What have you done with a PowerPC today?

[MacFoxG4]

I've always been interested in video capture, and I finally got to play around with it recently on my PPC Macs. I bought a device on eBay called the InterView, made by XLR8. It is a USB 1.1 video capture device and it came in the box with software and drivers. It is designed with OS 8.6 in mind, so I tried it on my PDQ first. Installation went smoothly, I installed the included Strata VideoShop 4.5 first and then the drivers for the InterView.

I tested the device out by hooking up a model 1 Sega Genesis and playing some Sonic 2. Watching the game on the screen was fine with a hint of slowdown here and there (though I think that normally happens with this game now that I think about it), though I did have to turn Virtual Memory off to get better performance. Recording the footage caused the footage to appear as a slide show on screen and made playing more difficult. The footage looked okay when I played it back though, low framerate, but better than it was. I eventually discovered that there are a ton of different compression options in VideoShop with varying results of quality. I haven't tried them all out, but so far I like the Component option the best. Learned that the sound in port works on my PDQ, first time I ever used it.

I then decided to test for OS 9 compatibility by installing VideoShop and the drivers on my iBook G3. Due to the lack of a sound in port on the iBook, I used an RCA to USB converter to get sound in. Installation went smoothly and when watching the game on screen I noticed the performance was better. Recording turned the image on screen into a slideshow though. When played back however, the footage looked great once I found a good compression method. When I tried to close the the recording I was watching, OS 9 froze. I am unsure if this was a coincidence or if there is some incompatibility between VideoShop and OS 9 since this didn't happen to me on OS 8.

OS X drivers do exist for the InterView, but I don't know which version of OS X they need or if they work with my version of the InterView, so I haven't tried them out.

 

[Amethyst1]

I tested the device out by hooking up a model 1 Sega Genesis and playing some Sonic 2.

Good thinking, since that's where too much latency can kill you so to speak. As for OS X drivers, they seem to have been released in early 2002 so probably require 10.1.

XLR8 Releases InterView 2.0, First USB Analog Video Capture for X - MacTech.com

XLR8 Releases InterView 2.0 with OS X Support. =2E.the First Macintosh USB Analog Video Capture product for OS X=8A Atlanta, Georgia, April 16th, 2002: XLR8, a leading manufacturer of Macintosh upgrades and expansion products, today announced the shipping of InterView 2.0 with OS X support. Fi

www.mactech.com

 

[mmphosis]

Connected to the Mac via Remmina, copied a GIF file via scp to the Mac, opened the GIF with Preview. And, that is what I have done with a PowerPC today.

 

[B S Magnet]

I successfully set up an Icecast-based streaming audio server (using the last PPC build of Rogue Amoeba’s Nicecast) on my G5, streaming out a live feed of my DJing from the 2011 MBP and using a reverse proxy to keep the address consistent.

A pre-amp between the two, for now, is involved.

Now to look into a streaming service which is designed to handle multiple clients and which isn’t subject to either DMCA overreach or advertising.

 

[CJRhoades]

Upgraded my 15" AlBook to an SSD. Unfortunately, it didn't go all that smoothly. The front clips above the optical drive slot would not release with a reasonable amount of force and I ended up slightly bending both the palm rest and the optical drive slot. I bent them back as flat as I could get them but now there's a slight gap in that area.

On the upside, it feels way faster than before. I'm still waiting on my RAM upgrade to arrive and 512MB is hugely limiting as it has to page to disk with 1 browser tab open. Still, the speedup is significant. Here's the XBench before and after.

 

[m1maverick]

Amazing how much speed an SSD can add to an older system.

 

[Amethyst1]

Amazing how much speed an SSD can add to an older system.

Keep in mind that's just the disk-related subscore. SSDs still are one of the best things to have happened to personal computing within the past decade IMO. I even put one in a 20-year-old Pentium III box and XP is now downright perky on it.

 

[Project Alice]

I've always been interested in video capture, and I finally got to play around with it recently on my PPC Macs. I bought a device on eBay called the InterView, made by XLR8. It is a USB 1.1 video capture device and it came in the box with software and drivers. It is designed with OS 8.6 in mind, so I tried it on my PDQ first. Installation went smoothly, I installed the included Strata VideoShop 4.5 first and then the drivers for the InterView.

I tested the device out by hooking up a model 1 Sega Genesis and playing some Sonic 2. Watching the game on the screen was fine with a hint of slowdown here and there (though I think that normally happens with this game now that I think about it), though I did have to turn Virtual Memory off to get better performance. Recording the footage caused the footage to appear as a slide show on screen and made playing more difficult. The footage looked okay when I played it back though, low framerate, but better than it was. I eventually discovered that there are a ton of different compression options in VideoShop with varying results of quality. I haven't tried them all out, but so far I like the Component option the best. Learned that the sound in port works on my PDQ, first time I ever used it.

