WAYS TO SHOOT BETTER SMARTPHONE VIDEO
MAKE GREAT VIDEOS EVERYONE WILL WANT TO WATCH. TECHLIFE SHOWS HOW WITH THESE 20 TOP TIPS.
1. LANDSCAPE, NOT PORTRAIT
This one really bugs us, so let’s get it out of the way early — don’t shoot video in portrait mode. Ever. Well, at least try to remember not to. You view your TV in landscape mode, your PC, too. So it makes sense to shoot your videos in landscape mode. When it comes to editing, it’ll also be much easier to work with.
2. USE MAXIMUM RESOLUTION
Most smartphone video capture apps are easy to use, but unless you specifically select it, they probably won’t capture video at maximum resolution. The reason is that the more pixels or the more detail you capture, the more the phone’s processor chip has to do and the more
that will draw down on battery life. The other issue is that the extra detail you capture has to be stored somewhere, which means chewing up extra storage. As a result, many phones will choose a ‘medium’ detail by default and leave you to set the ‘fine’ or ‘high’ detail mode yourself. But make no mistake — you want that ‘fine’ detail mode to capture the best quality your phone can give you. Some Android phone apps will give you the actual video resolution options in the app’s video settings; for example, 2160p, 1080p or 720p video. Always go for the highest quality available.
3. GET YOUR DE-SHAKE ON
Even the best-laid plans can go awry, particularly when it comes to capturing those once-in-a-lifetime moments. The worst of it usually appears as shaky handheld video. But thanks to some clever coding, there are ways you can remove or at least greatly reduce the shakes in your videos after you’ve captured them — and for free. The best but most complicated method is to use the old VirtualDub video app with the excellent Deshaker plugin ( tinyurl.com/26zvba). It takes a while to get used to but the results can be stunning. Another alternative that’s pretty close is YouTube’s own Stabilize enhancement option ( tinyurl.com/yd8cxfsj).
4. USE H.264 VIDEO COMPRESSION
Android supports a decent range of video compression formats these days, including the new H.265 or HEVC codec, plus Google’s own VP8 and VP9 codecs stored within the WebM file format. But for portability, you can’t go past H.264. It’s not as space-efficient as HEVC, but it requires less processing speed, so it’s a good compromise if you’re using a phone with only a dual-core processor and/or ordinary battery life. More importantly, it’s the de facto standard for video and playable on almost any device. Any video-editing app worth its code will support it, too.
5. SET ANTI-FLICKER
Sometimes, when you’re trying to capture video screens such as laptops, PC monitors or TV displays, you’ll later see flicker occurring in your videos. The reason this can happen is that the video capture frame rate won’t sync up with the display refresh rate of the TV or monitor, hence the flicker. Many phones now have a camera settings option for ‘anti-flicker’, which allows you to set a frequency of 50 or 60Hz. Why these numbers are important is a long story, but in short, they match the AC mains power frequency. If you don’t have an ‘auto’ setting to use, choose 50Hz when capturing TV screens and 60Hz if capturing a PC monitor when in Australia or the UK. If you’re in the US (or other countries using US TV standards), just set it to 60Hz and you’re done.
6. USE AN EXTERNAL MIC
Why an external microphone if every smartphone already has a mic built-in? Because not all built-in mics are straight from the top drawer — some can be surprisingly noisy, resulting in poor audio. If you’re shooting a podcast, an external microphone can be the solution and there are two main options here — use a lapel microphone that plugs into the phone’s headphone socket, or try a separate USB sound card. Phone headphone sockets are also known as TRRS or ‘tip-ring-ring-sleeve’ and support not just stereo earphones, but also an external microphone. Alternatively, a USB sound card can help. Since Lollipop/5.0, Android has natively-supported USB audio