3 Replies Latest reply: Aug 6, 2011 10:51 AM by Metryq RSS

    Lion, Quicktime Screen-capture, and Photoshop

    bsnyder175 Community Member

      I've used Quicktime's screen capture tool to create Photoshop video guides in the past and it's produced really high quality, high fps results in a small file.  However, since I've upgraded to OS X Lion, my entire computer is brought to its knees during a Photoshop recording session.  As soon as I hit record, boom - Photoshop becomes really choppy and it's almost impossible to create a decent video.

       

      Could anyone else here with Lion do a quick test to see if you get the same results?  Just open up a Photoshop file, open Quicktime, go to New / New Screen Recording, and see if you're able to use Photoshop without any performance drop.

       

      I'm running CS5 on a dual quad-core mac pro with 12 gigs of ram.  It's about 3 years old, but I shouldn't be running into a performance hit like this.

       

      Any feedback on your own experience or tests would be greatly appreciated.

       

      Thanks!

        • 1. Re: Lion, Quicktime Screen-capture, and Photoshop
          Chris Cox Adobe Employee

          Sounds like Apple changed something in their screen capture code.

          • 2. Re: Lion, Quicktime Screen-capture, and Photoshop
            bsnyder175 Community Member

            Were you able to test this out, Chris?  And if so, did you see the same issue I ran into?

            • 3. Re: Lion, Quicktime Screen-capture, and Photoshop
              Metryq

              Under OS X "Lion," every screen capture tool I have (Snapz Pro X, Screenflow, Layers, iShowU HD Pro) will no longer capture a DVD frame—if the DVD is being played by Apple's DVD Player. The resulting screen cap shows a "transparent" window. VLC still works in that regard. I've also noticed that the iTunes app no longer has a free-floating video window, which was always my preference. Videos now show within the boundaries of the iTunes window, or full-frame. One more note on Apple DVD Player is that invoking full-frame playback will slide in a new "space" with a background similar to that seen on iPads or behind the Desktop Widgets.

               

              I realize capturing DVDs is not what you're trying to do, but all of the above indicates a complete change to the way OS X handles any streamed video. I have yet to make a test, but I suspect that output-to-NTSC through monitor ports may also be inhibited for certain things; Apple may be plugging the "analog hole" with software. My guess is that whatever background routines are responsible for this may be sufficient to slow the frame rate of your tutorial captures—in the same way that heightened security at airports now significantly slows boarding procedures.