A/V for Adium!
During all our work on integrating audio and video into Adium, it seems that a company called MeBeam was way ahead of us. They implemented a cross-platform, protocol-agnostic videochat solution using Flash. The best of all: They allowed us to integrate with their service!
What this means is that starting today, Adium has support for videochat!
MeBeam has very compelling features:
- Cross-platform
- Cross-service
- No installation necessary on the invitee side, except for some IM client, a web browser and the Flash plugin
- Up to 15 people in a multiuser-videochat, not required to use the same IM network
- Fewer issues with firewalls than other solutions
What do you have to do to make use of it? First, you need a webcam obviously, and a headset is recommended. Then, download the plugin and double-click it, so Adium can place it into the right location. Relaunch Adium, and you’re good to go.
When you want to videochat with someone, ctrl-click (or right-click) them and choose “Initiate MeBeam Videochat”. That’s all!
November 9th, 2007 at 1:00 PM
those are the best news for 2007
yey!!!!! at last video in Adium. Goodbye aMSN, Mercyry, MSN, and Yahoo 
November 9th, 2007 at 1:16 PM
Despite this, will the developers continue to work on a native A/V solution? This is nice and all, but it’s so much nicer to have this kind of functionality built-in, without relying on someone else.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Definitely.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:36 PM
Okay, that’s an effort, but the real thing would be built-in integration to Adium, but you guys know that, don’t you…
By the way, Adium rocks, muchas gracias for the work!
November 9th, 2007 at 2:09 PM
this is cool i multichat 6 ppl with voice too and i can say this is really cool. the only drawback is tha we need to open browser
November 9th, 2007 at 2:38 PM
flash? No offense, but I think most people would rather wait a little longer for a native one… Please don’t stop development
November 9th, 2007 at 2:46 PM
i hope it’ll get integrated better into adium!
btw, will u continue working on the real videochat or will u try to include mebeam better?
November 9th, 2007 at 3:33 PM
I was hoping that this was real integration, and not just opening a link. I appreciate the plug-in, since I already use MeBeam, its a great short-cut, but I was hoping that it would open in the chat window.
November 9th, 2007 at 4:04 PM
wow, very cool! strange though, the way devs have just woken up after years of users begging for a/v.
November 9th, 2007 at 4:14 PM
Guys, listen, you’re nuts if you think we’re just going to drop all the work we’ve put in on the native video implementations. This was a side project that Andy was working on. He wanted to release it so he did. It won’t in any way detract from the other work we’re doing. It’s not meant to replace the real thing, simply something fun in the meantime.
November 9th, 2007 at 5:02 PM
mika: We didn’t “wake up”; we weren’t asleep. We’ve always wanted VoiceAndVideo too. We just didn’t say anything concrete until recently because there was nothing *to* say until recently.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:29 PM
@richie
thanks for clearing that up. this is nice i guess, but i can’t consider it a solution.
really looking forward to version 2.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:59 PM
To all complaining about this plugin. Stop!!! If you guys think you can do better then do it. THIS IS NOT THE FINAL SOLUTION. IT IS A SOLUTION TEMPORARY. I think people should be a bit more respectful to what these guys are doing in their spare time. YOU NEED TO REALIZE Adium doesn’t put food on their table. They do this in their spare time. They have other things to do.
November 10th, 2007 at 5:43 AM
This is really awesome. Just love it. And the fact that you do this in addition to all the other work you do just kicks ass.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Does this temporary solution work for adium -> window live messenger (msn on windows)?
November 10th, 2007 at 1:13 PM
I am not a mac user yet, my MBP comes in on Wednesday, but as I was downloading software in preparation for my new Mac I found Adium. I can’t wait to start using this software. As a freeware developer myself I can sypathize with your team about the late nights, early mornings, and sacrifices to your social life you have to make when taking on a project of this scope, with this big of a user base. Reading thru the above posts maybe a little discouraging, however I hope you are also encouraged by their loyalty and the fact they care enough about your project to post with such emotion.
I look forward to using your product in a few days and I’m even more excited about the possibility of using adium with my iPhone after February
November 10th, 2007 at 2:20 PM
peter: thanks. For years, you gave the impression there was no way to do it or that it’d take eons anyway. hence my comment.
I’m just happy about recent developments.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:47 PM
great you are the best, this is a good step to make greater solution
November 10th, 2007 at 8:25 PM
spiken: yes, it’ll work with anybody, as long as you can send them a URL and they have a web browser with Flash-support.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:37 AM
this is cool, but honestly.. i hate flash.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:09 AM
Haha thanks guys, it’s a great half way solution. Keep up the work, Adium seems to be the best messenger client for mac, and you keep proving it! Good luck
November 13th, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Hey Guys, this seems a great tool and as I make my way over to my new MBP (it’s been 11 days now!), this is one of the apps that is making that a seamless process. Keep up the good work, I look forward to the integrated solution when it arrives.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:25 AM
I’m a newbie to Macbook & crossing over frm Windows is hard enf already BUT at least my chatting is sort of spared.. Keep up the good work! I love Adium!
December 7th, 2007 at 5:34 PM
I do not see such a link when I right-click.
November 12th, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Well, its honestly the most crap I have seen so far within the open source community. Try and develop a native alternative for users who actually need some quality. This is just a “low mark”!
November 13th, 2008 at 5:25 AM
Is there any progress in the native app for webcams?
Greetzzz
November 29th, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Just tried this solution, and while it is functional, the experience is very annoying. The overlays for muting were all weird, it took 2 minutes just to figure out why the other end couldn’t hear me (mute also silences the other end, but unmute doesn’t unsilence)…
Waiting for the official support from Adium (if it’s still coming). Adium AV support was announced over 1.5 years ago… I wonder if the fring.com guys are having better luck getting this going…