Frequently Asked Questions

• What's Magic Camera?
• I do not have a camera on my computer, does Magic Camera still work?
• When I play a file, there is a "Webcam effects made by MagicCamera" watermark on the video.
• I entered wrong serial number with mistake, now the software can not be started!
• When I send pre-recorded video in Messenger, my friend says he can not hear audio while video is OK.
• I can not download MagicCamera, a file download dialog never comes up.
• I am going to do an internet TV show. I need software to switch between webcams and feed it to UStream.tv. Does your soft support this?
• How to set a high webcam resolution.
• Can Magic Camera use a video as the webcam background instead of a picture? What type of video formats does the software support?
• I want to use two cameras at once.
• How to create your own scene effect with Magic Camera.
• How to get the best result for the webcam backgrounds effects.
• How to customize the output resolution of MagicCamera, for example, remove the Camfrog black lines.
• How to make my own webcam animation effects.
• Can it make face distortion effects on photos?
• My webcam displays picture – 'run magic camera to activate this webcam'.
• Does Magic Camera support kernel mode virtual webcam on 64bit Windows?

In short, Magic Camera is webcam software to add 1000+ webcam effects on pictures, webcams and video chats. It can be used with webcam applications such as Skype, Live Messenger, justin.tv, etc. Besides, Magic Camera is also a virtual/fake webcam tool that can let you use files/screens to simulate a webcam. For more information, read our homepage and webcam effects demo page.

Yes. Magic Camera works even if you do not have a physical camera. In this case, Magic Camera will turn your video files or screens to a virtual/fake webcam. You can use this simulated camera with any webcam software. But bear in mind MagicCamera can not really give you a physical camera, which is obviously impossible.

That is unregistered version's limitation. Please buy Magic Camera to remove the watermark.

The software is locked by wrong serial number. Just delete two files located in:

For Windows7/Vista:
1) C:\Users\Your user name\AppData\Local\MagicCamera\setting.mc
2) C:\Users\Your user name\AppData\Local\MagicCamera\usr.mc

For WindowsXP:
1) C:\Documents and Settings\Your user name\Local Settings\Application Data\MagicCamera\setting.mc
2) C:\Documents and Settings\Your user name\Local Settings\Application Data\MagicCamera\usr.mc

Please be noted that these two files are hidden in Windows by default.

Magic Camera will return back to the un-registered status. Then you can launch it and re-enter your correct license information.

The best way to send audio is to use our Virtual Sound Card tool. You can find detail descriptions on this topic in our HowTo page.

If the file download box does not pop up, it is most likely your browser or anti-virus program blocks the download. You may temporarily disable your anti-virus software and try the direct download links below:

http://www.shiningmorning.com/software/MCSetup.exe

http://down.shiningmorning.com/MCSetup.exe

If the above links still does not work for you, you may go to our download page: http://www.shiningmorning.com/download.html

Choose the 'local download' server, right click on the download link and select 'save as' command.

You may also try the CNet download mirror.

Yes. Our software MagicCamera is the right software for doing this. It enables you to smoothly switch between webcams. You no longer need to stop the flash video to select another webcam. Instead, just use MagicCamera as the input webcam source, and then you can switch webcams through MagicCamera's webcam page.

MagicCamera supports UStream, justin.tv, YouTube, etc. Furthermore, MagicCamera also enables you to play files/screens as virtual webcam and add cool video effects on webcam.

Of course, Magic Camera supports large resolutions. Take version 7.1 of Magic Camera & 640*480 resolution as example, you can configure the resolution via:

1) Click Magic Camera tools menu -> option, select your preferred resolution on the pop up dialog, 640*480 recommended. This is the output resolution of MagicCamera.

2) On webcam page, select your webcam, click 'configure' drop button, then select 'video capture pin'. In the pop up dialog, there is a box called 'output size'. Select 640*480 resolution or any resolution you prefer. This is the input resolution of MagicCamera that your real webcam can support. If this input resolution you set is not the same as the above output resolution, MagicCamera will scale it to output resolution. So the higher input resolution your webcam can support, the higher video quality MagicCamera can output.

Also, refer to this How-To article.

Yes. Magic Camera supports video backgrounds effects. In other words, you can use not only still pictures to replace the webcam backgrounds in real-time, but also video files.

Steps in Magic Camera version 7.1:
Open Magic Camera effects window, switch to backgrounds effects panel, click the 'new' button, import the video you like, type a text as the new effect name, then save & use it. (You may need to restart Magic Camera to make the new effect work properly.)

As to the supported video file formats, with version 7.1, we recommend you use SWF as the file format to import. You can find many free swf video converter tools from Internet. We will make Magic Camera support all other video formats in the future release.

"I would like to merge two web camera feeds in a single feed over Skype. For example: I would like to have the other person see my face and a document at the same time on a single screen. Is something like this possible? Thanks."

Yes. It can be done by Magic Camera. Use Picture in Picture feature of Magic Camera to make this effect. Note the sub-source can from file, screen and another webcam. You can also drag the sub-video on the main preview window to adjust its position and size.

