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Setting up your camera

1. How do I set up my own camera?
2. How many cameras can I set up on the same PC?
3. Can I set up the GotoCamera client software on more than one PC? So that, for instance, I can set up one cameras in my office, two in my home, and one in my warehouse?
4. Do I need to leave the PC turned on and connected to the Internet for GotoCamera to work?

Setting up Motion Detection

1. How do I set up motion detection on my camera?
2. Do I need my webcam to specifically support motion detection?

Accessing your cameras

1. How do I access my camera via the Web?
2. Can I turn on video streaming and leave it on?
3. How do I access my camera via a mobile phone?
4. What are mobile credits and what kind of mobile phone access am I charged mobile credits for?
5. Why are video clips only 10 seconds long? Can I get longer clips? And how about video streaming?
6. I do not have a mobile phone. Can I still set up and access cameras?
7. Why can't the pictures / videos be sent directly to my cellphone? Why do I have to click a link to see them?

Your GotoCamera Account

1. How do I register with GotoCamera?
2. Can I share my mobile credits with another GotoCamera user?
3. Is there a limit to the number of images and videos that I can store in my account?
4. How much can I store in 1,000 MB?

Troubleshooting

1. I have a camera connected, but I do not see it on "My Cameras" page even after I've logged into my account.
2. I have a camera connected, but I am not getting any images.
3. The page is not displaying any video, even though I have QuickTime installed.

Miscellaneous Questions

1. What do I need to use the GotoCamera service?
2. What kind of cameras DO NOT work with GotoCamera?
3. What format are the images/videos captured in? What is the typical file-size?
4. What are the system requirements for running the GotoCamera client?
5. Can I leave the GotoCamera Client running in the background?
6. How do I monitor my living room when my computer is in my bedroom?
7. What is Auto-Record? How do I create a new recording schedule? How do I edit / delete an existing recording schedule?
8. How do I install the GotoCamera client?
9. How do I uninstall the GotoCamera client?
10. How do I exit the GotoCamera client?
11. How do I send an image or video to my cellphone from the GotoCamera website?

Setting up your camera

1. How do I set up my own camera?
   
   This answer assumes you're using a webcam that's connected via USB cable to your computer or a webcam that's built into the lid of your notebook / netbook.
   
   Register for a GotoCamera account; download the GotoCamera Client software. Ensure your webcam is connected and the drivers have been installed. Double-click the downloaded GotoCamera Client Installer to install the Client.
   
   • Click the "Click to Star" icon on the toolbar.
   • If this is the first time you're launching the Client, you will be asked for your Email address (the same address you used when signing up for the service) and password (the password you chose when creating your account on the website). Please remember: the password is case-sensitive. This means JOHN isn't the same as John… Click Next.
   • The camera addition dialog box will appear with a live video feed from your camera (if you have more than one camera, the first camera on your PC will be selected automatically). Enter a name for your camera (e.g. kitchen), select the picture quality (we recommend 640x480), and hit OK. That's it, your camera will connect and go online. You should see the word "Online" appear below the video feed in the Client.
   
   If you have more than one camera connected on your computer, you can set up additional cameras by hitting the "Add Camera" button and following the steps above.



2. How many cameras can I set up on the same PC?
   
   Up to four. However, most PCs can handle only 2 - 3.



3. Can I set up the GotoCamera client software on more than one PC? So that, for instance, I can set up one cameras in my office, two in my home, and one in my warehouse?
   
   Yes, you can set up the GotoCamera client software on as many PCs as you like. Please do NOT create new accounts for each camera - just use the same user ID and password on EACH computer; this way, you can access all your cameras when you login. Do note that the total number of cameras you can set up may be limited by your user account type - see http://www.gotocamera.com/GotoCamera-pricing to understand the differences between account types.



4. Do I need to leave the PC turned on and connected to the Internet for GotoCamera to work?
   
   Yes. You can turn off the monitor though. And please remember to change the Windows Auto-Update settings to "Download but let me choose when to install".

Setting up Motion Detection

1. How do I set up motion detection on my camera?
   
   Start by logging into www.gotocamera.com, click on My Account, and ensure you have either (or both) "Send to my Email" or "Send to my mobile phone" checked, under "Motion Detection Settings. Depending on which you choose, motion detection alerts will be (1) saved in your Archives on the server and (2) sent to your email and/or your mobile phone.
   
   With that done, go to the Client and click on the blue running man icon in the tool bar. This will launch motion detection.
   
   
   • Place a check mark against "Enable motion detection".
   
   
   • Place a check mark against "Enable motion overlay". This will help you track and understand where motion is occurring. Once you've finished setting up motion detection, please remember to uncheck this option (you'll see why later)
   
   
   • Notice the "meter" bar to the right of the video feed? This meter tells you when the amount of motion being detected by the Client is high enough for an Alert to be sent out. Wave your hand in front of the camera. At a certain point, you'll see the motion level in the meter change from green to red. When it turns red, that's when an Alert gets sent out.
   
