Re: [GnomeMeeting-list] Re: GnomeMeeting Question on Far End Camera Control

[Malcolm Caldwell <malcolm caldwell ntu edu au>]

Hello,

I am in no way an expert on any of this, but I am interested in far end
camera control although the idea of this feature in gnomemeeting is
probably a pipe dream.

As I was interested I did a bit of digging around on the web.

On Sat, 2004-05-15 at 01:48, Alan Sill wrote:
> Mike (and if you don't mind, a copy to the GnomeMeeting list),
> 
> DOn't know the answer to your question about far end camera control.  
> As far as I know, this is not yet a feature of GM, although it would be 
> nice if it were.  

Openh323 and gnomemeeting do not support far end camera control.  As you
may now know it is one of the h323 protocols.  From a quick look at
packetizer.com it would seem to be h323 Annex Q which defines far end
camera control using H.281 over H.224.  (Also it would seem that Annex Q
is a H323v5 thing and older equipment may be using other standards. 
Apparently there were other H. standards that implemented far end camera
control before this.)

The trick would be knowing what protocol the codian uses.

For this to be supported in gnomemeeting these protocols would need to
be implemented.  While these protocols are probably fairly simple it
would still be a bit of work to get this implemented.

Of note, this feature is not in high demand (otherwise it would have
been implemented already).

Also, we seem to have lost this feature recently with 
> the existing H.323 system when used with our Polycom ViewStations, not 
> sure why.

Have you upgraded your viewstations lately?

> On the Codian products page, I see the following:
> 
> > Controlling Remote Cameras
> >
> > One of the features that is often lost when using an MCU is the 
> > ability to control the camera at some of the remote locations.
> >
> >  With the Codian MCU this can be done by using either the web or the 
> > remote control. Press the Zoom In key, and the display will show an 
> > icon in the top left corner of the screen indicating that Up, Down, 
> > Left, Right and Zoom camera commands are being sent to the remote end.
> >
> >  It is also possible to control a remote camera using the web page; 
> > this is useful for users of endpoints such as Net Meeting which do not 
> > allow Far End Camera Control (FECC).
> 
> I would be interested in hearing more from existing GnomeMeeting users 
> and developers about far end control, and from Codian about what they 
> mean in the above about  it being possible "to control a remote camera 
> using the web page."
> 
> GM pages at http://www.gnomemeeting.org
> 
> 
> On May 14, 2004, at 9:52 AM, Mike Pihlman wrote:
> 
> > I was working a bit with Will from Codian  looking at their new H.323 
> > MCU with integrated Streaming capability (and capability to meet using 
> > any bit rate, among other features)!  (www.codian.com)
> >
> > Anyway, control of the process (after calling into the MCU: setting up 
> > a meeting, setting up a password, changing the display, etc etc), 
> > right now is via "far end" camera control and the DTMF keypad.  I was 
> > wondering if GnomeMeeting offered these?
> > I tried E-Conf this AM and it does NOT offer either, and I could go no 
> > further than connecting to the Codian front end.  ViaVideo does offer 
> > these.  As do ViewStations (and I assume other high-end devices such 
> > as Tandbergs, VCON's, etc).
> > Thanks, Mike
> 
> Alan
> 
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