idea in progress- Linux for Webcam Models

[LadyLuna]

What if a programmer made a version of Linux that was made to optimize camming?

I assume it could do something like Red Hat and Fedora do, where Fedora is the free version which tests everything and Red Hat is the retail version with all the kinks worked out.

Some of my thoughts on it were-

1. It would allow MFC to run
2. It would give the most attention to the streaming program
3. It would include firefox, ie, and flash player and java already installed for both
4. It would include software for picture taking and video making using whatever import source the user specifies, so that a girl could use manycam to both stream and record the show at the same time
5. The retail version would come with an online storage for works-in-progress that no one but the account owner would see

Basically, it would allow the user to direct if the streaming video was the most important application, or if the auto photo-shoot was the most important, or the video recording. It would include all software any webcam model might need for both streaming online and creating home-made porn. It would have built-in internet security, and already know the main websites.

Wouldn't that be AWESOME!?

 

[SatanJonez]

It would be beyond awesome. I tried to get Ubuntu to work with any of the sites I cam on & it was a little fail. :\

 

[Countessa]

I have my system dual booted ubuntu/windows. I wanted to use ubuntu for camming, but there is no software written for drivers etc. for my logitech webcam. I'd love some software where I could adjust the brightness, focus, white balance, mic, etc but as far as I can tell, there is NONE. I believe you could run everything else (IE, MFC Software etc) under WINE. But the software for the cam has to be written first.

edited to add: I looked into this about a year ago, there might be something now. I'll check nexttime I'm in Ubuntu.

 

[LadyLuna]

I like Fedora, personally...

but, the point of this was an operating system that is designed from the ground up for webcam streaming and capture.

 

[Sweet_pea_4]

i cam from ubunto im currently using the webcam built into my laptop but i got it all working. i use the web browser to brodcast and i had to go into flash and allow mfc access to my webcam and mic and i have to adjust volume/brightness in my system settings cuz the flash player pop up for adjusting the settings doesnt work. but hey i can cam from it and no major problems so far but idk about when i upgrade to a logitech cam

 

[BoltEyeAm]

I like Fedora, personally...

but, the point of this was an operating system that is designed from the ground up for webcam streaming and capture.

This is where I get renamed to "The Stick in the Mud"

This idea just sounds strange to me not so much the idea of having a computer built caming but having a 'operating system' built for caming. The definition of an 'operating system' is a set of programs that manage a devices hardware. Operating systems are not limited to computers and smart phones. Your calculator has an operating system, a vending machine has an operating system, and your microwave has an operating system. Each of these devices has a simple software that allows the user to interact with the hardware. What sets our standard use of the word operating system apart is that typically consider an operating system such as windows or unix allows users to do many many different task and install other software on top of it.

If you create a operating system and device for the soul purpose of camming you are not just creating a Linux mod, but you are writing your own screen capature device, you are writing your own drivers to interact with the webcam, your own software to connect to the internet, your own internet browser. Because if you want to reach the absolute peek of your devices efficiency you need to throw out the middle man that does everything else that you don't need. At this point you need to write way more than what I mentioned, you need software to manage everything down to the most basic computational level. A project like this is ludicrous to think about considering all the different things models would like to do that will not be the same as you.

Now I know this rant is missing the point of your thread and running with it off a cliff, so let me address the core idea.

What you will end up settling for is using an already existing system that allows for great flexibility and then tweaking that system for your needs. But greater flexibility requires more processing power. Think of your web cam computer a cell phone camera. Your cell phone can take pictures and they might be really nice but the cell phone will never be better than high end camera designed for the soul purpose of taking pictures. So if you want to take really good pictures you may want to buy a really good camera but you should not expect to browse the internet on your Nikon. Alternatively if you wish to shoot really good videos you aren't going to use your cellphone, or your webcam. You will buy a device designed for shooting videos.

So what you need is not one device to do all your different task but many devices to do each one the best. For streaming you need a relatively powerful mobile computer with high speed internet connection. You can ensure you security and continued out-of-the-box peek performance by using a program such as Deep Freeze. With deep freeze you basically don't have to worry about security (for your computer anyways). What deep freeze does is it restores your computer to it's original state every time you boot it up. You can literally uninstall windows and have everything back after rebooting it.

Now for your things such as video and photo editing. To do these on a professional level you need more computing power than what is available on a portable device. Just like the camera analogy before, you need a machine designed for your specific task. The business of being a cam model combines many different task and there is no machine that does each task in the best way possible.

 

[inkydoo]

As a long-time linux user (1995 was when I first installed Slackware), it's awesome to see all the Linux-lovin' ladies. I agree somewhat with Bolt, though, that your best bet is to find an existing flavor of Linux that is either already optimized for the things you want to do or can be easily tweaked toward those things. Without going too deep into details, finding a linux flavor that either has kernel pre-emption on by default or allows you to turn it on would probably be beneficial (I don't know off the top of my head which flavors have this). If you really want a more optimized system generally, and are willing to get your hands kind of dirty, I would think gentoo would be a better choice than ubuntu or fedora, but it's not nearly as user-friendly to the linux novice (heck sometimes it's not even friendly to the linux veteran).

As Countessa gets at, I think the hardest thing will be drivers for the cams, though this has gotten a lot better than it used to be, and I would guess that the most popular and newer cams (like the two logitechs that a lot of models use) would be pretty well supported these days. I have an older logitech orbit cam (looks like a big eyeball on a stalk) and I've gotten it to work with MFC (just as a test), though admittedly it doesn't handle the tilt and pan correctly.

Also, note that Adobe just announced that they will no longer provide updates (other than for security issues) to its standalone linux flash player, so you may want to start using chrome (or chromium as the linux version is sometimes called), since it will be bundled with the newer flash player. I think there's some chance Adobe will change their minds on this, but chrome's a pretty nice browser anyway, so as long as the new browser based broadcaster works, you might want to give it a try.

If anyone needs help getting stuff to work under linux, I'd be happy to lend whatever help I can.

 

[crappuccino]

I'd suggest trying Mint, it's probably the most compatible Linux. If something doesn't work, abandon the idea. Don't start troubleshooting under Linux unless you have a LOT of time.

 

[LadyLuna]

It was just a random "wouldn't it be nice" thought.

I don't know enough about programming or linux to know what is and isn't possible. My biggest problem with it was that everything was so choppy when run through Fedora, but that was awhile ago. I haven't tried it since... a few months before my original post.

 

[crappuccino]

Yeah sorry, didn't notice someone necro'd here. Choppy gui usually means you don't have an nvidia gpu. idk about intel, but with ati, you can choose between working power management and 3D (with the proprietary fglrx driver), or working 2D (with the open source radeon driver).