Newbie motovlogger question

[DR_Rides]

Hello All!

Just joined motovlog.com. I recently got my motorcycle license after passing my MSF course. I got my first bike maybe two months ago. I thought it'd be fun if I recorded some videos of me riding. I started off using the Freedconn, which, for what it was wasn't horrible. But I wanted better quality so bought a Gopro 9 along with the media mod and a Rode wireless mic.

I just got a couple of questions and wanted some opinions. I record on 4K/60fps. I tried using Gopro's stablization, the lowest setting it had, but it cropped the image quite a bit and had issues. Like, when I would turn my head to look at something, the stablization would delay and then snap over quickly.

I'd like to keep recording in 4K/60fps, unless there's a legit good reason not to. Storage and battery aren't an issue. I got a 512GB Samsung sd card and a 40,000 mah external brick so that covers everything I could possible do.

Any advice on the settings you use for Gopro and how to make stabilization work? I think I'll try the stabilization effect in Davinci Resovle and see how that goes. But would love other ideas.

One last thing, I was looking at the competition page and was getting pretty excited about doing some stuff for fun, but then I notice the latest one is from October 2022. Do these not happen anymore???

Appreciate the help. Have a good one!

 

[R-Rated]

Hello All!

Just joined motovlog.com. I recently got my motorcycle license after passing my MSF course. I got my first bike maybe two months ago. I thought it'd be fun if I recorded some videos of me riding. I started off using the Freedconn, which, for what it was wasn't horrible. But I wanted better quality so bought a Gopro 9 along with the media mod and a Rode wireless mic.

I just got a couple of questions and wanted some opinions. I record on 4K/60fps. I tried using Gopro's stablization, the lowest setting it had, but it cropped the image quite a bit and had issues. Like, when I would turn my head to look at something, the stablization would delay and then snap over quickly.

I'd like to keep recording in 4K/60fps, unless there's a legit good reason not to. Storage and battery aren't an issue. I got a 512GB Samsung sd card and a 40,000 mah external brick so that covers everything I could possible do.

Any advice on the settings you use for Gopro and how to make stabilization work? I think I'll try the stabilization effect in Davinci Resovle and see how that goes. But would love other ideas.

One last thing, I was looking at the competition page and was getting pretty excited about doing some stuff for fun, but then I notice the latest one is from October 2022. Do these not happen anymore???

Appreciate the help. Have a good one!

Great questions!

First question about stabilization built in on the GoPros. Like you pointed out they crop a lot. You may consider if your editing software has stabilization. If so then try turning the camera's off and set your software as low as possible to balance good view and smooth shot. Mine is currently at 5 in my last few videos.

Also be sure to shoot as wide of field of view as possible to help offset cropping that happens when footage is processed for stabilization.

Next is resolution and frame rate. Shooting at 4k is fine if your battery lasts your whole session filming or you have points in the ride where swapping batteries out is no big fuss. You can consider external battery power or dropping the resolution to a lower setting and then upscaling it when rendering the video. AKA the trick. I have a post on here someplace explaining how to make 1080 look like 4K.

I like higher frame rate just in case I need to grab a screenshot of something suspicious. But lower framerates use less power and give a more speedy look to the footage.

Finally competitions. I really don't know what to say about that as I never got the trophy for the competition I won when the pandemic started. Maybe folks just lost interest in participating in competitions? A couple of riders have tried to resurrect the spirit but it never really took off again.

 

[R-Rated]

Found the old but relevant thread about upscaling:
https://motovlog.com/threads/making-1080p60-look-like-4k-by-getting-youtubes-bigger-bit-rate.17619/

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Sadly the Sunny Bear and Solar Bear challenges lost momentum and folk didn't really get involved. The members are more than welcome to organise their own challenges for other members to do if they want, and you can host those challenges on here if you like... Members may not be able to post in the Competitions section, but I can move stuff to that section if they can't.

Digital Stabilisation only works by cropping sadly, I think the Sony was the only action camera to have actual Optical Stabilisation with a floating lens. Again, the lag on digital stabilisation is a drawback of using it too. @R-Rated 's option for stabilising it in post may reduce the lag, but will also require it to crop the footage, although as he mentioned, you can control that in your editor if it has the facility.

I tend to record at 1080/50 or 1080/60 in Superview traditionally, but I have just started to experiment with Wide view, I have my stabilisation on the lowest setting, we have to just get used to the crop unfortunately. You may find the crop is more or less noticeable on different resolution and FOV settings, but not experimented to say for sure.

