Video can be a complicated subject and to fit every situation, REC offers a multitude of video recording options. Here is an overview.
Camera Stabilization
Even the steadiest hand will shake a little bit, so the iPhone camera has built-in video stabilization. Here are the options that REC supports. Which options are available will depend on your device and the selected lens.
- Turn off Camera Stabilization. Why would you do this? If you’re putting your phone on a tripod, having stabilization on may cause lag or stuttering when you pan the camera left and right, as the stabilization initially tries to stabilize your deliberate panning motion.
- Standard. This is the standard stabilization available on all devices.
- Cine, and Cine+. This offers increased stabilization for a more cinematic look. As the Cine modes take multiple frames into account while stabilizing the video, this introduces a lag between the viewfinder and the subject you are shooting.
- Cine++. This is available on the wide angle lens on the latest devices. In addition to the caveats that apply to the other Cine modes, this also zooms the image in slightly to add more leeway for the stabilization algorithm to move the image around, reducing the field of view.
Resolution
The image resolution determines how large the image for each frame is. REC supports shooting in 4K, 1080p and 720p.
Frames per second
REC offers many options for the frame rate. Here are some recommendations:
- 60 fps is the standard high frame rate for digital video. This is ideal for realistic video or scenes with high action such as sports.
- 30 fps is the standard lower frame rate for digital video. This is ideal for more cinematic scenes, as it is closer to the 24 fps that film is shot at. It is also better when you have lower levels of light, as a longer shutter speed can be used. 30 fps also uses up less storage space than 60 fps.
- 120 and 240 fps are used for shooting slow motion – you shoot at these higher frame rates and then play it back at a standard 60 or 30 fps for smooth slow motion without stuttering.
- 50 and 25 fps are the equivalents to 60 fps and 30 fps for regions that used the PAL video format for their standard definition video. You may want to use these if you need to edit your video matched alongside footage from a camcorder or television program.
- 24 fps is the standard for cinematic video, as this is the frame rate that was used by film cameras
- 48 fps is double the rate of 24 fps, and is used for high frame rate cinema (famously, The Hobbit movie was releaseed in this format)
- 29.97 fps may sound odd with it’s fractional number, but this is the frame rate used by analog NTSC video. You may need to shoot in this format if your video needs to be compatible with broadcast TV formats.
- 23.98 fps is the PAL equivalent of 29.97 fps.
Formats
REC supports the following video formats:
- h.264 has the highest compatibility with playback software and devices.
- HEVC provides better compression with smaller file sizes at the same quality.
- ProRes is a professional format which offers nearly flawless quality, and is optimized for use in video editing software. The tradeoff is that the storage space requirements are huge.
Bitrate
The bitrate affects how visible the compression artifacts (the macroblocking, or “jpegginess”) in the video are. The higher the bitrate, the better the quality, and the more storage is required. REC allows you to choose between Normal, High and Max bitrates. The precise bitrate numbers will vary depending on resolution, frame rate and video content.
Dynamic Range (h.264/HEVC Only)
The dynamic range defines the range of colors that can be represented in the video. A low dynamic range results in banding artifacts in gradients, and lower contrast.
- 8-bit – This is the standard video quality (SDR).
- 10-bit – The 10-bit option increases the resolution within the standard dynamic range, allowing for finer gradients and more leeway when editing the video or adding post production effects such as green screen. This format uses BT.709 SDR primaries.
- 10-bit HDR (HEVC only) – HDR increases the breadth of the dynamic range, allowing for what could be called “brighter than white” colors, and looks great on modern TVs and displays. This format uses Dolby Vision.
ProRes Format (ProRes Only)
All of the ProRes formats supported by the iPhone are in 422 format – this means that the chroma resolution is higher than the color resolution. 444 format is not supported.
- 422 Proxy – This is a preview quality.
- 422 LT – This uses higher compression resulting in lower quality.
- 422 – This is the standard quality.
- 422 HQ – This is the highest quality with the least amount of compression.
Color Space (ProRes Only)
- sRGB – This is standard, 8-bit SDR video.
- HLG – This is 10-bit HDR video, using a Hybrid log-gamma color space.
- Log – Logarithmic color space. The video looks dull and gray when shot, but preserves extra detail that can be restored when editing. This is a popular format for using when applying luts to your video.