Giving a live demo, need to project it—what camera, etc?
September 7, 2015 6:57 PM   Subscribe

I thought this would be a simple thing to ask about and search, and a common need with an obvious solution. But I can't seem to get the lingo right. I'll be giving a presentation with a laptop and a projector for slides, but also want to add live action video of me doing stuff on the table or podium, within about a 13x19" area…using what? An iTouch/iPad in a holder/tripod? A doc camera? A GoPro? Is this what a webcam is/does? All wired, btw, no wifi or internet available. Help? TIA!
posted by dpcoffin to Technology (14 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
This product called CameraVision purports to send live video and audio through a wire from your iPhone to a projector or TV. I haven't used it, but it appears the technology exists.
posted by xingcat at 7:22 PM on September 7, 2015


A few questions:

What will you be doing in that area? Will you have bright lighting, or will you be working in a shadow cast by your body? How detailed does the picture need to be (how large will the projection be)?

You are going to want...some sort of camera with HDMI out (make sure that the projector has the necessary inputs), and a video switcher. the video switcher will allow you to avoid fumbling with the projector controls to change the video source?

Do you need to buy this equipment, or are you just trying to describe what you need to an AV tech or salesperson?
posted by builderofscience at 7:24 PM on September 7, 2015


Response by poster: Good questions, thanks! I'll be bringing garments and sewing samples onto the "stage", folding stuff, pointing to things, and moving them so some depth of field will be needed, and the video response shouldn't be so slow as to be distracting, let alone sick-making! The conference is providing everything but the "camera", so there will be a projector and an MacBook running 10.9. and I've got an iPad Air and an iTouch, and a couple of oldish video camcorders, too, plus a Canon Rebel DSLR. And I can no doubt get some good lighting on my stage, while keeping the room medium dark. Willing to spend a couple of bucks if that could make a big image-quality difference, since I'd like to be able to promote being able to do it again with all tech details down, etc.

CameraVision looks very promising, thanks for that, too. Never found it in an hour of apps-store blundering about…
posted by dpcoffin at 7:39 PM on September 7, 2015


Yes, the dedicated device that does exactly this is called a document camera. It is essentially a digital replacement for an overhead projector (without the requirement for transparency, obviously).

You could certainly rig something up with an iPad, a webcam, or a GoPro, but a document camera is going to be less hassle, less likely to break, and provides its own lighting.

The only issue I would think about is if you need significant vertical range in your demonstration, in which case a document camera may not be ideal, though you could try it positioned at an angle.
posted by ssg at 7:43 PM on September 7, 2015


Response by poster: AS for switching, I was kind of expecting to just switch apps on the MacBook, between Reader for the slides and whatever live-vid viewer I can get them to install or would be already there…iMovie? Dunno what that would be.
posted by dpcoffin at 7:44 PM on September 7, 2015


Response by poster: I was all set to order a IPEVO Ziggi-HD High-Definition USB Document Camera, based on the amazon description, but then watched some YouTubes of it and it seemed very slow, not responsive to movement, not as "live" as an iPad.
posted by dpcoffin at 7:46 PM on September 7, 2015


It would be much less risky to have something that outputs HDMI so that you can connect it directly to the projector. As long as the projector has a remote and an extra input, you can easily switch back and forth from your camera to the computer. I wouldn't want to be trying to install a driver for some USB device on someone else's computer at the last minute. Down that road lies much potential stress. If you can bring your laptop, the USB route might be OK, but you still are adding another step in the signal chain that might cause problems or lag.

