Goofy Footer 539 Posted November 17, 2011 As more of us are purchasing GoPros, Contours and other video equipment to record our rides, I thought we should have a Tips and Tricks thread for people to post questions. I am no pro and this is not The list. Please contribute My Four Basic Steps to Filming 1: Identify What You Want to Film --------- Sounds simple (you want to film your ride) but how? Camera on top of head? Camera on chin? Camera on bike? Camera on somebody else? 2: Identify Who Your Audience Is --------- Who are you making the video for? Its nearly 2012 and most people do not want to sit down and watch a 10 minute Point of View unedited video from some guy's ride. --------- While I personally could watch myself do lap after lap at the MX track, most other people would find it boring. --------- Are you making short clips for you to analyze your riding? Are you making a Ride Report for others to enjoy? SDAR or beyond? --------- Identifying your audience will help guide the type of video you want to film 3: Film It --------- What camera settings? Did you turn it on? Battery life, video card memory etc. How much footage do you take? 4: Edit the Footage --------- Mac or PC? iMovie or Movie Maker? How long? Video cuts, transitions, music? Camera Positions Top of Helmet Pros: Wide spectrum POV. Good for scenery Hopefully not as dusty Cons: Everybody does it Helmet visor can get in the way Hard to see the terrain at times Hard to tell pick up movement of bike (jumping, woops etc) Side of Helmet Pros: Can see trail Can see side to side & up/down movement Cons: Lots of helmet in the shot Cannot see the other 1/5th of the shot Chin Mount Pros: Good action POV Can see terrain and handlebars Cons: Hard to set up and mount May have to run camera upside down Handlebars Pros: Can get neat footage of terrain If facing rider, you can see your movements and positioning Cons: Can be very choppy/rough Chest Mount Pros: Shows handlebars, lots of action Cons: Limits scenery Costs $40 May have issues with chest protector Other Pros: Great for variety of angles and shots Cons: Difficult to keep smooth off road Limited mainly to on road applications GoPro Ruber Doohickey Use the white rubber doohickey that comes with your GoPro. It decreases vibration and eliminates that "clicking" noise Rubber Doohickey Write Up Filming: As Paul recently pointed out in another GoPro thread, most photographers shoot in early morning and late afternoon when the sun is less intense and colors "pop" more. The GoPro struggles to pick up color in low light situations. Footage is often dark. Look at my Superstition video for an example of this. If you film your entire ride, you're going to have a HUGE file that is difficult to transfer and edit. Film the fun sections. Keep it exciting. At an obstacle, get off your bike and film your friends up close! The GoPro has a fisheye lens which makes up close videos great but it lacks depth perception on long distance shots. The GoPro is a $300 waterproof camera, not a $3000 piece of professional equipment. Get up close to the action. When following a rider in front of you, you need to be close to his/her rear wheel to get good video. For a more "whole" ride report video, shoot glimpses of road signs, guys laughing and other non riding stuff. It helps break up the video too. Shoot video with the sun to your back. Illuminate the rider coming towards the sun. The GoPro struggles in direct sunlight. I currently shoot in 720p 30fps on the GoPro. I will start testing 720p 60fps soon for slow motion edits. Make sure to constantly wipe the dust off your camera lens! It WILL get dusty! If you seal the camera closed in the morning when it is cold, check it often for fogging! It WILL fog up! Make sure the camera is turned ON! Look in your mirror for the flashing red light! Take the time to configure your GoPro settings so that when you turn the camera ON, it automatically starts in the MODE you want. I have the camera configured sot that when I turn the camera ON, 720p 30fps Filming Mode is on. Transferring Your Video From the Camera to Computer: I took this section from a Pasnit forum thread. My first videos were edited on a PC laptop and I followed these instructions: Squared5 (Mpeg Streamclip) is a great converter. Glad to hear both GoPro and Apple recommend it. It does the job well and it's free! Make sure you convert the GoPro files to a codec your video editor can handle. I'm on a mac so I convert my files to Pro Res for Final Cut Pro. Those of you using Final Cut Express need to use Apple Intermediate Codec. PC users should use AVI. When you first open up MPEG Streamclip, you'll get the following box : It may look confusing at first but the only thing you need to worry about are the ones I circled in red. Leave everything else at the default setting. Here's a step by step procedure I use for my GoPro files : Copy the file GOPROxxx.MP4 to your desktop. Open MPEG Streamclip and drag and drop your file on it Go to File-Export to Quicktime Choose the appropriate