Simple sitting room tutorial

[will]

Gregor , i too am a bit overwhelmed by the technological additions and having some difficulty "wrapping my brain" around most of it............


:D

Step #1

Get Camera
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1643/camzx5.jpg


Step #2

Get a microphone

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1265/miccs6.jpg


Step #3

Got to

http://www.treeleaf.org/zendo/zen-hall.php (http://http://www.treeleaf.org/zendo/zen-hall.php)


Step # 4

Alow access to your Camera


http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2706/allowdh5.jpg


Step # 5

Mic is on when it is highlighted and off when not highlighted

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5289/michighlightka1.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5751/micunhighlghtfk1.jpg

Step # 6

Hit the mute button to hear the other person

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3817/mutept9.jpg

Step # 7

DELAY!!

Make sure your volume is not too loud and turn off your mic when you're not speaking

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7232/delaybe4.jpg





G,W :)

[em]

I might add that using headphones is a really easy way to avoid feedback sounds and echoes.

That way you probably won't have to mess around too much with muting and unmuting, depending though on how noisy your surroundings are and how annoying that is or is not for everybody else.

A complete headset makes the whole business even better as less ambient sound generally is picked up that way. Less sound from computer fans etc.

[Kent]

Will, thank you for the "webcam for idiots" :lol: tutorial, it was helpful and appreciated. em thanks too for the headphone tip! Gassho, Kent

[John]

I might add that using headphones is a really easy way to avoid feedback sounds and echoes.

That way you probably won't have to mess around too much with muting and unmuting, depending though on how noisy your surroundings are and how annoying that is or is not for everybody else.

A complete headset makes the whole business even better as less ambient sound generally is picked up that way. Less sound from computer fans etc.

I agree - I think that a headset with a mic is best. Another reason is that I wouldn't have to listen to the sound of my own voice which I hate! You can get cheap headsets like this one http://tinyurl.com/6euj7k (http://http://tinyurl.com/6euj7k) I bought that work very well.

Gassho,
John

[will]

Headphones. Good idea. Might try that next time.


G,W

[John]

Will - I was thinking after this morning's session that a lot of the problem with sound lag is caused by, for example, my mic picking up what you say from my speakers and retransmitting it to you and then your mic retransmitting that back to me etc. I noticed that I was receiving speech synchronised with vision from you and all I needed to do was to ignore the repeat transmissions. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, I just want to reiterate that it might be necessary for us all to wear headphones or earphones to block the sound from speakers and stop the speech being retransmitted. Most webcams seem to have mics built in but if not a mic is also necessary. What do you think? BTW, my Window's Vista decided to update itself and reboot my computer halfway through the sitting this morning. I don't like the way Vista takes initiatives like that - where is that leading to, I wonder :?

Gassho,
John

[Longdog]

:lol: Yeh your computer came back with a vengence John, washing machine and all :lol:

The delay this morning was unbelievable, as Will said around 2 minutes.

I'm happy to use a head set if people think it is the answer but I usually just mute my mic when not talking and when sitting. Making sure both your speakers and mics are not high helps too.

Your mic was OK when you turned it down the first time. The second time after the mega-delay it was a bit quite, but the wonders of vista soon cured that when you re-booted :lol:

Guess this is all part of the koan appearing naturally in daliy life :D

In gassho, Kev

[John]

Hi Kev, Yes, I suppose just turning off the mic each time should work. Sometimes I forget to turn it off or think I turned it off and it's still on. :oops: I have turned my sound down so much it's nearly off! Maybe it's because it's getting feed from both the headset mic and the webcam. It'll get better if we persevere :)

Gassho,
John

[Longdog]

No worries John, I had my mobile and house phone go off during the sitting but luckily my mic was off.

I'm sure we'll all manage to iron our own computery things out with time.

The good thing is everyone is happy to accept the hiccups along the way :D

Kev

[will]

Hey Kev. Muting your mic doesn't necessarily improve the delay time; however, if not muted the sound can keep bouncing back and forth building to feedback basically.

G,W

[Longdog]

Ah right :lol: So is there anything we can do to improve the delay or is that just a function of the conditions at the time?

Kev

[will]

So is there anything we can do to improve the delay or is that just a function of the conditions at the time?


Don't know. Could be a variety of reasons I think.

G,W

[Bids]

Hi Will,
Thanks for putting that information out here, it gives this techno illiterate enough courage to get started ... I'm off out to get me a cam.

Chirps, Nadi