How Do I Monitor a House with a Live Webcam on a Mac?

A Macintosh's built-in iSight camera, or third-party external camera, can be used as a live monitor of the area in front of the camera when you are away from the computer, either over the local network or over the Internet.

Instructions

1. Launch iChat on your Macintosh, and open the preferences under the iChat menu. Click the "Accounts" tab, then click the "Get an iChat Account" button.

2. Repeat Step 1, because you will need two new iChat accounts: one for your home computer, and one for the computer you're using to monitor the camera.

3. Select the new account in the Accounts list, then choose the Privacy Level "Allow specific people." Add the name from step two to this list, which should not contain any other entries.

4. Click on the "Alerts" tab, and choose the Event "Video Invitation." Turn off "Play a sound" and "Bounce the iChat icon." Turn on "Run an AppleScript script" and select "Auto accept.applescript."

5. Leave iChat running at all times. If you wish, you can turn the monitor brightness to zero to save energy, or make it appear as if the Macintosh is turned off.

6. Set up an iChat or AIM client on another computer with the account from Step 2. Add the account from Step 1 in your buddy list. When you initiate an AIM video connection to your home computer, it will automatically accept the invitation and provide you with a live video feed. If you speak into your microphone on the computer you are using to connect to your home Macintosh, it will play through the speakers of your home Mac.