FiLMiC Pro, Movi Cinema Robot & FiLMiC Audio
If you are starting out as a smartphone filmmaker, what’s the first thing you should buy (assuming you have a smartphone)?
My vote goes to FiLMiC Pro.
I’ve shot 4 short films on smartphones since the beginning of last year and many of my shots are taken with nothing but the phone and FiLMiC Pro. With the degree of control the app brings you over your camera, you often don’t need anything else to get great footage.
NAB Show 2019
At this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, FiLMiC Inc had 2 major developments to announce.
First, integration with the Movi Cinema Robot for its mobile video app. The Movi is not the cheapest smartphone gimbal, but it is one of the best. This also isn’t the first gimbal that Filmic Pro has included, there’s also the Zhiyun Smooth 4 and DJI Osmo Mobile.
With the Movi, there is an impressive amount of control, with buttons on the Movi allowing changes in the app. For example, a simple button press allows you to quickly progress through various shooting modes, or stop and start recordings. No need to touch the phone’s display.
As well, filmmakers can lock and unlock focus, shoot focus pulls, switch between lenses, adjust exposure and control the gimbal’s response speed directly from the gimbal. Essentially, integration basically turns the gimbal into an external controller for Filmic Pro.
Check Freefly Movi Cinema Robot on Amazon
Read more: Why I Bought The “Expensive” Phone Stabilizer
Check out FiLMiC’s Movi integration tutorial here:
FiLMiC Audio App
In tandem with the launch of FiLMiC Pro 6.9 (some fixes plus Movie integration), the company announced its upcoming standalone audio app: FiLMiC Audio.
If the audio app is anything like the camera app, this will be a game changer for smartphone audio. So what will this app do?
Essentially, the idea is to have the audio app installed in a 2nd smartphone, while FiLMiC Pro camera app is installed in another smartphone (the one you’re shooting with). Now FiLMiC camera app will link up with the audio app in the 2nd smartphone (effectively turning it into a wireless transmitter).
If I’ve got this right, this is a very exciting development. Even if you don’t have a 2nd phone yourself, most likely your talent (actor, interviewer ect) has their own phone. So all they have to do is install the audio app, then connect a lavalier mic to their phone and boom. This will create the cheapest wireless mic system by far.
We will have to wait and see how well it performs. But I’m calling it a move of sheer genius by FiLMiC Inc.
As a filmmaker this is like “woah” – no more $200 Sennheiser or Rode wireless system needed.
Reports from NAB are, like the company’s video app, FiLMiC Audio comes with “powerful tools hidden behind a beautiful and easy-to-use design”.
See No Film School‘s interview with Eliot Fitzroy from FiLMiC Inc talk about the new developments:
Eliot says the FiLMiC Audio app will be coming out in about 2 months for iOS. Hmm I guess us android users have a wait to get our hands on the app. Hopefully not tooo long!
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