Oculus 3 Introduction

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Oculus is a powerful application for creating web cameras. In this document, you'll learn how to take advantage of the many features of Oculus. If you are new to creating content for the Internet, you'll probably want to start with the Setup Assistant. Even expert users might want to start there to get a feel for some of the features of Oculus.

Throughout this document, you'll see these icons to point out features or examples concerning some of the more specialized features of Oculus.

When you see this icon, you can expect to read an example of why this feature might be useful, or how you might make use of it.

When you see this icon, you can expect to read a hint or tip that may not be entirely obvious, or a note or caution concerning the usage of a feature.

Below are just some of the features of Oculus that you'll learn more about:

Hardware and software requirements

To use Oculus you will need:

A Power PC based Macintosh computer
At least 16 megabytes of RAM
At least 4 megabytes of free hard disk space
Mac OS 8.0 or greater
QuickTime 3.0 or greater
Some form of QuickTime compatible video input hardware

To make your images available on the Internet you will need either:

An externally hosted website with FTP server
Local web hosting software on your Macintosh

What is a Webcam?

A webcam has become a highly popular feature of sites on the Internet. Basically, a webcam presents an image from a video camera that is regularly uploaded to a web site where it can be viewed. There are thousands of webcams in use throughout the world, with content ranging from the funny to informative to just plain weird. Some uses of webcams have included:

Office cameras
Cameras to monitor day care centers
Cameras to monitor workers
Cameras showing weather conditions for a city
Cameras that watch offices for intruders
Cameras watching time lapse events (such as decomposing fruit)

Many of these are useful even if you are not uploading the resulting files to the Internet. For example, if you create time lapse movies of your office, you can potentially catch people using your computer or office when you have not given them permission.

Use some sense. Don't use Oculus to capture or monitor people who have not given you their okay.
Neither International Web, Inc., nor Poubelle Software will be held liable for improper or illegal use of Oculus.

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	When you see this icon, you can expect to read an example of why this feature might be useful, or how you might make use of it.
	When you see this icon, you can expect to read a hint or tip that may not be entirely obvious, or a note or caution concerning the usage of a feature.