A numeric value that specifies the amount of motion the camera is detecting. Values range from 0 (no motion is being detected) to 100 (a large amount of motion is being detected). The value of this property can help you determine if you need to pass a setting to the setMotionLevel() method.

If the camera is available but is not yet being used because the Video.attachCamera() method has not been called, this property is set to -1.

If you are streaming only uncompressed local video, this property is set only if you have assigned a function to the event handler. Otherwise, it is undefined.

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An integer that specifies the maximum amount of bandwidth the current outgoing video feed can use, in bytes. A value of 0 means that Flash video can use as much bandwidth as needed to maintain the desired frame quality.

To set this property, use the setQuality() method.

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The rate at which the camera is capturing data, in frames per second. This property cannot be set; however, you can use the setMode() method to set a related property—fps—which specifies the maximum frame rate at which you would like the camera to capture data.

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The maximum rate at which you want the camera to capture data, in frames per second. The maximum rate possible depends on the capabilities of the camera; that is, if the camera doesn't support the value you set here, this frame rate will not be achieved.

• To set a desired value for this property, use the setMode() method.
• To determine the rate at which the camera is currently capturing data, use the currentFPS property.

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The current capture height, in pixels. To set a value for this property, use the setMode() method.

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A zero-based integer that specifies the index of the camera, as reflected in the array returned by the names property.

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Specifies which video frames are transmitted in full (called keyframes) instead of being interpolated by the video compression algorithm. The default value is 15, which means that every 15th frame is a keyframe.

Specifies whether a local view of what the camera is capturing is compressed and decompressed (true), as it would be for live transmission using Flash Media Server, or uncompressed (false). The default value is false.

To set this value, use Camera.setLoopback(). To set the amount of compression used when this property is true, use Camera.setQuality().

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A numeric value that specifies the amount of motion required to invoke the activity event. Acceptable values range from 0 to 100. The default value is 50.

Video can be displayed regardless of the value of the motionLevel property. For more information, see setMotionLevel().

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The number of milliseconds between the time the camera stops detecting motion and the time the activity event is invoked. The default value is 2000 (2 seconds).

To set this value, use setMotionLevel().

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A Boolean value that specifies whether the user has denied access to the camera (true) or allowed access (false) in the Flash Player Privacy panel. When this value changes, the statusevent is dispatched.

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A string that specifies the name of the current camera, as returned by the camera hardware.

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Retrieves an array of strings reflecting the names of all available cameras without displaying the Flash Player Privacy panel. This array behaves in the same way as any other ActionScript array, implicitly providing the zero-based index of each camera and the number of cameras on the system (by means of names.length). For more information, see the names Array class entry.

Calling the names property requires an extensive examination of the hardware, and it may take several seconds to build the array. In most cases, you can just use the default camera.

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An integer specifying the required level of picture quality, as determined by the amount of compression being applied to each video frame. Acceptable quality values range from 1 (lowest quality, maximum compression) to 100 (highest quality, no compression). The default value is 0, which means that picture quality can vary as needed to avoid exceeding available bandwidth.

To set this property, use the setQuality() method.

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The current capture width, in pixels. To set a desired value for this property, use the setMode() method.

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Returns a reference to a Camera object for capturing video. To actually begin capturing the video, you must attach the Camera object to a Video object (see Video.attachVideo() ).

Multiple calls to the getCamera() method reference the same camera. Thus, if your code contains code like firstCam:Camera = getCamera() and secondCam:Camera = getCamera(), both firstCam and secondCam reference the same camera, which is the user's default camera.

In general, you shouldn't pass a value for the name parameter; simply use getCamera() to return a reference to the default camera. By means of the Camera settings panel (discussed later in this section), the user can specify the default camera Flash should use.

When a SWF file tries to access the camera returned by getCamera(), Flash Player displays a dialog box that lets the user choose whether to allow or deny access to the camera. (Make sure your application window size is at least 215 x 138 pixels; this is the minimum size Flash requires to display the dialog box.) When the user responds to this dialog box, Flash Player returns an information object in the status event that indicates the user's response: Camera.muted indicates the user denied access to a camera; Camera.unmuted indicates the user allowed access to a camera. To determine whether the user has denied or allowed access to the camera without handling the status event, use the muted property.

The user can also specify permanent privacy settings for a particular domain by right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Macintosh) while a SWF file is playing, selecting Settings, opening the Privacy panel, and selecting Remember.

You can't use ActionScript to set the Allow or Deny value for a user, but you can display the Privacy panel for the user by calling Security.showSettings(SecurityPanel.PRIVACY). If the user selects Remember, Flash Player no longer asks the user whether to allow or deny SWF files from this domain access to your camera.

If getCamera() returns null, either the camera is in use by another application, or there are no cameras installed on the system. To determine whether any cameras are installed, use the names.length property. To display the Flash Player Camera Settings panel, which lets the user choose the camera to be referenced by getCamera(), use System.showSettings(SecurityPanel.CAMERA).

Scanning the hardware for cameras takes time. When Flash finds at least one camera, the hardware is not scanned again for the lifetime of the player instance. However, if Flash doesn't find any cameras, it will scan each time getCamera is called. This is helpful if a user has forgotten to connect the camera; if your SWF file provides a Try Again button that calls getCamera, Flash can find the camera without the user having to restart the SWF file.

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Specifies which video frames are transmitted in full (called keyframes) instead of being interpolated by the video compression algorithm. This method is generally applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server.

