Photo booth only records partial Video no matter how long it is...Help!!

Question

ok so i wanted to make a funny video to send to my friend. I turned on Photo booth, chose the video option, and hit record. I proceeded to completely embarrass myself on camera for about 5 mins, and i clicked stop. When it stopped, only like the 1st 18 secs were recorded. I thought maybe i clicked stop on accident, so i tried it again, and it was the same problem.. is anyone else having this problem? if so is there a solution for it? please help...thanks

Answer 1

Welcome to Apple Discussions, C Dot MooDy
is anyone else having this problem?
I have not seen any specific post of exactly your problem, but a few users have posted questions about how long Photo Booth can record, so they might be asking about a similar issue.
For instance, a search of iSight discussions about known Photo Booth recording time limit:
  http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1450644&tstart=50
if so is there a solution for it?
For a solution, consider the same suggestions I offered in the topic linked above:
(1) Be sure you are keeping Photo Booth (PB) as the foreground app; i.e., you can always see "Photo Booth" by the  in the upper left corner of your display. Don't click on the desktop or any other open window while recording. Recording stops on my Mac if PB is not the active app.
(2) Other things that might be contributing to your problem:
• Don't let your Mac go to sleep or allow its screen saver to work while you are recording.
• Check and, if necessary, modify settings of background apps that might be interrupting your Mac during your PB movie recording. Examples would include Mail checking for new email, iCal executing an alarm, your Software Update... performing its scheduled check for software updates.
I do not know that one of those might be your problem, but if you can find no other cause, and if you must record long clips with PB, consider any of those ideas you think they might have an impact. 
(3) Also consider these suggestions If your Macbook runs slowly or exhibits any other problems in addition to your PB issue.
(4) If all else fails, you might try iMovie to see if it works better for recording longer movie clips on your Macbook. While not a one-click app like PB, iMovie HD can add Video FX (Effects) after you have recorded your clip. If you cannot get PB working, iMovie might be worth considering as an alternative.
(5) If you would rather not use iMovie, perhaps a PB clone application like WebcamTweaker or Freak Show will work for what you want.
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