Minimum System Requirements
IBM PC or 100% compatible.
Genuine Intel Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, AMD-K6, or AMD-K6-2 processor running at 200 MHz or higher.
Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows 2000.
One available USB connector.
CD-ROM drive
Display adapter capable of 16-bit colour at 640x480.
Sound Blaster or other Windows-compatible sound card required for videoconferencing (sold separately)
Modem or LAN access to the Internet at 28.8Kbps or faster required for videoconferencing.
70MB available hard disk space when installing all bundled software titles at the same time.
Specifications
Capable of 16.7 million color live video capture at up to 30 frames per second at a resolution of 352x288, and up to 15 frames per second at 640x480
Supports still image capture at up to 640x480
Focusable lens with a range of 3 inches to infinity.
Video Blaster WebCam3 is backed by a two year limited warranty.
Bundled Software
Video Blaster WebCam Monitor*
Microsoft NetMeeting*
MediaRing Talk*
Video Blaster WebCam Control*
Creative PhotoEditor*
Package contents
Video Blaster WebCam 3 with USB connector, microphone.
Drivers for Windows 98, utilities and application software on CD*
Installation guide
* English only

System Requirements for WebCam 5

233Mhz Pentium®, AMD® Athlon™ processor or higher
32MB system memory (64MB Recommended)
70MB available disk space (for installation of all software)
Available usb port or powered hub
Microsoft Windows® 98/98SE (Windows 95 is not supported), Windows® 2000, Windows® Millennium
Display adapter capable of 16-bit colour at 640 x 480
CD-ROM Drive installed
Sound Blaster® or other Windows-compatible sound card and microphone (required for video conferencing)
Modem or LAN access to the internet (required for videoconferencing)

Features and Specifications

640 x 480 CMOS sensor
Support video and still image capture at resolutions from up to 640 x 480
Manual focus lens
USB connection
Maximum frame rate 30fps
Capable of 16.7 million colours
Field of view - 56 degrees (Horizontal)
Depth- of-field- 75 millimeters to infinity
Exposure control - Automatic ( optional manual control with software)
Colour balance - Automatic ( optional manual control with software)
Software compatibility - USB Port version: TWAIN , Video for Windows, Directshow, and still image driver that runs in windows 98, windows 2000 and Windows Me
Video Mode Performance

Video Resolutions

160 x 120 - 5 - 30 fps
320 x 240 - 5 - 30 fps
352 x 288 - 5 - 30 fps
640 x 480 - 5 - 30 fps

Still Image Resolutions

160 x 120
176 x 144
320 x 240
352 x 288
640 x 480
Video formats

24 RGB
4:2:0 YUV Planar

Warranty

2-year limited hardware warranty

Features

Colour VGA (640 x 480 pixels) CCD image sensor
8 MB of on-board non-volatile memory for image storage
Multi-function LCD display captured
Snapshot button for taking pictures or videos when used as a stand-alone camera
LEDs to indicate powered-on state and camera-readiness state
High-quality, focus-free, scratch-resistant , dual aperture glass lens
Built-in optical viewfinder
Operation mode button for selection of four different modes of still capture
When detached:
capable of capturing up to 255 still pictures (JPEG format)
capable of capturing up to 75 seconds of video
capable of capturing up to 34 minutes of audio
images are stored in native JPEG format
draws power from 4 AAA batteries (Battery life depends on mode and battery type. 4 AAA alkaline batteries can last for up to 1000 snapshots with flash and 3000 snapshots without flash)
Auto shut-off after 3 minutes of idle time
When attached:
captures video at up to 30 frames per second at image resolutions of 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 and up to 15 frames per second at 640 x 480
captures still images in 24-bit colour at all image resolutions up to 1280 x 960
Attaches to the computer via the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port
Driver and operating system compatibility

USB model supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
WDM minidriver for Directshow and Video for Windows compatibility
TWAIN support
Standard interface works with virtually all camera applications including Microsoft Netmeeting
Microsoft Still Image (STI) support
Power

From USB port or self-powered USB hub (powered by an external power source)
Sensor

CCD image sensor
Image Resolution (Docked mode)

Still Mode

1280 X 960 (with software interpolation)
1024 x 768 (with software interpolation)
800 x 600 (with software interpolation)
640 x 480
320 x 240
160 x 120
Video Mode

640 x 480
352 x 288
320 x 240
176 x 144
160 x 120
Image Resolution (Undocked mode)

1280 x 960 (with software interpolation)
640 x 480
Light Sensitivity

10 lux
Video Formats

24-bit RGB
4:2:0 YUV Planar
JPEG
Exposure Control

Automatic
Colour balance

Automatic (optional manual control with software)
Colour matrix

Preset and integral to camera
Field-of-view

50 degrees (diagonal)
40 degrees (horizontal)
Depth-of-field

76cm to infinity
Port compatibility

Universal Serial Bus port
Flash

Up to 2 metres effectiveness

System Requirements

266Mhz Intel Pentium II or later 100% IBMcompatible computer
32MB RAM
70MB Free Hard Disk Space for installation of all software titles
Available USB port of self-powered USB hub
Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Display Adapter which supports 16-bit colour at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels
CD ROM drive installed
Sound Blaster or other Windows compatible sound card and microphone (required for videoconferencing)
Modem or LAN access to the Internet at 28.8 Kbps or faster (required for videoconferencing)
For optimal performance:

Display Adapter which supports 24-bit colour at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels
Sound Blaster 16 or higher or other Windows compatible sound card with full-duplex support for simultaneous two-way conversation

Installing WebCam 5 in Windows XP:

Please ensure no previous WebCam 5 installation is on the system.

