How to record high quality videos from my webcam?

How can I record better quality videos with my webcam? Or do I need to buy a different one?

• I just bought a Microsoft Lifecam HD-3000. I want to use this to chat and record videos as well. I attempted to do this with the software provided but the sound goes in and out and the playback is slow. Do I need a different camera or a program?

• Answer:

  You can good results from any camera as long as you set things up correctly. most problems are caused by poor lighting. You problem is not really the camera, if things are playing slowly, (start and stop, audio not keeping up with the video or anything like that) its down to your computer, it cannot process the data fast enough. The absolute minimum requirements are "720p HD recording: Intel Dual-Core 3.0 GHz or higher, 2 GB of RAM" this is from Microsoft site. When you try to play the video back maybe it would be a good idea to stop any programs running in the background, defrag you Hard drive and delete any unwanted software, including temp and cookies, this will give the computer a little more to play with. then see if that helps, adding some more ram, would also help, but unless you are using a 64bit OS, you are limited to the amount or RAM you can use. If that does not help, there are two other options you can use. If possible record the video in another format, maybe through the software it gives you alternatives, try that or lastly, once the video is recorded, convert it to another format, such as MPG or MPEG. this is less compressed video and will make it easier for your computer to process. If you want to convert the video, have a look here, there are some free ones. http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/all-in-one-video-converters Hope one of those helps you RR