Filmic Pro is a creative, professional Video Camera APP for iPhone and Android. It allows full control over exposure, focus/zoom, white balance/colour temperature, resolution and more to make cinematic and professional videos using your phone camera. The APP costs 22.99 for the standard package, and there are some excellent extras you can purchase including the Cinematographer Kit (Log Curves, Colour panel and Noise reduction), and LUTS (pre-designed colour graded templates for professional filmic looks). Note that some features of Filmic Pro will only work on certain phone models. Follow this link to check the compatibility for your Android phone https://filmicpro.helpscoutdocs.com/article/53-android-device-compatibility. Filmic Pro will run on iOS 11.1 or later which is available on iPhone 6 or later. This document is a quick guide with tips and tricks for new users of Filmic Pro and has been made using the Filmic Pro APP on an iPhone XS. Different phone models will have varying functions.
Filmic Pro has a variety of settings including for Resolution, Frame Rate, Audio, Content Management, stabilisation and frame guides. You should begin the process of video making by applying the desired settings to your video.
Resolution settings allow you to select the aspect ratio, resolution, bitrate and codec of your video.
Filmic Pro has a variety of aspect ratios and resolutions to choose from. The traditional aspect ratio for HD TV is 16:9, but you can also choose from 17:9, 3:2, 1:1, 2.2:1, 2.76:1, 4:3 and 2.39:1. While most videos require 16:9 aspect ratios, you would consider other options based on the requirements of playback. For example, if you are intending to present your work on a CRT television (4:3), or if you were presenting ultra-wide screen cinema (2.76:1), or if your video was designed for Instagram (1:1).
If you choose an aspect ratio other than 16:9, you can choose “Crop Source to Overlay” so that your video output only includes the selected aspect ratio.
Filmic Pro allows your camera to shoot in resolutions from SD 540p up to 4K. Resolution controls the number of pixels captured in one frame of video. Essentially, the greater number of pixels, the greater the data captured and therefore the greater quality.
Bitrate refers to the rate at which video data is encoded. Measured in Megabits, bitrate determines the quality and size of your video. A higher bitrate will increase the quality and size of your video file, and also requires more processing power.
Filmic Pro offers Filmic Extreme (approx. 120mbps), Filmic Quality (approx. 75mbps), Standard (approx. 50 mbps) and Economy (approx. 35mbps) bitrates. The approximated bitrates of each option are based on shooting in 4K resolution. The bitrate of your video will also be affected y the power of your mobile phone. While Filmic Extreme is the best quality, if you are concerned about file sizes, Filmic Quality is still very good.
A video codec refers to software that compresses and decompresses digital video files. On most phones you will be able to choose between AVC (h.264) and HEVC (h.265). HEVC is a more efficient video codec, compressing your files to much smaller sizes and is recommended when shooting at higher bit rates, 10 bit and when shooting in resolutions above 1080p.
Video captures a series of still images in succession, each of these still images representing one frame. The frame rate refers to the number of frames captured per second. Frame rates can affect the way motion is captured. The higher the frame rate, the smoother motion will appear to be. 24FPS is the standard for Hollywood films. 25FPS is the standard used for television video in countries such as Australia and the UK that use a power standard of 50Hz, while 30FPS is the standard used for television video in countries such as the US and Brazil who use a power standard of 60 Hz. Most people will choose to shoot at 24FPS or 25FPS.
Filmic Pro offers frame rates up to 240FPS in 1080p, and 60FPS in 4K resolution. Higher frame rates are ideal when shooting video for slow motion. Shooting at 240FPS for a video output of 25FPS allows you to slow your footage to 9 times its length without losing video quality. Remember to set your shutter speed according to your frame rate to ensure the way motion is captured in according to your desired intention.
You can choose between ‘standard’ or ‘timelapse’ modes and you can make use of the ‘motion’ slider (represented by the line of dots), or you can manually change your capture and playback frame rates to create different effects with motion. For example, if you set your capture frame rate to 120FPS and your playback FPS to 25FPS, your video will be played in slow motion. This technique allows you to see your video in slow motion without using editing software. To achieve the same thing in video software, you would drop your 120FPS high frame rate video onto a edit timeline set to 25FPS, then adjust the speed of the video clip to 25% of the original speed.
Though this is a great tool to have, to avoid quality loss due to the processing power of using this feature, slow motion is best achieved in editing software.
Timelapse allows you to record at a slow frame rate to play back faster. You can select between 1 Frame per second to 1 Frame per minute to record shorter videos that can show changes over a long time. For example, if you were to record the sunrise using timelapse, something that takes twenty minutes could be played back in one minute showing changes over time faster than it is possible for the eye to see.
