Seminar Room Cameras
We now have four cameras on the back wall of the TCM Seminar Room. Two are streaming cameras broadcast via a argos to anyone with a Raven password (ask if non-Raven users need access -- a back-door exists). These need nothing beyond plugging in, and unplugging when finished. Two are USB cameras for connecting to one's own laptop.
From left to right, Logitech USB2 camera, Sony USB3 camera, PTZ "dome" camera for argos, fixed camera for argos.
To use Argos, simply plug in both cameras into the the ethernet sockets which are hidden behind the projector screen when the screen is down, see image to the right. Their ethernet leads should be lying on the floor near the sockets. The streams will appear about ninety seconds later. Let the users decide which of the two cameras is better. (The fixed camera is better for low-light conditions, but cannot cope at all with larger ranges of brightness, e.g. when the projector is in use.) These cameras include microphones, and are powered via the ethernet sockets. The two ethernet sockets are identical, and are dedicated to these cameras, being useless for anything else. Remember to unplug when finished, to avoid streaming everything which happens in the Seminar Room!.
More details on TCM's streaming cameras.
To use the USB cameras, ensure that they are turned on at the mains, wait about 20 seconds, and then plug in the corresponding USB lead to one's laptop. They have a much better vantage point that a laptop's internal camera. The Sony camera is in almost every way better than the Logitech one. Both have remote controls for fine adjustment, but the default settings should be reasonable. Neither has microphones -- either use the laptop's microphone, or borrow TCM's Yeti. (And note that Yetis are designed to stand upright, not to be tilted. There is a switch on the side to control directionality.)