Is it just me or does photobooth backdrops plain SUCK! [Archive]

kkat69

Nov 9, 2007, 10:25 PM

The are horrible...

i used a almost white backdrop and im wearing red...and use some of the effects are so crappy and jusk suck! there are blobs off crap etc!

Does it ever work? what happened apple?

You could try NOT using them and NOT being grateful something pretty neat was even introduced.

Are they perfect for all lighting and all types of users backgrounds? No, this is a -3k computer not Lucas Industrial Light and Magic. Apple at least gave something kewl and if you have a decent lighting and stable background they work pretty good for what they offered.

Far be it for Apple to do anything new and inovative, but I fail to see where MS's backdrops are in their camera application............................................................. OHHHH Wait, THEY DONT HAVE ONE.

Rather than be so damn negative how bout just being grateful they added something like it. So it doesn't work with where your Mac is, it works great with mine, it's not perfect but it still works pretty kewl.

Better yet, lets have Apple remove ALL photo booth effects? Would THAT make you happy? Cuz you can always "Move to Trash" the files then you won't be tempted to use em.

smueboy

Nov 9, 2007, 10:32 PM

Yeah they're pretty lame right now, but i give credit for an interesting idea which will probably improve, especially since you can add your own backdrop. I don't have any use for it, but you never know.....

ravenvii

Nov 9, 2007, 10:47 PM

*rant*

Wow strong rant.

U mad?

davidwarren

Nov 9, 2007, 10:53 PM

Wow strong rant.

U mad?

you don't sound very grateful.

nawks

Nov 9, 2007, 10:54 PM

thebassoonist

Nov 9, 2007, 10:59 PM

I have actually had quite a bit of fun with them and am surprised that they work as well as they do... but there's room for improvement for sure! I've had quite a few laughs with my younger sister using them during our video chats. Maybe Leopard should have come with a green screen that could be placed behind the person using Chat. It probably works better that way. Ha ha.

nawks

Nov 9, 2007, 11:14 PM

haha. well. i have a solid coloured wall behind me, and its still very glitchy. so i can't understand why it looks so good in the leopard tour video. a little misleading? unless someone can screenshot and put up one of theirs that look good?

kkat69

Nov 9, 2007, 11:15 PM

Wow strong rant.

U mad?

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

Like I said, it's not perfect but as the sig points out "think different" well Apple did and all that was done was say that it SUCKS! well that sounds pretty ungrateful to me.

Me mad? Never. I'm happy with the backdrops. I don't use them hardly at all but it's a nice treat to even have them. One of those novelty things.

CalBoy

Nov 9, 2007, 11:22 PM

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

You know, I'm sure I can't run a country, but I'm sure that I can whine and b**** about our current government.

I'm pretty sure I can't pilot a ship, but I'm sure I can whine and b**** about the guy who ran into the Bay Bridge a few days ago.

I'm pretty sure I can't sing worth *****, but I'm sure I can say that Brittany Spears can't.

;)

I personally don't have any problems with Photobooth; the new additions are great. However, this poster has obviously encountered disappointment. Rather than attack and assault him, perhaps we should try to help him make it work for him. Wouldn't that be better for us all?

EricNau

Nov 9, 2007, 11:36 PM

I haven't been able to get it to work, but it's still better than nothing I suppose.

...For those of us who can't get it to work, we don't loose anything, but for those who can get it working, it's a nice feature. ...There really isn't a negative for anybody.

phillipjfry

Nov 10, 2007, 12:03 AM

I think once some other people out there get some custom backdrops, things will get interesting. I loved how they (Apple) got people started in the right direction. I like my macrumors' custom star wars hologram backdrop

joejoejoe

Nov 10, 2007, 02:28 AM

give apple credit for coming up with something new and interesting? are you kidding me?

my crappy logitec webcam from, what, 6 years ago could do the same thing and do it better.

apple's awesome, my favorite OS/computer/mp3 player/phone manufacturer, but they're definitely not perfect

people are ALLOWED to complain!

...needless to say Eric I agree and hope Apple issues a software update improving the program.

elbows

Nov 10, 2007, 10:22 AM

There probably isnt too much Apple can do to improve these things. If the camera see's part of you as being the same as the background, then the glitches will happen. So experiment with different background, and most importantly different lighting. Using a better camera can also help. It will still be hard to get 'perfect' results though.

