The amount of motion the camera is detecting. Values range from 0 (no motion is being detected) to 100 (a large amount of motion is being detected). The value of this property can help you determine if you need to pass a setting to the setMotionLevel() method.

If the camera is available but is not yet being used because the Video.attachCamera() method has not been called, this property is set to -1.

If you are streaming only uncompressed local video, this property is set only if you have assigned a function to the event handler. Otherwise, it is undefined.

See also

The maximum amount of bandwidth the current outgoing video feed can use, in bytes. A value of 0 means the feed can use as much bandwidth as needed to maintain the desired frame quality.

To set this property, use the setQuality() method.

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The rate at which the camera is capturing data, in frames per second. This property cannot be set; however, you can use the setMode() method to set a related property—fps—which specifies the maximum frame rate at which you would like the camera to capture data.

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The maximum rate at which the camera can capture data, in frames per second. The maximum rate possible depends on the capabilities of the camera; this frame rate may not be achieved.

• To set a desired value for this property, use the setMode() method.
• To determine the rate at which the camera is currently capturing data, use the currentFPS property.

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The current capture height, in pixels. To set a value for this property, use the setMode() method.

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A zero-based integer that specifies the index of the camera, as reflected in the array returned by the names property.

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The number of video frames transmitted in full (called keyframes) instead of being interpolated by the video compression algorithm. The default value is 15, which means that every 15th frame is a keyframe. A value of 1 means that every frame is a keyframe. The allowed values are 1 through 48.

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Indicates whether a local view of what the camera is capturing is compressed and decompressed (true), as it would be for live transmission using Flash Media Server, or uncompressed (false). The default value is false.

Although a compressed stream is useful for testing, such as when previewing video quality settings, it has a significant processing cost. The local view is compressed, edited for transmission as it would be over a live connection, and then decompressed for local viewing.

To set this value, use Camera.setLoopback(). To set the amount of compression used when this property is true, use Camera.setQuality().

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The amount of motion required to invoke the activity event. Acceptable values range from 0 to 100. The default value is 50.

Video can be displayed regardless of the value of the motionLevel property. For more information, see setMotionLevel().

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The number of milliseconds between the time the camera stops detecting motion and the time the activity event is invoked. The default value is 2000 (2 seconds).

To set this value, use setMotionLevel().

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A Boolean value indicating whether the user has denied access to the camera (true) or allowed access (false) in the Flash Player Privacy dialog box. When this value changes, the statusevent is dispatched.

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The name of the current camera, as returned by the camera hardware.

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An array of strings indicating the names of all available cameras without displaying the Flash Player Privacy dialog box. This array behaves in the same way as any other ActionScript array, implicitly providing the zero-based index of each camera and the number of cameras on the system (by means of names.length). For more information, see the names Array class entry.

Calling the names property requires an extensive examination of the hardware, and it may take several seconds to build the array. In most cases, you can just use the default camera.

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The required level of picture quality, as determined by the amount of compression being applied to each video frame. Acceptable quality values range from 1 (lowest quality, maximum compression) to 100 (highest quality, no compression). The default value is 0, which means that picture quality can vary as needed to avoid exceeding available bandwidth.

To set this property, use the setQuality() method.

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The current capture width, in pixels. To set a desired value for this property, use the setMode() method.

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Returns a reference to a Camera object for capturing video. To begin capturing the video, you must attach the Camera object to a Video object (see Video.attachCamera() ). To transmit video to Flash Media Server, call NetStream.attachCamera() to attach the Camera object to a NetStream object.

Multiple calls to the getCamera() method reference the same camera driver. Thus, if your code contains code like firstCam:Camera = getCamera() and secondCam:Camera = getCamera(), both firstCam and secondCam reference the same camera, which is the user's default camera.

In general, you shouldn't pass a value for the name parameter; simply use getCamera() to return a reference to the default camera. By means of the Camera settings panel (discussed later in this section), the user can specify the default camera Flash Player should use.

You can't use ActionScript to set a user's Allow or Deny permission setting for access to the camera, but you can display the Adobe Flash Player Settings camera setting dialog box where the user can set the camera permission. When a SWF file using the attachCamera() method tries to attach the camera returned by the getCamera() method to a Video or NetStream object, Flash Player displays a dialog box that lets the user choose to allow or deny access to the camera. (Make sure your application window size is at least 215 x 138 pixels; this is the minimum size Flash Player requires to display the dialog box.) When the user responds to the camera setting dialog box, Flash Player returns an information object in the status event that indicates the user's response: Camera.muted indicates the user denied access to a camera; Camera.Unmuted indicates the user allowed access to a camera. To determine whether the user has denied or allowed access to the camera without handling the status event, use the muted property.

The user can specify permanent privacy settings for a particular domain by right-clicking (Windows and Linux) or Control-clicking (Macintosh) while a SWF file is playing, selecting Settings, opening the Privacy dialog, and selecting Remember. If the user selects Remember, Flash Player no longer asks the user whether to allow or deny SWF files from this domain access to your camera.

Note: The attachCamera() method will not invoke the dialog box to Allow or Deny access to the camera if the user has denied access by selecting Remember in the Flash Player Settings dialog box. In this case, you can prompt the user to change the Allow or Deny setting by displaying the Flash Player Privacy panel for the user using Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.PRIVACY).

If getCamera() returns null, either the camera is in use by another application, or there are no cameras installed on the system. To determine whether any cameras are installed, use the names.length property. To display the Flash Player Camera Settings panel, which lets the user choose the camera to be referenced by getCamera(), use Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.CAMERA).

Scanning the hardware for cameras takes time. When Flash Player finds at least one camera, the hardware is not scanned again for the lifetime of the player instance. However, if Flash Player doesn't find any cameras, it will scan each time getCamera is called. This is helpful if a user has forgotten to connect the camera; if your SWF file provides a Try Again button that calls getCamera, Flash Player can find the camera without the user having to restart the SWF file.

Parameters

See also

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
    import flash.utils.Timer;
    import flash.events.TimerEvent;
    import flash.events.StatusEvent;
    import flash.events.MouseEvent;
    import flash.system.SecurityPanel;
    import flash.system.Security;

    public class Camera_getCameraExample extends Sprite {
        private var myTextField:TextField;
        private var cam:Camera;
        private var t:Timer = new Timer(1000);
        
        public function Camera_getCameraExample() {
            myTextField = new TextField();
            myTextField.x = 10;
            myTextField.y = 10;
            myTextField.background = true;
            myTextField.selectable = false;
            myTextField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;    
        
            cam = Camera.getCamera();
            
            if (!cam) {
                myTextField.text = "No camera is installed.";
                
            } else if (cam.muted) {
                myTextField.text = "To enable the use of the camera,\n"
                                 + "please click on this text field.\n" 
                                 + "When the Flash Player Settings dialog appears,\n"
                                 + "make sure to select the Allow radio button\n" 
                                 + "to grant access to your camera.";

                myTextField.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);

            }else {
                myTextField.text = "Connecting";
                connectCamera(); 
            }
   
            addChild(myTextField);

            t.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, timerHandler);
        }

        private function clickHandler(e:MouseEvent):void {
            Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.PRIVACY);

            cam.addEventListener(StatusEvent.STATUS, statusHandler);

            myTextField.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);
        }

        private function statusHandler(event:StatusEvent):void {

            if (event.code == "Camera.Unmuted") {
                connectCamera(); 
                cam.removeEventListener(StatusEvent.STATUS, statusHandler);
            }
        }

        private function connectCamera():void {
                var vid:Video = new Video(cam.width, cam.height);
                vid.x = 10;
                vid.y = 10;
                vid.attachCamera(cam);
                addChild(vid);    

                t.start();
        }

        private function timerHandler(event:TimerEvent):void {
            myTextField.y = cam.height + 20;
            myTextField.text = "";
            myTextField.appendText("bandwidth: " + cam.bandwidth + "\n");
            myTextField.appendText("currentFPS: " + Math.round(cam.currentFPS) + "\n");
            myTextField.appendText("fps: " + cam.fps + "\n");
            myTextField.appendText("keyFrameInterval: " + cam.keyFrameInterval + "\n");
        }
    }
}

Specifies which video frames are transmitted in full (called keyframes) instead of being interpolated by the video compression algorithm. This method is applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server.

