Intervalometry: Family Wii Bowling Tournament

Over the holidays I discovered the app iTimelapse Pro which seems to be the best timelapse applications in the app store to date. As a quick test of its capabilities I placed my iPhone in front of the TV and recorded my family's post-Thanksgiving Wii Bowling tournament:

The low light makes for some compression artifacting, but it is altogether very impressive for an iPhone.

Intervalometry: Central Market, Lancaster PA

We went to the Central Market in Lancaster Pennsylvania on Tuesday to shop for Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a fun oppurtunity to make a time lapse. All I had with me was my iPhone, but using the app ReelMoments I was able to make this:

iPhone-friendly Youtube Link

Check out other editions of Intervalometry

BasFolies

On September 10th was BasFolies, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Mode Atelier Basman. The show consisted of a Fashion Show mixed with a Folies style Variety show. I was responsible for the video production in the show as well as filming during it. If you were not among the people fortunate enough to be there, here is a little taste of the BasFolies:

The show began with a video showing the space alien moderator flying his birthday cake-shaped space ship and crash landing it into the venue -- so that explains those clips, if you were wondering. All together it was a really fun show, that had a perfect balance of hand-craft and high fashion. Someone described it as Children's theater for adults. I can agree with that.

BasFolies was a GlamourGeek Production and directed by Eva De Vree.

If you enjoyed this post, check out BasVegas

Pocket Cam: Tom Brosseau w/ Angela Correa live in Zürich

On Friday night Tom Brosseau played at the Helsinki Bar here in Zürich. He was accomapanied Angela Correa. In this edition of Pocket Cam they perform Tom's original song "Mary Anne".

Pocket Cam is a continuing feature that highlights video I have recorded with cheap, pocketable video cameras. This video was created with an iPhone 3GS.

If you enjoyed this video, check out:
Tom Brosseau is so Punk Rock
Pocket Cam: Scenes from Paris in Six Acts
From the Archive: Freddie Goodtime

Intervalometry: Mobile Edition #1

Intervalometry is a feature on my blog that highlights time lapse video that I have created. Thanks to the iPhone app ReelMoments by Nexvio I can now create and publish time lapses using only my iPhone 3GS. These videos will be labeled as Mobile Edition. Here is the first one. I made it just about 2 hours ago at the Milchbuck Park.

View on YouTube

This blog post was also created on my iPhone using the new Squarespace iPhone app. All future mobile editions will be done the same way.

Convergence - a Review of Nexvio ReelDirector & the Future

Today I created something very interesting. Here it is.

Fairly standard fair for YouTube, right? Nope. The bit that makes this video interesting is the text at the end. This video was shot, edited and published entirely on my iPhone 3GS. The new iPhone app ReelDirector from Nexvio is the app I wished for in an earlier post. The iPhone 3GS is now a miniature video production studio. What this means for the future is quite profound, but first let me talk about the app it self.
The ReelDirector timeline ReelDirector is no Final Cut Pro or even iMovie. It is as simple as a video editor can get. You select and trim videos with the same method that is built into the 3GS, but then you bring those clips into a timeline where you can cut it together with other clips. That is the basic functionality. That alone is a big deal. With those tools you have all you need to tell a story with video. However, ReelDirector has done a little more than that. The app has 27 different transitions that can be used between clips and you can also add reasonably customized titles at the beginning and end of the video.
What is missing? The main thing is audio. Sound is linked to the video and you cannot separate them which is pretty obvious in the video. This means you cannot have the audio from one clip continue underneath another. You also cannot add other sound such as music or voice over -- though Nexvio says they are working to add this. Another feature I would like to see is effects and color correction. It would be nice to optimize the look of the videos while editing them. While they are at it Nexvio could bundle in the functionality of their SlowMo iPhone app, so you can change the speed of video.
Ok, the future. The ability to edit video on the same device as it is shot with is unprecedented (as far as I know). More than that, since the iPhone has 3G, you can upload theses videos straight to a distribution source -- practically in real-time. I shot My Morning Commute this morning. It was uploading to YouTube by the time I was sitting at my desk. The workflow was great. I shot some video, then switched over to ReelDirector and cut the shots in. When I stepped out of the train I just had to shoot the last two shots, cut them in and I was done. I edited the story together as it was happening! The iPhone now represents the convergence of the entire video workflow into one device. Welcome to the world of tomorrow!!
Ok, the iPhone is not going to put Hollywood out of business. The video quality is good for a phone but that is about it and it gets worse when you upload it to YouTube with the built-in photos app (here is a full quality version for comparison). Where I think we will see this convergence utilized first will be in journalism and documentary. A journalist can file completed video reports from the field with a single inconspicuous device. This can be done while on the move and as the story is taking place. The revolution may not be televised, but the story may be told by someone armed only with iPhone. I think ReelDirector is a must-have app for all 3GS owners.

 

Related Posts:
Pocket Cam: The Future of the Colony
Everything You Wanted to Know About iPhone 3GS Video
Technologic Overkill

You Know What I Did Last Summer

So I seem to take holidays from blogging during the standard holiday times. Over winter I had a large gap in my blog, and now summer has come and gone -- with another big lull in my blogging. Here is an abridged list of things I did over the summer.

We now return to your regularly scheduled program.

Pocket Cam: The Future of the Colony

Pocket Cam is a recurring feature on my blog where I capture unique scenes from everyday life on video. The word 'Pocket' implies that I am using one of my small, consumer quality cameras (Canon G9 or MinoHD). I like these cameras because I can shoot video no matter where I am. This edition of Pocket Cam is the first I have shot using my iPhone 3GS.

iPhone Friendly Youtube Link.

