08-24-2008, 10:30 PM
Does it need to be interactive?
Have you considered the possibility of building your own streaming server and then giving out the network address when needed (or place a link on your website)? So essentially a 'free' alternative.
You can easily do this using a decent Windows box (RAM is not too important - 256MB-1GB+, but the higher CPU you can get, the better) and the free Windows Media Encoder. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows...fault.mspx
Throw an (optional) capture card in there...add a camera...and you are set. You do not need a streaming (Windows) media server - users can connect directly to the IP address of the Encoder machine. The default connection is limited to 5 simultaneous connections, but you can go into the Registry and up it to 50 users max - very simple to do.
Depending on what you need and the enironment, you can even use a good laptop with a good web cam (2MP+ if you really want some good quality) for quick/easy use - of course you can always get a (USB/FW) capture card and use a 'regular' camera/camcorder too.
Have you considered the possibility of building your own streaming server and then giving out the network address when needed (or place a link on your website)? So essentially a 'free' alternative.
You can easily do this using a decent Windows box (RAM is not too important - 256MB-1GB+, but the higher CPU you can get, the better) and the free Windows Media Encoder. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows...fault.mspx
Throw an (optional) capture card in there...add a camera...and you are set. You do not need a streaming (Windows) media server - users can connect directly to the IP address of the Encoder machine. The default connection is limited to 5 simultaneous connections, but you can go into the Registry and up it to 50 users max - very simple to do.
Depending on what you need and the enironment, you can even use a good laptop with a good web cam (2MP+ if you really want some good quality) for quick/easy use - of course you can always get a (USB/FW) capture card and use a 'regular' camera/camcorder too.