The Flash Video compression algorithm compresses video by transmitting only what has changed since the last frame of the video; these portions are considered to be interpolated frames. Frames of a video can be interpolated according to the contents of the previous frame. A keyframe, however, is a video frame that is complete; it is not interpolated from prior frames.

To determine how to set a value for the keyFrameInterval parameter, consider both bandwidth use and video playback accessibility. For example, specifying a higher value for keyFrameInterval (sending keyframes less frequently) reduces bandwidth use. However, this may increase the amount of time required to position the playhead at a particular point in the video; more prior video frames may have to be interpolated before the video can resume.

Conversely, specifying a lower value for keyFrameInterval (sending keyframes more frequently) increases bandwidth use because entire video frames are transmitted more often, but may decrease the amount of time required to seek a particular video frame within a recorded video.

Parameters

See also

Specifies whether to use a compressed video stream for a local view of the camera. This method is applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server; setting compress to true lets you see more precisely how the video will appear to users when they view it in real time.

Although a compressed stream is useful for testing purposes, such as previewing video quality settings, it has a significant processing cost, because the local view is not simply compressed; it is compressed, edited for transmission as it would be over a live connection, and then decompressed for local viewing.

To set the amount of compression used when you set compress to true, use Camera.setQuality().

Parameters

See also

Sets the camera capture mode to the native mode that best meets the specified requirements. If the camera does not have a native mode that matches all the parameters you pass, Flash Player selects a capture mode that most closely synthesizes the requested mode. This manipulation may involve cropping the image and dropping frames.

By default, Flash Player drops frames as needed to maintain image size. To minimize the number of dropped frames, even if this means reducing the size of the image, pass false for the favorArea parameter.

When choosing a native mode, Flash Player tries to maintain the requested aspect ratio whenever possible. For example, if you issue the command myCam.setMode(400, 400, 30), and the maximum width and height values available on the camera are 320 and 288, Flash Player sets both the width and height at 288; by setting these properties to the same value, Flash Player maintains the 1:1 aspect ratio you requested.

To determine the values assigned to these properties after Flash Player selects the mode that most closely matches your requested values, use the width, height, and fps properties.

If you are using Flash Media Server, you can also capture single frames or create time-lapse photography. For more information, see NetStream.attachCamera().

Parameters

See also

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;
    import flash.events.MouseEvent;
    import flash.display.StageScaleMode;

    public class Camera_setModeExample extends Sprite {
        private var cam:Camera;
        private var vid:Video;

        public function Camera_setModeExample() {
            stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;

            cam = Camera.getCamera();
            
            if (!cam) {
                trace("No camera is installed.");
            }else {
                connectCamera();
            }
        }

        private function connectCamera():void {
            vid = new Video();
            vid.width = cam.width;
            vid.height = cam.height; 
            vid.attachCamera(cam);
            addChild(vid);    

            stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);
        }
    
        private function clickHandler(e:MouseEvent):void {

            switch (cam.width) {
                case 160:
                cam.setMode(320, 240, 10); 
                break;
                case 320:
                cam.setMode(640, 480, 5); 
                break;
                default:
                cam.setMode(160, 120, 15); 
                break;
            } 

            removeChild(vid);           
            connectCamera();
        }
    }
}

Specifies how much motion is required to dispatch the activity event. Optionally sets the number of milliseconds that must elapse without activity before Flash Player considers motion to have stopped and dispatches the event.

Note: Video can be displayed regardless of the value of the motionLevel parameter. This parameter determines only when and under what circumstances the event is dispatched—not whether video is actually being captured or displayed.

To prevent the camera from detecting motion at all, pass a value of 100 for the motionLevel parameter; the activity event is never dispatched. (You would probably use this value only for testing purposes—for example, to temporarily disable any handlers that would normally be triggered when the event is dispatched.)

To determine the amount of motion the camera is currently detecting, use the activityLevel property. Motion sensitivity values correspond directly to activity values. Complete lack of motion is an activity value of 0. Constant motion is an activity value of 100. Your activity value is less than your motion sensitivity value when you're not moving; when you are moving, activity values frequently exceed your motion sensitivity value.

