GoPro Session

ben@31

Hi,

What size microSD card do users recommend getting for recording a day at the local trails and what settings do you use for video resolution and fps?
I'm quite surprised the battery only lasts for 2 hours. That wouldn't last on the longer trails like Dalby Forest. Would you record a morning lap, then go to the cafe for lunch while recharging the GoPro session for an afternoons lap of the trails ?
Thanks

rockmonkeysc

Long videos make terrible viewing. Just record the interesting bits.
2 hours is quite a lot. It'll take ages to edit and a huge amount of storage space.

oodboo

As said already, record parts, not the whole thing. Check the size limit for the card as well, I think it's 32GB so no point getting a card bigger than that.

cougie

I don't think you'll get two hours out of it either.

Dcrainmaker has 64Gb as the limit but I don't think you need that much unless you're recharging.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Long videos make terrible viewing. Just record the interesting bits.
2 hours is quite a lot. It'll take ages to edit and a huge amount of storage space.

oodboo wrote:

As said already, record parts, not the whole thing. Check the size limit for the card as well, I think it's 32GB so no point getting a card bigger than that.

No. Shoot everything*. If you want to make the best movies then shoot, shoot, shoot. Then edit ruthlessly.

You need to shoot everything and then find the best bits (and only the best bits) and somehow planning to only catch the best bits and thinking you're going to get a good movie out of that doesn't work. When we shoot movies we talk about a 'shooting ratio' and if you're using film stock that can be anything from 6x to 10x what ends up on screen. If we're shooting digital it will far exceed that. And if it comes to documentaries (which is, essentially, what you're making) then you can easily run to shooting 100x what you finally edited into the final movie.



* O.K., not you tying your shoe laces and stuff like that, but shoot anything that looks like it might be even remotely interesting.

oodboo

Shoot everything. That's what I used to think but got sick of taking through loads of footage. Now I shoot a few bit on the climbs, usually quite randomly, and leave it running on the downs.

rockmonkeysc

95% of any riding is going to be boring as fork to watch. Let's be really honest, any video by anyone but a near pro level rider is going to be boring to anyone else.

ben@31

Im not doing any filming for anyone else, just for myself.

How much of a difference does the resolution and frames per second make? Is 720p and 50 or 30fps still good? Does the settings make a huge difference to how much you can save onto the microSD card? Thanks

Horton

I think the Session can take up to 128gb cards, but you'll need to start swapping batteries to fill that depending on modes. The hero 4 has a list of times on the GoPro website https://gopro.com/support/articles/hero4-black-recording-time-in-each-video-setting

I suspect they have similar for the Session, I didn't look, just have that bookmarked from a while ago.

Another important factor in SD cards is the Class (or how fast it can read/write memory). Think GoPro say needs to be class 10 at least.

Higher frame rates and higher resolution do of course increase the file size a fair bit and depending what you want to do with the footage will dictate what you shoot in. Higher frame rates (above 25/30 fps) start giving you smoother slow-mo. Higher resolution makes a clearer picture (from very pixelated videos to very nice HD ones). One of the best things about shooting in the higher resolutions is the ability to grab a decent size still image from the video - think you can get a 5mb image from a 1080p video.

All that said, I'm with RM on this. Record those bits you think will be fun and ignore the rest - long vids are really boring to watch - even if is only for your viewing pleasure. If you plan on editing to a shorter 3 or 4 minute clip, long videos are a real bore to edit and they take up a huge amount of space to boot.

When I do take the go pro out, I tend to just record short sections between 1 & 3 minutes at a time, and I normally shoot in 1080 @ 60fps or 720 @ 120fps. If I then do an edit, I find the best bits of the best clips and put something together for about a 3-4 minute vid.

This is not personal by the way, but no matter how awesome you think you are or how gnarly you think the trails you ride are, the vids will almost certainly make you/the trail look distinctly average compared with how it feels to ride it.

