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If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. 1. Home 2. News 3. Mobile Apps Record 4 Camera Angles at Once Using Only iPhones and iPads Using Apple's new Final Cut Camera app and Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad, anyone can turn a simple video shoot into a sophisticated multicamera event. We tried it; here's how it works. Michael Muchmore By Michael Muchmore Michael Muchmore Lead Software Analyst --------------------------------------------------------------------- My Experience PC hardware is nice, but it's not much use without innovative software. I've been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I've witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11. Read Full Bio June 20, 2024 Facebook Twitter Reddit Social Share Reddit Pinterest Flipboard LinkedIn Email Copied Error! Copy Link https://www.pcmag.com/news/ hands-on-apple-final-cut-camera-final-cut-pro-2-multicam Comments Multicam on iPad with iPhone and Final Cut Pro and Camera (Credit: Apple) At its iPad event in May, Apple previewed an updated Final Cut Pro 2 app for video and a brand-new Final Cut Camera app for iOS and iPadOS . Using both apps, nonprofessionals can shoot video using up to four iPhone or iPad cameras simultaneously and edit the footage (that is, create multicam productions). The Camera app is completely new, and it dovetails with Final Cut running on an iPad Pro. I got an early look at the apps to put them through their paces. --------------------------------------------------------------------- What You Need to Make Multicam Productions Using iPhones and iPads The Final Cut Camera app is a free download on the App Store, but if you want to use the live multicam feature, you need a Final Cut Pro subscription on a recent iPad ($4.99 per month). Both the new Camera app and version of Final Cut Pro are available on the App Store starting today. The Final Cut Camera app has less demanding requirements than the Final Cut iPad. To install Camera on an iPhone, you need iOS 17.4 or later. That means it works on any iPhone back to 2018's XS and XR models. Final Cut Camera also runs on any iPad running iPadOS 17.4 or later (most iPads from 2018 or later), while Final Cut Pro 2 requires an M1 or later iPad running iPadOS 17.5 or later. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shooting With Final Cut Camera Shooting in the Final Cut Camera App on an iPhone (Credit: Apple/PCMag) You don't have to use the multicam iPad features to use the Final Cut Camera app. You can simply use to shoot video with more controls than you get on the standard iPhone/iPad Camera app. With it, you get manual control over white balance, exposure, focus, shutter speed, ISO, resolution, and frame rate. I wasn't able to change the video codec from HEVC to standard H.264 (or AVC), but that's not a big problem since HEVC takes up less storage, and you can always convert it later if you need to for compatibility. The controls slide out of view nicely when you tap the left-angle bracket button. Other options include choosing between HDR and SDR and locking the aspect ratio to vertical or horizontal. A couple of pro-level view features are also available, such as showing over- and underexposed indicators and focus peaking with red cross-hatching. Note that those last two options require an iPhone or iPad model with an A13 Bionic chip or later. Exposure Warning in Final Cut Camera app (Credit: Apple/PCMag) If you have the Final Cut Pro for iPad app and you only plan to shoot on that device, you don't need to install Camera on it. The iPad Final Cut app has all the same shooting controls. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Live Multicam With Final Cut Pro for iPad To access the multicam features, you must first run Final Cut Pro 2 on an iPad. Here, you can choose the same setup configuration as on the camera app: resolution, HDR, and so on. Start multicam in Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad (Credit: Apple/PCMag) After choosing those settings, tap Live Multicam in the second menu. A welcome screen tells you to connect devices running the Final Cut Camera app. To do this you have to make the iPad discoverable to record and transfer the video you shoot over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Add Angles in iPad Multicam (Credit: Apple/PCMag) When I did this, the Final Cut Pro app found my iPhone 12 mini, but the iPhone could not connect to the iPad. That was my bad, because I hadn't updated it to iOS 17.5.1 to get the full functionality (despite the stated requirement of 17.4 or later). So, make sure your operating systems are all up to date before