 

[Drakhen99]

First of all, welcome!

Second, the 9 has 4 stabilization settings: OFF, ON, High, and Boost. At 4k/60, you can only get ON and Boost. Try 2.7k/60 to get High. That may crop in less and give you less "snap".

The snap is because a GoPros have a gyro effect built in, whether it's software or sensors, I don't recall at the moment, but they resist directional changes when stabilization is turned on. I use a Max Lens Mod on my helmet cam, and I have to turn my head to the side for a few seconds before it'll catch up.

The crop is just the nature of the beast, like others have said - you either move your camera mount, drop stabilization, or get used to it. If you're not getting what you want in frame, follow @HippoDrone and @R-Rated 's advice about going for a wider lens mode.

Since you have a Hero 9, you can get a Max Lens Mod for it, which gives you a max resolution of 2.7k, and maybe a max framerate of 30fps [I can't remember - but you can tell the camera it has a MLM on it and play with the settings]. The Max Lens Mod, IMHO, gives the widest view with the most stabilization and the least amount of crop - you'll still have the "snap" though.

On my channel, I have a playlist for Camera Tests, where I know I've done tests between wide/superview/Max Lens Mod, specifically with the Hero 9.

Lastly, I use Resolve as well, and the Stabilization is quite robust - play with the first setting of 3 below the drop-down. I like to start at 0.950, to minimize cropping and just get rid of jitters. Also, use that drop-down to select the different stabe modes - they all act differently on your footage depending on the movement IN the footage.

Hope this helps!

-John

 

[Hippo-Drones]

I think as you increase the stabilisation, it also increases the crop not reduces it... it tells you the amount in the setting.

 

[Drakhen99]

I think as you increase the stabilisation, it also increases the crop not reduces it... it tells you the amount in the setting.

Yes, you are correct... I was referring to High vs Boost on GoPros, but wasn't clear about that. Sorry.

-John

 

[DR_Rides]

Great questions!

First question about stabilization built in on the GoPros. Like you pointed out they crop a lot. You may consider if your editing software has stabilization. If so then try turning the camera's off and set your software as low as possible to balance good view and smooth shot. Mine is currently at 5 in my last few videos.

Also be sure to shoot as wide of field of view as possible to help offset cropping that happens when footage is processed for stabilization.

Next is resolution and frame rate. Shooting at 4k is fine if your battery lasts your whole session filming or you have points in the ride where swapping batteries out is no big fuss. You can consider external battery power or dropping the resolution to a lower setting and then upscaling it when rendering the video. AKA the trick. I have a post on here someplace explaining how to make 1080 look like 4K.

I like higher frame rate just in case I need to grab a screenshot of something suspicious. But lower framerates use less power and give a more speedy look to the footage.

Finally competitions. I really don't know what to say about that as I never got the trophy for the competition I won when the pandemic started. Maybe folks just lost interest in participating in competitions? A couple of riders have tried to resurrect the spirit but it never really took off again.

Oh ok, I didn't know you could upscale videos in post. Unfortunately, I'm new to video editing too so there's a big learning curve haha. I got DaVinci Resolve because I heard it's one of the best free ones without a watermark. I will check out your post and try and figure out how I can do that with DaVinci. But if you upscale in post instead of with the actual camera, wouldn't that drastically increase export time? Again, not sure how it works. I'm actually working on today's video, trying to learn and do new things.

It really is sad about the competitions. I thought that would be a really cool thing as a community to do, but I understand if people choose not to. Since I'm still new to all of this, I'll just wait around and wait to see if someone posts something new in there. Hoping so. Thanks so much for your help and that thread you linked me.

 

[DR_Rides]

Sadly the Sunny Bear and Solar Bear challenges lost momentum and folk didn't really get involved. The members are more than welcome to organise their own challenges for other members to do if they want, and you can host those challenges on here if you like... Members may not be able to post in the Competitions section, but I can move stuff to that section if they can't.

Digital Stabilisation only works by cropping sadly, I think the Sony was the only action camera to have actual Optical Stabilisation with a floating lens. Again, the lag on digital stabilisation is a drawback of using it too. @R-Rated 's option for stabilising it in post may reduce the lag, but will also require it to crop the footage, although as he mentioned, you can control that in your editor if it has the facility.

