CamFrog video chat DOES have an "ADULT" section, but we can restrict all ADULT ACTIVITY in the room so it will be safe for all ages! I know several of you have children that you do not want exposed to that type of thing and I totally agree with you! So, let me know what you think about this whole idea.... Troy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johanna Report post Posted May 28, 2008 We have the software already in place via Parachat, our Live Chat server. Kate and I are also working on a video integration on the main board. (Think forum with YouTube videos in posts.) We don't want members to need to download and install anything on their computers to see videos. Reason being- these are leatherworkers, not geeks. The majority of the people here would prefer to point and click, and we're all safer that way- especially if we leave Beaverslayer's tin foil hat alone. LW's server can handle the extra traffic and bandwidth. You've got some good ideas Troy- and I have some questions maybe you can help with. Meanwhile, let me point Kate to this thread and see what she wants to add to it. Johanna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 29, 2008 Hi guys... sorry for not jumping into this sooner, but I was a little preoccupied earlier. I'm glad to see so much enthusiasm about doing video tutorials! I hope this means we'll have a lot of people submitting videos once we get all this going. As Johanna mentioned, late last year, we were discussing and developing ways to host video streaming right from LW. We had a consensus that we preferred to store and host the video content from our own server, and that we wanted site visitors to be able to view the video just as easily as they could on places like YouTube. Just click on a thumbnail snapshot image in a forum post, and it plays. Around the middle of December, we actually had successfully published a test video on a static web page, and were (ideally) working towards being able to post a video attachment in a forum post (or perhaps in the future, a wiki article) almost as easily as a photo attachment. The worst-case scenario was that people would have to upload the videos to us, and we'd have to publish them on a static page. Either way, we had a working prototype. Then the meltdown, and we got a little side-tracked. I think it would be safe to say that video streaming on LW could be a reality this year. We've achieved the hard part, but we still have a few more tests, decisions, and kinks to work out. I think Troy's idea to do live interactive video workshops is an awesome idea! In my thinking, that's a totally different idea from a produced video tutorial that is posted and replayed on demand, but I would love to pursue that as well. I also support Johanna's view that we should try to implement live video streaming in our existing chat space. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 29, 2008 I personally am not a producer, and do not wish to do tutorial videos. id rather justhave a live feed that someone can watch and post questions as I go along. something along the lines of, hey I see you are making a pretty cool holster, how do you finish your edges so that they look more professional? then I could zoom the cam in a bit, or actually type a reply, and show them in detail what I do.to me this seems like the best bet. not sure on a technical side how easy it would be to do, but im sure somehow it is feasable. im glad to see thatwe will have the capability to handle this on the site.better than having to post a feed link to send someone somewhere else.I just hope that incorporating this into the site doesnt change the layout too much. as soon as there is something in place, let me know an I will dig out an old cam and fire it up. dont mind being a pioneer on new ground, especially for something that I am so passionate about, leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 29, 2008 Hi Duke, I would say you have prompted us to explore that idea! I think it would be great to see people gathering in a chat room to watch you make something. Just a clarification: when I say "produced", I just mean pre-recorded for later playback. It doesn't have to be especially fine in terms of production. We eventually hope to have a site filled with that type of content as well. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 29, 2008 awesome! well I think its cool that my meandering mind has finally stumbled across something other than itself.lol like I said, if I can help at all, let me know. for now I am off to play with my tippmann boss, since I just got it back from being refurbished. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke Report post Posted May 31, 2008 ok so mike tulley of night owl leather has offered to give me a decent cam to kick this lil project off the ground with, so I guess I will use yahoo messenger to run my cam off of, until I hear word that this site is ready to use for cam stuff. as soon as I get the cam I will have it up and running. I have good lighting, so no need to worry bout that aspect. if anyone else has any good ideas for this project, I would love to hear them. I am hoping to have this going by monday june 9th. thank you all for your ideas, especially the one about not walkin round nekkid.lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johanna Report post Posted May 31, 2008 You can just use the Live Chat feature here on LW. No need to involve Yahoo. Looking forward to seeing you work! Johanna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
