One by one your iChat buddies have turned off video access and are back to chatting by audio or text. That's fine, even normal. Video conferencing is designed for special occasions, not everyday use. Even the Jetsons disabled the picture phone every now and then.
But when you're not video conferencing, you still have a powerful camera perched atop your Mac. Yes, it's pretty to look at. But it's also oozing with capability. I first touched on this in a weblog entry titled, Want to Do More with the iSight than Chat?, where I explained how EvoCam software really expands the iSight's capabilities. Then, in the article, Making Movies with the Apple iSight, I showed you how to configure Apple's QuickTime Broadcaster to capture video from your iSight and save it to your hard drive. Broadcaster is a cool application, and it's free. But it's not the perfect tool for local video capture.
Many people have said to me that they found Broadcaster's interface confusing and difficult to configure. Also, we've all discovered together that there's a minor incompatibility with the iSight's internal microphone and the Broadcaster software. When you use the iSight's builtin mic for audio capture, the audio and video tend to get out of sync. To overcome this drawback, I began testing alternatives to Broadcaster that still tapped the iSight's movie making abilities, but with fewer headaches. Today I'm going to show you two of my favorites, iRecordNow and BTV, plus a very cool piece of software called SecuritySpy.
|
Related Reading 
|
Along the way you'll discover that these applications include some new tricks: time lapse photography, motion detection, and surveillance. So fire up your iSight, turn off iChat AV, and let's see what kind of stuff we can make.
The creative minds over at Bonix Software have released a nifty application called iRecordNow that's the model of simplicity when it comes to turning your iSight into a video camcorder. I think this software is particularly good if you've become frustrated with QuickTime Broadcaster and want an easier way to capture video.
Since the development of this app is still in progress, you can download it now and request a free license that will be valid until the 1.0 version is released.
The software is very easy to use. Plug in your iSight and turn it on. (iChat AV will launch as soon as you turn on your iSight. I recommend that you quit iChat while recording movies to disk.) Now launch iRecordNow, and you'll recognize that the interface sports the high tech metal pattern found on the barrel of the iSight. Initially, it may feel like that you don't have any controls other than the red record button. But that's not the case as you'll see here quickly. But first, let's get a video clip under your belt, then we'll explore a few of the options.
|
|
Start by clicking the record button and watching the video as it is captured in the preview window. Once you stop, iRecordNow will save your capture as a QuickTime file. Currently the default settings are Component Video - CCIR-601 at millions of colors and single channel uncompressed audio at 16 bits, 48 kHz. I think these settings are a good choice for your "master video", enabling you to later export compressed versions for other uses in QuickTime Pro. (Remember to never overwrite your master file with a compressed version.)
Now, about those additional settings... If you want to make a few A/V adjustments, you simple open the Camera Controls drawer (see the button on left side of interface?) to reveal a handful of useful settings.
|
|
You'll notice that in the free "preview version" of iRecordNow you don't have the option to select your audio source. There's a workaround for that. First, quit the application. Then open your Sound Preferences panel, click on the Input tab, and choose the source you want. You can use the internal mic on your Mac (argh!), the iSight's builtin mic (not bad), or an external mic going through the Griffin iMic (best). Now relaunch iRecordNow and it will use your selected audio source.
|
|
QuickTime Broadcaster users will be happy to hear that iRecordNow remedies an audio bug that causes "out of sync" audio when using the iSight's internal mic. After many tests with iRecordNow, I didn't experience any of those syncing problems at all, regardless of which audio input source I used.
iRecordNow provides you with the option to capture video at 320 x 240 or 640 x 480. At the moment, your only frame rate option is 30fps, but I suspect that will change with the final release. One of the things that impressed me was the quality of the capture. The overall image is crisp and clean, and the video is smooth. iRecordNow also doesn't seem to tax my 667 Mhz TiBook the way that QuickTime Broadcaster does.
So now that you have iRecordNow configured and ready to shoot, what can you do that's interesting beyond the standard "talking head" shot? Try putting your camera on the move with what's known as a "tracking" shot.
