Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Star Wars Hologram Effect for iChat and PhotoBooth

E

elbows

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 27, 2005
188
13


Forum user, elbows, took some time to try to recreate the missing iChat Star Wars hologram effect that didn't make the final cut of Leopard.OK here it is. Like I said its not quite right yet, probably need some effects to make the image look grainy etc. And the preview is messed up and it doesnt seem to work in PhotoBooth, just iChat, but give it a try anyway.
hologit_300.jpg


You simply copy the .qtz file into your {HardDriveName}/Library/Compositions/ directory. The new effect will appear in iChat and can be seen by anyone (they don't have to install the effect). An early version of the effect is available in this thread.

Update: Ice-Cube posts how to get this effect into PhotoBooth:
1. Extract HoloGit.qtz from the zip file.
2. Place it on your desktop for easy access.
3. Go to photobooth in your applications folder and right click to *Show package contents*
4. Navigate to content>resources
5. Drag the HoloGit.qtz file from the desktop to this folder.
6. Locate the file *EffectsOrdering.plist* in this folder
7. Open the file with textedit
8. You should see a number of effects listed in that file. You should see user backdrop 1, user backdrop 2, and so forth in the last paragraph.
9. Replace the words *user backdrop 1* to *HoloGit*
It should look like this: /HoloGit
10. Save the file. Close all folders.
11. Open up photobooth and enjoy your newfound effect.

Note: the .qtz must also be placed in the {HardDriveName}/Library/Compositions/ directory as described above for iChat


Article Link: Star Wars Hologram Effect for iChat and PhotoBooth
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2007/10/27/star-wars-hologram-effect-for-ichat/
Last edited by a moderator:
NOTE: Other people have now created some very interesting effects which can be found on later pages of this thread, for example see page 4 and 5 for an invisible effect and attempts to make effects that look more like a hologram. These may be more to your tastes than my attempts.

It also seems that PPC users are out of luck, these effects are for Leopard Intel Macs only, unless you get them to work with 3rd party iChat effects software that exist for Tiger.

Unzip the attached file and put the .qtz files in /Library/Compositions/ (note that the Compositions folder will have a different name if your Leopard install is not English). HoloGit.qtz.zip is the original effect I posted on Saturday, it is superceded by the contents of HolloGPack1.zip.

Then launch iChat and it should be there somewhere in the grid of effects. Unfortunately preview images are not working at the moment but the actual effect works.

Instructions for getting these working in PhotoBooth can be found later in the thread.

Most of these use your existing background but a test one uses custom backgrounds that you drag onto the effect.

Not sure if I got the blue or the glow right. The mixing Ive used to make you transparent isnt quite perfect yet either.

Feedback needed.

Edited Sunday to add new HoloGPack1 file which has versions of the effect in various different colours, plus a couple of other experimental effects. The Test1.qtz should work with user backdrops but its not really right yet, an early work in progress. HoloGeek versions suffer from some clipping issues.

Edited Tuesday to clear up some details and point out that other effects are lurking much later in this thread.
 

Attachments

  • HoloGit.qtz.zip
    11 KB · Views: 23,316
  • HolloGPack1.zip
    122.4 KB · Views: 17,824
Any successes yet? I should be upgrading to 10.5 in the next few days, and this would be awesome :)

If you can do it in a few days, how come Apple scrapped it?
 
elbows said:
OK here it is. Like I said its not quite right yet, probably need some effects to make the image look grainy etc. And the preview is messed up and it doesnt seem to work in PhotoBooth, just iChat, but give it a try anyway.

Unzip the attached file and put HoloGit.qtz in /Library/Compositions/

Then launch iChat and it should be there somewhere in the grid of effects.

This version uses your existing background but will see about doing one with custom backgrounds.

Not sure if I got the blue or the glow right. The mixing Ive used to make you transparent isnt quite perfect yet either.

Feedback needed.
Click to expand...

I have to say... thats just friggin fantastic. I love that effect... maybe you could modify it to make a ghostly one for halloween too
 
I don't have a Library/Compositions folder... Do I create it or what?

Edit: I found it, nvermind
 
Hmm no There should already be a /Library/Compositions folder in Leopard. Sure you arent looking at the Library within your user folder instead of the root?

If it doesnt work for some people then I need more info about your setup and symptoms to stand a chance of helping.

Performance might be really slow because of the way Ive tried to make the transparency.

This stuff is done with Quartz Composer. You can install it off the Leopard DVD, its a developer tool but you dont have to write any code to use it. Still it takes a bit of effort to learn how to use it properly. You can use it to create screensavers and itunes visualizers too.

If you have Quartz Composer installed then you can open the Hologit.qtz file and try to work out how it works. Its made a lot more complex by my fudge to do transparency, but never mind, a very simple beginners exercise would be to try changing the colour Ive used from blue to something else.

I dont know why preview and photobooth arent working with it yet, hopefully some other people will be able to improve things as my knowledge is limited.
 
Would you mind putting a file with the instructions together? I'm going to forget how to install it. ha-h :)
 
Thanks so much for doing this!! This is excellent, and seems (to me) to be much less plagued by the 'hole' issue than the other backgrounds.

Much appreciated!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back