How do I make/record personal Videos Using Only a Webcam vs a costly video camera?

[carlb]

I'm interested in the most cost-effective way to produce/record videos for upload. It appears that a webcam is a cheaper option than video cameras, but it seems like web cams require another person on the other end to record the video, as well as a messenger service, such as Yahoo Instant Messenger.

I'm only interested in making my own videos- not a multi-party video.

There are programs besides Instant Messengers that allow you to show videos from your web-cam, so you don't really need another person to record video from your web-cam.

Video camera can give better quality. The choice depends on the quality that you need.