slow-motion
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Apple wants to trademark 'Slofie'
You might have rolled your eyes when Apple mentioned that the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro could do "slofies," but the company is taking things slightly more seriously. Apple has applied to the USPTO for a trademark on the term "Slofie" in terms of "downloadable computer software for use in capturing and recording video." Don't worry, it's not trying to own the cultural landscape -- rather, this is largely to prevent app developers and phone makers from 'borrowing' the term for their own features.
Twitter wants you to share slow-motion video from your iPhone
Sharing slow-motion videos from your iPhone can be a real challenge when many apps don't know what to do with them, but Twitter just made it a lot easier. The social network now supports posting and embedding iPhone slow-mo clips, so you don't have to jump through hoops to tweet high-speed footage of your pet. It's a simple feature, but it could mean a lot if you want to show off your more dramatic recordings as quickly as possible.
Use slow-motion video to improve your game with Ubersense Coach
I am sure if you have watched enough sporting events on TV you have seen the analysts on the broadcast use slow-motion video to break down golf swings, batters hitting a baseball, tennis serves and much more. Now with Ubersense Coach: Slow Motion Video Analysis you can do the same thing at home with whatever sport you choose. This free app requires iOS 7.0 or later and works with all your iOS devices with cameras. The app uses your camera to record video at up to 240 frames per second(if the device supports it) and then you can play the video back in super slow motion or even frame-by-frame so that you or your coach can breakdown your activity and find places for improvement. Ubersense Coach also is set up so you can upload your videos to be seen by other users, download reference videos from others in the Ubersense community, and to organize your videos and mark favorites to make them easy to find. For analysis you can play back the videos at a variety of speeds or a frame at a time to pinpoint specifics in your efforts. Ubersense Coach allows you to zoom and pan within the videos to make sure you can see clearly every aspect of your swing, serve, technique, etc. Users can also utilize drawing tools to mark specific areas, I found one of the better features in Ubersense Coach was the ability to stack and compare two videos side-by-side. So you can use two golf swings for example, one where you hit the ball well, and the second that had issues. By looking at them next to each other it makes it easier to find out what went wrong with the bad swing. You can use two of your own videos or one of yours and compare it to someone from the videos listed in the app. The app also offers in-app purchases if you want to download videos of professional athletes from your particular sport. If you do have a coach use the videos to check out how you are doing, the coach can add voice over comments to the video and add drawings pointing out issues and how to correct them like how wide your feet might be in the batter's box, or where you toss the ball when you serve. I have used video with a golf coach of mine and found it quite useful and revealing. You certainly get a different sense of just what you are doing when you swing, serve, take a jump shot, or any other athletic move. For those of you who clearly want to improve your game, regardless of what it is, Ubersense Coach: Slow Motion Video Analysis can be a useful tool and is well worth your time to check it out.
10 people, 10 face slaps and 10 iPhone 5s slow-mo videos
The iPhone 5s has plenty of fancy features that make it more powerful and secure than any iPhone before it, but it also has some pretty fantastic toys, like slow-mo video capture. Sure, you could use the feature to record some amazing BMX tricks or an adorable squirrel, but that can get old. Do you know what never gets old? Seeing people get slapped in the face. It seems that the release of the new iPhone has become the perfect excuse for a bunch of people to slap their friends in the face, and then post the videos online. To that we say "Bravo!" [Image credit: Manatari]
SlowCam brings slow motion video to older iPhones
If you were feeling bad about not having an iPhone 5s and that cool slow-mo feature, you can now get close with a new US$1.99 app called SlowCam. The app records to your iPhone storage, then quickly renders it to your camera roll. Rendering of one video clip can take place while you are recording another. An iPhone 5/5c can capture video at 60 FPS, the new iPhone 5s at 120 FPS, and even the older iPhone 4 captures at 30 FPS. The app requires iOS 7. To get going, you tap and hold the 'slow motion' button on screen. Taking your finger off the button gives you regular speed, then pressing and holding again slows things down. Great, for example, at recording a high dive from a diving board. Regular speed as the diver climbs the ladder, slow-mo for the dive. There is a zoom feature, but I stay away from digital zoom like the plague as it kills image quality. You can tap the screen to set exposure and focus together or separately. I tried the app on my iPhone 5s, and of course the quality looked just like the Apple built-in slow-mo app. On an iPhone 5, the slow-mo looked almost as good, but the frame rate was reduced. If you are interested in slow motion videos and don't have a 5s, SlowCam will do the trick. It's not going to raise the native frame rate of your iPhone, but it does a nice job of rendering a clean video. As I said, the app requires iOS 7 and is optimized for the iPhone 5, 5c and 5s. That means to get slow-mo you'll need at least an iPhone 4. Owners with older phones will get no satisfaction.