codec from the Compression drop down Slide Quality bar to 100% Choose Frame Size (default is unscaled which in most cases is where you want to leave it) Deselect Interlaced Scaling Leave all other options at default setting Click Make Movie Give it a name other than original file name and save Use this file for editing Save the original file ----------------------------- MPEG Streamclip can also flip or rotate video. I typically mount the GoPro upside down on the chin of my helmet. I rotate the video when I import it on my computer. Music: Find your music FIRST (IMHO). Find a song you like and cut the video clips to the musical beats. Everyone has different musical interests. Again think of your audience when putting music to a track. I listen to electronic music and DJs who mix tracks etc. The majority of viewers for the videos I have posted are 40-60 year old males. They're not into that music so much. In the Superstition video I made for bboyle9, I put a more hip hop focused track because I knew he would like it. In the Pala MX video I put an electronic track. I figured it was more exciting yet the gray hairs threw a fit (joke). For the Canyon Sin Nombre video I put low key guitars and its received very positive feedback so far. Mute wind noise! Nobody wants to hear it. For the GoPro I leave the 100mph+ backing on the camera. I can hear the motor fine at low speeds and it helps to limit the wind noise. Both Windows Movie Maker and iMovie allow you to adjust the Clip Volume and SoundTrack Volume. The standard ratio setting of Clip to Song volumes is a good starting point. Do not overwhelm the video with your motor. Be careful with Clip Volumes when transitioning between tracks. When going from a high motor clip to a quiet clip or vica versa, consider fading the Clip Volume to ease the transition (unless you are going for a hard cut effect). Royalty Free Music is good when uploading to YouTube so you don't get ads on your video and copyright issues. Name the music track in the video and video description on YouTube. Editing: Identify music you would like and cut clips to the musical beats. I like a quick black entrance Title page. Short Clips! People's attention span is only so long. Variety of Clips! Keep people entertained. Do not be afraid to show clips Out of Chronological Order. In fact showing clips out of chronological order often means the video will have mixed terrain and footage. Sometimes "tell a story" Name the song at the end of the video so YouTube doesn't come after you. Editing Software: Watch YouTube tutorials for the software you are using. You can get quick "how to" tips! I have included the Tutorial Videos in a later post! Movie Maker A free program that comes loaded on your PC. Do not expect it to be a revolutionary editing program. You can cut clips, add transitions, words and music. This comprises the basic features in most Ride Report Videos. My issue with Movie Maker or Movie Maker Live was that it seemed clumsy and hard to make "precise" edits. Windows Live Movie Maker The Windows movie editing program on Windows 7 computers. Many feel it is a dumb downed and/or simplified version of Movie Maker. I started with this program. It seems difficult for me to get detailed edits. Link To Download Windows Live Movie Maker Program File iMovie Free program that comes loaded on your Mac. It is a $15 program and it is not Final Cut Pro. Again it is limited to the basic features but it allows me more "precise" editing and seems more user friendly to me (IMHO). I made this video for this thread (talk about dedication!) to highlight some of the basic features of iMovie. I haven't skated in a long time. I prefer smooth hills and flow as opposed to tricks. It shows. Slow & Fast Motion, Color Adjustments, Picture in Picture, Transitions, Title Pages. I did not use the very basic green screen nor side by side actions. Commentary: Its hard for me to admit, but none of the footage I have shot with my GoPro has been revolutionary nor all that spectacular. Its meant for fun. I've only made some Ride Report videos. Even so... learning to "let go" of my footage has been hard. My Mojave video was 6:30 long and nobody watched it. Even I get bored with it. Why? Too much footage not enough action. My Canyon Sin Nombre video was 1:40 and more people have watched that video. IMHO, short clips, different angles and a variety of terrain when put to a good song make for an entertaining video. Watch FuelTV, they rarely have a clip longer than a few seconds (if they do its probably a high action shot). POV can be great but it has its limits. Rarely do you see POV on FuelTV. Its only one camera angle. In this video I tried to take footage of bboyle9 on the track that was NOT POV. Sure hes no Charmichael yet but so far audience attention has been high. Transferring files from your camera to computer takes a long time. Editing a video takes a very long time. I spent 10 minutes filming that skate video and 3 hours editing it. Another 10 minutes saving the video and 40 minutes uploading it to YouTube. Your ride videos are YOURS. Make sure you are having fun and go for it. I find I ride "faster" when the camera is playing. You can make DVDs or upload to YouTube. YouTube has a cool feature called YouTube Insight which provides View, Demographic and Discovery statistics for your videos. When you approach 300 views, you can see Hot Spots of your video. This identifies the how engaged viewers are with your video. I use this feature to see what people liked/disliked in my video. I'm no pro. If you have anything to add Please do so! