Under 'Transcoding options', tick 'Audio codec' and 'Video codec'. Encapsulation method can be left at the default (MPEG TS). Tick 'File' off under 'Outputs' and enter a filename. Click the settings button right next to it. If you wish to record, tick off 'Stream/save' in the 'Advanced options' section. If you just want a 'mirror' (to see what the webcam is showing), click 'OK' and you're done. In VLC, choose 'Open capture device' from the file menu and enter the video and audio device files (see above) in video device name and audio device name, respectively. For a built-in webcam, you may have a function key to do so. If nothing new appears, you may need to switch your webcam on. The new appearances should belong to your webcam (for instance, /dev/video0 and /dev/audio2). Now plug in your webcam, allow the system a few seconds to register the device, and run the two commands again. Before you plug in your webcam, try the following two commands at a console: In some cases your media player (VLC, mplayer, amongst others) will need to know the video and audio device files for your webcam. You should try one of these programs if Cheese didn't display anything at all to make sure that Cheese is not causing the problem.Įmpathy has been the default VoIP/Video Chat application since Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala), and can be used to establish whether or not your webcam is working. This is a list of software that allows you to do a simple 'plug-in-and-go' test with your webcam. If Cheese displays a garbled picture or one with poor colour/brightness/contrast, go to the Ubuntu wiki Webcam Troubleshooting page for steps to resolve this.
#Using lsusb install
Type in the following command: sudo apt-get install cheese.It uses the gstreamer library, which utlilizes the video4linux2 API.ĭownload and install Cheese using the following steps: Cheese is included in the Main repositories since Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron). To test whether or not your webcam works in this way, install Cheese, a GNOME program for capturing video and stills from a webcam. This means that you should be able to plug-in your webcam and use it straight away: no driver disks or installation. Ubuntu aims to provide 'out-of-the-box' or 'just-works' functionality for webcams. The Linux-UVC project has a good list of UVC compatible webcams. When looking to purchase a webcam for use with Ubuntu, you should look for a UVC compatible camera.
#Using lsusb drivers
However, other drivers also exist that may allow more devices to be used.
This aims to provide a universal driver in the same way that a generic driver handles USB storage devices (memory sticks, hard drives etc). Webcam support in Linux is mainly provided by the Linux UVC Project's UVC driver. Please note that this document is intended for the current release: Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat).
If you are reading this page, you are probably in either/both of the following situations:
#Using lsusb how to
This document describes how to choose, setup and use a webcam in Ubuntu.