Title: iSight/still photo help PLEASE!
Stynkerbel - August 6, 2003 04:03 AM (GMT)
Hello all,
I have become the proud new owner of iSight, however there has to be SOME way to take a still photo, e-mail it, tinker with it in Photoshop, etc. Any who can help me? Or is there just no way to do it? Thanks!
Lindsay
Duo Maxwell - August 6, 2003 11:18 AM (GMT)
I'll look into it, I've heard of ways to use it as a cheap DV camera but not a digicam, I don't see why not though, like I said, I'll see what I can find,
Sysop - August 6, 2003 11:42 AM (GMT)
I think I saw a hack somewhere. I'll look too.
Stynkerbel - August 6, 2003 06:05 PM (GMT)
Sysop - August 12, 2003 12:04 PM (GMT)
Lindsay, I can't find anything. But Duo is still trying. Sorry. :wacko: :blink: :(
alarson2 - August 12, 2003 02:05 PM (GMT)
Cool, I want one of those things. Not having one I can only guess. I would suggest quickly that you could do a screen capture. (command,shift>4). Your image would be saved as a PDF. Then take it to photoshop and convert it to a jpg or tif or whatever format you prefer. :D
alarson2 - August 12, 2003 02:15 PM (GMT)
I am assuming that you are talking about taking a still picture of yourself sitting right there in front of your mac. Do you mean like carrying the thing to a picnic and doing still pictures of the family? You could, if you had a laptop and electric power. What about iMovie? Does the iSight show up as a connected camera in iMovie? If it does you could "Create Still Frame" and get a pic that way. I'll buy one and try it.
Duo Maxwell - August 12, 2003 05:59 PM (GMT)
Copied from Small Dog's "Tech Tails" news letter.
| QUOTE |
Using iSight with iMovie
By Russ White
I picked up an iSight last week, and it's a fun little gadget. I do have ulterior motives, I'm trying to get my parents to upgrade from my old hand-me-down heavily upgraded 7500 to an iSight compatible Mac (any G3 Mac with a 600MHz processor or more), that way we can have video chat and not have to deal with phone bills. Getting them to upgrade is like getting blood from a stone. Mom's excuse is that she "doesn't use the 7500 to anywhere near it's capacity," yet all the stuff she wants to use (iPhoto, iChat AV, iMovie) requires a native G3 and Mac OS X.
The problem is Mom knows that since her son is a tech, she always ends up with my old hand-me-downs. She knows if she waits long enough she'll inherit a FireWire based Mac without having to spend any money, she's crafty that way. ;)
Anyway, the minimum system specs for the iSight are a 600MHz G3, but I was wondering what would happen if I put it on my 500MHz iBook (Dual USB). I plugged it in, the green "On Air" light illuminated for a few seconds and went out. iChat AV refused to see it, but I *know* the computer did see it as the on-air light did activate momentarily.
Back on the TiBook and the Sawtooth, I tried to hook up the iSight and use it in iMovie, but since the iSight doesn't export footage in the DV format, it can't be used in iMovie.
However, in searching the web I did find a rather interesting article on the O’Reilly Macdevcenter webpage:
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/07/01/isight.html
It was a walkthrough on how to make movies using the iSight. To sum up, you need the iSight, QuickTime Pro, and QuickTime Broadcaster. If you want better sound quality, an external mic pod like the Griffin iMic adapter should help.
Digitize video with Broadcaster to your hard drive (the procedure is detailed in the article), and then assemble it in QT Pro.
In theory, with QuickTime Pro, you should be able to export the footage you recorded to the DV format, the one iMovie recognizes. So with this convoluted workaround you may be able to use the iSight in iMovie, just not directly.
Bear in mind that since the iSight captures video at 640x480 resolution at 30 FPS, it's not going to look as sharp or clear as a true DV camera. But, if you just want to play, or make training videos, it'll be fine. After all, a $149 web cam is not made to compete with a $600+ DV camera.
Looks like I have some playing to do! ;)
|
Still no other way to take stills other than what alarson2 said.
alarson2 - August 12, 2003 06:37 PM (GMT)
Hey Duo,
I saw that article on Small Dog too.
I have some experience with surveillance cameras and the iSight cam is similar to one of those. You can't record images from a surveillance camera unless it is hooked up to a VCR or in today's world a hard drive.
The iSight alone is just a lens and a mic- there is no built in recording mechanism or memory card (like on a camcorder). It, like any other lens would have to be modified to record on to a memory card, tape or film. I was thinking that it might be possible to hook it up to a digital VCR and get it to record images on DV tape but it probably would not work because the power supply comes from the firewire connection on the Mac. The one wire does 3 things-video, audio, and power. To hook it up to anything other than an iChat AV enabled Mac would be a bench job for the techs at Small Dog or Apple.
:D
alarson2 - August 13, 2003 09:11 PM (GMT)
I did it. I made a still pic with iSight. I went and bought one today and hooked it up and within a half hour had a still pic. I'm not sure if this is what Lindsay was talking about but it is possible. No need for Quicktime or Hack TV or any other additional software.
In iChat preferences>video you can see a pic of yourself about 4X3 inches (same ratio as a TV screen) I then just did a screen shot and presto, I had this
picBoy and is this little camera ever cool. I just love the way Apple packages things. The attention to detail is amazing. OK, so now I need a buddy to try it out on.
My dot Mac name is alarson2 and my aim name is alnlrsn. [cell phone]
Duo Maxwell - August 14, 2003 08:25 AM (GMT)
I wish I could but at the moment I'm between jobs and can't spare the extra green notes. I just applied at the local Best Buys and have a better chance than most to get in there. If I do get in I've got a great chance to get a raise in the future since the guys that I've talked to over there say that the store will be carrying Macs by the turn of the year. That coupled with them paying for training and a third of my schooling will get me more than a few new toys including an iSight and Earthlink Cable service. Not to mention all of the discounts I'll get, employes get just about everything for stock price as does the immediate family. Can you say 30"+ LCD(NO plasma, it looks horrible) screen hanging off the wall in my room to show off to all of my friends.
Sysop - August 16, 2003 02:56 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (alarson2 @ Aug 13 2003, 09:11 PM) |
I did it. I made a still pic with iSight. I went and bought one today and hooked it up and within a half hour had a still pic. I'm not sure if this is what Lindsay was talking about but it is possible. No need for Quicktime or Hack TV or any other additional software.
In iChat preferences>video you can see a pic of yourself about 4X3 inches (same ratio as a TV screen) I then just did a screen shot and presto, I had this pic
Boy and is this little camera ever cool. I just love the way Apple packages things. The attention to detail is amazing. OK, so now I need a buddy to try it out on.
My dot Mac name is alarson2 and my aim name is alnlrsn. [cell phone] |
Very, very, good job, Alarson.
Keep up the good work! (Sysop wants an iSight. :smile smile: )
Sysop.
