v002 Camera Live

Introduction

v002 Camera Live provides a Syphon server for a connected camera, allowing it to be used as a live video feed.

Currently the only supported cameras are Canon DSLRs, see CAMERAS.md for a list.

You can download the app from the releases page.

Typical latency of a Canon 7D is 120 ms (between 3 and 4 frames at 30 FPS), which is comparable to the latency of the same camera's HDMI output connected to a capture device.

Installation and Use

v002 Camera Live is a Mac app. Download the app. If you like you can move it to your Applications folder. Some users (notably of Chrome) have reported the download appearing as a folder instead of an app. Try downloading with a different browser, and make sure you haven't followed a link to the source code.

v002 Camera Live provides output through a Syphon server. This is not a video camera driver. If you want to use Camera Live with video calling software that doesn't support Syphon, you will need a virtual video camera driver with Syphon support. CamTwist is a popular choice.

Troubleshooting

• Connect your camera via USB, not HDMI. HDMI capture requires an HDMI capture device.
• If your camera model was released after the latest build of Camera Live, it probably isn't supported yet.
• Make sure your camera's firmware is up to date. Firmware updates are available from Canon in your region.
• Quit Canon's EOS Utility if you have it open.
• If your camera has a Wi-Fi/NFC mode, disable it before using Camera Live.
• Unplug all other USB devices, connect the camera directly to the computer (not via a USB hub or extension cable), and try different USB cables.
• The camera sends the image used for Live View - the dimensions will not match the camera's movie recording settings.
• An alpha version is available - some users have reported it solves issues they see.

Changes

See the change log for details of changes between released builds.

Building From Source

To build the project yourself, you must acquire your own copies of the necessary libraries:

• The Canon EDSDK is available from Canon in your region. Place the Framework and Header folders from the SDK in the EDSDK folder alongside this file.

• libjpeg-turbo is available from http://libjpeg-turbo.virtualgl.org. Install using the libjpeg-turbo installer, and then perform the following operations to make a copy suitable for embedding (note the thinning stage is necessary for codesigning to succeed):

    cd <project dir>
    cp /opt/libjpeg-turbo/lib/libturbojpeg.0.dylib libturbojpeg.0.dylib
    # id to location in app bundle
    install_name_tool -id @executable_path/../Frameworks/libturbojpeg.0.dylib libturbojpeg.0.dylib
    # link against system libgcc_s
    install_name_tool -change /opt/local/lib/libgcc/libgcc_s.1.dylib /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib libturbojpeg.0.dylib
    # discard architectures for other platforms
    lipo -thin x86_64 libturbojpeg.0.dylib -o libturbojpeg.0.dylib

• Syphon is available from http://syphon.v002.info. Place Syphon.framework in the Syphon folder alongside this file.