SWMBO got me a GoPro Hero 3 Black edition for my birthday last month, and finally got around to getting out to shoot some video with it. Flew up the Knik just to give the flatlanders an idea as to what mountains look like , but really wanted to see how it would do on the plane. I fabbed up a spare inspection plate and mounted the camera to that using one of the supplied 3M VHB adhesive camera mounts, and then applied insurance with a bolt and nut properly recessed into the mount to allow the camera to be joined to the mount. I used an old mousepad to give me a little "absorber" to try and dampen the vibration.

Here's a pic: http://flic.kr/p/edKA3L


I shot this video, and it's clear there's some work to be done in learning the different modes of the GoPro - I'm not happy with the "jello" effect caused by the rolling shutter on the CS sensor. Also learned that my 2007 vintage iMac is going to need to be replaced if I want to process any serious video. It took about 6 hours in total just to import the video to where it could be worked on . . .

It was a nice to day to fly, enjoy.

Great light, clouds and background. Nearly vibration free and I have seen Hollywood put out worse.

Very nice vid for your first one. I recently started playing with a Drift and still have a lot to learn. My biggest complaint is also the time it takes to make a decent video once you have some footage.

Idea to get rid of the "prop effect" would be to mount the camera farther outboard so the prop (& the aircraft nose) aren't in the pic at all. Nice country.

That sure is some amazing country up there. I'm glad guys like you are getting it on video.

Great video. Beautiful scenery! Just curious, did you upload to Vimeo and then edit? Or did it take 6 hours to go from your go pro to your iMac? I ask because Vimeo is extremely slow to upload a large file if you do not have at least a plus account. I noticed just uploading a short video took forever before I paid for the plus account.

Great Job John -professional stuff.I recognize that cowling from a snow bank in Missouri .

Thanks for the kind comments.

Crzyivan13, I processed through iMovie, which is easy to use but very limited both in terms of capability and creative control. I just have better things to do with $200 than buy Final Cut It did take about 45 minutes to process once I uploaded to Vimeo because I have a basic account.

Nimpocub, will look at the inspection ports farther out on the wing, but I seem to recall they're farther back on the wing, which would put more of the wing into the pic. I'll look at using a different mode on the camera, which might limit the Field of View also. I do like having the nose of the plane in the pic, as it helps drive home the message that this is aviation . . . just hate the prop artifacts.

Bill, that wasn't a snow drift . . . it was a small patch of snow they cleared from the hangar doors

I really liked that video! I set back and sipped coffee while dredging away at my hated day job in an office...it was a great retreat!

I also think the camera would be better suited out farther on the wing...especially away from the pitot tube.

A word about the background music....FANTASTIC!!!!

It was a perfect compilation for those fantastic views!!!

Sierra Hotel wrote:Thanks for the kind comments.

Crzyivan13, I processed through iMovie, which is easy to use but very limited both in terms of capability and creative control. I just have better things to do with $200 than buy Final Cut It did take about 45 minutes to process once I uploaded to Vimeo because I have a basic account.

Nimpocub, will look at the inspection ports farther out on the wing, but I seem to recall they're farther back on the wing, which would put more of the wing into the pic. I'll look at using a different mode on the camera, which might limit the Field of View also. I do like having the nose of the plane in the pic, as it helps drive home the message that this is aviation . . . just hate the prop artifacts.

Bill, that wasn't a snow drift . . . it was a small patch of snow they cleared from the hangar doors

Beautiful country.

I'm a huge fan of Final Cut, but it's more complicated so you'll not only be out $200, but also out hours of time learning it. Unless you know you have a need for it, you're making the right call in sticking with iMovie. That's still a very capable platform.

For the prop artifacts, here's an off the shelf solution: http://www.flyingmag.com/avionics-gear/instrumentaccessories/avoiding-prop-blur-sportys-has-video-solution

You can see similar results early in this video:

Notice how the prop gets less and less visible as the sun goes down in the first 45 seconds or so of the footage. The same principle is at work. The gopro is fixed aperture and adjusts exposure exclusively with shutter speed. So as the sun goes down (or a neutral density filter is applied) the shutter speed gets longer and the prop less obnoxious.

