Skype wakes when movement in front of iSight camera

All,
I installed a new iMac 27. All works like charm but then I noticed something really odd:
My Skype is set to change my status to "Absent" after 10 minutes of inactivity.
When I come back and sit in front of my Mac or just walk by, it switches back to "Connected" without my touching keyboard or mouse! So it seems that my iSight camera, though it supposedly is turned off (no green light) is somehow on and detects movement.
I found no setting to change that in Skype or in any of the categories in System Settings.
Any thoughts? What bothers me most is to think that my Mac is monitoring my room without my knowing how or why, and with no possibility to turn it off.
iMac 27", 3.5 Intel Core i7
OS 10.9
Skype 6.11

Thx LowLuster.
I'm not concerned about shutting down Skype, but about my Mac watching me.
Meanwhile, I believe I found the explanation: Maverick uses the light detection sensor next to the iSight camera to reset idle time when it senses movement. Skype follows accordingly.
It's still bizarre (and we should be given the option to disable), but it makes sense:
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/11/01/mavericks-ambient-motion/

Similar Messages

When I record with my iSight camera, after a few seconds it stops recording and tell me there is "Dropfame" images. What do I have to make?

When I record with my iSight camera, after a few seconds it stops recording and tell me there is "Dropfame" images. What do I have to make?
A few weeks ago, my camera doesn't do that, but since 1-2 weeks it becomes impossible to record with it.

Hi mstearns59,
If you are having issues with the audio in a movie in iTunes and video playback issues I would suggest that you troubleshoot using the steps in this article -
Troubleshooting iTunes for Windows Vista or Windows 7 video playback performance issues
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

ISight camera fades while using iChat

I have a MBA running the latest OS and when iChatting my built in iSight camera fades and becomes substantial darker. Any help would be appreciated.

Scott Fox wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion but my MBA screen does not dim only the window displaying my face in iChat dims. The window of the person I am talking to does not dim. This camera dimming of my face is also seen in the window depicting me on the other persons mac.
Note I tried a long movie recording in Photo Booth and there was no detectable dimming in the video even after an hour of recording.
You're welcome, Scott.
Based on that, I agree with Ralph that it seems most likely that your camera may be detecting changes in room brightness and adjusting the picture you are sending accordingly.
(1) Are you doing ANYTHING while chatting: opening a webpage, using any menu on your Mac, or anything else that could change the amount of light coming from your monitor? You can test this by turning screen brightness down and asking if your chat partner sees a change in the brightness of your image.
(2) Are these long chats where the lighting in the room is changing? You can test this by greatly changing room light with lamps or curtains to see if the iSight image on your Mac changes at the same time.
(3) How many minutes of chat time is one session? Are you running on battery when this occurs? I am not certain of this, but I believe that, even if you are connected to electrical power, the high processor demands of video chatting with iChat 5 in Mac OS X (10.6.1) might be causing you battery to also contribute to your MBA's power needs. If so, the OS might be applying power saving measures during your chat. You may be able test this by monitoring the battery charge percentage in the menu bar during a long chat where you are connected to power.
(4) If you get no better help here, and if the darkening persists while you are certain that none of the above is your problem, my only remaining suggestion is to see your Apple-Authorized Service Provider if you do not find a solution using one of the other suggestions in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090
EZ Jim
MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz w/Mac OS X (10.6.1) G5 DP 1.8GHz w/Mac OS X (10.5.8)
G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) LED Cinema Display External iSight

Images Sent to Back move to front when converting from Word 2010 to Adobe Acrobat XI

Images that have been set "Send to Back" and wrapping is set to "Behind Text" will move to front, overlapping text when file is converted to Adobe Acrobat XI. I'm on Windows 7. Anyone having this problem?

How you convert the document to PDF format? Export/Create a PDF, Save as PDF, print as PDF, or using Adobe Acrobat?
Please try to save the document as PDF format and then check the result in Adobe Reader.
If you are using Word 2010/2013, the save as PDF is a build-in function and you can find it from File > Save as
If you are using Word 2007, please firstly download and install the Microsoft Office Add-in - Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS .
http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=7
Thanks.
Tony Chen
TechNet Community Support

When I m going to move the front panel or a window for 3d scene instant hang the program.

