This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing the Flip Video software – called FlipShare – in OS X.

1. Plug your Flip Video camera into an available USB port on your Mac. Then open up a Finder window. In the DEVICES section, you should now see a volume titled FLIPVIDEO – select it. Inside that volume locate the file titled Start FlipShare.app and double-click it.
2. Click the I agree button to agree to the user license agreement.
3. Enter your password when prompted.
4. FlipShare will start to install itself.
5. Once the installation has completed, FlipShare will launch. Close it down.
6. Navigate to your Applications folder and make sure that FlipShare is listed. Launch it from here.
7. FlipShare will automatically check to see if there’s an upgrade available. Click the Update Now button if one is found.
8. Place a check in the box labeled I have read and accept the terms of the License Agreement, and then click the Install button.
9. Again, enter your password when prompted.
10. FlipShare will now update itself…
11. … and once completed, click OK to finish the process.
12. FlipShare is now set up and ready to use.

Home > Articles > Digital Photography

1. Installing FlipShare

Touring FlipShare. Generally, when an application is available for Windows as well as the Macintosh—Photoshop Express or Microsoft Word, for example—there's some difference in the functionality and appearance of the application on the two computer platforms. That's not the case with FlipShare. Oh, sure, the Windows version places the Preferences command in the Edit menu (as is typical), and the Mac version shifts that same command to the FlipShare menu (as is just as typical), but. To run the FlipShare installer program that’s preloaded on your Flip camcorder, follow these steps: Plug your Flip camcorder into one of your computer’s unused USB ports. If you’re using a Windows computer, the AutoPlay. Go to Start→Control Panel→AutoPlay. Scroll to the bottom of the AutoPlay.

In Chapter 1, I mention that one of the advantages of the Flip camcorders is that each holds a Windows- and Mac-compatible copy of the FlipShare editing software. This means that you can shoot video, jack your Flip camera into just about any Windows PC or Macintosh with a USB 2.0 port (the exception is a really old Windows PC or Macintosh whose processor is too poky to handle the HD output of a Flip MinoHD or Flip UltraHD), edit your video, and distribute the stuff you've shot. This computer can be your friend's, your mom's, or a school computer on which you're allowed to install software. You don't have to rush home to use your computer, drag a laptop around with you, or purchase or download additional software. Everything you need is right there on the camera.

In this chapter, I look at installing and configuring FlipShare as well as using it to edit videos.

Installing FlipShare

You can't run the FlipShare software directly from a Flip camera. Instead, you install it from the camera. Here's how.

Windows XP

To install FlipShare in Windows XP, follow these steps:

1. Plug the camera into a free USB 2.0 port.

   The camera makes its little 'ba-lip' power-on sound and starts charging. Then Windows takes a couple of seconds to recognize the camera and automatically install the proper drivers.

2. Instruct Windows to use FlipShare.

   A FLIPVIDEO window appears, offering you a variety of choices, from viewing video with a built-in program to viewing a slideshow of images. You're interested in that first choice.

3. Choose View Your Flip Camcorder Videos Using the Program Provided on the Device, and click the OK button.

   The FlipShare installer application launches. It takes a little over a minute to install the software and place a FlipShare shortcut on the desktop.

Windows Vista

To install FlipShare in Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Plug the camera into a free USB 2.0 port.

   The camera makes its little 'ba-lip' power-on sound and starts charging. Then Windows takes a couple of seconds to recognize the camera and automatically install the proper drivers.

2. Instruct Windows to use FlipShare.

   An AutoPlay window appears, with View Your Flip Camcorder Videos listed as the sole entry below Install or Run Program.

3. Click View Your Flip Camcorder Videos to install the FlipShare application.

   As is typical, Windows asks for permission.

4. Click Continue to install.

   The FlipShare installer application launches. It takes a little over a minute to install the software and place a FlipShare shortcut on the Desktop.

Macintosh

To install FlipShare on a Macintosh, follow these steps:

1. Plug the camera into a free USB 2.0 port.

   The camera makes its little 'ba-lip' power-on sound and starts charging.

2. Double-click the FLIPVIDEO icon that appears on the Desktop to reveal the contents of the camera.
3. Double-click Start FlipShare to launch the application's installer.

4. In the resulting windows, agree to the license agreement, and enter your Administrator password when prompted.

   The FlipShare software is installed in the Applications folder at the root level of your Mac's startup drive.

Flipshare On Mac Pro

If another application on your PC or Mac believes that it can import video files from the Flip camera—Adobe Photoshop Elements or iPhoto, for example—it may launch automatically and ask to grab the videos. For the time being, dismiss any such offers.

Related Resources

Flipshare Mac

• Book $47.99

• eBook (Watermarked) $38.39

Flipshare Mac Download

• Web Edition $38.39