To check:

1. Click Start and go to Settings, then Control Panel.

2. Click Add/Remove Progams.

3. If any WebCam 5 related entries are found, remove them.

4. Reboot the computer.

5. Insert the Video Blaster WebCam 5 CD into your CD-ROM drive. If it auto-runs, click the Exit button

[Click to enlarge]

6. Connect to the Internet, download and execute the file WebCam5DrvsV1_02.exe.

A WebCam 5 folder will be created on your Window's Partition: C:\WebCam5 (C representing the drive letter of your Window's partition). The contents of WebCam5DrvsV1_02.exe will be extracted into this folder

7. When prompted by the installation program ( see below), connect the WebCam's USB cable to an available USB port on your computer

8. When the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears, please follow the steps below to complete the driver installation :

9. Select the option Install from a list or a specific location (Advanced). Click Next.

10. Browse to the location the WebCam5 driver has been extracted to previously. Click Next.

11. When the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears, please follow the steps below to complete the driver installation :

12. Select the option Install from a list or a specific location (Advanced). Click Next.

13. Browse to the location the WebCam5 driver has been extracted to previously. Click Next.

14. Windows copies the relevant files to your hard drive. Once prompted, click Finish to complete the installation.

15. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the CD-ROM drive that your WebCam 5 installation CD is located in.

16. Go to D:\CONTROL\ENGLISH (D:\ representing the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive) and double-click the Setup.exe. This will install WebCam Control

17. To install WebCam Monitor got to D:\MONITOR\ENGLISH (D:\ representing the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive) and double-click the Setup.exe. Restart your computer when asked to do so.

Installing WebCam 5 in Windows 98/98SE and Windows Millennium:

Always ensure that the camera is not connected to the computer, when installing the drivers..

If you accidentally begin installation with WebCam 5 connected, the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears. Click the Cancel button.

1. Insert the Video Blaster WebCam 5 CD into your CD-ROM drive. If it does not autorun, click Start - Run and type D:\SETUP.EXE (Where D:\ represents your CD-ROM drive).

2. Click the options for installing drivers and applications if they are not already selected.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

4. You may be asked, after an application is installed, if you want to restart your computer. select No until all the drivers and applications are installed.

5. Restart your computer.

6. Connect WebCam 5 USB cable to an available USB port on your computer. Place WebCam 5 on top of your computer monitor or another flat surface.

7. Windows automatically detects the device.

8. If you are prompted to insert the Windows 98 or Windows Millennium CD, replace the Video Blaster WebCam 5 CD with the apprioriate CD.
Note: Windows 98 is available in various editions. Be sure to use the correct edition for your system.

9. In the Insert Disk dialog box, click the OK button.

10. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Verifying the installation in Windows 98/98SE and Windows Millennium:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop.

2. On the menu that appears, click Properties.

3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Device Manager tab.

4. Click the plus (+) sign next to the Imaging Device icon. The entry " Video Blaster WebCam 5 (WDM) " should appear.

Installing WebCam 5 in Windows 2000:

Always ensure that the camera is not connected to the computer, when installing the drivers.

If you accidentally begin installation with PC-CAM 300 connected, the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears. Disconnect PC-CAM 300 from your computer
then click the Cancel button.

1. Insert the WebCam 5 installation CD.

2. Click the names of the drivers and applications you want to install on your computer.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

4. A Digital Signature Not Found dialog box appears, telling you that an unknown software package has been detected, ignore the message and click the YES button.
You may be asked, after an application is installed, if you want to restart your computer. Do not restart your computer until all the drivers and applications are installed.

5. Connect WebCam 5's USB cable to an availble USB port on your computer.

6. Place WebCam 5 on top of your computer monitor or another flat surface.

7. When a Digital Signature Not Found dialog box appears, telling you that Video Blaster WebCam 5 (WDM) has been detected, ignore the message and click the Yes
button.

Verifying the installation in Windows 2000:

1.Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop.

2. On the menu that appears, click properties.

3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tabbed page.

4. Click the Device Manager button. A window appears.

5. Click the plus (+) sign next to the Imaging Device icon. The entry " Video Blaster WebCam 5 (WDM) " should appear.

The driver supplied on the Video Blaster WebCam 5 CD can be used with Windows XP.

To successfully install the camera, please follow these steps (manual driver installation in Windows XP):

1. Insert the WebCam 5 CD into your CD-ROM drive

2. Do not select any menu options and exit installation

3. Disconnect Video Blaster WebCam 5 from your computer

4. Go to Windows Explorer Doubleclick on CtDrvStp.exe located on your Video Blaster WebCam 5 Installation CD.

5. Follow the instructions on the screen to uninstall the existing driver.

6. Connect Video Blaster WebCam 5 to your computer.

7. Windows will detect the camera and install the driver.

8. When Digital signature not found appears click Yes

9. After driver installation select your language and application to be installed.

10. Follow instructions on the screen to complete installation.

11. Restart your computer when software installation is complete.

Windows XP drivers for the above mentioned cameras are available from our website

When installing Windows XP updated drivers for the WebCams, please be aware that the installation is not completed automatically. In order to install the drivers, please follow the steps described below:

WebCam Go Plus/WebCam Go

1. After launching the WebCam Go Plus driver or WebCam Go driver installation, the message "Please connect the WebCam" will appear.

2. Once the "Found New Hardware" wizard appears, select "Install the software automatically"

[Click to enlarge]

3. A message may appear that the driver is not digitally signed. Click on "Continue Anyway" to install the files.

4. Select 50Hz as the WebCam operating frequency in WebCam Control

WebCam 3/ WebCam Plus

1. After launching the driver installation, a message prompting you to select the correct operating frequency (50 Hz or 60 Hz) will appear. Select 50 Hz.

2. The installation routine will then start to copy the necessary driver files. At the end of the installation process, you will be prompted to connect the WebCam

1. First, verify that an ECP or EPP port is deteced under the Device Manager.

To do this, right-click on the My Computer icon, then click Properties. Next, click the plus in front of Ports (Com and LPT). If EPP or ECP printer port listed, then it is enabled in the BIOS.

