Philips PCA635VC User Manual Download Page 1

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PC Camera

U s e r G u i d e

PCA635VC

Summary of Contents for PCA635VC

Page 1: ...PC Camera User Guide PCA635VC ...

Page 2: ...PCA635VC Camera program group and finally click on Read Me The Read Me file contains information that was not available at the time this manual was created To save you time at the beginning of each Chapter please notice that there is a short summary of what that Chapter covers Also an index and glossary are available towards the end of this manual for quick reference If you get stuck please refer ...

Page 3: ...tallation 9 Installing Philips PCA635VC Unit 9 connecting the camera the microphone and the adapter directing the camera Chapter 3 Software Installation 10 STEP 1 Re Connect the Power STEP 2 Turn On the System and Launch Windows 95 STEP 3 Insert CD ROM 1 STEP 4 Click the Start Button and then Run STEP 5 Enter Program Name STEP 6 Follow the Installer Directions QuickVideo Software on System 11 Phil...

Page 4: ...ms and AVI Video Files Compared 22 3 Easy Steps for Video Creation 22 STEP 1 Preview Video STEP 2 Record Play Video STEP 3 Send Save a Videogram Sending Videograms Saving Videograms Send Videogram Dialog Box Settings Helpful Hints for Sending Videograms 27 MIME versus UUencode Sending Videograms Without Attaching The Player Using Videograms With Non MAPI Email Programs 28 Sending Videograms with n...

Page 5: ...nsultants Training Internet Sites Using In Presentations 36 Presenters Adding Videograms To Presentation Software Stand Alone Videogram Presentations Chapter 10 Advanced Features 38 Video Streaming 38 Standard Internet File Download With Videogram Streaming Adding Videograms To Internet Sites 38 Viewing Videograms On Internet Sites 39 Optimizing System for Video Capture Playback 39 Video Capture O...

Page 6: ...ograms are perfect for any situation where you want to share more than just words or you want to share the expe rience in person but can t birthdays thank you messages a child s first steps or words a motivational speech a sales call a product demonstration You can attach Videograms to email messages post them to Websites or create them so that others can stream the Videogram from your Website in ...

Page 7: ...ion of your Philips PCA635VC and related software It is assumed that you already have a computer monitor keyboard mouse etc Your system must meet or exceed the following minimum requirements to use the Philips PCA635VC Camera and related software Windows 95 Pentium 75 or faster PC Bi directional Parallel Port ECP Parallel Port for optimal performance NOTE Your Philips PCA635VC Camera is backwards ...

Page 8: ...g Maintenance If you observe the following guidelines you will prevent defects and the camera will be used safely The outside of the camera can be cleaned with a soft cloth Do NOT use cleaning fluids based on alcohol methylated spirit ammonia etc Avoid direct contact with water If the lens has to be cleaned use a special lens cleaning tissue available at any good camera store You can use the camer...

Page 9: ...ected to the parallel port are two short cables with small connectors One of these two connectors fits into the line in of the sound card Take hold of the small connector and push it firm ly and fully into the line in of the sound card 4 Connect the remaining small connector into the connector of the adapter cable Directing the camera 5 The position of the camera and the amount of light available ...

Page 10: ...n make sure no connections came loose during installation of the Philips PCA635VC If something is loose reconnect it and try powering on again Be sure to pay special attention to the monitor and power cords check to see that they are still connected to the back of the computer and or plugged in to the power strip STEP 3 Insert CD ROM Place the Philips PCA635VC CD ROM into your CD ROM drive typical...

Page 11: ...oftware on System Once you have finished installing the software two new groups and icons will be created for you You may access them by clicking on the Start Button and checking the Programs folder Philips PCA635VC Program Group Videogram Creator Application to easily capture and create Videograms Read Me Text file that contains the latest release updates Uninstall Philips PCA635VC Application to...

