I’ve been using the Flip Ultra HD for a few weeks and I really like the camera. What I don’t like or more accurately need is the FlipShare software. If you don’t have iMovie 09, FlipShare is probably worthwhile. Â I do have iMovie and FlipShare is worse than superfluous, it auto-launches when I attach the camera to my Mac even though I want iMovie to import the clips. [iMovie importing isn’t cast in-stone… I might start converting the H.264 video to ProRes format, if iMovie can easily handle it. More to come on this.]
For now, I wanted to have iMovie startup when I plug-in the Flip and not FlipShare. For me, this was a two step process because I also have other cameras that I want to use as well.
Step 1 – Keep FlipShare from launching.
Apple has three places for a program to automatically startup. The easiest to find is “Login Items” in the Accounts preference pane. Nothing about FlipShare there. The next two places are essentially the same but one is for the user and one is system-wide. This location is either in ~/Library/LaunchAgents or /Library/LaunchAgents. [Remember “~” stands for Home folder in the Finder and a file path starting with “/” means it is at the lowest level of your directory.]  I didn’t find  a reference to FlipShare in my ~/Library/LaunchAgents but I did find “com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist” in my /Library/LaunchAgents directory. Hmmm… That sounds like it might be what is causing FlipShare to launch when I plug-in my Flip. I moved it to my Desktop (just in case), re-booted (just in case) and plugged in the Flip. Nothing! Just want I wanted!
Step 2 – Open iMovie only when I plug-in the Flip.
The Mac uses Image Capture to set what happens when a camera is plugged in. It performs the same action regardless of camera, so if I change the preferences in Image Capture to “Open iMovie” when a camera is plugged-in, iPhoto won’t launch when I plug-in my Nikon. Hrrrrmph!
First a shout-out to LifeHacker, what a great site. It recently ran an article on cameras improves the way os x deals with connected cameras. Thanks! And many thanks to Flexbits who created Cameras. Cameras is a preference pane that allows you to select which camera opens which application. Sweet!
Now when I plug-in my Flip, iMovie opens. And when I plug-in my Nikon, iPhoto opens. And FlipShare never opens. Â [And yes, I could have just deleted FlipShare but I might want to use FlipShare.]