Introduction

Thank you for using ConquerCam. ConquerCam is an easy to use application for grabbing your web cam images and publishing these to your web site.

ConquerCam is shareware, meaning you will have to register if you continue using it after your 30-days trial period. The period starts the first time you install it on your computer.

However, you may keep ConquerCam on your computer, if you does not mind the advertisement shown in the bottom of the screen. If you keep it without registering, please click the advertisement once in a while in order for us to keep ConquerCam free.

We have tested ConquerCam on several platforms such as:

• Windows 95

• Windows 95 OSR2

• Windows 98

• Windows 98 2nd

• Windows NT 4.0 SP6

• Windows 2000 Professional

• Windows 2000 Server

A limited set of web cams was tested too:

• Logitech QuickCam Pro USB

• Logitech (Connectix) QuickCam VC Parallel

• Logitech QuickCam Express USB

If you have questions about this product, please check the online FAQ, which you will find on the ConquerCam web site:

http://faq.conquercam.com/

I hope you find ConquerCam useful,

Peter Theill, ConquerWare


Getting Started with ConquerCam

When ConquerCam has been configured to use your settings, you will be able to publish your web cam images to the Internet very easily.

It only requires a couple of steps to configure ConquerCam and the topics below shows these steps. Click on a topic for details ...

♦ Use an overlay image

♦ Add static or dynamic captions

♦ Define FTP sites

♦ Publish image to the Internet

In order to get started using ConquerCam right away, just follow the above steps.

A couple of words about this help file...

You are able to read about all features of ConquerCam in this help file. If you don't find what your are looking for, please contact me so I can improve it in next release.

All text is written using Tahoma 8 point font, which is a commonly used font for dialogs and is used by e.g. the Microsoft Office package.

Titles are written in bold typeface like this and divides a section. Links to other locations in this help is underlined and in green color. You are able to see an example of this above. If I want you to notice something in the text, I use a dark cyan color. Text written in cyan will be useful information for the given action and should not be missed.


template

this is the text.


Overlay
Step 1: Choosing an Overlay

Every time ConquerCam grabs an image from your web cam, it is shown in the preview window (if active).

If you do not just want to publish this raw image to your web site, you are able to apply an overlay image. To select an overlay image, you will have to open the Options dialog (chose Settings Menu, then the 'Options' menuitem).

When you have Options opened you need to select tab named Images. In this section, you are able to chose your overlay bitmap. Mark the Image Overlay checkbox (if it isn't already) to enable overlaying images. Then click small Explorer icon to open a standard Windows Open dialog. From this dialog, choose your .bmp file and press Open.

The preview window will reflect the changes immidiately and you are able to determined if this is your desired effect. If you would like another blend option, expend Effect combobox below and select a new effect. Effect changes updates Preview window right away.

You are now ready to add some captions.


Captions
Step 2: Adding Captions

After having finished setting up your overlay effect, you are ready to add some text to your image. If you do not want to have any text information on your image, proceed to next step.

You are able to add captions by clicking the small note symbol located in the middle of the Captions tab. When clicked you will create a new text caption named 'Default Text'. Type in your own caption text in Caption field to update the caption. All changes will be reflected immidiately in Preview window.

You are able to change fontname, -size, -style and -color from the dropdown list below caption field. Default font is a small white sans serif font provided with Windows 98/2000 and the Office package. This font is called Tahoma and is use in many applications to print small text captions.

To change the position of your text caption, select the Position dropdown list. This list has nine predefined positions: four corners, four centers and a centered center. These positions are good in most cases, but it might be, you want to move a given caption a couple of pixels. This is done using the X coordinate and Y coordinate fields. Type in your new (x, y) coordinate or press the up/down arrows.

Ready to define your FTP Sites?


FTP Sites
Step 3: Defining a FTP site

When an overlay image and a couple of text captions have been added to your image,  you might want to publish it to your personal web site and/or FTP server.

The 'Uploading' tab enables you to define a number of connections for use when uploading your captured image to either an FTP site or a local location on your harddrive.

Check 'Enable FTP upload' to make sure, you are able to upload your image to an FTP site.

You add a new FTP site by clicking the small 'Add Location' icon to the right of the 'Upload to' dropdown list. Now type in a meaningful (this is not the actual hostname) name for your site and fill in the FTP details in the appropriate fields. You will have to type in your hostname, e.g. ftp.theill.com or www.mysite.com. The FTP port is normally located on port 21 thus this has been typed in for you already. If your site use another port, you will have to type it in here.

Type in username and password for connection. If you do not fill in this information, ConquerCam is unable to connect to your site and thus not able to upload your image. If this site enables anonymous connections, just type in anonymous in the username and your current email address in the password field.

Change filename for uploaded image and directory if necessary.

Now, you just have to upload your images.


Upload
Step 4: Uploading images

The final step is to make the actual upload. You are able to upload an image manually, by pressing Alt+P, but this isn't much fun, if you want to capture new images every 2th minute.

Instead, you are able to define an upload interval by marking the 'Enable Interval Upload' checkbox and selecting the interval in seconds, minutes, hours or even days.

The default setting is to upload an image after 30 seconds.

Seems like you are there.


Finish

You have now configured ConquerCam and are able to upload your web cam images to your web site.


File Menu

The File Menu provides standard actions for handling an actual image file.

Save As ... [Ctrl+S]

Saves currently grabbed image to disk in either .bmp or .jpg format.

Publish [Alt+P]

Send grabbed image to your selected FTP site. If you have selected an overlay picture, this will be applied before uploading it, likewise will all text captions you may have defined.

View FTP Log...

Open logfile generated on each FTP upload. This might help you find out, why you was not able to connect to a site, etc.

Exit

Closes ConquerCam.


