Best way to Capture Video of your iPhone App

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Ringo50k, Oct 21, 2008.

  1. Ringo50k

    Ringo50k Well-Known Member

    Oct 8, 2008
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    Hi Guys,

    I am an iPhone App Dev - part of the art team at Enabled
    and want to capture some video for promotion use - of an App we've developed.

    I have to ask,
    what is the Best way to Capture Video of your iPhone App?

    I assume the solution would be running on the Mac
    rather than on your iPhone

    I've seen there are many options out there for Mac Vid cap
    but
    What have people found to be the best?

    Thanks...
     
  2. don_k

    don_k Well-Known Member

    Oct 9, 2008
    4,404
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    Suggestions:

    1. Capture the vid from Mac, then put it on an iPhone frame, similar to how Gameloft did their demo, eg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG3DrSKs1Qk

    2. You don't have to put the 3d hand, it can be a very simple and graphic hand.
    You can also use the simple and graphic fingers to demonstrate multi-touch.
    eg: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/262200322_ba14839c48.jpg

    3. Put some logo / cut-scenes / intro / outro. They will make it really feel crafted and push it several steps further.

    Hope you can nail it. I'm very happy to hear a developer wants to put some effort on the video demo as it would be very helpful for customers. Good luck!
     
  3. different

    different Well-Known Member

    Aug 8, 2008
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    #3 different, Oct 21, 2008
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2008
  4. Armbruster

    Armbruster Well-Known Member

    Use IShowU.

    Then use the iPhone Simulator, it comes with the Apple SDK package.

    Record it, put it on YouTube.

    There we go.
     
  5. kwigbo

    kwigbo Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2008
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    Flex/iPhone developer
  6. Warhorse Games

    Warhorse Games Well-Known Member

    Oct 28, 2008
    100
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    Software Engineer
    Ladera Ranch, CA
    What is the best solution? I present my ultimate capture studio!
     

    Attached Files:

  7. inkstar

    inkstar Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2008
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    Producer
    Iceland
    I went to check out your website. www.warhorsegames.com

    This Account Has Been Suspended
    Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.

    Nothing shows the customer that you care more than a 404 page when
    he is seeking support :p
     
  8. Warhorse Games

    Warhorse Games Well-Known Member

    Oct 28, 2008
    100
    0
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    Software Engineer
    Ladera Ranch, CA
    Thanks for letting me know. The site is back up now. My provider claims my site was under attack so they suspended the account... they really should have sent me an email :mad:.

    Anyways, if you have a question about Blackbeard's Assault, just email [email protected] or send me a PM.
     
  9. arn

    arn Administrator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Apr 19, 2008
    2,445
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    genius! :)

    arn
     
  10. Hippieman

    Hippieman Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
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    Senior Producer, Designer
    San Francisco
    We use the simulator and ScreenFlow (which is hands down better than Snapz in every aspect).

    For our website, the iPhone frame is part of the page, and we figure people on Youtube don't really care to see the frame.

    We also do H.264 versions at 480X320 (and reversed) so they will play natively on the phone at actual size.
     
  11. blikstad

    blikstad Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
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    Freelance artist and game developer.
    Uppsala, Sweden
    We've used the simulator too, this have some "issues" though. First of all our audio code doesn't seem to work in the simulator, and second the acceleratometer and multitouch (in any sensible way anyway) obviously won't work.

    For the Smack Boxing video I worked around the first issue by simply manually mixing in the sound effects (urgh, I said "simply", but it was a pretty lengthy and painful process).

    The second issue was harder to overcome since the game depends on both multitouch and tilting, the way I did this was to hook up our enemy AI code to the player too. (In essence putting the game in "demo mode", was rather amusing watching the two computer controlled fighters duke it out :)).


    It seems now with 2.2 there's ways to get proper TV-OUT of not just movies though, so will definitely look into that for the future.
     
  12. Hippieman

    Hippieman Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    433
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    Senior Producer, Designer
    San Francisco
    2.2 fixes the Simulator not playing OpenAL Audio (it wasn't a problem with your code). So it's still the most ideal way to get video.

    Output to TV is really slow and requires quite a bit of hacking at your app. Sim + ScreenFlow is the best right now.

    Also, open up a blank TextEdit document, and full screen it, and put it behind the sim. Then you get a nice looking iPhone on an Apple like white background in the video. Works really well now that YouTube is HD and Widescreen.
     
  13. blikstad

    blikstad Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
    159
    0
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    Freelance artist and game developer.
    Uppsala, Sweden
    Ah, that's interesting. Will have to look into that, thanks! (there's still the issue of "simulating" input though... but I suppose that can usually be worked around).
     
  14. Hippieman

    Hippieman Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    433
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    Senior Producer, Designer
    San Francisco
    For simulating input, we either tie things to touches (even if it should be tilt) or we just wire the game to play it's self.

    Then in screenflow you can remove the mouse cursor. Works like a charm.
     
  15. drunknbass

    drunknbass Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2008
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    screen flow is hands down the best.. and if you NEED acceleromoter support for your game there is some frameworks to use wiimote through your mac for input. so you could record the simulator but actualy be using the wiimote for controls.. this only works through mac by using the macs bluetooth not deployed to device.. so dont ask :D
     
  16. drunknbass

    drunknbass Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2008
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    tv out is not new in 2.2

    these same classes(or variations) existed before sdk was even out.
     
  17. PoV

    PoV Well-Known Member

    Oct 10, 2008
    349
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    London, Ontario, Canada
    No doubt you'll have figured something out by the time I'm done, but I've been writing a blog post about exactly this.

    In summary though, I set my camera up on a tripod. "Hugged it", while looking and playing the game beneath it. Resting my hand and iPod touch on the desk comfortably (instead of trying to keep it held up).

    Be sure to include extra lighting if you don't want "shadow hands".

    Also don't be afraid to record too much footage, to leave some lead time before and after the things you want to show, and edit it afterwords.

    There's much reference to pull from, and I'm particularly proud of mine. It's been well received (with the occasional amusingly harsh remark). :)
     
  18. Azreal42

    Azreal42 Member

    Dec 16, 2008
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    I think sometimes the simulator is not enough (accelerometer, missing opengl extentions)
    What about using the iPhone composite AV Apple cable?
    (that one)
     
  19. Hippieman

    Hippieman Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    433
    0
    0
    Senior Producer, Designer
    San Francisco
    It's slow, scales the video and requires to reprogram your app to use it. Screenflow is the best option for clean looking video. Remember, you can carefully pick and choose your video to not show the limits of the Sim.
     
  20. HandheldGames

    HandheldGames Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
    307
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    CEO & Founder, Creative Director, Producer, & Desi
    Lynnwood, Washington
    Add my vote for using a HD camcorder on a tripod. We can't capture ours on the Mac. Power VR's implementation in the simulator with boned characters produces a result that is unusable and sometimes hilarious. Our tennis players show up all jumbled up. Nothing like seeing a deformed tennis player serving with her leg.

    Thx!
    HHG
     

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