   
   • Motion detection is based on the concepts of "threshold" and "sensitivity". Let's understand what these mean:
   
   Motion detection alerts are generated when the amount of motion in the motion detection meter crosses from the green zone into the red zone. This is a combination of your threshold and sensitivity settings. The best way to figure this out is to play with the settings - you know you have the right settings when you see the meter cross into the red zone only when you really want it to ...
   
   Sensitivity means how much movement must occur before GotoCamera Client notices it. For example, if your sensitivity is set very low, you would have to move your complete hand in front of the camera for GotoCamera Client to notice it. If your sensitivity is set high, a twitch of your eyebrow might be enough.
   
   But just because movement is being detected doesn't mean an alert will be triggered... the triggering of an alert requires movement that's enough to exceed the "threshold". If you move the threshold slider to the left, the threshold is reduced - this means even a small amount of movement, or a far away movement, can result in an alert. If you move the slider to the right, very significant movement must occur for an alert to be generated.
   
   Think of it this way... if what you want to detect is likely to be small, or far away, set sensitivity high and threshold low. If what you want to detect is likely to be large or nearby, set threshold high and sensitivity low. If there's a lot of "lighting noise", set threshold high and sensitivity low.
   Ultimately, the best way to figure this out is to "play" with the settings ...
   
   With this understanding of threshold and sensitivity, adjust the sliders until you're satisfied with the results. Then choose whether you want motion detection enabled all days of the week or only certain days, and whether you want motion detection active 24 hours a day or at specific times.
   • We're almost done. You might now want to turn off the "motion overlay". If you leave this turned on, there's a good chance that the picture of an intruder will be hidden by the motion overlay (so, instead of the intruder's face, you'll see red splotches). The overlay is intended to help you understand where motion is being detected - in that sense, it's very useful as a configuration tool. But once you've configured motion detection, our recommendation is that the overlay be disabled.
   
   That's it. Motion detection is configured and ready to run. :-)
2. Do I need my webcam to specifically support motion detection?
   
   No, motion detection is built-into the GotoCamera client software; your webcam needn't directly "support" motion detection. If anything, you're likely to get better results with a standard webcam that does not try to do its own motion detection.

Accessing your cameras

1. How do I access my camera via the Web?
   
   To access via the Web, simply login to www.gotocamera.com - you'll immediately go to the "My Cameras" section. Click on the for a single live snapshot. Click on the and for 10 or 50 live snapshots. Click the for a 10 second video clip (this is recorded the moment you click the icon; after it's finished recording, it will be played back). Or click the for a 5 minute live video stream (this will start streaming after a short buffering delay; you'll see the orange buffering bar advance to the right after about 10 seconds).
   Streaming videos may be unavailable to you depending on your service plan; all subscribers have full access to the service for the initial 7-day Trial period, after which streaming video may become unavailable. See http://www.gotocamera.com/GotoCamera-pricing for a list of differences between Free and Premium plans.
   Do note that videos (10 second clips and 5 minute streams) require Flash. If you do not have Flash installed, you can get it at www.adobe.com/flash. In some rare cases, some network managers disable the use of Flash streaming on office networks, in which case video streaming may be unavailable to you from your office. Thankfully, such draconian TIGHT networks are rare. :-)



2. Can I turn on video streaming and leave it on?
   
   Short answer: no.
   
   Long answer: When you click the 5m video streaming icon, live video from your camera will start playing after a short buffering delay. This stream will automatically stop after 5 minutes. If you'd like to start the stream again, you can do so by clicking the 5m icon again, as many times as you like, all through the day. However, you can't "turn it on and leave it on". Our intention with GotoCamera is to make the service as widely accessible by as many people as possible, all around the world. The costs of "turn it on and leave it on" would be too high to deliver the service to everyone, everywhere. Consequently, streams are limited to 5 minutes per stream, with NO limit on how many times you stream throughout the day. This is the ideal compromise that fits with our universal accessibility goal.



3. How do I access my camera via a mobile phone?
   
   If you're using an iPhone, please download our free iPhone app from here. If you're using an Android phone, we have a free app coming for you really soon :-). If you're using some other phone, you can access your camera by pointing your phone's browser to www.gotocamera.com/mobile. Streaming video is not available on mobile phones at this time. The /mobile site does not support video clips.



4. What are mobile credits and what kind of mobile phone access am I charged mobile credits for?
   
   Mobile alerts enable you to have pictures and videos from GotoCamera sent to your mobile phone. Each message sent to your mobile phone from GotoCamera requires 1 mobile alert. For example, if you have motion detection configured to send Alerts to your mobile phone, then 1 alert will be deducted from your account each time an alert is sent to your mobile phone.
   