I would expect conference organizers to be able to arrange a document camera for you, but if that really isn't an option, have you looked into document cameras with HDMI output?
posted by ssg at 7:57 PM on September 7, 2015


Can you just use the camera on the macbook? They sell simple laptop stands that tilt the back of the base up (it's like a board with pegs sticking up from the corners...higher ones in the back. Look at staples or office depot). The built-in program might be photo booth?
posted by sexyrobot at 8:00 PM on September 7, 2015


And if you do go the HDMI route and there isn't an extra HDMI plug available on stage, a cheap HDMI switcher would be fine.
posted by ssg at 8:00 PM on September 7, 2015


I've seen great demos where the presenter was using HTML for their slides, and they had one page with a WebRTC element to put their webcam front and center onto the screen, and therefore to the projector.

Example

Page here

You could also just fire up the Photo Booth application and use that to the screen. Be sure to try it out with the lighting, perhaps someone else can hold the fabric and you can go stand in the room and see if it does what you want.
posted by nickggully at 9:18 PM on September 7, 2015


Response by poster: This is all very useful; thanks, all!
posted by dpcoffin at 11:41 PM on September 7, 2015


One more idea: If the conference is willing and able to help you out, it would not be particularly difficult to rig up a Macbook on a stand to do this via the internal camera, though you would need to insure sufficient lighting.
posted by ssg at 12:18 AM on September 8, 2015


If your iPad is connected via USB you can show its screen on the Mac. Directions here. You should test this, because I don't know if the performance is fast enough.
posted by O9scar at 12:40 AM on September 8, 2015


Response by poster: Back from the conference to report. All went very well; here's the gear I used (links to AmazonUS):

MacBook Pro 13-inch, late 2011 with OS X 10.9.4
Adobe Reader, Adobe Bridge for showing pdfs and single images: Bridge was the only app I could find that would let me arrange the images in a Finder folder manually in the order needed, without renaming, etc.

iPod Touch, 6th gen, running IOS 9 (using this as a camera)
CameraVision app (perfect! Thanks again for the link, xingcat!)

These adapters:

Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter for iPod touch, 6th Generation ($50!! But it DOES let you jack in the charging plug at the same time, which I didn't do at first, so the iPod run out of juice in about 1.5 hours.)

Belkin Mini Displayport / Thunderbolt to HDMI Adapter, for the MacBook

A-tech Sl2103pt1m, a 2 Port HDMI Switch with 3ft HDMI Pigtail Cable. This was so I could send both the laptop and iPod HDMI outs to the projector's single in jack. Unfortunately, the conference tech guy, who'd claimed to have all the cables I'd need, didn't have any HDMI extension cables, so the switch wound up having to be near the projector, instead of up on stage, which made switching inputs awkward, but still easy. Next time, I'll bring my own, probably these.

These tripods:
For the iPod:
50 Inch Aluminum Camera Tripod + Universal Tripod Smartphone Mount For Apple iPhone 6
This amazingly light but sturdy thing came with both a screw-on iPod holder AND a swivel head with a tensioning lever, for $10; I'm getting another one! (So I can put both under the lights below, when using them at home.)

For lighting under the iPod:
2X Square Jellyfish Jelly Long Legs Micro Tripod
2x Neewer CN-126 LED Video Light
2x Leegoal 7 Inch Articulating Magic Friction Arm

I already had the lights and the articulating arms; the Jelly legs were a third try at buying something tiny, light, yet strong and tighten-able enough to support these. Worked very well, altho the light's rechargeable battery wore out after about 2 hours (my talk was 3 hours). I had replacements.

After I got the iPod, I began to realize I might have used it to display everything, since it can display pdfs and still images perfectly well, in a pinch. But that would have meant positioning the pod and tripod so they both showed the table top and were out of the way of my hands and the material I was putting under the camera, yet the ipod screen was also easy to see and control, rather a tall order. Plus, I was completely unable to find a simple way to arrange a collection of still images (jpegs from my iMac) on the iPod in a specific, and configurable order using any built-in or app-store apps, which I found astonishing. I could paste them onto re-orderable presentation slides, but, sheesh! What a time suck. Not so easy even on the Mac, but Bridge solved that.

Thanks for all the answers!
posted by dpcoffin at 1:22 PM on October 27, 2015


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