When creating a video for your e-show, the digital video camera is the most important piece of equipment that you can buy. This topic is intended to give you some direction as to what features to look for when purchasing a digital video camera. For a list of digital video cameras that have been tested with Alive e-Show and special product offers, click here.
When buying a camera there are four things to keep in mind:
The frame rate refers to the number of frames the digital video camera can capture in a second. Alive e-Show uses RealMedia to stream video and because of bandwidth limitations, RealMedia streams video at a default of 15 frames per second (fps). Therefore, we recommend that you record all video at this frame rate. If you capture at a higher frame rate, some frames will be lost when the video clip is converted. Most digital camera's on the market will capture at a suitable frame rate.
The camera that you purchase should render colors realistically and adjust to changing light conditions automatically. It is important that your subject is lit well because poor lighting will affect your frame rate.
How easy it is to install your digital video camera determines how quickly you can start filming digital videos. A camera that plugs into a USB port will only take you a few minutes to setup. Most computers that were built after 1996 have a built in USB port. However, you should check that your computer has a USB port before purchasing a camera that plugs into one. Because most computers have a USB port, USB cameras are portable. You can move them to a different computer without much difficulty. And with Windows plug and play, your computer should detect the camera automatically.
A camera that requires a video capture card may produce the best video quality, but it will also take some time to setup because the card must be installed inside your computer. Note that if you install a video capture card, you can digitize video that has been pre-recorded onto a video tape. For information in digitizing videos, click here.
A good Web camera should have a steady mount that lets you move the camera lens from side to side, and up and down. This will be adequate for most filming jobs.
The camera should also have a long cable because the cable length will determine how close your subject needs to be to your computer when filming. A longer cable will afford more flexibility.