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Live Photos A Bit Disappointing?

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Robhandley

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 30, 2011
30
2
So I got my 6S today and have been looking forward to the Live Photos feature. I have taken a few photos but they seem to be more time lapsed than what Apple showed at conference. The Live Photos they showed and the ones stored on phone for wallpapers are smooth 30fps type videos. However all the ones I have taken seem to be a time lapse type. I am a little disappointed they are not smoother.
I know this is probably done to save space but would have preferred an option. What does everyone else think?
 
I noticed the first few I took while the phone was installing apps were a bit jumpy, but those taken later seemed much smoother. I wouldn't quite say silky smooth but a definite improvement.
 
One of things that's a little weird to me is that the photo animates from the point its snapped, and then does the full animation. It's a little jarring.
 
Robhandley said:
So I got my 6S today and have been looking forward to the Live Photos feature. I have taken a few photos but they seem to be more time lapsed than what Apple showed at conference. The Live Photos they showed and the ones stored on phone for wallpapers are smooth 30fps type videos. However all the ones I have taken seem to be a time lapse type. I am a little disappointed they are not smoother.
I know this is probably done to save space but would have preferred an option. What does everyone else think?
Click to expand...

Live Photos is a gimmick feature, they had this on an old HTC phone I owned awhile ago
 
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cmChimera said:
One of things that's a little weird to me is that the photo animates from the point its snapped, and then does the full animation. It's a little jarring.
Click to expand...

Yes, that bugged me as well. What's the point of taking footage from before the photo if you're going to play it at the end of the clip?
 
madmaxmedia said:
I think that's a judgement call- they probably did it this way so when you open a photo, the first thing that opens up is the same image, not 1.5 seconds before.
Click to expand...

Still seems strange. When you open the photo, it shows the still image. It only animates when you press it down, so it's not like it's going to be a surprise that it's jumping back a moment if you're manually activating it.

Either way I think it's fair to say that live photos doesn't feel exactly like what Apple demoed at the keynote.
 
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Agreed that Live Photos is useless. If I were to send a live photo to a friend would they even know it's a live photo before force touching it? Would they even be able to see it on an older phone? Would it just appear as if it were a JPEG?
 
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Can I kind of hijack this thread? I don't even seem to be taking Live Photos. I don't see anything to turn on, but when I go to photos and try a force touch I get nothing. Am I just doing it wrong?
 
jjk454ss said:
Can I kind of hijack this thread? I don't even seem to be taking Live Photos. I don't see anything to turn on, but when I go to photos and try a force touch I get nothing. Am I just doing it wrong?
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There's a button at the top that says live next to HDR and self timer.
 
Can I kind of hijack this thread? I don't even seem to be taking Live Photos. I don't see anything to turn on, but when I go to photos and try a force touch I get nothing. Am I just doing it wrong
j-a-x said:
There's a button at the top that says live next to HDR and self timer.
Click to expand...

Haha, knew I was just being stupid. I'm looking all over on the Settings app:). Thanks
 
j-a-x said:
Just sent one to s friend with an iPhone 6. He stays there's an icon but no way to play it.
Click to expand...

Has your friend updated to iOS 9? I sent some live photos to my wife on her 6+ and she said nothing was happening, but she's still on iOS 8. I sent the same ones to my friend on a 5s who upgraded to iOS 9 and they worked for him.

Also, I'm thinking that perhaps the choppiness is a result of the fact that Apple's demos were inevitably professionally shot? I would hate to think that Apple intentionally deceived us by not showing the real software in action at the keynote.
 
karmamule said:
I noticed the first few I took while the phone was installing apps were a bit jumpy, but those taken later seemed much smoother. I wouldn't quite say silky smooth but a definite improvement.
Click to expand...

The ones Apple show on Keynote isn't super smooth either.
 
Supermallet said:
Has your friend updated to iOS 9? I sent some live photos to my wife on her 6+ and she said nothing was happening, but she's still on iOS 8. I sent the same ones to my friend on a 5s who upgraded to iOS 9 and they worked for him.

Also, I'm thinking that perhaps the choppiness is a result of the fact that Apple's demos were inevitably professionally shot? I would hate to think that Apple intentionally deceived us by not showing the real software in action at the keynote.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah he figured it out.
 
I have taken several photos with the feature on and its not too bad. Not perfect but the idea to me is context of the photo. A portrait is nice by itself but its fun to see the little giggle after the photo is taken. Just have to remember to hold the camera/phone still for a few seconds after and before. I will reserve this feature for portraits or group shots or really just shots with living things in them. Its a waste really on static shots and landscapes unless what you're photographing would be improved by the motion. Its a fine line between video and photo and sits between the two.

On the point, if you have not updated to 9.x you will not see the motion on your phone when someone sends a live photo. The photos are marked with a small gray circle at the top left of the photo that I missed when I was testing with my friends and family but we figured it out pretty quickly.
 
Personally I feel they're not using their own technologies to their advantage with Live Photo. Burst Mode and 4K Video.


1) Slide to Live Photo mode
2) Camera uses 4K to do a 3sec Video Burst
3) Keyframe is the actual shutter triggered moment
4) OPTIONAL: Edit photo to select a different keyframe if needed


That would give the user more choices on selecting the best frame of the series (like burst mode) and would deliver a 4K quality "moving picture" (like Harry Potter).
 
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