Image Capture not showing Photos or Videos on connected Phone

I've run into this a few times. The solution turns out, while simple, is completely non-intuitive.

The problem:

You've connected a client's phone to pull off all the "tons of absolutely great" videos and photos they've taken to "help" with the project. And you, being the editor kinda-sorta have to use them because heck, the client themselves took them just for you for their project.

You connect their phone (or iPad or whatever) to your Mac via the cable and launch Image Capture and nothing shows up. Both the Mac and the phone just sit there. Wonderful.

The solution:

Launch iTunes.

Yep. It'll ask if you want to access the connected device. Hit "Trust" on the phone and they'll show up after a few seconds in Image Capture and you can just highlight them all and drag them off and "forget" to use them later on because they're useless and blurry and shaky.

ProTip:

If you want to "untrust" the phone on your computer or they insist they do (Security! they say, "It's the business phone and our IT guys need it to be secure.") what I think you do, is this mess:

Reset the Lockdown Folder.

Yes. Hard as it is to believe that's how it's done.

If you just want to Untrust the phone you just trusted just now, open the Lockdown Folder and then sort by date created and delete the most recent one.

Video Editing Is Everywhere

First Youtube released rudimentary video editing capabilities, then we had iMovie on iPhone and iPad and now Vimeo has a video editing app for iPhone (and iPad?).

"An easy-to-use video editor

• Capture video with focus control and grid alignment
• Combine, edit, and trim your videos
• Add transitions, titles, and effects
• Add music and recordings
• Control volume levels
• Save edited videos to your camera roll or upload directly to Vimeo

The whole Vimeo experience

• Watch and manage all your existing Vimeo videos and download them to your camera roll
• Easily upload your raw footage or edited creations in HD or SD
• Pause and resume uploads
• Replace existing videos
• Edit title, description, tags, privacy and credits
• Share with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress, Email or SMS
• Add your clips to your Groups, Channels and Albums
• Stats on daily plays, likes and comments"

We're going to be seeing on-set editing more and more I'll bet; rough cuts right then and there. I've already experimented a bit with this just goofing around on set and I can see it coming into it's own soon. I just loathe the day that clients want to see a rough cut the same day as the shoot and expect it to be sent to them before the crew heads home.

iPhone 4's HD Video

Here's a sample of footage from an iPhone 4 shot at 720/30 in it's native H.264.

It looks good, a bit blown out and jerky but the image holds up nicely even with the complexity of the plants all around. The thing that bugs me -aside from nothing protecting the lens from a pretty massive kick- is that it seems to have a rolling shutter.

You can see it in action by scrubbing a little back and forth in the final second when the camera is looking at the house.

ReelDirector for the iPhone 3GS from Nexvio

ReelDirector is a video editor made by Nexvio for the iPhone 3GS and it's pretty impressive. Hopefully, the next Final Cut will similarly have a more refined and approachable -yet not dumbed down- interface.

ReelDirector makes it simple for everyone to create movie right on iPhone 3GS. With a drag-and-drop timeline, multiple text watermark styles and 27 pro grade transitions, you'll turn your scattered video clips into polished movies in just minutes.

It's $7.99. Yes, 8 dollars.

Note to self: Get an iPhone...