I'm looking for a way to add special photo effects to webcam pictures.

Specifically, I want to buy a webcam, set it to upload pictures to my
website, and put buttons on the website which, when clicked, will do
special effects to the picture such as change the color of the photo,
make it look like a fisheye lens, or make the picture look pixelated.

Is there anyway to do this, perhaps with webcam software, or javascript, etc?

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 02 Jan 2005 21:28 PST

I can't vouch for it personally, but I have heard interesting things about KoolKam:

http://www.aptrio.com/Multimedia/Image-Editing/koolkam-d-3442.html

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/KoolKam_2d/1032366961/1

Let me know what you think. If this isn't suitable, it would be
helpful if you'd give some additional details about what you hope to
do.

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Clarification of Question by severisth-ga on 02 Jan 2005 22:08 PST

That looks really promising! I just tried to download the trial
version but the link wasn't working. Did you see any alternate
download links, or perhaps even some example sites which use
koolkam2d?

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 02 Jan 2005 22:39 PST

See if this link works for the trial download. It worked for me:

http://www.koolkam.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=23

It's my bedtime, but I'll noodle around tomorrow to see what else I
can find. Your question isn't locked, so someone else may have a
better solution that they'd like to post.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 03 Jan 2005 11:51 PST

Here's a small gallery of images posted by KoolKam users:

http://www.koolkam.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=38

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 03 Jan 2005 13:41 PST

There are quite a few images here that were created with KoolKam:

http://www.hilltopdesign.com/gallery/randomcamabstract

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Clarification of Question by severisth-ga on 03 Jan 2005 17:10 PST

Both of those programs are very close to what I'm looking for!! This
page in particular is exactly like what I wanted to do (only the image
is broken right now, so I can't be certain):
http://www.chillcam.com/webmaster.asp

What I like about it is how the *website visitor* can control the FX
being applied to the image. I haven't figured out yet if KoolKam can
produce a page like that. I downloaded it, but it appears to only
allow you to apply the effects from sitting behind the computer that
the webcam is hooked up to.

Do you agree Pinkfreud?

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 03 Jan 2005 17:21 PST

Yes, it does appear that KoolKam's effects are controlled by the
webcam owner, rather than by the user. Since I do not have a webcam, I
can't test this.

If Chillcam looks like what you need, you may want to cancel this
question. Travis is not a Google Answers Researcher, and cannot
receive compensation for his helpful suggestion, and if the question
is left open there is a chance that someone may come by and post an
answer after you've already made a decision. If you cancel, you'll
only be billed the fifty-cent listing fee.

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Clarification of Question by severisth-ga on 03 Jan 2005 17:31 PST

Thanks Pinkfreud!

I've contacted the Chillcam webmaster to see if Chillcam will meet my
needs. If it doesn't, I'll still be looking for help. Thanks again,
knowing that these programs exist is really great news. I didn't think
it would be possible.

Chillcam (<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,6727,00.asp">http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,6727,00.asp</a>)
is a "... $25 shareware utility (that) captures images from any video
device and, at a specified time interval, FTPs them to any number of
Web servers. You can also add digital video effects."

I have used this personally for an extended period of time and can
vouch for its quality.  The shareware never "expires" and I can't
remember the software being crippled in any way.  It more than likely
offers more features than you're expecting, which is a good thing.

-Travis

Thanks for the lead Travis!  I've nailed down what I want to do better:

I want to set up 4 webcams in my nightclub and run them all
to the same computer. From there, I need a program which can FTP all
four images to the club website, but only during a certain time window
(while the club is open). Finally, I'd like for users to be able to
apply FX to the images like on this page:
http://www.chillcam.com/webmaster.asp

Do you know if Chillcam can do all of that?