CamTwist + Skype = Remote Collaboration

Final Cut Pro has an awesome feature, iChat Theater, which lets you share your Viewer or Canvas (whatever was last selected) to a remote iChat buddy. It’s fantastic for remote editing with a client. But it only works Mac to Mac. Alternatives? Skype has built-in screen sharing, but it doesn’t want to work for me; I think it’s because I’m on a camera-less Mac Pro.

Solution! Grab CamTwist, as described in How To Use Your Canon DSLR As A Webcam. Set up the software with “Desktop+” to output the FCP Canvas as a webcam. Now you don’t even need to use Skype’s screen sharing, because that area of your screen becomes a webcam. It just saved me many rounds of tiny revisions with a remote (Sydney) director on a piece I’m editing.

Isn’t it nice when technology really helps? Now, if only I could get ADSL2+ here…