Focos Live Reviews

Bought FocosLive just for the “bokeh” effect (the blurry background effect), super legit, not dslr quality but I prefer filming with my phone for the convenience factor and I’m a beginner with shooting video so this does a fantastic job achieving that effect without needing the bulky camera or an expensive lens if you already have a newer iPhone. I have 2 feature requests I really wish they would add however:
1) being able to use the size/autofocus bokeh feature from a video you recorded with native camera app instead of having to record from the Focos app, you can manually edit it with imported video, but it just works so much better and smoother if shot initially in app and I really wish that feature would carry that over to imported videos
2) and this is by farrrr my biggest feature request, please please please add bokeh effect to the wide angle lens, not manually editing the blur, but with the size/autofocus like with the other 2 lenses. That would make FocosLive absolutely amazing.

Overall FocosLive is absolutely fire if you’re looking to achieve a more professional looking video in combination with the ease of using your phone

I put money into FocosLive shortly after it was released on the strength of the history of the Focos app. One of the Focos Live shortcomings, for instance, I was most disappointed over is, according to the change log, fixed in the recent update. I’m going to try it out as soon as finish this review!

So my review is this: If you like the power of the Focos app, reward the developer by investing in the Focus Live app in faith that whatever shortcomings you might find will be addressed eventually if they can be addressed at all.

And just as importantly, in the meantime, have fun! The Pro tools already support creativity beyond the core Focos “bokeh” capability. The included audio tracks are most welcome in an app of this sort. The video editing tools are robust even if things like basic transitions are (currently) manually done (if I’m not missing something). Enjoy the creative possibilities and never leave FocosLive !

TL;DR. Just buy it. 🙂

EDIT: Completely my fault for missing the transitions feature. Thank you for correcting me! I got sloppy in my testing and in my verbiage; one of the things I was thinking about when I wrote my review was video fades in and out, say for a single short clip to be uploaded to Instagram (of course I could still be missing something!). But I still messed up my review and I appreciate the correction.

I would like to start off by saying that this is a great app. I have been using it for a while now and bought the lifetime license not long after I started using it more regularly. Then came along the latest update. And in the release notes, you know, it looked like your regular semi-major update to an app, nothing out of the ordinary there. But then I tried copying a Cinematic video (The Focos Live version, not the Apple version) from my Mom’s phone to my iPad Pro. The first time I tried it, it worked; I opened the Focos Live app and the video I had copied over showed up as a Cinematic video. The second time I tried doing that, the video seemed to transfer just fine, but when I opened the Focos Live app, I was surprised to see that the video I had copied over had not registered as a Cinematic video. Instead, the Focos Live app thought it to be a regular video. And moving forward, this is the result I got every time. I was not, and still am not, able to copy a Cinematic video from one device to another and have the Focos Live app on the recipient device think it to be a Cinematic video. It always thinks it to be a normal video.

Luma is private and professionally powerful - but complicated. Splice is okay for simple stuff, but much less private. Focos Live is the best of everything. Private, extremely powerful, beautifully intuitive - and does things easily that I can’t touch with other editors. I can do layer-based editing, complete with masking, blend modes, and keyframed control of things like blur and opacity. Like Pixelmator or SuperimposeX for video. Scoring straight from GarageBand is cake. And that’s all BEFORE you start shooting portrait-mode video and start playing with the aperture and focus control stuff.

This is a beautiful app. I’m using it on a Gen 7 iPad, a 7 Plus, and an XS Max, and it’s great on them all - but I can hardly wait to run this on an iPhone 13. At the one-time lifetime purchase price, FocosLive may be FocosLive Store’s best value ever.

Astonishingly good.

I have spent a good portion of a day review the tutorial in FocosLive and learning how to use this tool. The tutorials are really a bit to short and can be hard to follow but eventually I got it and came to find this tool very versatile and easy to use once you learn your way around. A few elements were pretty hard to figure out. They key frame button was hard to find. And its still not totally clear when the Ramp button is activated. The most impressive feature is the ability to resize a video clip, combine multiple clips on screen at the same time and me able to move and modify the clip as it plays! It would be great if this feature was available to all the object types ex. Pictures, text, emogiis, etc.

FocosLive is phenomenal. A top-tier mobile video editor with perfect speed ramping, multitrack editing, royalty free audio, transitions library, keyframing, LUTs, oh and Portrait Mode Video that nobody else has even thought of. This developer seems to be a few steps ahead of Apple even. Bravo, excited to see what updates will bring to this excellent new app. Feature I'd love to see that would put this on the level of a desktop editor is keyframable masking with edge feathering. Maybe 360 video (2:1 aspect ratio) support with VR projection and reframing capabilities one day? I've been a huge fan of Focos since it came out, keep up the good work!

