Ned: The main reason for choosing a webcam rather than a video camera is obvious: price. Webcams can be purchased for less than $50. But again, obviously, there is going to be a tradeoff for that low price, and that comes in the lower resolution and lower image quality of webcam output vs. that from a hand-held video camera. A typical webcam may only put out 640x480 images as its native resolution, and anything higher must be interpolated, leading to pixelation. The sensor in a webcam may also use CMOS technology rather than the CCD technology that is more-or-less standard in a video camera, so the dynamic range (light to dark) will be somewhat less. The software package you get with the webcam should allow you to capture video of your playing to a computer, but check the specs before you purchase.
Older computers may impose limitations as well, in not being able to handle the data stream effectively. Anything with a USB2 port should be fine. Daniel Heiman On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:38:11 EDT [email protected] writes: > I've found it helpul to make audio recordings of pieces I'm > working > on. Now I'd like to add video, which I think would be even more > helpful. I could buy a video camera, but am wondering if a > webcam > would allow me to record directly to - and view on - my > computer. > Anyone out there doing this, or have ideas on the best > procedure? > > > > Ned > > __________________________________________________________________ > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
