macOS 10.15 – Checking for Webcam File in CoreMediaIO Plug-Ins

The Wired article is a bit old and perhaps is no longer current. 'Extensions' are what you're looking for, and they can be found in the menu item Window > Extensions.

You can also use Window > Task Manager to look at all the tab processes and extensions:

Here is an example bash script that can achieve the goal natively, no need to install anything.

#!/bin/bash

targetDir="$HOME/Pictures"

find "$targetDir" -iname '*.jpg' -o -iname '*.png' -o -iname '*.bmp' -o -iname '*.jpeg' 2>/dev/null | \
while read -r filename; do
    hw="$(sips -g pixelHeight -g pixelWidth "$filename" 2>/dev/null)"
    h="$(awk '/pixelHeight/{print $2}'<<<"$hw")"
    w="$(awk '/pixelWidth/{print $2}'<<<"$hw")"
    if [[ $h -eq 270 ]] && [[ $w -eq 360 ]]; then
        echo rm "$filename"
    fi
done

All you need to do is set the targetDir variable to the starting point of where you want the find command to look. The default is the Pictures folder within your Home folder.

Note: In the example script the echo command needs to be removed from in front of
rm "$filename" in order for the files to actually be deleted and is there so you can first test the output of the script as to what files will be deleted. You can of course choose to remove it without testing and just go for it, if you're confident that you want to delete any .jpg, .png, .bmp or .jpeg file with dimensions of 270 pixel height by 360 pixel width within the targetDir.

Also note that depending on the total file count of the target file extensions, the running of this script can take some amount of time to complete. On my system it found ~1000 files to delete out of 27500 files in my Pictures folder and took at least 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

That said, I ran this script, as it's written, and the only files other then the test file I created with the target dimensions, all other files found where in one specific location within my iPhoto Library bundle in the Thumbnails folder. So, wouldn't it just be easier to go into the bundle and delete the contents in Finder? That is, if it's really just those Thumbnails you want to get rid of!

If you don't know how to use the script, do the following in Terminal:

touch delete270x360images
open delete270x360images

Copy and paste the script code from above into the opened delete270x360images document, modify as needed/wanted and then save and close.

In Terminal, make it executable:

chmod u+x delete270x360images

Now to use it in Terminal, type the following and then press enter.

./delete270x360images

Wait for it to complete.