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amgems

Please Help a GoPro Noob

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Received a GoPro White Hero 7 as a Christmas gift and I'm looking for some basic tips and tricks from GoPro gurus. Very new to this, still playing around and experimenting.

I found a thread, but it was a few years old. Maybe there is some newer info?

  • Resolution: This model can record in 1080p or 1440p. Is one generally better for moto video.
  • Zoom: If the camera is zoomed in a bit when shooting moto footage does it help eliminate the fish eye effect? Do most run it with no zoom, some zoom?
  • Mounting Location: Top, side, of helmet? Chin position looks like it would be a good spot, but more difficult to attach. Chest protector? Other?
  • Orientation: Most of the videos I see are in landscape. Anybody shoot in portrait?
  • Editor: I downloaded the GoPro editor "GoPro Quick". I watched a few tutorials. I messed around with it a little bit. Is it me or is this editor hard to use? What do you use? Do you have to convert the native GoPro files to another format to use other editors?

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I have an old GoPro so I can't help you much on resolution, because mine won't go to 1440.  But I do have an opinion on mounting, and I think main mounting should be high up like on your helmet.  Chest mounting makes the video jerky and jumpy and hard to watch.  Helmet  top mounting is always a bit of a problem where you are riding through close brush and low trees.  I've been nearly yanked off the back of my bike by branches, and also have broken my mounts and cases from these encounters.  I still prefer this mount position because a bit of my visor and the handlebars are still visible, and this "smoothes out" the movement quite a bit.

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1 hour ago, amgems said:

Received a GoPro White Hero 7 as a Christmas gift and I'm looking for some basic tips and tricks from GoPro gurus. Very new to this, still playing around and experimenting.

I found a thread, but it was a few years old. Maybe there is some newer info?

  • Resolution: This model can record in 1080p or 1440p. Is one generally better for moto video.
  • Zoom: If the camera is zoomed in a bit when shooting moto footage does it help eliminate the fish eye effect? Do most run it with no zoom, some zoom?
  • Mounting Location: Top, side, of helmet? Chin position looks like it would be a good spot, but more difficult to attach. Chest protector? Other?
  • Orientation: Most of the videos I see are in landscape. Anybody shoot in portrait?
  • Editor: I downloaded the GoPro editor "GoPro Quick". I watched a few tutorials. I messed around with it a little bit. Is it me or is this editor hard to use? What do you use? Do you have to convert the native GoPro files to another format to use other editors?

Hi there Amgems,

 

I picked up a Hero 7 Black and a DJI Mavic Air. I am no expert but here are some thoughts to consider and tips to try.

 

Resolution: I think most people will say to film in the highest resolution you can. 1440P is more than 1080P so you will get more pixels per frame, in theory, this should provide a better quality image. However, you might be limited to 30 FPS in 1440P to where as, you might be able to get 60 FPS with the 1080P. The more FPS, or Frames per Second, could smooth out a fast action scene and makes slowing down video smoother. 

 

I tend to limit my footage to the best settings of my lowest performing equipment if I am going to blend footage together in a movie. It makes it a little easier for me and I find it makes the overall image quality pretty seamless. 1080P will probably use less space than 1440P video, so take card capacity and card performance into consideration as well.

 

I find that the GoPros look outstanding out to about 4' maybe as far as 6', but then I think they tend to get soft very quickly after that. 

 

If your camera has Protune, I would turn that on and change some setting in there to get the best picture quality. There are a couple videos online about that. To remove fisheye, you need to set the FOV to linear. I would set the min and max ISO stops to 100 (not good for low light). I would put the sharpness at medium at the most. If you plan to do a lot of post editing of your footage you can change the color correction to flat, otherwise the GoPro Color is fine.

 

Zoom: I haven't played with the zoom at all. With such a wide field of view, I don't know much zoom is available. I am assuming all zoom is digital, so it will probably distort the image.