I tend to record at 1080/50 or 1080/60 in Superview traditionally, but I have just started to experiment with Wide view, I have my stabilisation on the lowest setting, we have to just get used to the crop unfortunately. You may find the crop is more or less noticeable on different resolution and FOV settings, but not experimented to say for sure.

Oh, I didn't realize there were different types of stabilization. So Sony's lens actually move around to counteract the bouncing?? Wow that's pretty awesome. I'd be interested in looking to buy something like that in the future. Unfortunately, my budget for recording stuff has gone over already with the gopro, media mod, Rode wireless, and Cardo intercom system haha!

I see a lot of people do 1080 or 2k and didn't know why. Guess it's easier to do that and fix it up in post rather than deal with gopro's atrocious battery haha. I started off with linear and horizon leveling(?) but it made it look weird when I looked around. I tried wide view today and am starting to check out the footage. Thanks so much for the advice and warm welcome! Look forward to being a part of the community.

 

[Drakhen99]

Oh ok, I didn't know you could upscale videos in post. Unfortunately, I'm new to video editing too so there's a big learning curve haha. I got DaVinci Resolve because I heard it's one of the best free ones without a watermark. I will check out your post and try and figure out how I can do that with DaVinci. But if you upscale in post instead of with the actual camera, wouldn't that drastically increase export time? Again, not sure how it works. I'm actually working on today's video, trying to learn and do new things.

It really is sad about the competitions. I thought that would be a really cool thing as a community to do, but I understand if people choose not to. Since I'm still new to all of this, I'll just wait around and wait to see if someone posts something new in there. Hoping so. Thanks so much for your help and that thread you linked me.

Upscaling happens in the Deliver page - just scroll down in the settings, and you'll see resolution. By default, those boxes are greyed out, but you can use the drop-down to select a new resolution. I used to do that, and I don't think it added a bunch of time to render - give it a shot!

Resolve is awesome - I have a playlist on my channel for Resolve Tutorials that might help you

Which reminds me, I need to do a tutorial on what I've found with Stabilization in Resolve.

-John

 

[DR_Rides]

First of all, welcome!

Second, the 9 has 4 stabilization settings: OFF, ON, High, and Boost. At 4k/60, you can only get ON and Boost. Try 2.7k/60 to get High. That may crop in less and give you less "snap".

The snap is because a GoPros have a gyro effect built in, whether it's software or sensors, I don't recall at the moment, but they resist directional changes when stabilization is turned on. I use a Max Lens Mod on my helmet cam, and I have to turn my head to the side for a few seconds before it'll catch up.

The crop is just the nature of the beast, like others have said - you either move your camera mount, drop stabilization, or get used to it. If you're not getting what you want in frame, follow @HippoDrone and @R-Rated 's advice about going for a wider lens mode.

Since you have a Hero 9, you can get a Max Lens Mod for it, which gives you a max resolution of 2.7k, and maybe a max framerate of 30fps [I can't remember - but you can tell the camera it has a MLM on it and play with the settings]. The Max Lens Mod, IMHO, gives the widest view with the most stabilization and the least amount of crop - you'll still have the "snap" though.

On my channel, I have a playlist for Camera Tests, where I know I've done tests between wide/superview/Max Lens Mod, specifically with the Hero 9.

Lastly, I use Resolve as well, and the Stabilization is quite robust - play with the first setting of 3 below the drop-down. I like to start at 0.950, to minimize cropping and just get rid of jitters. Also, use that drop-down to select the different stabe modes - they all act differently on your footage depending on the movement IN the footage.

Hope this helps!

-John

Thanks for the welcome! I was always wondering why the Youtube videos I watched about the 9 had 4 different options and mine only had 3... I thought mine was just a different model or something. Interesting. I may have to play around with 2.7k then and see what the difference between On and Boost are cause it might be perfect.

I thought about getting the max lens mod, but I don't really know if I'd use it all that much. Superview really shows a lot as it is. But was thinking in the future I might experiment with it a little bit. It seems like it offers more than I had originally thought though. If it helps with stabilization I'll have to try it. I just want to get close to the videos I see on Youtube where the cameras cover up the bumps so well. Like they're still there and you can see some movement, but it just looks really smooth.

I'll have to check out your channel, what's it called? Wait, can you advertise your channel on these forums, sorry, long day and I forgot some of the rules. I'm happy to hear about the Resolve as well. I've had to Youtube how to videos a hundred times to figure stuff out on there.

