Calcartman

I'm going to give you as much information as I have. I'm a computer tech, mostly familiar with PCs but a little mac experience under my belt. I've just started working with a non-profit group called Zeum; which has many Emacs, with Isights, running a pretty straightforward version of one of these programs.

Essentially you open up PhotoCapture (max/msp/jitter/whatever it is); and you get a live input of the iSight, with a capture button beneath it. When you click the capture button, next to the live input goes the image you captured, and beneath that is a Save button.

like that; if you follow. There is also a reset button which seems to cycle the camera on and off.

When you click save, two things happen. First it saves the image, and second it opens up Adobe Photoshop Elements (4, i believe) and loads that picture to be toyed with by the kiddys; who filter it, print it, and quit.

I see myself in the video screen and capture it, then i save it, however when Elements opens up, it loads a different picture from the folder and not the one i took. Capturing and saving a different picture will change which image is loaded, however it will still not be the one i'm trying to save.

The quick work-around is to empty the capture folder, but this doesn't happen all the time, and i don't have enough evidence yet to tell you under what conditions it does happen.

My hypothesis, is that at some point the counting variable gets reset as far as which image it loads, but not when it saves.

So image 000, 001, 002, and 003.jpg are all in the folder from yesterday/day before/whatever, and the new image i've just taken is image 004.jpg and gets saved. But immediately after saving, it proceeds to load 000.jpg into elements.

After taking picture 005, it will load 001. After hitting reset, it will load 002.

I hope someone here can follow what i'm talking about, and i can provide a video or something if need be as well. 

This software was written a long time back, and they do not own/cannot afford a copy of MAX/MSP/Jitter. 

But i see there is a free trial available; so i'm going to see if i can modify or re-write the program and solve this bug.

Normally it wouldn't be too big a problem, as most people understand being told "just dump the folder and it'll fix it"; but this is an exhibit for children, with 15 computers and only 1, and sometimes 0 techs on site to help them out.

Thanks for reading all this, i guess what I'm really looking for is some guidance, slash an understanding of how all this works and where i would go about trying to fix it. Can i edit the program as it is? or do i need to find the original working copy the program was built from? If i need to restart from scratch its not a problem; as i learn pretty fast and have coding/scripting experience, and there are other tweaks as well; i'm just trying to be the most efficient and not go in blind.

Essentially you open up PhotoCapture (max/msp/jitter/whatever it is); and you get a live input of the iSight, with a capture button beneath it. When you click the capture button, next to the live input goes the image you captured, and beneath that is a Save button.
[]... []
cap save

Here's the problem:
I see myself in the video screen and capture it, then i save it, however when Elements opens up, it loads a different picture from the folder and not the one i took. Capturing and saving a different picture will change which image is loaded, however it will still not be the one i'm trying to save.
The quick work-around is to empty the capture folder, but this doesn't happen all the time, and i don't have enough evidence yet to tell you under what conditions it does happen.

So image 000, 001, 002, and 003.jpg are all in the folder from yesterday/day before/whatever, and the new image i've just taken is image 004.jpg and gets saved. But immediately after saving, it proceeds to load 000.jpg into elements.
After taking picture 005, it will load 001. After hitting reset, it will load 002. 

I hope someone here can follow what i'm talking about, and i can provide a video or something if need be as well. 
This software was written a long time back, and they do not own/cannot afford a copy of MAX/MSP/Jitter. 
But i see there is a free trial available; so i'm going to see if i can modify or re-write the program and solve this bug.

strange-issue-with-program-could-really-use-help

Is this a Max/MSP issue? Or a Jitter issue?

There are people here with PhotoShop chops, and iSight chops, and Mac OS chops, but none of those are the real focus of the list. So excuse me if I'm a little confused by the query.

If it's a Max patch with the numbering problem, there is either a problem in communication with PS Els, or something else... a stripped down patch exhibiting the problem is essential to getting help on it.