If it is not listed, reboot your system and enable the ECP or EPP port in the system BIOS.

For more information about your system BIOS, please consult the system vendor.

2. Next, install the Web Cam 3 Parallel drivers and applications. You can install the Web Cam without having the camera attached.

3. While on the Windows desktop, insert the WebCam 3 Installation CD into the CD-ROM drive.

4. If you have the autorun feature enabled, the CD will autorun. Follow the instructions on the screen.

5. If the Autorun feature is not enabled, click on Start, Run,then click on Browse.Browse into the CD-ROM drive, then double click on the CTRUN folder. Double click on the CTRUN.EXE.

6. Shut down the computer, attach the camera to the computer.

1. To uninstall the Creative WebCam Go Plus under Macintosh, double-click on the WebCamGo1.1.1.sit file. It will create an icon labeled Web Cam Go Plus Installer. When clicked it will uninstall the drivers and the control program needed to run the Web Cam.

2. Double-click on the Web Cam Go Plus Installer, it will bring up a screen that asks you to choose Easy uninstall. Make sure it is set to Easy Uninstall, then click on Uninstall. Follow the instructions on the screen.

3. Restart the computer when prompted.

1. Power down the computer, detach the camera from the parallel port.

2. Restart the computer into Safe Mode.

3. If you are using Windows 95, restart the computer, press the F8 key about once every second when the system boots.

4. If you have Windows 98 or ME, hold down the Control key when the system boots. In the Windows Start Up Menu, choose Option 3 (Safe Mode) and press Enter.

5. Click on Start / Settings / Control Panel / System. Double click on the Device Manager tab.

6. Locate the category identified as Other Devices, Unknown Devices, double click on the plus (+) sign next to it to expand the group. Highlight all devices listed within the category, then click on Remove.

7. Locate the Imaging Device category, double click on the plus (+) sign next to it to expand the group. Highlight the listing for Video Blaster WebCam, and click on Remove.

8. Close the Device Manager and return to the Control Panel

9. In Control Panel, click on Add/Remove Programs icon. Uninstall all Video Blaster WebCam 3 listings. Close the Control Panel.

10.Double click the My Computer icon, select View, then Options (Windows 95) or Folder Options (Windows 98 or later). Uncheck any item that starts with word "Hide". Select "Show All Files". 11.

11. Click on Apply and return to your desktop.

12. Click on Start, Find, Files and Folders. In the Named field, type WebCam3.inf. Confirm the Look In: (C:) or Local Hard Drives. Select Find Now. This should bring up the file, highlight it, then delete it

13.Repeat the process for the following files. If you find any of the below listed files, highlight and delete or remove them:

drvdata.bin
drvidx.bin
webc3*.*
wbc3*.*
WebCam*.ini
cttwnui.*.

14. Return to the Desktop, and empty Recycle Bin.

15. Restart the computer. The Video Blaster WebCam 3 is now completely removed from your system.

For PC-Cam 300 to function as a portable digital camera when it is disconnected from the computer, you need to insert four 1.5 V AAA alkaline batteries into its battery compartment.

To insert or replace batteries

1. Press the On/Off button to turn off the camera.

2. Holding the camera in one hand, push the battery compartment cover catch inwards, and then lift the cover up with your fingertip as shown in Figure 1- 3.

3. Remove the old batteries (if any).

4. Insert the new batteries according to the directions shown here.

[Click to enlarge]

5. Close the battery compartment cover and then push the catch outward to lock the compartment cover.

Use of rechargeable batteries with the Creative PC-Cam 300 is not recommended, as their characteristics show a tendency to quick power/current drop which in turn could cause such problems as memory corruption. As battery usage is very low for the PC-Cam 300, one set of batteries will allow the taking of approximately 1000 pictures with flash.

Follow these easy steps to upload an image to an FTP Server using the WebCam Monitor application

1. Launch the WebCam Monitor application by clicking on the eye icon in the upper left hand corner.

2. As you can see below, the Timed/Continuous tab is greyed out. This is the default setting. To be able to perform your upload, you need to make sure that this tab is active. To do this, go to the Mode tab and turn on the Timed/Continuous capture mode option.

3. Select the Timed/Continuous tab now and then point to the Settings button.

4. You now need to fill in the server-related information required below on the FTP tab.

- Under Host name, specify the server name (in the example shown here , it's ftp.europe.creative.com - Please note that the prefix ftp:// can be left out).

- Under User ID, type in your user name (If you don't know it, contact your ISP provider. In this case, as you can see, the user ID is Jim.

- Type in the password associated with the UserID in the Password field. This too, can be obtained from your ISP provider.

- How you approach filling the Directory field will depend on whether you are using an NT or Linux/Unix server. If its an NT server, you need to specify the exact location to which the image is to be uploaded (in this case the directory is called /private/). This will upload the image to ftp://ftp.europe.creative.com/private/.

- If you are using a Linux/Unix server, please bear in mind that your home directory is already specified when you log on to an FTP Server, so if you were to type in your home directory in the directory field, it would be duplicated and you would get an error message when attempting to upload your images. The best thing to do in this case is simply to leave the directory field empty and use the test button to see if a connection can be established.

-The option called Number of login entries can be increased/decreased depending on server traffic, Its purpose is to ensure that the image is uploaded flawlessly.
Once you have filled in the required details, click on the Test button to see whether you have a working connection.

If the details entered are correct it will look like this.

5. If the test was successful, you can now go ahead and create the page which you want to upload. The Web Page Design tab contains options which allow you to define your page. Let's have a quick browse through them:

- Enter the name of the webpage into the File name field.
- The option called Upload Custom page is selected by default.
- The Style dropdown box allows you to select some background images for the web page.
- Enter the Web page title which you want to appear in the browser title bar when the page loads
- Enter any messages which you want to appear on the page into the Body text field.
- Enter anything which you want to appear as a footer into the Footer field.
- Maximum number of images on page is simply telling the page how many images are to appear (in this case one to keep the page short).
- When checked, the Time and Date stamp options show the time and date the image was taken.
- Once you are happy with your choices for the page, click on Preview to see what the page will look like.