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 508 Posted November 17, 2011 Hey Goofy, nice informative post......thanks ! Now I just gotta get me a cam. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted November 17, 2011 I have a cam that I haven't used yet. I think about it a lot though. Music is a really sore spot with me. Instrumental is the best. Headbanging heavy metal music with "badass" vocals that have nothing to do with your sedate trail ride (or your track session, for that matter) are a bad choice. Whenever I click on somebody's video, it seems like I am asking myself "Why did they ever pick that song?" just before I hit the mute icon. And yes, because everybody and their brother now seems to have a helmet cam and it is no longer a novelty, I want to make sure that it will be edited into something more intertaining than 20 minutes of nonstop trail riding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Crusty Posted November 17, 2011 This is my first edited video, I like the music, think it fits well. I felt I needed music to cover up the wind noise. Is there another way to get rid of the wind noise,? I do need to raise the camera angle 1 more click. What do you think? My link Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strega 0 Posted November 17, 2011 Tim, excellent post, thank you for the resource! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted November 17, 2011 I added this to the original post under FILMING: Shoot video with the sun to your back. Illuminate the rider coming towards the sun. The GoPro struggles in direct sunlight. I currently shoot in 720p 30fps on the GoPro. I will start testing 720p 60fps soon for slow motion edits. Make sure to constantly wipe the dust off your camera lens! If you seal the camera closed in the morning when it is cold, check it often for fogging! It WILL fog. Make sure the camera is turned ON! Look in your mirror for the flashing red light! Take the time to configure your GoPro settings so that when you turn the camera ON, it automatically starts in the MODE you want. I have the camera configured sot that when I turn the camera ON, 720p 30fps Filming Mode is on. --- If somebody has good tips please post up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted November 17, 2011 Thx Tim. I'm still trying to figure out the editing on Sunday's stuff. This helps a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted November 17, 2011 Make sure the camera is turned ON! Look in your mirror for the flashing red light! What if I don't have a mirror? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted November 17, 2011 Software Tutorials Windows Movie Maker - Windows XP Windows Live Movie Maker - WIndows 7 iMovie '11 - Mac OS Lion I highly recommend you watch the tutorial for your given software. -- Dirt Dame, if you don't have a mirror then listen to the GoPro beeps. Configure your GoPro to turn on in the correct Mode. Once on, it beeps Once to Start recording and Three times when it Stops recording. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael15 1 Posted November 18, 2011 Thank you for posting this! I've been thinking of getting a GoPro but have been reluctant to do all the research necessary...you just did alot of the work!! thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xr650lnoob 0 Posted November 18, 2011 Good stuff here. Thanks for posting. As for music selection, when in doubt, DUBSTEP solves everything. haha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riggerdan 147 Posted November 18, 2011 great post - great idea to start a contributed list of ideas and tricks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 287 Posted November 18, 2011 Mmm, how am I ever gunna get the breaks bled if I'm editing the damn video?? "I ain't going to waste my time wonderin'" But seriously, great stuff Tim, well done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted February 26, 2013 I had to revisit this thread to figure out how to edit my GoPro footage its been so long since I've used it last! I found a new mount for the GoPro, albeit not for moto... I'll try it mounted to the nose of the board next! Now to finally get my headlight and brake line bolted up! I haven't rode in Months! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted February 26, 2013 Posted an interesting video (well, to me,anyway) in members-only a few days ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
