Chapter 8
In This Chapter
Finding and playing videos
Restricting movies
Capturing, editing, and deleting video on your iPad
Facing up to FaceTime
Picture this scene: The smell of popcorn permeates the room as you and your family congregate to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster. A motion picture soundtrack swells up. The images on the screen are stunning. And all eyes are fixed on the iPad.
Okay, here comes the reality check. The iPad is not going to replace a wall-sized high-definition television as the centerpiece of your home theater (though as you discover, you can watch material that originates on the iPad on the bigger screen). Then again, it’s worth pointing out that the gorgeous Retina display on third-generation and later iPads has a higher-resolution screen than even the high-definition television in your living room — and is just about the finest-looking display we’ve ever seen on a handheld device. But you shouldn’t have an inferiority complex if you have one of the near-10-inch displays on an iPad 2. Those screens look terrific, too, even when you’re not viewing them head-on. And now that the recent iPad minis have also graduated to a Retina display, even a small-screen iPad is going to grab your attention.
Bottom line: No matter which iPad you own, watching movies and other videos on Apple’s prized tablet is a cinematic treat. What’s more, you have front and rear cameras that can help turn you, under certain circumstances, into a filmmaker — right from the device.
And video on the iPad ventures into another area: video chat. You can keep in touch with friends and loved ones by gazing into each other’s pupils. It’s all done through a version of FaceTime, a clever video chat program that comes with your iPad. In the interest of equal time, we’d also like to point out that you can do video chats on your iPad by downloading a popular third-party app such as Skype — and do clever group chats via another app called Spin from Net Power & Light.
We get to FaceTime later in this chapter. For now, and without any further ado, we get on with the show!
You have a few main ways to find and watch videos on your iPad. You can fetch all sorts of fare from the iTunes Store, whose virtual doors you can open directly from the iPad. Or you can sync content that already resides on your Mac or PC. (If you haven’t done so yet, now is as good a time as any to read Chapter 3 for all the details on syncing.)
The videos you can watch on the iPad generally are in one of the following categories:
The iTunes Store features dedicated sections for purchasing or renting episodes of TV shows, as shown in Figure 8-1, and for buying or renting movies, as shown in Figure 8-2.
Pricing varies, but it’s not atypical (as of this writing) to fork over $1.99 to pick up an episode of a popular TV show in standard definition or $2.99 for a high-def version. And a few shows are free. You can also purchase a complete season of a favorite show. The final season of a classic show such as Lost costs $24.99 in standard-def and $29.99 in high-def.
A new release feature film typically costs $19.99 in high definition or $14.99 in standard def. But you can find HD movies for as little as $9.99 and sometimes even less.
You can also rent many movies, typically for $2.99, $3.99, or $4.99, though Apple usually serves up a juicy 99-cent rental as well. Not all movies can be rented, and we’re not wild about current rental restrictions — you have 30 days to begin watching a rented flick and a day to finish watching after you’ve started, though you can watch as often as you want during the 24-hour period. But that’s showbiz for you. Such films appear in their own Rented Movies section in the video list, which you get to by tapping Videos. The number of days before your rental expires is displayed.
In some instances, World War Z being one example, purchasing a movie also affords you so-called iTunes Extras for your Mac or PC, featuring the kind of bonus content that is sometimes reserved for DVDs.
Tap a movie listing in iTunes, and you can generally preview a trailer before buying (or renting) and check out additional tidbits: the plot summary, credits, reviews, and customer ratings, as well as other movies that appealed to other buyers of this one. See Figure 8-3. And you can search films by genre or top charts (the ones other people are buying or renting), or rely on the Apple Genius feature for recommendations based on stuff you’ve already watched. (Genius works for movies and TV much the way it works for music, as we explain in Chapter 7.) Apple also groups movies by various themes, Date Night Movies and Indie New Releases being two examples.
You may have to prepare some videos so that they’ll play on your iPad. To do so, highlight the video in question after it resides in your iTunes library. In iTunes, choose File⇒Create New Version⇒Create iPad or Apple TV Version. Alas, creating an iPad version of a video doesn’t work for all the video content you download from the Internet, including video files in the AVI, DivX, MKV, Flash, WMV, and Xvid formats.
For more on compatibility, check out the nearby “Are we compatible?” sidebar (but read it at your own risk).
Now that you know what you want to watch, here’s how to watch it:
You see a tabbed interface for Movies, TV Shows, and Music Videos. If Home Sharing is running on your computer through iTunes, a Shared tab will also be visible.
For these steps, we walk you through watching a movie, but the steps for TV shows and music videos are similar.
