# Just got a GoPro Hero 4 Silver...what settings to use while filming?



## firstx1017

FWIW - We just got ours last week - after having 7 go pros in the past - we now have the Go Pro Hero 4 Silver. We did some tests and found out that my laptop is to slow to watch the higher quality videos. The superview wouldn't be very good to use snowboarding as it is a super wide view but you will be way too far away. We have used the 1080P Medium view 60fps and it works great. Narrow works but it will be a little shaky. I like the quality of the 1080 over the 720 and we bring extra batteries and have a large card so not worried about the size of the video. We use a monopod when filming and if the hubby is getting both of us boarding he will use the 1080p Wide 60fps. If I am taping him on the boxes I use the 1080p Medium or Narrow 60fps.



njfastlfie said:


> 720 vs 1080 vs 1080 vs 1080 superview vs 4k
> 
> what framerate?
> 
> any other settings i should be aware of?
> 
> thanks.


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## SkullAndXbones

4k will give you the best video quality


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## elstinky

firstx1017 said:


> We did some tests and found out that my laptop is to slow to watch the higher quality videos. .... We have used the 1080P Medium view 60fps and it works great. Narrow works but it will be a little shaky.


This guy knows the deal. I have a 3+ and came to the same conclusion and the 4 is not all that different. 4K is all nice and such, but you need a friggin workstation to just play it, let alone edit it. Moreover unless you are planning to show your movies in some sort of movie theater you are going to resize them to 1080p or lower anyway, so why bother with that if you can just shoot in the already pretty abundant quality the 1080p mode has to offer?


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## firstx1017

Yep - I don't know who in the world can play let alone edit and make a movie with the 4k! lol

We really like the lens on the 4 and the video quality is great!



elstinky said:


> This guy knows the deal. I have a 3+ and came to the same conclusion and the 4 is not all that different. 4K is all nice and such, but you need a friggin workstation to just play it, let alone edit it. Moreover unless you are planning to show your movies in some sort of movie theater you are going to resize them to 1080p or lower anyway, so why bother with that if you can just shoot in the already pretty abundant quality the 1080p mode has to offer?


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## Rotcoddam411

I have a 3+ Black (Same as 4 Silver without touch screen)

For anything none action sports

2k 30fps 
Protune On
FLAT - Log curve
CAMRAW
ISO Limit 400 or 1600 as needed.
Sharpness Medium
EV -0.5 (or downward as needed)
Normal POV'


Snowboarding?:
1080p 60fps 
Protune On
FLAT - Log curve
CAMRAW
ISO Limit 400 or 1600 as needed.
Sharpness Medium
EV -0.5 (or downward as needed)


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## ryannorthcott

Ya 2.7k protune, medium FOV at 30p or 60p is probably the all around best setting. You get better than HD resolution and the medium field of view reduces the barrel distortion (fisheye effect). Some people like that look though. Going to want to crank down the ISO and exposure especially on bright days. 

I would leave color on 'gopro' setting instead of flat and auto white balance instead of camraw
While these settings are the most conducive to color grading, I'm guessing you want the most attractive footage possible right from the camera.


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## Mel M

1080p
60fps
Go Pro Color
Protune On
Superview

It's snowboarding. Don't do 4k. It's laggy during playback and even laggier editing it. In short, it's a PITA. Maybe in 2 years. Not now.

You're probably thinking... why don't I archive it right now so it's at it's highest resolution already. Well, Gopro 4k doesn't record motion and pan as well as 2.7k despite what the specs say, and I really believe the GoPro at it's current state doesn't use a high enough bitrate anyway for 4k. Use it for filming shots of the resort/mountain itself or selfies with you and your friends if you want to see your nose hair... that's it. Some say you can crop from 4k, and I wouldn't mind if it were not for the panning and motion issues I see.

2.7k has great picture quality and overall smooth motion, but I only don't recommend it as much as 1080p because of the lack of 60fps. 60fps for snowboarding IMO is way more important than resolution. Not only do you get buttery smooth playback, but it offers pretty good slow motion playback options. Not as good as 120fps, but with 1080p, you get a noticeable droppoff in image quality at 120fps.

