Looking For Advice on Web Cams and Streaming Video

[Mark Phillips]

Charles,

Thanks for the info about ustream.tv.

You are right, my challenge is getting a fast connection to the Internet.
Delayed streaming is one option, but it would be cool to find a way to
stream it live. I also don't think my laptop has enough hard drive space for
a complete game. Our game last week went 13 innings.......almost a double
header!

What are options for getting an Internet connection to stream the video? How
much bandwidth do I need to stream video?

What is a good source for inexpensive web cams? Are there any issues with
getting them to run with Linux?

Thanks!

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 10:17 AM, Charles Jones <
charles.jones at ciscolearning.org> wrote:

> Mark Phillips wrote:
> >
> > I was sitting at my daughter's varsity softball game texting the play
> > by play to my wife who was on a business trip to LA. I began to wonder
> > if there were an inexpensive and easy way to setup a web cam at the
> > game and broadcast the game to her computer (or better yet, her
> > Blackberry...now that would be cool) in LA, as well as the parents who
> > had to stay at work. I have no experience with web cams or streaming
> > video. I don't think the field has WiFi, but there are some private
> > residences about 1000' from home plate. Perhaps I could talk one of
> > them into letting me use their cable connection to get access to the
> > Internet.
> >
> > Any suggestions on inexpensive web cams with a fairly wide field of view?
> >
> > What software will I need for my Debian testing laptop? Do I need a
> > video steaming server somewhere on the net?
> >
> > How do I get the signal to the houses 1000' feet away....or is there a
> > better way?
> >
> > How many laws am I breaking by doing this? :-)
> >
> > Anyone have a better solution besides don't go to LA during a game?
> >
> The streaming itself should be as simple as plugging a webcam into a
> laptop, and using ustream (http://ustream.tv).  You can set a password
> for the broadcast so that only she can see it (if you care).
>
> Your biggest hurdle sounds like getting network access. Does she really
> need to see it live? Maybe you could just record it and then stream it
> from home after the game?  Otherwise you should be able to get a WiFi
> connection going but will definitely require a decent antenna, which is
> probably more effort and $ than is worth it for a once-off exercise.
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