You're developing a mobile app and are conducting some on-device testing. You encounter unexpected behavior from the app, and you want to show this behavior to other members of the development team rather than try to explain it in words. The mobile device you're using isn't rooted or jailbroken, so you don't have access to a video screen capture app. Thankfully you do have a Dropbox account and an iPad.
Here's a quick and easy video rig that gets the job done:
I set the mobile device on black craft paper, because it's non-reflective. Lighting is actually the trickiest part of this exercise. Ceiling lights can really create a lot of glare, so I turn them off.
The iPad is set on books piled six to seven inches high. Be sure the orientation of the iPad's camera app matches the orientation of the app on the mobile device, or you'll wind up with a recording that is 90 degrees off.
Hit the record button, then carefully recreate the unexpected app behavior on the mobile device. Stop recording and move the resulting file into Dropbox. Share the video with whomever needs to see it.
Since I can't show the app I'm working on at present, I used LocaJot to demonstrate this rig setup. It's a spiffy tool for taking location-based notes created by my friends at ecmodeyo.
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