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'Horizon' Allows iPhone Users to Always Shoot Horizontal Video

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Apr 12, 2001
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A new videography app called Horizon uses the iPhone's gyroscope to automatically "level out" iPhone videos so they are always shot in landscape mode, avoiding the so-called vertical video problem.

By automatically rotating video so that it is always horizontal, the app ensures that video is always kept in the default format for televisions and Apple's newer computer screens, but that it is always kept straight -- something that Instagram and other apps can do for photos -- but a feature that is unique for video.

The biggest downside is that the app effectively crops video, reducing total resolution, in order to keep the video horizontal and steady. But, as many videos get reduced in quality when posted online anyway, it may not matter to the average user.
Horizon lets you record horizontal videos no matter how you hold your device. Hold it upright, sideways or even keep rotating it while capturing, the video will always stay horizontal! You can add filters, shoot with the back or front camera and share your creations!

Ever felt you had to rotate your device while recording a video? Do you often end up with vertical videos or videos in wrong orientation? Enter Horizon!

Horizon works like magic! It auto-levels your videos while recording, using your device's gyroscope. The orientation of the resulting video is corrected so that it always stays parallel to the ground.
Click to expand...
Horizon is temporarily available for $0.99 from the App Store, with the price rising to $1.99 sometime after launch. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'Horizon' Allows iPhone Users to Always Shoot Horizontal Video
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/20/horizon-horizontal-video-app/
I would love it if they could keep the native resolution. And then if Apple would implement it. Having to watch vertical video is on the top of my first-world problems list.
 
This is ingenious.

But... if you know you have this problem, why not just turn the phone the right way?

And if you don't know there's a problem, you won't seek an app to solve it.

(I can see entirely other uses, where you're shooting video from an unpredictable base like a rocking boat, if the leveling is smooth and fast enough to help.)
 
ddelapp said:
Just don't shoot in portrait, and you won't have to buy an app. This is just encouraging people to shoot vertical video, but it's just cropped.
Click to expand...

It's an app designed to appeal to the forever stupid. If you can't learn when and when not to use a portrait orientation then you should be spending more time reading books and taking some basic lessons in common sense.

This is a case that requires one verbal lesson to solve.

"You are holding it wrong."
 
It must be lovely to see the quality increase as the phone is rotated from portrait to actual landscape. :rolleyes:
My alternative solution is better and free: HOLD YOUR PHONE CORRECTLY!

i mad bro
 
I'm wondering why this must correlate to a decrease in resolution. I know the sample picture would mean less resolution, but I'm now wondering what the actual image sensor in the phone looks like. Is it actually rectangular like the aspect ratio of the pictures taken?

It would be even cooler to have a circular image sensor that you could combine with a gyroscope to allow for perfect landscape video regardless of camera/phone orientation.
 
The thing is, if you video in landscape can this app be used to avoid the shakes? That would be useful.
 
Because of how it works, the app also allows you to zoom in and out of scenes in a way that might be more smooth than the pinch-and-zoom method in the native camera app in iOS7. That could pretty nifty.
 
so, if i am shooting horizontally, will this "stabilize" my video while shooting?
 
Seriously...I can not fathom why this is so important to many of you. I've shot vertical a few times when it really didn't matter. If it's something important then yes, I'll shoot horizontal but seriously, if this really bothers people, you might want to hit up some anger management classes.....
 
On the iPhone 4S you can only shoot 640x480 as advertised. Future updates may correct this.
When you rotate the phone it correctly rotates the orientation but when reviewing the video you notice a wobble effect. Needs a better stabilization pass but it has a lot of potential.
Great app for small children recording videos or sporting events that require 360 recording like airplane racing.
 
This is great! Watching people record video in portrait mode makes me want to SCREAM!!!:eek:

I agree with a previous poster who said that Apple should have never let users record in portrait mode. I totally blame Apple for this problem. A very high percentage of cell phone videos that end up on TV are shot incorrectly.

Why didn't I think of this??!!:(
 
I don't get it.

You will have a drop in quality i'm sure. Is it really that hard to just hold the iPhone the proper way when recording. :confused:
 
I think it would be good to hold the iPhone one handed naturally and be able to record in landscape. Why couldn't apple just add a button for this functionality? We have orientation lolk already.
 
ArcaneDevice said:
It's an app designed to appeal to the forever stupid. If you can't learn when and when not to use a portrait orientation then you should be spending more time reading books and taking some basic lessons in common sense.

This is a case that requires one verbal lesson to solve.

"You are holding it wrong."
Click to expand...

Except the people for whom this is targeted are also the ones who won't bother loading a non-default app to shoot video...
 
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