Camera Menu

The Camera Menu grouped actions related to captured images from your web cam.

Copy [Shift+Ctrl+C]

Copies currently shown (grabbed) image from your web cam to your Clipboard. You are then able to switch to any standard image processing application and paste it.

Start Interval Upload

To grab images and upload these to your web site in regular intervals requires a timer to count down to zero. When it reaches zero, it will grab a new image from your webcam and upload it to the specified web site. Then it resets. To start this automatic interval upload, you click on this item.

Stop Interval Upload

It might be necessary to disable to stop the interval upload in specific periods. Using this menuitem you are able to do that quickly.

Preview [F11]

Toggles preview window. When it has been turned off, no communication with your web cam are done.


View Menu

The View Menu provides options for your web cam(s) and the entire ConquerCam application.

Overview Bar

Show or hide Overview Bar in left area of window. This bar enables you to see previously grabbed images for the current session (that is, since you started up ConquerCam) and all archived images stored in a special folder.

Advertisement

Toggles the advertisement shown in the bottom of the main window. You are not allowed to turn this off, before you have registered your copy of ConquerCam.

Source...

Selects source from where ConquerCam looks for a web camera.

Format...

Change format of captured image. This setting is provided by Windows, thus changing options in this dialog will be reflected overall in your system.

Resize Window to Fit

This changes the dimension of the main window to its necessary size for showing all controls, i.e. Overview Bar, Toolbars, StatusBars, Advertisement and Preview Window.

Options... [F8]

Opens window for setting various options for ConquerCam.

See Also:

  Source Window, Format Window, Options Window.


Help Menu

The Help Menu provides general help and information about ConquerCam.

Contents [F1]

Opens up the contents of this help file.

Help On Help

Opens standard Microsoft Windows "Help On Help" file on how to use this help system.

About...

Shows author, registration and version information.


Preview Window

If your enable Preview, you are able to get real-time images from your web cam. It is enabled as default and helps you adjust position, focus and context of web cam.

ConquerCam when Overview Bar and Preview Window is enabled

A real-time image of me and my sweet, sweet home ;o)


Overview Bar

When images are grabbed from your web cam, these will be stored in the Overview Bar for the entire session (i.e. until you closes ConquerCam). A thumbnail of the grabbed images are shown with timestamp of grab as caption. The image below shows an example of this session view.

To view the full shot, right-click an image and select View full-sized Image from the popup menu.You close an opened image by just clicking on it .. or using the default cross in upper right corner of window.

If you have multiple images in your view, you might not be able to see them all. To browse these, just click up and down arrows to scroll.


Source Window

This dialog reflects available settings for your personal web cam thus I am not able to describe what their different settings do. I have decided to show you a couple of screenshots from my Logitech QuickCam Pro USB web cam source dialog.

Camera Contexted Tab

I can not give a thorough describtion of this tab, since it depends on the driver for your installed web cam. I have a QuickCam Pro myself, so the capture below is a shot from this driver.

Capture Source Tab

If you have multiple web cams installed on your computer, you are able to pick which cam to use in ConquerCam. As shown below, I have selected Logitech QuickCam Pro USB, which is my web cam.


Format Window

A default Video Format dialog is provided for all web cams. This dialog makes it possible to change various settings for a grabbed image, e.g. dimensions and pixel depths. The picture below shows some of the default stream settings provided with Windows 2000's web cam device driver.

Selecting right resolution

When you grab an image and send it off the your web site, you do not want to make it too large. It will take a long time for you to upload and at least as long for one of your visitors to download.

The dialog shows filesize in bytes of currently selected resolution and pixel depth. 1 kilobyte (KB) equals 1024 bytes, thus the above image is approx. 113 KB.

Default resolution is 320x240, but you are able to change this by expanding combobox. Some common resolutions are: 160x120, 176x144, 320x240 (default), 352x288 and 640x480.


Options Window
Options

Most settings in ConquerCam can be customised from this window. If you have walked through the tutorial, you already have a fair amount of knowledge about this dialog, but if that is not the case, you are able to read about each tab in sections below. Click the tab name for more information.

Appearance

Overall look of ConquerCam are decided from the Appearance tab.

Images

Set up settings for your generated image, e.g. compression, overlay type.

Captions

You are able to insert various types of text on your images before uploading them. Set up multiple captions from this page.

FTP Sites

Define your FTP site(s) by entering hostname, username, password etc. Unlike many similar web cam applications, ConquerCam is able to maintain multiple FTP sites at once.

Uploading

Define when and where you want to upload a captured image.

Storage

Instead of sending cam shots to your FTP site, you might want to store a local copy of grabbed images. All settings regarding name location and pattern are specified from this tab.

Server

In order to provide real time images to your clients, you are able to enable the image server. It listens for client requests on a specified port (default is 8181) and upon request, it grabs a new image from your web cam and sends this directly to client requesting the image.


Feedback

I'm interested in getting some feedback from you. If you have some comments on the ConquerCam application, this help file, the web site etc, you are welcome to write me at feedback@conquercam.com.

All feedback will be read and considered, but we can not promise to answer them all.


Registration

If you use ConquerCam after your 30 days of free trial, you will have to register it. Registration is done by visiting:

http://order.conquercam.com/

From the above site, you will be able to register a copy of ConquerCam for $10.

If you do not like paying using your credit card, you can post me the registration fee using ordinary mail. If you decide to do so, please send me the registration fee in bills, since the exchange fee is too high for me to benefit from it (i.e. please don't send any form for cheques).

You're welcome to send me an equal amount of money in your own currency, if you do not have any american (US) dollars. Please be sure to include your name and your email address in your letter, otherwise I'm not able to send you the needed registration files.

Postal address: *

ConquerWare

Attn: Peter Theill

Lundestraedet 13, 1. t. v.