While on a walk I noticed an ant hill with many winged queens. After observing for a moment I realized they were all attempting to fly away, some with more success than others. These clumsy queens were the future of the colony. It was a very nice moment.

If you liked this video, check out This Puppet Thinks "You're Beautiful" or Sechseläuten 2009

 

Intervalometry: Three Towers


I shot this time lapse over a month ago at the Milchbuck Park near the Universität Irchel in Zürich. I finally got around to processing it the other day. I was trying out some new tricks on this one. Other than the obvious vignette, I utlized some perspective correction and motion blur to add to it's unique look. The ambient sound was recorded in another time and place altogether, but I think it fits.

For more time lapse imagery check out Intervalometry.
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Everything You Wanted to Know About iPhone 3GS Video

the 'eye' of iPhone 3GSThe iPhone 3GS feature that I was most excited about was video. The very first thing I did when I got my phone was shoot Technologic Overkill, so I could put the video camera through it's paces. In the process I discovered quite a few useful bits information about how the video works. Here is random list of that information:

  • The video quality is surprisingly good for a cameraphone. In bright daylight the camera performs excellently. Like most small video cameras, it performs worse in low light. The iPhone will automatically lower the framerate in low light to compensate. The Frame rate will not go lower than 15fps
  • The iPhone shoots 640x480 at 30 frames per second. It records to the h264 codec at about 3700 kilobits per second. This equates to roughly 28 megabytes per minute. That's not too shabby. Audio is recorded in Mono at 44.1 khz using the AAC codec.
  • Compression artifacting is not very prevalent in good lighting. I think this is where a device like iPhone shines over other small video cameras. It has a very good CPU comparably, which allows for higher quality compression.
  • You can select your focus point in video mode by tapping, but only when you are not recording. When you begin recording focus is locked to the point you chose. This means you cannot rack focus while recording. This is a small gripe, but if you consider most tiny video cameras are fixed focus, it is still a big improvment.
  • Close focus is the same as in still mode -- 10cm. This is a great feature. When you are filming at a macro distance you can achieve a pretty decent shallow depth of field look.
  • Where you tap on the screen also 'guides' the exposure of the video. However, as opposed to focus, exposure remains on 'auto'. If your scene changes enough the exposure will automatically compensate.
  • The video works very nicely in iMovie, which is expected. One thing I noticed is that you do not have to convert the video to use the slow and fast motion feature. The codec Apple uses is already suitable for that.
  • The "Jelly" effect that most small video cameras exhibit is prevalent in the 3GS. This is due to a rolling shutter.

Here is a short video illustrating some of these points.

iPhone Friendly Youtube Link.

One thing I keep thinking about is how the iPhone 3GS video compares to my Flip MinoHD. In resolution, the Mino beats iPhone hands down -- the iPhone is not HD. However, the other features of the iPhone 3GS might just compensate for its lack of HD. Let's compare and contrast:

  • The iPhone 3GS has autofocus with a macro mode, the MinoHD is fixed focus at 1m
  • Exposure on the iPhone 3GS can be influenced by touching a point, the MinoHD is 'full auto'
  • The viewing screen on the iPhone 3GS is gargantuan compared to the MinoHD.
  • The iPhone has the ability to upload video directly to the web, the MinoHD does not.
  • The MinoHD has 4GB of storage, the iPhone 3GS has either 16 or 32 GB.
  • You can trim video on the iPhone(I did this on Technologic Overkill while riding the tram to save time making in/out points.)
  • The iPhone's lens is wider than the Flip.

Here is the biggest benefit of the iPhone 3GS over the Flip, and in fact, all video cameras. I always have it with me. There is a saying: "The best camera is the one you have with you." The same is true for video cameras. I enjoy capturing unique moments in daily life (I post these videos in my Pocket Cam series). A video capable iPhone means that I will never miss out on these moments.

After all of my glowing about the iPhone 3GS, here is a wish list of what I would like from it.

  • Full manual exposure. Maybe this is possible for third party developers with the API
  • Manual focus -- being able to input a focus distance.
  • Ability to change focus while recording. Being able to program pull focus would be great.
  • Apps! Something that allows you to cut clips, add titles/effects in the phone!
  • And the obivious one, HD.

It is interesting to not that most of my wants could potentially be fixed by software -- all but the HD thing.

Ok, now the big picture. Why is the iPhone special? There are many small video cameras that can achieve the same quality. In fact, there have been cameraphones that can do the same for ages. Many people are asking, what is the big deal? To me there are a few obvious reasons. First, the iPhone is ubiquitous. It is the most popular smart phone. This puts a lot of attention on its functions, which makes more people aware of their ability to record video. There are probably many people with phones that can shoot video, but don't because they just don't think to. I think that the 400% increase in mobile uploads to Youtube since the 3GS release is proof enough of this. Second, is ease of use. The iPhone is incredibly simple to use, it has an large screen, and the videos are easily transferred and edited on your computer. Most other cameraphones can't say this. Finally, there is the quality. The iPhone 3GS has very good quality for a cameraphone, there are competitive phones -- but not many. The 3GS has good enough quality that a local news station in South Florida shot a report about the iPhone with one (very meta.) I am also not the only one who has shot a music video with it. I know of at least one more. Pro video/film accessory manufacturer Zacuto thinks the quality is good enough, that they even made a special hand grip for it.

Don't get me wrong, the iPhone will not replace any professional cameras. I will not be proposing use of an iPhone on my next job. However, I do foresee a lot of legitimate use of the 3GS beyond shooting videos of your cats -- particularly in the areas of hobby filmmaking, documentary and journalism. In fact imagine that in the not to distant future (with the right apps) I think we will see journalists shoot, edit and file reports from the field with only an iPhone. That will be very fascinating.