Wi-Fi WFM: Turn your iPhone into an engineering monitor

Shameless commercial message: I’ve developed a new iPhone app, Wi-Fi WFM. It takes the wireless feed from a Teradek Cube, Clip, or VidiU and displays its picture along with a waveform monitor, vectorscope, and/or histogram.

Wi-Fi WFM showing the feed from a Cube on a GH4

Wi-Fi WFM showing the feed from a Cube on a GH4

Background: Teradek H.264 encoders take camera feeds and send them over Wi-Fi or wired links as H.264 streams. They’re used for live streaming and remote monitoring; in the latter case they’re very useful supplying director’s feeds from mobile cameras, as well as seeing pix from cameras on drones, gimbals, Steadicams, or in other situations where running a video cable can be problematic. You can display the streams on iPhones and iPads, making them lightweight, portable monitors.
all three 'scopes on an iPad

All three ‘scopes on an iPad

Wi-Fi WFM adds engineering ‘scopes to the picture display, so you can see exactly what the camera is doing in, in real time (well, almost). Now you can check white balance and exposure levels without a tethered ‘scope, and watch those levels as the camera roams the set or flies high on a drone.

I could go on, and tell you how this will change your life for the better (improve your videography! get higher-paying clients! attract staggeringly gorgeous romantic partners!), but I’m obviously biased.
Even so, I will say that if you’re in that narrow subset of folks who (a) uses Teradeks and (b) uses ‘scopes, you might want to have a look. I wrote it because I needed such a thing; maybe you’ll find it useful, too.
I’ll be at Cine Gear Expo this week, using Wi-Fi WFM in the DSC Labs booth, S239 in Stage 31 (tag-teaming with Art Adams). If you’re at the show, stop by and see it in use.

Disclosure: I wrote Wi-Fi WFM, so if you buy it, I’ll make money.

Share.

About The Author

Adam Wilt

Adam Wilt is a software developer, engineering consultant, and freelance film & video tech. He's had small jobs on big productions (PA, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", Dir. Robert Wise), big jobs on small productions (DP, "Maelstrom", Dir. Rob Nilsson), and has worked camera, sound, vfx, and editing gigs on shorts, PSAs, docs, music vids, and indie features. He started his website on the DV format, adamwilt.com/DV.html, about the same time Chris Hurd created the XL1 Watchdog, and participated in DVInfo.net's 2006 "Texas Shootout." He has written for DV Magazine and ProVideoCoalition.com, taught courses at DV Expo, and given presentations at NAB, IBC, and Cine Gear Expo. When he's not doing contract engineering or working on apps like www.adamwilt.com/cinemeter, he's probably exploring new cameras, just because cameras are fun.

Discuss this article in our forum.