Active WebCam 6.8

• Quick specs
• Price: Free to try (Nag screen); $29.00 to buy (Buy it now)
• Operating system: Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
• Date added: January 25, 2006
• Total Downloads: 2,903,782
• Downloads last week: 1,162
• See full specifications

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A newer version of Active WebCam is available.

Download the latest version | Learn more about Active WebCam 11.5

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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff on December 07, 2008

Ease of use is the hallmark of the surveillance app Active WebCam, which lets you monitor multiple cams and record footage for later use.

A wizard guides you through the camera setup process, after which you can send video with audio to any computer on your network that has app installed, soundless video to HTTP users, or screen caps to FTP users. You can set access permissions for users and groups, as well as the number of visitors allowed. Active WebCam also can e-mail you footage when a camera detects motion, perfect for monitoring that sleeping tyke.

The Tools menu lets you create a Web page with custom fonts and colors where you can post videos and stills. There's also a versatile video conversion tool to change captured video into AVI or MPEG format. The process took up all our CPU cycles--as the bottom utilization bar kindly displayed--but otherwise the app's footprint is small.

Aside from the helpful wizards, each menu window contains a brief explanation of what each feature does and a link to the Help topic. With surprisingly little effort and half a dozen cams, most users could create a decent surveillance system with Active WebCam.

Publisher's description

Active WebCam captures images up to 30 frames per second from any video device including USB and analog cameras, TV boards, capture cards, frame grabbers, camcorders, and network IP cameras. The program broadcasts captured content from your computer or uploads it to an FTP server. Broadcasting can be viewed using any Internet browser; no plug-ins or downloads are required. The program performs simultaneous recording and broadcasting from an unlimited number of cameras. Your camera(s) can be used as part of a surveillance system. When the program detects motion in the monitored area, it sounds an alarm, e-mails you captured images, starts broadcasting, or records video. Live broadcasting as well as recording can be password protected, so all video and audio are scrambled and cannot be watched without a valid password.

Version 6.8 adds support for the Airlink101 AIC250 Network camera.

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