The only reason my hologit/hologhost effect may look better than some of the others, is because you are semi-transparent, and one colour, so the brain doesnt notice the glitches as much. I suppose its also possible that the botched way I wired the background up has compensated for some of the glitches, but this is entirely accidental if true, not sure if there is a technical tip to be learnt from it or not, but if there is then it could be something to do with background colour intensity.

Zwhaler

Nov 10, 2007, 02:34 PM

Yep, backdrops fail. Perhaps if you are on an all white background wearing black clothes... then it might work. Hopefully it can be fixed, it's a really neat concept.

Marble

Nov 10, 2007, 04:50 PM

Don't work for me. They've decided to drop much more reliable features in Leopard than this one. It's a little embarrassing.

anjinha

Nov 10, 2007, 08:12 PM

they work fine for me.

Dybbuk

Nov 10, 2007, 08:23 PM

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

Like I said, it's not perfect but as the sig points out "think different" well Apple did and all that was done was say that it SUCKS! well that sounds pretty ungrateful to me.

Me mad? Never. I'm happy with the backdrops. I don't use them hardly at all but it's a nice treat to even have them. One of those novelty things.

You realize people paid for this software, and that it wasn't given to them graciously by Apple, right?

henry.oswald

Nov 10, 2007, 08:26 PM

what's wrong with thinking its crap. it is crap,

apple told us about a new feature, we gave them money, and this feature doesn't work. thats bad.

if it was free then you could call it ungrateful.

Draddy

Nov 10, 2007, 09:17 PM

You could try NOT using them and NOT being grateful something pretty neat was even introduced.

Are they perfect for all lighting and all types of users backgrounds? No, this is a -3k computer not Lucas Industrial Light and Magic. Apple at least gave something kewl and if you have a decent lighting and stable background they work pretty good for what they offered.

Far be it for Apple to do anything new and inovative, but I fail to see where MS's backdrops are in their camera application............................................................. OHHHH Wait, THEY DONT HAVE ONE.

Rather than be so damn negative how bout just being grateful they added something like it. So it doesn't work with where your Mac is, it works great with mine, it's not perfect but it still works pretty kewl.

Better yet, lets have Apple remove ALL photo booth effects? Would THAT make you happy? Cuz you can always "Move to Trash" the files then you won't be tempted to use em.
LOL!

I remember way back when cameras were actually the rage, my 70 dollar logitec came with software to do the background erasing... and it did a pretty good job!

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

Like I said, it's not perfect but as the sig points out "think different" well Apple did and all that was done was say that it SUCKS! well that sounds pretty ungrateful to me.

Me mad? Never. I'm happy with the backdrops. I don't use them hardly at all but it's a nice treat to even have them. One of those novelty things.

lol! I should be grateful for the privilege to buy a 3,000 dollar laptop? I I should expect that something I Pay a PROFESSIONAL TO PROGRAM work properly?

long live communism.

joeshell383

Nov 10, 2007, 09:43 PM

You could try NOT using them and NOT being grateful something pretty neat was even introduced.

Are they perfect for all lighting and all types of users backgrounds? No, this is a -3k computer not Lucas Industrial Light and Magic. Apple at least gave something kewl and if you have a decent lighting and stable background they work pretty good for what they offered.

Far be it for Apple to do anything new and inovative, but I fail to see where MS's backdrops are in their camera application............................................................. OHHHH Wait, THEY DONT HAVE ONE.

Rather than be so damn negative how bout just being grateful they added something like it. So it doesn't work with where your Mac is, it works great with mine, it's not perfect but it still works pretty kewl.

Better yet, lets have Apple remove ALL photo booth effects? Would THAT make you happy? Cuz you can always "Move to Trash" the files then you won't be tempted to use em.

First off, you don't ever have to be grateful to a S&P 100 company worth hundreds of billions of dollars. This isn't your aunt's burned cookies, this is a company with amble resources that has had lots of time to get this worked out. Second, when the feature is touted as a major feature of a new operating system, it should work pretty well. I have tried the effects many times and while the concept/user-friendliness is great, they never, ever look even close to how they do in the promo video. Even in the best lighting, with the best backdrop, the quality is poor and filled with holes. Finally, you don't have to know how to do (or just do) something better to have the right to complain. The pressure of critical reviews and complaining helps push large entities like corporations and governments, and you certainly have the right to sound off (and inquire if the problem is happening to others) in a forum like Macrumors.

jmmo20

Nov 10, 2007, 09:46 PM

I think it might have to do with the iSight quality. I think I heard some time ago that the new iSights in new Macbooks/Pros/iMacs is 2 megapixel while the earlier built-in iSights were just VGA quality.

