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Fruit Forums » General

Doesn't work with DV cam or Original iSight

(6 posts) (4 voices)
  • Started 15 years ago by ShaneRobinson
  • Latest reply from c-had

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  1. ShaneRobinson
    Member

    I have a MacPro on which I just installed a newly licensed copy of Pear Note (thanks MUPromo!). I use both the original iSight and an external Sony DV video cam plugged directly into the MacPro via Firewire. Here is what I found:

    1. Pear Note will record the video from the iSight but if the Audio is checked (with iSight selected in the Prefs for Audio) it will return an error when you click the record button. If a different Audio source is selected, it will record the video from the iSight just fine.

    2. Pear Note doesn't recognize the Sony DV via Firewire cam at all?!? Doesn't matter if the iSight is plugged in or not. I know the DV cam works because I use it in other applications (CamTwist, Final Cut Pro, etc.)

    3. When you're done recording, it won't play unless you manually advance the player beyond the first frame.

    4. I installed a demo copy on my MacBook Air and everything works fine with the built-in iSight for video and the built-in mic.

    So, I assume all development took place on Macs with built in cams and mics?

    The reason I purchased Pear Note is so that I can use my MacBook Pro, with a DV cam plugged in with external mic and use it to point the camera at the speaker, who is wearing a mic, and record meetings and conferences. This won't work if Pear Note only works with the built-in cam and internal mic. If it only uses the internal cam and I have to be typing at the same time, then I'm on the video, not the speaker.

    Are there plans to support DV cams via Firewire? Or because Apple seems to be moving away from Firewire is that not in the works for Pear Note?

    I'm kinda bummed. I had really great hopes for this in that I could record a speaker at a conference but if I can only record myself typing via the built in cam...I'm not quite sure what the point of having video recording capabilities is for??

    Posted 15 years ago #
  2. c-had
    Developer

    Sorry that you've run into trouble. I hope I can help.

    You are correct that DV cameras are currently not supported. I do plan to support them, but I've run into several bugs in QuickTime (which is what Pear Note uses to record video). I've been working with the QuickTime team at Apple to fix these and I hope they will be fixed soon so I can enable recording from a DV camera.

    As far as the external iSight goes, I don't have one to do extensive testing. I did borrow one from the local Apple store to see if it would work, and didn't have any problems. I did not try using its audio device as input though. I'll see if I can get my hands on one again to try to debug that problem, or I can work with you to figure out what's wrong.

    As far as having to manually advance the player beyond the first frame, that's a new one to me. Do you have a pearnote document you can zip up and send me that exhibits this behavior so I can debug it? If so, please send it with any explanation to bugs@usefulfruit.com . Did this only happen on a document you initially tried to use the external iSight audio with, or even with a fresh document using the internal microphone?

    One other note - you can use the built-in iSight to record what's in front of you by using a simple device like the Ecamm Huckleberry ( http://ecamm.com/mac/huckleberry/ ). It's just a couple mirrors that clamp onto a Macbook or Macbook Pro to reflect the image. If you try this, make sure to check the "Flip video" option in Recording preferences so your image doesn't end up upside-down.

    Again, I'm very sorry for any problems you've had. The external iSight should work, so I'll try to fix those bugs as soon as possible. As far as recording from DV goes, I have full intentions of supporting it when Apple fixes the current bugs surrounding it. Unfortunately, I don't have any control over when they do this, so I can't promise when it will get done.

    Posted 15 years ago #
  3. c-had
    Developer

    I did finally get an external Firewire iSight of my own, and it seems to work fine with Pear Note 1.1. Perhaps there was a bug that has since been fixed that was causing your problem. If you (or anyone else) has any trouble with external iSight cameras, please let me know because it works fine on both my Macbook and my G5.

    Thanks,
    Chad

    Posted 14 years ago #
  4. proybal
    Member

    As a trainer, my main application for this program would be to record students with an external DV camera, making notes on the video to call to their attention later. I will buy this program when it works with external DV cameras. The iSight just isn't up to this task.

    Posted 14 years ago #
  5. tlmurray
    Member

    Using this product in the "proybal" manner is exactly how I would put this to use. Presently I keep an eye on the recording timer of whatever I'm using (even plain QuickTime) and just type the time and notes, but Pear Note would make things a heckuva lot easier. Two things stand in my way: One is that I'm using 10.4 Tiger; the other is that I need to use a DV camera. I have a Firewire iSight, but it's just not good enough.

    Posted 14 years ago #
  6. c-had
    Developer

    In case you didn't see it, the now released Pear Note 1.2 does support DV cameras (in addition to lots of other cameras).

    Thanks,
    Chad

    Posted 14 years ago #

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