Director's viewfinder
Turn your phone into a director's viewfinder. Choose the cinema camera, recording mode and lens; the phone's camera image is cropped to the same angle of view, with frame lines for the delivery aspect ratio and a center mark.
Use it on a scout or on set to try lenses before the camera is built, to block a shot or to show the framing to the director. Saved frames carry the camera, lens and aspect ratio, ready for a shot list or a storyboard.
How to use it
- Camera and lens: choose the camera and recording mode, then the focal length. Use the squeeze factor for anamorphic lenses.
- Frame lines: pick the delivery aspect ratio, or turn them off.
- Phone camera: enter the 35 mm equivalent focal length of your phone's main camera, or calibrate by measuring an object of known width.
- Save frame: stores the framed image with the camera and lens written under it.
Example
On an ALEXA 35 in 4.6K 3:2 Open Gate, a 35 mm lens has a horizontal angle of view of about 43.6°. A phone whose main camera is 26 mm equivalent sees about 67°, so the viewfinder crops the phone image by about ×1.7.
Good to know
Only the framing is simulated: depth of field, distortion and the look of the lens are not. The phone camera cannot show more than it sees, so very wide lenses on large formats may be wider than the phone; turn the phone sideways to get the most width. The camera image stays on your device.