Put your laptop with iSight attached on an office chair that has wheels and compose your shot. Once you start recording, slowly push the chair along side a subject on the move, such as a walking toddler, or roll the chair toward a stationary subject such as two people talking. (This can become your substitute for a zoom lens!)
Since the iSight is an autofocus camera, it should be able to keep the image nice and sharp as your roll along. Review your footage, make the necessary adjustments, and shoot another take. Hollywood has been using the tracking shot for years to add visual interest to movie projects.
|
Another useful software compliment for your iSight is Ben Software's BTV and BTV Pro. These Carbonized applications are more refined than iRecordNow and more versatile than QuickTime Broadcaster.
The standard version enables movie capture with the iSight and provides a full menu of controls such as frame size, frame rate, color adjustment, exposure compensation, choice of compressor, focus override, and more. You also have lots of options in the sound settings panel too.
Beyond that, BTV has still image capture, allows you to work with multiple monitors, and has AppleScript support too. There are also lots of nice touches such as user-programmable keystroke short cuts and a "delay" command for still image captures that is essentially a fully-configurable self-timer. Very nice.
The BTV interface isn't as intriguing as iRecordNow's, but it certainly gets the job done. You have a preview window accompanied by a floating palette that contains the capture controls.
|
|
The quality of capture is very good, and you have the option for BTV to open your movie in QuickTime immediately after you stop recording so you can review the footage. Another nice touch is the video info box that's like a dynamic "Get Info" for your iSight.
|
|
If you want even more functionality than the standard edition of BTV, you can try BTV Pro. Additional goodies include time lapse capture, motion detection capture, stop motion animation, and DV device control. The Pro version allows you to do just about anything with your iSight that you can visualize.
I remember as a kid being blown away by time lapse photography that featured subjects such as a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. With BTV Pro and your iSight you can now create the very same footage.
For testing, find an easy subject such as a rose (in a vase, not outside) that's about ready to open. Set up your subject and your computer in a well lit area that receives plenty of natural light through out the day. Configure BTV Pro for time lapse capture. Start with the settings in the image below.
|
|
After you've completed 10 hours of capture, review your movie and make further adjustments. With a little trial and error, you can produce eye-popping productions just like those you see on nature shows.
Whether it's who's knocking at the front door keeping an eye on the newborn, surveillance cams have many practical uses outside of airports and convenience stores. Because of it's low light recording capabilities and fast autofocus lens, the iSight is perfect for these types of applications. All you need is the right software.
One intriguing entry into the surveillance game is SecuritySpy, which not only lets you turn your iSight into a second set of eyes, it even lets you use multiple iSights from various locations all monitored on one Mac. There's a motion detection setting that can automatically trigger recording video to disc for review later, or you can enable time lapse imaging for specific periods or around the clock.
|
|
Yes, with just about any webcam software you can upload pictures to a web server to see what's going on at any given time. But most often all you'll see is a lifeless image that never changes.
By using SecuritySpy's email notification function, you can forget about checking web pages and concentrate more on matters at hand. Configure SecuritySpy so that it sends you an email when a camera detects motion. You can have this mail sent to your text pager, SmartPhone (with email functionality), or your regular email account (which can then include a photo attachment).
If you receive a notification, simply review the photo attachment (with a computer email client), or log on to any computer and match the notification time with the time lapse recorded image saved to the server.
All of these applications run on Mac OS X, and BTV and SecuritySpy also work on OS 9 with CarbonLib loaded.
The iSight packs much more power than most users initially realize. With a little ingenuity and experimentation, plus the help of applications such as iRecordNow, BTV, and SecuritySpy, you can create movies and capture footage in a variety of situations. Your beautiful little iSight will be transformed from a decorative hood ornament to a full-fledged movie making machine.
Derrick Story is the digital media evangelist for O'Reilly. His current book is The Digital Photography Companion. You can follow him on Twitter or visit www.thedigitalstory.com.
Return to the Mac DevCenter
Copyright © 2007 O'Reilly Media, Inc.
