G2 won't work as webcam?

Canons' Tech Support says Powershots won't work as a webcam. I can't fathom this when Canons' "Remote Capture" software displays a live video feed from the camera.

Microsoft Netmeeting or similar apps don't see my G2.

Does anyone have a workarround?

I haven't heard of anyone turning that G2 live feed into a Windows Video Driver stream. Maybe it's possible, but it hasn't been done.

You can connect the AV-out to a composite video capture card or device. That would work.

But, would you really want to leave your G2 powered up for long periods of time, getting hot and possibly damaging it? I wouldn't. I'd get a cheap digital video cam and use that instead.

Thanks ega1. That makes sense.

Hi there,

This is something I've been wondering about quite a bit. Its a good point you made earlier about the heat of an always on camera.

I myself was wondering though, just for occasional use, if there was no application that could make use of the live feed capability used in Remote Capture, for _short videoconferencing_. It seems like it would be an _incredibly_ useful function, much as the ability to record short video clips for videomail.

I love my new G2, by the way, and am so glad I chose it over the rest. But I would dearly love the chance for the occasional video chat with family overseas wihtout having to spend on a separate camera!

Is there really nothing that can work via USB? Does anyone know of any plans?

Many thanks

Nadeem
UK

My sentiments exactly Nadeem. I would be using it sparsely and am reluctant to buy a webcam because of that.

It seems like the video format is incompatable with most Windows applications. Maybe an applet exists or could be written to capture the stream and convert it to windows format.

Randy

I don't know if this is relevant to anybody, but I made movies from the G2 then tried to play them back in the Windows Media Player since they were AVI files. I was wondering why I only got the sound so I read the manual (duh!) and discovered that I have to use the Apple's Quicktime. Quicktime proved to be a winner until I attempted to post the video to a webpage just to discover that Apple's Quicktime and Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0 requires a plug-in. Not to inconvenience the web surfer I wanted to get the video into a format that would display on Windows Media Player.

My solution: I used my Quicktime Pro (this is the version that requires an online payment to get other functions) to do an Export of the file into AVI format (weird huh?) and it will then play in the Windows Media Player. Simple huh?

Yes, that would work. I find Quicktime Pro useful enough to have justified the $30 it costs to register, although its a shame it isn't free.

Oh well.

Anyway, I agree that it would be great if anyone had written code to read the G2 video format and allow it to be used for live conferencing rather than simply post-recording processing. Is there really nothing out there? Do I really have to get a USB capture device (Firewire would be best, but too expensive now I;ve bought this camera!) or a dedicated webcam? I'm really surprised... Especially when some of Canon's other cameras have a webcam functionality (I'm sure I read that somewhere?)

Dosn't really apply to netcams, but when I read PICS post it made me think.

I am confused. I have taken AVI "movies" with my G2 and they play on my computers (home desktop and laptop running win2k pro) without any problems using the MS Media Player. I sent some AVIs to a few friends running 95,98, and 2k and the only one that could play them was the person running win2k. We all had Media Player version 7 installed. Anyone know what's up with that?

I've found that about half of the AVIs that I've downloaded from the internet won't play in Windows Media Player but do in Quicktime.

On the "G2 as webcam" thing, I looked up and down for software/code and can't find a thing. It looks like another video card with NTSC video in is the answer. I'm going to try that. Will advise.

I have a Winnov Videum AV card Http://www.winnov.com and after looking at both manuals I am sure it will work. I'll try it soon. I have used camcorders with the Winnov in the past but they timed out. The power save can be disabled in the G2 and with the external cord I'm sure it will work.
P.S. The Winnov Vidieum is a great product. The AV means video & audio. The card is a Video Capture and a sound card in one. No out of sync lips to voice.

AC

If you have a video card with a video in port you could hook the A/V out into the video card.
Then, set up the remote capture to send the display to the A/V out.
The camera automatically shuts off no matter what setting you use without the remote capture program.

Thanks kas8. Kinda on the back burner right now. Gotta upgrade motherboard to get 4X AGP and a new video card. How long is it till Christmas?