![Insights and Ideas / Photography](/sg/pro/photo/images/header_photo.gif"){kind=small}
iChat AV: Face-to-face client meetings. Wherever you happen to be.
Your client’s at a conference in Shanghai. Your art director’s on vacation in Mexico. Your trusted assistant is holed up in his cross-town apartment. And you’re out on location.
You can all be on the same page — even feel like you’re in the same room — when you collaborate via iChat AV.
Face to Face
iChat AV gives you the ability to corral up to four people in a videoconference — as easily as sending an instant message. Since video conferencing is fully integrated into your iChat buddy list, initiating a conference is utterly straightforward. Just click the meeting attendees and each colleague steps into your virtual office. And every new iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro has a camera built right in, so you're set for your face-to-face right out of the box.
Whether you’re in your studio, a hotel room, or a cafe on location, iChat AV brings multi-way video and audio conferencing directly to your Mac — with stunning, true-to-life picture and clear conversation. And when you’re reviewing the day’s shoot with the powers-that-be, their faces and voices will tell you more than any email ever could.
Voice to Voice
When video’s not crucial to the conversation, iChat AV allows you to participate in audio conferences with up to 10 participants.
Unlike dedicated telephone systems, iChat eliminates the need for complex dialing instructions and automated attendants. Creating or joining an audio conference is as simple as clicking a button in your iChat buddy list. You may never to crowd around a speakerphone again.
Word Up
Of course, iChat is also a versatile instant messaging application, supporting AOL Instant Messenger and Jabber Instant Messenger clients. Icons and thought bubbles make it fun to see who’s saying what, and you can transmit any kind of file — from a web address to a photo — by simply dragging it into your chat. Pictures display right in the message window, web links open with a click.
In short, iChat AV is the best way to keep colleagues, clients, and collaborators in the loop — even when they may be completely out of the picture.
Clearly Advanced
Tiger takes the high-quality video capabilities of iChat to the next level with H.264. Producing higher resolution than that of competing video conferencing solutions, the new H.264 video codec is built right into Tiger and iChat. With its advanced video compression techniques, H.264 delivers a sharper picture and improved color accuracy. And H.264 intelligently scales to available bandwidth and hardware for improved overall performance.
Tip
You can use your iSight camera to deliver a video iChat to users that may not have an iSight camera. Say, for example, you would like an art director to see a setup even though they had to return to the office. Just select your buddy’s name from the Buddy List then select Buddy > Invite to One-Way Video Chat. Now they can see and hear you — even reply by text.