This method is similar in purpose to the Microphone.setSilenceLevel() method; both methods are used to specify when the activity event should be dispatched. However, these methods have a significantly different impact on publishing streams:

• Microphone.setSilenceLevel() is designed to optimize bandwidth. When an audio stream is considered silent, no audio data is sent. Instead, a single message is sent, indicating that silence has started.
• Camera.setMotionLevel() is designed to detect motion and does not affect bandwidth usage. Even if a video stream does not detect motion, video is still sent.

Parameters

See also

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;
    import flash.text.TextField;
    import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
    import flash.utils.Timer;
    import flash.events.TimerEvent;
    import flash.events.ActivityEvent;

    public class Camera_setMotionLevelExample extends Sprite {
        private var myTextField:TextField;
        private var cam:Camera;
        private var t:Timer = new Timer(1000);

        public function Camera_setMotionLevelExample() {
            myTextField = new TextField();
            myTextField.background = true;
            myTextField.selectable = false;
            myTextField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;    
        
            cam = Camera.getCamera();
            
            if (!cam) {
                myTextField.text = "No camera is installed.";

            }else {
                myTextField.text = "Waiting to connect.";
                connectCamera(); 
            }

            addChild(myTextField);

            t.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, timerHandler);
        }

        private function connectCamera():void {
                var vid:Video = new Video(cam.width, cam.height);
                vid.x = 10;
                vid.y = 10;
                vid.attachCamera(cam);
                addChild(vid);    

                cam.setMotionLevel(5, 1000);
                cam.addEventListener(ActivityEvent.ACTIVITY, activityHandler);
        }

        private function activityHandler(e:ActivityEvent):void {
            if (e.activating == true) {
                t.start();    
            } else {
                myTextField.text = "Everything is quiet.";
                t.stop();
            }    
        }

        private function timerHandler(event:TimerEvent):void {
             myTextField.x = 10;
             myTextField.y = cam.height + 20;
             myTextField.text = "There is some activity. Level: " + cam.activityLevel;
        }
    }
}

Sets the maximum amount of bandwidth per second or the required picture quality of the current outgoing video feed. This method is generally applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server.

Use this method to specify which element of the outgoing video feed is more important to your application—bandwidth use or picture quality.

• To indicate that bandwidth use takes precedence, pass a value for bandwidth and 0 for quality. Flash Player transmits video at the highest quality possible within the specified bandwidth. If necessary, Flash Player reduces picture quality to avoid exceeding the specified bandwidth. In general, as motion increases, quality decreases.
• To indicate that quality takes precedence, pass 0 for bandwidth and a numeric value for quality. Flash Player uses as much bandwidth as required to maintain the specified quality. If necessary, Flash Player reduces the frame rate to maintain picture quality. In general, as motion increases, bandwidth use also increases.
• To specify that both bandwidth and quality are equally important, pass numeric values for both parameters. Flash Player transmits video that achieves the specified quality and that doesn't exceed the specified bandwidth. If necessary, Flash Player reduces the frame rate to maintain picture quality without exceeding the specified bandwidth.

Parameters

See also

Dispatched when a camera begins or ends a session. Call Camera.setMotionLevel() to specify the amount of motion required to trigger an activity event with an activating value of true, or the time without activity that must elapse before triggering an activity event with an activating value of false.

This event has the following properties:

Dispatched when a camera reports its status. If the value of the code property is "Camera.Muted", the user has refused to allow the SWF file access to the user's camera. If the value of the code property is "Camera.Unmuted", the user has allowed the SWF file access to the user's camera.

This event has the following properties:

See also

Note: A camera must be attached to your computer for this example to work correctly.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.StageAlign;
    import flash.display.StageScaleMode;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;

    public class CameraExample extends Sprite {
        private var video:Video;
        
        public function CameraExample() {
            stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
            stage.align = StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
            
            var camera:Camera = Camera.getCamera();
            
            if (camera != null) {
                camera.addEventListener(ActivityEvent.ACTIVITY, activityHandler);
                video = new Video(camera.width * 2, camera.height * 2);
                video.attachCamera(camera);
                addChild(video);
            } else {
                trace("You need a camera.");
            }
        }
        
        private function activityHandler(event:ActivityEvent):void {
            trace("activityHandler: " + event);
        }
    }
}