I suspect that we won't see a good backdrop result unless we have the newer cams...

HOWEVER, I do feel like hte image quality has dropped in Leopard. I remember thinking how was the image quality was when compared to my old logitech cam but I don0t feel like that anymore.

I'll try to install Tiger in my external HDD and check for the image quality...

dukebound85

Nov 11, 2007, 03:42 AM

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

Like I said, it's not perfect but as the sig points out "think different" well Apple did and all that was done was say that it SUCKS! well that sounds pretty ungrateful to me.

Me mad? Never. I'm happy with the backdrops. I don't use them hardly at all but it's a nice treat to even have them. One of those novelty things.

talk about fanboyism sheesh

they advertise it working for crying out loud

when i pay for a ~2000 computer and leopard i expect it to work as advertised

be grateful?? i paid for this so i expect it to perform as advertised plain and simple

Kilamite

Nov 11, 2007, 04:45 AM

You realize people paid for this software, and that it wasn't given to them graciously by Apple, right?

You didn't pay $129 just for Photo Booth effects did you?

2Shae

Nov 11, 2007, 05:21 AM

You didn't pay $129 just for Photo Booth effects did you?

No, but it was one of it's top features and if that doesn't work then it sucks and I can imaging that some people actually upgraded for the photobooth effects.

Kilamite

Nov 11, 2007, 05:35 AM

No, but it was one of it's top features and if that doesn't work then it sucks and I can imaging that some people actually upgraded for the photobooth effects.

Top feature? It is a cool feature, but it isn't what Jobs was boasting about most. Fair enough he gave a demo of the effects with iChat, but the main features were Time Machine, Spaces, new Finder, Stacks and Dock.

If some people bought Leopard just for the Photo Booth effects, sorry to say, but go outside...and like, get a life eh?

jbstew32

Nov 11, 2007, 05:47 AM

Top feature? It is a cool feature, but it isn't what Jobs was boasting about most. Fair enough he gave a demo of the effects with iChat, but the main features were Time Machine, Spaces, new Finder, Stacks and Dock.

If some people bought Leopard just for the Photo Booth effects, sorry to say, but go outside...and like, get a life eh?

maybe this was that 300th feature that apple couldn't drop due to marketing :)

seriously though, this "feature" is absolutely horrible. Even if it does start working with a perfectly lit green screen backdrop, that's still ridiculous. They should have left it out completely until they could make it function properly, imo.

The more and more I use leopard, the more it seems rushed out the door.

lofight

Nov 11, 2007, 05:49 AM

Kilamite

Nov 11, 2007, 06:55 AM

One thing i had is weard, i still don't have leopard, but went into an apple shop to test it, and there where 2 alu imacs there one 24" and one 20" i tested them both with the new photobooth effects and the one 20" did much better, now you'l be thinking that the computers have different background of moving things, no, they were standing right next to each other, with the same lighting, same background.. so,? how could this be?

The camera will be angled ever so differently or something. Putting two computers next to each other and using the webcams does not provide identical environments for comparison.

I want to know how in the keynote Steve Jobs demo of the effects worked so well.

anjinha

Nov 11, 2007, 09:25 AM

The camera will be angled ever so differently or something. Putting two computers next to each other and using the webcams does not provide identical environments for comparison.

I want to know how in the keynote Steve Jobs demo of the effects worked so well.

Try this. They work great for me.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306714

Dagless

Nov 11, 2007, 09:36 AM

Not mad at all, I just love how ungrateful people can be when THEY don't even develop the software that they are using especially when they bitch and whine about how something sucks and they themselves can't even come up with anything better.

Like I said, it's not perfect but as the sig points out "think different" well Apple did and all that was done was say that it SUCKS! well that sounds pretty ungrateful to me.

Me mad? Never. I'm happy with the backdrops. I don't use them hardly at all but it's a nice treat to even have them. One of those novelty things.

