Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with video and apple

How to delay Mac sound output?

i_cola — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:53:45 -0800

I want to delay the sound output from my Mac Mini so I can get it to sync with video from a different source. I've got a radio commentary (available via Safari or iTunes on the MacMini) that is up to a minute ahead of the TV feed I'm watching on my laptop. I want to watch the TV feed with the radio commentary roughly in sync.

Is there a software solution out there that will allow me to adjustably delay the entire audio out from the MacMini?

Even better would be the ability to delay the audio from a particular application & I'd like the option to be able to sync both feeds on a single Mac.

One Image, One Audio Clip: One Movie?

furtive — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:59:06 -0800

How to make a video from an audio track for Youtube? I'm on a Mac, I'd like to make a video for Youtube that just shows an image for the duration of the video. iMovie is not playing along (limiting video to 4 seconds, wtf!)

Frame Skipping Mac

thefamousmoe — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:43:48 -0800

Why is the video skipping on my Mac when hooked up to seconday display? I have a Mac with 2 gigs ram and 2ghz intel processor. When I play a video on it it works fine. But when I plug my tv to it through, hdmi -> minidvi, and audio cable to the tv. It runs fine for like 10 minutes then starts skipping really bad. If i unplug and plug the hdmi, or even audio cable back in then it works again for another 10 minutes. I dont understand, anyone have any ideas? Oh and when it skips in VLC player it gives me this message.

ffmpeg: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)

HD animated maps for video?

nitsuj — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:54:58 -0800

What's the easiest way to create HD-quality (1080x) animated maps for use with video? iMovie '09 has the nifty little map feature, but I use Final Cut Express and don't want to plunk down the extra cash for another editor. Is there a similar -- perhaps a bit more professional and detailed -- solution for creating animated maps for importing into Final Cut Express?

Ideally this would be a standalone program that creates the maps and outputs them into a format that is easily ingested by Final Cut Express.

(Other details: Final Cut Express 4, OSX.5.6, 2.4GHZ MBP + 4gb RAM)

Mac screen artifacts causing a headache

tanc — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:49:33 -0800

I'm getting some weird artifacts/corruptions appearing on my macbookpro screen. Any explanations? I've tried googling this, but as my description of what's happening is quite vague I haven't had any success...

It's been happening for a while. Here are two screenshots I took of different artifacts that are happening. 1 2

Generally the artifacting occurs within a specific window, although sometimes it occurs across windows.

I have an external monitor plugged in and it occurs on both my laptop screen and the external monitor.

I thought maybe it was due to how long I leave my computer on - it's often a week or two between reboots, but it's happening now and my uptime is less than 2 days...

It seems to start on video windows (quicktime) or tetris (Quinn) the most, but that may be due to those being my most common activities...

It doesn't happen constantly, but will come and go. At the moment it seems to be appearing for a few seconds and then going again, but sometimes it won't go unless I close a windows or somehow force a screen refresh. (I was typing this the screen became obscured by a large yellow block)

Any suggestions of how I can prevent it without the pain of a reboot/trip to an apple store?

Please help me get my new MacBook Pro projecting through the projector

bryanjbusch — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:20:24 -0800

What do I need to look for in an HDMI switch that will enable my Mini-DisplayPort video signal to reach my projector?
I've just successfully connected the Mini-DisplayPort > DVI adapter > HDMI directly to the projector. I also tested an HDCP-crippled video through iTunes, and it didn't complain to me about the display not being HDCP-enabled, so that's a load off my mind.

However, when I pass the HDMI through my extremely generic 4-port switch from Monoprice.com, I get nothing but a blank blue screen through the projector lamp. The laptop screen blinks gray for a second as if it were attempting to make a connection, but gives up.

Is it an HDMI version thing, do you think? What kind of specifics should I be looking for in a new switch?

Or is it maybe not the switch at all?

What video editing software is best for me?

nitsuj — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:42:29 -0800

What video editing software is best for me? I've got a Macbook Pro (2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, OSX.5.5), and I'm looking to edit HD video (from this camera). I'm fairly new to the Mac, but on Windows I was very proficient in Adobe Premiere. I've never worked with HD.