6. When you are satisfied that everything is set up correctly, you can start uploading by clicking 'Start Monitor'.

It is not possible to delete individual pictures from memory with the PC-Cam 300. If you try to delete one picture, then all pictures are deleted as the following message shows:

[Click to enlarge]

If you want to delete one picture, then transfer that picture from memory to the album folder on the hard disk and delete it from there.

If you want to enable or disable power-saving for the WebCam Go/Go Plus in detached mode, follow these steps:

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Creative and then Video Blaster WebCam. Click WebCam Go Control

2. Select the 'Settings' button

3. Select the 'Camera detached settings' button

4. Choose the 'Timers' tab. In the image below, the WebCam will shut down after 60 seconds if not in use. You also have the option of disabling power-saving which means that the WebCam will stay on until the batteries run dry

5. Select the 'Apply' button when you want to save

[Click to enlarge]

To ensure you get sound when recording .AVI files using Video Blaster WebCam Control, please check the following:

1. Check that the microphone is activated in the Record settings of the sound card mixer and that the sound card is working. To test that the microphone is recording properly, try recording from using an application such as Wave Studio or Windows Sound Recorder.

2. Open WebCam Control and go to the Video Capture Tab. Select the WDM driver as the Video Capture driver.

3. Go to the Audio Capture Tab. Make sure that the Enable Audio Capture option in WebCam Control is enabled.

4. Specify the sound card in the Audio Device field e.g. SB Live!

5. Select an Audio Format: e.g. 44,100 Hz, 16 Bits, Stereo.

6. Select an Audio Compressor from the drop down list - PCM is recommended.

CCD – Charge Coupled Device: one of the two main types of image sensors used in digital cameras.
When a picture is taken, the CCD is struck by light coming through the camera’s lens. Each of the
thousands or millions of tiny pixels that make up the CCD convert this light into electrons. The number of electrons, usually described as the pixel’s accumulated charge, is measured, then converted to a digital value.
This last step occurs outside the CCD, in a camera component called an analog-to-digital converter.

CMOS – Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor: one of the two main types of image sensors used in digital cameras. Its basic function is the same as that of a CCD. CMOS sensors are currently found in only a handful of digital cameras.

A CMOS sensor is less sensitive to the environment around it. So the more light you have focused on
object the camera is viewing, the better the image will be.

With a CCD sensor you can get a higher quality image with less target light than with a CMOS sensor.

USB specifications limit cable length to 5 meters (a little under 16 feet 5 inches) for full speed devices, and three meters (9 feet, 10 inches) for low speed devices. In designing USB, a decision was made to handle the propagation of electromagnetic fields on USB data lines in a way that limited the maximum length of a USB cable to something in the range of 4m. This method has a number of advantages and since USB is intended for a desktop environment, the range limitations were deemed acceptable.

We only support one WebCam to be installed at any one time on one pc with our software.

If you wish to use two cameras, you will need to have them installed on two different Pc’s or use third-party software.

The video files recorded with Creative WebCam/ PC-CAM cameras are AVI (Audio-Video Interleaved) files. Though AVI files are good candidate for video editing, they are large in size, and can be difficult to send as e-mail attachments. There are also various standards in AVI file package. If you want to export the recorded AVI to other applications such as Microsoft Power Point, you will need to convert these AVI files first, to a format that is compatible with your application.

To reduce the size of such files, you can opt to convert the file to a more compact file format such as MPEG, which allows for greater compression of the original signal making the file smaller.

To do this, you need a converter software, which you may be able to download from the internet.

It is possible to capture from WebCam in other applications as long as the application has incorporated Twain (http://www.twain.org/) support.

Some examples of such applications are PaintShop Pro, Adobe PhotoShop and MS Office 97/2000. This is an example of how to do it in MS Word 97:

1. Launch MS Word and select from the top menu Insert - Object - Image document

2. Highlight Image Document and press OK. This will bring up the following screen

3. Click on Snapshot when you are satisfied with the image (or to take a selection of snapshots)

4. Highlight the snapshot you want to import and press Transfer. This will import the snapshot into MS Word as shown below

You can then continue creating your MS Word document

Twain is an image capture API for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. The standard was first released in 1992 and Twain is typically used as an interface between image processing software and a scanner or digital camera.

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Creative, then Video Blaster WebCam Go.

2. Click WebCam Go Control and click the Cam Memory button

3. Move a selection or all of the images into the album by pressing the two arrow buttons:

4. Right-clicking any of the images in the album, to reveal a drop-down list with the following options:

Play
Send To...
Rename
Delete
Properties

If you want to save the pictures onto the hard disk or a floppy disk, choose the Send To... option.

If you create a shortcut to C:\temp in the Windows\SendTo folder you will be able to save the pictures onto the hard drive in the C:\temp directory.

Using the WebCam Control
If you need more information on how to upload an image to an FTP server using the Video Blaster WebCam Monitor, please refer to SID 1344. The procedure below is for attaching an image file to your outgoing Email messages by using WebCam Control:

1. Open Creative WebCam Control application.

2. Click on the album tab, and select the image/video file you want to attach.

3. Click on "Mail to" option that shows like a small envelope on the album.

4.On the SEND MAIL box click on SEND option.

5. Depending on the default e-mail account this will bring up "Enter Network Password" box where you have to enter your full Hotmail, MSN, etc. e-mail address. Enter your password for that account and click on OK.

This will log you into your e-mail account with the image/video as an attachment on your e-mail.

6. Type the e-mail recipients address and click on SEND.

NOTE: Some Email accounts such as Yahoo!, MSN, Hotmail, may limit the attachment to 1 MB/1024 KiloBytes in size. If the file size is larger than 1 MB it can be compressed using the compressor on Send Mail option of the WebCam Control.