I then decided to test for OS 9 compatibility by installing VideoShop and the drivers on my iBook G3. Due to the lack of a sound in port on the iBook, I used an RCA to USB converter to get sound in. Installation went smoothly and when watching the game on screen I noticed the performance was better. Recording turned the image on screen into a slideshow though. When played back however, the footage looked great once I found a good compression method. When I tried to close the the recording I was watching, OS 9 froze. I am unsure if this was a coincidence or if there is some incompatibility between VideoShop and OS 9 since this didn't happen to me on OS 8.

OS X drivers do exist for the InterView, but I don't know which version of OS X they need or if they work with my version of the InterView, so I haven't tried them out.

How is the video quality? I have been after a FireWire capture device for years but they seem to be pretty much unattainable. It would be cool to repurpose my iMac G4 as a small TV or eMac. But all I can find are USB 2.0 devices. Composite video by nature exceeds USB 1.1s bandwidth, which is why I would prefer a FireWire one.

 

[Amethyst1]

How is the video quality?

It tops out at 320x240 afaics. Ugh.

XLR8’s InterView 2.0 comes to Mac OS X

www.macworld.com

 

[Project Alice]

It tops out at 320x240 afaics. Ugh.

XLR8’s InterView 2.0 comes to Mac OS X

www.macworld.com

Definitely not ideal. That would be okay for older game systems that are 240. If I used a CRT mac and changed the resolution to match.
I’ve got an 8” Sony PVM I use for that stuff though.

I thought FireWire video capture devices were huge back in the day, I don’t get why it’s so hard to find one.

 

[MacFoxG4]

How is the video quality? I have been after a FireWire capture device for years but they seem to be pretty much unattainable. It would be cool to repurpose my iMac G4 as a small TV or eMac. But all I can find are USB 2.0 devices. Composite video by nature exceeds USB 1.1s bandwidth, which is why I would prefer a FireWire one.

I’ve been able to get 640x480 when using it on my iBook. Haven’t tried anything higher than that.

I too would prefer a FireWire one.

 

[Project Alice]

I’ve been able to get 640x480 when using it on my iBook. Haven’t tried anything higher than that.

I too would prefer a FireWire one.

I found the same model you got on eBay for fairly cheap in an “unopened box”. It’ll be better than nothing until a FW one does turn up.
What iBook? I wonder if it gets slightly better performance on USB 2.0. Much like USB 2.0 devices work better on 3.0 (in my experience anyways).

I feel like a device like this would be best used on a CRT mac though. I bet laserdisc would look pretty good on it...

 

[MacFoxG4]

I found the same model you got on eBay for fairly cheap in an “unopened box”. It’ll be better than nothing until a FW one does turn up.
What iBook? I wonder if it gets slightly better performance on USB 2.0. Much like USB 2.0 devices work better on 3.0 (in my experience anyways).

I feel like a device like this would be best used on a CRT mac though. I bet laserdisc would look pretty good on it...

A 700mhz iBook G3.

Yep, this device would probably go great with a CRT equipped Mac.

 

[Amethyst1]

I’ve got an 8” Sony PVM I use for that stuff though.

I bet laserdisc would look pretty good on it...

*drools*

As for video capture, I've got an original Elgato EyeTV from 2002 that is also USB 1.1 and works on 10.1 and up - it captures at 352×240.

 

[Project Alice]

*drools*

As for video capture, I've got an original Elgato EyeTV from 2002 that is also USB 1.1 and works on 10.1 and up - it captures at 352×240.

Elgato has a FW device that they made (EyeTV 200), but it is pricey on eBay, and both listings are from overseas and don't include anything other than the unit itself. No power cable, or more importantly no software CD.

 

[Amethyst1]

No power cable, or more importantly no software CD

It runs on Firewire bus power. And...

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/elgato-eyetv

If you need a serial for 2.x drop me a DM

 

[Project Alice]

It runs on Firewire bus power. And...

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/elgato-eyetv

If you need a serial for 2.x drop me a DM

I'm actually the comment on that page lol

 

[Raging Dufus]

I’ve been able to get 640x480 when using it on my iBook. Haven’t tried anything higher than that.

I too would prefer a FireWire one.

Here's another option, if you don't mind going down a rabbithole and doing some research: an old DV camcorder with AV passthrough. I had the idea years ago to try this, but never got around to it. Don't know how to make it work with a PPC Mac, I just presume there's a way. As usual, there's lots of info relating to PC's. For example:

https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/photography/17155.html​

​

So here's the deal: back in the day, Sony thought FireWire would make a great AV interface (they were right), so they created their own proprietary connector which they included on their DV camcorders. They called it i.LINK. From Wikipedia's IEEE 1394 (a.k.a. FireWire) entry:

"Sony's implementation of the system, i.LINK, used a smaller connector with only four signal conductors, omitting the two conductors that provide power for devices in favor of a separate power connector... This port is sometimes labeled S100 or S400 to indicate speed in Mbit/s. The system was commonly used to connect data storage devices and DV (digital video) cameras..."​

​

This is why you sometimes see FireWire cables with connectors that look like this:

Anyway, there are still heaps of old camcorders out there from the late 90's/early 00's with the i.LINK interface, which being FireWire, of course plays nicely with most Macs of that era. Some of these also included a feature called "AV passthrough" (or similar names) which allowed for direct conversion of audio/video from a source, such as a TV or VCR, to digital audio/video formats compatible with computers. Using the camcorder as a go-between, you could record to the computer in real time, or convert previously recorded audio/video (such as DVD or VHS) to MPEG, etc., on your computer.