Page 12: ...frequent receivers of Videograms as it speeds file downloading and reduces the total file size Philips PCA635VC Setup Wizard You will need to re start Windows 95 for the installation to take effect After re starting Windows 95 for the first time fol lowing installation the Philips PCA635VC Setup Wizard will automatically appear and guide you through the setup pro cess for your Philips PCA635VC The...

Page 13: ...Then the Wizard will help you configure the audio on your Philips PCA635VC Enter Internet settings then you re ready to begin recording with Philips PCA635VC 13 ...

Page 14: ...you should check to make sure that your system meets the Minimum System Requirements and double check the connections from the system to the Philips PCA635VC unit If the following message appears then a valid sound card is NOT installed The Philips PCA635VC captures sound by using an existing sound card in the system If you do not have a sound card then simply click OK and ignore this message Igno...

Page 15: ...s click OK to accept them and close the Setting dialog box or click CANCEL to abort all changes and close the Setting dialog box Format Quality Select one of these settings to make captured video look better or play faster These settings tell the Videogram Creator software how much color and definition information you would like in the video files you capture Color and definition combine to enhanc...

Page 16: ...40 Other Select this and using the keyboard type in the desired size the smallest setting available is 80x60 and the lar gest is 320x240 Adjust Move slider bars to change the way the video looks Change these settings if the video is too dark bright or the colors appear out of balance Change these settings if the video is too dark bright or the colors appear to be out of balance Mirror Mirror the i...

Page 17: ...till pictures are viewed in rapid succession it creates a sense of motion Speed is determined by how many frames are displayed or captured each second These options directly affect the file size of the video capture and is dependent on the performance of the hard drive to keep up with the frame rate Fast Large video file size captured at up to 30 frames per second however the rate may vary dependi...

Page 18: ...it Choose this to capture the highest quality audio The audio file will contain the maximum amount of infor mation and generate a larger file size than the 8 bit option Chapter 10 itemizes what is necessary to optimize a system s performance to capture at higher quality settings Image Size Select one of these options to indicate the size and quality of images snapshots you capture 320 x 240 Defaul...

Page 19: ...aying this title bar will inform you that it is in PLAYBACK mode Below the title bar are menu items Re spectively from left to right Files Tools and Help On the left side of the Window are the steps necessary to preview capture and save or send your Videogram files You can click on these areas or use the control bar at the bottom shown below File Menu Bar The file menu as found in many standard Wi...

Page 20: ...ols Menu This menu provides tools for sound and video Volume Control Launches the sound mixer for sound card Videogram Player Launches the Videogram Player application Help Menu Information Help This menu provides important information about the application User Guide Launch the electronic User Guide and Adobe Acrobat player About Videogram Creator company information application name and version ...

Page 21: ...al systems this button controls the ending point for playback and sav ing of the video clip more detailed information on its use can be found in Chapter 10 titled Advanced Features Grab Still This button freezes the video image as a photograph that can be saved as a BMP file Refer to Chapter 7 Grabbing Still Images for more information on its use Record Audio Activates audio only capture and bring...

Page 22: ...plication de scribed in following Chapter Before you start capturing make sure the Philips PCA635VC is positioned correctly and there s plenty of lighting see Chapter 2 Step 5 3 Easy Steps for Video Creation Capturing and creating a Videogram is as easy as one two three Launch the Videogram Creator application Click on the Start button followed immediately by Programs and open the Philips PCA635VC...

Page 23: ...s button sets up the video capture mode Notice after clicking this button that the following Recording Count Down will appear When the 1 disappears the system begins recording video you can adjust the length of the countdown from five to zero seconds by selecting the Edit menu then Preferences In the lower section of the Videogram Creator software window a display is constantly informing you how m...

Page 24: ... Send Videogram dialog box Type the name of your Videogram in the Videogram Title box The rest of the settings can be left at the defaults or you can read more about them under ADVANCED starting on page 55 Now you have the choice of Sending or Saving the Videogram Sending Videograms To send your Videogram via email click on the Send button on the lower left The first screen you will see is the one...