DK-4300 Holbaek

Denmark

* The address might have changed. Please check this on the web site before sending your envelope.


Options - OK button
OK

Closes this dialog and save all changes made.


Options - Cancel button
Cancel

Closes this dialog and discards all changes made.


Options - Apply button
Apply

Saves and applies all changes made, but keeps dialog open.


Stay On Top
Preview screen stays on top of other windows

Mark item to keep preview screen in top of other windows. Feature is especially useful, if you regularly grabs images from your web cam and want to know what is going to be send.


Windows Startup
Start ConquerCam on Windows startup

Automatically opens up ConquerCam in your notification area (traybar) when Windows start up. If you want to publish images to your web site whenever you are only, this option should be enabled.


Log access to FTP sites

This option enables you to log all access to your FTP sites.When enabled, you are able to see which commands are send to your FTP server. If you have problems uploading your images, check this box and make another upload. Then check the log file (using File->View FTP Log...) and you may be able to narrow down to a solution.


Installed Video Devices
Video Device being used

With multiple video devices installed in your system, you need to specify which to use with ConquerCam. From this list, you are able to see all found video devices and select a new one if necessary.


Quality Type
Quality > Type

Type of quality on grabbed images. You are able to pick between 5 predefined options: Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Maximum. Type of quality should be weighted against compression (size of file), thus do not select Maximum quality, if you need to make fast downloadable pictures.


Quality Percent
Quality > Percent indicators

Enter percentage of quality or use a trackbar to pick your quality level. Be aware of better quality gives a larger picture size. A good percentage would be 75%.


Overlay

Enables you to use an overlay on your grabbed images. It might be very useful to include a dark border in e.g. the lower part of an image in order to provide some contrast for a selected caption.

[picicon] Click here for an example.


Overlay Filename
Overlay > Filename

Type in full path to an overlay bitmap (.bmp) image. If you use a relative path it starts in location of ConquerCam.exe.


Overlay Filename Browse
Overlay > Browse ...

Clicking this image opens a default Windows open dialog, which may help you find location of your overlay image.


Overlay Effect
Overlay > Effect

Pick between various types of overlay effects. All effects are applied to Preview Window (if enabled) immediately and thus gives you a good picture of how it looks on the final image.

See Effect descriptions...


Overlay Transparency
Overlay > Transparency

Select a transparent color for your overlay image, if you want some areas of your captured image to stay the same.


OverlayTransparentEnabled
Transparency

Specifies whether or not to use transparency for overlay image. You cannot select a transparent color, if you have unchecked this box.


OverlayTransparentRedColor
Red

Red part of the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color making up your selected transparent color. You are able to type in a value between 0 and 255.


OverlayTransparentGreenColor
Green

Green part of the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color making up your selected transparent color. You are able to type in a value between 0 and 255.


OverlayTransparentBlueColor
Blue

Blue part of the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color making up your selected transparent color. You are able to type in a value between 0 and 255.


OverlayTransparentColor
Transparent Color

Your selected transparent color made from the three RGB edit fields.


OverlayTransparentHoverColor
Color information

When you move your mouse around above your overlay image, these values will change according to the pixel value below your mouse cursor.


Overlay image Preview

This is a preview of your overlay image. If you have selected a transparent color, this color has been replaced by your default windows background color, e.g. light gray.

Left click on a specified pixel in this image to select it as your transparent color.


OverlayImageOKButton
OK

Close dialog and save your transparency information.


OverlayImageCancelButton
Cancel

Close dialog and discard your transparency information.


ImageFormatGrayscale
Format > Grayscale

Convert all color information into a gradient of gray colors.


ImageFormatProgressiveEncoding
Progressive Encoding

Progressive JPEGs are similar to interlaced GIFs in that they affect the way a JPEG appears as it is downloaded. Rather than load from top to bottom, progressive JPEGSs download different areas of the graphic at the same time.

This provides the viewer with an overall sense of what is contained in the image before the entire JPEG is completely downloaded.


Description of Overlay Effects
Overlay Effects

A number of effects are able to be applied as an overlay to generated images. This section describes each one in details.

Normal

This effect simply puts the overlay image on top of the captured image.

Normal, 50% opacity

Puts a 50% opaque version of the overlay image on top of captured image, thus generating a transparency effect very useful when wanting to darken special areas of your image.

Multiply

Looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the base color by the overlay color. The result color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color with black produces black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged.

Screen

Looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the inverse of the overlay and base colors. The result color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged. Screening with white produces white.

Darken

Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or overlay color—whichever is darker—as the result color. Pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change.

Lighten

Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or overlay color—whichever is lighter—as the result color. Pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change.

Difference

Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the overlay color from the base color or the base color from the overlay color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts the base color values; blending with black produces no change.


Text Captions

This listview control shows all entered captions. All checked captions will be applied on every grabbed image before sending it to your web site. Captions will be applied in order of appearance, i.e. first caption will be printed as the first, etc. Select a caption in order to edit or delete it.

You are able to insert time and date constants in your text which will be replaced at grab time.


Add Text Caption

Adds a new caption to image. The caption will automatically become the active. It is named Default text, thus you need to change this using controls located below this button.


Copy Text Caption

Copy this caption with all available properties. This is useful if you need to apply a small shadow to some of your text or make a similar effect.


Delete Text Caption

Deletes currently selected caption. You will be prompted to confirm deletion.

If no caption is selected, this button is disabled.


Move Text Caption Up

Move selected caption one item up in list. Items are being applied to image in a top to bottom order, thus your bottom text captions might override other captions located in the top of your captions list. Rearrange these using this button.


Move Text Caption Down

Move selected caption one item down in list. Items are being applied to image in a top to bottom order, thus your bottom text captions might override other captions located in the top of your captions list. Rearrange these using this button.


