Updated: current (Aug 2014) version of ffmpeg supports QTKit and AVKit frameworks: ffmpeg -f qtkit -video_device_index 0 -i "" out.mpg or ffmpeg -f qtkit -i "default" out.mpg also you can obtain list of available devices: ffmpeg -f qtkit -list_devices true -i "" Old answer: I solved this problem with QuickTime Broadcaster. It is small utility which captures video and audio, compress it, packetizes
![record a video with isight using ffmpeg](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/98d6f053a97a87156775f60757c60865d0f2c47d/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sstatic.net%2FSites%2Fstackoverflow%2FImg%2Fapple-touch-icon%402.png%3Fv%3D73d79a89bded)