firewire

VideoTools

$32.00

The VideoTools plugin provides support for video input:

  • Firewire video input, bypassing QuickTime.
  • Network camera input, bypassing QuickTime.
  • Video file input, bypassing QuickTime.
  • Video file input, running QuickTime in a separate process.

Unlike Quartz Composer's built-in Movie Importer patch, VideoTools doesn't block compositions while a video loads. With the non-QuickTime video file input patch, videos load faster. And, unlike Movie Importer, VideoTools works reliably with threaded third-party applications (such as QuartzBuilder).

Supported Cameras, Containers, and Codecs

Supported Firewire Cameras

Any IIDC/DCAM-compliant Firewire camera, including:

  • DMx 21BF04 by The Imaging Source
  • Flea2 Color (FL2G-13S2C) by Point Grey Research
  • Flea2 Mono (FL2G-13S2M) by Point Grey Research
  • iSight by Apple (External Firewire)

(See also dc1394's camera list.)

Incompatible Cameras

  • Firefly FFMV-03M2M by Point Grey Research

Supported Network Cameras

Supported Video Player Movie Containers

  • .mov
  • .avi

Supported Video Player Movie Codecs

  • MJPEG
  • PNG
  • RLE ("QuickTime Animation")
  • ProRes 422
  • ProRes 422 (Proxy)
  • ProRes 422 (HQ)
  • Partially Supported:
    • H.264 — stutters when played backward
    • ProRes 4444 — alpha channel is ignored
  • Currently Unsupported:
    • Other formats that use interframe encoding (MPEG-4, ...)

Supported QuickTime Player Movie Containers and Codecs

  • Anything supported by QuickTime 7

Known Issues

  • Kineme VideoTools does not play audio.

3rd-party software

This software uses code from libdc1394 and FFmpeg, both licensed under the LGPLv2.1. FFmpeg's source can be downloaded here.

Credits

Unsupported on OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) and above

Please download the trial and make sure it meets your needs before purchasing. Due to bugs in Apple's Quartz Composer framework, we cannot guarantee that Kineme plugins will work properly on Mac OS 10.8 and above. Our focus has shifted to developing Vuo.

Kineme Video Tools with Point Grey FireFly MV

adrianward's picture

(bumped to a new thread instead of just a comment on a previous topic...)

I'm trying to get a Point Grey FireFly MV FFMV-03M2C firewire color camera working... Kineme Video Device Info is reporting the device is there and capable, using the CameraExplorer qtz shows the available settings, but no image ever is output. Looking at the console, I'm just seeing the camera failing to handshake due to some sort of color coding issue.

Apr 12 12:48:41 *: [VTVideoInputPatch execute:time:arguments:]  Waiting for transmission to begin...
Apr 12 12:48:40 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in _dc1394_v130_handshake (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 122): invalid image position, size, color coding or ISO speed
Apr 12 12:48:40 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in dc1394_format7_set_roi (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 803): Handshaking failed after setting color_coding
Apr 12 12:48:41 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in _dc1394_v130_handshake (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 122): invalid image position, size, color coding or ISO speed
Apr 12 12:48:41 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in dc1394_format7_set_roi (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 803): Handshaking failed after setting color_coding

or similar errors:

Apr 12 12:57:41 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in _dc1394_v130_handshake (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 122): invalid image position, size, color coding or ISO speed
Apr 12 12:57:41 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in dc1394_format7_set_roi (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 803): Handshaking failed after setting color_coding
Apr 12 12:57:48 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in _dc1394_v130_handshake (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 122): invalid image position, size, color coding or ISO speed
Apr 12 12:57:48 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in dc1394_format7_set_roi (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 803): Handshaking failed after setting color_coding
Apr 12 12:57:52 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in _dc1394_v130_handshake (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 122): invalid image position, size, color coding or ISO speed
Apr 12 12:57:52 *: libdc1394 error: Format_7 Error_flag_1 is set: in dc1394_format7_set_roi (/Users/smokris/prj/qc/plugin/VideoTools/libdc1394/dc1394/format7.c, line 803): Handshaking failed after setting color_coding

This is after I've tried all possible resolutions and framerates, and thoroughly explored all color coding formats both manufacturer-documented and Kineme-suggested (MONO8, MONO16, RAW8, RAW16, YUV411, YUV422, YUV444, RGB8, Y8, Y16) and when I'm not getting "Invalid Color Coding" responses, I'm seeing "Waiting for transmission to begin..." and then nothing...

I believe this camera only supports monochrome images in its standard non-Format 7 modes (with a QuickTime based video feed, I only see a monochrome image). Unfortunately, I need color output.

The documentation for the camera suggests that color data is not retained when binning is used ("Color binning is not supported on the FMVU-03MTC or FFMV-03M2C. Color data is not maintained when operating these models in pixel binning mode."). So I guess that means if we use a Format 7 mode, we have to define the ROI but I'm not sure how? Kind of beyond my expertise by this stage.

So no support yet using Kineme Video Input - any further suggestions?