Hi Deane,
It must be awful to be sooo close, and yet not there.
I don't exactly know what the problem is, but I have some suggestions.
Just so you know, the audio is not handled by macam, but there is an
excellent built-in audio driver for USB audio. Audio and video are
brought
together by the QuickTime stuff that your applications use
(SequenceGrabber).
First things first. Plug in the camera and run the macam application.
If this works, then (as you said) the camera works, and your USB port
is fine. Once this works, leave it alone. Now quit the macam
application,
as only one application can use the camera at a time.
You might use the macam application later on to change the settings
(and choose "Save current setting" from the control menu, this will
affect the component as well)
Install the component (you obviously did this already).
I usually test the component installation using HackTVCarbon
(one of the simplest video viewers/recorders).
Try to record both audio and video. This is a key test.
If it works in HackTVCarbon, then I would have to say
it is a Skype issue. Let me know.
It could be a bandwidth issue; meaning that the video is using all
the bandwidth and none is available for the audio; or conversely, if
the audio is using some, then the video doesn't work because it expects
to use it all? The macam application would not show this since it only
deals with the video.
Two possible solutions in this case:
- Use a different microphone for audio input. Either mic in, or
another USB
mic (on a different USB port, hub should be fine for USB audio, it's
a lot less bandwidth)
- Lower the video bandwidth: make the resolution smaller and/or lower
the
framerate, (do this in the macam application and change settings,
quit, then
restart Skype).
As for older versions, there are lots of versions of macam available:
<http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=44375>
<http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/downloads.html> also has many
choices.
I don't know about Skype.
There is one person on the Skype mac forums who volunteers to answer
questions: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, she seems to know what she is doing,
and if it is a Skype issue, then perhaps she would be a good person
to contact.
Good luck and let me know how it goes,
Harald
<http://sourceforge.net/users/hxr>
On Mar 3, 2007, at 15:44, Deane & Nancy Burbank wrote:
Dear Macam,
First, thanks for taking the time & effort to provide drivers for
cameras that do not support Mac OSX as a matter of course. (May
the VISTA plague be upon them!)
Second, here is some feedback about the set-up that I am attempting
to use (without much success right now)....
Macam Version 0.9.0
Camera: Philips SPC900NC
Computer: Power Mac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac7,3
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (2.2)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 2 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.8f7
Mac OSX 10.4.8
Skype for Mac 2.5.0.85
The good news:
When opening the Macam monitor, the video picture is clear, color-
accurate, and apparently runs in real-time speed with a slight sync-
delay.
On “Skype>Preferences” the video feed is equally high-quality.
#1 and #2 above tells me that the camera isn’t defective.
Sound quality is generally good, depending on the operating speed
of the other Skyper’s computer and the quality of that particular
Skype connection.
The bad news:
I’ve been trying to use Skype with other family members, but can
only get the audio to work. Although I can make audio contact, my
video does not work on Skype. Not only can other parties not see
me, but the little inset screen showing my own video is black.
When I select the “Skype>Preferences>Enable Skype Video” selection
box I get a good video feed in living color. However, if I select/
de-select the “Enable Video” box or disconnect/reconnect the camera
USB connection while Skyping, the box turns black and gives me a
message that no camera is detected. I then have to restart Skype
but end up with only an audio connection once again.
The crazy thing is this: At one point recently one of my Skype
contacts was able to see my video feed but could not receive my
audio feed! I felt like a child who was “seen but not heard”! So,
it seems to be an “either-or” problem, although I can’t seem to
control which medium (audio or video) works. Usually it’s the
audio that works and the video that doesn’t.
These problems are identical with two different Skype contacts,
both of which are using PC’s. I haven’t been able to try Skyping
with another Mac user yet, so I can’t tell if its a cross-platform
problem or not. My PC-using contacts can Skype just fine with each
other, and one of them has Skyped successfully with a Mac Powerbook
user (who uses the built-in iSight camera). Go figure.
Solutions I have tried, all to no avail:
Uninstalling and reinstalling Skype 2.5.0.85
Uninstalling and reinstalling Macam and Macam component (2 times).
Connecting my Philips SPC900NC to a different USB port.
I emailed my problem to the “Skype help” folks, but all I got back
was some unhelpful boilerplate oriented to Windows users. (Even
though I carefully listed my user info as PowerMac G5, OSX 10.4.8,
Skype for Mac 2,5,0.85, etc.) Apparently either they didn’t read
the mail or all I got back was an automated list-server response.
Duh!
Sacrificing an unblemished ram to the Computer Gods. (just
kidding--but that may be next....)
Possible explanation:
Maybe the combination of the newest version of Skype (Skype for Mac
2.50.85) and/or the newest version of Macam (Version 0.9.0) have
some interoperability issues.
Maybe it’s just Skype for Mac 2.5.0.85 that has the problem. (I
can’t find an archived older version on the Skype website.)
Maybe it’s just Macam Version 0.9.0 that has the problem. (I can’t
find an archived older version on the Macam website.)
Nevertheless and notwithstanding, any help or ideas you may have
about how I can get this beast to work would be helpful! This
one’s a stumper....
Regards,
Deane Burbank
Phone (253) 841-1129
Skype name “Outerburbanks”
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