As for affordability of Max/MSP, if _you've_ got Max, you can build a standalone that does whatever image capture and file system maintenance you want, and give it to the museum free of charge (or for whatever you get for your services). That does assume that you've got a copy.

I dont really know the difference between Max/Msp/Jitter; I was thrown into this organization a little over a week ago.

I found the original .App and .Mxf files; which i can open and work in with the Max 5 demo; so i need a little guidance where i would find a solution!

Thats the program right now. It has another slider for lighting adjustment, and a reset button; but we can ignore those i think.

The problem is that the script that goes [folder] ---> photoshop resets (probably every time the computers are logged out) and it imports the files in order, from 000 on, even though the picture it just took is 012.

My goal, since i have these files, is to find where in this Max program is that piece of code and see if i can find the logical error and fix it.

I would like to make the counter for which picture to import never to reset, or ill give it the value of the latest picture's number.

Maybe im not explaining this the best, let me know what more i can elaborate on! I spent about 10 minutes in Max trying to find the code/script im looking for with no luck, but i dont know this program at all.

I have the .mxf file to upload; but it is nearly 3mb; is there some way of exporting it for upload; or something i can provide for you besides that? I'll find an ftp site though if not.

I dont really know the difference between Max/Msp/Jitter; I was thrown into this organization a little over a week ago. 

[]...[] ---> [folder] ---> photoshop 
cap save

My goal, since i have these files, is to find where in this Max program is that piece of code and see if i can find the logical error and fix it.
I would like to make the counter for which picture to import never to reset, or ill give it the value of the latest picture's number.

> I have the .mxf file to upload; but it is nearly 3mb; is there some

> way of exporting it for upload; or something i can provide for you

> besides that? I'll find an ftp site though if not.

If there is only a mxf file you'll have a problem, because that is a 

Out of your description though it should be pretty simple to rebuild it 

with the same functionality, anybody who did the tutorials of Max and 

If the mxf is 3 mb it contains media. A patch is usually only a couple 

Cal schrieb:
> I have the .mxf file to upload; but it is nearly 3mb; is there some
> way of exporting it for upload; or something i can provide for you
> besides that? I'll find an ftp site though if not.

If there is only a mxf file you'll have a problem, because that is a 
collective, you can't change it.

Out of your description though it should be pretty simple to rebuild it 
with the same functionality, anybody who did the tutorials of Max and 
Jitter will be able to do it...

If the mxf is 3 mb it contains media. A patch is usually only a couple 
of kb, especially a simple one...

-- 
Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
--_____-----------|--------------
--(_|_ ----|-----|-----()-------
-- _|_)----|-----()--------------
----------()--------www.ccmix.com


Well i have the whole .app file for 4 different versions of the program; but i really dont know which part you need.

There is a folder called patcher; so i've attached what i think is the file for the correct version; there are 4 different ones that i see.

I probably just need to go through the tutorials and learn the ins and outs; i just cant devote that much time to this issue, so i just figured id see if anybody could say "hey, go to this file, this menu, then change this variable here" or something; but it seems to be a little more complicated than that! haha

 There is a folder called patcher; so i've attached what i think is the file for the correct version; there are 4 different ones that i see.

one more patch; probably more helpfull cause it has photoshop in the title.

I'm a code guy, not a graphic guy, so this is all a little wierd to me. I can view the patchers and the mxfs and whatever else; and i get lots of cool layout tables and such; and i can find what look like scripting windows with functions and such i can change or edit, i just cant find what im looking for.

you can open the patches you sent in max. adding an mxb extension allowed me to open it.

i'm guessing your problem arrises because you feel the app should remember the number of the last picture it took even if the app closes, but nothing is set up in the patch to allow for this.

one of many ways to fix this would be to store the current picture number in a coll, and increment it every time a new picture is taken. this will allow the app to remember the last picture.

don't know if you're asking how to do this, or if you're asking someone to do it for you and then recompile a standalone. if it's the latter, and you want to hire someone, feel free to contact me off list.

you can open the patches you sent in max.  adding an mxb extension allowed me to open it.

one of many ways to fix this would be to store the current picture number in a coll, and increment it every time a new picture is taken.  this will allow the app to remember the last picture.

don't know if you're asking how to do this, or if you're asking someone to do it for you and then recompile a standalone.  if it's the latter, and you want to hire someone, feel free to contact me off list.

