# 1st Couple GoPro Videos



## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

Been trying to get some decent footage with my GoPro.... I have hours of footage that looks flat and slow, any tips? Using Windows MovieMaker to edit, thinking about using Premiere or something better and suggestions?

Made this one with one of my bros...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBh3BJ3AWK8

Made this one on a trip with my Mom and lil Sister...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTHk68b1Ia8


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Are you mainly using a helmet-mount? Unless you follow right behind someone, the helmet mount doesn't show the perspective of how fast you are going very well. You gotta have a moving object to focus on in order to represent realistic speed. For that purpose if you're just riding by yourself, a pole-cam does a much better job of showing that speed.

I'm no pro with editing software but I've been using Sony Movie Studio 12 Platinum and have been liking it. It's a lot more technical than WMM, but you can figure it out fairly easy by just monkeying with it for a while.


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## redlude97 (Jan 9, 2008)

tell your bro to stop tindy grabs


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

thecadgod said:


> Been trying to get some decent footage with my GoPro.... I have hours of footage that looks flat and slow, any tips? Using Windows MovieMaker to edit, thinking about using Premiere or something better and suggestions?
> 
> Made this one with one of my bros...
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBh3BJ3AWK8
> ...


That first vid looked like a lot of fun riding. Tindy or not, they're grabs and looked fun.


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## schmitty34 (Dec 28, 2007)

Yeah, POV on you helmet can be tough because the perspective just doesn't show what's going on unless there is a good frame of reference (another rider, trees, etc.)

The first video was cool though. Just need to be closer on some of those shots. Follow shots in POV are sweat but you gotta stay close to your buddy to make it look cool.


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## jojotherider (Mar 17, 2011)

schmitty34 said:


> Just need to be closer on some of those shots. Follow shots in POV are sweat but you gotta stay close to your buddy to make it look cool.


I agree with this.

I liked how you mixed up shots though. The other thing you should try to avoid is hanging on to shots longer than necessary. Particularly the one shot where the rider rode in towards and past you and disappeared way into the distance. They could've been cut shorter. But not bad for the first couple vids. I was watching someone's vid on youtube the other day, it was 10 minutes long and the first 7 minutes were of the guy strapping in, traversing, falling in some pow, trying to get out of the pow, his friend helping him out of the pow, and then traversing again. When you're making a video, you gotta ask, why would anyone be interested in watching this part?

HoboMaster - does Sony Movie Studio 12 Platinum handle higher res video? I accidentally took some video in 1440 and I can't seem to process it with WMM. Could be hardware limitations though.

-joel


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

Thank you for the great feedback and suggestions! Looking forward to my next trip.


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

1st off thanks to everyone for the input I took it to heart and tried again...

Couple buddies went to Mammoth, what you think?
Mammoth Mountain Mid Feb 2013 - YouTube

I told him no more Tindy grabs.... Progression is a lot harder in your l8 30s then early 20s


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## jojotherider (Mar 17, 2011)

that's a much better edit. At first I was kinda :dizzy: on the music, but as you get further into the video it fits better.

I also like that there wasn't a minute worth of intro on a 3 minute video. I've seen so many videos lately where you don't get any riding until its almost over. The only thing that is nice about the helmet mount is that video tends to be a little less shaky. unfortunately, its sometimes less interesting too. But if you've got a subject in the video, its not so bad.

Which GoPro are you using?


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## TheNorminator (Jan 6, 2013)

So yeah, a helmet pov mount doesn't really show how steep the slope is or how fast you're going. Many other people are right about the gopro on a pole mount. 

When you're taking video, hold the pole behind you so the camera is "following" you. This tends to make slopes look less mellow and your speed faster. It also shows off the great scenery (some resorts don't have any). Another tip is to mount the Gopro upside-down on the pole (or helmet etc.) then chose to flip the video in the Gopro settings or afterwards w/video editing software to reduce vibration. It really works! 

From a physics standpoint (if you're interested at all), it's because the camera upside-down is acting with gravity, and not resisting it.


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## P-Ride (Jan 29, 2012)

Pole's cool, but helmet can be decent too - either way, the trick is getting super-close. As far as GoPro goes, there is no such thing as too close; only safety concerns!

For jumps, I had a 1.5 metre extendible pole with it virtually shoved in their face. No such thing as two close when you have a wide FOV!

Regarding lighting, I found when editing with Final Cut Pro X, tweaking the low/mid/high tones made a big difference. Dropping the shadows in again can help keep a good contrast range.

In darker lighting, I'll be boosting the mids and highs to get more visibility. In very lit areas, bringing the highs or mids down can mean loads of detail suddenly appears which was previously missing.

In yellow white, boosting the blues slightly looked more attractive for both the snow and the sky.

Ultimately though, if you're shooting in a whiteout, there's only so much you can do!

And 60FPS is just lovely for shooting with. You'll obviously mix down to 24or 30, but the slow-motion looks awesome!


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## turbospartan (Oct 27, 2010)

What video editing software did you use? I've only made a couple of videos but used Windows Live Movie Maker (very simple, not many options) but my slo-mo looks all choppy. Yours was pretty smooth. 

Another option for you, if you ride a lot of sunny days... is to go on eBay and buy a UV filter and stick it inside of the housing. I haven't done this but the colors are usually washed out on my GoPro 2 and make me wish I had the filter so everything looked more "natural".


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## thecadgod (Nov 2, 2010)

jojotherider said:


> Which GoPro are you using?


I have a Go Pro Hero. First one they came out with. 



turbospartan said:


> What video editing software did you use?


I use Movie Maker too. The higher the FPS you capture in the slower you can make it with out it looking choppy. Im using my GoPro on the 720p @ 60 FPS setting. It is the best I can do with the Hero. When you save your movie are you selecting the High Def Option?


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