Joined the world of GoPro

[Chris]

OK so I don't scuba, para-glide or mountain bike-annoy people. But going to Morocco this year I decided that I didn't want to miss my Spielberg moment. I bought a GP. Don't know that much about them or what the f*** 1080p means but I will work it all out I guess. Got the GP app on my iphone and ipad. That works. Got the GoPro studio thing going on. Class 10 64 GB card. Spare battery, remote, suction mount, not a clue.......

So stand by for hours of meaning less badly edited footage.

 

[GeorgeG]

Congratulations! Welcome to the club! Which model did you get Chris?

 

[clivehorridge]

Well done Chris, you'll have some fun (and some disappointments) with that.

I'm interested whether you get lots of wind noise when its mounted on the outside of the truck. My Sony can only be viewed with the sound off when mine is on "outside" broadcast.

The sound quality is good though, when you want it.

 

[Chris]

Well I got a Hero3+ Black edition. Seemed more than I'll ever need but also was at a very good price. We sell GoPros so I get discount, but the H3+Black in this package is discontinued so we don't have any. I looked at what I'd have to buy to get that package in bits and figured this was better. The remote alone, RRP is £80

I then got the card and other bits from work which worked out very good value. I'd like the bendy arm mount as well, but other than a pack of adhesive mounts I think I have all I need.

 

[MarkW]

exactly how I started Chris

TBH recording footage is pretty easy, turning it into something watchable is more like witchcraft imho.

Things I've learnt

The battery life is shocking I have 2 spare batteries, alternatively look at a skeleton housing and running a power line to the GP from a 12v socket or usb. Downside of the skeleton housing is you lose the water and dust proofing but gain better sound. Buy a 12v charger for the trip

TBH sound recorded off road is pretty dull, lots of bangs rattles and me talking to myself much better to edit it with some nice tunes

Variety is the spice of life! one camera angle will produce pretty dull footage, you need to move the camer for lots of interesting view points, multiple vehicles mean this is easy and one truck can film another. Suction mount is great for changing angles quickly but I always back mine up with a tether when mounted externally in case the suction fails (it hasn't yet)

Footage of near vertical descents look like minor slopes on film

Vibration is a killer on footage, make sure mounts are very tight to minimise this

Timelapse footage is great fun, I have a cheap £20 panning mount which process great film

The app is a great tool, I leave the camera set up and then use the app to film lots of short clips over a day instead of 1 long section. This helps make the most of the battery life but I still delete 80% of the footage

Storage - filming in 1080p (full hd) eats up your memory cards. I take a laptop with me for various use and backing up video, last year I shot over 400GB of footage. This year I'll also take a 2TB usb hard drive so I can collate everyones footage.

With the trip, a few of us have cameras and Georges friend is a film maker so between us we'll get some great footage and should be able to compile a decent film of the trip

 

[Chris]

Thanks Mark, I kinda guessed at some of that. With the remote capability, I'd like to have the camera mounted and just shoot when there is something interesting. I have actually been involved in film making before so I know how much footage you need to actually get something useful. And how short clips make editing difficult if there is no lead in and out

 

[TonyP]

Nice buy. Word of warning though, if you do mount it externally dont rely solely on the suction mount..... Crispin tried this on the way to Lincomb once and I ended up running back up the M25 to retrieve it...

 

[GeorgeG]

I have two GP3+Black and Martin has five I thing.Not sure which models but I'm sure we'll be like an X-mas tree of GPs on the cruiser +his Sony PRO camera. Now I'm pulling wires to the back of the truck for a third battery (incl all related bits for) so we can feed all kind of inverters, laptops, GP baterry chargers etc related bits.We'll see whats gonna happen at the end

 

[Chris]

Thanks Mark, I kinda guessed at some of that. With the remote capability, I'd like to have the camera mounted and just shoot when there is something interesting. I have actually been involved in film making before so I know how much footage you need to actually get something useful. And how short clips make editing difficult if there is no lead in and out

Hmm, not heard of cameras falling off but I shall be very careful that's for sure.

 

[MarkW]

we'll be making Morocco 2015 - A Landcruiserclub.net Production feature film with all the cameras

 

[GeorgeG]

... just shoot when there is something interesting....

My experience shows thats the way to miss alot of interesting moments. Then when I watch someone elses footage I see thing I've missed. Anyways - you will develop your own habits and figure it all out!

 

[MarkW]

I did'nt get any footage for the hardest route I've ever done because I was too busy not ending up on my roof in a river, sometimes the interesting bits get missed like this, and sometimes good stuff happens to fast to get the camera!

 

[clivehorridge]

My experience shows thats the way to miss alot of interesting moments. Then when I watch someone elses footage I see thing I've missed. Anyways - you will develop your own habits and figure it all out!

Agree. When things get interesting, they often get full attention leaving thinking to turn on the camera to be the last thing to be remembered!

 

[stumog]

I wish I had a on board camera from my outing at the weekend. Stu

 

[wobbly]

i took a fair bit of film in Portugal, started with the editing suite, got bored, its still on the to do list.....

Using the app on theiphone to watch what the camera is watching eats the battery quicker, I then used the hand control, then to get a decent days use I resorted to manually switching on and off - lots of films of me staring into the camera....

It would be nice if we could start a gopro section of the site, as I could do with the help

Pete

 

[ChrisNZ]

I have owned a Black Hero3 for a couple of years. Mainly use it for cycling/bodyboarding/skiing. Be careful in cold weather if you mount it outside using the OE plastic arms - they get very brittle and tend to snap under vibration. My camera has bounced off down the road/hill a couple of times when it has been below freezing. I bought a few aluminium arms online, not had a problem since.

 

[clivehorridge]

we'll be making Morocco 2015 - A Landcruiserclub.net Production feature film with all the cameras

Is there an update of progress on the production of the epic "collective" Raid 2015 movie yet? I'm looking forward to that one...

 

[MarkW]

urm, no not sure Clive, I've not really had time to even look at my footage yet. George has copies of my footage and was going to try and get his friend to collate something. Something will appear at some point Im sure

 

[clivehorridge]

urm, no not sure Clive, I've not really had time to even look at my footage yet. George has copies of my footage and was going to try and get his friend to collate something. Something will appear at some point Im sure

IMO, editing is a real PITA. For me, they can stay as filmed, but with so much footage to go through, as you guys must have, I'd leave it to someone else too.