By Graham K. Rogers

Since my first iPhone, I have been running through apps that make more and better use of the camera. Now with the iPhone 4S, output is far better, although this will never replace my Nikon D7000 for still shots or for video. The iPhone does still manage to produce some interesting images that have a use, particularly on web pages. The iPhone is also considerably lighter than the DSLR.

The movie camera facility with the iPhone will never replace a proper video camera, although some excellent output can be produced. Just after the iPhone 4 came on the market there was a superb documentary of Ducati motorcycles on Pikes Peak, a hill climb in the US. More recently we have seen the value of phone-based cameras for on the spot reporting in the Middle-East and other trouble spots.

While I usually work with still photography, I am aware of what the iPhone is possible of creating and while I have not yet mastered iMovie on iOS, I have across some apps that add special effects to output. I have been using a couple of such apps (Cartoonatic and Cartoon the World) for a few months and recently added to these with ToonCamera.

Cartoonatic

Cartoonatic has some excellent effects that some users will really enjoy putting into their videos. The problem with such effects is that it is so easy to overdo them. Final output decisions are the editor's, of course, but with anything like this, Less is More may be a good rule of thumb.

Starting the app one is immediately working in a cartoon-style interface. That is not a criticism: that is how the app is. Once I had worked out the icons, the colours and shapes did not get in the way at all. That I was able to work it all out within five minutes does suggest that the app is well-designed and instinctive.

The screen will work in landscape or portrait mode with some of the icons rotating to suit the display. At the top of the screen (and not moving with changes in attitude) is a strip advertisement. At the bottom of the screen, there are three icons. From left to right these are a link to allow one to upgrade (the Pro version is $0.99 - no ads, more effects, cartoon photos); the camera icon, which changes to a red dot when video is being recorded; and a double arrow that reveals the controls.

Controls are displayed to the right side of the screen (in portrait mode). From top to bottom these are: down arrows to clear the controls from the screen; a flash on/off control so that video can be taken in better light if needed; control to switch the camera (facing out or facing the user); a microphone icon that allows selection of sound from several sources in addition to the video itself; a figure icon that selects the different effects; resolution control (360 x 480 or 320 x 400) and the video gallery, where output can be viewed or sent out in several ways (email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) or saved to the Photo library.

Just as an indication of the variety of outputs this app allows, I noted the effects as I went through each one: Jerry Oliver, Spacey Laney, Pencil Jeff, Pencil Jetty, Cute Harley, Robotron Jr., Robotron Sr, Honey Bee, Line Crusty.

A film reel icon on the left accesses any movie files in the Photo Album on the iPhone. We may apply effects to the selected file but are also promoted to choose a soundtrack: iPod Music, the sound from the movie recording, Mute, or one of 5 Tracks included with the App (these may not suit everyone). A 7-second clip 360 x 480 had a file size of 9.5MB.

A video of 12 seconds that I sent by email was 5.1 MB and arrived in .MOV format (which suits me). It took too long to download. It may be preferable to save to the Photo library and have it available when syncing. The file name was derived from the date and time it was created. It displayed well and the sound quality was reasonable enough: no different from normal output. Whether this sort of output is produced for the entertainment of children or inserted into more ambitious videos, it is a useful addition to my stock of apps and is in one of the easily accessible folders. Like many other movie apps this works on the iPad 2.

Cartoon The World

At the top of the screen are three controls: a figure "1" for the effect chosen (there are three, but more can be downloaded using the left side + button); and a "No Ads" button that allows us to remove advertising, although a screen at the start tells us this may be no longer active. Unlike the other apps, the cartoon effects are all similar, but the colors are changed using the four output options.

At the bottom of the screen are the major controls which are slid up onto the screen. The main visible control at the bottom is a slider for the intensity of the cartoon effect. This may be adjusted while shooting a video clip and the effect itself may be switched, so the change in the image is dramatic.

Other controls (left to right) are: "i" which reveals a brief but really useful screen of help information; a selector icon for input, which is indicated by the next icon (camera, library or video); an arrow icon which saves the changed image; and an export icon to send images via email, to Facebook, and "More" -- to allow users to set up their own export settings, or to turn any of them off. There is a difference with video. Once the clip is completed, the user may only save this to the Camera Roll where it may be edited and exported (email, message and YouTube). This app is deceptively simple to use and scores highly for its effects and the many ways that images (and video) can be used so quickly.

ToonCamera

The app starts with the image shown full screen. In portrait mode the tool icons are normally at the bottom of the screen (by the Home button). When the iPhone is switched to landscape mode, the icons remain in the same place, but rotate. The same happens if the iPhone is upside down: the icons are always beside the Home button and always displayed the right way up.

The onscreen display shows the user what effect is being applied before the shot is taken. From left to right (portrait mode) the first icon changes the effect and the second changes the line strength. There appear to be some 7 effects and 3 line settings, giving multiple choices as to the output. Between the line changing tool and the camera icon is a tool, slightly above the same level for selecting input.

Like Cartoonatic, there are three ways to create output from ToonCamera: the still camera, the movie camera (front and back for both) and from files in the Photo Albums. Alongside the camera icon is a light-bulb which turns on the LED flash: the icon changes to indicate that it is operating. The last icon (looking a bit like a shell) selects back or front cameras.

At the top right of the screen is an Information (i) icon. This displays information onscreen for each of the tool functions in a neat font that looks like handwriting.

While Cartoon The World can also use the iPhone cameras, applying effects to Photo Library files can only be done to still images: the movies were unavailable to me.

It is as simple as point and shoot once the camera is selected and the icon pressed to start the process. While recording some clips I found that I was able to change the effect (and line settings) while filming.

When a clip was completed, a user is given the option to Save or Discard. Saving brings up a panel with several output options:Save to Album, Email video, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

Sending by email gave me a smaller output of 480 x 320 in .MOV format, while the same clip when transferred by USB cable from the Photo Album on the iPhone to Aperture on the Mac was 864 x 576 with a comparatively larger file size: a 40 second clip was 4.1MB by email and 24.71MB when imported.

I also used the effects on a movie file that was already available in the Photo Album on the iPhone. This may be preferable in some cases, keeping the original intact, for use in other ways. The original file was in a 480 x 480 format (30fps) and had a file size of 672KB, while the file exported from ToonCamera was considerably larger at 4.45MB. The image size was the same, but the file had been changed to 15fps.

With some of the output from this and some effects available in Cartoonatic, I was reminded of the first Lord of the Rings movie. Not the trilogy made by Peter Jackson in New Zealand, but an unfinished version of the story that was released in the late 1970s and was made partly using cartoon style scenes, looking something like the later Beowulf and perhaps a little like Tron.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.