diff --git a/DisplayMachine.pde b/DisplayMachine.pde
index 2e97b2f..a2e5424 100644
--- a/DisplayMachine.pde
+++ b/DisplayMachine.pde
@@ -352,21 +352,29 @@ class DisplayMachine extends Machine
     noStroke();
     // draw machine outline
     
-    liveImage = webcam_buildLiveImage();
-    processedLiveImage = webcam_processImageForTrace(liveImage);
-
-    colourSeparations = webcam_buildSeps(processedLiveImage, sepKeyColour);
-    webcamShape = webcam_traceImage(colourSeparations);
-
-    if (drawingLiveVideo)
+//    liveImage = webcam_buildLiveImage();
+    // draw actual image
+    if (displayingImage && imageIsReady() && webcamShape != null)
     {
-      displayLiveVideo();
+      processedLiveImage = webcam_processImageForTrace(getImage());
+  
+      colourSeparations = webcam_buildSeps(processedLiveImage, sepKeyColour);
+      webcamShape = webcam_traceImage(colourSeparations);
     }
+
+//    if (drawingLiveVideo)
+//    {
+//      displayLiveVideo();
+//    }
     
     if (drawingWebcamShape && webcamShape != null)
     {
       displayWebcamShape();
     }
+    else
+    {
+      
+    }
   }
   
   public void displayLiveVideo()
diff --git a/Machine.pde b/Machine.pde
index 02d9518..04ca5da 100644
--- a/Machine.pde
+++ b/Machine.pde
@@ -521,8 +521,17 @@ class Machine
     {
       // check for format etc here
       println("loading from filename: " + filename);
-      this.imageBitmap = loadImage(filename);
-      this.imageFilename = filename;
+      try
+      {
+        this.imageBitmap = loadImage(filename);
+        this.imageFilename = filename;
+      }
+      catch (Exception e)
+      {
+        println("Image failed to load: " + e.getMessage());
+        this.imageBitmap = null;
+      }
+      
     }
     else
     {
diff --git a/polargraphcontroller.pde b/polargraphcontroller.pde
index 023006b..3544d82 100644
--- a/polargraphcontroller.pde
+++ b/polargraphcontroller.pde
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /**
   Polargraph controller
-  Copyright Sandy Noble 2012.
+  Copyright Sandy Noble 2013.
 
   This file is part of Polargraph Controller.
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   http://code.google.com/p/polargraph/
 
 */
-import processing.video.*;
+//import processing.video.*;
 import diewald_CV_kit.libraryinfo.*;
 import diewald_CV_kit.utility.*;
 import diewald_CV_kit.blobdetection.*;
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ import controlP5.*;
 import java.awt.event.*;
 
 int majorVersionNo = 1;
-int minorVersionNo = 5;
+int minorVersionNo = 6;
 int buildNo = 0;
 
 String programTitle = "Polargraph Controller v" + majorVersionNo + "." + minorVersionNo + " build " + buildNo;
@@ -461,10 +461,10 @@ public static Console console;
 public boolean useWindowedConsole = false;
 
 static boolean webcamEnabled = false;
-static boolean drawingLiveVideo = true;
+static boolean drawingLiveVideo = false;
 static boolean drawingWebcamShape = true;
-static boolean flipWebcamImage = true;
-static boolean rotateWebcamImage = true;
+static boolean flipWebcamImage = false;
+static boolean rotateWebcamImage = false;
 static boolean confirmedDraw = false;
 
 static PImage liveImage = null;
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ static int pathLengthHighPassCutoff = 0;
 static final Integer PATH_LENGTH_HIGHPASS_CUTOFF_MAX = 10000;
 static final Integer PATH_LENGTH_HIGHPASS_CUTOFF_MIN = 0;
 
-Capture liveCamera;
+//Capture liveCamera;
 //JMyron liveCamera;
 BlobDetector blob_detector;
 int liveSimplification = 5;
@@ -576,29 +576,7 @@ void setup()
   addEventListeners();
 