Looking through the Apple site, I see a bunch of different versions of Final Cut (Pro, Express, Express HD, etc) and I'm not sure which, if any, would be good for me -- considering I'm a Premiere guy. Is there anything about Final Cut that would make me want to switch to it in my situation?

Also: Does my Mac have the specs to edit HD footage well?

I'm doing prosumer level work -- nothing too fancy.

Not Getting Famous on YouTube

tmcw — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:24:55 -0800

I have a song I composed / recorded / etc. I'd like to make simple video by cutting together fragments of public-domain films with this song. I have a MacBook. How to get to point B? iMovie is crashing on every import. iMovie seems to crash every time I open the "Import Movie" dialog. Not a sign of quality software.

I don't want to spend much/any money on this. I've tried writing a quick app in Processing.org to do this, but the movies I'm working with are 100-200MB mpg files, and that fills up Java's heap very, very quickly - I can't imagine throwing FFT analysis on top of that.

Are there are any open-source or cheap applications that allow fairly basic video editing capabilities like this? Anything possibly designed for VJs or very nonlinear editing like this will be? I'm a little miffed that there hasn't been an obvious, slick answer to this like there has been for 99% of my mac artsy-software needs.

Thanks for any help!

How can I copy one project into another in iMovie 08?

photomusic86 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:23:25 -0800

How can I copy one project into another in iMovie 08? I have two separate projects in iMovie 08, and I want to add one to the end of the other. Copy and paste doesn't include audio tracks or titles, which is the primary problem, and I can't just drag one into the other, like you can with events.

Looking for Fun Camera or Computer Projects during a Cross Country Drive

hworth — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:55:38 -0800

I'm looking for instructions, guides, or suggestions of something fun to do with my camera or laptop during an upcoming cross-country drive. In a week and a half I'll be driving from St. Louis to Southern California. I have a MacBook with OS X Tiger and a Canon Powershot SD 750. I have 5 2gb memory cards for the camera.

I wanted to do something fun with the camera or isight while on the road. Rigging up the laptop on my front seat to shoot a time-lapse video from the isight seems like the easiest option, but I'm wondering if anyone has any more interesting/complicated suggestions.

I would be happy to invest the time to learn any sort of program or skills with the camera or computer, but not looking to spend more than 50 bucks for any additional supplies. If anyone has any links to cool projects online, I'd be happy to copy someone's cool idea with my own trip as opposed to doing something original.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to set up my laptop on my passenger seat to keep it safe and secure? I'd hate to slam on the brakes and have it smash into the dashboard.

Would upgrading to Leopard allow my computer to better stream video?

SeizeTheDay — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:08:51 -0800

I run a 12 inch Powerbook G4 1.33 with 1.25GB of RAM (Tiger) with 64MB dedicated video card. Anytime I play anything video (ABC, NBC, YouTube, CBS, Fox, AOL Video, etc. etc.), the fans come on full blast (more so than I ever remember, and I've had the computer for almost 42 months now). So I have a couple of questions related to this. First, did something happen online that causes intense pressure on the CPU and causes the fans to blast out? Doesn't my seemingly good video card counteract that, or shouldn't it? And the money question: I've heard rumors that Leopard is much better at handling video compared to Tiger. Would upgrading cause less strain on my CPU, allowing the fans to be a little quieter? Would the video be smoother and allow me to maximize the video screen, instead of always having to keep the screen small (3"x4")?

How do I automatically resize a bunch of videos for youtube?

davidstandaford — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:33:27 -0800

Can you set up an apple script or use quicksilver or find a way to automate using iMovie to convert a bunch of .avi movie clips to a smaller size so they can be uploaded on YouTube. I currently have a folder of video clips on my computer to upload to YouTube but they are too large. I have been loading them into iMovie one at a time (this can take a minute or two) and then reformatting them in the CD-ROM setting (which takes another couple of minutes), which gets them to the right size for uploading online.

Is there a way to automate this process? I feel like there must be, if I'm just doing the same 3 steps over and over again, but the last time I tried to do something with Apple Scripts I got helplessly lost and gave up.

