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...in the sales and it arrived today, helmet, bar and chest mounts. give me your tips on how to get the best out of it. Have downloaded the editing software from Gopro, is this the best or are there any other free editors I should consider. It is the original Hero 960, never done anything like this before. Also, what are the best settings for the camera, not yet gone HD on the TV but have HD on PC. Initially will be used on the bike in the day but hoping to use at night too, is this possible?
Thanks in advance and will post vids when I have got some decent footage.
Who is Si?
Still time to change the title 😉
[edit] chapow ninja like [/edit]
Not a good start....doh!!!
Mine is the 1080 rather than the 960 but it's probably much the same... With the chest mount, spend a little time working out the aim, I didn't and spent a week in france recording nothing worth seeing 🙁
The 1080's files cause some software to choke, and the Gopro stuff is not well regarded- it's probably been improved since i used it, since back then it was appalling. Can't see past Sony Vegas meself but I had to get HD Platinum, the lower versions wouldn't run the preview adequately. It cost me about £25 so not free, but considering the investment in the camera and mounts i don't begrudge that.
I've never had any night footage that I considered worth keeping, but ymmv, I'm quite picky.
Other'n that- go forth, dick around, have fun.
I think one of the key things for the camera is the memory card, try and get a class 10 card (better capability at storing data at speed) 7dayshop have good prices
The chest mount is great, I have mine set-up so it shoots in upside-down mode (helps get a better angle when in the chest mount), and starts recording automatically when you switch it on.
Another good tip (read it on here) is to put two strips of electrical tape inside the chest mount clip - makes it a tighter fit and prevents the annoying clicking noise that you get in lots of gopro clips
oh... and make sure you have your camelbak hose tucked out of the way, otherwise it's in the top of every damn shot
First thing you've got to do is learn how to stay on the bike long enough to record something 🙂
Yep, chest mount is good. Don't try too hard once you're filming or you will come off.
Vimeo is better for hosting than youtube for big videos.
Sony movie studio HD is great and quite cheap if you don't get the latest version.
You will learn to HATE the sound of the camera ratlling around in it's case.
Be prepared to video lots of crap. It's a long game.
Avoid 1080 unless you have a serious card in your pc that can deal with it. Vegas Platinum HD manages fine with 720 and thats all most people need. Free trials are available.
+1 for mounting upside down. Unless you want people to admire your toptube and knees instead of your riding that is...
Check lens regularly for mud/water. Annoying to get home and fine most of the footage is a big smudge.
Get a spare battery for use on longer rides.
Film other riders in front or behind and not just an empty trail. This means riding tight together(tighter than you would think) to keep them close in shot. Try to get alongside when the trail widens for a great tracking shot (if using helmet mount). This means riding with someone you trust and developing a whole new skill set. 🙂
Get the camera off and film stuff in addition to usual rider's eye view. I put mine up in tree branches, under jumps or give to a mate to film of course!
Shoot B-Roll footage i.e. non biking stuff such as scenery, animals, tea stop etc. Helps break up the film.
If you post online don't expect the internet to go crazy over your footage unless you are doing big stuff. Your footage may look super rad to you but not so to others. You really appreciate how big some guys go on youtube when you watch your own footage of a 6ft drop and it looks tame.
On the same point, edit drastically. Youtube stats show when people get bored and its very easily!
And lastly, for best results remember to take your SD card out of the PC before you go riding!
10pmix - MemberAvoid 1080 unless you have a serious card in your pc that can deal with it.
😕 Why? Mine doesn't need it. It was a pretty poky machine when it was new, to be fair, but it's years old now and still crunches 1080 files without too much stress.
I use free windows movie maker, easy to use and on a slow rubbish laptop too
+1 on getting a good card for it
- BrilliantAnd lastly, for best results remember to take your SD card out of the PC before you go riding!
- Am trying my hardest on this one though with little success!!!First thing you've got to do is learn how to stay on the bike long enough to record something
Getting a good shot is the easy bit. Editing the resulting footage is the time consuming part! I got the 960HD for the cost saving and computer doubts. Turned out expensive as my three year old laptop still couldn't cope, (editing was hopelessly jittery, slow and out of sync) but the new one was only £450ish and is fine.
I bought one for my Honeymoon, along with two 16GB cards and an extra battery. A battery just outlasts a 16GB card, and two 16GB cards are enough just to turn the camera on at the beginning of each day, and forget about it until you've finished riding. I didn't want to be faffing about with it, just get on with enjoying the riding.
The downside, is I have 11 days of footage, 131GB's. Six months after the Honeymoon, I'm only halfway through and have spent hundreds of hours in front of the laptop 🙂
P.S Played with Sony Vegas and its very nice, but a little OTT for the 'basic' editing I'm doing, so like rocketdog I am using Live Movie Maker. My only two complaints, is you can't zoom in to part of a clip (for when a black bear tries to steal my camelbac in the background) and there is no sound waveform thing, which means its difficult to sync the riding to the music, which can be pretty effective, but extremely time consuming.
Shoot in 720p @ 60fps for smooth footage.
Adobe Premiere Elements is worth a try, 30 days free! There are loads of how to videos on youtube.
Watch other peoples mtb video's to get idea's of what and what not to do. Here's mine, first time video editing btw.
[url=
Vedi Vini Vici[/url]
[url=
D L'Iseran Descent with snow[/url]
[url= http://youtu.be/RveXNUVppZE?hd=1 ]St Bernard Pass[/url]
Great tips, keep them coming please
where did you get it in the sales?
I'm only halfway through and have spent hundreds of hours in front of the laptop
Lol yeah I found that out about home movie making.. shoot hours of footage.. watch hours of footage over and over to get the best bits.
I always write notes when watching the footage.
1:32 - Jump
1:44 - Crash
When editing and you think its good, leave it a few days and re-watch and you'll find a few bits to edit it out.
Another tip would be get a friend who isn't a mtb'er to watch it, when they start loosing interest you know that bit can be cut.
where did you get it in the sales?
Swinnertons cycles although they are now listed at a higher price