
So you want to do some live multicamera switching on location? As long as you've got wifi and four friends with iPhones or iPads then Collabracam makes it easy. We know the FCP question that will follow!
The obvious Final Cut Pro question is "Wouldn't this be great if it worked in conjunction with multicam editing in Final Cut Pro?" Yes it would but at the moment it doesn't. I'm sure we are going to see many Apple and third party add-ons for the iPhone and iPad when FCPX gets released. Just take a look a the Adobe range of apps for Photoshop such as Color Lava.
Back to the main story of CollabraCam
Apptopus have launched a $5.99 mobile live camera switching app for the iPhone and iPad. Hang on a minute, what about needing a vision mixer, cables, talkback etc? Amazingly, technology has boiled all of this down into handheld devices and wifi.
Not only can you do a cut by touching the live camera previews, but you can also send instructions to the "iPhone cameramen" such as 'pan left' along with the essential tally lights. We have to admit our heads are starting to hurt with the possibilities this app brings for the future. Although the resolution and framerate might not be brilliant, this will all improve over time and we can imagine people in the future cutting and streaming live events using a system like this.
A feature especially for us editors out there is the App allows the exporting of all the streams so that they can be recut afterwards. If the manufacturer could find a way to stream proxies from broadcast cameras then this app would be a real winner!
Here is a user review from YouTube. They hit audio problems and get some black inserts on cuts. Still cool though.
Here is a list of the features and a link to the User Guide
Director Features:
- Direct a multi-camera video on any iOS device over local Wi-Fi
- Connect with up to four iPhone 4, 3GS or iPod Touch 4G cameras
- Title your video for the credits with an optional copyright notice
- View, record and edit streaming video on-the-fly, in real-time
- Record from one camera while placing another camera on standby
- Send camera move or angle cues to the camera operators
- Save a session with automatically generated credits
- Resume a saved session with the same crew or a different one
- Export a rough cut movie at 640x480, 480x320 or 192x144
- Export video clips to the camera roll to edit in a video editing app
- Save video clips via File Sharing in iTunes to edit on your computer
- Copy a session to maintain an original and create alternate endings
- Delete a session to free up space for a new production
Camera Operator Features:
- Operate a camera with an iPhone (4 or 3GS) or iPod Touch 4G
- Receive notification if your camera is on standby or recording
- Receive camera move or angle cues from the director
- Use the iPhone 4 flash as a light to brighten your video
- Save space on your iPhone, clips are only saved to director