When I m going to move the front panel or a window for 3d scene instant hang the program.
Υou can easily try to "generate sound" in the examples.
Can I overcome this? (without lock movement).
tnx
Giannis

Yes, I was right -- you have a single loop where you generate data points and display them. Consider the operation of your program if you do not display the data as a Chart, but instead simply display (as an indicator) the most recent value. The loop will go into your sub-VI, wait the appropriate time to generate a point, return, display, and immediately call the sub-VI again. Fine, it should run at the speed of the sub-VI.
Now add the Chart. Same thing happens, but now you move the Chart. The top-level routine, tasked with displaying the Chart, needs to use additional time to repaint the Front Panel, so it take it. Now when you call the sub-VI again, time has elapsed.
What you need to do is to run two loops in parallel, so-called Producer-Consumer Design Pattern. Have your sub-VI return a Waveform (not a Chart). This loop becomes the Producer -- all it does is "produce" a Waveform at whatever rate the sub-VI specifies. Create a Queue of Waveforms outside this loop, and enqueue the Waveform onto it. In a parallel loop (usually written below the Producer Loop), write the Consumer loop, into which you pass the same Queue. Here you Dequeue the (latest) Waveform and display it on the Chart.
Now, while this runs, move the Chart. The Consumer loop will be delayed (because you are refreshing its Front Panel), but the Producer loop, running in parallel, just keeps going, putting more points on the Queue. When the Consumer finishes its Front Panel update, it blithely plots whatever is on the Queue. If you look carefully at the traces being plotted, you should notice that when you move the Chart, the plotting temporarily stops, then the "missing" points are speedily plotted and plotting resumes at whatever rate it was before you moved things. This is the power of parallel processing and LabVIEW.
Bob Schor
P.S. -- there are examples of Producer Consumer patterns -- if you open LabVIEW and go to File, New, you should see some examples under From Template.

Skype Crashes When Attempt to Move Window

I am on Windows 10 Pro and Skype 7.7.0.103 - I have applied all the latest updates. Everytime that I try to move Skype by dragging the title bar it crashes. I have a dual monitor setup. The symptoms are that it does not move, then when you click back on the app it shows (not responding) in the title bar. I then have to forcibly close and re-open Skype to use it again. I can also confirm that the same thing happens if you right click the title bar, select move, and attempt to use the arrow keys to move Skype. This is a significant issue as I frequently move the Skype Window when chatting in order to view something else on my PC.

I have attached the results of running the DX diagnostics tool.

External iSight camera (FireWire) acting flakey with Skype

My once reliable & rock-solid Apple iSight camera just started acting strange, sometimes it will provide picture perfect video and now suddenly when using Skype the picture has a venetian-blind effect with the video inverted upside down (interlacing on steroids). I am using the latest, greatest version of Skype, funny thing is when I go into the Prefs and check video the picture is perfect like in iChat, but when I connect with my parents their video comes through perfect but mine is scrambled. The camera maybe gets a maximum of 25 hours per year of use, but is now about 7 years old. Checked FW connections and rebooted, PRAM reset, etc. Any suggestions? Time to get a cheap USB webcam? Want to use iChat but no good for our connection (broadband) and Tiger/Leopard OS problems.

Hi,
I use a Advent 1.3Mp Int camera that I bought form the UK version of PC World
The Int bit stands for Interchangable fronts. It has a Mic as well.
It has a fold out bit to hook on to the top of laptops (it's not deep enough for a current iMac).
The cable fits into the base which makes it difficult to use as a free standing item.
The X-box 360 Camera works as it is UVC compliant as well but has no Mic.
With some older Macs that have USB 2.0 (Needed for UVC compliant cameras) on the computer/tower do not have USB 2.0 ports on the keyboard.
I have a USB 2.0 card added to my G4 tower.
Others http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/
Generally speaking most USB cameras will be USB 2.0
In most cases but not all these will be UVC compliant (USB Video Class)
Vista in Windows onwards and Mac OS 10.4.9 onwards have UVC drivers so a "PC" camera does not need Mac Drivers.
The ones that are USB 2.0 only will need Drivers and these then get difficult to find (there were third party options for USB 1.1 cameras and you needed and Add on Utility for iChat)
Pay attention to the pixel descriptions.
Mine is 1.3 Megapixels (1280 X 960 pixels)
USB cameras seem to be mentioning 5Mp at present.
However iChat can only use 0.3 (640 X 480 pixels) max as can Photo Booth.
having said that Quicktime Pro (for your 10.5.8) and imovie could use the higher pixel format if you were going to do more with it with those apps.
Summary
UVC compliant is an absolute for a Mac nowadays.
This will need you to have a USB 2.0 port on the computer rather than the keyboard with slightly older Macs (Some Intels are included in this).
Any Camera that is marked "Vista Certified" or UVC compliant may not have the same features on a Mac that they advertise for a PC.
There is a wide variety out there with different pixel rates and you need to pick one to suit where you will use it most.
iChat and Photo Booth will use the pic at a sample rate of 640 X 480 (0.3Mp) (Not sure about Comic Book if it was Bundled with your Mac although it will see the camera).
Other apps mentioned above will see the full spec of the camera.
Hope this helps.
8:08 PM Wednesday; May 12, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Movie not recording in QT with isight cam