As Figure 8-5 shows, you see poster thumbnails for any movies you previously purchased through iTunes — even for those movies you haven’t downloaded yet. (Some posters may reveal only a dimmed box, showing the title of the movie and a filmstrip icon.)
If you see the iCloud symbol on the video thumbnail, you can stream the movie, provided you have a decent Internet connection.
Tap Settings⇒Videos to choose whether to see thumbnails for all the videos you have stored in iCloud or on the device, or show only those that have been downloaded to your iPad.
You’re taken to a movie summary page that reveals a larger movie poster, a play icon, and tabs for Details, Chapters, and Related, as shown in Figure 8-6.
Alternatively, from the Chapters view (see Figure 8-7), tap any chapter to start playing from that point.
Want to start playing from where you left off rather than from the beginning (or vice versa)? Visit the Settings app, tap Videos, and make your selection.
Hollywood movies and other content from iTunes can be watched only in landscape mode. Video you’ve shot can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode.
While a video is playing, tap the screen to display the controls shown in Figure 8-8. Here’s how to work the controls:
Fitting the video to the screen displays the film in its theatrical aspect ratio. You may see black bars above and below the video (or to its sides), which some people don’t like. The bars on the top and bottom are an example of letterboxing; on the sides, it’s pillarboxing. Filling the entire screen with the video may crop or trim the sides or top of the picture, so you don’t see the complete scene that the director shot.
We love watching movies on the iPad, but we also recognize the limitations of a smaller screen, even one as stunning as the Retina display. Friends won’t crowd around to watch with you, as good as it is, so Apple offers two ways to display video from your iPad to a TV:
You can multitask while streaming a video. Therefore, while the kids are watching a flick on the TV, you can surf the web or catch up on email.
Although you can stream from an iPad to an Apple TV and switch screens between the two, you can’t stream a rented movie that you started watching on Apple TV to the iPad.
If you have a more recent iPad, however, the appropriate digital AV (HDMI) adapter also lets you mirror the iPad screen on the connected TV or projector. So you can not only watch a movie or video but also view anything else that’s on the iPad’s screen: your Home screens, web pages, games, other apps, you name it.
Although the composite adapter has its cables built right in, the digital AV adapter doesn’t include an HDMI cable, so you have to supply one. For more on accessories, check out Chapter 17.
If you’ve given an iPad to your kid or someone who works for you, you may not want that person spending time watching movies or television. You might want him or her to do something more productive, such as homework or the quarterly budget. That’s where parental restrictions come in. Please note that the use of this iron-fist tool can make you unpopular.
Tap Settings⇒General⇒Restrictions⇒Enable Restrictions. You’re asked to establish or enter a previously established passcode. Twice. Having done so, you can set restrictions based on movie ratings (PG, R, and so on) and regulate access to TV shows, also based on ratings. You can also restrict FaceTime usage or use of the camera (which when turned off also turns off FaceTime). For more on restrictions, flip to Chapter 15, where we explain the settings for controlling (and loosening) access to iPad features.
Video takes up space — lots of space. After the closing credits roll and you no longer want to keep a video on your iPad, here’s what you need to know about deleting it:
The iPad 2 was the first iPad with a camera — um, two cameras, to be precise. The rear camera can record video up to the high-definition techie standard of 720p and at 30 frames per second (fps), or as full-motion video. Come again? That’s a fancy way to say that the video ought to play back smoothly. The front camera can also perform at 30 fps, but the VGA (video graphics array) quality isn’t quite as good.
Apple equipped later iPads with even better cameras. The 8-megapixel iSight camera on iPad Air 2 takes terrific stills (see Chapter 9) and lets you capture 1080p high-definition videos. Another bonus is that the camera has built-in video stabilization, which helps compensate for slightly jittery videographers. You can shoot video with the front-facing FaceTime camera as well, which includes a sensor that permits HDR, or high dynamic range, video. (Read Chapter 9 for more on HDR.)
Now that we’ve dispensed with that little piece of business, here’s how to shoot video on the iPad:
A dot appears next to the word Video, which is highlighted in yellow. On some models you can also choose Time Lapse or Slo-mo. If either of your other options, Photo or Square, is selected, it will appear in yellow with a dot next to it instead. (Read Chapter 9 for more on these options.)
You can’t switch from the front to the rear camera (or vice versa) while you’re capturing a scene. So before shooting anything, think about which camera you want to use, and then tap the front/rear camera icon in the top-right corner of the screen when you’ve made your choice.
When you choose a non-video shooting format — Photo or Square — the round shutter button is white. In any case, while you’re shooting a scene, the counter will tick off the seconds.
Your video is automatically saved to the Camera Roll album (labeled in Figure 8-9), alongside any other saved videos and digital stills that land in the Photos app.
