If the camera is available but is not yet being used because Video.attachCamera() 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.

To set this property, use setQuality().

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

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

To set this value, use setMotionLevel().

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.

This event has the following characteristics:

An info object with a code property of "Camera.muted" indicates that the user has refused to allow the SWF file access to the user's camera. An info object with a code property of "Camera.unmuted" indicates that the user has allowed the SWF file access to the user's camera.

This event has the following characteristics:

public static function getCamera(name:String = null):Camera

Multiple calls to getCamera() 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 names.length. 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.

public function setMode(width:int, height:int, fps:Number, favorArea:Boolean = true):void

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 width, height, and fps.

public function setMotionLevel(motionLevel:int, timeout:int = 2000):void

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 motionLevel; 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 Microphone.setSilenceLevel(); 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.

public function setQuality(bandwidth:int, quality:int):void

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.

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.media.Camera;
    import flash.media.Video;
    import flash.events.*;

    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);
        }
    }
}