Video apps are sprouting up like weeds, but Vine and Instagram still hold the majority share of video creation on mobile. However, there’s one thing that both of these services are lacking: a voiceover tool.
But a new startup is looking to remedy that. World, meet JamCam.
JamCam doesn’t let you use any old audio over your video. However, imagine this. You’re walking along the street, or riding in the car. The scenery is beautiful, and the song playing on your iPhone couldn’t be more perfect. All you want is to share this harmony with your friends, but alas, opening up Vine or Instagram kills the music instantly, opting instead for the odd noises of your surroundings.
With JamCam, the video you record automatically adds the song you were listening to on the iPhone (as a raw file) to the video. You edit just like on Vine, by threading together various shots with a few choice taps of the thumb, and the app automatically adds in the music based on the same rhythm of your edits.
It works like this:
When you open up the app, you’ll first be asked to switch the phone into landscape mode. Once in landscape, you’ll be reminded of the song you had playing on the bottom bar of the phone, with a button on the right for recording. On the left, you have options for front-facing camera and using flash.
When you hold down the record button, the song begins playing and stops when you release. Videos last 15 seconds, just like Instagram, to allow for enough of the song to play.
Here’s one of the videos I made.
The app only allows DRM-unlocked songs to work in the app, so founder Matt Loszak doesn’t get himself in trouble. I’ve found the app, freshly launched by a team of one in Canada, is more reliable when you use headphones. Users can share to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram through a link, or have the option to save the video. Thanks to Instagram’s generous option to let us upload video, you can actually upload your JamCam vids direct to the photo sharing service.
That said, JamCam needs some work on the sharing side, as it’s a slow process and takes far too many steps.
If you’re interested in making some music-inspired mobile video, check out the JamCam app in the App Store.
