The Basics for Taking Slo-Mo Videos

Using the slow motion feature on your iPhone can result in really interesting, quirky or even hilarious videos and single frame photos. Who doesn’t enjoy watching a dog catch a frisbee then do an unplanned tuck ‘n’ roll? Or the contorted expression on your beloved’s face when sneezing?

If you missed the earlier post covering taking basic pictures on your iPhone, you can find that in this link. Otherwise, if you’re ready to discover how easy it is to take slow motion videos and photos, read on…

When to use slo-mo

Typically the slow motion function is used to capture and dissect something that normally moves quickly, and in slowing it down we are able to appreciate a quality we wouldn’t be able to at actual speed. This quality may be beauty, in the case of a hummingbird or splashes from a waterfall or fountain (see example below).

Or it could be something funny like your dog catching a treat:

Getting started with Slo-Mo

On your iPhone, open the Camera icon

At the bottom of the screen scroll to “Slo-Mo”.

Once you’re focused on your desired subject, press the shutter button (large circle in lower center). Don’t worry if you start shooting before the action begins, as you can easily edit out any boring start.

Press the shutter button again when you want to stop filming. To access your video, either immediately tap the icon in the lower left corner while in Camera mode (which is the last photo/video you’ve taken). Or go to your Photos app , where you’ll find it in “Recents”.

Now you’re ready to edit if desired. Tap the word Edit in top right corner of your screen. This will bring up the video in frame-by-frame version at the bottom of your screen. You will be able to choose from which frame you want the video to begin and from which it should end. You do this by sliding inward the < > arrows (see yellow circled in image below). Note you will want to “push” or slide them in the opposite direction as they are pointing in order to edit. So < gets pushed to the right, not the left.

Alternatively you can hit the “Play” button (solid triangle) and simply hit pause when the video reaches the place you want to start. Then push in the arrow to match where the vertical line is, which indicates where on the video the current frame shown is.

On the iPhone when you choose slo-mo and play it back, you’ll notice that the default is for the video to start at normal speed for a second or so and only then to slow down to slo-mo speed. You can adjust this as well. You’ll notice a series of vertical lines in a row, below the video still frames. See image below where underlined in yellow how you can see the difference in cadence from normal speed (lines closer together) vs slow motion (lines further apart). You can change where the video shifts simply by sliding either of the 2 longer lines (separating the change in cadence) to the right or left. By sliding the first one all the way to the left, the video will start in slo-mo. If you don’t like your changes, simply hit “Cancel” in lower left corner. Or to save your changes hit “Done” in lower right.

Once happy with your work and having saved it, you can share it by tapping the upload icon . Or if you prefer to save it for later and want it to be easier to find, you can hit the heart icon to add it to your favorite pictures file.

If you’d like to save a single frame from your video, the easiest way to do so is to find it by using the < > arrows as above, then take a screenshot and retrieve (and edit) that from your photos file. Instructions how to take screenshots can be found in our post here.

You’ll probably have noticed many other options in Edit mode. Go ahead and have a play with those, which can rotate images, adjust light, etc. We will cover more options in a future post.

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Thank you for reading, and let us know what you thought!

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