diff --git a/lib/camera.cpp b/lib/camera.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dae18b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/camera.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#include "camera.h"
+#include <SDL/SDL.h>
+
+#define DEPTH 32
+
+Camera::Camera(int width, int height)
+{
+	//SDL_Surface *SDL_CreateRGBSurface(Uint32 flags, int width, int height, int depth, Uint32 Rmask, Uint32 Gmask, Uint32 Bmask, Uint32 Amask);
+	pixels = SDL_CreateRGBSurface(SDL_SWSURFACE, width, height, DEPTH, 0x00ff0000, 0x0000ff00, 0x000000ff, 0xff000000);
+}
+
+Camera::~Camera( void )
+{
+	SDL_FreeSurface(pixels);
+}
diff --git a/lib/camera.h b/lib/camera.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d637a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/camera.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#ifndef _CAMERA_H_
+#define _CAMERA_H_
+
+#include <SDL/SDL.h>
+
+class Camera
+{
+	public:
+		Camera( int width, int height );
+		virtual ~Camera(void);
+		virtual void update( void ) = 0;
+		SDL_Surface* getSurface ( void ) { return pixels; }
+
+	protected:
+		SDL_Surface *pixels;
+
+};
+
+#endif /* ifndef _CAMERA_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/main.cpp b/lib/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23a04ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#include "state.h"
+#include "settings.h"
+#include "quickcam.h"
+
+int main( void )
+{
+	Quickcam cam("/dev/video0");
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/lib/quickcam.cpp b/lib/quickcam.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eabaab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/quickcam.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#include "quickcam.h"
+
+//linux specific
+#include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <linux/videodev.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#define WIDTH 640
+#define HEIGHT 480
+
+Quickcam::Quickcam( char *device )
+	: Camera(WIDTH, HEIGHT),
+	bytes(WIDTH*HEIGHT*4)
+{
+	fd = open(device, O_RDWR);
+	if (fd == -1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "failed to open video device %s: %s\n", device, strerror(errno));
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	
+	/*
+	struct video_capability cap;
+	if (ioctl(fd, VIDIOCGCAP, &cap) == -1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "(querycap) %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
+	*/
+
+	struct video_picture pict;
+	doOrDie(ioctl(fd, VIDIOCGPICT, &pict), "getpict");
+
+	pict.palette = VIDEO_PALETTE_RGB32;
+	doOrDie(ioctl(fd, VIDIOCSPICT, &pict), "setpict");
+
+	struct video_window win;
+
+	//get window info
+	doOrDie(ioctl(fd, VIDIOCGWIN, &win), "getwin");
+
+	win.width = WIDTH;
+	win.height = HEIGHT;
+
+	//set window info
+	doOrDie(ioctl(fd, VIDIOCSWIN, &win), "error setting window size");
+
+}
+
+Quickcam::~Quickcam( void )
+{
+	close(fd);
+}
+
+void Quickcam::doOrDie(int retval, char *message)
+{
+	if (retval == -1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", message, strerror(errno));
+		exit(1);
+	}
+}
+
+void Quickcam::update( void )
+{
+	int read_sz = read(fd, pixels->pixels, bytes);
+	doOrDie(read_sz, "read failure");
+}
diff --git a/lib/quickcam.h b/lib/quickcam.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dedda8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/quickcam.h
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#ifndef _QUICKCAM_H_
+#define _QUICKCAM_H_
+
+#include "camera.h"
+
+class Quickcam : public Camera
+{
+	public:
+		Quickcam( char *device );
+		virtual ~Quickcam( void );
+
+		void update( void );
+
+	private:
+		void doOrDie(int retval, char *message);
+
+		int fd;
+		const int bytes; //number of bytes to read (width*height*bpp)
+
+};
+
+#endif /* ifndef _QUICKCAM_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a461b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#include "settings.h"
+
+Settings::Settings( void )
+{
+
+}
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5dc272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#ifndef _SETTINGS_H_
+#define _SETTINGS_H_
+
+struct point
+{
+	int x, y;
+};
+
+enum type
+{
+	BLACK = 0, WHITE, BOARD ,
+	NUMVALS
+};
+
+class Settings
+{
+
+	public:
+		Settings( void );
+
+
+	private:
+		//upper left, upper right etc...
+		point ul, ur, bl, br;
+		//threshold for white and black
+		int colorThreshold[2];
+
+};
+
+#endif /* ifndef _SETTINGS_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/state.cpp b/lib/state.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6455ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/state.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#include "state.h"
+
+int State::size = 19;
+
+State::State( void )
+{
+	//does nothing yet
+}
+
+State generateState (SDL_Surface *board)
+{
+
+}
diff --git a/lib/state.h b/lib/state.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f960b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/state.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#ifndef _STATE_H_
+#define _STATE_H_
+
+#include "settings.h"
+#include <SDL/SDL.h>
+
+/**
+ * Describes the current state of a go board.
+ */
+class State
+{
+
+	public:
+
+		/**
+		 * Standard constructor
+		 */
+		State( void ); 
+
+		void setSize(int size) { State::size = size; }
+
+		static State generateState( SDL_Surface *board, Settings settings);
+
+
+	private:
+		static int size;
+
+};
+
+#endif /* ifndef _STATE_H_ */