Feb 5, 2009.
The scenario: I'd been looking into ways to do an online presentation, starring me live (with viewers seeing my not-so-famous face) via webcam and also for viewers to see my powerpoint slides. Furthermore, I wanted viewers to hear my voice without the need to dial in separately with the phone. It was important too for viewers find it easy to join in . At the same time, I didn't want to be limited by cost of service , for example, to pay $$ per month if I reached a certain number of people viewing my show. On average, the number of viewers would be around 30 people, with a potential audience limit of 100 people or even more.
There was Adobe Acrobat Connect, but while it was excellent at showing slides (with sharp graphics), the oral audio portion could only be done through telephone, eg. the participants had to dial into the conference bridge, toll free. Not only that, but at $39 per month or $395/yr for only up to 15 viewers or participants, it wasn't feasible nor practical for my purposes.
I looked into DimDim at DimDim.com. Actually, very good! Audio, webcam, and powerpoint slide broadcasting available. This would be an excellent web conferencing solution for those with a smaller audience. DimDim as a free version for an audience smaller than 21 people. From 21 to 100 people, it is $99 per year, and from 101 participants to 1000, it's $1,998 per year. I would certainly consider DimDim as a backup for conferencing with a smaller group of people.
It was during this time of researching that I came across Ustream.tv . I saw a couple of shows delivered by webcam and mic.audio - a coffeetasting show and a live radio dj hosting show. It didn't seem to limit the amount of viewers. It allowed interaction between the viewers and host by text chat, and there was the feature where you can have your own social networking links etc on the webpage showing your streaming video. And there is no charge to broadcast. Cool concept actually. So I got thinking- with no limits and fees, is there a way to also stream powerpoint slides? Yes, there is, by setting up a "virtual webcam". Since Ustream.tv broadcasts whatever is showing on your webcam (or your video camera that is integrated to your graphics card), you can also set up Ustream.tv to broadcast internally from a virtual webcam of whatever you see on your desktop.
So, why not stream your desktop as it plays your powerpoint slideshow?
This was when I looked into the virtual webcams out there. There was Manycam and Webcammax. Manycam was able to stream my powerpoint slides, but the quality as seen on the viewer end was not great. You can probably use Manycam if all the fonts in your powerpoint were larger 24point bold fonts, maybe.
Then I tried Webcammax. Ustream recognized Webcammax, and I set Webcammax to take a "video" of the the view of my desktop as the source. You can alternatively select your real webcam as the source. With Webcammax you can select an additional source if you want and do "picture-in-picture" style. I chose to just switch main sources between desktop and webcam whenever I wanted to go from using the virtual webcam to show whatever was on my desktop (powerpoint show) to showing myself on the optical webcam. (I didn't know I used my hands so much and moved my head around a lot, LOL!) . I found the quality of Webcammax's streamed desktop's powerpoint graphics and font to be significantly better than Manycam. I admit, however, that DimDim and Acrobat Connect still were superior in the quality of the broadcasted computer desktop graphics. Another important note: Webcammax did not once cause my screen to freeze. However, for some reason, I had a few problems with Manycam freezing my screen indefinitely and once causing my laptop to heat up quickly and shut off, judging by how fast the fan started to blow.
Costwise, Webcammax is $19.95 for 6 months, $29.95/yr, $39.95 for 2 years, and $49.95 bought outright. Very reasonable pricing. But okay, Manycam is free! However, what good is "free" if a product or service does not meet your needs? In fact, because Manycam caused technical problems, it was going to be expensive in the longrun in terms of viewer prospects who would have been annoyed and most likely would have tuned out as lost potential customers.
My review of these various products was focussed on what I needed to do: to stream on the web my powerpoint presentations, include my oral/audio live, and to be able to switch back and forth from powerpoint to live video of myself. The quality of graphics as seen by the viewers was equally important. Next, cost would be a consideration, especially in relation to the number of participants. I should point out that yes, there are a whole bunch of other features that were available, such as backgrounds, visual effects, etc, but then again, I was interested in only researching the relevant features for my purposes.
So here's my conclusive ranking.
In order of preference for doing what I wanted to do, effectively and with practicality:
1) Webcammax plus UStream.tv
2) DimDim
3) Manycam plus Ustream.tv
4) Adobe Acrobat Connect
* * * *
Eric shows entrepreneurs how to start and run a lucrative business from the comfort of their own home.
