Creating a document camera using Apple® Mac® , Apple® iPhone® , and iTunes® combination.

Step 1 Hardware prep

Plug your iPhone into the Mac with the appropriate cable: examples: USB to Lighting cable, USB to USB-C or USB-C to USB-C. Type of cable depends on the specific Mac and iPhone combination you have.

Set the iPhone on your document camera stand, see camera ideas https://etc.engineering.uiowa.edu/cell-phone-camera-ideas.

Step 2 Software prep

If a window requesting “A new network interface has been detected.”; select  cancel.

Put your iPhone in Do Not Disturb mode so phone calls and notifications will not disturb the recording or the live presentation. Next, launch the application QuickTime Player on your Mac. Locate QuickTime Player in the dock; tap it with your two fingers to get the menu to come up. Select New Movie Recording.

Locate the down arrow next to the record button.  Click on the down arrow; you will see a few camera options available depending on the number of cameras connected to your computer. Select the name associated with the iPhone. If you are not sure, try each camera choice. The iPhone screen image will appear in the QuickTime Player interface after the selection.

Example: In the picture below; the phone was named “Chris”.

Once your iPhone is selected; the iPhone screen will be replicated on the Mac. You can share your screen via Zoom meeting or UICapture.

Start up a camera application on the iPhone, orient the device and paper for easiest usage.

Notes:

  • Resources in teaching:  https://etc.engineering.uiowa.edu/keep-teaching
  • iPhone should have a full charge, some Macs may not have USB port that supports charging.
  • You do not need to start recording on the QuickTime Player application if you are recording with UICapture or Zoom.
  • If iTunes pops up when you connect your iPhone to your Mac; you can close it. iTunes is not needed for this process.
  • Any Camera/Magnifier/DocCam application can be used, you may have a better application on your phone than the Apple camera application.
  • A video that is close to our application can be found here.

Help

For assistance please talk to the consultant at the Engineering Help Desk, 319-335-5055, 1253 SC.