iMac users may have already played around with "Photo Booth" but now there's a similar program for Windows available, too! It's called CrazyCam and does many of the things that Photo Booth does. It uses Adobe AIR which enables it (like Java) to run on any Windows, Linux or Mac computer.
All you need to have fun is a webcam.
CrazyCam will add a filter to the camera live image and lets you take filtered snapshots or video clips.
This morning, anticipating the hot weather, I tried the "Water" effect first. I spontaneously recorded this as my first video - I had only some coffee and not combed my hair yet but toyed with a new computer program, so basically a very typical early morning ;)
So, how does it work?
Here's a little tutorial, as I could not find any on the web.
- Make sure you have a working webcam. If you have Skype, you can test it there.
- Check whether you have Adobe AIR installed already (if you are using Tweetdeck, you have). If not, download Adobe AIR from the original website and install.
- Get the CrazyCam AIR application from this website. It will install CrazyCam. If you want to save the file for use on another computer, take this direct download link (right-click, save as...) and install.
- After install, you will have an icon CrazyCam 3.0 on your desktop.
- When you start the program, the webcam will be turned on and you can see the live pic in the program window.
- There are four red buttons in the menu below the live image
- Select an effect/filter by clicking the Fx button before you take a picture or record a video. You will see your live image and the effects displayed below:
- Choose an effect like "snow" and click the camera button:
- Clicking the grid button will display the pictures you have taken. Click on a thumbnail to view the full resolution image. To get back to the grid view, click on the large image:
1. Mode - select photo or video mode
2. Icon - displays the selected mode by showing a camera or clapperboard symbol. This button works as the shutter release and video start and stop button
3. Grid - toggles between single live image and a list view of all images
4. Fx - the effects button
As in Photo Booth, all images and videos are horizontally flipped, as in a mirror. You can see that in the images above the text on the shirt is not "HOT" (as in "Hot for Hillary") but "TOH".
Another issue with the current version is that the files are stored as JPG but are PNG inside. Firefox and Opera display them both as JPG or PNG but Internet Explorer 8 will only recognize the original images when named PNG.
If you want the images to appear correctly, you have to use a freeware tool like Irfanview which offers batch conversion. You can convert them to jpg and flip them at once.
CrazyCam 3.0 is made by Maarten Cox.
The following images are some I tried this afternoon. These are converted and flipped and have the original camera size resolution. I used the Monochrome, Sepia, Trippin', X-Ray and Snow effects. And all my charm.
