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Go Pro Help

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es94
Posts: 291 - Karma: 67
My friend recently got an hd go pro hero. im pretty excited to shoot with it this winter but have a few questions for anyone with any knowledge on the matter. first of all, i have a mac and a fairly new dell inspiron which is what we would be doing the editing on. ALSO the purpose of these is just to film ourselves and make some fun good looking edits...nothing too fancy.

Question 1: What format would be the best compromise of clarity and easy editing? i was told 720p 60fps was good but am not sure.

2. What do you do about battery life? Their website says 2.5 hours of recording but Im sure the cold takes a toll on that.

3. What have you found is the best way to get steady follow shots? Iv seen plenty of edits where the cam is somehow mounted on a ski pole, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot and +k for help

Sep 5 2010 6:13PM
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Lwaghorn
Posts: 143 - Karma: 14
for steady shots the best way is to rig up some kind of pole. there is threads in the gopro cult. the way i am hoping to do mine is to put it on the end of a golf ball retriever, because its easy to adjust length. just something to think about.
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Sep 5 2010 6:40PM
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[-mvee-]
Posts: 1713 - Karma: 10
+k for such a good idea. never thought of that one. im trying this forsure.
Sep 5 2010 9:44PM
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willy_baller
Posts: 1622 - Karma: 693
sick idea. how do you plan on mounting it?
Sep 6 2010 2:18AM
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Lwaghorn
Posts: 143 - Karma: 14
well the circular thing is only held in with a pin. i knocked it out with a nail.
so then there in just a metal surface in the shape of a triagle. so now im thinking about trying to weld a small plate to it. then sticking the mount to that.

i dont have a welder or do i know anything about it, so im not sure how i would do this. But friends do, so im just waiting to find out now.

But do you guys think that if i put the mount on the plate. if it would keep its stick in cold wheather and wet conditions?
Sep 6 2010 10:28AM
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glacier_freeze
Posts: 87 - Karma: 28
same idea as above but using a cheap monopod from radioshack. buy the monopod that is on radioshack for $10 and then add the tripod adapter. a bit heavy though.
Sep 6 2010 10:53AM
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[-mvee-]
Posts: 1713 - Karma: 10
this was my original idea, i even bought the tripod adaptor. but i think i like the golf catcher idea better.
Sep 6 2010 12:24PM
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.Roockley.
Posts: 3857 - Karma: 4,000
sometimes the format isnt compatible with editing software so what you do is change the file extension in your explorer bar from .mp4 to .mov
Sep 6 2010 2:26PM
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stickerman
Posts: 2043 - Karma: 147
Question 1: For clarity and easy editing would be 720P at 30 fps. BUT, if you have a decent computer or just a regular computer, then the 60 FPs will be a little choppy when editing. But i only have 1GB ram, and i edit 60 fps and isnt to miserable. plus when you film at 60 FPS, the slow mo looks so much better.

Question 2: Battery life is affected when its cold out. but if the camera dies really fast, then just pop the battery out and warm it up in your glove or something. it will start up and work temporarily until it gets cold again. then just repeat the glove thing. also the gopro's have a battery warming device, so the heat from the camera is tranfered over to the battery so it keeps it a little warmer and lasts better then normal camera.

Question 3: for steady shots i use an old kayak paddle and a pole mount. basically i sawed off the handle and the actual paddle/fin thingy and just attached it. its super light to since its carbon fibre. i have also seen guys that use a telescoping golf pole thing. its light and retracts so it is easy to carry around. if you dont want to spend alot of money and still have a pole mount, then check out this thread. https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/cult/forumthread/thread_id/557733/

hope this helps
Sep 6 2010 7:05PM
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abek
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,587
i have used a lot of different extendable poles but found nothing better than a ski pole - lightweight one too. The extendables have the slightest amount of shake in each junction. 720 60 is definitely teh best for skiing stuff. 1080 looks sweet if you have it on a tripod or are super stable with it, but for most it looks pretty shaky.

battery life has never been a problem for me. that 2.5 hrs is for straight recording, which unless you don't know how to turn the camera off, you will hardly ever reach in a single day. I find any given day of skiing you'll use like 1-2 bars of 4 on the battery.
Sep 7 2010 2:05AM
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