Here's the problem, and hence the rabbithole: this was usually (always?...I don't know) accomplished by means of software installed on the computer. And I haven't found any that works on older versions of the Mac OS/OS X. There's bound to be some out there, I just never found the time to research it out, and of course much of that information has been obscured by the Internet sands of time.

What you'd need on the hardware end is this: a DV camcorder (could be MiniDV or Digital8/Di8); with an IEEE 1394 or i.LINK AV-out interface; and here's the kicker(s): it must also have AV passthrough capability, and a digital or analog AV-in interface. Not every old camcorder out there is going to have those last two. Here's an example from eBay (not my auction) that seems to meet the hardware needs:

JVC GR-DVF31 GR-DVF31U MiniDv Mini Dv Stereo Camcorder | eBay

<p>JVC GR-DVF31 GR-DVF31U MiniDv Mini Dv Stereo Camcorder. Condition is "Used". Shipped via UPS Ground. Works well. Comes with everything that it did new, with the exception of the software CD for PC transfer. Includes 2 batteries that hold a charge ( although not a long charge), 2 new and 2...

www.ebay.com

Then, you'd have to not only find the necessary software, but also make sure it's compatible with the PPC Mac versions of the Mac OS.

And, this isn't necessarily any cheaper than just buying one of the ElGato or other conversion tools others have mentioned here. Lately the market seems to have awakened to these "vintage" camcorders in much the same way as it has for certain vintage computers. They often go at auction for much more than I personally would pay.

But anyway, there you go. Maybe more than anyone wanted/needed to know. FWIW.

​

 

[Amethyst1]

Here's another option, if you don't mind going down a rabbithole and doing some research: an old DV camcorder with AV passthrough.

YES, finally this is brought up. I use a Canon MVX100i for this exact same purpose. As far as the software side is concerned, I'd give good ol' iMovie a try first - I know I used it at school to import footage from a DV camcorder back in 2004 or so.

As for which camcorders have AV-in (no guarantees that this list is correct though)...

List of camcorder with AV-IN and av input for use with 4Kam bullet camera.

www.4kam.com

 

[Raging Dufus]

YES, finally this is brought up. I use a Canon MVX100i for this exact same purpose. As far as the software side is concerned, I'd give good ol' iMovie a try first - I know I used it at school to import footage from a DV camcorder back in 2004 or so.

As for which camcorders have AV-in (no guarantees that this list is correct though)...

List of camcorder with AV-IN and av input for use with 4Kam bullet camera.

www.4kam.com

Never thought about iMovie - would be cool if that worked!

The problem with finding the right hardware these days is that most people don't know what they have, and therefore don't think to mention the details, or take good enough photos that would reveal them. Most of the time, you've got to try and find the model number and search out its capabilities on your own. Which, nothing wrong with that, but for some reason it seems particularly hard to find the pertinent details on a lot of this old hardware via a Google search. Manufacturers have scrubbed a lot of it from their support websites. Finding a camcorder with both AV-in and AV passthrough can be a crapshoot.

EDIT: That link you provided is sweet, thanks!

 

[Amethyst1]

BLAMMO!

Just hooked up my DVD recorder to my Canon MVX100i’s composite AV input and turned on AV—DV passthrough. Doesn't work with iMovie 06 but iMovie 08 as shown here is fine, as is iMovie 11 on Snow Leopard.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Just got a PowerBook 1400cs/133 in. The NiMH battery has started to leak, but I see no damage on the laptop itself. Haven't powered it up yet, but I plan to set it up as part of the PPC challenge.

 

[mmphosis]

Connected to the Mac via Remmina. Switched tasks, walked away, and came back to the VNC session not responding. Connected with ssh.

ps ux | grep VNC

The AppleVNCServer process is running at almost 100%.

kill $(ps ux | grep VNC | xargs | cut -d ' ' -f 2)

Reconnected to the Mac via Remmina. Fought with the PC keyboard to type characters using the Option key, but Linux is throwing up a Whisker menu because of the stupid Windows Key. I should really plug in my Mac keyboard directly.

Printed the GIF to a very odd-ball sized envelope. And, that is what I have done with a PowerPC today.

 

[M3Stang]

Tried to use the internet on a 17” 1.67ghz 2gb ram PBG4 and it was not a good time.

 

[Todd H]

Installed 1GB of memory and a 128 GB SSD in my Mac Mini G4.