Video: The 5s slow-mo revolution begins
Yoni Heisler found this slow-motion video on YouTube this morning. It showcases the 5s' new 120fps video capture. The recorded segments, which include vegetable juggling and knife skills, look pretty fabulous in our opinion. The quality of the light on the accelerated shots and the overall image clarity are extremely good, matching the results we first wrote about last week. Did you pick up a new iPhone 5s today? Have you been testing out the camera? Link us your slow-mo vid in the comments.
OK, now I'm excited about the iPhone 5s slow-mo recording feature
When Apple showed off the slow-motion camera feature at the iPhone event last week, I thought it was a neat addition, but it didn't exactly blow me away. Maybe it was just the amount of information being thrown out in quick succession, or maybe it was the sample videos Apple used at the time, but whatever the reason, it took a pint-sized video from a fashion company to actually sell me on the idea. The video below was recorded by Burberry, a British luxury clothing and fragrance brand, during a recent fashion show in which they partnered with Apple to show off the capabilities of the iPhone 5s camera. As you can see, everything seems pretty standard until the smartphone's 120fps slow-motion recording feature is activated, giving the previously fast-moving flower petals an elegant fluttering effect. Now if only I had a good reason to carry flower petals around with me on a daily basis to capture something this fantastic. You can check out a whole gallery of iPhone 5s snapshots on Burberry's Instagram page.
YouTube adds slow-mo feature to its editing tools
How do you add a dramatic flair to your mundane video clips? You play it in slow motion, that's how. And now that YouTube has introduced a built-in slow-mo feature, you don't even need to capture footage using a high-speed camera. Just click Edit, navigate to Enhancements and hit the icon emblazoned with a turtle to make footage crawl at 12.5, 25 or 50 percent of its original pace. Note that resulting clips can last no longer than 10 minutes, and the feature might not be available in some countries outside the US just yet. Head past the break to compare two samples and see how the new feature can transform your YouTube vids, Dave Chappelle-style.
Glitch's creator on the game's failure: 'Too foreign of a concept'
If you're looking for just one reason why Glitch is sunsetting, you're out of luck. If you're looking for many, many reasons why Glitch failed, then all you have to do is pull up a chair in front of Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield and listen to him talk. Butterfield spoke with Gamasutra about the myriad of reasons why Glitch didn't take and ultimately had to be shuttered. "Ultimately if I have to identify one thing as the problem -- I don't think there is just one -- but if I had to choose just one," Butterfield said, "I think the game was too foreign of a concept for most people." He pointed out that while there was a devoted fan base who "got it," marketing the title presented severe problems throughout most of the game's lifespan: "There haven't ever been other non-combat MMOs that are based on absurdity, humor, and whimsy. I'm not sure anyone has the specific expertise in making this thing work." Other failures that Butterfield identified was a lack of fun gameplay until recently, the decision to do the game in Flash instead of for mobile platforms, large expenditures of money, and Tiny Speck's big team drawing salaries.
NHK and JVC develop 120fps Super Hi-Vision projector
If your cine-cave is already decked out with the Super Hi-Vision display, the Super Hi-Vision camera, and the Super Hi-Vision-supping antenna, we guess you just need the 120fps Super Hi-Vision projector to complete the set? Guess what? Working with JVC, NHK has developed just that. It might not be much to look at, but that hunk of tech up there comes with the extra frame rate that also makes it play fast nice with the sensor technology NHK was kind enough to develop first. The projector will be giving its first public demos on May 24th , and we hope that 7680 x 4320 resolution will make all those hi-res skate-slams come out a charm.
