Have you ever had sleepless nights wondering whether the video recording app you are using really shoots in the frame rate and bitrate that it says it does? What’s the codec of the video file that was just sent to me? And (how much) does my editing app of choice crunch the bitrate (“quality”) of the original clips when exporting the project? No? Good for you, you may skip this article! But since you are already here you might as well read it anyway! I’m going to look at three different apps, one Android-only, one iOS-only and one that is available for both Google’s and Apple’s mobile platform.
You might ask, “Do I really need an extra app to get some basic info about a video file? I can do that with a keyboard shortcut on my desktop computer!”. Well, yes and no. That depends on what you consider to be “basic info”. Generally speaking, it’s a lot easier to access some standard file properties on Android than on iOS. Not only does pretty much every device come with a file manager that actually deserves the name but you will also be able to get file size, file container format and the resolution from the device’s Gallery app. Usually, an option labeled “Details” or “Info” is available in a menu after selecting a video clip. One would think that such trivialities should also be accessible from iOS’s Camera Roll, but … no. In case you don’t know, “Gallery” (Android) and “Camera Roll” (iOS) refer to the “image bucket” where all photos and videos go unless they are stored directly within an app. The only info about a video you get in Apple’s Camera Roll is the length of the video. Yes, there’s a way to get a little bit more data without installing a 3rd party app: Select a clip in the Camera Roll and share-copy it to iOS’s “Files” app by choosing “Save to Files” from the share options. Tap on “On My iPhone/iPad” and select any folder (or create a new one!) where you want the copy to go, then tap on “Save” in the top-right corner. Next, open the Files app, locate the file and long press on it. From the pop-up menu, select “Info”. You will now at least know the file size and the resolution (“Dimensions”) of the video. A tad tedious? Seriously? Ok…
Head on over to the Apple AppStore and download an app called Metapho (shout-out to Mr Marc Blank-Settle who initially pointed me towards it). The app is free (never mind the App Store always telling you that it’s “processing payment” when downloading an app, even if it’s free!) and will give you the following info for video files: File container format (usually it’s a Quicktime Movie aka .mov), length, frame rate, resolution, file size and video codec (in most cases either H.264 or the newer HEVC/H.265). There’s an in-app purchase for 4.49€ but it doesn’t give you more in-depth specs, “only” other additional features like removing or altering the metadata. If you need to dig deeper and are curious about video and audio bitrates, audio codec, audio sample rate etc. you will need another app though.
But first, let’s move on to Android for a second. If you want more detailed information about a video file than you can pull from the system’s Gallery app or file manager, go have a look at an app called VidTrim. VidTrim is primarily meant to be a simple one clip video editor with which you can trim a clip, transcode it or extract the audio as an mp3 file. But I don’t think I have ever used it for such purposes. Instead, it’s my go-to app for moderately detailed info about a video’s properties: resolution (“Picture Size”), file size, rotation, frame rate, audio codec, video codec, video bitrate and audio bitrate. There’s a paid version for 3.29€ by the name of VidTrim Pro but unless you are bothered by the ads or want to export a video from the app without a watermark, you are totally fine with the free version.
If the metadata available in VidTrim is still not good enough for you, you should check out the app MediaInfo which is also available for iOS (although with a little catch). MediaInfo is a well-known standard tool on desktop computers for many video production professionals. There was a time when I wished, MediaInfo would launch a mobile app. And well, they did in late 2018! The UI isn’t really pretty to look at when viewed in portrait orientation (scaling needs to be improved!) so unless you are using it on a tablet, you should always hold the device in landscape mode when working with MediaInfo. I will refrain from listing every single video file property that MediaInfo gives you because, taking the risk I might be wrong on that after all, it appears to me that it basically exposes every bit of metadata there is. So if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, have at it! MediaInfo is free without any ads and full core functionality. There’s the option to support the development of the app with a subscription of 5€ per year, the bonus features including the use of a dark mode are not really spectacular though. Before wrapping this up, I need to add a quick note about using the iOS version of MediaInfo, coming full circle so to speak. While the app’s functionality is no different from the Android version, accessing files can be really painful if the file you want to check out is located within the Camera Roll and not the Files app. For some reason, MediaInfo doesn’t access the Camera Roll, but only the Files app. It’s also not possible to share to MediaInfo from the Camera Roll. This basically means that you need to copy the file you want to inspect from the Camera Roll to the Files app to access it from MediaInfo. As you might remember I explained how to do just that earlier on. It ain’t pretty, but that’s the way it is at the moment. I have contacted the developer about this and they have acknowledged the problem so there might be a fix in the near future.
One last thing: If you only need certain file properties of a video, you might be able to see those in the media library of advanced camera apps already, but the info is usually limited and it’s also good to double check outside the app you shot your footage with.
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