How to shoot a video with an iphone that decent enough to track and roto on After Effects later?

Report · Dec 13, 2023

The title kinda speaks for itself.

Recently I've shot a bunch of videos with my iPhone 11 pro but the result doesn't come out the way I wanted it to be. The videos are blurry, making it really hard to track and roto on After Effects. Even though I've tried using Mocha as Regard susggested (a shout out to you, Sir) and it was wayyyyy better than built-in tracking freature in After Effects , I still wanna improve my videos during the production stage.

So in order to achieve that goal, I've tried few things so far: Get the Blackmagic Camera app (but it comes with a big con - when I shoot ourdoor with the sunshine, the image is blown out), shooting with higher shutter speed; the lower ISO, the better; manually placing focus feature on talent. But still, the final video is better than shooting with built-in camera on iPhone but a bit blurry. For example, this new video I shot with low ISO, 180 degree shutter speed, filming a man walking across the street. The video came out is pretty blurry. I guess the iPhone camera is kinda bad for filmmking a moving subject or I might be missing something here.

Please enlighten me on this issue. What setting I should try and maybe some equipments I should get to make the video decent enough for post? Or I should just give up filmming with my iPhone?

Report · Dec 13, 2023

Looks like the camera is focused on the house behind you.

In Blackmagic Camera:

Set focus manually. Auto can be used to set the focus, but hen disable it for when you record.
Set exposure manually. You can enable auto to set the exposure, but then disable it when you record.

This will be a challenge if doing everything by yourself. You could ask someone to stand in the shot while you focus and expose for the shot and then lock it.

If you had a small crew with you while shooting with available sunlight, you'd likely have someone hold a reflector off camera to bounce light onto you as you walk through the shot.

Transcode your iPhone camera original clips to ProRes 422 LT using Shutter Encoder (donation-ware) prior to importing it into After Effects.

If you upgrade to an iPhone that supports shooting ProRes, use that instead of HEVC (H.265) or H264.

Even if shooting with an iPhone, there's still a lot that goes into making a shot look good. Have you checked into film and video production training that might be available in your area?

Report · Dec 13, 2023

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

My "crew" has only 2 people, so we try to do everything we can in a hope that the video is decent enough, not something too fancy. I've taken notes from your reply, thank you so much!.

Also, I live in a small town so we dont have any kind of film and video production training here. I'm also mostly on the editing side and don't often deal with the technical stuff, that's why I wanna learn more about making good footage. Do you have any suggestion like online courses or books for this? I've looked around for some online courses but they're mainly about big professional cameras for filmmakers.

Report · Dec 13, 2023

Two is a good number. At that point, you officially have a production team (you'll have to each wear a lot of hats, though).

I forgot to mention shutter speed. Do some test shoots at higher speeds, probably something like 1/60, 1/96, or 1/120 - ideally something that results in a whole number when the denominator (60, 96,120) is divided by your Composition frame rate. A higher shutter speed should help with minimizing blurred edges on the subject when moving through the shot. Be sure to slate the shots so you can easily identify them later. Also, you'll likely want to re-introduce motion blur later.

Online courses and books:

There's got to be a good book on shooting with your iPhone handbook out there somewhere.
Videomaker Magazine probably has some good articles, too.
The tutorials are for older versions of After Effects, but Video Copilot is a great resource for what you're learning and doing.
Boris FX provides a good amount of free training for Mocha AE (included with After Effects) and Mocha Pro.
Another possible resource through your local public library are the LinkedIn Learning online courses. For example, the Los Angeles Public Library provides access with lesson files via the eMedia website page. If your local library does not offer this, I think a LAPL library card is something like $50 annually for non-residents (but free for CA residents).

I'll also plug Santa Monica Community College Center for Media and Design. Had it been around when I was learning this stuff, you probably would have found me there 24/7.

Hopefully others will chime in with resources that they've found helpful.

Report · Dec 13, 2023

Thanks for your helpful resource.

I've learned some basic vfx from Video Copilot and Mocha AE. My main concern right now is the footage I made so far isn't good enough for tracking and roto. Images are blurry, frame rate is Inconsistent, lots of noise in the images, etc. I wanna make good footage to make it easier for the post stage.

I'll do some test about the shutter speed like you said!.

Report · Dec 13, 2023

There's a good chance a lot of your issues can be solved by turning off HDR modes, deep focus and similar in the system default camera app and system settings. Most phones produce composite images from different aspects if their two or three physical lenses and that messes up spatial consistency, which in turn can grow off tracking or produce overly fancy fake motion blur. Not sure about the specifics, though. Seems to be different for every phone. Also do not forget the basics like matching white points before every shot or having a color reference chart. Often these cameras will twist and bend colors by latching on to false reference points and mangling the shot through their automatic color corrections. That can cause all sorts of issues later, including perceived softness when the algorithm smooths out the contrast.

Mylenium

Report · Dec 13, 2023

I assume the HDR modes you are talking about is Smart HDR in Setting right?

I'll keep in mind about the color reference chart.

Based on what you said, I feel like iPhone might not be the decent tool for videos that need to get some vfx done later like tracking or roto. I've seen people keep saying that they simply shoot the videos with an iPhone and then put them in After Effects for vfx and then the final videos come out fancy like they shot it with a professional camera. Or maybe they used a lot of quipments to get the high quality footage.

Report · Dec 14, 2023

Another option to consider might be CamTrackAR. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/camtrackar/id1502545167

It is an iOS app that records the phone's accelerometer data while you shoot - which for a subscription you can import into AE. I've only used it a couple of times and the results are good to mixed. The camera has to move slowly. And you need to set up a ground plan first.

I made the mistake of getting to the location and discovering I only had 10% battery so I missed a couple of steps, so I can't say if the app was just OK or it was the DoP's (my) fault.

Report · Dec 19, 2023

Thank you for your suggestion! I'll check it out.