I think you might be able to tweak your white balance and get even better quality out of the footage you've captured.

Jeremy, thanks. I'm a musician, so the soundtrack was equally important to me as the quality of the video . Still have some work to do on the mixing and dubbing - will probably mix the soundtracks in GarageBand, and then import into iMove. Much more control of the audio in GarageBand.

RW2, thanks for the tips. WIll definitely look at WB, as I believe it shifted at one point in the movie due to the changed ambient light when I hit the cloudy section back near the second glacier.I saw the ND filter that Sporty's is selling (another one is available on line at http://www.polarprofilters.com/, it looks like the identical product. I'm wondering how it will work at 150 mph . Maybe a couple pieces of gaffer's tape will help.

Sierra Hotel wrote:WIll definitely look at WB, as I believe it shifted at one point in the movie due to the changed ambient light when I hit the cloudy section back near the second glacier.

WB and gopro have been a constant source of irritation for me. Someone here (maybe Zane or usernameguy) mentioned using the new gopro mode that does attempt to do any white balanace, then you adjust it in your tool to be right. I haven't tried this yet so can't speak to it first hand. Maybe they will chime in.

Sierra Hotel wrote:Maybe a couple pieces of gaffer's tape will help.

Yup, gaffers tape is your friend. But I bet they stay on pretty well anyway.

Overall are you happy with the gopro3? I need to get a new one as I recently bricked my gopro2 and I'd like to have something to play with at the Maule fly-in in Llano on the 10th.

For being in the learning mode? Yeah, I'm pretty happy - fairly easy to use, affordable, seems to be robust. Battery life is an issue. I have he wi-fi remote, as well as the iphone app, but the battery will crap out in less than 30 minutes using Wifi. I see Sporty's is selling a battery that piggyback's on to the back of the camera with a back cover for the waterproof case. I'll look at getting that soon, as I'd really like to use the app (has a good preview capability that let's you see on the iphone what the camera is seeing.

As far as the mode that blanks out the camera settings for exposure/WB etc, that's the same as shooting RAW on your DSLR. Pretty much all I shoot with my Nikons, but it does require extensive fix in post-processing. For the most part, the camera does OK with setting exposures and auto WB, given the fact that it's pretty much a "dumb" point and shoot.

Couple that with the fact that I'll use it on the boat this summer to get some in-water shots of big halibuts coming to the boat (and they will come - I told them to ), I don't think you can beat this camera for performance for the $$. My $.02, and it may not be worth that!

Yeah, I shoot raw for stills also, so your feedback is appreciated given our, apparently, similar backgrounds. I should have known when you mentioned gaffers tape.

The reason I would even consider shooting 'raw' in the gopro is that I've had really bad luck with the WB being all messed up. I haven't really been able to nail it down yet, but it *seems* like it does a WB when you power up (or perhaps start shooting) and then use that WB the entire time. I say this because it seems like when I start the recording on something dumb (like the tan and orange on my plane or my giant face looking into the camera as I push the button to start recording) then the WB is messed up. Unfortunately, I shoot infrequently enough that I haven't been able to properly analyse this theory. The consequence has been footage that requires enough tweaking in Final Cut that fidelity is lost, hence my wondering aloud if 'raw' is the answer.

Yeah, when you mentioned gaffer's tape I figured you for a shooter also.

I don't know about FInal Cut, but messing with any video attributes in iMovie can be very time consuming, as you have to alter every clip in the rough cut movie. A five minute movie can have 10-2 clips, not very efficient. I'm somewhat spoiled by first Photoshop and now Lightroom for pp. I don't worry about anything except focus and exposure, knowing that the shot is coming out of the camera with all data intact.

I'll look at Final Cut sometime soon, especially if I want to do a lot of video processing. Or even better yet, maybe buy it at the same time I buy a new Mac that's got the horsepower to process video. Mine grunts right now when I upload even stills.