   IMPORTANT: Mobile credits are NOT required if you access GotoCamera by going to www.gotocamera.com on your mobile phone. Mobile credits are ONLY required when alerts or other communications are SENT from the site to your phone.



5. Why are video clips only 10 seconds long? Can I get longer clips? And how about video streaming?
   
   Video clips are recorded live - i.e. when you hit the "video" icon, the GotoCamera client commences recording the clip. This clip must first be recorded, then uploaded to the GotoCamera server, and then downloaded back to the PC from which you requested the video. The entire process takes roughly twice as long to complete as the original duration of the clip (so, for example, a 10 second clip might need 20-30 seconds to get to your PC). Our user-testing showed most users dislike waiting beyond 20 - 25 seconds; as a result, we compromised on setting the default video clip duration at 10 seconds.
   
   Video streaming is available to all Premium subscribers. In addition, all new subscribers have access to video streaming for the first 7 days from the time they set up their account. Subsequently, snapshots, video clips, motion detection, online storage, etc will continue to remain available to Free subscribers but video streaming will be disabled.



6. I do not have a mobile phone. Can I still set up and access cameras?
   
   Sure.



7. Why can't the pictures / videos be sent directly to my cellphone? Why do I have to click a link to see them?
   
   We use SMS to send an encrypted link to your mobile phone. The alternative would be MMS (also known as "picture messaging"). Unfortunately, picture messaging across countries rarely ever works - and when it does, it's significantly more expensive (6 to 10 times as much!), which would make the service more expensive for our subscribers. SMS is fairly universal, provides the best balance between reach and cost, and this is why we send you a clickable link.

Your GotoCamera Account

1. How do I register with GotoCamera?
   
   
   • Click on "Sign Up", fill the required details in the form, accept the terms and conditions (we've tried to make them real easy to read), and click Next
   • That's it. Your account has been set up - no email validation is required. You can now download and install the GotoCamera client software and set up your own cameras.
   
   
   



2. Can I share my mobile credits with another GotoCamera user?
   
   No.



3. Is there a limit to the number of images and videos that I can store in my account?
   
   Beta subscribers may store up to 50 MB of data, with any combination of pictures and videos. Premium subscribers may store up to 1,000 MB of data, again with any combination of pictures and videos. Additional storage is available for a small fee - see http://www.gotocamera.com/GotoCamera-pricing to learn more.



4. How much can I store in 1,000 MB?
   
   Short answer: Enough for 2 weeks of continuous recording at typical settings.
   Long answer: This is best understood with the following example. 1 image, at 640x480, is usually around 50 - 100 KB 1 20 second motion-detection video, at 352x288, is usually around 300 - 350 KB 1 10-second video clip (also at 352x288) is usually under 200 KB.
   This means, if you set up Auto-Record to record a 10-second video clip automatically, every 5 minutes (which is about right from a practical perspective) as well as an image every minute (which might be overkill...), 1 GB can hold close to a week of such continuous recording. Ordinarily, you'll only want Auto-Record running for the hours you're away from home. Let's assume you're out for 12 hours a day, you're looking at 1 GB lasting you over 2 weeks, assuming you do not delete any of the unneeded recordings.
   The key here is "assuming you do not delete any of the unneeded recordings". In practice, it's best to delete unwanted footage, so you have always have room in your Archives for more.

Troubleshooting

1. I have a camera connected, but I do not see it on "My Cameras" page even after I've logged into my account.
   
   Try refreshing the page. This can be done by clicking on "My Cameras". Alternatively, your camera might not really be connected. If you're absolutely confident that the camera is connected (the GotoCamera client software says "Connected"), please write in to us via the Contact Us page and we'll do our best to sort this out.



2. I have a camera connected, but I am not getting any images.
   
   If your Internet connection is very slow, the GotoCamera server might time-out your image request before your camera is able to deliver it. In general, this should not happen. If it does, please use the Contact Us page to write in to us.



3. The page is not displaying any video, even though I have QuickTime installed.
   
   Video loads around 10 - 15 seconds after you click the 10s or 5m icons. If - after clicking these - the "Buffering" bar doesn't move at all (it normally requires 10 - 15 seconds to start moving), check that streaming is enabled in the Client software (double-click in the video feed in the Client and click the Streaming tab at the top). Also ensure that Flash streaming has not been disabled by your office / network administrator. If all else fails, please write to us from the Contact Us page.

Miscellaneous Questions

1. What do I need to use the GotoCamera service?
   
   To set up a camera, you will need either:
   • A PC running Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7
   • A typical PC webcam connected to the PC via USB cable or built into the lid of your netbook / notebook computer OR an old disused Android phone
   • A connection to the Internet, preferably DSL or cable
   
   
   Cameras can be accessed from most web browsers. Video access requires Flash, which can be downloaded from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/flash.



