FLOWPHONIC Record documentary audio with your phone
Nobody's saying a phone replaces a proper recorder. But when it's what you've got in your pocket, a few features make it behave a lot more like one.
Lossless WAV, a -12 dB safety track, five seconds of pre-roll and scene and take numbers cover most of what a documentary shoot throws at you.
The safety net: a second copy at -12 dB
In Lossless, turn on the Safety Track. Every take also saves a second file at -12 dB with no limiter. If someone laughs into the mic and the main file clips, the quiet copy usually hasn't. It doubles the storage a take uses, so keep an eye on space.
Don't miss the start
Turn on pre-roll and Flowphonic keeps the five seconds before you hit REC. Documentary people start talking before you're ready. Pre-roll is for them. Here's how it works.
Label things like a sound recordist
Flowphonic uses slate, scene and take numbering, so the files make sense when you're back at the edit. We wrote a whole page on scene and take numbers.
Mark takes without touching the phone
Say "good take", "circle this", "cut", "fix this" or "alt take" while you roll. Each one drops a marker. Later you can send those markers to your editing software as Premiere XML, Resolve EDL or Final Cut FCPXML.
Long days
Recording carries on in the background with an ongoing notification, and the screen can dim to save battery. You can also have Do Not Disturb switch on while you record, so a message doesn't ping into the take.
Quick answers
What is the safety track?
A second copy of each Lossless take saved at -12 dB with no limiter. If the main track clips, the safety copy usually hasn't. It doubles the storage a take uses.
Does Flowphonic number scenes and takes?
Yes. It uses slate, scene and take numbering like a production sound recorder.