Embedding iSight into Powerpoint

Welcome to Apple Discussions, -Paul

iSight is Apple's WEBCAM that is designed and integrated to work with iChat AV capable Macs and a variety of software applications for a variety of purposes. See the Some Applications you can use with iSight topic.

If I understand your question correctly, you want to embed a video stream into a PowerPoint presentation. I do not use PowerPoint, but if my understanding is correct, you should be able to find out whether and how PowerPoint can do that from its Help files, user Forums, books, or other resources dedicated to PowerPoint operation techniques.

Once you find out whether PowerPoint can display embed video streams, your next step will be to determine system requirements for that function. This will tell you if there are hardware and/or software limits on the video sources that PowerPoint can use. Your best source for this info, too, should be technical information regarding PowerPoint.

If your iSight is a usable source of PowerPoint video streams, you will need software application(s) that can serve video captured from your iSight. Apple's QuickTime Broadcaster and/or QuickTime Streaming Server offer these capabilities for your iSight in full-featured, professional-level applications. Links are provided in the "Some Applications you can use with iSight" topic.

If you want to embed pre-recorded video rather than live video into your PowerPoint presentations, any of the software applications that can make video or movie clips from the list in "Some Applications you can use with iSight" may be worth considering. Select an application that provides the functions you want balanced against the ease of operation you need.

If you intend to embed video streamed from an internet source, you can also consider the web cam applications that meet PowerPoint's system requirements for streamed video.

If I have misunderstood your question, please explain in different words. For instance, if you can consider video sources other than your iSight or if you can consider displaying your video in ways other than imbedded in a PowerPoint presentation, there may be other alternatives available to you.

Cheers,
Jim

Mac OS X (10.4.10)  G5 DP 1.8  External iSight

You're welcome, Paul

And thanks for explaining further. Based on that reply, I think I can offer enough info to get you started.

You have already seen the list of OS X applications that can capture, encode, and deliver video streams from your iSight. Now you need to decide exactly what you need to do so you can select the correct software.

Once you know what you want to do, your next decision needs to be one of which platform and application you will use. This must be YOUR decision. Only YOU know exactly what you want to do, how much compromise you can accept, how experienced and comfortable you are with the technologies involved in embedded video streaming, how much research, study, and results testing you are willing or have time to undertake, etc.

If you decide to use Windows to stream live video via PowerPoint and some software for serving a wmv format video, you will need help from the technical documentation for those applications or from some other person. I have not used Windows for more than eight years, and I do not know the answers to those questions. You might find some help for these questions in one of the MacBook Pro Discussions fora, but my guess is that you would do better in a forum dedicated to using the software application(s) you select for use. In fact, posting your questions in forums about candidate software applications that you are considering may provide useful input to your decision as to which software you ultimately select.

Any Mac solution using OS X and applications like Keynote that run under OS X would use Mac's QuickTime technology for video. If PowerPoint cannot accept QuickTime video streams, you might decide to consider an alternative application like Keynote or even streaming your video to an HTML-based web site and displaying your video via your browser.

If you want the most powerful and flexible OS X applications for streaming your video, see Apple's QuickTime tutorials, such this one about Delivery and this one about Including QuickTime In A Web Page, for an overview of how to use QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) to capture and encode your video. For help setting preferences, destinations and other settings, see "Help" in the QTSS or QuickTime Broadcaster (QTB) applications.

Although I have no way of knowing, I would bet that Steve Jobs' video streaming was done with QTSS, QTB, and some VERY smart streaming video specialists. If these pro-level QT applications are too complex for you, you may want to consider simpler approaches such as using ImageCaster, <a href="http://www.evological.com/evocam.html"">EvoCam</a>, or one of the other webcam applications to display your video stream in a web page.

I am not sure I understand your final comments:

<blockquote style="width: 85%; margin: auto; padding -left: 35px; border: 1px solid #000; background: #efefef;">On windows vista/xp you cant right click the link of the video file and change the preferences of the video to a url rather then a destination on your HD... it seems that on a Mac you can't do this. I might be wrong,...
If understand correctly, you want to know how to change the destination of your video stream using a Mac. The destination is a function controlled by the application rather than by which hardware platform you are using. For instance, in QTB for Mac, you click the "Network" tab in the QTBs main window, set "Manual Unicast" in the "Transmission:" choices bar, and then provide the destination address in the dialog window. Therefore, my answer to you is that you can select the destination for the video stream on your Mac if you run software that offers the option of selecting the destination. Entering "network" in QTB >Help returns the list of all topics for functions provided via QTB's Network tab.

Please let us know if you need any further iSight information before you can mark your question "Answered."

Cheers,
Jim

Mac OS X (10.4.10)  G5 DP 1.8  External iSight

You're welcome, Paul

Get the URL from your ISP or other video hosting site.

Please let us know if you need any further iSight information before you can mark your question "Answered."

Cheers,
Jim