How to record film that works

The in-app guide lives at /how-to-record (the "How to" link in the header, or "First time filming?" on the upload page). The short version: any phone from this century on a tripod, as high as you can get it, behind the end line, dead center, filming in one take.

The five rules

1. As high as you can get it. Height lets the camera see over the near players to the far court. A balcony beats bleachers, bleachers beat a tall tripod, a tall tripod beats a short one. Shoulder height is the floor, not the goal.
2. Set it, then leave it alone. Landscape, on a tripod. No zooming, no panning, no following the ball, no stopping between sets. One file, start to finish. The best camera operator is nobody.
3. 1080p at 30 fps, minimum. Your phone is perfect for this. 60 fps or 4K are a little better but not required.
4. Don't zoom out to catch the near corners. Stay at normal 1×, no ultra-wide. The net, both antennas, and the far end line are what matter; the near corners can fall off the bottom and nothing is lost.
5. Behind the end line, centered. Stand where the server stands, then back up until you are out of the way — ten feet behind the line is plenty. Not the sideline, not the corner.

When film comes back with a note

If a finished match had a camera problem, one friendly 📹 Filming tip appears above the film in review — camera in the corner, camera too low, handheld wobble, zoomed in too far, a heavily compressed file, or film that was already cut down to just the rallies (the serves and resets between rallies are how Skyball reads the score, so uncut film scores better). Most film earns no tip: silence is the default for good film.

Two problems stop processing entirely rather than just earning a tip: handheld film ("The camera moves too much in this video…") and video below 1080p. Both are told to you before the upload finishes, with the fix in the message. See upload match film for the full requirements.