2. What kind of cameras DO NOT work with GotoCamera?
   
   Typical Wi-Fi / network cameras will not work (EXCEPTION: the D-Link DCS-2120 with the special GotoCamera firmware). Also, at this time, CCTV ("security cameras") do not work with GotoCamera.



3. What format are the images/videos captured in? What is the typical file-size?
   
   Images are captured in jpeg format and are typically 20 - 100 KB, and videos in .3gp (typically 200 - 500 KB). Videos can be displayed through Flash on PCs, Macs, etc. (video clip playback does not require any special software on most currently-available mobile phones).



4. What are the system requirements for running the GotoCamera client?
   
   The minimum system requirements for running the GotoCamera client are:
   • Windows XP or above
   • Internet Explorer 7.0 or above (latest versions of IE and Firefox recommended); Cookies from www.gotocamera.com must be permitted
   • Internet access through DSL, Cable, leased-line, or dial-up (Important: you many not be able to connect your camera to the GotoCamera server if you are inside a corporate LAN that requires its users to go through a proxy server)
   • Our testing has shown that most older computers (prior to the Core 2 Duo) can host a maximum of 2 cameras while many of the newer computers can handle up to 4. With older or less powerful computers (such as Atom based netbooks), a third camera can often result in a black screen and the CPU hitting 100%. For best results, we recommend no more than 2 cameras running on any computer, particularly if you're also using motion detection.



5. Can I leave the GotoCamera Client running in the background?
   
   Yes. The GotoCamera Client is not resource intensive and is meant to be left running in the background. You can click on the "X" icon on the top right of the GotoCamera client software - this will minimise GotoCamera client and it will continue running in the background until you exit.



6. How do I monitor my living room when my computer is in my bedroom?
   
   You can use an active USB extension cable (see examples here: http://www.gotocamera.com/buy) to place your webcam up to 99 feet away from your computer (remember: not just any old USB extension cable; only ACTIVE extension cables can work over these distances). Alternatively, wireless USB cameras from Swann are expected to become available in the US and the UK in February 2011.



7. What is Auto-Record? How do I create a new recording schedule? How do I edit / delete an existing recording schedule?
   
   Auto-Record helps you set up a recording schedule so you can see what happened in your home or your place of work all through the day. For example, you could specify a recording schedule requesting the system to record an image from your camera every 2 minutes, between 8 am and 6 pm, each week day. (This is just one example; you can choose your own schedule, days, frequency, etc.) These images will be saved in your Archives, from where you can see the full-size images by clicking on the thumbnails. All recording is on our servers so your PC's disk space is not wasted and so that you can login from anywhere in the world and have access to your Archives. (Premium subscribers can additional store Auto-Recorded images and videos to their PCs by enabling Local Storage through the My Account section on the website and also through the Advanced tab in the Client software).
   
   To create a new recording schedule:
   • Click on the "Add" option under "Auto-Record" below your camera name on the My Cameras page
   • Select your preferred frequency and timing and click OK. To add another Auto-record setting, simply repeat this step.
   • Click on "Done" once you're finished
   
   To edit / delete an existing recording schedule:
   • Click on the orange "Auto-Record" button in the top menu bar of the My Cameras page. This will show you a list of your current recording schedules.
   • Click on the pencil logo - this will enable you to edit your Auto-Record settings.
   • Click on the trash-can logo - this will enable you to delete your Auto-Record settings.



8. How do I install the GotoCamera client?
   
   
   • Go to the Downloads page and download the GotoCamera Client software. Click on "Save" when prompted and save the installation file into your computer.
   • Go to the location where you have saved the installation file and double-click the icon to run the installation. Follow the prompts in the installation process.
   
   
   



9. How do I uninstall the GotoCamera client?
   
   Go to Start -> Programs -> GotoCamera and select Uninstall GotoCamera Client.Control Panel in Windows.



10. How do I exit the GotoCamera client?
    
    To exit the GotoCamera Client, click on File and select Exit or right click on the GotoCamera icon in the System Tray and select exit. NOTE: Clicking on "X" in the upper right of the GotoCamera client will NOT close the application - it will continue to run with a small icon visible in your icons tray.



11. How do I send an image or video to my cellphone from the GotoCamera website?
    
    Click on image or video against the camera you want to access; once the image / video loads, click on "Send to my mobile" and a link to the image / video will be sent to your mobile phone (to the number registered with GotoCamera); click on the link to retrieve the content. (One mobile alert will be deducted from your account whenever a picture or video is sent to your mobile phone in this manner; in addition, your mobile service provider might charge you for data usage - GotoCamera does not levy any additional data charge or levy a premium or share revenue with your operator on their data charges).