Smarter Every Day Explains Rolling Shutter and Uses After Effects to Recreate It

Everybody's favorite rocket engineer and slow-motion video enthusiast, Destin Sandlin, is back with a pair of videos that you'll find interesting if you've ever noticed the effects of a rolling shutter while filming video. Like many of us, Sandlin noticed the weird effect that happens when trying to film engine propellers with his iPhone. He decided to use a high-speed camera and science to figure out exactly what was happening. Then for fun, he worked with a friend and figured out a way to use After Effects to create a simulation of the rolling shutter effect.

Check out the first video above, get your learn on, but then if you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole, watch the next video I've included below where Sandlin chats with After Effects user (and Vlogger) Henry Reich. He shows off how he recreated the rolling shutter effect using a gradient map. It's pretty funny that they used clean, super-slow motion footage and tried to make it look like cheap iPhone video, but it seemed like a fun exercise, and who doesn't love science?

If you're not familiar with the Smarter Every Day YouTube Channel, check out some of Sandlin's previous videos, a lot of which involve high-speed cameras and are quite fun to watch.

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Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

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