A quick look at FiLMiC Pro version 6: Video on the iPhone

FiLMiC Pro version 6 is my favorite app for shooting video on the iPhone. It offers many features that make it easier to create good looking, in-focus and properly exposed videos. Many of these features show up on semi-pro or pro-level cameras. Below I share some basics on setting it up. It is available on both iOS and Android.

Basic setup

Here’s what the opening screen looks like when FiLMiC Pro v6 starts up.

Note that if you are having a hard time seeing the smaller images below, you can click/tap on them and they will show up in a larger window, making them easier to see.

Next, we want to get to the settings screen. You get there by tapping on the gear icon (below left. It displays the setting panel.

From the settings panel, we’ll set the resolution we’re going to record in. Tap the resolution button and then select the resolution we’re going to use. I typically use 16:9 and HD 1080p or 4K.

Next, let’s set the frame rate you are going to shoot. I typically work with 24fps (frames per second), 30fps and 60fps. To get back to the main settings page, tap at the top or bottom of the settings page you’re on, or tap outside the settings panel, and the setting main page will appear.

Once you’ve set the frame rate, switch back to the main page and you can set up audio. Tap on the audio button and select the mics that are in the iPhone or if you have a mic plugged in, you can select that.

Setting focus

There are a number of ways to set focus. First, you can set it by dragging the square reticle to the area of the screen you want in focus and then tap to lock it. It turns red when locked. Tap again to unlock it.

You can also use what I use and that is focus peaking. Focus peaking is accessed by clicking the A at the bottom left of the screen, then tapping the FP at the top right and then click the wheel at the bottom right to the right of the A. This opens the wheels. To change the focus You tap and hold the wheel on the right, dragging up and down. What’s in focus shows up with a green outline. Tap the circle button to turn off the wheel and tap the FP button to turn off focus peaking.

Setting exposure

As with focus, there are a number of ways of setting exposure. The first way you can set the exposure by dragging the round circle to the area of the screen that you want it to use. Tap it to lock it and it turns red. Tap again to unlock it.

The way I set exposure with false color. With false color turned on, anything that is green in color mean that it is exposed correctly, blue is underexposed, and red is overexposed.

To turn false color on, you need to have the top row turned on. You do that by clicking on the A in the bottom left of the screen (below left). Then tap on the gear icon at the top of the screen (below right). This is a toggle so you tap it to turn it off and tap it to turn it on.

To change the exposure, tap the wheel button in the lower left of the screen and then drag the left wheel up and down until you the exposure looking the way you want. This image is all blue and underexposed. The image below on the left side shows everything in blue and so is underexposed. The image below on the right shows a bit of red in it and so is a bit overexposed. The image below on left, second row, shows a more balanced image. This is where you’ll want to try different exposures and see what the final results looks like. You’ll tap the FP to turn off false color and tap the circle in the bottom left to turn off the wheels.

Setting white balance

Setting your white balance is important to get a good looking video image. You set the white balance by tapping on the three-color wheel button in the lower-left of the screen and it will display the window. There are three sections on the left side. Tap on the top section for white balance.

To have the software set the white balance for you, tap on AWB (auto white balance) button which is on the far bottom right of the window. In addition, you can select from the presets to the left of the AWB button. You can also set the white balance manually by tapping and dragging in the large color square as well as tapping and dragging on either of the smaller vertical color areas. When you are happy with the white balance settings, tap and hold on the A or B in the lower right color of the window and it will ask you if you want to save your settings. Tap to save. Now that you have the setting saved you can activate it by tapping on either A or B, whichever one you want to recall.

So these are some basics that I use in this application that make it fast and easy to create great videos with whatever level of control you want over the video.

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful!

You’ll find FiLMiC Pro for iOS here, and for Android here.