The makers of a new app called Antix (H/t RedShark News) have a point: hours and hours of action cam videos probably lie untouched on people’s hard drives or memory cards, simply because the work of watching through them – selecting the most interesting scenes and discarding those of little value – is just too tedious and time-consuming. But what if there was an app that would automatically cut the most exciting scenes out of your action cam’s video stream for you?
That’s what Antix’s developers promise their app (Android only) is capable of. Making use of a smartphone’s motion sensors, Antix is allegedly able to detect when something “exciting” happens – although the developers don’t reveal what exactly Antix deems exciting. By comparing the recorded motion data from the smartphone with the video stream from the action cam, Antix will suggest key scenes to the user, eliminating the need to watch through the whole video. Or at least that’s the idea.
Over on the Antix website, there are a couple of video clips that show scenes that the app automatically selected, though there is no way of telling whether these really represent the most interesting material that was recorded in each video. But there’s more to Antix that just selecting sharing-ready clips for you. Antix also comes with its own little social network.
Video clips that were created using Antix can automatically be uploaded to the app’s online platform for everyone to see. But its makers don’t want you to just upload your clips, they also want you to be competitive and devise ever more spectacular stunts on your skateboard, bike, etc. To that end, the platform automatically awards points to those clips that show the biggest tricks – once again, we assume, based on some algorithm.
Currently, only GoPro cameras can be controlled via the Antix smartphone app, but additional brands will be added in the future. If you’re a sports enthusiast that loves to share his tricks with other similar-minded people, but don’t have the time or energy to watch through hours of video, Antix may just be what you were looking for.
But once again, there’s no way of telling how good or bad of a job Antix does in automatically selecting clips out of your video unless you give the app a try and see for yourself (based on 39 Google Play reviews so far, it has garnered five-star reviews). Or unless its makers reveal how exactly the app decides which scenes are “exciting” and which aren’t – but we’re not counting on that to happen. We’ll be sure to take this for a spin and give you our take of it.