Rob, definitely appreciate the help! Thats exactly what i need to do; its definitely a counter, i just didn't realize the program doesn't store its values permanently anywhere.

If that is something you or someone else can instruct me on fixing, that would be very helpfull. Hiring someone really isnt an option (at least not on a monetary basis); as this is a program for a funding-limited non-profit, Zeum.org and they're already considerably over budget for this exhibit for the year.

So i'm more or less prepared to do this myself; however if you or someone is else reading this would be willing to make that change and recompile it, it would be greatly appreciated!

They will probably need someone in about a year to re-write the program, ideally with email or ftp functionality (let kids email their photoshopped pic to themselves, or upload and access the picture online) but thats another discussion altogether.

Bumping this up to ask for a little more direction from the great minds here.

So Rob definitely hit the nail on the head with the issue; it loses its counter everytime the program is closed (sometimes multiple times per day). So i just need to save that variable somewhere. How to do that is what i don't know.

I really don't know the program that well, and still havent had much time to fiddle, but i cant seem to find a place where i would access/store variables. Is there a more coder-friendly view somewhere, or can someone sorta direct me or tell me what im looking for?

i'll try and send you something when i get some time.

should be an easy fix.
i'll try and send you something when i get some time.

Your problem is that the patch is reading the file to open from the 

user folder, and saving pictures to the root applications folder.

If I have a second I'll try and look at it more...

> I'm going to give you as much information as I have. I'm a computer 

> tech, mostly familiar with PCs but a little mac experience under my 

> belt. I've just started working with a non-profit group called Zeum; 

> which has many Emacs, with Isights, running a pretty straightforward 

> Essentially you open up PhotoCapture (max/msp/jitter/whatever it 

> is); and you get a live input of the iSight, with a capture button 

> beneath it. When you click the capture button, next to the live 

> input goes the image you captured, and beneath that is a Save button.

> like that; if you follow. There is also a reset button which seems 

> When you click save, two things happen. First it saves the image, 

> and second it opens up Adobe Photoshop Elements (4, i believe) and 

> loads that picture to be toyed with by the kiddys; who filter it, 

> I see myself in the video screen and capture it, then i save it, 

> however when Elements opens up, it loads a different picture from 

> the folder and not the one i took. Capturing and saving a different 

> picture will change which image is loaded, however it will still not 

> The quick work-around is to empty the capture folder, but this 

> doesn't happen all the time, and i don't have enough evidence yet to 

> tell you under what conditions it does happen.

> My hypothesis, is that at some point the counting variable gets 

> reset as far as which image it loads, but not when it saves.

> So image 000, 001, 002, and 003.jpg are all in the folder from 

> yesterday/day before/whatever, and the new image i've just taken is 

> image 004.jpg and gets saved. But immediately after saving, it 

> proceeds to load 000.jpg into elements.

> After taking picture 005, it will load 001. After hitting reset, it 

> I hope someone here can follow what i'm talking about, and i can 

> provide a video or something if need be as well.

> This software was written a long time back, and they do not own/ 

> cannot afford a copy of MAX/MSP/Jitter.

> But i see there is a free trial available; so i'm going to see if i 

> can modify or re-write the program and solve this bug.

> Normally it wouldn't be too big a problem, as most people understand 

Your problem is that the patch is reading the file to open from the  
user folder, and saving pictures to the root applications folder.