If you have the iPad Air 2, you get another shooting benefit: the capability to capture video in slow motion, which we think is truly nifty. You’ll love playing back in slow motion your kid’s amazing catch in the varsity football game, just like the TV networks do to show off super plays by the pros.
When shooting in slow motion on the Air 2, the iSight camera records video at a high rate of 120 frames per second (fps) in 720p high-definition video. You get to select where to play back the video at quarter speed, as we show you in a moment.
But first things first: You have to grab the video before you can play it back. To shoot in slow motion, launch the Camera app and select Slo-Mo as your shooting format of choice. Shoot your slow-motion footage the same way you shoot at regular speeds. Note that the white circle surrounding the red shutter icon has teeny-tiny lines around it.
Tap the slow-motion video you want to watch. The video starts playing at normal speed, and then slows at a point determined by the phone. You can adjust this slow-motion section by sliding the vertical bars below the frame viewer, as shown in Figure 8-10. (When the vertical lines are close, the video plays at a normal speed; when the lines are spread apart, the video plays slowly.) Note that when you play back a segment in slow motion, any accompanying audio is slowed too.
The Time-Lapse camera feature added in iOS 8 has the opposite effect of Slo-Mo, enabling you to capture a scene and play it back at a warped speed. Choose Time-Lapse the same way that you select other shooting modes, and then tap the record icon. The app captures photos at dynamically selected intervals. When you’re ready to watch the sped-up sequence, tap play as you do with any other video.
We assume that you captured some really great footage, but you probably shot some stuff that belongs on the cutting room floor as well. No big whoop — you can perform simple edits right on your iPad. Tap the Camera Roll album in the lower-right corner of the Camera app to find your recordings. Then:
Hold your finger over the section to expand the frame viewer to make it easier to apply your edits. Tap the play icon to preview your surgery.
This method will let you edit footage captured only on an iOS device, not video from a digital camcorder or camera — even if you sync it to the iPad.
You can play back what you’ve just shot in portrait or landscape mode. And if the video is any good, you’ll likely want to share it with a wider audience. To do so, open the Camera Roll album and tap the thumbnail for the video in question. Tap the share icon, and you can email the video (if the video file isn’t too large) or send it as a Message (see Chapter 5).
And you have many other options: You can save the video to iCloud or share it in numerous other places, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, and (if a Chinese keyboard was enabled) the Chinese services Youku and Tudou. You can also view your video as part of a slideshow (see Chapter 9) or, if you have an Apple TV box, dispatch it to a big-screen television via AirPlay.
We bet you can come up with a lengthy list of people you’d love to be able to eyeball in real time from afar. Maybe the list includes your old college roommate, or old college sweetheart, or your grandparents, who’ve long since retired to a warm climate.
That’s the beauty of FaceTime, the video chat app. FaceTime exploits the two cameras built into the devices, each serving a different purpose. The front camera lets you talk face to face. The back camera shows what you’re seeing to the person you’re talking to.
To take advantage of FaceTime, here’s what you need:
Using FaceTime over a cellular connection can quickly run through your monthly data allotment and prove hazardous to your budget. However, you can do an audio-only FaceTime call, which can cut down significantly on your data usage.
When you use FaceTime for the first time, after you tap the app’s icon from the Home screen, you’re required to sign in to FaceTime using your Apple ID, which can be your iTunes Store account, iCloud ID, or another Apple account. (You may have previously supplied this info when setting up your iPad.) If you don’t have an account, tap Create New Apple ID to set one up in FaceTime. You also must supply an email address or a phone number that callers use to call you from their own FaceTime-capable iPad, Mac, iPhone, or iPod touch.
If you have multiple email addresses, callers can use any of them for FaceTime. To add an email address after the initial setup, tap Settings⇒FaceTime⇒Add Another Email. And phone numbers (for your iPhone) work too with iOS 6 or later.
You can turn FaceTime on or off in Settings. However, if you don’t turn off FaceTime, you don’t have to sign back in when you launch the app.
Now the real fun begins — making a video call. (We say specifically “video call” because you can now also make FaceTime audio calls.) Follow these steps:
You can check out what you look like in a window prior to making a FaceTime call. So powder your nose and put on a happy face.
Alternately, tap the Audio tab to make an audio-only FaceTime call.
When a call is underway, you can see what you look like to the other person through a small picture-in-picture window, which you can drag to any corner of the video call window. The small window lets you know if your mug has dropped out of sight.
While you’re on a FaceTime call, the following tips will be handy:
Of course, you can get FaceTime calls as well as make them. FaceTime doesn’t have to be open for you to receive a video call. Here’s how incoming calls work:
With that, we hereby silence this chapter. But you can do more with the cameras on your iPad, and we get to that in Chapter 9.