Support

How to install Artifacts live - Click on the large brown CHAT button on this page. A box will pop up prompting you to save or run from current location.  Chose "save" and pick a destination folder to store the installation file in.  After the downloaded has finished, chose open and run the install file.  Installation will make an icon on your desktop called "Artifacts Live", use this icon to log onto the service.

How to logon to Artifacts Live - Installation will make an icon on your desktop called "Artifacts Live".  Click on this icon and a window will pop up, prompting for information.  Choose the "New" button and create an account.   After account has been created, fill in your username and password, and use the pull down menu to select "general" from the lobby list.

How to chat - After you have logged onto Artifacts Live, you can either sit in the lobby and talk, or enter a room. To chat in text, simply type in the black box that is furthest down in the center of your screen and hit enter to post it.  You will notice in the General Lobby, that there is an icon called "arrowheads".  To enter the arrowheads room, simply double click on that icon from the lobby view.  After entering, you can maximize your chat text area by grabbing the gray bar below the page in the middle of your screen, and pulling it upwards with your mouse. To view other people's cameras, simply click the "show" button at the bottom left and you will notice an area with 3 boxes will appear to the right of your screen, this is where the video will be shown.  To view  a users video, chose one of the pulldown boxes on the right hand side of your screen and pick their name.  You can view up to 3 users video simultaneously. 

How to broadcast video - To broadcast video to other users you will need a web camera. At the bottom left you will see the buttons show, start cap and options.  Click on the options button next to start cap. A camera configuration dialogue window will pop up.  Chose "set camera" and use the pull-down menu to select your appropriate camera.  To let other users view your camera, chose "start cap" so it will broadcast to them.  To fine tune or tweak your camera, in options, click on Video Capture pin, in the white large window.  You will see an area that says output size.  Output size is how large and quality of a graphic you will be broadcasting. 480X600 gives me a very good picture, or you can even go larger.  NOTE: adjusting this is not necessary for all cameras, it's only if you have pixelated or bad camera quality to others.  You can also adjust camera settings through Video Capture Filter (color, etc).  The only limitations are your cameras software itself.  To stop broadcasting video to other users, simply chose "stop cap".  To shut off your camera, you can go back into options and chose close camera.

How to broadcast audio -  To broadcast audio, a microphone is necessary. I use and recommend speaker / mic combination headsets for chatting, so the rest of the household isn't disturbed by the chatter.  When in a room, to  broadcast audio to other users, simply mouse click on the green "talk" button in the lower left hand corner.  If you need to talk or hold down mic for an extended period of time, you can right mouse click on the talk button to lock it down.  Remember to use the right mouse button " lock" feature if you will be broadcasting for more than just a couple of seconds - I have noticed that if you try to hold down with the left mouse button for extended periods of it that you can get 'stuck' on mic.  If you do happen to get 'stuck' on mic, simply close out the program and return to fix it promptly.