San Francisco, CA
Work: 857-544-3967
Email: bthrew (at) gmail (dot) com
Web: www.barrythrew.com

>
> I'm going to give you as much information as I have. I'm a computer  
> tech, mostly familiar with PCs but a little mac experience under my  
> belt. I've just started working with a non-profit group called Zeum;  
> which has many Emacs, with Isights, running a pretty straightforward  
> version of one of these programs.
>
> Essentially you open up PhotoCapture (max/msp/jitter/whatever it  
> is); and you get a live input of the iSight, with a capture button  
> beneath it. When you click the capture button, next to the live  
> input goes the image you captured, and beneath that is a Save button.
> []... []
> cap save
>
> like that; if you follow. There is also a reset button which seems  
> to cycle the camera on and off.
>
> When you click save, two things happen. First it saves the image,  
> and second it opens up Adobe Photoshop Elements (4, i believe) and  
> loads that picture to be toyed with by the kiddys; who filter it,  
> print it, and quit.
>
> Here's the problem:
> I see myself in the video screen and capture it, then i save it,  
> however when Elements opens up, it loads a different picture from  
> the folder and not the one i took. Capturing and saving a different  
> picture will change which image is loaded, however it will still not  
> be the one i'm trying to save.
> The quick work-around is to empty the capture folder, but this  
> doesn't happen all the time, and i don't have enough evidence yet to  
> tell you under what conditions it does happen.
>
> My hypothesis, is that at some point the counting variable gets  
> reset as far as which image it loads, but not when it saves.
>
> So image 000, 001, 002, and 003.jpg are all in the folder from  
> yesterday/day before/whatever, and the new image i've just taken is  
> image 004.jpg and gets saved. But immediately after saving, it  
> proceeds to load 000.jpg into elements.
> After taking picture 005, it will load 001. After hitting reset, it  
> will load 002.
>
> I hope someone here can follow what i'm talking about, and i can  
> provide a video or something if need be as well.
> This software was written a long time back, and they do not own/ 
> cannot afford a copy of MAX/MSP/Jitter.
> But i see there is a free trial available; so i'm going to see if i  
> can modify or re-write the program and solve this bug.
>
> Normally it wouldn't be too big a problem, as most people understand  
> being told "just dump the folder and it'll fix it"; but this is an  
> exhibit for children, with 15 computers and only 1, and sometimes 0  
> techs on site to help them out.
>
> Thanks for reading all this, i guess what I'm really looking for is  
> some guidance, slash an understanding of how all this works and  
> where i would go about trying to fix it. Can i edit the program as  
> it is? or do i need to find the original working copy the program  
> was built from? If i need to restart from scratch its not a problem;  
> as i learn pretty fast and have coding/scripting experience, and  
> there are other tweaks as well; i'm just trying to be the most  
> efficient and not go in blind.
>
> I Appreciate your time!
>
> -Cal

It's actually kind of tricky with file paths in Max. Be sure you have 

a folder called "Photos" on your Desktop.

Really though, you should use PhotoBooth for this task, its awesome...

It's actually kind of tricky with file paths in Max. Be sure you have  
a folder called "Photos" on your Desktop.

San Francisco, CA
Work: 857-544-3967
Email: bthrew (at) gmail (dot) com
Web: www.barrythrew.com
On May 15, 2008, at 3:15 PM, Cal wrote:

