Release: VideoTools, v1.0

Download 1.0
Release Type: Production
Version: 1.0
Release Notes

Provides QuickTime-free live Firewire video capture, using libdc1394 2.x. Supports any IIDC/DCAM-compliant Firewire camera.

Cameras Tested Successfully

  • 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)

Known Issues

  • Cameras only support certain combinations of Color Coding, Resolution, and Framerate. Watch the Error output and Console log when troubleshooting.
  • Due to issues with the underlying frameworks, video device info cannot be queried once a video device is in use. Therefore Video Device Info is only updated once: when the composition is first started.
PreviewAttachmentSize
VideoTools-1.0.zip212.93 KB
VideoTools-1.0-compositions.zip14.29 KB

Installation Instructions

Place the plugin file in
/Users/[you]/Library/Graphics/Quartz Composer Patches/
(Create the folder if it doesn't already exist.)

VideoTools

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.)

Supported Network Cameras

  • Asoni CAM435
  • Asoni CAM613M
  • Asoni CAM619M-IR
  • Asoni SVR610
  • Axis 211M
  • Axis 212 PTZ
  • Axis 221
  • Axis 233D
  • Axis 240Q
  • Axis M1114
  • Axis Q1755 (tested by @dwskau)
  • Axis Q7404 (tested by @weirdcore)
  • IQInvision IQeye300
  • Panasonic BB-HCM735A
  • Vivotek IP7133
  • Y-cam Bullet
  • Y-cam White
  • Currently Unsupported:
    • Appro LC-7314
    • Panasonic WV-NP1004
    • Panasonic WV-NP244

Supported Video Player Movie Containers

  • .mov
  • .avi

Supported Video Player Movie Codecs

  • MJPEG
  • PNG
  • RLE ("QuickTime Animation")
  • Partially Supported:
    • H.264
  • Currently Unsupported:
    • Other formats that use interframe encoding (MPEG-4, ...)

Supported QuickTime Player Movie Containers and Codecs

  • Anything supported by QuickTime 7

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