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MillimeterThe iPhone on Set
May 14, 2009 1:31 PM, By Barry Braverman
It’s your new best production assistant.
The pCam application (center) offers myriad calculations, such as depth of field and color correction, in a highly intuitive and convenient package. The $39.99 app works just as well with the Apple iPod touch. Tiffen’s Photo Fx (right and left) applies familiar camera filters to location photos, helping establish a cinematographer’s desired look from the outset of a production. The price: $2.99.
More and more of us have an Apple iPhone on our belts and in our purses. Call it a status symbol. Call it an obsession. Whatever it is, we sure love to dip our heads and poke at it. And it’s not just for checking a recipe, tracking our morning jog by satellite, or killing zombies. For camera professionals, the iPhone is ecoming a serious tool of the trade.
There are shooter-specific applications such as David Eubanks’ pCam and Tiffen’s Photo Fx, but the iPhone can do much more. That’s good news as we seek more efficient ways of working in this crazy file-based, web-centric world.
Panasonic cameras such as the new AG-HPX300 support a proxy video encoder. Sony XDCAM cameras create low-resolution proxy files automatically and do not require a supplemental encoder.
The go-to application
PCam ($39.99) is the shooter’s tour de force application for the iPhone, offering a range of functions for the professional craftsperson. PCam calculates a slew of imaging parameters such as depth of field, hyperfocal distance, field of view, filter and gel color correction, macro exposure compensation, and even differential distances for focusing underwater. It supports a range of film formats from Super 8 to 70mm IMAX and virtually every video configuration from 1/3in. CCD to full 35mm-frame CMOS.
PCam’s graphical interface is also very intuitive and consistent with iPhone’s swipe-and-tickle approach. For educators, pCam can serve fabulously as a teaching tool as students interact with the many concepts and calculations and access the built-in help pages for guidance and insight. I found the time-lapse assistant especially convenient. Sure, you can do the arithmetic yourself on the back of an Egg McMuffin sack when setting up before dawn in the cold, but pCam makes the process so much more elegant and professional-looking.
The new JVC GY-HM700 camcorder records XDCAM EX or QuickTime to SDHC cards, making it a perfect candidate for iPhone dailies.
The scouting assistant
I’ve always been a big fan of Tiffen’s Dfx filter suite, which mimics the approximate effect of many popular camera filters in software. Now, that functionality has been extended in a limited way to the iPhone and iPod touch.
The ridiculously low-priced Photo Fx ($2.99) features 26 filter simulations of various optical lab processes, photographic effects, and Tiffen glass-filter types. Some of the more useful ersatz camera filters include the Black Pro-Mist, Color-Grad, Polarizer, Night Vision, Soft/FX, and Ultra Contrast. While I generally use Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop to treat still shots from the set, my laptop isn’t always convenient or available when scouting locations. Thus is the benefit of Photo Fx, which can serve as a low-cost adjunct to my DSLR capability during these remote forays. Impromptu photos of locations or talent can be treated on the spot using any camera (including that of the iPhone) and relayed instantly to decision-makers with the approximate desired look in place. The tool doesn’t replace the more comprehensive Dfx plug-in suite you may have inside Apple Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects , but it does add valuable functionality while scouting. The shooter is now able to experiment with various looks early in the creative process.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