>
> I'm going to give you as much information as I have. I'm a computer  
> tech, mostly familiar with PCs but a little mac experience under my  
> belt. I've just started working with a non-profit group called Zeum;  
> which has many Emacs, with Isights, running a pretty straightforward  
> version of one of these programs.
>
> Essentially you open up PhotoCapture (max/msp/jitter/whatever it  
> is); and you get a live input of the iSight, with a capture button  
> beneath it. When you click the capture button, next to the live  
> input goes the image you captured, and beneath that is a Save button.
> []... []
> cap save
>
> like that; if you follow. There is also a reset button which seems  
> to cycle the camera on and off.
>
> When you click save, two things happen. First it saves the image,  
> and second it opens up Adobe Photoshop Elements (4, i believe) and  
> loads that picture to be toyed with by the kiddys; who filter it,  
> print it, and quit.
>
> Here's the problem:
> I see myself in the video screen and capture it, then i save it,  
> however when Elements opens up, it loads a different picture from  
> the folder and not the one i took. Capturing and saving a different  
> picture will change which image is loaded, however it will still not  
> be the one i'm trying to save.
> The quick work-around is to empty the capture folder, but this  
> doesn't happen all the time, and i don't have enough evidence yet to  
> tell you under what conditions it does happen.
>
> My hypothesis, is that at some point the counting variable gets  
> reset as far as which image it loads, but not when it saves.
>
> So image 000, 001, 002, and 003.jpg are all in the folder from  
> yesterday/day before/whatever, and the new image i've just taken is  
> image 004.jpg and gets saved. But immediately after saving, it  
> proceeds to load 000.jpg into elements.
> After taking picture 005, it will load 001. After hitting reset, it  
> will load 002.
>
> I hope someone here can follow what i'm talking about, and i can  
> provide a video or something if need be as well.
> This software was written a long time back, and they do not own/ 
> cannot afford a copy of MAX/MSP/Jitter.
> But i see there is a free trial available; so i'm going to see if i  
> can modify or re-write the program and solve this bug.
>
> Normally it wouldn't be too big a problem, as most people understand  
> being told "just dump the folder and it'll fix it"; but this is an  
> exhibit for children, with 15 computers and only 1, and sometimes 0  
> techs on site to help them out.
>
> Thanks for reading all this, i guess what I'm really looking for is  
> some guidance, slash an understanding of how all this works and  
> where i would go about trying to fix it. Can i edit the program as  
> it is? or do i need to find the original working copy the program  
> was built from? If i need to restart from scratch its not a problem;  
> as i learn pretty fast and have coding/scripting experience, and  
> there are other tweaks as well; i'm just trying to be the most  
> efficient and not go in blind.
>
> I Appreciate your time!
>
> -Cal


You said here you go, so i assume you meant to attach a file, but none is attached haha! :P

I really didn't do the setup here, im very new with this IT firm, and even newer with this client. This photocapture program seems to be all that they know, so until they get some real change going and advance their technology, i doubt anything else will get used. 

Thats primarily why i'm here, to try and work out whichever bugs are fixable given the current age of their equipment/software.

Most of the computers have a photo folder somewhere on the desktop; though im pretty sure its an alias to a folder elsewhere, but i have no problem creating a folder called photos on the desktop.

I really didn't do the setup here, im very new with this IT firm, and even newer with this client. This photocapture program seems to be all that they know, so until they get some real change going and advance their technology, i doubt anything else will get used. 
Thats primarily why i'm here, to try and work out whichever bugs are fixable given the current age of their equipment/software.

oh, its a mailing list -> forum problem. I'm still back here using web 

> You said here you go, so i assume you meant to attach a file, but 

> I really didn't do the setup here, im very new with this IT firm, 

> and even newer with this client. This photocapture program seems to 

> be all that they know, so until they get some real change going and 

> advance their technology, i doubt anything else will get used.

> Thats primarily why i'm here, to try and work out whichever bugs are 

> fixable given the current age of their equipment/software.

> Most of the computers have a photo folder somewhere on the desktop; 

> though im pretty sure its an alias to a folder elsewhere, but i have 

> no problem creating a folder called photos on the desktop.

oh, its a mailing list -> forum problem. I'm still back here using web  
1.0.

>
> You said here you go, so i assume you meant to attach a file, but  
> none is attached haha! :P
>
> I really didn't do the setup here, im very new with this IT firm,  
> and even newer with this client. This photocapture program seems to  
> be all that they know, so until they get some real change going and  
> advance their technology, i doubt anything else will get used.
> Thats primarily why i'm here, to try and work out whichever bugs are  
> fixable given the current age of their equipment/software.
>
> Most of the computers have a photo folder somewhere on the desktop;  
> though im pretty sure its an alias to a folder elsewhere, but i have  
> no problem creating a folder called photos on the desktop.
>
> -Cal

San Francisco, CA
Work: 857-544-3967
Email: bthrew (at) gmail (dot) com
Web: www.barrythrew.com


Strange issue with program, could really use help!