Goggling wasn't so helpful, but if anyone know of another program that would make this really easy, I'd love so advice. I'll be around watching the thread if anyone has any questions or if this isn't clear. Thanks!

iCan't get some video into iTunes

csg77 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:43:43 -0800

Having switched to a Mac (love it!) and bought an Apple TV, I have used the Elgato Turbo.264 to covert a few years of TV/video to the H.264 mp4 format. When I try to import it to iTunes to use with Apple TV, only about half the files will add to library. All of the files open with Quicktime, and there is no error message from iTunes, they just don't add! Can't see any difference between the files (all .mp4, shortening the file names doesn't help), and nothing I can find will help with why only some files won't import. Waiting for Elgato to get back to me, but hoping some kind soul can save me from having 4 solid weeks of file conversions being wasted!

Oh, I also tried a few of the files in Lostify, which told me these were not valid mp4s. Can't understand this as they open in Quicktime and were treated exactly the same as the working files!

Thanks!

Analog Video Capture to Mac Webcam

terrapin — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 06:21:24 -0800

I have a VHS-C camcorder and an eMac with USB 1.1 ports (firewire ports are broken) and I am curious if the Dazzle Video Creator Platinum will allow me to use the VHS-C camcorder as a webcam on this Mac. I used to use the same VHS-C camcorder with a Windows machine many years ago with a video capture card. I would leave the tape out and put the VHS-C camcorder in the record mode; used Webcam32 and it worked perfectly, giving me much better images of outdoor views than any Firewire or USB "webcam" I have ever found.

I don't know if the Dazzle will:

1) work with Mac.
2) allow me to stream the image from the VHS-C as I did before using EvoCam.

Does anyone have experience with this product? With a Mac?

Thanks.

Help me find an old Apple game.

Mr. Justice — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:02:54 -0800

Help me find an old Apple game. This is what I would call a real-time strategy time, in that you only had a few seconds to make a move. You had 3 lives and several kinds of guns: a laser, a repeat-fire laser, and a missile (only a few of the latter two). You had to make it thru numerous levels, much like the old Berzerk game, by dodging and destroying enemy robots, who fired lasers and missiles as well. You had 3 decisions per move (that is, you could move 3 times, fire 3 times, do nothing, or some combination thereof). I think it was called Mission: Escape, but it is important not to confuse it with another similarly named game which involved picking up and rescuing helpless people. Can you help me find this old Apple game?

Cost-effective, shared storage for Mac?

brundlefly — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 11:41:02 -0800

Cost effective, shared storage for Mac? I work for a small production company that uses two G5s to edit video. We want both machines to share a large central drive (a RAID, I suppose). What's the best way to go about this? I looked into Xsan, but that appears to be out of our price range. Are there more cost effective alternatives?

iSight tricks

mzurer — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:45:36 -0800

What are your favorite iSight tricks? I just came into an iSight camera. iChatAV is pretty slick, and I have mucked around with a couple of screensavers as well as the games that do rudimentary motion tracking. But I want some serious whizbang - Like have it track my head moments as a mouse controller, or some whacked out live video processing. What's the absolute coolest thing you've seen done with a camera attached to a mac?

Help me buy the right Mac for video editing?

cloudscratcher — Wed, 31 May 2006 23:16:00 -0800

Buying a new Macintosh to edit video, I could ask Apple, but I'm asking MeFi: With a little money in the bank, and the opp'ty for a slight discount, I want to buy my girlfriend the machine she needs to edit video (that's her job)

What I'd like to know is, what's the minimum system setup to do some proper video editing? Not iMovie level stuff, but not the super-high-end stuff either.

Further, I just can't believe that they released the Intel Macs without Final Cut available... does that mean that I should just wait for them to release that? Won't that drive down the costs of the G5 towers radically?

Finally, she travels quite a lot and could benefit from having her machine with her -- do any of you think a tricked-out Mini could be a proper video editor? How does a $2000 G5 tower compare to a $2000 MacBook, for these purposes?

And won't I have to buy all new super-expensive versions of Final Cut for the Intel-base, when they even come out with it?

Anyway, I know there's a lot of places to turn for this info, but any personal information you've got is valuable.