Superview... best used if you're holding a pole because it uses you as point of reference and it takes everything in. That's what I use during 90% of my snowfiliming. If you have it on your helmet, it can be hit or miss because everything might seem far away and because it's high, it will make it seem like you're going slower on a less steep incline than what you experience in real life. Such are the drawbacks of super wide angle.

Go with Protune to give you a little more levity with adjustments like color and exposure. I'd start with GoPro color because I like my colors vivid in my snowboarding videos anyway.


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## Rotcoddam411

yes! Unless you have a beast computer, editing in 2k/4k will take long. Kinda shitty but 1080p/60 is great


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## ryannorthcott

Mel M said:


> 1080p
> 60fps
> Go Pro Color
> Protune On
> Superview
> 
> It's snowboarding. Don't do 4k. It's laggy during playback and even laggier editing it. In short, it's a PITA. Maybe in 2 years. Not now.
> 
> You're probably thinking... why don't I archive it right now so it's at it's highest resolution already. Well, Gopro 4k doesn't record motion and pan as well as 2.7k despite what the specs say, and I really believe the GoPro at it's current state doesn't use a high enough bitrate anyway for 4k. Use it for filming shots of the resort/mountain itself or selfies with you and your friends if you want to see your nose hair... that's it. Some say you can crop from 4k, and I wouldn't mind if it were not for the panning and motion issues I see.
> 
> 2.7k has great picture quality and overall smooth motion, but I only don't recommend it as much as 1080p because of the lack of 60fps. 60fps for snowboarding IMO is way more important than resolution. Not only do you get buttery smooth playback, but it offers pretty good slow motion playback options. Not as good as 120fps, but with 1080p, you get a noticeable droppoff in image quality at 120fps.
> 
> Superview... best used if you're holding a pole because it uses you as point of reference and it takes everything in. That's what I use during 90% of my snowfiliming. If you have it on your helmet, it can be hit or miss because everything might seem far away and because it's high, it will make it seem like you're going slower on a less steep incline than what you experience in real life. Such are the drawbacks of super wide angle.
> 
> Go with Protune to give you a little more levity with adjustments like color and exposure. I'd start with GoPro color because I like my colors vivid in my snowboarding videos anyway.


QFT and my number one gripe about the hero4... 4k bitrate is the same as 1080 bitrate, meaning yes the pixels are there but it doesn't necessarily mean the picture quality is better. I still like medium FOV but that's just preference.
Here is a pretty helpful guide: Understanding Your New GoPro


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## StAntonRider

I'd like to add that 60 FPS in a YouTube video looks fake and amateur. 29.97 (30) looks awesome and cinematic. So either record in 60 then convert to 30 in editing, or record in 30 from the start.


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## Rotcoddam411

StAntonRider said:


> I'd like to add that 60 FPS in a YouTube video looks fake and amateur. 29.97 (30) looks awesome and cinematic. So either record in 60 then convert to 30 in editing, or record in 30 from the start.


IF you HAVE to do this, render your final edit in 60fps in your editing program, then re-render back to 30fps. Or you would fuck a lot of things up


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## StAntonRider

Rotcoddam411 said:


> IF you HAVE to do this, render your final edit in 60fps in your editing program, then re-render back to 30fps. Or you would fuck a lot of things up


Ermmm depends. If you use the editing software to re render back to 30 all good. If you use some fake online shit to 30 fps it no go. Does anyone know if shooting in 60 then re rendering to 30 looks better than shooting in 30 from the start? Have never tried it.


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## Rotcoddam411

StAntonRider said:


> Ermmm depends. If you use the editing software to re render back to 30 all good. If you use some fake online shit to 30 fps it no go. Does anyone know if shooting in 60 then re rendering to 30 looks better than shooting in 30 from the start? Have never tried it.



Haha, using 60fps while first compositing an edit would allow you to use a slower slow motion without as much warping. Or motion track a bit easier, a couple of other things. In my opinion editing in 60 is a much better.


If you have After Effects or Vegas or something just double render. It won't look any different but will allow you have 30fps from a 60fps edited video if you want.


