Is it possible to connect an external camera to an Ipad Mini?
My son has started doing stop-motion animationusing his iPad Mini 4, but using the built in camera can be quite restricting in terms of positioning and ease of use. We thought we'd buy an external webcam as these are often used by the stop-motion community but all my initial research (discussions.apple.com for intance) says an iPad can't use one.
Is this really the case? I'm surprised given the normal Apple support for creative work.
Connecting a webcam to your iPad isn't as straightforward as you might think. The iPad doesn't natively support USB cameras through the Camera Connection Kit, nor can it wirelessly connect to a webcam over Wi-Fi.
Nevertheless, there is a way to view your webcam's video feed on your iPad and even record what it's seeing -- but only with a small number of webcams that have their own iPhone and iPad apps.
Ensure your webcam has its own dedicated iPad app. The easiest way is to search the App Store for the name of your webcam manufacturer. For example, typing "Linksys" reveals several apps that support wireless video streaming.
Install the app of your choice. The My Webcam app for iPad is compatible with Logitech and Creative webcams; the Viewer for AXIS Camera Companion app for iPad is compatible with AXIS Cameras.
Open the app and follow any on-screen instructions to connect to your webcam. Usually this involves entering your username and password before logging in to see the webcam feed.
Choose an app such as Viewer for AXIS Camera Companion if you have multiple cameras and you want to see each feed as a thumbnail. Apps such as My Webcam enable you to remotely move cameras by swiping your finger across the screen.
Things Needed
- Webcam with the dedicated app
Tip • If you have an iPad 2 or later, you can use it as a dedicated webcam and stream the video feed from its camera across the Web. The app iWebcamer, available in the App Store, allows you to access the iPad's video feed using camera-enabled programs such as Skype.
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