Yes, another thumbs up for Vimeo !

One thing I do like about YT is that it gives the viewer a wide range of viewing options
with regard to resolution . With HD vids on Vimeo you get either 720p, or 1080p, but not
both. Choosing the 1080p option means some people just won't be able to play it at all.
Problem is, without the 1080p option, sometimes you just can't see the plane much,
especially on a GoPro shot vid.
Also find that sometimes Vimeo flash player just can't walk and chew gum at the same
time, meaning if buffering slows or stops for a moment, playback also stops, even if most
of the video is already buffered *waaaay* ahead of the current playback location.
Defeats the purpose of buffering all together.

As for using GoPro versus other camera. I agree with Phil that a well shot vid
with the proper camera/lens/use of zoom etc, is best, but I constantly find myself
wanting to be on both sides of the lens. I have a vision of what moves I want the
plane to make, and I also know how I would love to shoot it with a proper camera,
but I just can't have both. Even if there is a buddy to shoot it me trying to convey
to them the creative vision would more likely just frustrate them (and has before).
More than a few potentially great vids have been totally ruined with too much zoom.

So we work with what we've got, which is a head mounted HD camera with fixed zoom
and I realize when watching other peoples' GoPro shot vids they may share the same
challenges and not reject them out of hand.

For whatever it's worth, my most popular slope or DS vid (18k views)
was self shot with a GoPro HD @1080p medium (only setting it had). What makes
it is the sound, which I recorded with a Zoom H2 audio recorder, with a dead cat wind-screen.
GoPro itself is totally hopeless audio-wise.

The Weldon Dynamic Soaring experience (10 min 0 sec)

ian

Wow, Ian. Best DS video I've seen I think. Not that I've watched many, but very cool.

I got my first test video taken today and I'm wondering if there are some better settings I should have or if color/contrast could be fixed with a better editor. I'm currently looking at either getting Vegas Pro from a buddy of mine or if that fails maybe picking up Vegas Movie Studio.

I live in SoCal and the prevailing slope winds are westerlies which means that most typically the Sun will always be somewhere in the background of the shot. I noticed that the GoPro was trying to do some automatic adjustments and the end results is in a slightly darker looking video when the sun is in the picture and lighter when it isn't.

The editing and shot is cheesy and hastily done in a hastily downloaded Windows Movie Maker (didn't this use to come preinstalled???), but I wanted to post it before taking off from work. The attached iPhone captures are the settings it was taken with.

Mamba Shoots the Hoop @ Fermin 2/01/2013 (1 min 19 sec)

-Jonathan

Well done !
welcome to the video production house-of-fun

Phil.

Shooting into the sun is always going to be tough, but if you want to pull
more out of the shadows you could, as I mentioned earlier, turn on Protune mode.
It's likely to look a bit washed out (due to lack of added contrast) but the darkest areas
will have more visible details so you have to tweak it yourself in the editor (Levels tool).
My preference for editor is Vegas Pro but I've been using it for over a decade.
If you do try a Vegas product be sure to right click on each imported clip select
Switches - Disable Resample. Otherwise you'll get an annoying ghosting artifact between
frames in a lot of different scenarios.

If you intend to do more slow-mo work, then you may want to try 1080p@60fps
although you can only use it with Protune off.

As for editing itself, you just have to keep in mind that the plane gets small in
frame really quick with no zoom (using any camera), so often you can get
away with just editing out the far away shots unless you really need to
convey continuous flow (or sound).

ian

Well done Johnathon. You can expect some great stuff with the 60fps capability of the 3. It'll slow down those tail drags nicely.
Expect your flying to improve greatly with thr addition of a go pro. It'll have to because you'll have to fly in front of the lens within 5ft!
I'd agree with Steves comments, I use a hero 2, on medium, and edit with Sony Vegas Pro 12. Let me know if you need more Vegas pointers via PM.
Happy shooting!
Jimbo.

Nice hoop-shoot! But 480p man? C'mon give us some HD

Steve

Good start, Jonathan ! Yup, you need to check what's happening in your rendering or downloading process, somehow your 1080 camera setting isn't getting to the final product..

You'll sort it out soon eunf !

Chris

Allright. This thread gives some great info and right in time as a recently bought a GoPro2HD. So theres ging to be a learning curve för sure... It has been so easy to use the cam in my smartphone but hope to get even better clips with the GoPro. Sadly the Sony i bought didnt work out for filming planes in the air witch was a bummer since the picture quality and zoom was great... Well its going be interesting to try the new one...

Hero 2 , set to 110 deg, mounted on Baseball cap
Flying in close range and in sunny conditions.

Tragi May 2012 (3 min 15 sec)

I heard the GPH3 isn't much better so waiting for Sony Action 2 or hopefully Canon comes up with a action Cam soon

Actually, the H3 Black is quite a lot better in terms of image quality.

Originally Posted by surfimp

--cut-- Focus on the best-of-the-best and be ruthless in cutting things from your film. Better a 60sec clip full of action and a kickass soundtrack, than a 6min yawn fest set to the sound of howling wind, IMHO... people's attention spans are SHORT....

Steve

--cut--

I've applied that approach to my latest M60 clip. I used to leave longer sequences, but fast ships just disappears in seconds. I always plan to make some trials and move further on shooting and editing techniques but my build queue always gets in the way and when I'm at the slope I just get kidnapped by the wind...

M60 @ Monte Cornua (la vendetta) (3 min 13 sec)

Originally Posted by Fluffracka

Allright. This thread gives some great info and right in time as a recently bought a GoPro2HD. So theres ging to be a learning curve för sure... It has been so easy to use the cam in my smartphone but hope to get even better clips with the GoPro. Sadly the Sony i bought didnt work out for filming planes in the air witch was a bummer since the picture quality and zoom was great... Well its going be interesting to try the new one...

So what was wrong with the sony? focusing issues? I have a sony handy cam, which is the same, not very good at tracking movement, but good at static shots on a tripod. Try it on the tripod, but remember to cut all the out of shot scenes, unless they add to the mood, or the audience will complain..

Sony handy cam on tripod and 808#16 on board, the best res is 720HD from both cams.

Multiplex Alpina 4001 Pro 4m Glider - Slope Soaring (4 min 49 sec)

For those with the wifi app or other preview settings, where do you try to set the horizon at when fixing the GoPro in the head strap. Probably a pretty obvious question but was curious if anyone else gave it much thought.

What I have attempted to do before take off is to , check slope right make sure camera is not looking somewhere odd, look slope left and perform same check, look strait out to horizon and make sure camera is not crooked. Hmm, just realized some people might not have a nice flat horizon to do this to, but anyways, I set the horizon to be at about 1/4 of the distance from the bottom of the screen today which I thought looked ok preflight, but afterwards even though the plane was in the picture almost the entire time, the ground was not in the picture much and the landing short was not what it would have been with more nice green grass in the pic. I guess the obvious answer was when looking strait out it was fine, but in actuality I was looking slightly up while flying. My next flight video I will set the horizon to be at 1/2 the screen which I'm guessing will be perfect.

So... I think I answered my own question in my own post, but I would love to hear others thoughts and feedback and/or set up routines.

-Jonathan

By trial and error I figured that two knuckles between cam and bracket sets the correct angle on medium. On wide it's slightly lower. Left/right is not an issue if you set cam on
centre of forehead.
I don't use narrow, too grainy in the poor light we are used too.