How To Record HD Videos On iPhone 3GS : Does It Work? ~ Blog O'Nerd

Some tutorials are hanging around the internet showing how to record HD videos on iPhone 3GS. I gave it a try and followed one. What I found? Well, this tweak works somewhat. Want to learn how to enable your iPhone 3GS to shoot HD videos? Read on then.

Please Read : This tweak is not created by me. I have just tested and corrected a few things from the original tweak.

Note : Your iPhone 3GS must be Jailbroken to use this tweak. If it's not, you can jailbreak it. You can follow this tutorial - How To Jailbreak iPhone With limera1n By geohot. If you do not wish to jailbreak it, you can stop reading here.

Things you need

iPhone 3GS on iOS 4.0 or later. Must be jailbroken.
USB Cable.
DiskAid

Things used in this tutorial

iPhone 3GS on iOS 4.0.1. Jailbroken with limera1n.

How to enable iPhone 3GS to record HD videos.

Before starting, let's shoot a video from the camera for comparision after the tweak is done. So first record a video with your iPhone's camera. A 20 - 25 sec video will be fine. Make sure to shoot it in natural light for good effect. Done? Let's start.

Step 1

Download (and extract) the zip archive containing tweaked files. (Download link at the end)
Download and install DikAid which will be used to copy tweaked files to iPhone. (Download link at the end)

Step 2

Connect your iPhone 3GS to computer.
Run DikAid
Browse to the following folder
Root/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework/N88/
In iOS 5.0 and greater, the folder path has been changed. It is here - Root/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N88
Look for AVCapture.plist and rename it to something like - AVCapture_.plist
Now look for CameraRollValidator.plist and rename it to something like - CameraRollValidator_.plist
And, look for MediaValidator.plist , rename it to something like - MediaValidator_.plist
Now click Copy File to Device button and browse to the downloaded files. Copy AVCapture.plist , CameraRollValidator.plist and MediaValidator.plist to device from folder of your choice.
If you want to configure iPhone 3GS to shoot videos at 1280 x 800, then copy files from HD at 1280 x 800 folder.
If you want to configure iPhone 3GS to shoot videos at 1080x800, then copy files from HD at 1080 x 800 folder.
If you want to configure iPhone 3GS to shoot videos at 1024x768, then copy files from HD at 1024 x 768 folder.

Step 4

Close DiskAid.
Disconnect iPhone from computer (Optional)
You're almost done.

Step 5

Power off and restart your iPhone 3GS.
Open camera application, and switch to video.
Record a video.
Connect to computer once again (if you disconnected in step 4) and browse to your iPhone folder. Look for last recorded video.
Copy the video somewhere on your computer and watch it.

If you see video's properties, they will be like following if you copied files for 1280 x 800

Frame width - 1280
Frame Height - 800
Data Rate - 18637 kbps
Total Bitrate - 18703 kbps
Frame Rate - 26 frames/second

Compare these details with the details of video recorded in Step 1. See any difference? The video's resolution, frame rate bitrate and framerate has notably increased eh! The video you recorded after tweaking, is a 720p HD video.

Video Samples

Video before tweaking iPhone 3GS

Videos after tweaking iPhone 3GS (Switch to HD by clicking 360p and selecting 720p.)
Switch to Full Screen for better result or view on youtube

After HD Video Recording On iPhone 3GS_1080x800

After HD Video Recording On iPhone 3GS_1280x800

After HD Video Recording On iPhone 3GS_1024x768

I think this method works for recording HD videos. It increases video's resolution on iPhone 3GS which by default is - 640 x 480. It also increases Data Rate and Total Bitrate but it doesn't affect it's frame rate/sec. Its max 30 fps as claimed by Apple. If you like shooting videos at high resolution and high bitrate, you can give this tweak a try.

I will recommend you use 1024 x 768 files. They give the best result so far to me.

Note : After trying this method, if you want to get back to default state, you just need to delete files you copied into iPhone and rename the files you named as AVCapture_.plist, to AVCapture.plist for example. Rename all four files we renamed by adding _ at the end. (Or whatever you renamed as). Use the same method to (DiskAid) to delete and rename files for ease.

Download HDon3GS_letsblog.zip

Download DiskAid for PC (14 Days Trial)

Download DiskAid for Mac (14 Days Trial)

Note : There are other methods of SHH into iPhone and copy/paste files on it. But DiskAid methiod is best among them all. Sometimes iPhone does not connect properly with WiFi. So using DiskAid with USB file transferring is better then doing it wireless.

Note : DiskAid comes with 14 days trial but its enough for us. If you like this application, you can buy it. It's really helpful application for browsing files on iDevices with USB.

Note : This post have gone completely messy due to browser errors. I apologize if this page is not viewed on your browser properly.

If you need any help, ask in comments or contact me.