Massively Exclusive: Age of Wushu's launch trailer flips over the heads of the competition
Tomorrow, Snail Games USA will officially announce its newest title, Age of Wushu -- but we've got an exclusive sneak peek to share with you before that happens! Sporting heavy Chinese themes and aesthetics, Age of Wushu is designed to allow players to pull off mystical, physics-defying martial arts moves like those you would see in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (or, really, any Kung Fu film). The official trailer for the title, which you can see after the jump, showcases Age of Wushu's beauty and grace... as well as its lethal underpinnings. Characters attack in slow-motion while performing seemingly impossible Matrix-like jumps through space. We'll be looking forward to seeing if the allure of fantastic martial arts will be enough to set Age of Wushu apart from the pack, but considering that the devs are promising that we can run up the sides of buildings, we suspect it might be one to check out no matter what. Plus, "wushu" is way fun to say.
Vision Research unveils compact, super slo-mo Miro M110, M120 and M310 cams
Of all the cinematographic tricks in the book, few are as effective and primal as super slo-mo, and few names are as synonymous with the time-stretching tech as Vision Research. The company behind the famous Phantom is refreshing its line of more compact high-speed shooters with the Miro M110, M310 and M120. The 110 and 310 are both one megapixel affairs, with a 1200 x 800 CMOS sensor. The 110 tops out at 1,600fps at full resolution, but cutting down the image quality allows you to bump that rate up to 400,000fps. The M310 is even faster, hitting 3,200fps at its highest quality setting and reaching a mind-boggling 650,000 fps when dialed back -- making a single second last hours. The M120 offers up to 730fps at a full resolution of 1920 x 1200, but using the more standard 1920 x 1080 adds another 70fps, while subsequent drops in pixel count allow it to reach 200,000fps. Don't expect to capture your next student film or backyard wrestling match on one of these though, they're expected to start at $25,000 when they launch in January 2012. Check out the PR after the break.
Vision Research's Phantom v1210 and v1610 do slow motion in style (video)
No matter how fast that piece of Jell-O landed on the floor, you'll be able to review the journey in all its slow motion glory with the newly announced Phantom v1610 and v1210 cameras. Vision Research is calling the latest entries in the Phantom line the "world's fastest one megapixel digital high-speed cameras." The v1210 is capable of capturing 12,000 fps to 16,000 fps, with its higher end buddy the v1610 capturing between 650,000 fps and one million fps, if you sacrifice resolution. Shooting 1280 x 800 widescreen images (at regular speed), the v1210 boasts 12GB, 24GB, or 48GB of segmented memory, while the v1610 can hold 24GB, 48GB, or 96GB of segmented memory. Other features include an image-based auto-trigger, ethernet port, SMPTE & IRIG timecode, genlock, 28 micron pixel size, 12-bit depth pixel depth standard, and an HD-SDI output. No word on pricing, but if you have a budget like NFL Films, let the epic sports montages and Truffle Shuffling commence. Check out some slow motion footage captured on the Phantom HD Gold after the break. Update: pricing starts around a cool $100,000.
Fastec's DSLR-sized TS3Cine does 720p at 720fps for $30,000
For years, consumers have been able to shoot slow-motion videos -- mostly with the help of Casio's line of slightly gimmicky point-and-shoots. But Fastec's TS3Cine aims for a more discerning customer -- the kind of videographer who might spice up a promo or short with some slow-mo action. Unlike Casio's cameras, which cut the resolution to little more than thumbnail-size as you crank the frame rate, the TS3Cine does 720p video at 720fps, and 1280 x 1024 at 500fps. It's only when you further slow down the video (up to 20,000fps) that the image size starts to shrink. This camera also has a badass design, pairing a DSLR-like body with a gargantuan 7-inch WVGA LCD that effectively eliminates the need for an external monitor. Pros have their choice of a C-Mount, F-Mount, and optional SL-Mount, and can upgrade to a 256GB SSD for a cool two grand if the standard 128GB one isn't roomy enough. It also has Gigabit Ethernet and USB ports, HDMI-out, support for an external power source, and a removable battery. Can't afford the $29,900 price tag? If you're in the Boston area, at least, you can rent it for $625 a day, a price that includes a tripod and two batteries -- enough juice for up to six hours of shooting. Head on past the break for a sample video clip and a tour of this beastly camera in action.
