Introduction
BTV
BTVPro
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Questions or problems about BTV
Getting BTV to work
Video viewing
Video capture
Purchasing / Registration Codes
 
Questions or problems about specific video hardware
DV Video
ixTV and TurboTV cards
Orange Micro iBot FireWire camera
PowerMac 5500/6500 video input card
Philips ToUcam USB camera
 
Other
Available video input devices for the Mac
Video input on Mac OS X
The BTV Pro User Manual
 
  Getting BTV to work top
BTV cannot initialise the video hardware
• Make sure you have installed the latest version of the driver software for your video input device.
• If you are using a DV device make sure it is connected and switched on. Also try starting the device playing before launching BTV.
• If you are using a video device connected to a FireWire card on a computer that does not have built-in FireWire you may not have the required driver software installed. Please install the latest version of the Apple FireWire software. Then run the latest QuickTime installer, do a custom install, and manually select the QuickTime FireWire drivers for installation. This is necessary because the QuickTime installer may not see the FireWire ports if they are not built in.
BTV quits with the message "The application BTV has unexpectedly quit because an update to this software is required for compatibility with the improved Mac OS file system"
This problem is usually caused by having old versions of the QuickCam driver software installed in your system. Look for the QuickCam drivers in your Extensions folder and remove them. BTV and BTV Pro are fully compatible with the improved Mac OS file system.
  Video Viewing top
No video
• If you are using a DV device make sure it is set to DV-out mode (BTV should do this automatically for DV converter devices).
• If you are using a USB audio device as your sound input source please make sure you have QuickTime 5 or later, if you don't have it you can can get it here.
• If you are using a TV card or another video input device with multiple inputs make sure the correct input is selected in the Source section of the Video Settings window (under the Settings menu).
No video when in full screen mode
• When in full screen mode try selecting the 'Fill the screen with video' option in the 'Video size' menu.
• If you are using Mac OS X make sure you are logged in as an administrator.
Video display is not smooth
• Turn on the 'Use more processor time' option in the preferences.
Channel Changing
• BTV supports channel changing on the ixTV and TurboTV cards on OS 8 and OS 9. Currently no other devices are supported - BTV should be able to display video from other TV tuner devices but will not be able to change channels.
Monitor goes to sleep after some time when viewing full screen video
• To prevent your monitor going to sleep turn off Display Sleep in the Energy Saver control panel.
• If you are running OS 8 or 9, BTV can prevent display sleep if you turn on the 'Use more processor time' option in the preferences and hide the mouse. There is an option in the preferences to hide the mouse automatically when going to full screen mode.
  Video Capture top
"-50" error code when starting a capture
• Try turning off the 'Split into 2GB' option in the Movies section of the preferences
• Try using no sound compression (select 'None' as the compression in the Sound Settings window)
• Make sure you are using the latest driver software for your video input device
I am still investigating this problem and hope to find a permanent fix.
"-35" error code when starting a capture
This error typically occurs on OS X when there is a forward slash character in the name of the hard disk. Renaming the hard disk without using a forward slash character usually fixes this problem.
Audio and video get progressively out of sync in captured footage
This is a general problem with video capture and not particular to any hardware. It occurs when the sound sampling rate is not locked to the video frame rate at capture time. There are some devices that do lock the sound sampling rate to video at capture time but most do not. I am currently working on a software fix for this.
After capturing a movie I get a message that it cannot be opened because the movie cannot be found.
This is usually caused by the sound settings. Try selecting a different sound input source, or turn sound off in the preferences (by turning off the 'Use sound' option in the preferences).
After capturing a movie the sound plays back far too slow and completely unsynchronised.
Try changing the 'Sample rate' setting in the Sound Settings window (under the Settings menu).
After I capture a movie it is always 1.99GB in size, no matter how much video is captured.
This is usually caused by the sound settings. Try selecting a different sound input source, or turn sound off in the preferences (by turning off the 'Use sound' option in the preferences).
Black frames in captured video when using a FireWire or USB webcam on Mac OS X.
