Filming Views for your Atmoph Window

I’m Kyohei Nakano, co-founder and software engineer at Atmoph.

Are you enjoying our Upload feature of Atmoph Window? With this feature, you can bring back views from your travels and enjoy them at home, greatly expanding the ways to enjoy Atmoph Window. Once you’re home, reliving travel memories offers a truly fresh experience.

I know it’s quite challenging to film views suitable for Atmoph. Some of you might be wondering how to film the best one for your window.

In this article, I’ll share some tips on how to skillfully film the views for Atmoph.

1. Format

The videos you film must be in the following criteria:

• Single: 1080px × 1920px (FullHD) / 2160px × 3840px (4K)
• Panorama: 3840px × 2160px (4K)
• Format：mp4/mov file with encoding H.264 or H.265
• Size: original file should not exceed 5GB
• Duration: between 1 minute and 15 minutes

Nowadays, many smartphones support 4K recording, so if you shoot in 4K/30fps, you can use the footage directly for your Atmoph Window. While both FullHD and 4K are supported for Single View, filming in 4K will result in much better quality.

2. Minimizing Camera Shake While Filming

Even when filming stunning scenery, maintaining a steady shot can be quite challenging. Holding the camera by hand often leads to unwanted movement and shaking.

Camera shake not only detracts from the immersive ‘window’ experience but can also induce motion sickness in viewers. Finding a stable surface to place your smartphone or camera can be tricky, especially in natural settings where factors like wind come into play. Personally, I recommend using a smartphone tripod that offers height and angle adjustments for stable footage.

I use a tripod myself. While it may not be as professional as those favored by experts, it’s compact, lightweight, and comes with a Bluetooth-connected shutter button for added convenience. This feature allows you to start and stop recording without having to touch your smartphone.

With a tripod, you can easily adjust for level and angle, and have the flexibility to position your camera at various heights.

3. Duration

When using the Upload feature, videos should have a minimum length of 1 minute. However, for a more immersive experience with your Atmoph Window, I recommend aiming for a duration of at least 5 minutes, ideally around 10 minutes (typical Atmoph views last about 15 minutes).

You’ll soon find that waiting for 10 minutes without any distractions can be tedious, especially when you’re recording with a smartphone and can’t use it to pass the time. To combat boredom, I suggest bringing along a quiet activity, such as pen puzzles like Sudoku, or a good novel. Engrossing yourself in a book can make time fly by.

While filming may seem monotonous, it offers a valuable opportunity to let your mind wander and enjoy a digital detox away from your smartphone.”

4. Tips for filming

While filming views, you have the freedom to choose compositions and angles that suit your preferences. However, to achieve a natural look resembling a view from a window, consider the following tips:

• Avoid extreme wide or zoomed-in angles; aim for angles that closely resemble human sight (recommended focal length around 30-40mm in 35mm terms).
• Position your camera as if you were looking out of a window from inside a house, capturing views as they would appear through that window.
• Steer clear of extreme upward or downward angles.

For inspiration, you can refer to the compositions of views filmed by Atmoph videographers, or explore the “User Views” section in “Views” for views uploaded by other users.

Filming the Beauty of Nature

I live near the magnificent Takaragaike Park in Kyoto. While I usually stroll or jog through the park, listening to music, when I stop to think, “I wonder if there are any good views,” it takes on a different perspective, and feels very refreshing.

While there are many people taking photos, not many are filming natural videos, so when you’re filming, you might be approached with “What are you filming?” This is a common occurrence for Atmoph videographers. It happened to me the other day when some deer came to peek while I was filming, which was quite surprising.

If you ever come across a wonderful landscape, why not capture it on film and bring it home for your Atmoph Window?

Please be sure to let us know when you capture a good view.

(This article was translated by AI.)