External iSight for University Lectures

[macnerd93]

Okay so I "Finally" managed to successfully find a mint almost brand new fully boxed and complete external Apple iSight Camera (ebay FTW), but having never owned one (just always wanting one for the look of it) I'm not too sure what I'll be able to use it for XD.

So I was thinking as an external Microphone and the fact that my built in iSight is static fitted into the screen with this i'd be able to move it around etc.

I was thinking about using it for when I start university, for recording lecturers etc as i've heard it has an awesome noise supression double Mic system built in. Having looked at test videos the quality is adequate and easily beats most of todays budget webcams, but hey its from 2003, the audio quality is more important to me, i'll be coupling it with a 13'' MacBook Pro & already have a firewire 800 to 400 cable so that isn't an issue either.

I know i'll most likely have to ask permission to record a lecture during classes, but I'll notify and arrange it all with my lecturer beforehand if I ever need to do it.

What I wanted to know is how would the built in Mic system be in this type of large roomed environment?

thanks a lot

Ryan

 

[gr8tfly]

The iSight has a pretty good mic, but it is also not too directional. It should work better than the internal mic, though. You might have to post process the audio (normalize, gain) to bring up the speech levels.

If you can get a good directional (cardioid) voice mic, that would be better yet. We have a nice Behringer that has selectable patterns and also a low freq. cutoff filter that reduces floor "rumble" noise. It does require phantom power and is XLR, so you would need an adapter for that. Blue has something called "Icicle" that provides power and A/D through USB. No driver needed.

 

[macnerd93]

The iSight has a pretty good mic, but it is also not too directional. It should work better than the internal mic, though. You might have to post process the audio (normalize, gain) to bring up the speech levels.

If you can get a good directional (cardioid) voice mic, that would be better yet. We have a nice Behringer that has selectable patterns and also a low freq. cutoff filter that reduces floor "rumble" noise. It does require phantom power and is XLR, so you would need an adapter for that. Blue has something called "Icicle" that provides power and A/D through USB. No driver needed.

they are too big, I want something which is just gonna sit on my laptop not take an entire desk up

 

[416049]

they are too big, I want something which is just gonna sit on my laptop not take an entire desk up

What about this one http://assets.gearlive.com/blogimages/Eyeball_2.0_.JPG


Produced by the same company but a tad compacter and pretty good quality

 

[swedefish]

As someone with eight years at uni and counting, DO NOT expect to be allowed to film your lectures. I am in the UK and many of our professors have made very clear that one is not allowed to record audio without their explicit permission.

 

[416049]

As someone with eight years at uni and counting, DO NOT expect to be allowed to film your lectures. I am in the UK and many of our professors have made very clear that one is not allowed to record audio without their explicit permission.

True however he did say:

I know i'll most likely have to ask permission to record a lecture during classes, but I'll notify and arrange it all with my lecturer beforehand if I ever need to do it.

 

[swedefish]

True however he did say:

Oopsie. Well, it is something worth stating twice. Many academics are very protective of their material. As a matter of fact, unless I had very good reasons for needing video of lectures (e.g. a documented learning disability), I would not even ask to film the lectures. That said, I am at a conservative and technophobic university so it might be different if one is at a more modern university.

 

[macnerd93]

Oopsie. Well, it is something worth stating twice. Many academics are very protective of their material. As a matter of fact, unless I had very good reasons for needing video of lectures (e.g. a documented learning disability), I would not even ask to film the lectures. That said, I am at a conservative and technophobic university so it might be different if one is at a more modern university.

I only wanted it as an easy way to record audio cos i've heard the onboard Mic system is pretty good (not video) i got the iSight so cheap, but yeah its really not the end of the world either way. I'm sure i'll find a use for the iSight, most likely for Time Lapse videos or something of sorts in good old iMovie HD '06.