All you really need is a camera, available from any superstore, and the software, easily found on the Net. NetGuide has an excellent Web cam tutorial . You'll need a video digitizer if you want to use video from your camcorder. If you go this route, select Web cam software first, then buy a digitizing board. An expensive video digitizer can be a waste of money if your software won't work with it.
Most software packages have limited hardware support.
Getting the software isn't difficult either. For Mac users, Rearden's SiteCam has a free demo and good reviews. Connectix has a guide for PCs and Macs, and there's plenty of third-party software available at CamCentral . Chris Hughes used the SiteCam software to set up Teleport's original Web cam. Teleport's new color Web cam uses WebCam32 .