Copy link to clipboard
Copied
First off I have to save I love Adobe Character Animator and where it is going.
That said, it has been frustrating trying to find an external USB camera that Character Animator supports for both video AND audio. The Logitech C922x I bought for this purpose didn't support the correct audio sample rates.
Even though I often use an additional USB microphone for audio in Character Animator. Having one device that can do it all is really important to my company. Especially when I am on-site creating animation and it is awkward to set up a lot of gear. I realize that the manufacturers actually obscure these specifications, likely so we don't see the crappy hardware they use for audio processing. It would be incredibly helpful to the community if users could compile and share their real world results with the various webcams available.
Can anybody tell me with certainty a model that supports the 44khz or 48khz sampling rate necessary for Character Animator to accept it as an audio source?
I am on a Mac Pro Tower 12-core, I have tried 3 webcams so far and all had issues so far.
Thanks for your help.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
We've seen this issue before. The issue is that the Logitech camera doesn't have a supported input sample rate for the Mac's output audio. I highly recommend using a dedicated microphone for your audio. The quality will be much higher than using a webcam's audio. If you really want to use the same camera for audio and video, I'll try and find one that supports 44.1k/48k.
You can also create an aggregate device to use that webcam for audio in CH. I go over that in this thread:
Audio Volume Too Low
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Like I said above, I do use an external microphone source. Sometimes you want to just sketch things out with a simple set up using the built in. The issue is that as a normal customer manufacturers stopped publishing their audio sample rates. One would think that a company of Adobe's stature could get to the bottom of this problem plaguing users of it's products much more effectively than a consumer could. Short of buying all of the cameras and testing them I see know way of knowing when all the manufacturers announce is there great image sensors and hide their audio sample rates from their specification sheets. It is truly frustrating. I tried creating an aggregate device and had the same issues.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I can help walk you through the aggregate device issue. I agree it's frustrating. In our tests, some earlier Logitech cameras support higher sample rates, but these newer ones don't. On our side, we can implement a feature that would make this work, but we couldn't guarantee audio sync without the clocks matching. Unfortunately, it's a major feature fundamental to our handling of playback and recording. We have unimplemented features(keyframes, direct manipulation for puppet transform, etc.) that are currently a higher priority.
In the meantime, I'm trying to find a suitable recommendation. I really like the video quality of the Logitech C900 series cameras, but as you've seen, they don't play well with Mac's that don't have a built in input. On the iMacs and Macbooks, this is a non-issue because you can use the onboard audio(which is actually higher quality than the webcam's).
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I sold my C922x since it wasn't the solution I had hoped for.
Can you give me a manufacturer & model that is known to work with a 12-core Mac Pro Tower and support 44khz or 48khz?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I had basically the same issues last year. I got so completely frustrated with it all that I put the entire program aside. I really want to get back to it now, but I am so wary of going through incompatible webcam hell again. Please, PLEASE can someone provide a CURRENT 2019 list of webcams that work with this program on a Windows 10 PC? (No, NOT just Windows 8, which was the issue I ran into again and again and again.) Just a current Windows 10 PC system?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
If you're looking for a Windows 10 webcam recommendation, I recommend the Logitech C920. It's cheap and works great. Bear in mind that this webcam does not allow you to use the webcam audio on the Mac Pro(or any Mac without a built in mic), but for Windows 10, it works great.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Is there any webcam that is known to be compatible with Character Animator and an older Mac Pro Tower from 2014?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I've tested the Logitech Pro 9000 as working for both audio input and face tracking with a MacPro6,1 (Late 2013, though purchased in 2015). The older Logitechs apparently support higher audio sample rates. In the System Settings, Apple identifies it as UVC Camera VendorID_1452 ProductID_4370.
Dan Ramirez
CH QA
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
OK. I will try the Logitech Pro 9000. Thank you! Fingers crossed on this.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Dan, does it work well at 720p? Is there any issue with the advanced face tracking features at 720p vs. 1080p resolution?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I really appreciate that people are answering this question!! So does ANY mic work with the Logitech C920, or does it have to be a specific type of mic? And does the Logitech Pro 9000 work with a Windows 10 PC?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
"ANY mic work with the Logitech C920"
Yes, assuming the mic and/or audio interface works fine on your machine in general. The conflict with the C920 is specific to using it for audio, not face tracking.
"does the Logitech Pro 9000 work with a Windows 10 PC"
Yes.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Yay! I don't know if I can afford the Pro 9000 right this second, but that's probably what I will get soon. If UPS can deliver through the snowstorms, I MIGHT do it now...
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We're going through an office move and this Logitech issue only affects the cylinder Mac Pro which is currently unavailable, not the other Macs. I should be able to get that lab up and running early next week.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
The Logitech issue also affects the older "cheesegrater" tower Mac Pros. I purchased a Logitech 920 after I returned the 922x only to experience the same issue!
Please help us here! Relying only on the latest built-in camera of a given machine will surely reduce the number of people who will take this excellent product and use it for production.
I am going to give up on these USB cameras at this point, until there is an actual white paper with a definitive list of compatible products. I hope that the technical support side of this product becomes as important as adding new features. I hope to be using this application in the future.
Thanks for your help in this matter.