   //gamepad_init();
-  try
-  {
-    String[] cameras = Capture.list();
-    if (cameras.length > 0) {
-      liveCamera = new Capture(this, 640, 480, cameras[0]);
-      //liveCamera.start();
-      webcamEnabled = true;
-    }
-  }
-  catch (Exception e)
-  {
-    println("Exception occurred trying to look for attached webcams.  Webcam will not be used. " + e.getMessage());
-    webcamEnabled = false;
-  }
-
-  blob_detector = new BlobDetector( 640, 480);
-  blob_detector.setResolution(1);
-  blob_detector.computeContours(true);
-  blob_detector.computeBlobPixels(true);
-  blob_detector.setMinMaxPixels(10*10, 640*480);
-  
-  blob_detector.setBLOBable(new BLOBable_blueBlobs(liveImage));
-  
+  webcam_initCamera();
 }
 void addEventListeners()
 {
@@ -2777,7 +2755,16 @@ void loadFromPropertiesFile()
   setVectorFilename(getStringProperty("controller.vector.filename", null));
   if (getVectorFilename() != null)
   {
-    RShape shape = RG.loadShape(getVectorFilename());
+    RShape shape = null;
+    try
+    {
+      shape = RG.loadShape(getVectorFilename());
+    }
+    catch (Exception e)
+    {
+      shape = null;
+    }
+    
     if (shape != null) 
     {
       setVectorShape(shape);
diff --git a/webcam.pde b/webcam.pde
index 8d3b13e..750a122 100644
--- a/webcam.pde
+++ b/webcam.pde
@@ -1,43 +1,74 @@
-public PImage webcam_buildLiveImage()
+public void webcam_initCamera()
 {
-  //liveCamera.start();
-  PImage pimg = createImage(640, 480, RGB);
-  pimg.loadPixels();
-  if (liveCamera.available()) {
-    liveCamera.read();
-  }
-  pimg.pixels = liveCamera.pixels;
-  // flip the image left to right
-  if (flipWebcamImage)
-  {
-
-    List<int[]> list = new ArrayList<int[]>(480);
-
-    for (int r=0; r<pimg.pixels.length; r+=640)
-    {
-      int[] temp = new int[640];
-      for (int c=0; c<640; c++)
-      {
-        temp[c] = pimg.pixels[r+c];
-      }
-      list.add(temp);
-    }
-
-    // reverse the list
-    Collections.reverse(list);
-
-    for (int r=0; r<list.size(); r++)
-    {
-      for (int c=0; c<640; c++)
-      {
-        pimg.pixels[(r*640)+c] = list.get(r)[c];
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  pimg.updatePixels();
-  return pimg;
+  // dummy initCamera(), does nothing
+  webcamEnabled = true;
+  blob_detector = new BlobDetector( 640, 480);
+  blob_detector.setResolution(1);
+  blob_detector.computeContours(true);
+  blob_detector.computeBlobPixels(true);
+  blob_detector.setMinMaxPixels(10*10, 640*480);
+  
+  blob_detector.setBLOBable(new BLOBable_blueBlobs(liveImage));
 }
 
+public void webcam_initCameraProcCam()
+{
+//  try
+//  {
+//    String[] cameras = Capture.list();
+//    if (cameras.length > 0) {
+//      liveCamera = new Capture(this, 640, 480, cameras[0]);
+//      //liveCamera.start();
+//      webcamEnabled = true;
+//    }
+//  }
+//  catch (Exception e)
+//  {
+//    println("Exception occurred trying to look for attached webcams.  Webcam will not be used. " + e.getMessage());
+//    webcamEnabled = false;
+//  }
+
+}  
+//public PImage webcam_buildLiveImage()
+//{
+//  //liveCamera.start();
+//  PImage pimg = createImage(640, 480, RGB);
+//  pimg.loadPixels();
+//  if (liveCamera.available()) {
+//    liveCamera.read();
+//  }
+//  pimg.pixels = liveCamera.pixels;
+//  // flip the image left to right
+//  if (flipWebcamImage)
+//  {
+//
+//    List<int[]> list = new ArrayList<int[]>(480);
+//
+//    for (int r=0; r<pimg.pixels.length; r+=640)
+//    {
+//      int[] temp = new int[640];
+//      for (int c=0; c<640; c++)
+//      {
+//        temp[c] = pimg.pixels[r+c];
+//      }
+//      list.add(temp);
+//    }
+//
+//    // reverse the list
+//    Collections.reverse(list);
+//
+//    for (int r=0; r<list.size(); r++)
+//    {
+//      for (int c=0; c<640; c++)
+//      {
+//        pimg.pixels[(r*640)+c] = list.get(r)[c];
+//      }
+//    }
+//  }
+//  pimg.updatePixels();
+//  return pimg;
+//}
+
 public PImage webcam_processImageForTrace(PImage in)
 {
   PImage out = createImage(in.width, in.height, RGB);
@@ -171,8 +202,13 @@ public void webcam_captureCurrentImage(PImage inImage)
 
 public void webcam_captureCurrentImage()
 {
-  capturedImage = webcam_buildLiveImage();
-  webcam_captureCurrentImage(capturedImage);
+//  capturedImage = webcam_buildLiveImage();
+//  webcam_captureCurrentImage(capturedImage);
+}
+
+public void webcam_processLoadedImage()
+{
+  webcam_captureCurrentImage(getDisplayMachine().getImage());
 }
 
 public void webcam_saveShape(RShape sh)
@@ -183,8 +219,8 @@ public void webcam_saveShape(RShape sh)
   RG.saveShape(filename, sh);
 }
 
-public void stop() {
-  liveCamera.stop();
-  super.stop();
-}
+//public void stop() {
+//  liveCamera.stop();
+//  super.stop();
+//}