Have fun with it though, try different mounting points both on you and the bike, and go out with a mate - you can get some good footage pointing the camera backwards and having someone chase you provided they stay close!

oodboo

Depends where you read it, on the page discussing recommended memory cards they say it can take up to 128gb. On the product page it says 64gb.

JBA

32GB cards are fine for recording a few hours of video.
Have a look on the GoPro website for recommended cards though. Results are not guaranteed for unlisted makes and models. I use Lexar 633X and Sandisk Extreme. Both are good and I haven't had any problems with them.

1080 / 50 is a good general use resolution and frame rate. You can slow it down for good quality slo-mo clips and also zoom in to the video and still end up with decent image quality. Don't use 60fps as that is the default for the American TV system (NTSC). Make sure you set the camera to output PAL and the 60fps option won't be available anyway.

oodboo

A lower frame rate will allow a slower shutter speed, might not sound good for an action can but gets better results in low light when riding through the trees, etc. If you find your videos are a bit dark then slow down the frame rate. I use mine on 1080 30fps and approx 17:30 uses 2gb of memory.

ben@31

What software do people use to edit the video? Looks like a need to paste the few good bits together into one video and cut out the rest. I tried to do this with the GoPro software but it just gives me loads of separate clips 2 minutes long, anyway joining these together?
I tried to send a 1 minute 56 second video clip to a friend by email, Im surprised Microsoft Outlook said No, it was too big apparently. Does Gopro only allow you to share by Facebook or Youtube?

fenix

File size is massive on these. Use drop box or something similar.

oodboo

You'll need a decent computer for editing the HD video files. I've used Windows movie maker, gopro studio and Adobe Premier. I prefer editing using Adobe Premier but that's installed on a mac with 8gb RAM and an SSD so it runs quite nicely. I've struggled and given up when using old PCs.

Bear in mind the files are huge, increase the frame rate and the get bigger. Large files require a lot of resources on a computer to process them. Don't expect to be able to email them either, as Fenix said, try dropbox or something else. Easiest way to show other people the videos is probably to put them on youtube though.

rockmonkeysc

Is it really worth it? Don't forget your videos will make your ride look about half the speed it feels like and they make the steepest trails look flat.
Most people get bored of them after a few months and never use it again.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

and they make the steepest trails look flat.

That's the strangest thing about GoPro footage, how it flattens out the trail. Stuff you know to be scrotum tighteningly steep looks like nothing on the footage.

rockmonkeysc

Angus Young wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

and they make the steepest trails look flat.

That's the strangest thing about GoPro footage, how it flattens out the trail. Stuff you know to be scrotum tighteningly steep looks like nothing on the footage.

It's because you're pointing the camera down the gradient of the hill it looses the perspective.
There's a trail at my local, called Brendons trail (actually built by Rich Thomas but Brendons Fairclough made one alteration) which was built as a training track for Champery world champs. It's ridiculously steep, you can't walk down it and if you stop it's impossible to get back on. The switchbacks are near vertical and there are some decent sized drops. It's a complete mad man of a trail. Film it on a gopro and it looks flat and smooth.

Horton

The GoPro software does allow you to stitch together clips to make 1 movie but it's not the most user friendly software if you don't use it often... I use iMovie on my Mac (when I can be arsed - most of the time the various clips just sit there unloved and watched once)

As far as sharing goes, once you've got a clip onto your computer, you can share it pretty much any way you want to (except by email). YouTube compresses files an awful lot, Vimeo is better quality but has limits on uploads on the free membership version. Dropbox works ok, just depends who you want to share your stuff with really.

Angus Young

Try http://www.wetransfer.com for files that are too big for the recipient's email (all depends on the service they're using as to the size limit they can receive). WeTransfer will send up to 2GB free, or more for the paid service, and it's just a one click download for the guy at the other end and nothing to sign up for or install at either end like there is with DropBox.