Hi all,
My isight is properly connected to my G4 MDD via firewire port. I get this message trying to save my movie clip," Recording failed because no data was received. Make sure media input is turned on and playing." My iSight is connected and working fine. I see green light on front and audio is working. What can it be?
Thanks for your help
Web dude

Hi
My iSight connection is up fine when viewing it on my Apple profiler. I also did an audio test and it came up fine. I also connected my iSight cam to my G4 AGP tower and it works perfectly. What can it be that my G4 MDD displays "no recording was received."
Web dude

Remove certain movies from Front Row

Hi guys!
I appreciate any advice or guidance on the issue; thank you in advance.
I have my movies in iTunes; they play fine in FR. A good chunk of them have terrible resolution from being compressed over and over with bad setting choices, mainly digitized vhs footage from home movies. Anyways, these movies look pretty bad.
Luckily, I have the originals on a external hd. They are mostly .avi and are in a better quality. I've realized I can just bring these into my "movies" folder, and they work fine, thanks to Perian. I do not do this though because I don't want to occupy space on my main hd, so I just make aliases and bring them into the "movies" folder.
Now, this is okay with me, but I'm a picky guy, and I like my style...
I want to change the metadata so that I can show "artwork" rather that a frame from the movie, plus have a description etc. On a side note if anyone knows of a better way then I am doing it, I am all ears!
So, I open the movies in Quicktime, and save as a reference movie. I then bring the reference movie into MetaX (which lets me add artwork, etc...) Then I can just pop those into iTunes.
Now, this is where it gets tricky/weird. I realize that:
1. I can drop these files in Itunes.
2. This takes up space on my main hd (which I do not want if I do not have to)
3. I now have duplicates (a low rez and a good quality version)
4. Syncing my iPod will bring the reference moves along "for the ride"
ok, so I can just choose which movies to sync to my ipod by checking which movies I want in the setting menu, so no worry about the reference files coming with.
I was wondering is there a way to make an alias of the reference file so that it doesn't take up any space on my main hd?
Irregardless of that situation, I am still stuck with 2 versions of my movies in iTunes.
I want the poorer quality movies on my iPod and iTunes, but only my good quality movies in Front Row. Is there a way to remove the poor quality moves from Front Row while still keeping them in iTunes?
Okay, one last question, which probably should have been the first one. What is the difference between a reference movie and an alias, outside of being able to change meta data? Is a reference movie the equivalent to the "box" that a dvd comes in? You know, it has some pictures on it, cast, description etc...?
If I bring a reference file onto my iPod, will it bring the original (good quality) movie instead? Or have I now got some sort of super awesome compressed version of the movie without any quality loss (or is this some sort of fantastic dream)?
Thank you for any advice. I'm sorry that this is a little long-winded.
I expect someone to replay with "No." as the answer. LOL
Thanks everybody,
Ethan

You're kind of on your way with the solution.
I would like to have posters for my good quality film in itunes+FR, but not on my ipod.
I want the low quality ones on my ipod, but not in my front row.
I've come up with a semi-solution so far.
I've brought the good ones into itunes, with the "copy files to itunes music folder" unchecked. I changed all the info in itunes, and posters etc.... Then I marked all of my low rez movies as tv shows, in a show called "movies"
it is not an ideal solution, but what I am really after is having a "clean" look in itunes when you choose "movies". This might be as close as I can get.
I would prefer something better if at all possible. But I can live with this if I have to. My main concern is that my "tv shows" folder is overflowing with shows. Luckily, they are grouped together by show, and not just in random order.
One thing that would really help, I do not know if this is possible. This would be the ideal solution: if you could create a "show name" folder in the "movies"tab (in itunes/FR)(not to be confused w/ the "movies" in finder) as you can in the "tv shows" tab in itunes.
I've found that because front row has a lack of preferences, and itunes's preferences do not give you enough control; this just turns into a mess.
iLife should be simple, hence the "i" in iLife. LOL
Ethan

Some TV Shows appearing under Movies within Front Row

I've started experiencing this particular behaviour since installing the recent updates (10.6.1 & iTunes 9). Within iTunes, I've checked the 'media kind' and it is set correctly.
All the content was purchased from iTunes. I'd be grateful for any advice.
Thanks,
Andy.

