IAP Video Chat Room

[BradG]

Hello Chaps
Jeff and I have been chatting about the concept of opening a video chat room for IAP members.

The thought behind it is that IAP members can login to the chat room and chat with other members live either on or off webcam.

Demonstrations can also be done on webcam, with the audio being played through the room. I would have no issue having my webcam on while I'm chrome plating, anodising, etching etc, just as I'm sure many other members would jump at the opportunity at being able to do a demo for other members to benefit from. As its live, people can type messages to you while you are doing the demos allowing them to ask questions. everyone watching can talk amongst each other in the main room by typing to one another.

The service would be through Camfrog for those which have heard of it.

For those which have not, you install the Camfrog software on your PC/laptop and create an account (which is free to do) and using the link Jeff would provide, you would be connected to the IAP chat room.

The question is, would you use it? We wouldn't want to set it all up to then find there's only Jeff & I in there!

It should be a fun place to hang out with plenty of casual conversation

All thoughts welcome!

 

[skiprat]

Sounds like fun !!:biggrin:

Would there be a limit to the amount of people logged in at any one time?

Does it have the capability of say having one webcam in USA and another communicating directly in another country, like UK.
My thoughts are so that say you are doing a demo in one place, others can follow you while you keep an eye on them, sort of thing.

How much does it cost for each session?

 

[BradG]

There would be a limit, though that would depend on the hosting package Jeff decides on either way, its a large limit. the tiers are 50,150, 500 to give you an idea

with regards to multiple cams, absolutely.. 50 of you could be on cam, and anyone in the room can open any of the cams they choose to. As you thought, the person doing the demo could open all 50 cams simultaneously etc. though for multiple cams Camfrog makes you buy a pro code. costs me about £5 a month for one of those, though its not essential. without it you can view one cam at a time.


There is no cost for each session. it would be free to the members all the time

 

[Holz Mechaniker]

well instead of running via the IAP site, why not go through USTREAM dot com?

OR via Google's hangout? Just offering an option.

 

[skiprat]

So what the heck are you waiting for?????

I think I remember Mike discussing something similar earlier this year and I reckon this could be a great and fun addition to IAP, provided it doesn't end up being used just as another sales platform.

Will sessions be recordable for future viewing?

 

[BradG]

There is software Steve for recording webcams, something like that could be used for recording the sessions if you wanted to

 

[BayouPenturner]

it would be great to share ideas on some specific areas. one I think of immediately is the discussions and exchanges with Toni on a thread earlier today or yesterday.

 

[Toni]

it would be great to share ideas on some specific areas. one I think of immediately is the discussions and exchanges with Toni on a thread earlier today or yesterday.

Herd my name:biggrin: did I miss something?

I would be able to chat, but dont have a webcam, which is a good thing

 

[joefyffe]

Brad: A question, I have, is would there be a way to archive (I don't know much about computers or data transfer, etc.) these sessions for us to view at a later time. I'm thinking mainly about those of us who travel and don't always have control of when we can just STOP and watch :wink: It's no disgrace being poor and having to work, but sometimes it's awfully damn inconvenient!!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


I would love to see this come to pass.

 

[BradG]

as long as there was somewhere to host the video downloads it could be arranged. perhaps even using youtube to upload the files to for archiving for later playback if Jeff didn't want the sites server clogged up with GB's worth of video. lots of options for that kind of thing

 

[skiprat]

Will sessions be recordable for future viewing?

Brad: A question, I have, is would there be a way to archive these sessions for us to view at a later time.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Great minds think alike.......:wink:
( yes, I know the rest of it too....)

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

A few of years ago there were a group of us that would meet on a IIRC Thursdays via a computer chat service. It ran for a few years then petered out. I thing this would work so much better with web cam.

 

[LouF]

Sounds good it would be a great help to a newbie like myself.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Please, if this is a go make sure that it won't turn into a place where some would think of it as a great place to advertise..........me included:biggrin:.

 

[jeff]

as long as there was somewhere to host the video downloads it could be arranged. perhaps even using youtube to upload the files to for archiving for later playback if Jeff didn't want the sites server clogged up with GB's worth of video. lots of options for that kind of thing

I would upload the recorded sessions to YouTube.

 

[jeff]

Please, if this is a go make sure that it won't turn into a place where some would think of it as a great place to advertise..........me included:biggrin:.

I'm not sure that one can separate advertising from education when the guy giving the pitch also sells the stuff. As long as the bulk of the information is useful education, and competing products aren't badmouthed, I don't see a problem.

 

[CharlesJohnson]

Thanks Jeff. We need sources tastefully ( Briefly) presented. I'm sure that would often be asked for if not provided.

 

[BRobbins629]

I like it. I would also like to stream events such as MAPG and some club meetings.

 

[Curly]

A dress code.

Now I suppose we are going to have to get dressed to use the computer eh! :bananen_smilies027:

 

[BradG]

For those which are curious to the system, take a look at the attached image.

The main chat room in this picture will look quite chaotic to you, as its full of random people all trying to talk over the top of each other. As mentioned what we are proposing is a private room just for IAP members, so you will find the conversation will flow more easily on the eyes in the room.

As you can see, I can see a preview of my own camera which I've dragged to the bottom left, and I have chosen to view three members cameras by clicking on their names in the list on the right hand side.