The developers really invested into what’s important when it comes to photography and that’s creating depth and perspective. Can’t praise it enough for the magic this and their other focus app for pictures creates. Only frustration is, in contrast to their photography app “Focus”, you have to take the videos in app or else you won’t be able to add depth in post. Unless I missed something, I can’t find a slow motion capture option in-app which means I can’t add depth to any of my slow motion videos taken from my default camera at all because the videos require being shot in-app and there is no slow motion option within the application. Please correct me if I’m wrong and I’d love to to see that feature added if not!!!

In conclusion, a must have!

It didn’t take long for me to decide to pay the $15 for the full features. I was testing it around with a random video clip I made earlier and I learned how to use the editing features quickly. For something I didn’t know how to use, they have tutorial videos set up in the Settings.

This has all of the features you need to fully edit a video and as someone who rarely uses a computer, I’m happy to have this on my phone.

I’m so happy with FocosLive that I’m going to be editing everything I make and even make pointless videos just to be able to use Focos Live! It’s so fun to use! 5/5

I really like FocosLive, NO, I love FocosLive. But I do have a suggestion that you guys are probably already working on. But if you guys can port more features from Focos that’d be super awesome. I know the performance would be an issue though. Like I want to be able to add transparent backgrounds or even green screen backgrounds and be able to add depth dependent effects. I would love those features so much, all the creative stuff I can think of doing with that is insane. Anyways, thanks for even making FocosLive and bringing portrait video to iPhone! Love FocosLive , I got the lifetime membership a while back and I love it.

THIS is the video editing app I’ve been waiting for! I’ve loved Focos for my still photos, so I had a hunch that Focos Live would be good. Within just a few minutes of playing around, I could see that this was the phone/tablet video editing app I had been searching for. The interface is pretty intuitive and the feature set has just about everything I need (the only thing I can’t figure out is how to fade to black). Developers like this need to be supported, so I immediately pulled out my wallet for this one!

Every single time I tried to do exactly as FocosLive instructed, taking video using portrait mode, I always got an error message saying that the aperture feature (which is really the whole point of FocosLive) only works in portrait mode (which, again, I tried multiple times).

More frustratingly, aperture as an option would completely disappear from the menu until I literally removed FocosLive , reinstalled it, and started over, only to encounter the same problems.

Considering the $15 dollars I just paid for this, it is a downright outrage. I want my money back. The unfortunate thing is that FocosLive, in theory, seems like it would have some really useful features, but I no longer trust that FocosLive will ever work. And I have extraordinary little faith in the company that created it.

I love FocosLive, but I need to be able to sync projects across devices. I take videos with my phone and I'd like to be able to sit down at home and edit my footage with my iPad but there seems to be no way to get that done. Maybe I’m missing something.
I love the stabilisation feature. It removes the need for the added equipment haul of a gimbal in every situation.
The overall learning curve of FocosLive is very reasonable. I purchased the unlimited access because I believe in FocosLive but I need to be able to sync projects over my WiFi to my other devices, so I’d appreciate if the developers could slip that into their project pipeline.
Thanks

I’m a veteran documentary filmmaker, and I’ve had FocosLive since I bought my iPhone 12 Pro Max a year ago. But I didn’t use it much because I have several “serious” digital cinema cameras at my disposal…

A month ago I was asked to shoot a short film for a friend’s website, so I decided to use the iPhone in 4K. The results using Focos Live are stunning…

I’ve already pre-ordered an iPhone 13 Pro Max, but I only hope FocosLive continues to be available as iOS upgrades continue. The 13 apparently doesn’t use Lidar, which is what makes Focos Live so amazing…

I totally love love love it’s Bokeh effect and it’s editing ability; fast forward,slomo,video/picture in video effect .... My only issue (that I can think of right now) is the fact that after cutting some bits in a video during editing, if there were any texts, they would become disorganized so I would have to start rearranging them again after cutting. Imagine having to rearrange texts & pictures & mini videos every single time you make a little “cut”(/change) for a 30minutes long video

FocosLive is awesome! Being a filmmaker and trying plenty of video editing apps in the store, this one is the best one I have ever used. Far better than iMovie as you can do so much more with Focos Live!
My only suggestion is if the developers could add a feature that could allow copy and pasting the edits such as colors and filters to selected clips. It would make editing on the phone more efficient. Other than that, this is a great app that I highly suggest beginners and professionals to use! Thanks!!

FocosLive liberated me creatively. Using a touch screen to jump into edits is the way to go. Focos Live is packed with features and totally worth the cost. Would like to see a few more possibilities in adjusting audio such as EQ and if it were possible to lock tracks, clips and titles to keep them from sliding around, it would extend its potential for longer edits. However, for producing two minute videos for social media, it’s clearly my go-to app.

In progress, but...nothing else is close, stands out from the crowd. Get it. With the iPhone 11 and 12, you can approximate true film results. Bokeh is great. The only reason I cannot give this five stars is due to the lack of stabilization. This feature is available on a lot of other apps. Would love to see it implemented in this one as well. You can always go out and buy a stabilizer, but for a run and gun shooting straight off your iPhone, this would be an invaluable addition. Thumbs up to the creator!

