Camfrog Video Chat User Guide
Welcome to Camfrog Video Chat
What is Camfrog Video Chat?
Camfrog is a simple to use videoconferencing program. Camfrog not only allows
a 1-on-1 videoconference but also allows group conferences when connected
to a Camfrog Server video chat room. Camfrog Video Chat also has a live directory
of users to video chat with, a contact list, a live video chat room directory,
status notification, and instant messaging. There is a freeware version of
Camfrog and a pay version called Camfrog Pro. Camfrog Pro has many more features
and gives the user access to more Camfrog.com website services.
Camfrog makes it easy to find new users to video chat with and allows any user
to set up a video chat room if a broadband Internet connection is available.
Camfrog Video Chat Features
Camfrog allows you to make video and audio communications with other Camfrog
users all over the world. Camfrog runs on Microsoft Windows XP and 2000 software,
plus Windows Server 2003. No webcam is required to see or hear users on Camfrog.
Camfrog has a live directory of users, a live directory of video chat rooms,
a contact list, and instant messaging.
Before Using
Before using overview
Before using Camfrog you need to set up a nickname and a password to logon
to the Camfrog central server. After you have installed and launched Camfrog
click on the “Register for Nickname/Password” hyperlink in the
main application window. You will then be guided through a registration wizard.
A webcam is not required to see and hear other Camfrog users.
Registering for a nickname/password
Click on the “Register for a Nickname/Password” hyperlink in the
main application window to register. Your profile information will be available
on our Camfrog.com public website user directory. Camfrog makes it easy to
meet new people to video chat with.
General configurations
To see your general settings go under the “Actions” menu in the
main “Camfrog Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then
you will see your general settings.
Video configurations
To set your video settings go under the “Actions” menu in the main “Camfrog
Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then choose “video” on
the left side and you will see your video settings. You can then choose your
video capture device, your video stream quality, and the ability to flip and
mirror your video stream.
Audio configurations
To set your audio settings go under the “Actions” menu in the main “Camfrog
Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then choose “audio” on
the left side and you will see your audio settings. You can then choose your
audio playback and recording device. There is also a setting to override the
default audio compression setting for higher or lower audio quality and bandwidth
usage.
Profile configurations
To change your profile, click the “Actions” menu in the main “Camfrog
Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then choose “your
profile” on the left side and you will see your profile. You can also
access this by viewing your local video under the “video” menu
in the main application window then clicking on “User profile”.
All of the information in your profile will be present in the public Camfrog
directory. When you open your profile your local video window will also open.
Click on “comments” to leave comments about yourself in the public
directory.
Starting a video chat
Starting a video chat overview
You can easily video chat with any Camfrog user. Of course a webcam is not
required to see someone, but it is required to be seen. Many users may not
want to video chat with someone who does not also have a webcam.
Starting a video chat
To start a video chat first send the person you want to video chat with an
instant message. You can do this by going under the “Actions” menu
in the main application window and choosing “send an instant message.” If
you do not know anyone to send a message to you can go to the user directory
by clicking on “User directory” in the main application window.
After you have sent the user a message indicating you would like to video
chat you should click on “video chat” in the instant message
window. If the other user agrees to video chat then you will begin to see
and hear one another if you both have a webcam and microphone. You can tell
if the other user is male/female, their status, and if they have a webcam
or not by their icon in their instant messaging window, or in the user directory.
Accepting a video chat
When someone asks you to video chat you will be sent an instant message that
says “nickname would like to video chat. Do you accept?” You
then will click the hyperlink “yes” to accept and “no” if
you do not accept.
If you are not sure if you want to video chat with another user click “profile” in
the IM window to learn more about that user.
If a user behaves appropriately in a video chat you might want to leave them
good karma. Click on the happy face in the IM window to leave the user good
karma. If a user behaves inappropriately you can click the sad face next to “karma” to
give them bad karma. You can view a users’ karma by viewing their profile.
If a user has very negative karma you might want to avoid videoconferencing
with them because they probably behave inappropriately.
Ending a video chat
To end a video chat click the “stop video chat” hyperlink with
the webcam icon in the top of the IM window, or close the IM window, or close
your local video or the other users video window.