"I have successfully created a scene effect with an alpha mask contained within a bmp file to allow for partial transparency of my image. What haven't been able to determine is how to contain the image so that video feed is smaller, as you have done in the included scene effects. I have examined other similar programs to Magic Camera and I have found that some allow access to an XY coordinate system to do this. They, however, do not make it easy to mask the image. Hopefully, you software allows access to a system that allows me to achieve this effect. Thank you for your time"

In MagicCamera/effect/scene directory, there is a corresponding 'para' file with the same name as the 'mce' file. 'Mce' file contains the image of the effect, while the 'para' file controls the XY coordinate of the effect. You can use the 'make new effect' panel of MagicCamera to create new 'mce' file. For 'para' file, just edit with notepad. Its format is:

top-left point:   x,y
top-right point:   x,y
right-bottom point:  x,y
right-bottom point:  x,y

These four points control the alpha area of the effect. (It does not matter if your alpha area is not a rectangle.)

If you are our paid user, we can create the scene effect for you, providing you send your alpha image to us.

"I'm experiencing a problem using the webcam backgrounds effects. Although the background is displayed, the image breaks up when the camera focuses on a person. The problem is exaggerated when the person moves about. What is the most effective method of dealing with this issue? "

Magic Camera lets you easily change your webcam backgrounds in real-time. Please view below recommendations for the best performance:

1. Turn off all automatic settings on your webcam such as auto exposure, auto white balance, auto gain and zooming/panning options. Activate 'anti-flicker' in your webcam setting if possible. You can change these settings by going to the 'Webcam Page' in Magic Camera and choosing 'Configure'.

2. Make sure the background has no moving objects or lighting changes. If possible make the background as plain as possible and try to have contrast between the background and your face/body. Try to avoid casting shadows in the background or having objects in the background with large shadowy areas. Do not move your webcam after you take the snapshot.

3. Make sure you have enough light. Don't use your webcam in a dim background.

"In your previous version of Magic Camera videos played back in Camfrog displayed horizontal lines on the top and bottom of the window. When playing back a recorded video these lines made it obvious to the viewer that it was a recording rather than a live broadcast which took out a lot of fun when playing videos to family and friends. The question is does you new version address this problem? "

Camfrog uses 352*288 resolution to display videos, however, the previous version of Magic Camera outputs 320*240 video by default. This is the reason why blank lines appear on the top and bottom.

From version 7.1, Magic Camera supports customizing its output resolution. By setting ANY resolution you like, you can force change your webcam/capture card/dv to any output resolution. Even it is not a standard resolution, e.g., 666*333, 800*200...

Please download our latest version of MagicCamera.
http://www.shiningmorning.com/software/MCSetup.exe
 
After installation, go to 'MagicCamera menu-> tools-> option-> output resolution', select 'customize resolution', use a resolution that Camfrog asks for, e.g. 352*288, then close/reopen Camfrog, you will find the black lines disappear.

"I knew Magic Camera has many build-in pictures to make the animation effects on webcam. However, can I take just a regular picture, resize it, and put it anywhere on the screen, such as putting it as a little box next to my head? "

Yes. With Magic Camera, you can make this effect easily. 

For example, in version 7.1, after you apply an 'animation page' effect on your webcam, you can move/resize this effect by directly dragging the picture on the webcam video. If you prefer to use your own picture, just use the 'new' button on the 'animation page' to import it as a new effect. Then you can customize its size/position just like a build-in picture/animation effect.

"Hello, I'm looking for a more advanced software tool for my notebook. I want something that will allow face distortion effects on photos. Will the Magic Camera work on my computer?"

Yes. For the face distortion effects, you may try the 'mask' effects panel on Magic Camera, it will track your face with your webcam and overlay masks such as hat, glass, hair, etc. on the webcam video.

We also recommend you to try 'distort' & 'filter' effects panels of Magic Camera. There are MANY kinds of video effects on these two panels that you can apply to your webcam video. For example, click the 'delaystripsV' effect and move you head, you will find Magic Camera applies distortion on your moving head in real-time. Try distort/filter effects all, I'm sure you can find the webcam effects that you like. 

You can always click 'snap' button to take photos with effects at any time. Recording videos with effects is also supported. 

Magic Camera can also add effects on your pre-recorded photos or videos files.

"Your software is very interesting. However, after installation, my webcam displays picture – 'run magic cam to activate this webcam' (See the screenshot). I use Windows 7 64bit, how do I fix this?

This is not a ‘bug’. The bitmap above is the default output content of Magic Camera’s virtual driver. If the driver cannot find any content to show, it will show this image. Just launch Magic Camera application (If you have already launched Magic Camera, you can find its icon in the system tray.) and set valid sources into Magic Camera, and then you will find the driver outputs the contents you select, such as files, screens or your real webcams.

Generally speaking, when some webcam program reads Magic Camera’s virtual driver, the driver will automatically launch Magic Camera application for you. By default, Magic Camera application takes the system default real webcam as its input source, so in this normal case, you should not see the above image.

However, there are also some other cases that Magic Camera cannot tell whether the application is already running or not. In such situations, the driver may not run the application for you, which causes you see the above default image. Possible reasons for these cases include:

1) You switched the UI language to a Non-English one;
2) You opened Magic Camera application before, closed it, and then use Magic Camera the second time;

Also, if Magic Camera application cannot find any real webcam on your computer, it may also output the above default image.

To sum it up, when you see the above default image, it means Magic Camera’s virtual driver cannot find any input source. Just run Magic Camera application and select a valid source, and then you will find the driver works.

Yes. From version 7.2, Magic Camera can install/add/remove kernel mode virtual webcam on 64bit Windows automatically. There is no additional configuration required.

However, if you want to use old version of Magic Camera on 64bit Windows, you have to manually configure the kernel mode virtual webcam driver. See this help.