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80 P a r t I I Producing Your YouTube Videos

Understanding Webcam Video

A webcam is a small camera, typically with an accompanying miniature micro-
phone, which attaches to any computer via USB port. As you can see in Figure 8.1,
most webcams fit on top of your monitor screen; some notebook PCs come with a
webcam built in.

Figure 8.1 Logitech’s QuickCam Pro 9000 webcam, mounted on top of a computer
screen.

Given the webcam’s small footprint, it is a relatively unobtrusive way to shoot
YouTube videos. Also, when attached to a notebook PC operating on battery power
(or when you use a notebook with a built-in webcam), it lets you shoot videos just
about anywhere—a truly portable solution.
Webcams do not always produce the highest quality video and audio. Typical lower-
priced webcams shoot video at a resolution of 640×480, but with a lower-quality
lens that neither works well in darkened conditions nor reproduces especially sharp
images. Today’s higher-end webcams, however, can shoot in high definition, and
some include a higher-quality lens. Still, if you want broadcast-quality video, a web-
cam is the least satisfactory of the three different shooting options.
The audio you get with a webcam is not the best either. In most instances, you
speak into a small microphone embedded within the webcam itself; the farther
away you are from the webcam, the less clear your voice recording will come out.
(Some webcams include a separate clip-on microphone, for just this reason.) And,
let’s be honest, this isn’t studio quality audio here; webcam audio is barely satisfac-
tory for voice, and not for much of anything else.