Text Captions > Edit Caption
Caption

Enter text for this caption. If you have enabled your Preview Window, you are able to see changes by clicking Apply button in lower right of dialog.

You are able to insert time and date constants in your text which will be replaced at grab time.


Text Captions > Edit Font
Font

Choose a font for your caption by clicking this dropdown list. All fonts available on your system will be listed. Type in a letter to jump to first font starting with this.


Text Captions > Edit FontSize
Size

Size of font used on caption. There are a predefined number of default font sizes, which you can select by clicking this dropdown list. If you can not find your requested size, you are able to type in another size yourself.


Text Captions > Edit FontStyle
Style

Select your font style from this dropdown list. You are able to select between 4 different styles: Regular, Bold, Italic or Bold Italic.


Text Captions > Edit FontColor
Color

This button enables you to pick a color for your caption. Click it and you will see 20 default Windows colors. You are able to pick any color by clicking Other and selecting it from the Color dialog.


Text Captions > Edit Position
Position

Select a start position for your caption. You are able to select nine different positions for top left, -center, -right, middle left, -center, -right and bottom left, -center and right.

If you change current position, your (x, y) coordinates will be changed as well.


Text Captions > Edit X coordinate
X coordinate

Type in a x coordinate for your caption. 0 is located in leftmost part of the picture. You are able to move one pixel left or right by using the up/down arrows.


Text Captions > Edit Y coordinate
Y coordinate

Type in a y coordinate for your caption. 0 is located in topmost part of the picture. You are able to move one pixel up or down by using the up/down arrows.


Move Text Captions Location
(X, Y) Coordinate Adjusting

Push these up, down, left, right arrows to move selected text caption in direction you want.


cmbFTPSites
Sites

Pick a defined FTP site from this dropdown list. You add, edit and removes FTP sites to this list by using the buttons on the right.


btnNewUploadLocation
New Location

Adds new item to list of FTP Sites and Local Folder upload locations. When you click this button, a list appears where you are able to select either FTP Site... or Local Folder.... Select which new location you need and type in the common name and properties for this in the upcoming dialog.


btnEditUploadLocation
Edit Location

Edit selected FTP Site or Local Folder Location.


btnDeleteUploadLocation
Delete Location

Deletes selected Location. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Answer yes if you are sure you want to delete it.


ediHostname
Hostname

Enter hostname of FTP site, e.g. ftp.microsoft.com, www.conquercam.com or www.images.com.


ediPort
Port

Enter port number where FTP service is running on this host. Default value is 21 and is only rarely changed to a different port.


ediUsername
Username

Enter username for getting access on this FTP site. Default value is anonymous which is a standard way of giving FTP users access to a limited area on a FTP site. You probably needs to specify a different username, e.g. uyhhn73 or a similar cryptic code.


ediPassword
Password

Enter password for getting access on this FTP site. Default value is email@domain.com which is a dummy email address. Normally, you should enter your own email address to get anonymous access to a FTP site, but you probably have to change this to reflect your access restrictions. The password field replaces all typed characters with asterisks [*] in order to hide it from unauthorized eyes.


ediDirectory
Directory

Enter a directory where you want your uploaded image to be placed. You do not have to enter a value in this field, but it might be necessary if you want to group a range of images, etc.


ediFilename
Filename

Enter filename for uploaded image, e.g. webcam.jpg.


ediProxyServer
Proxy Server

If you are sending your images through an proxy server, you can specify name or address of server in this field. Leave blank if no proxy server is necessary.


ediProxyPort
Proxy Port

Specify on which port to connect to your proxy server. Default port for proxies are standard FTP port, i.e. 21. Leave this field blank if you do not want to use a proxy server.


ckbFTPKeepAlive
Keep connection alive between uploads

When you upload a grabbed image every 30th second, it may be wise to enable this checkbox. When enabled, the FTP connection to this site will not be disconnected after a successfully image upload and therefore do not need a re-login each time an image should be uploaded.


ckbFTPPassiveMode
Use passive (PASV) transfer mode

Connecting through a firewall sometimes need to be done using a special FTP PASV mode. Checking this box will enable Passive Mode for current FTP site.


ckbFTPUploadToTempFile
Use temporary file while uploading

When uploading a new image to your FTP site, the original image remains unchanged until the entire image has been uploaded. Then, the original image (which is shown for the user) is deleted and the temporary image is renamed.


ediLocationName
Location Name

Type a common name for this Location so it is easier for you to remember its purpose. This name does not have to be unique, but it is a good idea to give your locations different names to avoid confusion.


ediLocalFolder
Folder

Enter a folder where you want your saved image to be placed. You do not have to enter a value in this field, but it might be necessary if you want to group a range of images, etc. Click the button to the right of this field to open up the Pattern Dialog.


ediLocalFilename
Filename

Enter filename where you want your saved image to be placed. Make sure to enter a valid filename in this field in order for ConquerCam to sucessfully save your grabbed image. Click the button to the right of this field to open up the Pattern Dialog.


ckbEnableIntervalUpload
Enable Interval upload

If you enable interval upload, an image will be grabbed and generated from your webcam each time a specified time has passed. If you have ConquerCam enabled in your traybar (notification area), you probably wants it to upload images to your web site in regular intervals.


ediUploadInterval
Interval Value

Specify a positive integer for your interval. This value is used in conjunction with Interval Type combobox.


cmbUploadInterval
Interval Type

Type of interval upload. You are able to specify either seconds, minutes, hours or days. The value is used in conjunction with Interval Value field.


cmbUploadLocations
Upload to FTP Sites or Local Folder

Drop-down list with all defined FTP Sites and Local Folders. Click buttons on the right to add, edit or delete upload locations.