You can choose between using the internal microphone or an external device connected via Bluetooth or an adapter.
The audio meter displays left and right channels of audio, and the levels of your audio. Audio levels are measured in decibels (db). It is really important to ensure that your audio levels aren’t too high or too low as this will cause clipping and distortion. For example, the highest peaking levels of your audio should be between -12db and -6db. You can adjust audio levels by dragging the white line down or up. Note that you can only record audio when your capture and playback frame rates are the same.
Filmic Pro has the option to connect to Bluetooth microphones, and has an option for Automatic Gain Correction voice processing. It can also be turned off so that no audio is recorded. You can choose front, back or stereo internal microphones. The available formats are AAC, AIFF and PCM. There is also the option to choose between two recording sample rates: 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz. 48 kHz is the standard sample rate used for video production.
If you want to record audio separately to your video, use a clapper board or clap your hands so that the audio and videos can be synchronised in post-production.
Tip: If you are recording voice overs and do not have access to external microphones, use your phone headphones and record in a space with no echoing or noise, such as a car at night, for a professional voice over sound.
The device settings control where your video shots are stored, orientation lock, previewing, recording triggers and other visual aspects of the APP. Tip: Orientation lock will ensure the orientation of the app doesn’t change while you are shooting if you rotate your phone camera as part of a shot.
Depending on your phone model, you will have the choice of using different lenses. These can include Wide angle, Mid angle, Telephoto and Selfie lenses. Wide angle lenses have a wider angle of view than a normal lens. These are predominantly used for vast landscapes or confined interior spaces. A mid-angle lens, otherwise known as a Normal Lens, has an angle of view similar to that of the human eye. The Selfie lens allows you to video using the front camera on your phone. Telephoto lenses are generally used to take shots of subjects that are far away. Telephoto lenses have a longer focal length and can be used in situations where you want a narrower field of view.
Filmic Pro has integrated compatibility with a number of devices including stabilising gimbals such as the DJI OSMO Mobile, Zhiyun Smooth 4, and Movie Cinema Robot, and with a number of external lens adapters designed for your mobile phone.
Filmic Pro allows full manual control over ISO, Shutter Speed, Focus and Zoom. While you will have control over Shutter Speed and ISO, Aperture adjustment isn’t possible due to the fixed small sensor and wide lens. Depending on your phone model, you may have several cameras to choose from. For phones with multiple cameras, you can choose between ‘Wide’ and ‘Telephoto’. As aperture effects depth of field, it is not easy to achieve shallow depth of field using your phone camera, but the effect can be recreated by using the ‘telephoto’ lens and positioning your key subject as close to the lens as possible, and the background subjects with as much distance as possible to the camera and the remaining areas of the shot, further away from your camera.
To set the exposure manually in Filmic Pro you can slide the ISO and Shutter Speed using the wheel dial. If you slide the wheel down, the video will be darker. If you slide the image up, the video will be brighter.
It is recommended to lock your shutter speed at double the frame rate to capture motion the way our eyes see motion in the world. If your frame rate is 25FPS, lock the shutter speed at 1/50th. Tap the shutter speed to lock it, and it will turn red. You can then set your ISO and lock that into position as well by following the same protocol. If you do not lock your ISO it will automatically adjust if there are changes in the quality or amount of light over time. If left on unlocked, there are three ISO biases in Filmic Pro, represented by three dots between the ISO and Shutter Speed. You can choose from low, medium and high ISO biases, which will ensure the ISO settings remain within the parameters of the selected bias.
Exposure pulls can be programmed using the position markers on the Exposure wheel.
ISO and shutter speed can be used to determine the exposure of your video, but both effect the image in other ways.
ISO refers to the sensitivity (the signal gain) of the camera’s sensor. Increasing ISO increases grain. Lower ISO levels are optimum for a clearer video image. Filmic Pro’s ISO range is between 24 and 2304. The lower your ISO, the darker and cleaner/crisper your image will be. The higher your ISO, the brighter and grainier your image.
The Shutter speed refers to the amount of time each single video frame is exposed for. The slower the shutter speed, the more time the frame is exposed to light and therefore the brighter the image will be. Shutter Speed also determines the way motion is captured, and as a result, is very much related to the frame rate of your video. To achieve natural/cinematic motion in your video, the shutter speed should be double the frame rate (eg. 25fps – 1/50th shutter speed). Slow shutter speeds increase motion blur and increase the brightness of your video, whereas higher shutter speeds have little or no motion blur and create a darker image.