Phantom Flex camera slows down time, drops jaws with incredible 2,564fps slowmo footage (video)
Ever wanted to see flowing water slowed down to the point of transforming into a series of airborne droplets? This video has that. And more. A chap by the name of Tom Guilmette got to work with a Vision Research Phantom Flex camera recently, and, being the true geek that he is, he put together a video composition of staggering slow-motion footage. When pushed to its limit, the Phantom is capable of filling every second of 1080p recording with 2,800 frames, though Tom mercifully ran it at a lower 2,564fps speed. That's still sufficient temporal resolution to let you track the wave of an impact's vibration as it travels up a BlackBerry's body -- oh yeah, it's as awesome as it sounds.
High-speed camera in motion can stop a commuter's heart
By now, you're certainly familiar with the magic that a consumer-branded Casio super-slow-mo camera can do with motion, right? But what happens when you use a two-year old Casio Exilim FH20 to shoot 210fps footage (played back at 30fps) from a moving train? Nothing, at least until the train slows down.
Monday Night Football gets a few new wrinkles for 2010, like 5.1 audio, super slow motion and more (video)
One of the most watched programs on television is getting a makeover, as ESPN prepares to introduce several new elements for this season of Monday Night Football. According to the press release, this year will be the first time ESPN's MNF is produced in 5.1 -- does this mark the death of "Circle Surround"? We've asked for more details, but we'll wait for our ears and receivers to tell us if there's a difference. A few things that should definitely be noticeable to all (even international viewers, with ESPN Deportes on the scene and, for the first time, live coverage in the UK) are the addition of high speed cameras set to shoot at 500-600 fps (up from last year's mere 300fps cameras and capable of up to 1,000fps, remember the Olympics?) for even clearer shots, and new "Maxx Zoom" cameras. These should provide a whole new angle on goal line plays from a cluster of cameras mounted at the goal line and shooting at "up to eight times normal HD resolution." Even the old telestrator has gotten a revamp, with features that look straight out of Madden 2011 highlighting what players see, do and tracking their movement. Check a quick trailer of the new elements after the break, or hit the source link for a preview of tonight's opener featuring Hank Williams in his 22nd year on the show. Update: ESPN's Colleen Lynch has responded with details about tonight's audio production, check for the full details after the break.
Phantom camera captures flamethrower vs. fire extinguisher in ultra slo-mo (video)
Korn's "Freak on a Leash," Smashing Pumpkin's "Tonight, Tonight" and Michael / Janet Jackson's "Scream" come to mind when thinking of stunning music videos of the past score, but we're guessing that a 3:19 clip from the good people in Dancing Pigeons will be joining that fray. The music video for "Ritalin" was shot entirely on a Vision Research Phantom and Canon EOS 7D, with the former handling the slow motion work. Which, of course, is the star of the show. You may not think 199 seconds of flamethrower vs. fire extinguisher would be entertaining, but you'd be wrong. Hop on past the break and mash play, but be sure to position a drip rag beneath your chin beforehand.
Lightning strikes over Chicago captured in stunning slow motion video
Need a reminder of what the word awesome truly means? Follow us after the break to receive a liberal dosage of the stuff.
Casio EX-FS10 reviewed, slides 1000 fps capture into the back pocket of your mom jeans
Casio's really blown out the feature list on the EX-FS10, and now PhotographyBLOG has taken the compact fashioncam through its paces. Sadly, like many modern compacts, straight up image quality is a bit scarce here, with obvious noise at ISO 200 and up, no optical image stabilization, and not even the silly 12 megapixel extravagance of its counterparts to blame it on -- the EX-FS10 shoots 9 megapixel stills. The HD and slow-motion video recording is also severely hampered by a lack of zoom during shooting, bad sound, and the oversized AVI format. Still, the camera is incredibly well built, very slim, and it can pull off some really wild feats -- 720p might be growing increasingly common, but 1000 fps slow motion, burst mode for stills and pre-record shutter lag adjustment make the FS10 quite unique in its category. It's obviously a tradeoff, but at least there's some good news: while the camera was supposedly slated to retail at around $450, it's hovering pretty close to $300 at the moment.