QuickTime very, very unhappy

NinjaTadpole — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:50:58 -0800

QuickTime, (and QuickTimeAlternative) can't play sound correctly and hangs after any interaction. It started after downloading the QT8 plus iTunes bundle a month or so ago and I've never been able to sort it out since.
The video will play correctly if no controls are used, but the sound will either be the first 1/10 second repeated or silence. If using the controls at all (such as reducing the volume) the video hangs for 30 seconds or so before resuming. At no point will the sound play correctly.

I've uninstalled and re-installed both pieces of software and only had one installed at a time. I use Windows 2000.

So what's got stuck and choked my machine? How do I set the QT free?

12GB per hour = too much

Silky Slim — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:38:21 -0800

can someone recommend an app for recording video on a mac from dv input, but in a format more compact than dv? i used to use an app called "gcam", but apparently it stopped workin gcorrectly under tiger. it allowed me to record video in real time as mp4 as well as other formats.
thanks!

capture video directly to hard drive?

hummercash — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:58:46 -0800

capturing video from GL2 directly to powerbook??? ok, so lets say i want to bypass tape completely and capture directly to my hard drive. like keep my powerbook in my backpack and run a firewire cable from the cam to the laptop. would final cut be able to do this? would my laptop go to sleep since it would be closed? is there another program or piece of hardware that would work better?

thanks.

.//chris

Tiger's QuickTime Misperforming on an iBook G3?

WCityMike — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 08:35:09 -0800

Ever since upgrading to QuickTime 7 and Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger), I've noticed that apparently what I think is the H.264 and H.267 codecs play very choppily on my machine. The audio track doesn't freeze, but the video stops, then moves forward slightly choppily, then goes forward, then repeats the cycle a few seconds later, making the resulting video mostly unviewable. I've noticed this specifically on videos from the iTunes Media Store and Apple Movie Trailers.

My machine isn't horribly ancient, but it's not top-of-the-line, either: an 800 mHz iBook G3 with 640 MB RAM (which is the maximum available for this unit). I know the G3 is at the hind end of the pack nowadays, but I can't believe it's been entirely ignored when these codecs were tried out at Apple.

I have tried three things: increasing the QuickTime cache (no effect), reducing the number of open applications at the time (very little or no effect), and letting the whole video load before trying to play it (very little or no effect).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Help me put together my dream Mac.

rocketman — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 07:48:49 -0800

Help me put together my dream Mac. I am a video professional, and the IS department where I work has recently offered to foot the bill for an upgrade to the dual G4 I've been using for the past three years. They've given no restrictions on what I can ask for, so naturally I assume there are none.

I want to avoid asking for obnoxious things, like 8GB of memory. That said, I don't want to shoot low, since this machine will likely have to last me for the next three years, maybe four, and maybe forever (there's been a lot of recent noise about completely eliminating Macs from our company).

I plan on asking for the dual G5 2.7Ghz PowerPC, 2x400GB internal hard drives, and a 20" cinema display. Beyond that, I'm not familiar with the best video card to use, how much memory to ask for (I'd like 4GB, but could probably get by with 2GB), and if there are any special hardware items that will improve the performance of the machine.

On my own, I can probably put together specs that will be satisfactory, but I'd like some help getting specs that will perform well for the long haul.

Keynote 2 Video Export Settings

odinsdream — Tue, 24 May 2005 11:55:58 -0800

I'd like to export a Keynote 2 presentation to a video, but all of my attempts result in bad quality and skipping. What settings and codecs should I be using? The default high-quality export gives me a file that seems to stutter on playback. My presentation is about 7 minutes long. I must be able to play this back on a Windows machine in a constant loop. I had assumed VLC would be the best option.

Most of the codec options in the advanced export settings don't work. Do I need to install additional software to use them? I don't mind doing this, but I also don't know how to do it.

What framerate, codec, and other settings should I use to get high quality video from my effects-laden presentation? Filesize isn't a limitation, and my presentation has no audio.

Apple display as a TV?

josh — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:52:31 -0800

I have an Apple 20" Aluminum Cinema Display. What do I need if I want to use it as a TV without a Mac attached? Basically, I'd like to move this display off my desk and into my living room--reserving the option to take it back into the office and use it with my computer. Is there a box of some kind that will let me hook up my DVD player and cable box to the display? I'm totally ignorant about this kind of stuff and don't even know where to start looking.

Thanks!