[FFmpeg-user] Newb question: How can I access h.264-enabled webcams?

[David Arendash]

Hello all, first time here, sorry if this has been asked before. I didn't know where else to ask this, and googling got me nowhere fast:

I have some h.264-enabled webcams (HP HD5210 and Creative InPerson HD). They work with Skype and so on just fine. I need them to work with my app. Basically, I need to get frames as high-res and fast as possible, and these cameras can deliver the speed. Now I need to get at those frames to process them myself (I don't want to just pass the stream along).

Is that what ffmpeg can do?  If not, is there any where else I should be looking. I'm really quite lost. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.