Things seems to run really slowly since Christopher is gone for his wedding holidays... ;)
To help each-other, here is my purpose:
A topics for newbies and "not so newbies" Quartz Composer users, about a question that seems to be technically a recurrent matter in hardware settings:
Web-cams and OS X...
Find a good OSX Compatible Web-cam seems very very difficult. Internet's forums doesn't solve anything, some hadware could be describe as good for Tiger and bad for Leopard, many users just speak about iChat and doesn't know about Quartz Composer...
Apple resellers doesn't understand anymore (Many doesn't know about Quartz Composer or Developer tools as well !) they just sell family computers !
Apple stay dumb on the subject and doesn't sell any solution and as you could see, iSight isn't on the market anymore and if you don't have a new attached/include iSight (some "old" computers don't have one, neither the latest and quickest MacPro, and above all, some project need to have a separate one !) this could be really problematic !
Which web-cam do you choose for your Quartz Composer video input ?
USB or FireWire Web-cams (the best result about quality but above all the most quick and computing-free solution) ?
Which Web-Cam Brand is really OSX compatible ?
Does Fire-Wire DV Camcorder works as a Video Input in QC ?
Does HDV or DVC-Pro HD Camcorders works as well (Do you need a Final Cut/Quicktime plug ins to use those HD Cams) ?
Does DV, HDV, DVC-Pro HD Camcorders works in real time, and do they increase quality without increase computing ?!!!
Do you find a way to use many and different Video Inputs ?
Do you find an USB or FireWire capture card that works as a Video Input (for Laptop, MacMini, Small Hackintosh) ?
Do you find such a good Capture Card in PCI format for a MacPro (does it works as well) ?
It's time to share your experience in such a jungle and bad documented question:
Video Input cards and Web-Cams !
I'm quite happy about the PS3Eye that works together with macam software.
Specs: - USB2 - 24/30 fps (on a last gen. macbook pro) - 640x480 - Fixed wide angle(!) 75deg. or fixed normal angle 56deg. - Around €50 - Very good in low light conditions - Works perfectly in Quartz composer
Pro's - Really clear image - Fixed focus (good for motion tracking etc.) - Wide angle - Works good in low light conditions - Cheap
Con's - No manual setting for color correction/aperature (means constant light conditions if you're doing background differencing or more advance computervision tasks) although it adjusts itself quite fast - Seems to take some processing power
Thanx to share your experience ! Does Macam's software/driver not too buggy for a professional use ? Doesn't it use more computing resource than a plug n' play one ? Maybe there is an increase of processing power with the USB2 bus, it seems more efficient to use FireWire. Does DV Camcorders appear automatically in the Video Input Patch settings, when they are pluged ? Is there some tricks to use DV Camcorders with QC ?
macam never coused problems with my setup i've used in an installations with the ps3eye and that's still running fine. I think (but i'm not a video tech pro) all usb webcams use somekind of compression on the videostream that the computer has to decode first. I've used the canopus ADVC110 to get a feed from a matrix switch. It worked just like a dv cam. As for speed i think firewire is the way to go, as it has a lower (or none?) compression and is therefore less depending on your processor (please correct me if i'm wrong). The DV cam appears in the settings panel (cmd-2) in the video input as a new video device. If it doesn't restart qc and try again.
I've never tried some newer HD cams though that only have a usb2 connection. Annyone got experience with that?
I've used different firewire DV cams without problems in quartz. A firewire capture box like the Canopus series work fine as well.
As for multiple inputs, i've succesfully used a usb cam, 1 firewire dv cam, a unibrain firei firewire cam and my isight at the same time in quartz. The isight and usb cam need quite some processing power though.
Now I'm using a sony vx1000 dvcam for live video input. The camera is completely manually adjustable (i never found a webcam that is fully manual on a mac) and delivers a clear image trough firewire. Perfect for background differencing or more advanced CV tasks.
Could you tell us more precisely wish Canopus Capture Box you've try successfully. Does the FireWIre DV Cams seems to use processing power ?
If you have other Webcam (USB/FireWIre or Camcorders + Capture Box solution) let me know the brand and model. Do you work on Tiger, Leopard ? Does it change something for you when you have upgraded your system ?
I think a live firewire feed is less demanding on the processor. And a manual 3ccd cam delivers a good image with the flexibility to adjust your image on the camera itself.
I worked on tiger and now leopard, no big transition issues. If you're serious about quartz composer, the latest version is really recommended.
I've tried the Unibrain FireI for a day, but I wasn't really content with the image quality. It was speedy though
Specs: - Firewire - Multiple camera support (only tried it with another firewire dv cam, worked) - 640x480 - 30fps
Pro's: - Firewire, low compression, means faster rendering - Very usable for multitouch applications (fast framerate, low latency, ability to remove uv filter) - Manual focus
Con's: - Aperature/color correction/white balance not manual controllable on osx - Slow automatic adjustment of aperature and color correction - Image quality low compared to dv cam/newer usb cams - Quite expensive (around €100)
....
I use a Velleman micro camera, BW, with manual focus and a set of changeable lenses (from 35 degrees up to 110 degrees angle of view) Captor is CCD 1/4 inch, very sensitive to IR light. This stuff is plugged in a ADVC-100 by canopus, with is a correct firewire grabber (DV quality)
As monobrau mentioned above, typically using multiple simultaneous video inputs isn't a problem.
However, due to a design issue in the way QC allows selection of video input devices, if you attach multiple video inputs of the same make and model, you can only select one of them. cwright created the Kineme Video Input patch to address this issue.
Logitech Quickcam Fusion
I use a Logitech Quickcam Fusion.
I don't remember installing a driver for it. It gives me video at a resolution of 1280x960 at what seems to be around 10 FPS. No way to change the resolution though...