Cornell University's Information Technology orgranization (CIT) has developed a Macintosh videoconferencing program called CU-SeeMe. It displays 4-bit grayscale windows at either 320x240 or half that diameter, 160x120. CU-SeeMe in version 0.40 provides a one-one connection or, by use of a "reflector," a one-many, several-to-several, or several-to-many conference.These pages contain Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about many aspects of CU-SeeMe installation, usage, hardware, reflectors, mailing lists, and the like. Please read through these pages before posting questions to the mailing lists. Please check these pages from time to time for new information. If you have information to volunteer, something is missing, wrong, obsolete, misspelled, badly written, grammatically incorrect, or just plain upsetting, please let me know.Each participant can decide whether to be a sender, a receiver, or both. Receiving requires only a Mac with a screen capable of displaying 16 grays and a connection to the Internet.
I'm currently re-structuring these pages, so please bear with me. I'm
concerned about out-of-date information still being here, what with the
CU team forging ahead with both the Macintosh and PC versions.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PC VERSION BEING ABLE TO SEND AND RECEIVE AUDIO IS
BASED UPON AN UPCOMING ALPHA VERSION. DON'T FLAME ME.
The definitive CU-SeeMe Reflector List in BinHex 4 format (for Macintosh)
CU-SeeMe allows Macintosh and PC users to send audio and video streams to each other (point-to-point) or to participate in groups (via a reflector). Plug-in software allows for new functionality to be written by anyone able to code to the published API.
You'll need no additional hardware to receive video; all modern Macintoshes are able to display 4-bit (16 levels) greyscale. You'll need no additional hardware to receive audio; all modern Macintoshes are able to play sound. To send video you'll need a camera capable of sending 4-bit greyscale digitally, or a combination of a camera and plug-in board that results in 4-bit greyscale digital video signal. The currently-supported options are:
To communicate with others you'll need set up a working TCP/IP connection (a direct Ethernet connection, ISDN, or dial-up SLIP or PPP). You'll require MacTCP and possibly some support software. This is discussed elsewhere.
- the Connectix QuickCam
- the Radius VideoSpigot card (no longer being manufactured)
It's important that you have a current copy of CU-SeeMe. The software is updated frequently, new capabilities are added, and bugs are fixed. There are obsolete copies of CU-SeeMe all over the place, but read on to find the location of the current version. A complete CU-SeeMe package consists of the following:
- The documentation. Please read the README.First file and peruse these web pages before you begin posting questions to the mailing lists. We've created a CU-SeeMe User's Guide that provides a graphic guide to the windows, controls, and usage.
- A list of reflectors, the definitive version of which is kept here.
- The software. The central repository of CU-SeeMe information is at Cornell University. The Macintosh versions are named Mac.CU-SeeMe0.xxx. The Windows versions are named PC.CU-SeeMeW0.xxx. (Get the highest-numbered xxx you see.)
I use a Macintosh PowerBook 520c with a Connectix QuickCam. I've used a PCMCIA modem, ISDN, and a direct Ethernet connection. Sometimes I use an external monitor to better see your smiling mugs.I've also used my Mac IIci with my other QuickCam. A gracious soul who heard I was looking for a no-longer-manufactured Radius VideoSpigot sent me one. As soon as I get a particular cable I'll hook a video camera to the card and see how that works for me. (I know it works for others.)
My QuickCam pages specify all sorts of Macs that work with the QuickCam. Readers of the CU-SeeMe mailing list have mailed in their Macintosh and Windows machine configurations.
I've used an IBM ThinkPad 750 Cs attached via a PCMCIA Ethernet card to a partial T-1 (128 kbps) line.I've used a Pentium, 17-inch monitor, and an Ethernet card attached to the same partial T-1.
First read the rest of these web pages. If a problem is happening to you there's a good chance it's happened to someone else. Then subscribe to an appropriate email discussion list. Read the traffic for a while (day, week) until you feel comfortable that you understand the culture. When you write an email message to report a problem or request help, please include:I include something like the following at the top of each problem report or request for assistance:
- Your operating system and version.
- Your hardware, operating system, and CU-SeeMe configuration. (Users of CU-SeeMe for Windows should include information about their TCP/IP stack and Winsock version.)
- A detailed description of all the steps you take to reproduce the problem, even if you think it's not important.
Hardware: Mac PowerBook 520c, 12mb RAM Software: MacOS 7.5, MacTCP 2.0.6, lots of INITs/CDEVs Target: CU-SeeMe 0.70b12
Badly.The amount of information needed to transmit audio and video simply is more than 14.4 kpbs. To understand a little more about the bandwidth constraints, please check out information about data generated by a video camera (via a discussion of frame rates) and related audio notes.
Richard Collins said:CU-Seeme does work fine with version 3.5. There are only two capture boards with drivers included on the NT 3.5 CD-ROM. If I remember correctly they are the Spigot and the Bravo. I swapped my VBSE for a Spigot and it works just fine. I've searched the net and haven't found much else for capturing.
Someone posted a message some time ago about a version of CU-SeeMe with different icons (very nice !!!). I downloaded the program, but since I upgraded to the new version of CUSEEME I lost the icons of course. Could anybody tell me where I can find this other version of CU-SeeMe so I can copy the icons into the new version?You can find the Human Interface (HI) versions of CU-SeeMe at ftp://ftp.csc.ncsu.edu/pub/CU-Seeme/.
(From sometime in late 1993) Cornell University's SeeMe (CU-SeeMe) has me more excited about being part of the global village than anything that's come before. The phrase "interactive desktop (laptop?) video-conferencing" doesn't do this medium justice -- the ability to see and hear fellow Internauts has made me acutely aware of the other people I share this planet with.Over years of encountering the same people again and again (frequent contributors to the USENET newsgroups I read), I had in my mind's eye an image of them. Pleasantly unlike movies and television eroding the imagination honed by books and radio, I find that two-way video just adds to the feeling of kinship I'd built up with people I'd never before heard nor seen.
Much more than "Internet Relay Chat with video" (thank you Tom Nelson), CU-SeeMe has the potential for making amateur video the lingua franca of the future, much like ASCII was for the past. CU-SeeMe viewers have already seen live footage from the Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway, and live Space Shuttle footage courtesy of NASA Select TV. I can hardly wait to see where we are a year from now.
Michael Sattler (msattler@jungle.com)