Slow motion app review (Slo Pro)

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bdorman

Dead money
Silver Member
After reading another thread on new slow motion apps I downloaded Slo Pro for iPhone. It looked like the best of the slow motion apps offered, and I'm pretty happy with it. With the free version you can't save the video to the Camera Roll (where it could be exported to your computer, etc) but you can keep it in Slo Pro (non-exportable). The paid version is only $3 so I bought it after trying the free version.

Most of the other slow motion apps only offer "Slow" or "Fast" playback, Slo Pro offers 6 speeds of slow motion and 3 speeds of fast motion. To view pool table action I think 500 fps (frames per second) is best; it's the second-slowest speed offered.

The editing features are very useful and easy. You can "cut" portions of the video you don't need (like the time between pressing the "Rec" button and when you hit the CB -- you really don't want to view that in slow motion:-).

As an example, here's a clip of a two-ball hit that would be difficult to judge which ball was hit first in real time...but the Slo Pro makes it pretty easy. (also note the excellent follow-through on the stroke!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1_jMv7kvbc&feature=youtu.be

Next I'm going to try to capture some shots at table level.
 
is the camera on iphone capable of record video with higher frame rate, say higher than 100fps?
 
JayKidd said:
is the camera on iphone capable of record video with higher frame rate, say higher than 100fps?
Click to expand...

The iPhone 5 only has two frame rates: 30fps for standard lighting and 24fps for low-lighting situations. I think the SloPro app boosts this to 60fps, but I'm not sure if that's real or hype. It seems the slow motion (500 and 1000 fps ! ) is achieved by slowing the playback; not speeding up the recording. iPhone 5C might offer more but I don't know anything about it.

So obviously you wouldn't use it to shoot a major motion picture studio release, but it does a good job at the pool table.
 
The newest iPhone has Slo-Mo built into it already and will do 120 FPS. I have one, I simply haven't taken the time to test it.
 
This is an awesome app and I use it myself, but the shot in the youtube link, did you just set that up to show an example or was it recorded during an actual game? Because by using the laws of physics alone, it would be easy to conclude that the 7 ball was hit first due to it traveling faster and further than the 1 ball, which can be seen by the human eye without the app. But it's fun using it on really close shots where you think it's a simultaneous hit because both falls seem to be traveling at an equal distance or same speed. And good follow through! Lol.
 
That is a great app, that would be a great tool for referees, to use in matches, during heads up and/or tournaments. Some matches are substantial money, so that would come in handy.
 
nobcitypool said:
The newest iPhone has Slo-Mo built into it already and will do 120 FPS. I have one, I simply haven't taken the time to test it.
Click to expand...

Recording at 120 fps is great but it creates a file that is 4 times as large as a normal 30 fps file. Of course, since slow motion is usually used in short clips, that shouldn't be too much of a hinderance.

If it's playback at 120 fps (recorded at 30-60 fps) that's not slow enough to see the "first hit" on a close shot.

Kris_b1104 said:
This is an awesome app and I use it myself, but the shot in the youtube link, did you just set that up to show an example or was it recorded during an actual game? Because by using the laws of physics alone, it would be easy to conclude that the 7 ball was hit first due to it traveling faster and further than the 1 ball, which can be seen by the human eye without the app. But it's fun using it on really close shots where you think it's a simultaneous hit because both falls seem to be traveling at an equal distance or same speed. And good follow through! Lol.
Click to expand...

I set up the shot because I wanted to test the app and get on with practice. Actually I think the speed and distance of the 1-ball would have been the same (or even less) if I'd hit it first: it would have been such a thin hit that it wouldn't move much. The CB reaction off the 7-ball resulted in a much fuller hit on the 1-ball.

I recorded another clip of a 9-ball break during the same session. It's fun to see the "natural" ball paths in slow motion. But it's not fun to see how much I "steered" my break stroke. OMG!

I'm not sure how useful it would be for refereeing a shot because you have to stand pretty close to the balls. In the clip the camera is about 3 feet from the balls...standing right up next to the end rail with the camera at about chin height...not exactly where you'd like your opponent standing during your shot. That's a limitation of the iPhone's fixed lense angle, not the app. When true nano manufacturing becomes cost efficient they'll be able to include a real zoom lense, and that will be cool.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
Because by using the laws of physics alone, it would be easy to conclude that the 7 ball was hit first due to it traveling faster and further than the 1 ball, which can be seen by the human eye without the app.
Click to expand...

I'm not discounting the app. However, rather than ball speed, I would think the direction the ball travels is a much more accurate way of determining whether or not it was a good hit.
"The one ball is the teacher." :lol:
Neat app though. I'm looking around for something for the android.
 
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