movie talk for pc
How to Begin Signing over the Internet with a PC
(Macintosh users, click here.)
With the enlargened availability of high-speed Internet in both business and residential areas, it is now lighter to do signed movie talk with family and friends. You can also make Movie Relay Service calls. Movie Relay Service provides sign language interpretation for voice telephone calls. You contact the relay service using movie communications technology and the relay service places the call and interprets the conversation. Movie relay service is much quicker and more natural than text-based relay services, for those who know American Sign Language.
Many people who can sign say that once you get used to movie calls, it is hard to go back using TTY. Movie calls permit you to have a natural conversation with a person on the other end.
Equipment and Services Needed for Movie Calls
If you have high-speed Internet (cable modem, DSL, ISDN, T1 or better), there is a good chance that your computer can make movie calls. Your computer needs to be at least Pentium® II 500, Celeron™, or AMD Athlon®, and have an available USB port.
You will need to buy a web camera with a USB or USB Two.0 buttplug. There are many USB cameras being sold on the Internet and in stores. A majority of web cameras have CMOS lenses and they are generally cheap, but their movie quality is lower than a camera with a high-quality CCD lens. It is often tempting to buy something that costs less; however this is a case where the difference in price is worth it. For a better movie quality, it is strongly recommended to buy a high quality CCD camera. Several popular cameras with CCD lenses are:
- Logitech QuickCam 4000
- IBM Net Camera
- Intel Pro PC Camera
- UniBrain Fire-I Camera (Firewire)
After plugging in your fresh USB camera, Windows may ask you to insert the CD that came with the camera. Some cameras require you to install the software before plugging in the USB camera. Go after the installation instructions that came with your camera.
You can test your movie connection in Windows XP by selecting My Computer from the Commence button menu. You will see a Scanners and Cameras category on the right side of the My Computer window. Your camera will be shown and double-click on it to see an picture of yourself. If you see yourself, your movie hook-up was done correctly.
The next step is to run Microsoft NetMeeting software. NetMeeting is an H.323-compatible movie talk software that comes with every Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, and XP computers. (H.323 is an international standard for Internet-based movie so that different companies’ products can work with each other.) You can use it for free and it is a good way to make sure everything works before attempting out various types of movie talk software. You will need to do a quick setup in NetMeeting before using it for the very first time. After doing the quick setup, proceed with the steps below.
You are now ready to make a movie call! There are two ways to make a movie call: Selecting a name from the directory list or injecting the other person’s IP address.
Call by selecting a name from the directory list:
To see a list of people who are available to receive movie calls, click on the phone book icon in the right middle area of NetMeeting. You will now see the dialog window shown below with a list of users and you can double-click on the user’s name to make a movie call.
The person on the other end will receive a movie call notification display on the bottom right corner of their Windows desktop. After the person on the other end clicks on the Accept call button, you will see movie from the other end. When your conversation is finished, click on the End Call icon (a picture of a handset with a crimson down arrow).
Call by injecting IP address
To call somebody by coming in IP address, click Call from the menu bar and select Fresh Call. Inject the IP address of the person you are calling in the To: box and click the Call button. The person on the other end will receive a movie call notification display on the bottom right corner of the Windows desktop. After the person on the other end clicks on the Accept call button, you will see movie from the other end. When you are done, click on the End Call icon (picture of a handset with a crimson down arrow).
NOTE: FireWire DV cameras will not work with NetMeeting unless you install OrangeMicro’s WebCamDV software. With this software, you can make NetMeeting calls with your FireWire web camera or DV camera.
NetMeeting is free, however it has a limitation. It can only send up to fifteen frames-per-second (fps) and receive up to thirty fps. With fifteen fps, it may be a bit difficult to read fingerspelled words or read lips. (Keep in mind that the VRS interpreter may be observing you sign at just fifteen fps. Sign and fingerspell clearly when communicating through VRS.) In most cases, you will have a limit of fifteen fps both ways when both finishes use NetMeeting.
With higher speeds (16-30 fps), the quality of the movie improves a lot for signing. Sorensen’s EnVision has the capability to send at thirty fps and the quality of movie is clearer than NetMeeting. A trial version can be downloaded from their website. Contact their technical support team to find the current price. EnVision is also H.323-compliant software and you can use it to call NetMeeting users; however your incoming movie will be up to fifteen fps. VideoLink Pro for PC can be also used with NetMeeting and EnVision and it was not reviewed for this article. .
If you wish to talk to a person who has an Apple Macintosh, that person should be using OhPhoneX or VideoLink Pro.
You can use one of the three types of software listed above with Movie Relay Services (VRS).
If you are having problems making or receiving movie calls (no incoming movie or blackout of the movie window), you may have a firewall issue. See this linked article for some possible solutions.
Other Proprietary Movie Talk Software:
There is other free movie talk software you can attempt. (NOTE: None of software listed below is presently (May 2003) compatible with VRS as they are not H.323 compatible.)
AOL Instant Messenger (PC) You can use a NetMeeting plug-in to do movie calls with other AIM users.
MSN Messenger (PC) It has built-in movie talk feature and can be only used when you are talking with other MSN Messenger users.
Yahoo Messenger (PC & Mac) You can use it to talk with both PC and Macintosh users. It can send and receive up to twenty fps movie.
Eyeball Talk (PC) It bypasses many firewall settings and you can use it to do movie talk with any AIM, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger users.
Sightspeed (PC & Mac) You can use it to talk with both PC and Macintosh users.
ISpQ (PC & Mac) You can use it to talk with both PC and Macintosh users. It can send and receive up to thirty fps vide