drifting

I am trying to feed a live video in MAC OS to jit.qt.grab using a webcam. But my teaher said Max/Msp jitter only communicates to live video through the fire wire in Mac. Is it true? I kind of doubt it. Anyone knows how to feed a live video through a USB cable (connect to a webcam)? Please let me know how. Thank you very much.

jitter-live-webcam-via-usb-cable-help

I have never used a USB camera before, but I don't see why it shouldn't work.

Open the jit.qt.grab helpfile, connect your camera and see if it shows up when you press the "getvdevlist" and "getinputlist", if it does you are in luck...

I have never used a USB camera before, but I don't see why it shouldn't work.
Open the jit.qt.grab helpfile, connect your camera and see if it shows up when you press the "getvdevlist" and "getinputlist", if it does you are in luck...


If the webcam is a standard computer webcam using quicktime software it should just appear in jit,grab menu. Open up settings by the message 'settings' into jit.grab then look at the source tab, it should appear.

Other camera devices using analogue video outputs can also be routed into MAx using USB capture devices. I am workign on a project using a USB capture device and am able to connect any video source into it and have it appear in jitter.

If the webcam is a standard computer webcam using quicktime software it should just appear in jit,grab menu. Open up settings by the message 'settings' into jit.grab then look at the source tab, it should appear. 

Other camera devices using analogue video outputs can also be routed into MAx using USB capture devices. I am workign on a project using a USB capture device and am able to connect any video source into it and have it appear in jitter.


You should also check out the macam usb drivers ( 

You should also check out the macam usb drivers ( http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/ ) for added camera support.


Wow, you guys rock. I feel much better now since the Prof. shut me off in class in front of everyone when I raised the question of connecting Jitter though a USB to a webcam. Thanks for all the information.

I hope you don´t mind me asking, but where do you go to school ?

I am at the University of New Mexico in the States.

I tried the macam and my webcam plays ok but still have trouble playing it from jit.qt.grab

When i checked the "getvdevlist" and "getinputlist", there is only one choic "Build in isight" in the getinputlist and there are three drop down choices in the "getvdevlist" menu: "DV Video", "IIDC Fireware Video" and "USB Video class Video". But no matter which one from the three I chose, Jitter still open the build in isight from my Macbook.

Does this mean that my webcam is not compatible with quicktime? Or I can set the quicktime preference to my webcam instead of the build-in-isight? Anyone knows how to do that? Or i need to buy a new webcam? any suggestion about what webcam I should get? Thanks again.

I am at the University of New Mexico in the States.
I tried the macam and my webcam plays ok but still have trouble playing it from jit.qt.grab
When i checked the "getvdevlist" and "getinputlist", there is only one choic "Build in isight" in the getinputlist and there are three drop down choices in the "getvdevlist" menu: "DV Video", "IIDC Fireware Video" and "USB Video class Video". But no matter which one from the three I chose, Jitter still open the build in isight from my Macbook.
Does this mean that my webcam is not compatible with quicktime? Or I can set the quicktime preference to my webcam instead of the build-in-isight? Anyone knows how to do that? Or i need to buy a new webcam? any suggestion about what webcam I should get? Thanks again.


Did you install the macam.component in your library/quicktime folder?

Thanks. It works in quicktime now. I can open the quicktime preferences and select the webcam but I still have trouble seeing it on the input list in Max/Jitter. Any other suggestions?

have you restarted max since you done this? the webcam also needs to be plugged in before max launches, usually.

Thanks to all. It works now. Restart MAX and make sure the camera is in the list in quicktime player.:)

Thanks guys, this thread gave me the help I needed to get an external USB camera running through Jitter. It's a bit of a cheap camera so the video is jumpy even after I manually set it to 30fps from the jt.grab settings, but at least it works which is more than I had yesterday.

Thanks guys, this thread gave me the help I needed to get an external USB camera running through Jitter.  It's a bit of a cheap camera so the video is jumpy even after I manually set it to 30fps from the jt.grab settings, but at least it works which is more than I had yesterday.


the problem is not because jitter. in the old version of Quicktime (or Mac OS) , there is no more driver for many of usb cams.

a wab cam could be use or not, that depends on the core IC of cams.

now in the macOS there are more original drivers for different cams.

the problem is not because jitter. in the old version of Quicktime (or Mac OS) , there is no more driver for many of usb cams.
and Macam is like a driver collections.
a wab cam could be use or not, that depends on the core IC of cams.
now in the macOS there are more original drivers for different cams.


Hello, I'm trying to get a live video feed from a Moticam hooked up to a microscope into Jitter via USB. This thread has been helpful, but I still can't get Jitter to recognize the USB in the jit.grab settings. I have the Moticam driver installed and the Moticam software is getting a live feed from the "camera" so it's just a matter of Jitter having access to that... any ideas? I don't think Moticam would run on Quicktime, and I can't find the Quicktime "preferences" anywhere.

Hello, I'm trying to get a live video feed from a Moticam hooked up to a microscope into Jitter via USB. This thread has been helpful, but I still can't get Jitter to recognize the USB in the jit.grab settings. I have the Moticam driver installed and the Moticam software is getting a live feed from the "camera" so it's just a matter of Jitter having access to that... any ideas? I don't think Moticam would run on Quicktime, and I can't find the Quicktime "preferences" anywhere.
Any help is much appreciated!


Hi, I'm currently working on my masters project creating an interactive sound system, where people use interactive screens to create and manipulate sound. My question is; can you use multiple (3/4) usb cameras in Max? Providing the computer being used has enough power.

Yes. If you have enough independent USB buses and - of course - computing power you can use multiple cameras. Just create multiple instances of [jit.grab] for every camera in your patch.

Yes. If you have enough independent USB buses and - of course - computing power you can use multiple cameras. Just create multiple instances of  [jit.grab] for every camera in your patch.

jitter live webcam via USB cable help