Filmic Pro allows focus pulling and zoom control with an arc slider. You can switch between the focus and zoom modes. Focus peaking will become visible automatically if “Live Analytics” is turned on, allowing for perfectly focused videos.
Focus pulls can be programmed to change during a shot from set positions. This can be done by tapping position markers on your focus wheel so that focus moves from one position to another.
The Circle reticle is for exposure and the rectangle reticle is for focus. You can move these reticles around your screen to select the area where you want to be correctly exposed and in focus. When you tap these, they turn red and lock the exposure and focus settings so they don’t automatically adjust if lighting conditions change, or you move your camera.
By double-tapping the rectangle reticle, you can set autofocus. This will make the rectangle larger and the camera will focus on what is in the centre of the rectangle and this can also be locked.
Filmic Pro has Auto, Programmed and Manual Kelvin White Balance Settings as well as Tint Adjustment. Below is a chart representing the Kelvin colour temperatures of varying light sources. (Tip: Most LED lights are set to daylight colour temperature: about 5500K). The Auto White Balance setting works well in the Filmic Pro App and can be locked to prevent automatic adjustments.
White balance refers to the colour temperature of your image. Different sources of light have different colour temperatures. Our eyes can adjust to the colour temperature of each light source to maintain a consistency of how colours appear. Cameras, though, need to be told what colour temperature the light is to achieve this.
The Cinematography Kit is a paid upgrade for greater control over colour and tone, and also allows you to shoot in log. Though there is an extra cost, it is much less than the cost of high-end cameras that allow you to shoot in log.
Filmic Pro allows your phone camera to shoot Log V2, and for more recent phone models Log V3 is also available. Shooting in log is a method for capturing video in a neutral or flat image profile, which allows for greater dynamic range and detail in colour, shadows and highlights. This is especially useful to give greater control over these elements when editing and results with a more cinematic look. In log you can capture more data, which means that you have greater control, more accuracy and less degradation of the image. You will need to colour grade your videos using editing software such as Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro. There are “De-LOG” LUTs available from Filmic Pro to convert your Flat and LOG video to rec.709 (a colour profile with the signal and characteristics of high-definition television).
Depending on phone compatibility, log can record at 8bit, or 10 bit. 8 Bit captures millions of colours, while 10 bit captures over a billion colours. Adding an extra 2.5 stops of dynamic range, shooting in log increases the data captured in the image and improves the overall quality.
Shooting in Log is an excellent option for shooting in low light or very high contrast environments as it minimises the loss of detail in highlights and shadows. There is also the option to manually adjust shadows and highlights.
Depending on phone compatibility, log can record at 8bit, or 10 bit. 8 Bit captures millions of colours, while 10 bit captures over a billion colours. Adding an extra 2.5 stops of dynamic range, shooting in log increases the data captured in the image and improves the overall quality.
Shooting in Log is an excellent option for shooting in low light or very high contrast environments as it minimises the loss of detail in highlights and shadows. There is also the option to manually adjust shadows and highlights.
Live Analytics show real-time analysis of the exposure and focus of your video using Zebra Stripes, Clipping, False Colour and Focus Peaking. Though it can’t be used in resolutions above 1080p, If you want to use Live Analytics to test and set your exposure and focus, reduce the resolution to 1080p set your exposure correctly, then change back to your desired resolution before recording your video.
To assist with exposure and to give a more scientific insight into the nature of your video, Filmic Pro has three imaging histograms: luminosity, RGB and Waveform.
The Luminosity Histogram indicates exposure by showing black, white and mid-tones of your image. The left side portrays shadows/blacks, while the right side indicates highlights/whites. The aim is to ensure the histogram isn’t peaking at either end to ensure no data loss in areas that are either under or over exposed.
The RGB histogram indicates the same information about your video using the colours Red, Green and Blue; the primary colours of light.
The Waveform histogram also presents exposure in a graph form. From left to right of the waveform corresponds to left and right of the image, the vertical axis corresponds to the brightness of the image.
Now that you have learned all about the different settings and functions of Filmic Pro, you can start making advanced videos with your phone.
The timecode shows how long you have been shooting for. The record button is activated by tapping it but can also be set to be triggered by the volume button (see Settings; Device). The green circle indicates storage space available on your device, and the battery indicates remaining battery life.
You can select to have your videos stored on your phone as well as iCloud.
We hope you enjoy using Filmic Pro. Please reach out to the Resource Centre in the School of Art and Design if you have any questions or would like to discuss your project.