Using the PC-Cam Center

To e-mail a video from the PC-Cam Center software:

1. Click the My Album button.

2. In the My Album box, locate and click the album containing the file you want to e-mail. The album's thumbnails are displayed in the thumbnails window.

3. Click the file you want to e-mail.

4. Click the E-mail button. The Send E-mail dialog box appears.

5. In the To and Subject boxes, type the recipient's e-mail address and the title of your e-mail.

6. To reduce the size of your video file, click the Compress AVI file(s) check box to select it.

7. Click the Send button. Your default e-mail application sends the file as an e-mail attachment.

Alternatively, you can open your preferred email program and send the video as an attachment.

1. Open the program you use to send and receive e-mail.

2. Create a new e-mail message.

3. In the To and Subject boxes, type the recipient's e-mail address and the title of your e-mail.

4. You should have an option similar to Attach File, or Insert File (usually indicated by a Paper-clip icon). Select the option to attach a file.

5. Browse to the location of the video you wish to email (Example: C:\Media\Video\My Album\Video001.avi).

6. Select the video and follow the prompts to attach it to the e-mail message.

7. Send the e-mail. The e-mail message and video will be delivered.

Windows 98

If, during the Creative WebCam installation, you are prompted for a Microsoft Active Movie file (.AX file) then please do the following:

1. Remove the Video Blaster WebCam installation CD and insert the Microsoft Windows '98 CD.

2. In the Insert Disk dialog box, click the OK button.

3. In the Copying Files dialog box, click the Browse button to browse to the Window's '98 CD \Windows 98 folder and click OK.

These files are usually in either the file DRIVER10.CAB or DRIVER11.CAB. They are copied into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

4. You can check exactly where the files are by doing a search, via Start - Find - Files and Folders. In the field Named, type *.CAB and in the field Containing Text type any one of the requested file names. Click on OK to search the Windows Installation CD.

Windows Me

Kstvtune.ax is contained in DRIVER5.CAB of the Win Me cab set and can be restored using MSConfig --> General --> Extract File ... and following the prompts. The "cab" files are in the Win9x folder on the Win Me CD and also in either:

C:\Windows\Options\Cabs or C:\Windows\Options\Install

This depends on the media from which Win Me was installed. This is detailed in the Microsoft knowledge base article below and also details on how to manually extract files from the cab set.

"How to Extract and Replace a Protected File in Windows Me"

If your system displays a vfwwdm.drv Missing message when installing a Creative WebCam in Windows ME, we recommend that you browse to the following directory for the file:

c:\windows\system

If the file is not listed here, you will need to extract it from your Windows installation CD. It is located in Driver6.cab file. For more information on how to extract files from origninal Windows CD-ROM disk, please refere to SID 5339 Operating System: common procedures and troubleshooting.

The original release of Windows XP does not support Enhanced Host Controller Interface-compliant USB host controllers (USB 2.0 ports). This causes a minor compatibility issue when using a USB 1.1 devices on a USB 2.0 port in Windows XP.

If you find that installing drivers for Creative USB cameras in Windows XP system with USB 2.0 ports, causes your system to restart automatically, or results in a blue screen, it is recommended that you download and install the latest Windows XP Service Pack from Microsoft.

The WebCam 3 installation CD includes Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 in English.

Due to the tight browser - operating system integration in Windows 98, installing an English language version of IE5 will also change the Windows Explorer in Windows 98 and other parts of the operating system into English.

Therefore, we recommend that you uninstall Internet Explorer 5 as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Settings, then Control Panel.

2. Click Add/Remove Programs, then Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and then Internet Tools. This should restore your operating system to its previous state.

You can download localised versions of Internet Explorer from the country of your choice from Microsoft's website.

Please note that if you are running Windows 98 Second Edition, there is no need to install IE5 from the WebCam installation CD, since IE5 is already included in Windows 98 SE.

If your WebCam software installation does not progress after stating that "Installation is in progress...", you can try to install it manually by running the individual setup files as follows:

1. Close all background programs including any Anti-virus application, and the WebCam software installation program

2. Double- click the My Computer icon on the desktop.

3. Right-click on the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive containing the WebCam installation CD and choose EXPLORE

4. To install the WebCam drivers, browse to the Drivers folder, and double click on the file CTDRVSTP.EXE. The WebCam drivers will be copied onto the system. In some case, you may need to browse to the English folder to locate the file CTDRVSTP.EXE.

5. To install the PC-CAM Center*, browse to the CamCenter folder, and double click on the file SETUP.EXE. The PC-Cam Center installation wizard will initialize, follow the prompts to complete the wizard.

6.To install the WebCam Monitor*, browse to the Monitor folder, and double click on the file SETUP.EXE. TheWebCam Monitor installation wizard will initialize, follow the prompts to complete the wizard.
*Note: Depending on your CD, the "CamCenter" and "Monitor" folders may be located in X:\WebCam\CamCenter\SETUP.EXE, and X:\WebCam\Monitor\SETUP.EXE)

1. Create a new profile in WebCam Monitor and ensure that PC-Cam detector is loaded on the taskbar

2. Right click on Creative Cam detector

3. Select Monitor Schedule

4. Choose Schedule a monitoring task option
The monitor application can be closed once correct time is selected and the Creative Cam will activate the software automatically when required.

If you are still having problems, then:

1. Restart Windows Scheduled Tasks

2. Click Start and go to Settings, then Control Panel

3. Open Scheduled Tasks window, by double-clicking on the Scheduled Tasks icon

4. Select Stop using Task Scheduler from Advanced menu

5. Open Advanced menu again, and select Start using Task Scheduler

6. Close Scheduled Task window and try scheduling recordings again

When I reboot my system after installation, Video Blaster WebCam 3 is not detected. There is an "Unknown Device" entry under the Universal Serial Bus Controller in my Device Manager, the Power indicator light on the camera is off and Video Blaster WebCam applications fails to initialize.