Page 25: ...o a floppy disk etc To save a Videogram click on the Save button second from the lower left This begins the compression process where the Videogram is created You will see the following two screens Next you will be prompted to name the Videogram file and identify where it should be saved The file type will be a self running executable EXE file if you checked Create Videogram with Player as describ...

Page 26: ...sts of moving images like sporting events or anything involving small children This also includes hand held camera work Still Image Slide Select this Type if you are compressing a Videogram that consists primarily of still images and slides or video that has very little movement Since Videogram Creator evaluates the movement between frames this type of file will be smaller and of higher quality AD...

Page 27: ...Helpful Hints for Sending Videograms MIME versus UUencode These are two electronic mail encoding systems Different e mail systems use these two methods Microsoft Exchange pre dominately uses MIME while CC Mail and Lotus Notes use UUencode A Videogram sent in MIME cannot be viewed by someone on a UUencode e mail system and vice versa However most e mail systems now offer the choice of sending optio...

Page 28: ...ssage At this point the Videogram will be transfered to your email file 8 When the file transfer is done and you receive the message File Transfer Complete the e mail has been sent Receiving Videograms with a non MAPI Email Program Typically once a Videogram is sent to an to your ISP account it is stored on the ISP s server When you log onto to your service provider the program will indicate that ...

Page 29: ... click on the Videogram file From the Program Manager title bar click on File and Run Use the Browse button to locate the Videogram file Double click on the Videogram file Click the Run button to start playing the Videogram file Streaming Videogram Player Playing Non Executable Videogram Files These are the Videograms with the file extension VGM The Videogram Creator Application as described in Ch...

Page 30: ...ut a built in player Simply locate a VGM file double click on it and click on OK to open a file to play Open URL This is the Uniform Resource Locator which allows a video to be streamed and viewed from a netw ork URL address This will open an Internet address provided a streaming Videogram resides there Configure Use this to select various playback parameters It will open the following Configure w...

Page 31: ...vailable We strongly recommend that you leave this checked Many newer graphics cards support these video optimization standards and absorb part of the processing requirements that the computer itself would normally handle View License Agreement This is the standard agreement for use of Videograms Help On line index for help with the Videogram Player Application About Videogram Player Informs you o...

Page 32: ...ly and there s plenty of overall lighting see Chapter 2 Step 5 Snapshots are captured within the Videogram Creator application This of course is the same application used to capture video Launch this application by clicking on the Videogram Creator application icon in the Philips PCA635VC program group Chapter 5 describes this in detail To use a still image from another program or one that you hav...

Page 33: ... a scene that you would like to capture a snapshot of Click on the Grab Still Button to freeze this image Depending on the image size described in Chapter 4 and system performance Chapter 10 this could take a few seconds to a few minutes 33 Capturing Processing Image ...

Page 34: ...select the open option Select the directory or folder that contains you AVI file s and open the file of your choice Once your file has been selected use the player control buttons on the Video Toolbar at the bottom of the main screen to review the video and find the scene you would like to capture Click the Grab Still button to freeze and capture your image Picturegram A Picturegram is a still gra...

Page 35: ...ck Replace to add the live sound to the current video clip or image Clicking Replace will erase and overwrite any previously recorded sound in the current video clip Add Pre Recorded Sound STEP 1 Select Insert Audio under the Edit menu STEP 2 Select an Audio File to Insert Select the file you just recorded a file previously recorded file or a file available from a royalty free CD ROM please do not...

Page 36: ... follo wing the earlier sections titled ADDING VIDEOGRAMS TO PRESENTATION SOFTWARE or STAND ALONE VIDEOGRAM PRESENTATIONS Internet Sites Liven up otherwise lifeless web pages with full motion video and sound without having visitors wait to see it The video and sound play as they are being captured or downloaded by any popular Internet browser Microsoft Internet Explorer Netscape Navigator etc In o...

