I leaned over the bench in front of me at the RMV to find out why a woman was videotaping her pencil falling. She showed me the slow motion playback on her phone and told me since getting her new iPhone she’s been recording everything in slow motion. Though I didn’t get her phone number, I did get some insight for this week’s article.
Slow motion is turning up everywhere; from YouTube videos to home videos, slow motion is becoming more prevalent. One of the reasons for its popularity is the availability of inexpensive devices equipped to record in slow motion. Every high-end smartphone released this year has the ability to record in slow motion.
But what sets the ability of current slow motion technology apart from the last generation is inexpensive cameras that shoot at higher frame rates. Thirty frames per second used to be the norm. Modern televisions and monitors allowed that rate to increase to 60 frames per second. Most inexpensive cameras can record slow motion at 120 frames per second.
Slowing down motion isn’t just about taking a video at a higher frame rate and slowing it down. The other half of the equation is increasing the shutter speed. Too slow a shutter speed and the motion becomes blurry, too fast and it becomes choppy. The devices’ internal processor compensates for this.
Last weekend I attended the shooting of a music video and was shocked to see the cameraman using only an iPhone. Granted the video was low budget, but I was surprised they weren’t using a better camera. During the break I talked to one of the crew about their choice to use the iPhone.
According to them, in order to achieve similar results with a dedicated video camera they would have to spend nearly one thousand dollars and still not have the slow motion capabilities of the iPhone. Me being me, I decided to do a little more research to explore the options.
For under $400.00 there’s a host of sport video cameras (namely GoPro) that are capable of recording slow motion in full 1080p. Spending $600.00 buys a full-fledged camcorder that not only has the ability to record in slow motion, but also includes a host of other features. Either can be connected to a computer for editing or viewing.
Unfortunately, outputting slow motion videos from a smartphone is not as simple as connecting to a computer and dragging files. The iPhone doesn’t allow the files to be outputted as 120 frames per second videos, rather it forces a standard video output. Even with video apps installed, the iPhone renders slow motion videos at 30 frames per second which aren’t editable outside the device.
Both the GoPro and camcorder solution creates a 120 frames per second (or higher) video file which allows editing slow motion using video editing software. I had some fun this weekend with a borrowed camera and my video editing software which allowed me to realize the benefits and fun of shooting in slow motion. I could only imagine slowing video when the bride throws her bouquet or when someone blows out candles.
Making videos can be fun, and using slow motion can make a video more entertaining. If you’re considering moving to technology with slow motion capabilities you should make sure it’s a complete solution. Choosing the wrong video camera may just make a more expensive video.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)