Our Advice
The original Video Blaster WebCam 3 driver release installed two entries in the Device Manager under Imaging Device (see below).

However, with the latest release of WebCam 3 drivers there is only one entry for the WebCam in Device Manager: The "Still Image Capture" driver is no longer installed.

If you experience the problem described above, we recommend the following:

1. Make sure there is an entry for the Video Blaster WebCam 3 (WDM) in your Device Manager.

2. Remove the "Unknown Device" entry under "Universal Serial Bus Controller" in the Device Manager.

3. Disconnect and re-connect the camera to its USB connector port.

4. Ensure that the option 'Assign IRQ to USB' is enabled in the BIOS.

5. Check if the USB port is sharing an IRQ with another device. If so, try to get the USB port to use it's own IRQ.

6. Try updating your PC's BIOS.

7. Disconnect any other USB device and then try connecting the Video Blaster WebCam to its USB port.

8. Check for any USB updates from your motherboard or chipset manufacturer.

9. Download and install the updated drivers for the Video Blaster WebCam from our website.

The codec used by the Creative WebCam Go/Go Plus is called CJPG which is included in the drivers.

Installing the driver will also install the codec. You can however, install only the codec file. To do this:

1. Search for the file ctwbjpg.dll under C:\windows\system

2. Copy this file into the new system

3. Add the following entry VIDC.CJPG=ctwbjpg.dll to system.ini file

Always ensure that the camera is not connected to the computer, when installing the software.

If you have connected your WebCam before installing the software we recommend you do the following:

1. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and then System.

2. Click the Hardware Tab and then Device Manager

3. Delete any Creative WebCam product entries

4. Restart your system.

5. Insert installation CD to install drivers and Software

6. Connect the camera when prompted

The WebCam Control may give an 'illegal operation' error when you right-click in the Album, if there are too many Shortcuts ie . LNK file extensions, in the
C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder.

To solve this, try reducing the amount of .LNK files here, to 3 or less, by deleting some of them in Start - Programs - Windows Explorer.

Note that not all of the files in C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder are shortcuts with .LNK extensions. To Check, right-click on the file and select Properties. Then, on the General tab, check the MS-DOS Name.

The contents of the C:\WINDOWS\SENDTO folder appear when you right-click on a file and select "Send To" (see below)

If you encounter a kernel32.dll error message in WebCam Control, try the following:

1. Download and install the latest drivers and software (WebCam Control and WebCam Monitor) for the product

2. Extract the files MFC42.DLL and MSVCRT.DLL from the Windows installation CD and reinstall in your Windows/System directory

3. Format the WebCam memory and then a hardware reset on the WebCam if you are still having the same problem

4. Check if there are any other Video Devices in the system e.g. Scanner, TV-Card, another WebCam or Video-Capture Card and if so, try to disable the other device in Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Device Manager or in Start - Settings - Control Panel - Multimedia - Devices - Video Capture Devices as a test

5. Copy the contents of the \TWAIN_32 and \TWAIN folders (if present) to another location (to keep as a backup) and uninstall and reinstall the Creative WebCam driver and software especially if another imaging device (e.g. a scanner) is installed

If you are getting MFC42.dll/MSVCRT.dll errors when accessing WebCam Control try the following:

Download and install the latest drivers and software (WebCam Control and WebCam Monitor) for the product
Extract the files MSVCRT.DLL and MFC42.dll from the Windows Installation CD by selecting Start - Find - Files or Folders type MSVCRT.DLL or MFC42.dll in the Named field and browse to your CD. Copy these files into your C:/Windows/System directory (C: represents default drive where Windows is installed)
Install the Microsoft Libraries Update, SPEU.EXE

If you receive an error about "WebCam Monitor fails to load skin..." or "WebCam Monitor fails to initialize..." when trying to launch the WebCam Monitor, try to adjust the display resolution.

1. Close all programs including WebCam Monitor, WebCam Control or PC-CAM Center.
2. Right-click the Desktop. Then click on Properties, Settings, and Screen Resolution.
3. Change the resolution to a lower value, for example, 1024 x 768.
4. Click APPLY, then OK.
5. Launch the Creative WebCam again.
6. The above procedure has also been found to resolve error "illegal operations" when running Creative WebCam Control.

If you encounter the error message " Can not load skin ", we recommend you download and install the latest release of the Creative WebCam Monitor from our website.

If the control buttons are grayed out when you are in the WebCam Go Control Program, it is recommended that you download and install the updated drivers for your camera.

The following only applies to Windows 98 and ME users. After your system has been updated with the latest updates and you are still experiencing grayed out controls in the WebCam GO Control Program, we recommend that you check the SYSTEM.INI file.

1. Click Startand go to Run.

2. In the Open field, type system.ini.

3. Locate the [drivers] section.

4. Search for lines similar to the following:

MSVideo.WebCamGo=wbcgovfw.drv
MSVideo.VfWWDM=vfwwdm.drv.

5. Click on the field that needs to be changed and type in the correct information as displayed above. Save and exit the SYSTEM.INI.

6. If the lines do not appear, unplug and uninstall the WebCam Go, reboot your computer system and reinstall the WebCam Go.

This problem can be resolved by downloading and installing the latest WebCam Control from our website.

Alternatively, open Windows Explorer and browse to the file C:\WINDOWS\WebCamC.INI

Locate these settings:

[WINDOW]

XPos=340

YPos=227

You may find that these values are set quite high e.g. XPos=3000, and YPos=3000.

If so, change to the above values and the program should re-appear on your screen.

If you are getting a black screen when accessing WebCam Control or Monitor try the following:

1. Download and install the latest drivers and software (WebCam Control and WebCam Monitor) for the camera from our website.