The problem happened again to me - I was fiddling with my music videos (some 664) and did a mass tidy up - selected all and then checked the box to make sure they weren't skipped or resumed half way through. Also ticked the box that they were music video.
Back in Front Row suddenly all my movies were swamped with hundreds of music videos. And they were clearly marked as "music video" when displayed in Front Row Movies.
I did the following: selected all the music videos, changed the type to TV shows, exited iTunes. Checked in FR - all gone from Movies. Back into iTunes and then changed them all back to Music Video. Exited iTunes. Checked FR - still gone!
So maybe try changing them to something else (music video or movie in your case?) and then back again - make sure you exit iTunes after though (maybe it commits changes to the iTunes database or something ... ?).

Playing movies through front row from ext HD

I recently bought Lacie HD firewire 800 1 terabyte and was thinking of loading all my movie files into the new HD and run from it. I've tried aliasing in movies directory in my Imac main HD but it still taking up space in my main HD. Can anyone help ?

I use Front Row to play movies from a different hard drive. Put the movies (they can be organized in sub-folders) in a folder on the external drive and Command-Option-drag that folder to the Movies folder in your home folder. When you choose "Movies" in Front Row, select "Movies Folder", then the folder on the external drive.
If the movies are still using space on your boot drive, it means you didn't delete them from the boot drive (and empty the trash) after copying them to the external drive.

Compatability with adobe Reader 9.3; use of isight camera with skype

I cannot open pdf documents with A. Reader - get the message that it is not supported by this unit. How does one get the isight camera to be active when I log on to Skype?

Hi, you have 2 ?'s
(1) In Skype go to Preferences & check out your Video settings..
(2) PDF auto opens in Preview - if you want have Adobe Reader you will need to d/load from Adobe, then you will need to Right Click on the file & amend Open With or make A/Reader your default..L

High Pitched Noise When Recording From iSight Camera

I apologize if this has been asked before. I did a search on here as well as with Google.
Whenever I record a video clip using the built in iSight camera I notice that there is a constant high-pitched noise embedded in the clip. You don't hear the noise during recording, and otherwise the audio is crystal clear during playback, but I can't seem to figure out what is causing this noise. Video clips I import into iMovie don't have this problem. Has anyone else experienced this problem? How can I prevent this from happening with future recordings?

Hello obsidianspider
I am sorry to report that you are one of about ten people who have posted here about audio noises during video recordings with MacBooks. I listened to your YouTube clip, and I believe you are hearing something. I can hear the muffled "thumping" of background noises being amplified because there is no voice or other close sound being recorded in your video, but my old ears do not hear anything high pitched in your video (or anywhere else for that matter.)
I am sure Apple is aware of the issue, but with so small a number reporting this issue among thousands of MacBooks sold, I understand why there is not yet a kBase technical article on this subject.
I expect that Apple searches its warranty & repair work for quality issues and trends, but, if you have not (and do not) contact Apple or your retailer for service on this issue, please report your problem via MacBook Feedback so Apple can accurately record the magnitude of this problem. Unlike posting in this user forum, "Feedback" reports go directly to Apple.
We users who post here have found no solution yet, so the problem appears to require professional service for resolution.
However, if you are willing to try a test, please post back and tell us whether video or movie clip recording applications other than Apple's give the same audio noise you hear when using iSight with iMovie. Apple's QuickTime Pro has already been tested and found to exhibit the problem.
If you have access to an external microphone that can be located away from your Mac while you record video, you could also test to see whether you are recording a physical sound coming from your Mac or electronic noise being produced within your Mac's circuitry.
If you want to read the suggestions we have offered for minimizing your audio noise in video recordings, take a look at the suggestions offered in Eemma's thread, which was the first to report this problem. The suggestions for minimizing noise start here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4483866&#4483866
If you want to read what other users who experience this (or similar noise) problem, you can find them in these two threads:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=972540
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1136286
If you or any other reader finds a solution, please share it.
EZ Jim
PowerBook 1.67 GHz w/Mac OS X (10.4.10) G5 DP 1.8 w/Mac OS X (10.5) External iSight