I'm actually having a new issue now.... My gopro died and now it won't charge, there's no red light. I take out the battery and run it off the power bank and it turns on just fine. Is my battery jacked??? It's only 3 days old XD

 

[DR_Rides]

Upscaling happens in the Deliver page - just scroll down in the settings, and you'll see resolution. By default, those boxes are greyed out, but you can use the drop-down to select a new resolution. I used to do that, and I don't think it added a bunch of time to render - give it a shot!

Resolve is awesome - I have a playlist on my channel for Resolve Tutorials that might help you

Which reminds me, I need to do a tutorial on what I've found with Stabilization in Resolve.

-John

Yea that'd be awesome!! I need some good Resolve tutorial videos from someone who actually rides and not just some film college student. Can you send me your youtube link?

 

[DR_Rides]

Upscaling happens in the Deliver page - just scroll down in the settings, and you'll see resolution. By default, those boxes are greyed out, but you can use the drop-down to select a new resolution. I used to do that, and I don't think it added a bunch of time to render - give it a shot!

Resolve is awesome - I have a playlist on my channel for Resolve Tutorials that might help you

Which reminds me, I need to do a tutorial on what I've found with Stabilization in Resolve.

-John

Oh and I've seen the resolution thing in the deliver tab. But I thought it gave me some weird error or message when I changed it. That or I read something about it being bad or something, I don't know haha. I'll give that a shot. Maybe I'll try recording in 2.k/60fps and then upscaling to 4k just to see if there's a big change.

I need to find the stabilization in it as well. Plus I'm trying to learn about color grading (?) and other stuff. At night it's so dark on the recording, trying to find a way to brighten it up and it still look ok. Just found some stuff called LUTs??? There's a lot of cool settings in there so trying to see if something in there will work.

 

[Drakhen99]

OK, I can answer all your questions here in one reply:

1. My YouTube channel is linked to in my signature, below each of my posts - the Playlists are all visible from my Channel page.

2. IMO, and I showed side-by-side comparisons, the Max Lens Mod's wide view is better than SuperView, because it doesn't seem to stretch things as bad - hence why I like it so much. It also smooths out the bumps and all that you're looking for, and does a bang-up job with stabilization.

3. That's really odd that the battery won't charge, but batteries being what they are, sometimes you get a bad one. If you do the GoPro Reset [ie, hold down the power button, with a battery installed, for 10 seconds - it should reboot] it should fix most problems, otherwise doing a Factory Reset inside the camera sometimes works - but you lose your settings.

4. Stabilization is on my list of tutorials, I just need to sit down and record it. I've been trying to edit through my already-recorded vlogs lately. My tutorials are geared towards motovloggers, and don't use stock footage - I use my own stuff, because it's much more realistic for the results vs the stuff shot specifically for a tutorial, or cherry-picked stock footage.

5. The weird error message you're getting from Resolve is a warning that you're rendering at a resolution higher than what you recorded at. You can either change the Timeline Resolution, or forge ahead with the up-sized render. Note that Resolve doesn't do a true Upscale unless you have the Studio [paid] version, wherein it has SuperScale, which does a bunch of stuff to properly scale the footage up while retaining detail. Also, FWIW, anything over 1080 gets a better resolution on YouTube. If you're already recording in 4k, just render at 4k and be done with it - unless your timeline is set to 1080, in which case you should change it to 4k before render.

Hope I got all the answers to your questions in there!

-John

 

[R-Rated]

At night it's so dark on the recording, trying to find a way to brighten it up and it still look ok. Just found some stuff called LUTs??? There's a lot of cool settings in there so trying to see if something in there will work.

When shooting at night try dropping the frame rate. I am not going to take credit because I learned that tip from this guy. It works on the new cameras too:

 

[Drakhen99]

When shooting at night try dropping the frame rate. I am not going to take credit because I learned that tip from this guy. It works on the new cameras too:

100% this works! I shoot at 2.7k or 4k, but only at 30fps. I get the best image to play with. If I'm specifically shooting something to slow down later, I'll bump up the framerate, but 30fps works for 99% of what I do.

You can shoot in GoPro Flat as well, which gives you more data to play with - you'll just need a LUT or color grade to make it look right.

-John

 

[DR_Rides]

OK, I can answer all your questions here in one reply:

1. My YouTube channel is linked to in my signature, below each of my posts - the Playlists are all visible from my Channel page.

