ChessClock

ChessClock is a software chess clock. It also can be used together with a digital camera or webcam to take a picture of the board after each move so that positions encountered during the game can be revisited.

Version 1.0 (released 04/02/09)

Digital timer.

Webcam timelapse function.

You might also be interested in using a webcam for time lapse, security, making 3d models, tracking and/or long exposure. Applications relating to education include plagiarism software.

Requirements:

A computer, an image capture device such as a digital camera or webcam (ChessClock can automatically detect and work with most image capture devices).

FAQs:

Q1: What limitations are there in the trial version?
Q2: How much does ChessClock cost to buy?
Q3: How large are the still pictures ChessClock captures?
Q4: I don't have a webcam... Is my digital camera compatible with ChessClock?
Q5: Where can I get a codec to create a timelapse movie of the game?
Q6: What else could I use ChessClock for?
Q7: I know my webcam works but with ChessClock all I get is a dark grey box and no live image. What's wrong?
Q8: What settings can I specify and what do they do?
Q9: Does ChessClock work with Windows Vista?
Q10: Is there a Mac version of ChessClock?
Q11: This almost does what I want. Can I pay for some bespoke changes to be made?

Q1: What limitations are there in the trial version?
A1: Each player is limited to one minute.

Q2: How much does ChessClock cost to buy?
A2: ChessClock is shareware, not freeware. Version 1.0 costs $10 for new users. (Please also read the notes on the column to the right if you intend to purchase ChessClock.)

Q3: How large are the still pictures ChessClock captures?
A3: This depends on the resolution of the webcam. The pictures are compressed to Jpeg format which is ideal for photos in that it preserves fidelity but is also drastically smaller in size compared to other formats such as bitmaps (Bmp). A standard webcam resolution is 640x480 pixels and the typical filesize of such a photo would be of the order of 90KB.

Q4: I don't have a webcam... Is my digital camera compatible with ChessClock?
A4: The mode most cameras default to when plugged into a computer's USB port is "Transfer Photo" mode, used to transfer snaps onto your computer. Most digital cameras do however also have "PC Cam" mode which lets you use it as a webcam.

Q5: Where can I get a codec to create a timelapse movie of the game?
A5: Your PC will probably already have such a codec but just in case it doesn't, the DivX codec is usually pretty fast and results in a good quality video. In addition, here's a good site for downloading codecs.

Q6: What else could I use ChessClock for?
A7: ChessClock could be used for any two-player game, such as; Go, Scrabble, Shogi etc.

Q7: I know my webcam works but with ChessClock all I get is a dark grey box and no live image. What's wrong?
A7: What ChessClock does is take the first imaging device in your registry and try to get images from it. If it can't find any image devices it will flash up a message box saying "can't find a webcam/camera." If a dark grey box is being shown, the webcam is probably not listed as the default device, it may instead be the graphics card for example. Now, try "My Computer", "properties", "device manager" and select the cross beside "sound, video and game controllers". The usb webcam should be listed here but perhaps along with other devices (like, an entry "Nvidia WDM Video Capture"). Check the properties of any such capture device and disable them (presumably they are not being used anyway) then the webcam should be bumped up to be the first capture device. ChessClock should then work properly!

Q8: What settings can I specify and what do they do?
A8: The current settings can be found in the registry (Start->run->type "regedit"->click OK) They are listed under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SOFTWARE->Nimisis->ChessClock.

CAM_REF will usually be set to 0 but if a user has plugged multiple webcams in their machine in the past, the ID of the webcam in the windows registry might not be 0 (and they see a black window as described in Q8). In this case experimenting by setting this variable from 1 upwards should allow the user to find their webcam. If 1 through 15 fail then I would assume there is another problem/bug.

DELAY_DELTA to be used in a later version.

DELAY_TYPE to be used in a later version.

DIR specified the directory to store still images and time lapse videos.

LTIME time in seconds for the left user.

RTIME time in seconds for the right user.

RESOLUTION_REF when set to 0 gives a resolution of 320x240. 1 gives 640x480. 2 gives 960x720. 3 gives 1024x768. Further resolutions have not yet been implemented yet (but if you need it get in touch).

Q9: Does ChessClock work with Windows Vista?
A9: Yes, but a couple of customers did report problems with the license validation and having the default directory for saving frames set to drive C:\, though these were resolved. (Note that the registry key on Vista is "Computer\HKEY_USERS\[some guid]\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nimisis\ChessClock." This can also be found using "Find" in regedit.)

Q10: Is there a Mac version of ChessClock?
A10: No, but there hopefully will be soon. A customer has reported being able to emulate Windows XP on Max OS X using a program called Parallels. VMWare should also do the trick.

Q11: This almost does what I want. Can I pay for some bespoke changes to be made?
A11: In short, yes. Contact us with details of what you need and we'll provide a quote.

ChessClock [comments]

Download Now [Mirror]
Free download 1.3MB
[pad file for download sites]

Please note before buying that even in trial mode, the webcam output should be viewable. If it isn't for you, please get in touch.

A Paypal accountt is not required to buy a license. Credit cards are accepted. Before completing your order please first read the instructions below the screenshot.

Screenshot:

Purchase via the "Buy Now" button above. This takes you to the Paypal website where you can pay $10. (Payment via credit card is also accepted by Paypal.) PayPal then immediately notifies our database that the transaction has taken place. Please then retrieve your license by going to this page with your Paypal transaction email address and the two lines of info obtained from the License Info button on the Purchase ChessClock dialog box that pops up when you start ChessClock. This info contains your hard drive serial number and is used to encode the license. Note that the license, and therefore a fully functional version of ChessClock will only work on that one computer. For multi-user licenses (i.e. more than 10) please contact us.

Problems? Try the FAQs and the Google Group (see below) first. Comments, like suggestions for the next version are very welcome.

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Related tags

ChessClock, webcam, time lapse