ckbUploadSoundsEnabled
Enable Upload Sounds

When ConquerCam is about to grab an image from your web cam, it might be useful to have it play a little sound for you. You might be doing the helicopter in front of the web cam and does not want your grandma to check up on it in that second ;o)

ConquerCam is able to play two sounds: one x seconds before image is grabbed and one in the moment the image is being grabbed.


ediUploadWarningInterval
Warning Interval

Specify a number of seconds before an image is grabbed from your web cam where you want to have a notification sound played. This value is probably most useful when set at around three seconds .. just enough time for your to look at your camera and give your visitors a nice big smile :-)


trvUploadSounds
Control Panel Setting

You can specify which wave files to be played. The interface is a subset of what you are able to find in your Control Panel. Select an event item to set your wave files.


ediUploadSoundFilename
Name

This is a filename for a wave file to be played when selected event is triggered. When searching for this wave file, Windows look in these folders: full folder path, current folder, Windows home folder and finally in Windows system folder.


btnPlayWave
Play Wave

Plays selected wave file. This button is disabled if no wave file has been specified.


btnBrowseWaves
Browse for Wave files

Shows an standard Windows Open dialog for picking a wave file from your hard drive.


Options > Appearance

Overall look of ConquerCam are decided from the Appearance tab.

General

Preview screen stays on top of other windows

Mark item to keep preview screen in top of other windows. Feature is especially useful, if you regularly grabs images from your web cam and want to know what is going to be send.

Start ConquerCam on Windows startup

Automatically opens up ConquerCam in your notification area (traybar) when Windows start up. If you want to publish images to your web site whenever you are only, this option should be enabled.

Log access to FTP sites

This option enables you to log all access to your FTP sites.When enabled, you are able to see which commands are send to your FTP server. If you have problems uploading your images, check this box and make another upload. Then check the log file (using File->View FTP Log...) and you may be able to narrow down to a solution.

Video Devices

Video Device being used

With multiple video devices installed in your system, you need to specify which to use with ConquerCam. From this list, you are able to see all found video devices and select a new one if necessary.


Options > Images

Set up settings for your generated image, e.g. compression, overlay type.

JPG Image Quality

Type

Type of quality on grabbed images. You are able to pick between 5 predefined options: Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Maximum. Type of quality should be weighted against compression (size of file), thus do not select Maximum quality, if you need to make fast downloadable pictures.

Percent indicators

Enter percentage of quality or use a trackbar to pick your quality level. Be aware of better quality gives a larger picture size. A good percentage would be 75%.

Image Overlay

Enables you to use an overlay on your grabbed images. It might be very useful to include a dark border in e.g. the lower part of an image in order to provide some contrast for a selected caption.

Filename

Type in full path to an overlay bitmap (.bmp) image. If you use a relative path it starts in location of ConquerCam.exe.

Effect

Pick between various types of overlay effects. All effects are applied to Preview Window (if enabled) immediately and thus gives you a good picture of how it looks on the final image.

See Effect descriptions...

Transparency

Select a transparent color for your overlay image, if you want some areas of your captured image to stay the same.

Image Format

Grayscale

Convert all color information into a gradient of gray colors.

Progressive Encoding

Progressive JPEGs are similar to interlaced GIFs in that they affect the way a JPEG appears as it is downloaded. Rather than load from top to bottom, progressive JPEGSs download different areas of the graphic at the same time.

This provides the viewer with an overall sense of what is contained in the image before the entire JPEG is completely downloaded.


Options > Captions

You are able to insert various types of text on your images before uploading them. Set up multiple captions from this page.

Text Captions

This listview control shows all entered captions. All checked captions will be applied on every grabbed image before sending it to your web site. Captions will be applied in order of appearance, i.e. first caption will be printed as the first, etc. Select a caption in order to edit or delete it.

You are able to insert time and date constants (see these in the bottom of this page) in your text which will be replaced at grab time.

Add Text Caption

Adds a new caption to image. The caption will automatically become the active. It is named Default text, thus you need to change this using controls located below this button.

Copy Text Caption

Copy this caption with all available properties. This is useful if you need to apply a small shadow to some of your text or make a similar effect.

Delete Text Caption

Deletes currently selected caption. You will be prompted to confirm deletion.

If no caption is selected, this button is disabled.

Move Text Caption Up

Move selected caption one item up in list. Items are being applied to image in a top to bottom order, thus your bottom text captions might override other captions located in the top of your captions list. Rearrange these using this button.

Move Text Caption Down

Move selected caption one item down in list. Items are being applied to image in a top to bottom order, thus your bottom text captions might override other captions located in the top of your captions list. Rearrange these using this button.

Details

Caption

Enter text for this caption. If you have enabled your Preview Window, you are able to see changes by clicking Apply button in lower right of dialog.

You are able to insert time and date constants (see constants in bottom of this page) in your text which will be replaced at grab time.

Font

Choose a font for your caption by clicking this dropdown list. All fonts available on your system will be listed. Type in a letter to jump to first font starting with this.

Size

Size of font used on caption. There are a predefined number of default font sizes, which you can select by clicking this dropdown list. If you can not find your requested size, you are able to type in another size yourself.

Style

Select your font style from this dropdown list. You are able to select between 4 different styles: Regular, Bold, Italic or Bold Italic.

Color

This button enables you to pick a color for your caption. Click it and you will see 20 default Windows colors. You are able to pick any color by clicking Other and selecting it from the Color dialog.

Position

Select a start position for your caption. You are able to select nine different positions for top left, -center, -right, middle left, -center, -right and bottom left, -center and right.

If you change current position, your (x, y) coordinates will be changed as well.

X coordinate

Type in a x coordinate for your caption. 0 is located in leftmost part of the picture. You are able to move one pixel left or right by using the up/down arrows.

