Anyone here used Fire-i by unibrain? need help!

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Level 1

5 points

Anyone here used Fire-i by unibrain? need help!

I just bought the Fire-i webcam by unibrain, supposed to be pretty good, comes with little tripod and eveything. Natively supports os x, only problem though, is that they dont give you any software to control it or set it up.. auto focus isnt working.. everything is just blurry. Also it says you can do still shots and shutter frame, but there's no program or anything to use any of these features.

Also, I need a good program for setting up a webcam for a live feed for surveillance purposes, anyone know any?

Mac Mini PPC, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Apr 16, 2008 11:40 AM

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Answer 1

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Apr 16, 2008 1:40 PM in response to Clshannon1

Hello Clshannon1

I don't use Fire-i, but if you get no better answers here, you should be able to get help directly from Unibrain or their website.

The Fire-i™ Digital Camera Technical Specifications clearly states that Focus is
"Manual, from 5 mm to infinite".

I did not see "auto focus" listed anywhere, but the Fire-i™ Digital Camera Product Description page does claim adjustable " Sharpness". If adjusting the manual focus does not give you a satisfactory image, try adjusting Sharpness, too, to see if that gives you what you need.

The Fire-i™ Digital Camera Product Description page claims the following Video Modes: YUV (4:1:1, YUV 4:2:2, YUV 4:4:4), RGB 24-bit formats, and Monochrome-8bit. For use with these available video modes, my quick scan of the Fire-i™ Digital Camera FAQ page includes the following answers about which software applications will work:

Software that support the Fire-i™ Digital Camera are:
btv™ & btv™ Pro, QuickTime Broadcaster 6™, etc."
and
... a full version of the ISPQ™ application is included with every Fire-i™ digital camera.

There may be other info in the FAQ, and it seems that some of the answers may be directed towards PC rather than Mac users.

If you need more help than is available from the documentation that came with your camera or the unibrain web site, you can discuss specifics directly with Unibrain by using the info from the CONTACT Unibrain page.

EZ

Jim

PowerBook 1.67 GHz w/Mac OS X (10.4.11) G5 DP 1.8 w/Mac OS X (10.5.2) External iSight

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Answer 2

Clshannon1 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 16, 2008 3:15 PM in response to EZ Jim

Yeah I would try and manually adjust it, unfortunately no software was included with the camera 😟 only a cd of windows and linux drivers (no mac, because os x natively supports the camera) I emailed them earlier about what I need to do for a copy of the software.

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Answer 3

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Apr 16, 2008 5:21 PM in response to Clshannon1

I will try to offer a few more details, Clshannon1

Although I do not use Fire-1™, with most cameras, manual focus is usually a matter of using thumb and forefinger to rotate a ring that surrounds the lens. See if that works for you.

When you get your Fire-1™ working, remember that, as a firewire camera, it may be subject to possible hardware or software conflicts.

Happy to hear that you have emailed. Please let us know how it goes.

EZ

Jim

PowerBook 1.67 GHz w/Mac OS X (10.4.11) G5 DP 1.8 w/Mac OS X (10.5.2) External iSight

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Answer 4

Apr 20, 2008 12:05 PM in response to Clshannon1

I agree the camera should have come with OS X s/w to adjust settings but in the absence of that you could try iGlasses. It allows you to adjust and manipulate your webcam's video settings from within iChat and many other programs. There is a free demo version that you can try.

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