Why is my webcam choppy in ubuntu?

"Maybe this site will help http://linux-uvc.berlios.de/#devices
Also good luck getting webcams to work in Linux reliably, I’ve been getting mixed and unfavorable results"

Only about 1 linux webcam driver in 7 is actually worth the harddrive space it takes up and only about 3 in 7 is supported at all. It's a common issue, webcam manufacturers almost never release drivers and for most open source driver developers, webcams aren't a priority.