Y coordinate

Type in a y coordinate for your caption. 0 is located in topmost part of the picture. You are able to move one pixel up or down by using the up/down arrows.

(X, Y) Coordinate Adjusting

Push these up, down, left, right arrows to move selected text caption in direction you want.

Constants

You are able to insert current time and date information into your headers. Before applying the captions, ConquerCam search it for any special character combination and replaces these with the appropriate value.

To insert a constant, surround it with braces {}

This is the list of supported constants.

constant	description

c	Displays the date using the format given by the ShortDateFormat global variable, followed by the time using the format given by the LongTimeFormat global variable. The time is not displayed if the fractional part of the DateTime value is zero.

d	Displays the day as a number without a leading zero (1-31).

dd	Displays the day as a number with a leading zero (01-31).

ddd	Displays the day as an abbreviation (Sun-Sat) using the strings given by the ShortDayNames global variable.

dddd	Displays the day as a full name (Sunday-Saturday) using the strings given by the LongDayNames global variable.

ddddd	Displays the date using the format given by the ShortDateFormat global variable.

dddddd	Displays the date using the format given by the LongDateFormat global variable.

g	Displays the period/era as an abbreviation (Japanese and Taiwanese locales only).

gg	Displays the period/era as a full name.

e	Displays the year in the current period/era as a number without a leading zero (Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese locales only).

ee	Displays the year in the current period/era as a number with a leading zero (Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese locales only).

m	Displays the month as a number without a leading zero (1-12). If the m specifier immediately follows an h or hh specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed.

mm	Displays the month as a number with a leading zero (01-12). If the mm specifier immediately follows an h or hh specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed.

mmm	Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec) using the strings given by the ShortMonthNames global variable.

mmmm	Displays the month as a full name (January-December) using the strings given by the LongMonthNames global variable.

yy	Displays the year as a two-digit number (00-99).

yyyy	Displays the year as a four-digit number (0000-9999).

h	Displays the hour without a leading zero (0-23).

hh	Displays the hour with a leading zero (00-23).

n	Displays the minute without a leading zero (0-59).

nn	Displays the minute with a leading zero (00-59).

s	Displays the second without a leading zero (0-59).

ss	Displays the second with a leading zero (00-59).

t	Displays the time using the format given by the ShortTimeFormat global variable.

tt	Displays the time using the format given by the LongTimeFormat global variable.

am/pm	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays 'am' for any hour before noon, and 'pm' for any hour after noon. The am/pm specifier can use lower, upper, or mixed case, and the result is displayed accordingly.

a/p	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays 'a' for any hour before noon, and 'p' for any hour after noon. The a/p specifier can use lower, upper, or mixed case, and the result is displayed accordingly.

ampm	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays the contents of the TimeAMString global variable for any hour before noon, and the contents of the TimePMString global variable for any hour after noon.

/	Displays the date separator character given by the DateSeparator global variable.

:	Displays the time separator character given by the TimeSeparator global variable.

In the above list, many of the descriptions refer to 'global variables'. Global variables are system depended values specified in your Regional Settings dialog. Click Start->Settings->Control Panel and then click the Regional Settings to open this window. Fore more information about this dialog, refer to your Windows documentation.


Options > Uploading

Define when and where you want to upload a captured image.

Upload to

Pick a defined FTP site from this dropdown list. You add, edit and removes FTP sites to this list by using the buttons on the right.

New Location

Adds new item to list of FTP Sites and Local Folder upload locations. When you click this button, a list appears where you are able to select either FTP Site... or Local Folder.... Select which new location you need and type in the common name and properties for this in the upcoming dialog.

Edit Location

Edit selected FTP Site or Local Folder Location.

Delete Location

Deletes selected Location. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Answer yes if you are sure you want to delete it.

Enable Interval Upload

If you enable interval upload, an image will be grabbed and generated from your webcam each time a specified time has passed. If you have ConquerCam enabled in your traybar (notification area), you probably wants it to upload images to your web site in regular intervals.

Interval Value

Specify a positive integer for your interval. This value is used in conjunction with Interval Type combobox.

Interval Type

Type of interval upload. You are able to specify either seconds, minutes, hours or days. The value is used in conjunction with Interval Value field.

Enable Upload Sounds

When ConquerCam is about to grab an image from your web cam, it might be useful to have it play a little sound for you. You might be doing the helicopter in front of the web cam and does not want your grandma to check up on it in that second ;o)

ConquerCam is able to play two sounds: one x seconds before image is grabbed and one in the moment the image is being grabbed.

Warning Interval

Specify a number of seconds before an image is grabbed from your web cam where you want to have a notification sound played. This value is probably most useful when set at around three seconds .. just enough time for your to look at your camera and give your visitors a nice big smile :-)

Control Panel Setting

You can specify which wave files to be played. The interface is a subset of what you are able to find in your Control Panel. Select an event item to set your wave files.

Name

This is a filename for a wave file to be played when selected event is triggered. When searching for this wave file, Windows look in these folders: full folder path, current folder, Windows home folder and finally in Windows system folder.

Play Wave

Plays selected wave file. This button is disabled if no wave file has been specified.

Browse for Wave files

Shows an standard Windows Open dialog for picking a wave file from your hard drive.


Upload Locations
Locations

You are able to upload your images to different FTP Sites and different Local Folders in defined intervals. From this dialog, you set up the properties for either a FTP Site or a Local Folder by typing in hostname, username, password, folder, filename, pattern behaviour, etc. Click the tab name for more information.

FTP Site

Define your FTP site by entering hostname, username, password etc. Unlike many similar web cam applications, ConquerCam is able to maintain multiple FTP sites at once.