Please ad HSL color adjusters, and color curves features for FocosLive ¡ FocosLive is phenomenal and has so so many features, but I still need to import footage into my computer to edit individual color saturation.
If you added these features, FocosLive could finally be 100% independent, and amazing without computer help. So many great features, please add this important one soon, it’s sometimes the deal breaker between doing an edit on my phone, or taking a computer with me

It's the best video editing APP I've ever used!! I have never written any reviews for any App I am using. But for this app, I want to share to let more people know about it. It’s Easy to use, no complicated operation, functionality is powerful, smooth speed for iphone 7 untill iphone 11pro max! The most importantly----no ads ever !!! If you've read this feedback, congratulations! You're lucky as I do to have found it among thousands of App.

I loved the focos photo app which led me to try focos live. Blown away! I always worried about backdrops, etc, They had to be perfect because they were in focus. Not anymore. Even a moderately passable background becomes complimentary. It creates so much depth. And with the background slightly out of focus, it draws more attention to you and your message. Easy to learn. Hyper functional. Perfect for bloggers at all levels. And a steal! ¡Gracias!

Will definitely use FocosLive for projects

This developer is one of the few to create magic on iOS devices. Focos for still photos is certainly one of the best post-capture apps available. Now, Focos Live promises the same for video! And he says more enhancements are coming!

Been waiting for this for a while. The original Focos app is magic and underrated by a long shot. The developers for these tools design apps that can create beautiful things and also a ton of fun to play with

This is a nice idea. When it comes down to it, though, it doesn’t work. I shot video and it would never “process” so I could do something with it. Support gave me a few ideas, but ultimately it just doesn’t work. It’s fun to play around on, but I would highly recommend finding another option if you are working with video you actually need for something.

I am using iPhone X. The video is not smooth like normal video I captured using phone video. Also you can not apply the focus feature to any video. The video must be recorded in portrait mode. Seriously!!! If I can record a portrait video using my phone then why I should download FocosLive ?

Hands down the most feature rich video application on FocosLive Store! Wish the developer much success! This is genius!

YAY!!!!! I’m so happy finally an app that blurs out the background I am so so so so excited! Thank you guys! I love it!

I’ve been trying to pay for the 1month subscription but it’s not activating.

It’s a nice try, and a preview of what phones will likely be doing in a few years, but pretty much useless now, bad mattes, obviously fake results.

Please include additional fps recording- 60,120,240 fps.

I am using Iphone 6s plus. Now, i have not portrait mode. Please support my device !!!

Keep freezing when open on my iPhone X.

Since Apple released “Portrait” mode on the iPhone’s rear camera, and later on devices with True Depth sensors, I’ve been hoping a clever developer would figure out a way to leverage that technology to give us the ability to simulate depth of field in video. Focos Live does exactly that, and it does it really well!

If you’ve ever used the same devloper’s app, Focos, you know what Focos Live can do, but it does it in motion! To be fair, some features in Focos are not present here, but what’s most important — creating video that looks like it was shot on a large-sensor, high-end digital cinematography rig — works beautifully.

You shoot video in FocosLive so it can capture the depth information simultaneously with the video. Then, in the editing portion of FocosLive, you can adjust all sorts of parameters — the size of the simulated aperture (larger size makes for shallower depth-of-field), the point of focus in the shot, the shape of the aperture, and more. You can also use keyframes to shift focus from one point in the frame to another, or pull off a post-production rack focus, which is just incredible!

There are a ton of video editing tools in FocosLive, as well, which I haven’t really dived in to using, but I have shot some shallow-focus, cinematic shots, edited them for their focus and bokeh and such in Focos Live, then exported the video (which can be done at a range of resolutions and frame rates, varying depending on hardware) to use in LumaFusion (my favorite iOS/iPadOS video editing app). The footage looks gorgeous! It can show some odd artifacts near the transition of foreground to background, but those are very minor, and with some careful planning of the shot can be avoided entirely.

The only thing I’d suggest the developer add is a few manual controls in the camera portion. I’d love to be able to lock exposure, for instance, or pre-set frame-rate of the video, since I always know what frame-rate my projects are going to be finished in. Obviously, you don’t need to lock the focus, since you can adjust that in post.

FocosLive has completely stepped up what is possible with mobile cinematography. Absolutely worth every penny you might spend, whether to buy a monthly or yearly subscription (which does not auto-renew), or a lifetime access purchase (which is a completely reasonable price for the power of FocosLive ).

(I’ve tested it with my iPhone 8+ and my iPad Pro 3rd Generation’s front-facing true-depth camera; it works beautifully with both, though the iPad handles processing of the video significantly faster than the iPhone.)