This is a bug in older versions of QuickTime and has been fixed as of version 6.0.2. Please download and install the latest version of QuickTime from here.
Can BTV capture video from an internal DVD player?
No, and as far as I know there is no software that does this. You could connect an external DVD player to an analogue video input on the Mac and then use BTV to capture the video.
Can BTV capture images from the computer screen to a movie?
No, but Snapz Pro can.
  Purchasing / Registration Codes top
How to purchase
The secure online store is here. Before purchasing, you can try out BTV and BTV Pro for 15 days completely free of charge. During this time all features are available; I decided not to disable any features to give you the best possible view of my software. You will, however, receive periodic reminder messages asking you to purchase. After the 15 day trial period you must either purchase the software or stop using it.
Registration code not working
Please enter both the name and code into BTV exactly as they appear in the confirmation email you received. The system that calculates the registration codes is automated and does not produce incorrect codes, so just make sure you enter the name and code correctly and it will work.
Lost registration code
If you are an existing user and you have lost your registration code please click here.
BTV bundled with the Orange Micro iBot camera
Earlier versions of the iBot camera included the shareware versions of my old products "BTV View" and "BTV Edit". These are not free; if you wish to use them you must purchase them from me, although I suggest you download my current products first (click here for downloads).
New "iBot Pro" packages include the full version of BTV Pro (called "BTV Pro OM"). For free updates to BTV Pro OM (including a Mac OS X version) click here.
BTV bundled with the Philips ToUcam camera
The latest version of BTV for the ToUcam camera is 5.1 and can be downloaded here. This is a free download for anyone with a ToUcam camera (this is a Mac OS 8-9 version; the Carbon versions of my software are not free for ToUcam users).
Educational discount
I do offer discounts on substantial orders by educational institutions. Please contact me for more information.
  DV Video top
BTV won't recognise my DV device
• If you are using a FireWire card on a computer that does not have built-in FireWire you may not have the required driver software installed. Please install the latest version of the Apple FireWire software. Then run the latest QuickTime installer, do a custom install, and manually select the QuickTime FireWire drivers for installation. This is necessary because the QuickTime installer may not see the FireWire ports if they are not built in.
• Try starting the device playing before launching BTV.
• Try unplugging any other FireWire devices that are connected to the computer.
The DV Device control floating window is not accessible from the Window menu
DV device control requires QuickTime 5; you can download and install it from here. Also a DV device needs to be connected, turned on and initialised in BTV Pro (the video input window in BTV Pro must be open, showing video from the DV device).
DV camcorder switches itself off during timelapse/motion detection
This can usually be prevented by removing the tape and plugging the camcorder into its external power supply, however this varies between manufacturers so it is best to check with the manufacturer for more information.
Sound/video sync problems when viewing DV video
Make sure virtual memory is turned off. Also, this was more of a problem with versions of QuickTime below 5, so if you are not using QuickTime 5 please install it as it should improve this situation.
Video is too dark
This is a common complaint but unfortunately there is nothing you can do at the moment (except turn up the brightness of your computer monitor) since Apple have not implemented brightness/contrast controls in their DV driver.
After upgrading to Mac OS X 10.2.4 my Sony DVMC-DA1/2 device does not work.
This appears to be a bug in OS X or QuickTime that prevents the use of this device with any video software on OS X 10.2.4. Currently the only options are to use OS 9 to capture from this device, or downgrade to OS X 10.2.3. To downgrade to OS X 10.2.3, reinstall 10.2 (there is an option in the installer to preserve all the user folders). Then, download and install the 10.2.3 "combo" update from here.
  ixTV/TurboTV cards top
Driver software for Mac OS 8-9
You can download the driver software from the links below. Version 2.16 is unstable on certain systems and generally not recommended. There have also been reports of OS 9.1, QuickTime 5 and ixTV (any driver version) being unstable and causing crashes, if you have problems with this configuration it is recommended to either upgrade to OS 9.2.2 (which requires a G3 processor) or downgrade to QuickTime 4.
ixTV Extension 2.10
ixTV/FM Extension 2.15
ixTV/FM Extensions 2.16
Driver software for Mac OS X
There is currently no ixTV driver software available for Mac OS X. A driver is currently in development here. Without OSX drivers, the ixTV card cannot work with BTV (or any other video software) on OSX.
