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Topic: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

I have been animating in iMovie since I started stop-motion filming a year ago. However, somebody on the iMovie design team screwed up big time, because they removed the ability (that iMovie HD had) to create films with frame rates higher than 10fps. mini/madhead So, as I have been learning how to animate, I am finally ready to start filming at 15fps, but with what software I have now, I cannot. I have a 2009 iMac, and so I was thinking about getting iStopmotion 2. I tried the free download, but unfortunately, none of the three cameras I have are compatible for frame capture (the main reason I want to get new software, as well as being able to create films in 15fps). Sooo...
   My question is: if I got a QC9K (as it seems many of my fellow brick filmers have), would I be able to manually control the settings on it? (Keep in mind that I have a Mac). mini/what  I feel like Mr. Badframe (Avant-Garde 2010), but there is no silver-lining. Any help is greatly appreciated! mini/delirium

"I caught you a delicious bass."

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

The QC9K manual settings don't work on a mac. You can use the 9K with Skype but not manual settings in a frame capture program.

  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

QC9Ks are useless for brickfilming on Macs, for the reason Blacitch covered.

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Noodle wrote:

QC9Ks are useless for brickfilming on Macs, for the reason Blacitch covered.

I believe Littlebrick uses a Macbook Pro with a dual boot or bootcamp and uses a Qck 9000 with XP. That is an option too.

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

mini/eek  Thanks for saving me some money... I don't want to use Boot Camp, (preferring to stay in a Mac interface), so does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve my situation? As of now, I have a relatively small budget, but it is existent! mini/lol  What has worked for those of you Mac users?

"I caught you a delicious bass."

       -Napoleon Dynamite
  • Location: Maine, USA
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

You could get a point and shoot camera, and connect it to a frame capture. You would get much better picture quality than using a webcam. (Go with a Canon though!)

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

blactich wrote:

You could get a point and shoot camera, and connect it to a frame capture. You would get much better picture quality than using a webcam. (Go with a Canon though!)

I have one right now, and it's the Panasonic Lumix. I also have a Panasonic SDR Camcorder and an Olympus C-740... and none of these work with iStopmotion 2 or Frame by Frame. All these complications have blown a fuse in my brain! mini/dizzy  I JUST WANT TO MAKE FILMS!!!! mini/twitch

"I caught you a delicious bass."

       -Napoleon Dynamite
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

The Olympus' won't generate a live feed to any frame capture program, in any OS. (Correct me if I am wrong.) Canons' are your best shot (hehe) in any case. I don't know about Panasonic's other than the camcorder won't work.

  • Location: Maine, USA
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

I had an SDR before, and just about none of the Panasonic cameras can use any sort of live feed.

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Rats... I can't buy a new camera right now. mini/no

"I caught you a delicious bass."

       -Napoleon Dynamite
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

That's a shame - I was going to say that the Logitech Quickcam HD C910 does everything the 9000 can, but it's HD.

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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

1080p.

Quickcam is better value mind you.

welp
Formerly LegoDudez
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

But it doesn't work on a Mac.... And he would also have to buy Bootcamp or Parallels which would add even more to the cost.

Bottom line in terms of bast value, get a Canon point and shoot camera, like one of the powershots, and they're only about $150, so your saving money compaired to buying a quickcam and getting bootcamp.


And technically the pictures on a quickcam can be cropped to HD, not full 1080p HD, but about 720. "HD" is basically just a resolution size (720, 1080). And the 'i' or 'p' is just how each frame is taken and projected, 'p' being progressive scan and 'i' being interlaced. Porgressive does look better when objects are moving quickly, with interlaced you'll get lines across moving objects.
Check these 3 Wikipedia pages out for more in depth info on this. 1080i 1080p Display Resolution

  • Joined: March 11, 2009

Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Blacitch wrote:

And he would also have to buy Bootcamp or Parallels which would add even more to the cost.

Bootcamp is free, you just need a Windows license. But, given the details the OP posted, I would suggest for the moment finding someone who has iMovie HD and just copy it on a flash drive or CD. (That's what I've done with my new Macs with no problems) I think Apple even had a download on their site to get iMovie HD, but I don't know if it's there anymore...

MicroappleLogo9/28/2010<-- Click
Future Films:
Destined Trek: Planning 100%, Filming 70%, Editing 10%, Release Date: 1 Week after the voice actors are confirmed
James Bond 2 - Crossfire: Planning 75%, Filming 40%, Editing 30%, Release Date: Late 2010
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Yeah, I knew that, Parallels isn't however, so the way I worded that was kind of weird. And getting a Windows license cost money aswell, which is still costing more money.

  • Joined: March 11, 2009

Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Yep. In the long run, Parallels is better, because when you partition your hard drive for boot camp, that space is instantly gone from your mac partition. But when you use Parallels you can set it up to be like a container that expands when you add stuff, and not automatically eat up 50GB of space. mini/lol

Anyway, I'm getting off topic and I apologize for that.

MicroappleLogo9/28/2010<-- Click
Future Films:
Destined Trek: Planning 100%, Filming 70%, Editing 10%, Release Date: 1 Week after the voice actors are confirmed
James Bond 2 - Crossfire: Planning 75%, Filming 40%, Editing 30%, Release Date: Late 2010
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

microapple1996 wrote:

I would suggest for the moment finding someone who has iMovie HD and just copy it on a flash drive or CD. (That's what I've done with my new Macs with no problems) I think Apple even had a download on their site to get iMovie HD, but I don't know if it's there anymore...

Actually, I used to have a an Emac, and so when I had to transfer my first movie files to my iMac, I downloaded the iMovie HD as well. mini/bigsmile Finally something is working my way now... However, it is kind of annoying to work with. It often responds oddly and won't work properly. Other than that, I was thinking of using iMovie HD to make the actual scenes, and export them as QuickTime movies to iMovie '09. mini/confused Maybe that will work... Thoughts?

"I caught you a delicious bass."

       -Napoleon Dynamite
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

I have an eMac mini/sad .

Used to be 'Caidence'
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Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

Yeah, they really aren't that bad, but ours was getting slow... iMovie HD has some cool special effects that aren't in iMovie '09... (WHY, APPLE? WHY?!?!) mini/no TBDude, is that what you use to animate?

"I caught you a delicious bass."

       -Napoleon Dynamite
  • Joined: August 16, 2009

Re: To Buy a QC9K or not, that is the question.

No I use my dads iBook G4. Hopefully we're getting the latest iMac for Christmas.

Used to be 'Caidence'