Configuring remote video access
Camfrog remote access is only available for Camfrog Pro users. To configure
this option go to your settings under the “Actions” menu and
choose “remote access.” You can then setup a logon and password
to access your Camfrog client from another location. Go to another location
and create a new nickname/password then send an IM to your pro client requesting
a video chat. You will then be prompted for the password and logon you made.
Enter the password and logon to start the remove video chat.
Communicating with audio
Audio overview
Camfrog allows audio in a 1-on-1 video chat session or in a Camfrog Server
Video Chat Room.
Audio in a one-on-one connection
Click the “hands free” check box to leave audio on all the time
where the other user can constantly hear you. Click the “Talk” button
to send audio only when holding down that button.
Audio in a video chat room
The video chat room only allows one user to send audio for 30 seconds so other
users get a chance to send audio. Click the “hands free” check
box to send audio hands free for 30 seconds.
Adjust audio settings
To set your audio settings go under the “Actions” menu in the main “Camfrog
Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then choose “audio” on
the left side and you will see your audio settings. You can then choose your
audio playback and recording device. There is also a setting to override the
default audio compression setting for higher or lower audio quality and bandwidth
usage.
Communicating with video
Video overview
You can see yourself by choosing “preview video” under the “video” menu
in the main Camfrog Video Chat application window.
Local video window
To view your local video window click on the “video” menu in the
main application window and choose “preview video”. To pause your
video in a one-on-one video chat, or in a video chat room click on your webcam
icon in your local video window.
Adjust video settings
To set your video settings go under the “Actions” menu in the main “Camfrog
Video Chat” application window. Choose “settings” then choose “video” on
the left side and you will see your video settings. You can then choose your
video capture device, your video stream quality, and the ability to flip and
mirror your video stream.
Communicating with chat and instant messaging
Chat and IM overview
Camfrog is not only a videoconferencing application but it also has instant
messaging, a contact list, and the ability to show your online status.
Send a message
To send a message to another Camfrog user go under the “Actions” menu
in the main application window and choose “Send an instant message.” Next
type in the nickname of the person you want to message and press enter. If
you don’t know anyone to video chat with try our user directory to find
a live list of users. Click on “User directory” in the main application
window.
Chat in a video chat room (Camfrog server)
To join a video chat room and chat click on “video chat rooms” in
the main application window then click on one of the rooms under “Nicknames” to
connect. You can then type text and enter it to communicate with the other
users via text. To ignore a user right click on their name in the user list
and choose “ignore”. To unignore a user right click on their name
again and choose “unignore”.
Saving messages
To save a video chat room or instant message conversation go under the file
menu and choose “save”.
Status
Camfrog free users can not change their status, but if they are away from their
computer for more than 5 minutes their status will change to “away”.
Pro users can change their status by clicking on their status at the top
of the main application window.
Contacts
To add a contact to your contact list go under the “Actions” menu
in the main application window and choose “add a contact” then
type in their nickname. To remove a contact right click on their name and choose “delete”.
Camfrog Video Chat Pro Features
Camfrog Video Chat Pro Features Summary
Camfrog Pro has many features that the free edition doesn't have including the ability to view several videos at once in a video chat room, the ability to set your user status, log video chat history, auto-accept video chat requests, and full access to the Camfrog.com website.
View several video windows
To view several video windows first join a video chat room. Next click on the nickname of "visible users" in the user list to view their video window. You can now view 4 or more video windows at a time.
Change your user status
To change your user status open the main Camfrog application window. At the top it says "your status". Click the black arrow to choose your status. If you choose "invisible" then you will appear as offline in other users contact lists.
Auto-accept video chat requests
To auto-accept video chat requests go under the "actions" menu and choose "settings" in the main application window. Under the "general" menu look at "incoming calls". There you can either choose to "auto accept" incoming video chat calls (not recommended) or to set a password for incoming calls. Now you can download a free Camfrog client, set up a new nickname and password and connect to your Pro client at home to have a remote webcam.
Video Chat History
To see your video chat history look under the "actions" menu in the main application window and choose "history window". It is easy to see the different users you have called and the different video chat rooms you have visited. To clear your history hit the "clear" button at the bottom left of the history window.
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