2. Lower the hardware acceleration of the graphics card

3. Check if there are any other Video Devices in the system e.g. Scanner, TV-Card, another WebCam or Video-Capture Card and if so, try to disable the other device in Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Device Manager or in Start - Settings - Control Panel - Multimedia - Devices - Video Capture Devices as a test

4. Copy the contents of the \TWAIN_32 and \TWAIN folders (if present) to another location (to keep as a backup) and uninstall and reinstall the Creative WebCam driver and software especially if another imaging device (e.g. a scanner) is installed

To resolve this issue we recommend that you close WebCam Photoeditor and then increase the amount of colours in your Display Settings via Start - Settings - Control Panel - Display - Settings to at least 16 bit color and then re-open the application.

When an image is taken and sent to the album in WebCam Go Control it has a default file name e.g. Image016. However, when you right-click on the image, choose rename and type in a new name it goes back to the default name.

As a workaround, click on the image name and then type in the new name. Then press the return button to save it.

Error message "PcCamMgr.dll can not be loaded. Please re-install PC-CAM Center."

If you receive this error message, before reinstalling PC-Cam center please do the following.

1. Temporally disable any anti virus or firewall software during installation and enable again afterwards.
2. Disable startup items as follows : Click Start- Run - Type Msconfig and press enter.
3. Insert a check to the left of SELECTIVE STARTUP and deselect 'LOAD STARTUP ITEMS'.
4. Select the SERVICES tab and select HIDE ALL MICROSOFT SERVICES. Uncheck all results and click OK. Restart the system.

*NOTE* Creative Labs does not provide support for third-party programs. We can only offer general troubleshooting suggestions for problems related to third-party programs.

If you recently installed Norton Personal Firewall and lost your audio in MSN, please refer to the Symantec Knowledgebase on how to resolve the issue.

The following is a general procedure on how to set up your microphone.

Ensure that the microphone is connected to the correct input on the sound card. If your sound card has color-coded connections, the microphone jack is usually red or pink.

Enable recording for preferred devices only.

Windows 98/98SE/ME:
1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Multimedia.
2. Click the AUDIO tab.
3. In each option, select the sound device in your system (eg. SB Audigy Audio)
4. Insert a check in the box to the left of USE ONLY PREFERRED DEVICES.
5. Click OK.

Windows 2000/XP:
1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Sound and Multimedia.
2. Click the AUDIO tab.
3. In each option, select the sound device in your system (eg. SB Audigy Audio)
4. Insert a check in the box to the left of USE ONLY DEFAULT DEVICES.
5. Click OK.

Set Windows recording source to MICROPHONE and test with Sound Recorder as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Accessories and then Entertainment. Click Volume Control.

2. Click Options and then Properties.

3. Select Recording.

4. Tick Microphone.

5. Click OK.

6. Ensure the MICROPHONE volume level is turned up. The microphone interface on the sound card is now the recording source.

7. Click Start and go to Programs, then Accessories and then Entertainment. Click Sound Recorder.

8. Click the record (RED) button to record audio, click STOP when finished, and click PLAY to playback the recording.

If you hear the recording, then the microphone is set up correctly. Test the microphone again in the video conferencing software. If you continue to experience
problems in the video conferencing software, verify the microphone is set correctly in the video conferencing software, or consult the software vendor.

For more information about MSN Messenger Support, please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles 324214 and 3169397 at http://messenger.msn.com

1. Verify that the camera is functioning in the software that was provided with the camera.
Does the camera work in Creative PC-Cam Center or Creative WebCam Control? If the video is displayed in the software then the camera is setup and functioning properly. If video is not displayed, try the following:

2. Is your camera using the latest drivers?
Visit the download section of our website for updated drivers.

3. Exit the Creative Software before using the video-conferencing software.
There is only one stream of video available from the camera at any one time. If you have the Creative software open at the same as the video conferencing software, then the video conferencing software will be unable to access the camera. You must exit out of the Creative software before attempting to use the WebCam in another program.

If you continue to experience problems in the video conferencing software, consult the software vendor for setup and further troubleshooting steps. Other video chat programs may require different settings for optimized use and functionality. Checking with the software vendor or website may provide further information to allow the software to function with the camera.

For best results, set your monitor and display card to display 16-bit color or higher. For information on changing monitor settings in Windows, refer to the Windows online Help.

Ensure that there is adequate lighting for your project. The image quality obtained from WebCam PC-CAM depends on adequate lighting. Although it can operate in low light, the resulting image will not be as clear. Incandescent lighting or outdoor lighting is preferable to fluorescent lighting.

In addition, avoid pointing the camera at bright surfaces e.g. sunlight, lights, highly reflective surfaces.

If your camera (for example, Video Blaster WebCam Go) has a adjustable focus ring, adjust it by rotating the ring.

Ensure that the image capture is set to 'higher quality' in Start - Programs - Creative - Video Blaster WebCam - WebCam Go Control - Image Capture if using JPEG file format.

If you have a PC-CAM camera, you can fine tune the image quality further via PC-CAM Center as follows:

1. Connect the PC-CAM camera to your computer system.

2. Click Start and go to Programs, then Creative, then PC-CAM. Click PC-CAM Center.

3. Click the Live Video button, then click the Source button.

4. In the Properties screen, click the Device Settings tab.

5. Drag the sliders for the settings that you want to adjust until you get the result you want. The Video preview displays the effects of the changes you make. You may need to experiement with various combinations.

6. When complete, click OK.

Note: The Exposure value represents the amount of time used for exposing each video frame to light.
Disable or enable the Auto Exposure and White Balance settings may also affect the frame rate.
If you are using fluorescent lighting, adjust the White Balance value, so that the image will not have a tint of green or magenta.
If you are using warm lighting, increase the Hue value so that the image will not be yellowish. If you are using cool lighting, decrease this value so that the image will not be bluish

Some sound cards are not detected by the WebCam Go Control and thus no audio is captured during a video capture. If you try the same with WebCam Go Monitor, the audio device is detected and during a video capture, the audio is also captured.