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## StAntonRider

Rotcoddam411 said:


> Haha, using 60fps while first compositing an edit would allow you to use a slower slow motion without as much warping. Or motion track a bit easier, a couple of other things. In my opinion editing in 60 is a much better.
> 
> 
> If you have After Effects or Vegas or something just double render. It won't look any different but will allow you have 30fps from a 60fps edited video if you want.


Gotcha. Thanks.


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## njfastlfie

wow, lot of different suggestions. 

i will say that tomorrow is going to be overcast with a slight chance of snow so that will certainly affect which settings i use.


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## surfinsnow

There is no reason to use 60fps unless you intend on slow motion. Standard digital video frame rate is 30fps (actually 29.97) for 1080p. Anything else just takes up more space and you won't get better quality...just twice the frame rate. As others stated, forget the 4k for now. It's a cool gimmick, but you'll need monster equipment to edit/play back. Just stick with 30fps/1080p -- unless you're making a cinema movie, you'll never notice the difference.


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## njfastlfie

surfinsnow said:


> There is no reason to use 60fps unless you intend on slow motion. Standard digital video frame rate is 30fps (actually 29.97) for 1080p. Anything else just takes up more space and you won't get better quality...just twice the frame rate. As others stated, forget the 4k for now. It's a cool gimmick, but you'll need monster equipment to edit/play back. Just stick with 30fps/1080p -- unless you're making a cinema movie, you'll never notice the difference.


thanks. do you suggest using wifi and the app? i only have 1 battery and i know that can kill it pretty quick.


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## Rotcoddam411

njfastlfie said:


> thanks. do you suggest using wifi and the app? i only have 1 battery and i know that can kill it pretty quick.


Eh, personally i don't use wifi, just kills the battery to fast. Sometimes I will turn it on too watch a clip on the way up if i think i got something sick. But thats about it


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## njfastlfie

Rotcoddam411 said:


> Eh, personally i don't use wifi, just kills the battery to fast. Sometimes I will turn it on too watch a clip on the way up if i think i got something sick. But thats about it


thanks brother. i think i am all set.


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## readimag

My 4 silver lasted all day at Baker just pick a setting do some runs and check out the playback on the ride up. I charged mine during lunch and was fine, I always run at 60 fps more options to pull pics later also. Like everyone else said WiFi is the real killer with the new screen on the back you don’t need it.


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## Judi

Mel M said:


> 1080p
> 60fps
> Go Pro Color
> Protune On
> Superview
> 
> It's snowboarding. Don't do 4k. It's laggy during playback and even laggier editing it. In short, it's a PITA. Maybe in 2 years. Not now.
> 
> You're probably thinking... why don't I archive it right now so it's at it's highest resolution already. Well, Gopro 4k doesn't record motion and pan as well as 2.7k despite what the specs say, and I really believe the GoPro at it's current state doesn't use a high enough bitrate anyway for 4k. Use it for filming shots of the resort/mountain itself or selfies with you and your friends if you want to see your nose hair... that's it. Some say you can crop from 4k, and I wouldn't mind if it were not for the panning and motion issues I see.
> 
> 2.7k has great picture quality and overall smooth motion, but I only don't recommend it as much as 1080p because of the lack of 60fps. 60fps for snowboarding IMO is way more important than resolution. Not only do you get buttery smooth playback, but it offers pretty good slow motion playback options. Not as good as 120fps, but with 1080p, you get a noticeable droppoff in image quality at 120fps.
> 
> Superview... best used if you're holding a pole because it uses you as point of reference and it takes everything in. That's what I use during 90% of my snowfiliming. If you have it on your helmet, it can be hit or miss because everything might seem far away and because it's high, it will make it seem like you're going slower on a less steep incline than what you experience in real life. Such are the drawbacks of super wide angle.
> 
> Go with Protune to give you a little more levity with adjustments like color and exposure. I'd start with GoPro color because I like my colors vivid in my snowboarding videos anyway.


Hello,

I just bought a go pro 4 silver. I am using it for the first time going snowboarding next week. I want to take some good pictures but mostly video. I want to edit the video after to make a short clip in slow motion for instagram. Do you think I should use those settings? I will have my gopro on a go pro stick so filming with camera facing me as well as away from me. I can always take pictures from the video after in go pro studio.

thank you 

Judi


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