Video Conferencing for Macs using "CU-SeeMe"
Getting CU-SeeMe Up-and-Running on a PowerMac 7100/80AV
and a PowerBook 520c
Getting Started
- You need a direct connection to the Internet, or dial-up
access via either SLIP or PPP. CU-SeeMe WILL NOT work with VaPen
and InterSLIP, since VaPEN uses "The Internet Adapter" (TIA), a
SLIP emulator.
- Click here to
download the latest version of CU-SeeMe (Ver. 0.83b3). There are
two versions: one for regular Mac's (68k); another for PowerMac's
(PPC-330k).
- If you would like to be able to send as well as receive video,
then you will need a video camera such as the Connectix QuickCam.
Install the Connectix QuickCam software.
The Next Steps
- Load the software - CU-SeeMe 0.83b3 (68k) for Macintosh and
CU-SeeMe 0.83b3 (PPC) for the Power Macintosh.
- Establish your Internet connection.
- Double click on the CU-SeeMe program to open.
- When CU-SeeMe opens, if you have everything connected
correctly and are able to transmit, the first window you see is a
video window with your camera image. The menubar says "Your Name"
until you specify an identification name. To do this, go to Edit
on the menubar and drag down to Preferences.
- Four control buttons appear below the image, and below that is
a status line.
- First button, on the left, is the flip-image button. This
causes your image to appear to be flipped. It is not
transmitted that way, though.)
- The next button is the freeze-video button. This stops your
video transmission. this can be useful when attempting to
communicate through audio, where freeing up more bandwidth has
a noticible effect.
- The next button is the status line toggle button. This
button determines whether the status line is visible. The
information provided by the status line is: the number of
frames per second (fps) being transmitted, the status of the
connection to another party, and the transmission cap (the
maximum kilobytes per second (kbps) that you'll transmit). The
connection status may be blank if normal or active, or WAITING,
TIMED OUT, or DISCONNECTED.
- The last button is the options area toggle button. This
determines whether you are able to see the CU-SeeMe options
area. By selecting from the pop-up menu, you can change the
CU-SeeMe picture, compression, transmission, audio and video
options.
Connecting for a Video Conference
- Choose Conference from the menubar and drag down to "Connect
to". There is a list from which to choose a connection site. I
have been most successful connecting to White Pines, Cornell, or
NASA TV.
- For a direct, one-to-one connection, choose Conference from
the menu bar and drag down to "Connect". Type in the IP address of
the person to whom you are connecting.
- After connecting, other user's windows will appear on your
computer screen. Their identification name is in the menu bar of
their window. There are five buttons below their image area and a
status bar below that, which provide you with information.
- The video-state button (looks like an open or closed eye)
shows you whether that user is accepting video input or pausing
the video.
- The audio button lets you turn off sound from a particular
person by clicking it until the sound wave icon disappears.
When that user is transmitting audio, this button is greyed.
- The microphone button will show a big red "X" if that user
isn't capable of transmitting sound or has turned it off.
- The transmission statistics button will show you
information about packets, kilobytes, bytes-per-packet, lost
packets you've received and sent, along with some percentage
calculations.
- The version/IP button displays the IP address of the user
and the version of CU-SeeMe they are using.
- Under Talk in the menubar, click and drag down to Show Talk
Window. You will be able to "type" to "talk" to other users. Your
identification name will appear before your message when you press
return.
- Under Participants in the menubar, click and drag down to Show
Particpant Window. This is an added feature in Version 0.83b3. You
will see how many people are Users, Hidden Users, and Lurkers.
Additional Information
B Cing U !
Joanne Goodwin,
Technology Resource Teacher
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