In order to get the audio device detected in WebCam Go Control, run the file VFWUPD.EXE file from the \Drivers folder of the Installation CD.

Step 1 - Ensure Microphone is set as the Recording Source as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Acessories, then Entertainment. Click Volume Control.

2. Click Options, then Properties.

3. Select RECORDING.

4. Make sure that Microphone is selected.

5. Click OK.

Step 2 - Set Windows to use default recording devices only, as follows:

1. In Windows 98/98SE/ME: Click Start and go to Settings, then Control Panel, Multimedia.. In Control Panel, click Multimedia.

In Windows 2000/XP- Click Start and go to (Settings) Control Panel, then click Sounds and Audio Devices

2. Click the Audio tab.

3. Set the sound device for your system (eg. SB Audigy Audio) as the preferred device for both Playback and Record.

4. Tick the option ''Use only default devices''

5. Click OK.

Step 3: Check the PC-Cam Center settings, as follows:

1. With the camera connected, open the PC-Cam Center program.

2. Click the Live Video button.

3. Click the Advanced Settings button.
(Note: If you do not have the "Advanced Settings" button, you may need to click the "Open/Close the live video setting panel" button.)

4. Click the Video Capture tab

5.Tick the option to Enable audio capture

6. Change Audio Device to your computer's sound card.

7. Set the Audio Compressor to PCM

8. Set the Audio Format to 44,100Hz, 16 bits, Stereo

9. Click Apply and then click OK.

Test the changes by recording and playing a new video.

If the Video Blaster WebCam Go hangs, locks up, or displays "err" , it may be necessary to perform a 'Hardware Reset'.

Note: This will remove all previously stored settings and erase any stored pictures in memory.

A hardware reset may be performed as follows:

1. While the unit is OFF, hold down the MODE button.

2. With the MODE button held down, press and release the ON button.

3. With the MODE button still held down, press and hold the SNAP SHOT button (button on top of unit used for taking pictures). Now release the MODE button.

4. Release the SNAP SHOT button. Notice that the display will have all its characters lit, and the unit will beep. Press and release the MODE button once.

5. The display will count to four and then display a -P-

6. Press and release the MODE button again, the display will flash = -P- and the unit should beep.

7. Turn the unit off.

In order to format WebCam memory, please follow these steps:

Select Start - Programs - Creative - VideoBlaster WebCam - WebCam Go Control
Click on the 'Settings' icon and then on the 'Camera detached settings' button
Under Device Settings, select 'Format'

Click on the 'Memory' tab and then on 'Format camera memory'

If the Video Blaster WebCam Go Plus hangs or locks up, it may be necessary to do a 'Hardware Reset'.

Note: This will remove all previously stored settings and erase all pictures from the memory.

A hardware reset can be performed as follows:

1. While the unit is OFF, hold down the MODE button.

2. With the MODE button held down, press and release the Power button.

3. With the MODE button still held down, press and hold the SNAP SHOT button (button on top of unit used for taking pictures). Now release the MODE button.

4. Release the SNAP SHOT button. Notice that the display will have all its characters lit, and the unit will beep. Press and release the MODE button once.

5. The display will flash = -P- and the unit should beep.

6. Turn the unit off.

To format the WebCam Go ES:

1. Press and hold the Mode button and press and release the On button.

2. While still holding down the Mode button, press and hold the Shutter button, then release the Mode button.

3. Release the Shutter button.

4. Press and hold the Mode button again for 1 second to enter factory default calibration mode.

5. Cover the lens once the S01 appears on the LCD display. For a formatted camera, it should only take a few seconds for the S02 to appear on the LCD. For fresh camera (a new camera or a camera with corrupted files it may take a while).

6. After the display of S02, wait for S03 to appear on the LCD.

7. After S03 has been displayed, the LCD will either display 000 or Exx. 000 indicated that camera has been calibrated and formatted successfully, If the format was successful, press the Sel button to end the process.

8. Exx indicates that calibration process failed. If the calibration process fails, try changing the batteries and then start the format process again.

If your system fails to boot up while your WebCam Go is connected we recommend that you try the following:

1. Update the WebCam Go drivers - driver updates are available to download from our website.

2. Update the BIOS on your system board - for information on BIOS updates, refer to your system manual or the motherboard manufacturer.

3. Ensure that the options ''Assign IRQ to USB'' and ''Enable USB legacy support'' are both enabled in the BIOS.

4. Temporarily disconnect any other USB devices.

If you cannot access the WebCam memory, try the following:

Download and installed the latest drivers and software (WebCam Control and WebCam Monitor) for the product from our website.
If the Cam Memory button is greyed-out in WebCam Control, please ensure the the Cam is in WDM mode (not VFW mode) in Settings
If you cannot download all the pictures, some may be corrupt so you should try formatting WebCam Memory using the "Format Memory" button in WebCam Control and if you still have the same problem, do a hardware reset on the WebCam ( see above article "How do I format or reset the Video Blaster WebCam Go/Go Plus?")

AVI files are by their nature large in size. To get around this problem, it is possible to convert your AVI files to MPEG files. To do this, you will need to get a converter software from the Web. The software supplied with the WebCam does not allow you to do this.

If you encounter the above error message in the Device Manager, we recommend you try the following:

1. Ensure that your computer system meets the system requirements.

2. Try the camera in a different USB port.

3. Unplug the camera and reconnect it to the system again.

4. If you are using a USB hub, try connecting the camera to the primary USB port instead.

5. Temporarily disconnect other USB devices active in the system

6. Toggle the options for USB Legacy Support in your system BIOS. The options are typically: Auto, Enable, or Disable.

7. Toggle the "Release IRQ for USB" option in the system BIOS (if applicable).

Ensure that the Auto sleep function in the main menu is set to off or the sleep timer will shut the camera down before the auto timer takes the picture. The three sleep times are 1, 3 and 5 minutes while the auto timer for pictures is 2 or 10 minutes.