Local Folder

Select which folder you want to store your grabbed local copies in and specify a pattern to use when saving. It might be useful to grab an image every 5th minute, but if you do not know under which name it is stored, it might not be that useful after all. By specifying a pattern including time information such as hour, minute and seconds you get a unique way of separating your different camera shots.


Locations > FTP Site

Define your FTP site by entering hostname, username, password etc. Unlike many similar web cam applications, ConquerCam is able to maintain multiple FTP sites at once.

General

FTP Site Properties

Hostname

Enter hostname of FTP site, e.g. ftp.microsoft.com, www.theill.com or www.images.com.

Port

Enter port number where FTP service is running on this host. Default value is 21 and is only rarely changed to a different port.

Username

Enter username for getting access on this FTP site. Default value is anonymous which is a standard way of giving FTP users access to a limited area on a FTP site. You probably needs to specify a different username, e.g. uyhhn73 or a similar cryptic code.

Password

Enter password for getting access on this FTP site. Default value is email@domain.com which is a dummy email address. Normally, you should enter your own email address to get anonymous access to a FTP site, but you probably have to change this to reflect your access restrictions. The password field replaces all typed characters with asterisks [*] in order to hide it from unauthorized eyes.

Directory

Enter a directory where you want your uploaded image to be placed. You do not have to enter a value in this field, but it might be necessary if you want to group a range of images, etc.

Filename

Enter filename for uploaded image, e.g. webcam.jpg.

Proxy

Proxy Server Properties

Proxy Server

If you are sending your images through an proxy server, you can specify name or address of server in this field. Leave blank if no proxy server is necessary.

Proxy Port

Specify on which port to connect to your proxy server. Default port for proxies are standard FTP port, i.e. 21. Leave this field blank if you do not want to use a proxy server.

Options

Connection

Use passive (PASV) transfer mode

Connecting through a firewall sometimes need to be done using a special FTP PASV mode. Checking this box will enable Passive Mode for current FTP site.

Keep connection alive between uploads

When you upload a grabbed image every 30th second, it may be wise to enable this checkbox. When enabled, the FTP connection to this site will not be disconnected after a successfully image upload and therefore do not need a re-login each time an image should be uploaded.

Transfer

Use temporary file while uploading

When uploading a new image to your FTP site, the original image remains unchanged until the entire image has been uploaded. Then, the original image (which is shown for the user) is deleted and the temporary image is renamed.

Pattern

Roll over counter when reaching limit

Instead of storing filenames using time information, you might just want to keep a couple of the latest screen shots stored locally. It's possible to select a maximum number of images before rolling over and starting from zero again, e.g. if you want to store 10 images, you will specify 10 as your Count Limit and when ConquerCam has grabbed ten images, the 11th image will override the 1 image.

When using either 'Iterate range when reaching count limit' or 'Adjust counter on each save' you need to have a special count tag in your pattern. This tag looks like {cnt} and you can type this anywhere in your filename. A couple of predefined patterns are available and you might want to pick one of these to find out how it works.

Besides all tags specified in the Text Captions section, you are able to use:

constant	description

cnt	Inserts currently counter value.

Adjust counter on each save

Select this option, if you do not want to set a limit on the number of images to store, but instead want it to adjust a counter on each save, i.e. you might specify two (2) as your Count Adjust and 19 as your Start Index. When ConquerCam begins to store local copies, it will start counting from 19 and every time an image is saved, its internal counter will increase with two (saving next image as 21). You need to specify {cnt} somewhere in your Filename Pattern for this option to work properly.


Locations > Local Folder

Select which folder you want to store your grabbed local copies in and specify a pattern to use when saving. It might be useful to grab an image every 5th minute, but if you do not know under which name it is stored, it might not be that useful after all. By specifying a pattern including time information such as hour, minute and seconds you get a unique way of separating your different camera shots.

Location for Local Image Storage

Folder

All images grabbed for local storage will be placed in this folder. The default folder is called localsave and available as a subfolder under the ConquerCam installation directory.

Browse Folder ...

Click to open a default Windows Browse For Folder dialog. You can select a new folder by typing a complete path in Folder field, but if you cannot remember the exact location of a folder this dialog will help you a great deal.

Pattern

Specify a pattern used when saving local copies of your webcam images. This pattern contains of ordinary characters and special tags. Recognized tags are time tags and a special {cnt} tag used for inserting value of current counter.

Read More ...

Pattern Editor

A collection of the most commonly used patterns are available as default thus if you want to use one of these instead of typing on in yourself, you are able to select them by clicking this button. It will open up an editor, where you are able to add, edit or delete patterns.

Pattern

Roll over counter when reaching limit

Instead of storing filenames using time information, you might just want to keep a couple of the latest screen shots stored locally. It's possible to select a maximum number of images before rolling over and starting from zero again, e.g. if you want to store 10 images, you will specify 10 as your Count Limit and when ConquerCam has grabbed ten images, the 11th image will override the 1 image.

When using either 'Iterate range when reaching count limit' or 'Adjust counter on each save' you need to have a special count tag in your pattern. This tag looks like {cnt} and you can type this anywhere in your filename. A couple of predefined patterns are available and you might want to pick one of these to find out how it works.

Besides all tags specified in the Text Captions section, you are able to use:

constant	description

cnt	Inserts currently counter value.

Adjust counter on each save

Select this option, if you do not want to set a limit on the number of images to store, but instead want it to adjust a counter on each save, i.e. you might specify two (2) as your Count Adjust and 19 as your Start Index. When ConquerCam begins to store local copies, it will start counting from 19 and every time an image is saved, its internal counter will increase with two (saving next image as 21). You need to specify {cnt} somewhere in your Filename Pattern for this option to work properly.