At the bottom, we can see that no1boardrider is currently talking on the microphone to everyone in the room. you can mute him if you don't want to listen to it by clicking on the speaker icon just over to the right of his name.

if you look at the titles of the camera you are viewing, you can see if the icons eyes have turned green like this:

The same can be seen from the user list down the right hand side. Users which have green eyes are watching your cam.

You can also see, that Keira doesn't want t be stared at, at this moment in time so she has put her camera on pause, giving her some privacy. If you are curious as to why Festers name is in blue, it means he has been given a high user level status in this particular room. Green names are supervisors, whereas reds are admin. Blue usually denotes a trusted member. The bold black names are pro users.. it means they have paid Camfrog around £5 a month, or I think its £35 for the year. this lets you watch multiple cams at the same time like I am doing. the black names which are not bold are free accounts, and are limited to watching one camera at a time.

 

[randyrls]

Now I suppose we are going to have to get dressed to use the computer eh! :bananen_smilies027:

That was WAY TMI!

 

[Glenn McCullough]

I think this would be a great learning/communications tool. I would really enjoy the interactions.

 

[Russknan]

I especially like the idea of archives/YouTube saves. Russ

 

[tjseagrove]

Already downloaded the app for my iPhone and iPad. When does it start??

 

[BSea]

EDIT: Never mind. The screen shots answered my question.

 

[thewishman]

Could this process work for things like:

"Here is how I am using my taps and dies, what can I do to get better results?"

"How can I improve my buffing skills?"

Or would the process be used for demos only?

 

[walshjp17]

I, for one, learn better by watching than reading. I'm all for this endeavor.

 

[BradG]

Could this process work for things like:

"Here is how I am using my taps and dies, what can I do to get better results?"

"How can I improve my buffing skills?"

Or would the process be used for demos only?

absolutely! everyone generally has their cams turned on anyway. All you would do is type a message into the main room to everyone saying "would you mind watching my cam while im using these taps to see what im doing wrong?" , and then everyone will just open up your cam and watch.

The demos are just an example of a practical use for the room, though your idea is just as valuable

Just by announcing a demo, you would be giving notice to a time and date when your cam will be on and what you're doing so people know to come take a look. There's nothing stopping you using your cam for anything at any time!

 

[BRobbins629]

Can you use the camera on the iPhone for this?

 

[BradG]

yes Bruce, there's a Camfrog app for all smart phones / tablets which supports the built in camera of the devices. The catch here is that you then have to use the device to read the room and type to it etc... it can make for a shaky video feed!

 

[jimpope]

Is there enough interest to go forward with setup of chat room?

 

[BradG]

Certainly seems that way Jim. Jeff is currently on with looking into a new server to host the project, and then it will take us a bit of tinkering the get the chat room up and running, but its all in progress

 

[edstreet]

Does this mean I would have to put pants on?

It has been my experience these things do not go over to well for a good number of reasons. Some of those include accents, pronouncing words, volume level, background noise, lag and a whole slew of other things. The most benefit is a session but I did see someone say they would upload it to youtube so the whole concept defeats itself by the upload since one could just make the video, upload it to youtube and people can watch it at their leisure rather.

As for casual convo I would have to remind everyone with a video chat of this nature it would be impossible to impose iap rules via anything other than honor system. For the TLDR crowd I invoke rule 34 and rule 43.

 

[BradG]

Not unless you are planning on pointing your cam at your crotch, and that would be generally frowned upon. Please refrain from those antics and save them for the public seedy rooms

Be the solution, not the problem. :smile :

Technicalities for the first half of your post are null and void. Rules nit being inplace is also null and void. There are admins and moderators just as there are in the forum and bots to supervise when one isnt around.

Remind yourself its a private room not public. Perhaps download and try out camfrog so you have an understanding of how it works.

 

[jeff]

Certainly seems that way Jim. Jeff is currently on with looking into a new server to host the project, and then it will take us a bit of tinkering the get the chat room up and running, but its all in progress

Just a brief update...

My personality is to do things "right", and in this case that means configuring a new server for our private use. We want to do something low cost, upgradeable, and effective, so that we don't abandon the idea because it's slow or buggy, etc.

That takes time, and it has been going slow. I have several other summer projects in work, so my time is limited. I made some good progress last night, and I'm getting some help to do the correct configurations.

So, hang in there and hopefully we'll have something to play with soon.

 

[BradG]

Hi guys
Just wanted to let you know the room is up and we're currently polishing off the configuration of it ready for release here so i look forward to chatting to you all on there soon.

Once we have implemented a couple of bells and whistles we are working on, I will post on here announcing the doors are open and give instructions on how to join

Kind Regards
Brad

 

[mbroberg]

I can't believe I just now saw this thread. This is similar, but even better, then what I wanted to do during the next Bash. Thanks Brad for getting the ball rolling on this and Jeff for providing what I believe will prove to be another winning resource for the membership!

 

[jeff]

My thanks to Brad for all the help. Despite my best efforts, it took his perseverance to get the server running. I was pulling my hair out, and that is no easy task for me!

As Brad mentioned, we're polishing it up right now. Brad suggested that we purchase the web module, which will allow you to participate without loading any client software. That's in work right now, and I hope that sometime over the weekend we can test this thing out.

Again, cheers to BRAD for all the help!

 

[GoodTurns]

....I was pulling my hair out...

mission accomplished....

 

[mredburn]

Maybe out of gratitude IAP can give Brad a free lifetime membership!