* * * *
The scenario: I'd been looking into ways to do an online presentation, starring me live (with viewers seeing my not-so-famous face) via webcam and also for viewers to see my powerpoint slides. Furthermore, I wanted viewers to hear my voice without the need to dial in separately with the phone. It was important too for viewers find it easy to join in . At the same time, I didn't want to be limited by cost of service , for example, to pay $$ per month if I reached a certain number of people viewing my show. On average, the number of viewers would be around 30 people, with a potential audience limit of 100 people or even more.
There was Adobe Acrobat Connect, but while it was excellent at showing slides (with sharp graphics), the oral audio portion could only be done through telephone, eg. the participants had to dial into the conference bridge, toll free. Not only that, but at $39 per month or $395/yr for only up to 15 viewers or participants, it wasn't feasible nor practical for my purposes.
I looked into DimDim at DimDim.com. Actually, very good! Audio, webcam, and powerpoint slide broadcasting available. This would be an excellent web conferencing solution for those with a smaller audience. DimDim as a free version for an audience smaller than 21 people. From 21 to 100 people, it is $99 per year, and from 101 participants to 1000, it's $1,998 per year. I would certainly consider DimDim as a backup for conferencing with a smaller group of people.
It was during this time of researching that I came across Ustream.tv . I saw a couple of shows delivered by webcam and mic.audio - a coffeetasting show and a live radio dj hosting show. It didn't seem to limit the amount of viewers. It allowed interaction between the viewers and host by text chat, and there was the feature where you can have your own social networking links etc on the webpage showing your streaming video. And there is no charge to broadcast. Cool concept actually. So I got thinking- with no limits and fees, is there a way to also stream powerpoint slides? Yes, there is, by setting up a "virtual webcam". Since Ustream.tv broadcasts whatever is showing on your webcam (or your video camera that is integrated to your graphics card), you can also set up Ustream.tv to broadcast internally from a virtual webcam of whatever you see on your desktop.
So, why not stream your desktop as it plays your powerpoint slideshow?
This was when I looked into the virtual webcams out there. There was Manycam and Webcammax. Manycam was able to stream my powerpoint slides, but the quality as seen on the viewer end was not great. You can probably use Manycam if all the fonts in your powerpoint were larger 24point bold fonts, maybe.
Then I tried Webcammax. Ustream recognized Webcammax, and I set Webcammax to take a "video" of the the view of my desktop as the source. You can alternatively select your real webcam as the source. With Webcammax you can select an additional source if you want and do "picture-in-picture" style. I chose to just switch main sources between desktop and webcam whenever I wanted to go from using the virtual webcam to show whatever was on my desktop (powerpoint show) to showing myself on the optical webcam. (I didn't know I used my hands so much and moved my head around a lot, LOL!) . I found the quality of Webcammax's streamed desktop's powerpoint graphics and font to be significantly better than Manycam. I admit, however, that DimDim and Acrobat Connect still were superior in the quality of the broadcasted computer desktop graphics. Another important note: Webcammax did not once cause my screen to freeze. However, for some reason, I had a few problems with Manycam freezing my screen indefinitely and once causing my laptop to heat up quickly and shut off, judging by how fast the fan started to blow.
Costwise, Webcammax is $19.95 for 6 months, $29.95/yr, $39.95 for 2 years, and $49.95 bought outright. Very reasonable pricing. But okay, Manycam is free! However, what good is "free" if a product or service does not meet your needs? In fact, because Manycam caused technical problems, it was going to be expensive in the longrun in terms of viewer prospects who would have been annoyed and most likely would have tuned out as lost potential customers.
My review of these various products was focussed on what I needed to do: to stream on the web my powerpoint presentations, include my oral/audio live, and to be able to switch back and forth from powerpoint to live video of myself. The quality of graphics as seen by the viewers was equally important. Next, cost would be a consideration, especially in relation to the number of participants. I should point out that yes, there are a whole bunch of other features that were available, such as backgrounds, visual effects, etc, but then again, I was interested in only researching the relevant features for my purposes.
So here's my conclusive ranking.
In order of preference for doing what I wanted to do, effectively and with practicality:
1) Webcammax plus UStream.tv
2) DimDim
3) Manycam plus Ustream.tv
4) Adobe Acrobat Connect
* * * *
Eric shows entrepreneurs how to start and run a lucrative business from the comfort of their own home.
* * * *
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