Quick Comparison: iPhone 2G/3G Video Recorder

While Apple is no longer giving total support on 2G & 3G iPhone, some developers actually still give supports by providing new capabilities in this 1-2 year old product: video recording. Only in a matter of days, there are already 5 to 6 video recording applications for iPhone 2G/3G in the AppStore, including Qik VideoCamera that released today.

But how about the ability & quality of these apps when handling video recording task in the old device? Here's a quick comparison from 4 apps I consider the best plus 1 from Cydia (jailbroken iPhone).

Qik VideoCamera ($0.99) (link iTunes & website)
iVidCam (free & $0.99) (link iTunes & website)
iVideoCamera ($0.99) (link iTunes & website)
ShowTime ($0.99) (link iTunes & website)
VideoRecorder3 ($19.95) (link website)



Summary:

Qik Video Camera
Pro: Better frame rate, save to Camera Roll, H.264 compression
Cons: Portrait recording only

iVidCam
Pro: Biggest frame size, 10x digital zoom, free version is available
Cons: Only upload to YouTube

iVideoCamera
Pro: Upload to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, email & save to Camera Roll
Cons: Smallest frame size, limited recording time

ShowTime
Pro: 5x digital zoom, share via email
Cons: Portrait recording only

VideoRecorder3
Pro: Upload to YouTube & email, best frame rate, MPEG4 compression
Cons: Expensive, only for jailbroken iPhone

Go get one, give your old iPhone another chance to reveal its true ability.

Quick review between iVidCam & Cydia VideoRecorder3

Seems Apple loosening it's grip for video feature on iPhone 2G/3G. Now new video recording apps for iPhone 2G/3G are available on AppStore. But are they good? Are they worth the price? Do we still need iPhone 3GS?
I pick 1 app from the AppStore called iVidCam & my favorite VideoRecorder3 app from Cydia (for jailbroken iPhone) for a quick review.


iVidCam ($0.99) (link)

Low light environment


Outdoor


Pro:
- Good quality video
- Encodes to MP4 for smaller size of file. Handy for EDGE network
- Sharing to YouTube
- Portrait & landscape recording 427 x 320
- No recording time limit

Cons:
- Low frame rate: 3 fps
- No option to save to Camera Roll
- No option to share via email

Note:
- Failed sending the file to Twitvid.com via email (using Cydia File2Mail app) due to Motion JPEG codec of the MP4 file


Cydia VideoRecorder3 (link)

Low light environment


Outdoor


Pro:
- High frame rate: up to 15 fps
- Encodes to MP4 for smaller size of file. Handy for EDGE network
- Sharing to YouTube
- Sharing via email (upload to Twitvid.com is possible)
- Portrait & landscape recording 384 x 288
- No recording time limit

Cons:
- Bad quality video - video becomes reddish
- No option to save to Camera Roll
- Only for jailbroken iPhone


Summary:
- Apple only allows 3 - 7 fps for the frame rate in their developer kit. Since Cydia developer not bound by Apple restrictions, they can push for higher fps. Cydia VideoRecorder3 is the winner
- Low fps helps capturing more lights and hence better video quality. iVidCam is the winner

So do we still need iPhone 3GS?

AfterTweets: Twitter in Disguise

We are all know that there's an application called SpreadTweet, so we can tweeting in disguise, as if we're working on a spreadsheet project.

But, for motion graphic designer like me, it's a bit odd to have a spreadsheet on our Mac monitor. The boss will get suspicious and ask me "What the hell you're doing with spreadsheet???"

So what if there's a script for AfterEffects that enables me to keep tweeting inside the application itself, disguised in a fake timeline window.



Right. This is a regular AfterEffects application. But look at the left side of timeline window & click this image below to see the detail.


(click to enlarge)

Yes! It's a Twitter in disguise. The Twitter timeline disguised as layers in regular AfterEffects. Every tweet have options like Reply, ReTweet etc. And each tabs contain our followers tweet.

I'm no script programmer, but wouldn't it sweet if we have this kind of script, AfterTweets script ^_^