Our well-being as video purists has come under attack from all fronts, one soccer mom and millennial hipster at a time, who believes that pointing their smartphone vertically, pressing record, and then beaming their video across social channels for all the world to share is acceptable. We must align forces, work across the proverbial aisle, and take back our industry by sticking to the traditional video standards we’ve been taught. In doing so, we can save humanity from having to watch another viral video abomination.
While I want to believe the video profession can weather the social storm of substandard production quality, the reality is that too many creators — and consumers — of real-time media are complacent in their quest to capture the next viral video. That, or, they simply don’t understand the importance of video integrity. It doesn’t take much to educate someone on the virtues of video. Together, our focus on upholding these production standards can ensure that the efforts of those who came before us in the video world will never be in vain.
Dave Sniadak
Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller
I'm with you! Anytime you want to march on Washington just let me know. There are a lot more frivolous causes ! We have a not-to-be-named family member who sends us vertical videos. Although we appreciate that we get the footage, we do wish she'd understand that they could be 1000% better with a simple 90 degree turn.
Hahaha, I have scolded my daughter about vertical video. Last week I accidentally took vertical video of my pups and posted it on FB. I did note that I broke my no vertical rule and not to tell my daughter. Her friend replied that she just watched my video with my daughter. Oooops.
My daughter and family went to the Gulf a few years ago. I drilled into her to shoot horizontal and I would make a vacation video for her. Well, it was all upside down since she is left handed and turns the phone opposite. I fixed it in post, but it was a bear to scrub through the footage upside down.
aka Cheryl Intel i7 3770, Windows 7 Pro w/SP1, 64 bit, Intel 520 Series SSD, 32G RAM, 2 – 2T RAID, (1T external), GTX 550 Ti graphics
Drives me absolutely crazy when the local TV news shows amazing, on-the-scene footage shot by a cell phone -- except that it was shot portrait rather than landscape so a) you can't see what's going on and b) the TV station has to fill in the sides of the video with some graphic so that it will fill the 16:9 TV frame.
PLEASE, folks, turn your phones sideways when you shoot photos or video!
HP Envy with 2.9/4.4 ghz i7-10700 and 16 gig of RAM running Windows 11 Pro
I dislike watching the evening news when they broadcast a "breaking News Report" It will almost always be cell phone video in portrait view. Uggggh.
I am surprised that Apple has not figured out a way to make the camera record video in 16x9 regardless of the phones position. Maybe leverage the technology they used that rotates the screen when you turn the phone.
Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller
sidd finch wrote:I am surprised that Apple has not figured out a way to make the camera record video in 16x9 regardless of the phones position. Maybe leverage the technology they used that rotates the screen when you turn the phone.
I like that idea. How many people do you think would understand?
Not many. Even less if they are under 20. And, I think they would anger their customer base if they did that.
For whatever reason, no one seems to want to rotate their phones. I've noticed that when I'm out in a public area, I almost never see anyone holding the phone horizontally. The rare times I do see that it is being done by an older person. If you (and your friends) never rotate your phone, vertical video makes a lot of sense. who wouldn't want a video that fills the entire phone screen. The problem only arises when you go outside the mobile milieu and try to use it in the landscape oriented world. If you are only sharing to friends and social media, that's not a problem. They are probably going to be viewing it on a phone.
For better or worse, vertical video is here to stay.
Well said, Bob. If I make a video for my daughter, she wants to play it on her phone.
I think the reason that most people use the portrait mode is that it is easier to hold the phone with one hand that way. That, of course, also makes it easier to introduce shake into the video.
momoffduty wrote:Well, it was all upside down since she is left handed and turns the phone opposite. I fixed it in post, but it was a bear to scrub through the footage upside down.
Oh, how I would have love to have upside down footage instead of vertical footage.
Not many. Even less if they are under 20. And, I think they would anger their customer base if they did that.
For whatever reason, no one seems to want to rotate their phones. I've noticed that when I'm out in a public area, I almost never see anyone holding the phone horizontally. The rare times I do see that it is being done by an older person. If you (and your friends) never rotate your phone, vertical video makes a lot of sense. who wouldn't want a video that fills the entire phone screen. The problem only arises when you go outside the mobile milieu and try to use it in the landscape oriented world. If you are only sharing to friends and social media, that's not a problem. They are probably going to be viewing it on a phone.
For better or worse, vertical video is here to stay.
Of course your points are valid, and I can't disagree. But when I take horizontal video on my phone it's a simple thing to turn the phone when I view it, and I enjoy the results so much more - even if I never take the video off of the phone. It seems like it ought to be obvious to most people that it makes for a significantly better end result. The side note here is that there is a contingent of those who have had a family member or friend point out the advantages of horizontal video, but stay in the vertical world. Sure, it's their right, but I fail to understand it. If only everyone would see things my way.
Peru said:
That, of course, also makes it easier to introduce shake into the video.
Oh my yes. One-handed vertical phone video. Don't get me started.
Tech Update.... Have a setting to lock or unlock the auto rotate to 16x9.
Now I could see if you used a pair of identical smart phones in portrait mode to create a cool 3d video. But my guess is that only the fringe would do something like that.
Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller