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Is it just me or does photobooth backdrops plain SUCK!

Eric Lewis

Eric Lewis

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 4, 2007
2,380
1
CANADA? eh?
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?
 
Eric Lewis said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.....
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
ravenvii said:
Wow strong rant.

U mad?
Click to expand...

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.
 
kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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 sh*t, 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?
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Don't work for me. They've decided to drop much more reliable features in Leopard than this one. It's a little embarrassing.
 
kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...

You realize people paid for this software, and that it wasn't given to them graciously by Apple, right?
 
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.
 
kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...
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!

kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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...
 
kkat69 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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