Haha. So in order to criticise Leopard you have to be a member of the Apple design team? :rolleyes:

I pray to God you never read a review or do a job that contains crit sessions. I can imagine now
"You can't complain about my *insert media skill*, it wasn't you who made it!" :D

dukebound85

Nov 11, 2007, 07:51 PM

You didn't pay $129 just for Photo Booth effects did you?

so its like me buying a car with a feature being cruise control and found out it doesnt really work.

did i spend all that money on just cruise control...no. would i be uber pissed if it didnt work....yes

what is your point exactly?

synth3tik

Nov 11, 2007, 08:00 PM

so its like me buying a car with a feature being cruise control and found out it doesnt really work.

did i spend all that money on just cruise control...no. would i be uber pissed if it didnt work....yes

what is your point exactly?

Ok, put it this way you are a non-smoker and you buy a car with no ash tray, are you going to be uber pissed?

Sure the backdrops are not the best, but really they still work, it a new feature and it will need to grow. The backdrops look like crap, but they are not causing kernal panics.

dukebound85

Nov 11, 2007, 08:29 PM

Ok, put it this way you are a non-smoker and you buy a car with no ash tray, are you going to be uber pissed?

Sure the backdrops are not the best, but really they still work, it a new feature and it will need to grow. The backdrops look like crap, but they are not causing kernal panics.

well if i had the intention of smoking and it was advertised as having one but didnt then yes i would be mad

just like i had the intention to using these backdrops without it looking all crappy since they advertised it that way.

i agree its good they arent causing kernal panics lol

sunfast

Nov 12, 2007, 08:34 AM

They aren't great at the moment but they're good for a chuckle.

I'm sure they'll be better in the future - this is pretty new stuff.

theimp

Nov 12, 2007, 08:40 AM

I have gotten mine to work pretty well. At first it gave me horrible results, but now I put my two standing lights right next to me, just out of view of the camera (they are the kind with like 5 lights on moveable arms). I turn on one lamp in the back of my room, and wear a light colored shirt. The lines turn out crisp against the pretend background. (I still have problems from time to time with my dark hair). It was good enough that I put a picture of my room from home behind me and confused my mother (i am at college a couple hundred miles away! :D )

Kilamite

Nov 12, 2007, 09:37 AM

so its like me buying a car with a feature being cruise control and found out it doesnt really work.

did i spend all that money on just cruise control...no. would i be uber pissed if it didnt work....yes

what is your point exactly?

My point is that it seems some people 'just' bought Leopard for the backdrop effects from their responses in this thread. The backdrops aren't a critical part of the operating system - it doesn't determine the functionality, speed, GUI etc.

It doesn't work as well as it could have, but then it obviously isn't going to detect your face against the background in a poorly lit room, or if things in the background are different colours.

'mon.

vandlism

Nov 12, 2007, 11:22 AM

Alright, well there are physical limitations to these things. The most important item to consider would be consistent lighting. Shadows will destroy it for you, even if you are wearing red.

CavemanUK

Nov 12, 2007, 11:58 AM

anjinha

Nov 13, 2007, 07:58 PM

HLdan

Nov 13, 2007, 09:35 PM

wow. that was pretty strong.

anyway, as cool as it can be, its pretty lousy for me as well..so i usually stay far away from the backdrop.. as far as i'm concernd, as great an idea as it is, if its not going to be done well, just don't do it.

See, with that type of logic there will never be a chance for a software update. Ever heard of a software update? Give Apple a chance, the Photobooth backdrop effects are just extras and Apple knows it's not perfect but Leopard needed to get released. Apple could have very well left it out as they did on certain iChat effects. 10.5.1 may address this but to say if it's not done right in the first place then don't do it is asking for perfection the first time around.
Remember, it's just an added benefit to Leopard to get people out of their work zone and have fun with their computer.
Media Center is the only fun in Vista. :rolleyes:

chameleon81

Feb 28, 2009, 07:51 PM

When I first tryed the backdrops they didn't work that well. Then I saw the suggestions posted on apple's website. And I discovered the "holes" I had when using backdrops were due to shadows or reflective surfaces behind me. It's not about the camera quality. And of course you need good lighting.

Just don't say something sucks just because you don't know how to work with it.

Apple does not suck but they lied with this feature. From keynote most of the users expected that they will be able to use this feature without setting perfect lighting etc.

It is not killer app on Mac Os x but it was one of the first things I tried when I got my Mac. ( because it is interesting )