The Flash Video compression algorithm compresses video by transmitting only what has changed since the last frame of the video; these portions are considered to be interpolated frames. Frames of a video can be interpolated according to the contents of the previous frame. A keyframe, however, is a video frame that is complete; it is not interpolated from prior frames.

To determine how to set a value for the keyFrameInterval parameter, consider both bandwidth use and video playback accessibility. For example, specifying a higher value for keyFrameInterval (sending keyframes less frequently) reduces bandwidth use. However, this may increase the amount of time required to position the playhead at a particular point in the video; more prior video frames may have to be interpolated before the video can resume.

Conversely, specifying a lower value for keyFrameInterval (sending keyframes more frequently) increases bandwidth use because entire video frames are transmitted more often, but may decrease the amount of time required to seek a particular video frame within a recorded video.

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Specifies whether to use a compressed video stream for a local view of the camera. This method is generally applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server; setting compress to true lets you see more precisely how the video will appear to users when they view it in real time.

Although a compressed stream is useful for testing purposes, such as previewing video quality settings, it has a significant processing cost, because the local view is not simply compressed; it is compressed, edited for transmission as it would be over a live connection, and then decompressed for local viewing.

To set the amount of compression used when you set compress to true, use Camera.setQuality().

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Sets the camera capture mode to the native mode that best meets the specified requirements. If the camera does not have a native mode that matches all the parameters you pass, Flash selects a capture mode that most closely synthesizes the requested mode. This manipulation may involve cropping the image and dropping frames.

By default, Flash drops frames as needed to maintain image size. To minimize the number of dropped frames, even if this means reducing the size of the image, pass false for the favorArea parameter.

When choosing a native mode, Flash tries to maintain the requested aspect ratio whenever possible. For example, if you issue the command myCam.setMode(400, 400, 30), and the maximum width and height values available on the camera are 320 and 288, Flash sets both the width and height at 288; by setting these properties to the same value, Flash maintains the 1:1 aspect ratio you requested.

To determine the values assigned to these properties after Flash selects the mode that most closely matches your requested values, use the width, height, and fps properties.

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Specifies how much motion is required to dispatch the activity event. Optionally sets the number of milliseconds that must elapse without activity before Flash considers motion to have stopped and dispatches the event.

Note: Video can be displayed regardless of the value of the motionLevel parameter. This parameter determines only when and under what circumstances the event is dispatched—not whether video is actually being captured or displayed.

• To prevent the camera from detecting motion at all, pass a value of 100 for the motionLevel parameter; the activity event is never dispatched. (You would probably use this value only for testing purposes—for example, to temporarily disable any handlers that would normally be triggered when the event is dispatched.)
• To determine the amount of motion the camera is currently detecting, use the activityLevel property.
  
  Motion sensitivity values correspond directly to activity values. Complete lack of motion is an activity value of 0. Constant motion is an activity value of 100. Your activity value is less than your motion sensitivity value when you're not moving; when you are moving, activity values frequently exceed your motion sensitivity value.

This method is similar in purpose to the Microphone.setSilenceLevel() method; both methods are used to specify when the activity event should be dispatched. However, these methods have a significantly different impact on publishing streams:

• Microphone.setSilenceLevel() is designed to optimize bandwidth. When an audio stream is considered silent, no audio data is sent. Instead, a single message is sent, indicating that silence has started.
• setMotionLevel() is designed to detect motion and does not affect bandwidth usage. Even if a video stream does not detect motion, video is still sent.

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Sets the maximum amount of bandwidth per second or the required picture quality of the current outgoing video feed. This method is generally applicable only if you are transmitting video using Flash Media Server.

Use this method to specify which element of the outgoing video feed is more important to your application—bandwidth use or picture quality.

• To indicate that bandwidth use takes precedence, pass a value for bandwidth and 0 for quality. Flash will transmit video at the highest quality possible within the specified bandwidth. If necessary, Flash will reduce picture quality to avoid exceeding the specified bandwidth. In general, as motion increases, quality decreases.
• To indicate that quality takes precedence, pass 0 for bandwidth and a numeric value for quality. Flash will use as much bandwidth as required to maintain the specified quality. If necessary, Flash will reduce the frame rate to maintain picture quality. In general, as motion increases, bandwidth use also increases.
• To specify that both bandwidth and quality are equally important, pass numeric values for both parameters. Flash will transmit video that achieves the specified quality and that doesn't exceed the specified bandwidth. If necessary, Flash will reduce the frame rate to maintain picture quality without exceeding the specified bandwidth.

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Dispatched when a camera begins or ends a session.

The ActivityEvent.ACTIVITY constant defines the value of the type property of an activity event object.

This event has the following properties:

Dispatched when a camera reports its status. If the value of the code property is "Camera.muted", the user has refused to allow the SWF file access to the user's camera. If the value of the code property is "Camera.unmuted", the user has allowed the SWF file access to the user's camera.

Defines the value of the type property of a status event object.

This event has the following properties:

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Note: A camera must be attached to your computer for this example to work correctly.

package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.StageAlign;
    import flash.display.StageScaleMode;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;

    public class CameraExample extends Sprite {
        private var video:Video;
        
        public function CameraExample() {
            stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
            stage.align = StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
            
            var camera:Camera = Camera.getCamera();
            
            if (camera != null) {
                camera.addEventListener(ActivityEvent.ACTIVITY, activityHandler);
                video = new Video(camera.width * 2, camera.height * 2);
                video.attachCamera(camera);
                addChild(video);
            } else {
                trace("You need a camera.");
            }
        }
        
        private function activityHandler(event:ActivityEvent):void {
            trace("activityHandler: " + event);
        }
    }
}