Your Android device also has a talent for moving pictures
Tap the switch in Android's Camera app to switch between shooting still images and video clips
Whether you've got movie-making ambitions or just want to capture a few precious moments, your Android device can help you grab plenty of footage and share it with the world. And, with the help of a few choice apps, you can even carry and play movies right on your phone.
LIGHTS, CAMERA... PHONE?
Android includes robust capture capabilities that are limited only by the power of your built-in camera. In most cases that will fall short of a complete HD experience, but the quality should be more than sufficient to provide a credible stand-in when your camcorder is out of reach.
To start shooting footage in Android, launch the Camera app and toggle it to Video mode by tapping the small.
camcorder/camera switch on the right side of the screen. Note that, unlike when shooting stills, it's important to hold the phone horizontally - in landscape orientation - at this point, since there's no such thing as portrait mode for video.
Your camera's default settings should generally give you usable results, automatically setting focus and exposure while compensating for varying lighting conditions. You can fine tune your video capture, however, by hitting the Menu button on your phone and choosing Settings. Here you'll find options for adjusting the quality, maximum duration, white balance and colour effects.
Most of the time you'll be shooting at high quality, which can quickly take up a fair amount of space on your device's SD card. However, if you're planning to share your videos via MMS messaging, it makes more sense to shoot them at low quality to make sure they'll be small enough to send. You can set duration to 30 seconds (which is good for MMS), 10 minutes (the maximum length for YouTube) or 30 minutes (which is really pretty long).
Auto white balance is enabled by default, and usually delivers realistic tones. But if you're planning to shoot a number of clips in one location, it's better to select the white balance manually according to the light available. Android's Camera app gives you options for incandescent {traditional electric) or fluorescent lighting, daylight and cloudy days.
If you want to get fancy, you can also opt for colour effects, applying a sepia tone, a negative effect, or a coloured tint to your footage. But we'd say if you really want to be creative with your video, it makes more sense to shoot it straight and then export it to a video-editing program on your PC, where you can properly cut and process it. The final results will be better, and you won't mar your original footage in the process.
When you're happy with your settings, tap the red Record button on the screen to start capturing. And when you're done, tap the same button to save the recording to your memory card.
PUTTING ON A SHOW
To share videos from your phone, simply tap them in the Gallery to open them. You can get to the Gallery from your phone's app menu or by tapping the Gallery icon in the upper right corner of the Camera app.
Automatic white balance will usually cope, but manual selection can improve your results in tricky lighting conditions
Tap and hold a video until the context menu pops up, and select Share to view a list of apps that can send your video to friends. You should see options such as Gmail, Messaging (for MMS), Twidroid (for Twitter) and YouTube.
Bear in mind that certain methods of sharing video will have limitations. As mentioned above, if you want to share your videos with friends via MMS, it's best to shoot in low quality and to keep the message shorter than 30 seconds. YouTube videos can be high quality, but must be less than 10 minutes in length.
You can share your videos straight from Android through a variety of social messaging and online service apps
For instant sharing, you can also opt to start recording video from within Android's Messaging app. To do this, tap Messaging in the app menu, select a recipient, then hit the Menu button on your phone and choose Attach. Next, choose Capture video.
By default, Messaging will set your recording quality to Low and give you a 30-second countdown timer to help you limit your clip to an appropriate length. If you're not happy with your footage on the first take, you can tap the Retake button and try again. When you're satisfied, tap OK; Messaging will then convert your video into MMS format. Finally, tap Send to fire it off to whichever of your contacts you prefer.
Messaging is a fast way to share video, but how about real time? If you feel like doing a little live broadcasting, you can. A free app called Qik, available from Android Market, gives you the ability to record and stream video from your Android device to a free account at Qik. com. There'll be a short delay of a few seconds as the video uploads to Qik's server, but to your viewers it's as good as a live TV feed.
With a small but growing number of Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Qik even supports two-way live video chat, comparable to Apple's FaceTime.
PLAYING MOVIES AND MORE
For entertainment on the go, you can copy video files to your phone and play them back anytime. A free utility called Videora (tinyurl.com/34jwrlg) runs on your Windows PC or Mac to convert DVDs and other movie content into a format that will play on various Android phones. Whether this is legal depends on the type of content you're converting, but the process itself is simple. Bear in mind that a full-length movie can take more than an hour to convert.
Alternatively, HandBrake (handbrake.fr) can also convert movies to assorted formats. If you choose this as your video conversion tool, try a free Android Market download called LukLuk to play a wide variety of video formats, including 3PGP, MP4 and WMA. If you register this app, you can also access a selection of premium streaming movies and TV content.
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