Sound on Mac OS 9
Due to the way in which OS 9 handles sound you may get no audio using the internal audio connectors. In this case you can connect the audio output of the ixTV card to the audio input of the Mac using a 3.5mm stereo jack lead, and then change the sound settings in BTV to select the Mac's audio input (go to 'Sound Settings' under the Settings menu). Alternatively you can use external speakers connected to the audio output of the ixTV card.
Channel changing problems
A few users have reported problems with BTV not finding a particular channel, or not finding any channel. This is something I am looking into although please note it is not high on my priority list because only a small number of systems seem to have this problem.
  Orange Micro iBot FireWire camera top
Latest driver software
The latest OS 8-9 driver software for the iBot can be downloaded from here. If you have any problems with the iBot camera please download and install the latest driver to see if the problem is fixed before requesting technical support.
Mac OS X driver software
You can download OS X driver software for the iBot here. This driver is provided by Orange Micro and is free.
The camera is out of focus
Adjust the blue focus ring that is on the front of the iBot surrounding the lens. Since this ring doesn't stick out it is easily missed.
BTV bundled with the iBot camera
New "iBot Pro" packages include the full version of BTV Pro (called "BTV Pro OM"). Click here for updates to this software.
Earlier versions of the iBot camera included the shareware versions of my (now discontinued) products "BTV View" and "BTV Edit". These are not free; if you wish to use them you must purchase them from me, although I suggest you download my current products first (click here for downloads).
  Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 top
Crashing problems
Please download and install the "5500/6500 Video Input Update" extension here if you do not have it already (this is version 1.0.7). According to Apple, this extension "enhances system stability when using video capture applications".
  Philips ToUcam USB camera top
Latest driver software for Mac OS 8-9
The latest OS 8-9 driver software for the ToUcam camera is version 1.1 and can be downloaded here. If you have any problems with the ToUcam camera please download and install this driver to see if the problem is fixed before requesting technical support. To install it drag the "Philips USB Cameras" extension to your Extensions folder in your System folder (removing any previous version) and restart. This driver also works with the older "Vesta" camera made by Philips.
Latest version of BTV for the ToUcam for Mac OS 8-9
The latest OS 8-9 version of BTV for the ToUcam is 5.1 and can be downloaded here. This is a free download for anyone with a ToUcam camera.
Using a ToUcam camera on Mac OS X
IOXperts (who wrote the original OS 8-9 driver) have written an OS X driver - it is available here. There is also a driver being developed by Matthias Krauss here. The ToUcam camera (or any other video input device) cannot be used in the Classic environment on Mac OS X.
As well as OS X driver software you will need the Carbon version of BTV or BTV Pro, which you can get from my download page here (the Carbon versions are not free for ToUcam users).
BTV Pro upgrade
Sorry, there is no special upgrade price for BTV Pro for ToUcam users.
  Video input on Mac OS X top
Available video input devices for OSX
Currently the following video input devices are supported on OSX:
DV camcorders and DV video converters (drivers are built into the system)
FireWire and USB webcams supported by the IOXperts driver
The XLR8 Interview USB video input device
The Televio PCI TV card from Meilenstein
Certain professional PCI video capture cards such as the Kona
Built in video input
Some Macs have built-in video input ports. Unfortunately these do not work on OSX because Apple (nor anyone else) has not provided any OSX driver software for them.
TV cards on OSX
The Televio PCI TV card from Meilenstein is a PAL/NTSC compatible TV card that works in OS X.
Also, there is a driver for TV cards on OSX being developed by Andreas Thiede here. It is still in development, but if development goes to plan in the future this driver will work with BTV and allow viewing and capture from any TV card on OSX.
Is OSX driver software required?
Yes. BTV (or any other video software) cannot use a video input device unless it has driver software.
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