Roll is a new company that aims to use intelligent artificial intelligence to revolutionize the way iPhones are used for video production, especially Talking Head videos and remote interviews.
What’s particularly interesting and novel about Roll is that it uses cloud-based AI technology to take video data captured on your iPhone and simulate professional slider, dolly, and jib movements. is. Roll also helps create simulated bokeh to make your footage look more cinematic.
why roll?
Before we delve into technology and performance, it’s important to understand. why The existence of Roll and what the team wants to achieve with the new app.
There are two common scenarios for remote video production. An interview or video call participant uses her Zoom or another video conferencing app with a built-in webcam, or a full-scale production setup with expensive and complex audio and video equipment.
The former is easy to set up and accessible, but performance varies greatly depending on webcam and network speed. The second situation is often complex, not user-friendly, and expensive.
Roll aims to replace the performance of the second option while combining the accessibility and usability of popular video conferencing apps.
“Video production is ripe for cloud disruption. Large file sizes, processing complexity, and multi-person review cycles mean that cloud It’s perfect for reaping huge benefits from AI and AI technology,” said Roll’s founder and CEO. Faizan Buzdal.
How do roles work?
Ahead of today’s announcement, Petapixel I spoke with Roll’s Michelle Oh and Fazan Budzar about the team’s new app. Part of that discussion included a live demonstration using a pre-release version of the role within Apple TestFlight on iOS and a beta version of the web client on a laptop.
One thing that immediately struck me about the Roll was its ease of use. As soon as you install the app and create an account, you can go. Someone must be hosting the call on Roll, but participants don’t need a computer. You can use your phone only.
However, the combination of a mobile phone and a computer makes it easy to see what’s going on, check settings, and download the resulting video.
For these videos, Roll uses AI to create automatic edits, while users customize different camera movements and add AI-generated bokeh to create different final videos. can. Moreover, users can download the source footage and edit the video. Source files are organized by participant, and for iPhones with wide-angle and telephoto cameras, by camera type.
For those with multi-camera iPhone models such as the iPhone 14 Pro, both cameras record simultaneously and send the data to the cloud, where Roll handles each camera stream. The user can preview the framing in her web app. This is especially helpful because he can’t see the iPhone’s display when using the rear camera.
Other than that, participants don’t have much to worry about. The meeting host or designated producer can see all cameras her feed and communicate with each participant accordingly.
However, recording the “slate” is essential to the AI capabilities of the app. A slate is when the user steps out of the frame, back into the frame, says their name, counts to three, and clap their hands. The app will automatically prompt the user to do this. This helps the app identify you and analyze the sound quality of your room. This data can help teach roles to improve over time. The app is not trained by other users using her content.
The slate also helps Roll recreate the user’s room in 3D. This allows the app to move the camera even though the iPhone is stationary.
Roll results are impressive
in the meantime Petapixel We tested a pre-release version of Roll and the results are already impressive. This app will automatically generate a VFX sample video of him showcasing the app’s available moves that you can use when editing your final video. And ready to share near-instant AI-powered edits with a variety of social media aspect ratios.
This is a big deal and a key part of Roll’s appeal as a one-stop-shop for high-quality video content. Manual control of pan, dolly and crane shots is great, but for many users, being able to record an interview and publish it to multiple online platforms within minutes after the call ends is important. Large scale .
Ahead of today’s release, Roll met with many content creators on social media, film students and even the production team. Experts knew Rolle didn’t use high-end video equipment to capture the footage, but people generally didn’t believe the results were from his iPhone. bottom.
That is the power of AI and the mission of Roll. It’s about replacing expensive, hard-to-use devices with the smartphones that most people carry in their pockets, and using AI to outperform the normal results of smartphones.and the result is absolutely If you achieve that, it can get even better over time.
Looking Forward — What’s Happening Now?
The Roll team is hard at work developing additional features for mobile and web apps, including an easy-to-use text-based editor. It allows users to cut lines, change camera angles, add motion and visual effects with a single click. Teams will be able to collaborate on the editing process in real time.
Fascinating use of AI
The public perception of AI has changed significantly in the last year or two. While people were excited about AI, they became increasingly concerned about its impact on their daily lives and its potential to be exploited.
To Rolle’s credit, the AI isn’t being used to replace anything while the AI is running the app, it’s taking full advantage of the iPhone’s camera and allowing the user to It is used to make it easier to create high quality content.
Roll technically simulates the user’s room, such as pans and dolly shots, which relies on the app creating background information that was not captured by the phone’s camera. It does a little fancy generation work for , but pales in comparison to the generation process. AI like Midjourney and what Adobe is doing with the latest version of Photoshop.
Of course roll do It uses AI to synthesize something, but it uses AI almost entirely to take what’s already there and make it look more sophisticated and cinematic.
People worry about how AI will be used, mainly how it will be used to radically change something, change someone’s appearance, or say something they didn’t say Of course, that’s not what Roll does, and according to its creator, it doesn’t do anything. It will happen. The Roll team wants to help people create better content without spending a lot of money or buying new equipment.
It’s also easy to see the role’s potential when it comes to communicating with people who are remote or too dangerous to send a production team to. For example, imagine being video interviewed with a journalist on the ground in a war zone. If the journalist has her iPhone, it’s easy to quickly capture high-quality footage and add images using Roll’s AI technology for her. very The inside is thoroughly polished.
People don’t have the infinite time, money, and know-how to deal with creating video productions on the fly, especially not remotely. Roll doesn’t want these constraints to limit the look and feel of end-user content.
“Roll automates the entire process and is fundamentally changing the way video is made today. Go from recording to publishing in 15 minutes. We are excited to see what amazing videos you create with , and we believe Roll could be the future of video production,” adds Buzdar. Roll’s founding team is made up of industry leaders such as Box, GoPro, Technicolor, Epic Games and Twitter.
price and availability
In particular, the user does not need an iPhone. A user can join a roll meeting from her web, but that user won’t get the same special treatment as iPhone-captured footage. A user can also use his flashy mirrorless camera by connecting it to his computer.
AI can potentially be used to make video and audio from different types of sources look and sound more consistent. It could also lead to more functionality in the app, such as the ability to use text chat and perhaps share files that can be viewed by call participants.
Regarding iPhone compatibility, any iPhone that can run the latest version of iOS, with or without a telephoto camera, is compatible. However, iPhone models with better cameras and multiple camera modules give you access to the entire VFX suite, so your content will look better. Sufficient light is also essential for the app to work its magic, but users can still join roll video calls in dim environments, with the caveat that the content doesn’t look as good.
Much of the app’s magic happens in the cloud, not on the user’s device, but surprisingly, network performance is not so much a limiting factor. Thanks to advanced internal technology, the team has done a great job of eliminating signs of buffering and voice echo. I had a brief problem with my local network during the demo, but the app didn’t disappoint.
Roll is available now and the app is free to download. A user can try the app and use it for his one-time recordings of up to two hours.
Additional “Creator” ($49/month with annual plan) and “Pro” ($199/month with annual plan) levels give users more editing freedom, more recording time, additional effects, and more storage. is available. If users in these tiers exceed their recording limit, they can pay more to take advantage of the extra time.
Based on pricing, which Rolle said is subject to change based on data, it’s clear that Rolle is primarily targeting users who have historically employed professional high-end video production teams. The company says it’s focused on the “prosumer” market, which includes independent creators, podcasters and influencers, as well as businesses.
Users are encouraged, but not required, to use some sort of tripod or stand for their mobile phones. We recommend a stand that allows you to place the camera on or near your computer monitor.
Image credit: roll
