Members blue2blue Posted October 3, 2008 Members Share Posted October 3, 2008 My buddy's MacBook and iMac both take web cam snapshots in mirror image ('horizontally flipped,' if you will). He's convinced there is a good reason for this or it wouldn't be that way, but he's hard pressed to say what it is. I'd assumed this was a common issue -- but I can't really find any discussion of it on the web after a half dozen searches. Since this guy is a computer-phobe, if this ever gets fixed, it's probably gonna be me that does it. I figure it's just some checkbox someplace that mistakenly got ticked. I haven't had a change to go looking for it on his machine and was hoping to hit the ground running when I have to do some work on it in a few days. Any help from our Mac brethren? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 (I'm on PC, but...) My webcam has a setting where you can switch it to which way you want. I tried it, but found the mirror image confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Yup, it's flipped. GcIpZkF56Ns As to why, there's a reason, but we can't tell you until you join the Mac Cult and learn the password and secret handshake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Doe Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 This feature exists so that when you take a video of yourself it acts like a mirror. The can be turned off in the image setup screen of most video cameras. Most people only see themselves in the mirror and think photos of themselves don't look realistic (because they're not flipped). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 In Apple's Photo Booth, go to the "Edit" menu and select "Auto Flip New Photos" (or "Flip Photo" for existing photos).The image will no longer be a mirror image. Best way to check if it's right is to take a photo of a clock or wrist watch and look at the numbers on the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 We got a winner! Thanks Ed! (And thanks to the rest of you losers, too! ) This is precisely the insider voodoo that the Weasly One was taunting me with that I needed. Now... how do I find Photo Booth? I assume it's part of all Macs or all Macs with built in cams? Am I to understand that reversed is actually the default behavior? I've noticed that various webcams have offered such a thing, and I figured it was as Jon suggests, a sort of cyber-mirror. Me, I was always looking for double mirror setups when I was a vain teenager, because I wanted to make sure I could see myself as others saw me -- as well as in profile... which somehow seemed critical. I could spend ten minutes looking at myself in a 3 way department store mirror. It must have been highly amusing. And I really didn't care. I was hypnotized. There is something creepy and magical about mirrors... after all. And what's really amazing -- think about it -- they require no power aside from available light and have virtually no latency... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Am I to understand that reversed is actually the default behavior? and yes again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Cool. Maybe I shouldn't change it then... still, while I can (sort of) understand whyyou might want it to present a mirror image on the screen (I guess, if folks say so; I assume Apple did some market research -- and the lack of people asking how to change it on the web seems evidence that they're correct, I guess) -- I can't figure out for the life of me why you'd want snapshots from it to also be reversed. The reason this came up was because my pal had sent me some self-portraits he shot with it and they were all backwards (he was holding his guitar backwards, the bumper sticker on it was reversed). Obviously it's no prob for me to flip them but I just thought it was such an odd behavior for a default. Heck, I guess I still do. (Maybe that's why "I'm a a PC." So to speak.) But, anyhow, now, armed with this most excellent info I can change it if he wants me to. Thanks a mil, Ed! PS... one last question: If he uses iChat will the person on the other end see a standard image? And if that's the case and I reverse the display/snapshot behavior will that mean that iChat will then present the chat-vid in mirror image? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 PS... one last question: If he uses iChat will the person on the other end see a standard image? And if that's the case and I reverse the display/snapshot behavior will that mean that iChat will then present the chat-vid in mirror image? I never used iChat video with anyone, so I don't know what each person would see on their side. iChat video is mirror image and there are no flip options like there are with Photo Booth, so I would guess that the person on the other end would see the same mirror image.A flip function is something that Apple should include in a future iChat update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 iChat video is mirror image and there are no flip options like there are with Photo Booth, so I would guess that the person on the other end would see the same mirror image. A flip function is something that Apple should include in a future iChat update. Fascinating! I feel like I've stepped through the looking glass here... Sorry... I could not resist. And thanks again to Ed and everyone who responded! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 And what's really amazing -- think about it -- they require no power aside from available light and have virtually no latency... Not even. Every time you look into the mirror, you're peering ever so slightly into the past. Granted, not long into the past. But on some scale, it takes light some measurable amount of time to bounce off you, bounce off the mirror, and get back to your eyes and then your brain. I'm just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Hence... my use of the perhaps overused qualifier, virtually... VirtuallyVir"tu*al*ly, adv. In a virtual manner; in efficacy or effect only, and not actually; to all intents and purposes; practically. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Not even. Every time you look into the mirror, you're peering ever so slightly into the past. Granted, not long into the past. But on some scale, it takes light some measurable amount of time to bounce off you, bounce off the mirror, and get back to your eyes and then your brain. I'm just saying. Thanks for that. That is just the type of stimulating insight I need first thing. :coffee: Combine that with various theories of the non linearity of time and you get something far better than Wheaties. Looking at the stars and seeing eons into the past is one thing, looking in a mirror and seeing the past is almost real time. And that is far cooler than the former. I think right on that threshold is an opportunity for greater insight into the nature of time and how it's all perception. There might be some analogy in there...looking in the mirror and the perception of time...somebody help me out here...maybe get me a Pink Floyd album... Recent studies are suggesting a universe that is infinite. It's bouncing around like those old videos where they bounced the little white ball over the lyrics. At least that's what I ascertained from seeing the recent cover of SciAm, or Discovery or whichever one it is. They arrive in the mail and hang on the dining room table until they get a manifest to be shipped to the top of the can, where they are then available for reading. I'lll stop back and post what I find out. Thanks! Did you eat your theoretical physics today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 4, 2008 Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 Hence... my use of the perhaps overused qualifier, virtually... In doing so you virtually covered yourself from scientific smart asses like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted October 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 4, 2008 I'd say the proper qualifier for that one would be... almost. As in... a miss is as good as a mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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