2. IMO, and I showed side-by-side comparisons, the Max Lens Mod's wide view is better than SuperView, because it doesn't seem to stretch things as bad - hence why I like it so much. It also smooths out the bumps and all that you're looking for, and does a bang-up job with stabilization.

3. That's really odd that the battery won't charge, but batteries being what they are, sometimes you get a bad one. If you do the GoPro Reset [ie, hold down the power button, with a battery installed, for 10 seconds - it should reboot] it should fix most problems, otherwise doing a Factory Reset inside the camera sometimes works - but you lose your settings.

4. Stabilization is on my list of tutorials, I just need to sit down and record it. I've been trying to edit through my already-recorded vlogs lately. My tutorials are geared towards motovloggers, and don't use stock footage - I use my own stuff, because it's much more realistic for the results vs the stuff shot specifically for a tutorial, or cherry-picked stock footage.

5. The weird error message you're getting from Resolve is a warning that you're rendering at a resolution higher than what you recorded at. You can either change the Timeline Resolution, or forge ahead with the up-sized render. Note that Resolve doesn't do a true Upscale unless you have the Studio [paid] version, wherein it has SuperScale, which does a bunch of stuff to properly scale the footage up while retaining detail. Also, FWIW, anything over 1080 gets a better resolution on YouTube. If you're already recording in 4k, just render at 4k and be done with it - unless your timeline is set to 1080, in which case you should change it to 4k before render.

Hope I got all the answers to your questions in there!

-John

Yea man thanks a lot for all the info! I found the detail option on Resolve this morning while working on a video and really sharpened the image up. I also found the stabilization options. Man, it is finicky. Too much smooth or strength and things get choppy. Still working on the right setting for that. I think I did .87 for cropping ratio, .89 for smooth, and .76 for strength, or something like that. It got choppy so still working out the kinks.

I will look into your channel and see the max lens mod. If it really does help stabilize the picture better, then I think it would definitely be worth it. And now that I know how to make a recorded 2k video into a 4k video on Davinci, I wouldn't have a problem recording in 2k. Did you purchase Davinci Studio? Was wondering if it was worth that $300 price tag. Thanks again for the help

 

[DR_Rides]

When shooting at night try dropping the frame rate. I am not going to take credit because I learned that tip from this guy. It works on the new cameras too:

Wow that's a huge changed in light! I didn't realize that high frame rate blocked out light or whatever. Definetly going to try that out after work this night. On a side note, that dude can sign!! I'm learning and he is super fast, pretty awesome. I'll have to check out more of his stuff. Thanks a lot for the video!

 

[DR_Rides]

100% this works! I shoot at 2.7k or 4k, but only at 30fps. I get the best image to play with. If I'm specifically shooting something to slow down later, I'll bump up the framerate, but 30fps works for 99% of what I do.

You can shoot in GoPro Flat as well, which gives you more data to play with - you'll just need a LUT or color grade to make it look right.

-John

Yea I read somewhere flat color gives you better play with colors in post. I like GoPro color but it doesn't work in dark. I'll drop the frame rate on my way home and see if I can tell the difference!

For some reason when I try to do 2.7k with 30fps, it changes it to 4k. The only fps I can use with 2.7k is 120 and 60. Is that normal???

One more small thing, sorry I know I've been asking a lot of stuff, just trying to learn everything I can. I'm trying to look at the preview on the Quik app with my Gopro, and it connects just fine, I can make it record or stop it on the app, but when I click the enable preview, it flashes real quick then just shows a black screen. But the commands to make it do stuff still work. Not sure what that's all about but going to do some googling on it.

 

[Drakhen99]

You're welcome!

1. I recorded my video on Resolve stabilization last night - hopefully I can get it edited this week and put up - there's some things in there that will help you [but are hard to explain in words].

2. If you record at 2.7k, you can render at 2.7k, and you don't need to upscale or anything [and you'll still get the better codec on YT, without sacrificing any quality].

3. Yes, I bought Resolve Studio years ago when they had a bundle with the Speed Editor [also a useful bit of kit]. But, at that point I already had hundreds of hours of editing under my belt and knew I was going to do this longer-term, so the benefits of Studio were well worth the investment for me.

4. GoPro does weird things with the resolution/framerate combos - so, 2.7k/30 may not be available with the regular lens. I KNOW it's available with the Max Lens Mod, for some reason, and that's what I use.

5. I don't use the Quik app, so I can't help you there, sorry.

-John