Our smart phones are getting even smarter, allowing us to create quality videos anywhere, with faster speeds and without the hassle of having to carry a ton of camera equipment.
Whether you want to jazz up your home videos, send a fun message to your social media followers or quickly block a complicated scene, there’s never been a better time to get your ideas out into the world than right now.
So now that you have the ability to shoot great content, you need to know how to make your footage really come to life “in the edit.” And you can do all of this with your phone, with the Spark Camera app.
Spark Camera
Spark is an extremely user friendly and quick to learn app. You can shoot video, edit your video, add music to your video and export it all in one convenient place: right in the palm of your hand.
How to Get Started
First things first, go to the App Store, type in SPARK CAMERA and click the download button (it’s only 99¢ and worth every penny).
Once you are in the app, it will ask you to create a new ‘spark’ (a video). Click yes and you’re off!
There are two ways you can use the app:
1) Record a new video from scratch
2) Choose an already shot video from your phones photo library
To record a new video from scratch: Point your camera at your subject, hold your finger down anywhere on the screen and that’s it. Once you release your finger, the video stops recording.
You also have the choice of four different frame rates in which to record:
30 fps (frames per second)
60 fps
120 fps
240 fps
The higher the frame rate, the slower your video will be when you play back. So if you want your video to feature slow motion, you can choose either 120fps or 240fps (depending on how slow you want it.)
TIP:
- For cleaner, crisper videos (outside of the Spark App) you should set your phones to shoot in 60 fps. Go to your phone settings > Phone & Camera > and click the RECORD AT 60 FPS button to ON
To create a video from an existing video in your photo library: Go to the main screen in SPARK and click the “+” button. You’ll quickly be navigated to your Camera Roll folder in your photo library. (See below)
There you choose which video(s) you want and can even trim the selected video to the length you want it (ie, cut the unnecessary fat).
Now that you have your clips selected, the real work can begin.
EDITING YOUR CLIPS
To start, click on whichever clip (the different colored circles on the bottom of the screen) you want to edit first. The video will take up your screen and you can trim your clip to your desired length by dragging the small cursor circle back and forth the outer circle.
You can also add a transition between your clips by clicking the semi-circle to either side of your selected clip.
If you want to move your clips around the “timeline” in the order you want, simply press and hold the clip and move it were you would like to.
Adding Music
You can also add music from your phones library by clicking the “musical note” in the top left corner of the screen and adjust the levels to how you see fit.
Export!
Once you’re done with your video and everything is exactly how you want it, you can export your video! Click the right hand corner of your screen to go to the export menu where you can save a copy of your spark as a complete video to your photo library, share it on Instagram (and tagging SPARK while you’re at it), sending your video as a postcard or sending in a text or email.
Video Examples
Here’s a video from our web series, “Judged By Paxton” which was shot on an iPhone and edited with Spark a few years ago:
And here’s an example of turning a few home movies into one fun, energetic clip: “Quad”
Upload your Spark App videos to Instagram and tag us @royalpiranha – We want to see what you’re creating!
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