User manual PHILIPS PCA645VC

[. . . ] PCA635VC PC Camera User Guide About This Manual This manual covers the installation, usage and troubleshooting of the Philips PCA635VC Camera and Videogram software. You will notice, to get up and running quickly, that a separate Quick Start guide has been included. This manual should be used along with the Quick Start guide and referenced when you need a more complete explanation. In addition, on-line help is available inside the Videogram Creator application. [. . . ] Close - Exits the Videogram Player. You can adjust the sound of your Videogram by clicking on the sound button in the lower right corner of the Videogram Player window (shown at left). The following dialog box will appear to adjust Videogram volume and allows you to silence the sound. Sound Control Click on the play button after you have loaded a Videogram to play it back (shown at left). Play Button 31 7 Grabbing Snapshot Images One of the great things about the Philips PCA635VC is that, in addition to capturing video clips, it also captures single images, or snapshots. Snapshots are great for everything from wallpaper for the Windows desktop to images for Internet web pages and they're extremely easy to grab with the Philips PCA635VC. Follow the step-by-step instructions in this Chapter to capture your own snapshots. Capturing a Snapshot The same adjustments used to improve the quality for video capture work equally as well for capturing snapshots. All of these video adjustments are described in Chapter 3. For best results make sure the Philips PCA635VC is positioned correctly 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 have previously saved (many file types are supported), open the image from the "File" menu, then skip ahead to Step Three. The following steps reference the "Grab Still" button. It is illustrated in the image below. STEP 1: Preview Video Videogram Creator Appliciation Live Video With the Philips PCA635VC and pointing towards the subject, click on the Preview Button. Motion video should now appear in the Video Window, if it hasn't already. 32 STEP 2: Grab Still Capturing & Processing Image Live Video Watch the motion video carefully for 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 STEP 3: View the Bit Mapped Image The Video Window in the Videogram Creator application provides a preview of the image captured. For closer inspection of the image, you can pull up a separate window containing your BMP. From the "Edit" menu, click on "View Bitmap" to bring up the Snapshot Inspection Window. Click the right (or usual) mouse button to zoom in and the left (or secondary) to zoom out. Edit Menu Snapshot Inspection Window STEP 4: S av e a n d S e n d This function is identical to the Save and Send function of a motion Videogram as described in Chapter 5. Grabbing Snapshot Images from Pre-Recorded Video To use pre-recorded video from you hard disk, go to the "File" menu and 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 grab plus voice narration. It can be prepared and sent like a Videogram except that the size will be a lot smaller. [. . . ] For example, a standard television has a 3 to 4 aspect ratio (for every 3 pixels of height there are 4 pixels for length). The Microsoft standard file format for combined video and sound files on the PC. Often referred to as "Bitmap, " this is the Microsoft standard PC file format for images. This is used to reference a compression format for creating sound and video streams on the computer. [. . . ]