Have you ever thought of an iPad as a powerful video camera? Well, they can be one!
Quality videos don’t rely 100% on the camera, but on video making techniques. See how to make the best use of an iPad as a video camera following some tips that are very easy to implement.
With a few tricks, you can use your Apple tablet to record top quality videos. Those tips are simple to do and you can put them into practice very easily!
Just to make it clear: this guide is not a “which button to press” step by step of how to open one tool or another within your iPad.
The tips ahead will cover every iPad model and will be overall filmmaking related. You will see that your iPad can perform video recordings as well as a professional camera would.
You’ll understand a few video making techniques to get the best out of your iPad very quickly!
Let’s master how to use iPad as a video camera.
Always record horizontal videos
This is the first technique you need: position the iPad in landscape mode to record all your videos. The landscape mode is when you lay your iPad to one side or another in horizontal position, which will result in horizontal recordings.
Landscape mode is the opposite to portrait mode, when your iPad is positioned like a book. You need to avoid portrait mode as much as you can because it will cut off parts of the video scene that landscape mode wouldn’t.
Also, if you ever want to edit your videos you will need to deal with the black vertical bars that every portrait recording has, and that can be tricky sometimes!
Horizontal mode is always better, even for selfie-like videos. In case you’re recording more than one person, horizontal mode will include every detail possible during the shooting. Another advantage is that human eyes are aligned horizontally, so horizontal videos are easier to watch.
So, now you know it: position your iPad horizontally for every video you record.
Keep your iPad steady
This tip is very simple to follow and can improve your videos a lot.
All you need to do is keep your iPad steady while recording. That’s important because it avoids shaky and blurry videos. To do so, use both hands to hold your iPad when you’re shooting videos. Also, try to avoid moving too much.
Are you recording with the front-face camera? Well, use both hands too!
You can also place your iPad upon an object such as a table or a cupboard, this way it will keep steady all video through.
Find the perfect light for your video scene
With simple actions you can get better light of the video scene (the space, people or object you’re recording). This tip is very important too, it can grant you higher quality videos like you wouldn’t imagine.
To find the perfect light for your video scene, you can:
- Walk around the space you’re recording to see what’s the best spot to put your iPad. Don’t be afraid to test every single spot on the room/space you’re recording, even if it’s a smaller room. Also, remember to keep your iPad camera on (even if it’s not recording already). If you want to, you can shoot some short videos in each spot of, let’s say, 10 seconds, and check out later to decide what’s the one with the best light.
- If you’re in a room, be careful with lamps. Their light can “leak into” your video scene and create undesired reflections, like sun rays. Test turning off all the lamps in the room and see what result you get. Again, keep your iPad camera on and record some short videos with all lamp lights on, then with the lamp lights off to see what’s better.
- If you’re in open space during daylight, walk around it to check the best spot and be careful with sun rays which can also create undesired reflections on your video.
- If you’re in open space during the evening and it’s too dark, consider using your iPad’s flash while recording your video, which works as a lantern and boosts video quality. Just be careful if you’re recording other people because the flash can bother them a little bit.
When it comes to video lighting, it can be a little tricky to find the perfect setup. But the results are totally worth it!
Use apps to improve your iPad camera quality
One very powerful tip is download and install an app to boost your iPad camera internal quality. Yep! You can do that!
Camera improvement apps are also known as “dedicated video apps”, “HDR video recorders” and “4k video recorders” . They work directly upon your iPad’s built-in camera to increase it’s recording capabilities, so you should definitely try them out!
We won’t be getting into specific details about this technique (such as what’s the best app to download and how to use it) because there is more than one choice and you may prefer a free app instead of a license paying app.
But here are a few suggestions of both free and paid apps you can use for video camera improvement that work with any iPad:
- FiLMiC Pro (paid app)
- ProCam 4 (paid app)
- iPhocus (paid app)
- almost DSLR (free app, offers paid extra features)
- Moment Pro Camera (free app, offers paid extra features)
So, check them out and decide what’s the best one for you! When you decide it, make sure you search for quick tutorials on the Internet (specially on YouTube) on how to use the app you chose.
Additional video gear: the cherry on top
In case you didn’t know it: there is video equipment made specially for iPad! By using them (it can be one or another, or many at once), you can turn your iPad into a professional video recording machine.
This is optional, of course, but getting some iPad video gear can improve your recordings a lot.
To name a few, they are:
- A tripod to hold your iPad during video recordings
- Wide angle iPad lenses and lenses brackets to record higher quality videos
- A microphone to connect directly to your iPad and record awesome quality audio within your videos
- Video LED lights to boost image light quality
- A protective iPad case to help you hold it better and boost video steadiness
- Mounts, holders and bases to sustain your iPad while recording and grant 100% video steadiness
So you decide what’s best for you and if you want to give extra video gear a try!
Just remember: you don’t need to get everything at once, one single tool alone (like a tripod or a microphone) will power up your video quality!
Cool! You’re ready to record awesome videos with your iPad!
As you’ve seen through this guide, you can boost your iPad video recordings by putting simple actions into practice.
Now you know how to get the best out of your iPad as a video camera!
So, test those tips yourself to make some awesome videos, you won’t regret it!
See our other posts about Video Production.
You can also share your thoughts in the comments below!