Isight camera not working with skype on Win 7 Bootcamp

So I was happily running windows 7 (need it for work) on my MACBook (mid 2009) with Bootcamp 3.2 until a couple of weeks ago.
I updated something (either Skype or Bootcamp, etc) and all of a sudden, my iSight camera takes like 4-5 seconds to initialize, and the frame rates on the camera with Skype are like 1 new grab every 10-15 seconds.
Anyone run into this before?
Thanks,
Wes

I know this is an older thread BUT I've been dealing with this issue for the past four days and this is what I found... (perhaps if it helps another person....)
Assuming you've already checked while on a Skype video call that your camera isn't turned off...
FIRSTLY
Open Skype Preferences to verify your settings.
(prob in your downloads, applications folder or on your desktop)
Then at the top your screen, next to the Apple Icon you should see Skype:
Select Skype, then scroll down to Preferences. Verify settings.
(Mine, for example, under the "Calls" Tab was set to autoanswer so I can check on
my dogs while away and tell them to get off the couch!)
SECONDLY
Make sure another apple app isn't hijacking your camera.
Open Finder, Devices, Applications, then look for IChat
Once open, Select iChat and scroll down to preferences.
(For my settings, I don't use IChat SO I changed the "default IM application" to Skype,
under General settings tab.)
Select the green Audio/Video Tab
and uncheck "Open IChat when external camera is on"
THIRDLY
I verified that all other Apps using the camera weren't open. My insight camera worked
when I opened Photobooth, IChat, Facetime and ICamSource (a monitoring program)
- just didn't work with Skype!
From Desktop, go to Apple Icon, select "Force Quit Finder", then scroll down and
close everything that uses the camera.
FINALLY
From Desktop, go to Apple Icon and select Restart (pic same as above).
Upon restarting, once the screen blanks out hold down the following keys all at once:
Option, Command and P and R keys.
For me, I heard the computer "restart song" chime twice before letting go.
(PRAM and NVRAM settings)
http://http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
I tried a Skype video call from an Iphone to Mac Desktop and it went through just fine!

ISight Camera not working with Skype

Hi,
2 days ago my kids were skyping and everything was fine, then I turned off my iMac and the next day Skype wouldn't use my iSight Camera. In the settings it shows that it is using the iSight Camera but not picture! I made an update from skype but it didnt help. I restarted my computer, reinstalled skype nothing.
I am not a big pro with computers, so if you have an explanation, PLEASE be detailed in your explanation.
Thanks
Lucy

I know this is an older thread BUT I've been dealing with this issue for the past four days and this is what I found... (perhaps if it helps another person....)
Assuming you've already checked while on a Skype video call that your camera isn't turned off...
FIRSTLY
Open Skype Preferences to verify your settings.
(prob in your downloads, applications folder or on your desktop)
Then at the top your screen, next to the Apple Icon you should see Skype:
Select Skype, then scroll down to Preferences. Verify settings.
(Mine, for example, under the "Calls" Tab was set to autoanswer so I can check on
my dogs while away and tell them to get off the couch!)
SECONDLY
Make sure another apple app isn't hijacking your camera.
Open Finder, Devices, Applications, then look for IChat
Once open, Select iChat and scroll down to preferences.
(For my settings, I don't use IChat SO I changed the "default IM application" to Skype,
under General settings tab.)
Select the green Audio/Video Tab
and uncheck "Open IChat when external camera is on"
THIRDLY
I verified that all other Apps using the camera weren't open. My insight camera worked
when I opened Photobooth, IChat, Facetime and ICamSource (a monitoring program)
- just didn't work with Skype!
From Desktop, go to Apple Icon, select "Force Quit Finder", then scroll down and
close everything that uses the camera.
FINALLY
From Desktop, go to Apple Icon and select Restart (pic same as above).
Upon restarting, once the screen blanks out hold down the following keys all at once:
Option, Command and P and R keys.
For me, I heard the computer "restart song" chime twice before letting go.
(PRAM and NVRAM settings)
http://http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
I tried a Skype video call from an Iphone to Mac Desktop and it went through just fine!

Skype wakes when movement in front of iSight camera

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for