 

Mounting: I don't know if the White edition has hypersmooth image stabilization. If it does, then you can mount the camera pretty much anywhere. If it doesn't you will want to mount it on your helmet or on a chest rig. Without hypersmooth, I would avoid mounting on the bike without a gimble. The little sticky mount surfaces seem to be pretty solid and cheap, so you can bury you and your whole bike in them. I would encourage having something be close up in the frame, be it part of your helmet or part of the bike. That is part of the trickery, if you will, that GoPro and others use to make the footage look epic. Like I said above, up close, the footage is excellent, beyond 6' the image quality softens a lot and increasing sharpness doesn't help.

 

Orientation: I can't help you there. I only shoot landscape. I know that 4:3 is making a comeback, why, I don't know. I am sticking with 16:9 aspect ratios.

 

Editors: I use Adobe Premier CS5.5. It is expensive and way more capable than I am. It is nice to have so much horse power at my finger tips though, just got to figure out what to do with it. I have made a few simple videos and posted them on YouTube, just messing around. I am looking to do more. The GroPro videos are in a MP4 codec. So most modern editing software should be able to handle it without issue. The only good thing about the GoPro editing software I found was the free, royalty free music clips. I ended up keeping those and ditching the rest. I can't really recommend a program for you. I like what I use and don't have a need to change. The latest version of what I use is a monthly payment or subscription based, so you never stop paying for the software. 

 

If you are interested, here are a couple little things I tossed together. No wow factors or award wining content.

 

 

 

 

 

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Go-Pros don't zoom- they crop, like most camera phones. In which case, you're better off cropping in post-production if you really need it. But that wide-angle look is what makes them work. Editing sucks- it's boring and fussy. Even in my pro work, I don't edit my own material- I know how to do it, a nd I know what it should d"feel like" but the process is a pain that I don't enjoy.

As you're already discovered, editing is key. It's very easy to shoot with a GoPro, the key is to edit the HUGE quantity of content into something that's enjoyable to watch. That means short in duration and and contains interesting events, scenery and/or other relevant content. Most of our rides lack that- seriously. The reason or rides are enjoyable is because of the physical act of riding- it's really not much to look at, and for me, get's boring in the first 20 seconds. Then there's the crash videos, which have a certain Schadenfreude about them with which I'm a little uncomfortable- I don't like to see my buddies hurt.

I know a guy who's a pro photographer- he'll tell you the greatest influence on the quality of the content is the time of day in which it was shot. He'll usually shoot outdoor video (and stills) early in the morning or at dusk- soft, warm light, long shadows, etc.

 

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Thanks for the help.

I found a free video editor called OpenShot. It is much easier for me to use. I've been playing with this.

For me the GoPro editor GoPro Quick was worthless. Windows 10 editor Windows Live Movie Maker was slightly better, but still lacking. There are a few free ones out there. I found one called DaVinci Resolve 15. It was unbelievable that this was free. It was WAY more than what I needed, and WAY more than what my laptop could handle. For someone who knows what they are doing it may be something to look at.

My first shot at a mount is on the side of my helmet. So far it seems pretty good. 

Now....I gotta get out there and capture some of the awesome, hot, extreme desert breakfast club action!!!

2019-01-01 001 2019-01-01 001.JPG

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I like the chin mount the best. Nice and centered to catch all the action.

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The distortion showing in the door tells you why the video's elevations appear out of scale.

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Consumer with simple interface (low cost):
- Cyberlink Powerdirector

Pro with complex features (expensive):
- Adobe Premiere
- Edius

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Thanks for the input !

I'm sticking to the free editors for now. Maybe if I find this is something I will do often I can upgrade to a paid version. Have used the one that comes with Windows Photos. It gets the job done (good enough for my skill level) and runs great. Tried OpenShot. I think my laptop is lacking in RAM for it to run correctly. It is choppy. Also, just started using Wondershare Filmora9. It seems to have more features than the Windows editor and runs cleanly.

The laptop has 4Gb RAM can be upgraded to 8Gb. I'm looking at doing that. Most of these editors will "run" on 2-4Gb, They recommend 16Gb

Still playing and having fun. I'm kinda leaning towards the Filmora.

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FYI... Some editors -- like Powerdirector, I believe -- create a lower rez "proxy" version of the clips to edit with.  This keeps the playback from being choppy.  Proxy clips are created in the background and the final video is still rendered out in full rez.

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