trying the new multicam feature. Can You Do Multicam With One iPad and One iPhone? One question I had, since most people are likely to have just one iPad and one iPhone, is whether you can shoot multicam footage with only those two devices. The answer is a resounding yes, because the Final Cut Pro iPad app has the same camera capability as the Camera app itself. Having two angles is often enough to add interest to, for example, an interview, and it's a more comfortable experience for the viewer than having many angles (in my opinion). It also gives you an excellent way to disguise edits of speaker gaps or filler words, like um, by switching angles at the cut. You can use either the front or rear camera on either device type, but you can't use both the selfie camera and front camera as two separate multicam angles as you can in the Filmic Pro app. Start Multicam and Fix Settings Once the iPhones and iPads are connected, any of the devices can start recording, but doing so on the iPad running Final Cut makes the most sense. You can also choose which device's mic will be used for the audio track, and this is indicated on the iPad's multicam recording screen. Here, I had to lean in toward the iPad to snap a screenshot, but it's easy to trim this kind of footage out. Two angles of multicam using Final Cut on iPad (Credit: Apple/PCMag) In my testing with an iPhone 12 mini and a sixth-generation iPad Pro with an M2 processor, the white balance was different between the two, the latter having a cooler tint. I was wondering if I could remotely control that to get them synced up color-wise, and indeed, you can change settings for either camera being used. Once the angle's video is in full-screen mode, you can adjust all the same settings you can on the devices themselves in the Camera app--white balance, exposure, focus, and so on. You can have all the cameras set to a specified resolution orientation frame rate ProRes file format and HDR versus SDR. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sync Your Footage Every multicam production faces the issue of syncing the footage from separate cameras. The best video editing software usually accomplishes this by matching the soundtracks from each angle's footage. Apple's solution with Final Cut Pro on the iPad takes this problem completely out of the equation unless you shoot an angle on a device other than an iPhone. It automatically syncs footage shot from the connected iPhones or iPads running Final Cut Camera. One tip is to be sure to keep the remote devices (in my case the iPhone) powered on so that the video file can transfer from it to the iPad running Final Cut. The transfer happens automatically, but you can also send clips from the satellite devices using AirDrop. Another is that, once you start the app, it stays open on your iPhone or iPad indefinitely. That way your shot won't be interrupted, but if you forget and leave your device unattended, it drains the battery. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cut Angles in Final Cut Pro for iPad After shooting, when you land in the Final Cut video editing interface on the iPad, you see a source panel now populated with your newly shot multicam clip. All angles appear in one clip entry, and you can see the angles in separate smaller preview tiles on the left preview panel, pictured below. As you might expect, the angles were perfectly synced in my test footage. Recommended by Our Editors Apple Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad The 5 Coolest Features in Apple's Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 Apple Final Cut Pro icon Apple Final Cut Pro Review A person wearing large headphones editing video on a dual monitor setup The Best Video Editing Software for 2024 Editing Multicam footage on iPad in Final Cut (Credit: Apple/PCMag) A key pointer here is that dragging that multicam clip down to your video timeline off the bat will only result in one angle playing for the whole video. You need to tap the Multicam button at the bottom of the timeline to do your angle switching. I found it a little tricky to both remove time from the clip and switch angles at the same time, so I recommend you do cuts first and then change between angles. If you need to add an angle from another source, say you're recording with a third mirrorless camera, you can add the clip from that and sync using sound in the Angle Editor interface (shown in the image below, which you get to by tapping Edit Angles). Angle Editor in Final Cut Pro on iPad (Credit: Apple/PCMag) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Not on Mac (Yet) One surprising thing is that the multicam function using the Camera app on multiple devices doesn't work with Final Cut Pro on the Mac--only on a recent iPad. That's despite Apple finally launching Final Cut Pro 10.8 for macOS today, too. That update includes new AI-powered Enhance Light and Color and Smooth Slo-Mo features. Apple hasn't announced anything about it, but I have a hunch that the multicam feature will be compatible with Mac at some point. And you can still take your multicam projects onto the Mac version of Final Cut Pro for follow-up editing. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Final Cut Video Editing Tools In addition to the existing tricks in Final Cut for iPad--Live Drawing, Scene Removal Mask, Auto Crop, Titles, and Voice Isolation--Version 2 adds new content such as titles, effects, backgrounds, and soundtracks, as well as the ability to store project media on external storage. And you get the standard cutting, overlay, transitions, and filters common to all video editing software. You also get a nice selection of audio editing tools, including noise reduction and acoustic effects like Cathedral, Robot, and Delay. Editing video on the iPad app has the benefit of letting you work off-site and perform actions directly on the screen with your finger (though I'd still recommend attaching a keyboard for editing convenience). With it, you can do the lion's share of what you'd do on a desktop video editor. And the new multicam feature will appeal to many vloggers and YouTubers who want to up their video-editing game. For more video editing tips, check out our 10 tips for editing home videos like a pro. iPad Event 2024: Everything Apple Announced This Week PCMag Logo iPad Event 2024: Everything Apple Announced This Week Apple Fan? Sign up for our Weekly Apple Brief for the latest news, reviews, tips, and more delivered right to your inbox. Email [ ] Sign Up This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. Thanks for signing up! Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox! Sign up for other newsletters Table of Contents Table of Contents [Table of Contents ] Advertisement Further Reading Uber, Lyft to Pay Drivers in Massachusetts $32.50 an Hour Uber, Lyft to Pay Drivers in Massachusetts $32.50 an Hour By Emily Price Uber Wants to Give You $1,000 to Ditch Your Car for 5 Weeks Uber Wants to Give You $1,000 to Ditch Your Car for 5 Weeks By Jibin Joseph Arkansas Sues Temu, Claims Chinese Shopping App Is Malware Arkansas Sues Temu, Claims Chinese Shopping App Is Malware By Michael Kan Uber Is Locking NYC Drivers Out of Its App to Cut Costs Uber Is Locking NYC Drivers Out of Its App to Cut Costs By Emily Price Decades of MTV News Content Wiped From the Internet Decades of MTV News Content Wiped From the Internet By Emily Price Cellular Starlink Satellites Light Up the Night Sky a Bit Too Much Cellular Starlink Satellites Light Up the Night Sky a Bit Too Much By Michael Kan Elite UK Boarding School Forces Kids to Swap Smartphones for Nokia 'Bricks' Elite UK Boarding School Forces Kids to Swap Smartphones for Nokia 'Bricks' By Jibin Joseph ChatGPT Writes Decent Computer Code, When It Sticks to the Basics ChatGPT Writes Decent Computer Code, When It Sticks to the Basics By Joe Hindy TRENDING [svg] {X-html Replaced} Editors' Choice About Michael Muchmore Lead Software Analyst Michael Muchmore PC hardware is nice, but it's not much use without innovative software. I've been reviewing software for PCMag since 2008, and I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I've witnessed every Microsoft win and misstep up to the latest Windows 11. Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech, and before that I headed up PCMag's enterprise software team, but I'm happy to be back in the more accessible realm of consumer software. I've attended trade shows of Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products. I'm an avid bird photographer and traveler--I've been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I'm also a classical fan and former performer, I've reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music. Read Michael's full bio Read the latest from Michael Muchmore * 10 Major Reasons to Upgrade to Windows 11 Now * MacOS Sequoia: 2 Features We Love, 1 Big Surprise, and a Puzzling Omission * At WWDC, Apple Throws Messaging Nerds a Bone: iOS 18 Adds RCS to iPhones * Apple WWDC 2024: What to Expect and How to Watch * Good Luck Escaping AI: At Build 2024, Microsoft Leans Hard Into Copilot * More from Michael Muchmore Advertisement PCMag Newsletters PCMag Newsletters Our Best Stories in Your Inbox Follow PCMag * * * * * * Honest, Objective, Lab-Tested Reviews PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. 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