How to Add Webcam Video to Your AOL Journal (It's Easy)

As I promised, um, last week, here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to record webcam video directly into your AOL Journal. It's pretty easy -- it's powered by the Userplane Webrecorder, and all you need is a Webcam hooked up to your computer.

Of course, the Userplane folks did a full screencast tutorial -- it's a narrated video that shows you what's on the computer screen as someone walks through the process. It shows you everything you need, but I'll finish this entry since I started it, and besides, I like still pictures and text.

1. Create a new Journal entry (or edit an old one). Click the "Add Video" button, or the video camera icon in the formatting toolbar. They pretty much do the same thing.

2. Click the "Record" tab:

The "Embed" tab is where you paste the code that you get from a video sharing site.

3. You'll get a warning message, that says that userplane.com wants access to your camera and microphone. Click "Allow":

4. The software will detect your webcam, and you'll see what it sees onscreen. When you're ready to record, click the "Rec" (for "Record") button -- you can record up to 3 minutes:

To stop recording, hit the "S" (for "Stop") button.

To review what you're recorded, hit the Play button. If you're not happy with the result and want to re-record, click the "X" button to erase the current recording (you'll get a warning message).

5. If you're happy with the playback, click the flashing "Save Recording" button. This will pop a warning that you're about to replace any current recording (you don't have a current recording to replace yet, so don't worry). Click "Replace":

6. The recording you just made will show up in the right panel. You'll see what the camera is currently seeing on the left side:

You can play back the recorded video on the right side, or youcan record a new one onthe left (using the process I described above). If you like the new version better, you can replace the current recording.

When you've recorded a version you like, click "Add Video."

7. You'll see a camera icon embedded in your Journal. That's your video:

You can't preview the video here, but you can add text before or after it, just like any other blog entry. When you're ready, save your entry.

8. Here's a closeup of my video entry after I saved it -- you can see text I added before and after the video:

Now, some things to remember:

* You can also record a video in your "All About Me" sidebar. The video will resize itself to fit automatically, which is nice.

* If three minutes of recording time just isn't enough for you, you can either make a new blog entry, or you can also add another video to your current entry -- just click the "Add Video" button again.

I would only do this sparingly, since I hate to say it, but you're probably not as captivating to other people as you might think.

* Remember, if you do your own video entries, try tagging them with aol video blogger or video blog so we can see.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: aol video blogger, video blog, userplane, webrecorder, aol journals, tutorial