• Joined: December 31, 2014

Topic: camera to use for a iMac

Hi everybody, my son is very new to stop motion and loves it immensely.   The problem I have is  that the current camera selection we have drives him crazy trying to get them to do what he wants them to do.  I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion on cameras to use with an iMac.  My son is 13 and would be looking at a reasonably priced camera with good focus options, easy to use and able to put on a tripod.  We tried the Logitech c920 webcam but unfortunately it is not compatible with an iMac.

  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: camera to use for a iMac

Hmmm. That's odd.
I also use the Logitech c920, with iStopmotion and iGlasses. Everything works fine for me.

Is everything up to date on your iMac?

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  • Joined: June 21, 2012

Re: camera to use for a iMac

Hello growad,

Do you happen to still have the c920? I have that exact same camera and use an iMac. There is a piece of software on the Mac App Store called "Webcam settings", it's about $8-9 and it allows full manual control over the c920 and many other webcams. mini/smile

I hope that helps! mini/smile

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  • Joined: December 31, 2014

Re: camera to use for a iMac

thats awesome supports.   i do still have the c920 and will try all those programs

  • Joined: December 31, 2014

Re: camera to use for a iMac

Ok,  sorry its been awhile,  I downloaded the web cam settings app and I'm still lost.   i can't seem to find where you capture pictures.  do i need more app's?

  • Joined: March 28, 2014

Re: camera to use for a iMac

The program that PrestigiousPieProductions suggested seems to be just a webcam controller, you may still need a stop-motion software.

I don't use a Mac so I cannot give specific support, but may I suggest that you look at our Free Software list?

http://www.bricksinmotion.com/forums/to … ware-list/

There may be a few stop-motion capture programs on there of interest. Of course, there is always iStopMotion, which Dewfilms suggested. It is used by many people in the community. But that is kind of expensive, so I'd try the ones on the Free Software list first. mini/wink

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  • Joined: November 26, 2011

Re: camera to use for a iMac

iStopmotion captures and exports the images, there are webcam control apps that allow you to change the focus and things like that. I use a simple webcam settings app from the app store when I use webcams (I don't always).

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  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: camera to use for a iMac

growad wrote:

Ok,  sorry its been awhile,  I downloaded the web cam settings app and I'm still lost.   i can't seem to find where you capture pictures.  do i need more app's?

What you would need is a frame capture program...

There's a free trial version of iStopmotion. It's a great way to try before you buy.
(Fair warning. Continuing to create films with the trial version will leave a watermark on your films.)

Framebyframe is a free simple stop motion program for mac.

In the past, I used Framethief with my Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000, but this was on an older mac laptop. I haven't used this program in a very long time (2008/2009?), so I have no idea if current cameras are compatible with Framethief anymore. When I upgraded to the Quickcam 9000, I could not get it to work with Framethief.

(Edit…Just tested this. I can't get Framethief to work on the newer laptop. But it will work on my old one.)

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  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: camera to use for a iMac

Small update....
You might want to try uninstalling then reinstalling iStopmotion.
I did it this morning, and now my Logitech Quickcam 9000 works just fine with iStopmotion.
Unfortunately, the QC9k is not compatible with iGlasses, so I still have the issue of fixed focus and not having control over it.

Hope this helps.

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