Page 37: ... ll need a standard AVI video and sound editing software package to import AVI files created using the Philips PCA635VC Videogram Creator application After you re satisfied with your production save this presentation to a Microsoft standard AVI file on your hard drive Load this AVI file into the Videogram Creator application and click on the Videogram Creator Send button Be sure to check Include V...

Page 38: ...file to your hard drive A VGX file is a standard text file that is used to identify or point to the location of where a Videogram file VGM is located A VGP file is intended for use ONLY with the Streaming Videogram Netscape Plug In The contents of both a VGX and VGP file will look similar to this http www yoursite com myvgram vgm The Streaming Videogram Player can be run as a stand alone applicati...

Page 39: ...c may be found at the Internet site on a specific page http www com vgstream htm 3 After you have downloaded and installed the Videogram Player try streaming some Videograms from our test page at http www com vgtest htm Optimizing System for Video Capture Playback There are a couple of tricks to turning your computer into an optimized video capturing playing system We ve docu mented a few here in ...

Page 40: ...ND FROM THE HARD DISK BUFFER AKA CACHE AND DOES NOT INDICATE THE ACTUAL SUSTAINED DATA TRANSFER RATE Simply stated the sustained data transfer rate is what informa tion transfer is maintained 100 of the time Very few hard drive manufactures even list the sustained data transfer rate in their specifications This is probably because it s more impressive to say that they have a 16MB second transfer r...

Page 41: ...o capture and play back are very similar Faster CPU recommend Pentium 133 or faster Windows 95 performance is better on HD access and video display Fast Hard Drive and Controller Display adapter that provides DCI support in Windows 3 x Display adapter that provides DirectDraw support in Windows 95 In systems where memory is at minimum levels 4MB for Windows 3 x 8MB for Windows 95 adding more memor...

Page 42: ...eed at least 16MB of RAM and 23MB of free disk space substantially more of each is recommended Q Do I need a Pentium computer to play a Videogram No Videograms will play back even on 486 machines All you need is Windows 3 1x and a sound card with speakers to listen to the audio Users with higher performance computers will get better quality during playback Q Will the Videogram play on my Macintosh...

Page 43: ...rallel port based products to the remaining ports To work with the Philips PCA635VC simply select the appropriate port with the switch on the front and begin working To change devi ces simply turn the switch on the front In this way the switch box enables you to connect both the Philips PCA635VC and a printer or Zip drive to ONE parallel port Any standard mechanical switch box from any computer st...

Page 44: ...t even lower frame rates 8 10 or 12 fps recognizing that 15 fps gives a very good representation of motion as can be seen in the Videograms we have posted on our web site We have found that for most applications 15 fps is sufficient but we recognize that there will be certain situ ations where 30 fps is required This may include situations where smooth continuous motion is absolutely nee ded That ...

Page 45: ... can adjust when creating a Videogram You can adjust the resolution of the Videogram the audio and video codecs used for compression and the quali ty level of the compression You can trim the beginning and ending points of the video clip and you can also specify the title appears in the title bar during playback of the Videogram Q Can I capture using an editing program such as Adobe Premiere How d...

Page 46: ...tium 100MHz RAM 16MB Operating System Windows95 Parallel Port Both bi directional and ECP mode parallel ports are supported ECP mode is advised for fastest framerate Hard disk space 25MB free hard disk space CD ROM drive Required for application software and drivers Soundcard and speakers Recommended Software TWAIN driver interface For still image applications Windows95 driver Support for Video fo...

Page 47: ...image in a video stream Frame Rate Typically judged in seconds fps frames per second this refers to the number of single images that will be displayed or captured in a video stream Pixel The smallest square or round element in an image These are the building blocks that when alone are only one color but when combined with others form complete images Playback Window The window within the QuickVideo...

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