Accessing your webcam

By default, Mint does not come with an application in order to view and record your webcam. However, there are several webcam applications available for installation, and one of them is known as Cheese. Cheese is available for installation in the same way that you would install any other packages. Simply search for it in Synaptic or Software Manager, or execute sudo apt-get install cheese in a terminal window. Cheese will then be available in the Applications menu once it finishes installing.

Cheese is a very basic webcam program, but it gets the job done. With Cheese, you can take simple pictures through your webcam, record video, or even take multiple pictures in a short iteration. In addition, you can also apply special effects to your photos.

Another application available for viewing your webcam is a program called GTK+UVC Viewer, which is installable by searching for the guvcview package. If, for some reason, Cheese doesn't work well for you, GUVCViewer may be an...