Options > Connections

If you do not have a permanent connection to the Internet, you probably dial up using a modem. In order for ConquerCam to upload your images in regular intervals, it needs a connection. From this dialog, you are able to specify which of your connections you want to use.

Enable Dial-up Connections

Connection

This combobox contains all your available connections. Pick one from this list and ConquerCam will dial this whenever it needs a connection to the Internet.

Disconnect Dial-up Connection after Publish

After having published the image, ConquerCam is able to hang up the connection again. This is especially useful, if you have configured an interval to upload every 5th hour or so. You do not want to stay connected all this time thus you need to check it.


Options > Server

Enable Image Server to send a new image upon client requests. Specify your port number and when a client redirects his browser to this address, he will get a live shot.

Enable Image Server

When this checkbox is marked, a HTTP server is started and listens on requests coming from clients on specified port. On request, a new image is grabbed from your web cam and send directly to user.

Listen for client requests on port

Type port number on which server will listen for client request. If you want your server to listen on e.g. port 81, a client is able to grab an image from you using http://<your-server-name>:81/


Don't show me this message again

Check this box, if you don't want to be notified of the event anymore.


Minimized To Tray - OK
OK

Closes this dialog.


Error Taking Control - Close
Close

Closes this dialog.


Video Driver List - devices
List of Video Devices

This list shows all found video devices on your system. Click on one of them to select it as your web cam source.


Video Driver List - Continue
Close

Closes this dialog and uses selected Video Device.


ediLocalSaveFolder
Folder

All images grabbed for local storage will be placed in this folder. The default folder is called localsave and available as a subfolder under the ConquerCam installation directory.


btnLocalSaveBrowseFolder
Browse Folder ...

Click to open a default Windows Browse For Folder dialog. You can select a new folder by typing a complete path in Folder field, but if you cannot remember the exact location of a folder this dialog will help you a great deal.


cmbLocalSaveFilenamePattern
Filename Pattern

Specify a pattern used when saving local copies of your webcam images. This pattern contains of ordinary characters and special tags. Recognized tags are time tags and a special {cnt} tag used for inserting value of current counter.

Read More ...


btnLocalSaveOpenPattern
Pattern Editor

A collection of the most commonly used patterns are available as default so you easier find a suitable one without having to type in these yourself. Clicking on this button brings up the Pattern Editor where you where you are able to add, edit, delete or select patterns.


rbLocalSaveTimeName
Use current timestamp

Saved images are stored without any special count limitation, but will be stored using a timestamp when image was grabbed. You need to have some time tags in your Filename Pattern in order for this option to work optimal.


rbLocalSaveIterateName
Roll over counter when reaching limit

A defined number of images will be stored on your local disc. When limit is reached, it will loop to start counting from the beginning. You need to have a {cnt} tag somewhere in your Filename Pattern or your saved images will get overwritten on each save.


ediLocalSaveIterate
Count Limit

Number of images to store on your local disc before looping (rolling over).


rbLocalSaveCounterName
Adjust counter on each save

Select this option, if you do not want to set a limit on the number of images to store, but instead want it to adjust a counter on each save, i.e. you might specify two (2) as your Count Adjust and 19 as your Start Index. When ConquerCam begins to store local copies, it will start counting from 19 and every time an image is saved, its internal counter will increase with two (saving next image as 21). You need to specify {cnt} somewhere in your Filename Pattern for this option to work properly.


ediCounterAdjustStepValue
Step Value

Specifies how ConquerCams internal counter is adjusted when grabbing an image. You may specify positive as well as negative values, e.g. if you want your counter to start on 100 and move backwards with one on each save, you specify -1 as Count Adjust.


ediCounterAdjustStartIndex
Start Index

Index on which counter should start when saving local images. This will be initial value for internal counter for each session.


ckbAlwaysUseLocalSave
Always save a local copy when publishing to FTP sites

If you always wants to have a local copy of any image uploaded to your FTP sites, you are able to check this box. Each time a publish is made (either automatically or manually), a local save will be performed as well.


ltbPatterns
Available Patterns

A list of all available patterns. Select a pattern from this list and press on OK to use it as your file- or folder pattern.


btnAdd
Add...

Add a new Pattern to your list of available patterns. Clicking this button will open up a new simple dialog for entering your pattern.


btnEdit
Edit...

Edit selected Pattern. Clicking this button will open up a new simple dialog for editing your selected pattern.


btnRemove
Remove

Remove selected Pattern from your list of available patterns.


btnOKPattern
OK

Close dialog and use selected pattern as your new Pattern.


btnCancelPattern
Cancel

Close dialog and discard any changes your might have made.


ediPattern
Pattern

Type a pattern in this field. You are able to use special tags such as {hh}, {mm}, {cnt}, etc.

Read More...


ckbEnableImageServer
Enable Image Server

When this checkbox is marked, a HTTP server is started and listens on requests coming from clients on specified port. On request, a new image is grabbed from your web cam and send directly to user.


ediImageServerPort
Listen for client requests on port

Type port number on which server will listen for client request. If you want your server to listen on e.g. port 81, a client is able to grab an image from you using http://<your-server-name>:81/


ckbEnableDialUpConnection
Enable Dial-up Connections

If you do not have a permanent connection to the Internet, you probably dial up using a modem. In order for ConquerCam to upload your images in regular intervals, it needs a connection. From this dialog, you are able to specify which of your connections you want to use.


cmbConnections
Connection

This combobox contains all your available connections. Pick one from this list and ConquerCam will dial this whenever it needs a connection to the Internet.


ckbDisconnectAfterPublish
Disconnect Dial-up Connection after Publish

After having published the image, ConquerCam is able to hang up the connection again. This is especially useful, if you have configured an interval to upload every 5th hour or so. You probably do not want to stay connected all this time to the next upload.