[updates to be appended below] As someone keen on visual recording and creative expression, the chance to become familiar with the powers of a compact and rugged action camera developed by GoPro excited me. I day-dreamed of some ways to use this device to document the social and natural world at hand.
The creation story of the “point of view” (first person action) perspective is recounted in the opening pages of GoPro: Professional guide to filmmaking by Bradford Schmidt and Brandon Thompson. The GoPro company launched in 2002 and at the time of writing this essay in June 2019 the Hero 7 model has been launched with many improvements, innovations, and option settings. But the original vision to keep things simple is still at work: a new owner can top up a battery and insert an SD memory card, then start recording video clips and still images. However, to master this tool, it is worth combing through the owner’s manual for a comprehensive understanding of what the camera can and cannot do well, the things it does best and some other things it can do incidentally, although not necessarily the optimum tool for the job.
Rationale: my purposes guided my choice of an earlier model Hero5 Black and has also influenced my learning curve, as I set out to answer the questions at the front of my own mind. I am not an extreme sports person, but since none of my existing cameras allow external microphone for basic video interviews and other small multimedia projects, the compact form factor of this model and its ability to plug-in an external mic appealed to me. Budget was another factor. As an enthusiast, I could not afford to spend over a few hundred dollars, so the 2016 model Hero5 Black (refurbished/reconditioned) is the one I bought. Unfortunately, although waterproofing on this model is integral (earlier models required an external case), the use of external microphone does call for an analog-digital adapter, sold separately. So now there is the cost of mic itself and some sort of frame to secure these external pieces, along with still another adapter to allow a TRRS mic to work on the GoPro dongle. By contrast, the simpler TRS mics — tip, ring, sleeve plugs directly into the external mic adapter as-is.
How to use this GoPro? At its simplest, relying on factory defaults, the camera is like a point-and-shoot. The initial settings are video 1080p at 60fps, frames-per-second; photos at 3000 by 4000 pixels; f o v — field of view approximately the same as a 17 mm wide angle lens on a 35 mm film camera; time lapse for photos recorded “wide” at 0.5 second intervals ; time lapse video compilation recorded at 4k frame size and intervals of 0.5 seconds; video+photos taken every 5 minutes. There is also “video-loop” with default set to record a five minute clip then to loop back to overwrite it and thus to catch a desired subject without knowing exactly when it will appear in front of the camera.
The manual offers guidance on how to choose the recording interval on time lapse projects, according to the pace of movement in the composition, ranging from one image/60 minutes to shooting every 1/2 second. At the most detailed, the PDF user manual describes the range of settings available when activating the Protunes advanced menus for color temperature, image sharpening, exposure correction, shutter speeds, and ISO sensitivity. All this is important reference knowledge, but when it comes to real life uses and limitations of the thing, how best can the GoPro be put to use? What problems does it provide a solution for?
A collection of dozens of short movies captured on GoPro cameras is online in support of the GoPro: Professional guide to filmmaking print book & ebook, grouped chapter by chapter. These are free to browse whether or not the book is in hand, www.peachpass.com/GoProbook
These featured video stories may exceed the average user’s skills and imagination, but the vivid stories do illustrate the special ability of these small, durable, weather resistant wide-view cameras. Subjects can be slowed down up to eight times or 1/8 the normal speed. Subjects can be sped up to compress long passages of time into time lapses in daytime or night conditions; for example, a sporting match of 2 hours can be played back in 10 minutes or even five minutes. Using “photo burst” setting, a fast-moving subject can be frozen with 30 still photos in one second, or less dramatically, three or five photos over the span of ten seconds of action. And, of course, ordinary video at normal recording speed and playback rates is possible, too, with built-in mics or by attaching an external mic. The image sensor is not bigger than a contemporary smartphone (1: 2.3”) and there is no way manually to control aperture or to zoom in or out. However, fov (field of view) allows the width of a composition between 170° “super wide” and 120° (wide) and 90° (linear; no ‘fish-eye’ bending) settings. On the Hero 5 Black there is also GPS to turn on or off (less accurate than cell phones due to satellite triangulation from 60 or 100 miles overhead producing less granularity than cell towers on the ground used by apps or portable GPS units). There is a voice command function to start and stop recording hands-free, too. A remote control is sold separately for working with a camera at a distance, as well.
Without getting overwhelmed by the myriad options for video, audio, still photos, time-lapse (by photo, by video, at night) and photo burst, when it comes to my own modest purposes of interviewing with external mic, I chose my defaults for most situations, knowing that many options existed to adapt the camera as a particular subject dictated.
1. Still photos: the sensor is the same or worse than other digital cameras that I use, although this one is submersible to 10m. So I might use this as backup snapshooter, for inclement weather, or in connection with a time-lapse or photo burst project. The camera shoots only 12 megapixel jpeg or Raw.
2. Video clips: Full HD is 1080 by 1920 pixels and while a few people have TVs to display the 3840 by 2160 pixels of 4K video, most do not; fewer still have gear to record or playback the 8K offerings that are coming in the future. So my video clip default is 1080p at 30fps. The data rate is 30 MB/s, which consumes battery and memory the same as 1080 at 60fps (slow motion) and the same as 720 pixels at 120fps (even more pronounced slow-mo). In the interest of conserving battery and memory storage, the camera’s very lowest data rate for combining audio and video is 20 megabits per second: 720 pixels by 1280 pixels at 30fps. As for maximum data rate (volume of information captured), as points of comparison, the 4K and 2.7K size of frames use 60 MB/second. So does 720 pixels by 1280 pixels (HD) at 240 frames per second (however, 480-pixel frame size at 240fps consumes 30 megabits per second).
3. Time lapse (video file compiled from interval shots): the way to calculate the interval of recording is to consider the duration of the event or motion, then to examine the frames per second for playback. For example, if you want a 1-minute finished file that records a 30-minute Sunset, then to play back at 24 frames-per-second amounts to 60 seconds x 24 frames/second =1440 frames needed. Dividing the 30-minute sunset (expressed in 60 seconds per minute or 1800 seconds) by 1440 frames equals more than one frame for every 1.3 seconds. The camera offers intervals of one second or two seconds. Shooting every second would produce 1800 frames.
Figuring the required number of frames to fill a finished playback time frame is one approach to time lapse. The other way is to take into account the psychological pace of the finished playback. If it seems too rushed or the opposite, then altering the total number of shots recorded is one solution. Otherwise there is some possibility to speed up or slow down the playback frames per second, too.
Time lapse (sequence of still photos — not compiled automatically to one video file for playback) uses a simpler calculation to determine the shooting interval. But unlike the video mode for recording time-lapse, under the photo time-lapse mode, each jpeg is 3000 by 4000 pixels, instead of the available frame size in the video time-lapse mode (1080, 2.7 K, or 4K). Using the supplied Quik desktop software, that jpeg sequence can be compiled into a time-lapse for video playback.
4. Photo Burst: it seems sensible to use less than the default maximum 30 shots in one second, perhaps opting for 10 shots during a 3 second period. Different to the one-button burst is a shutter press-and-hold ability for continuous shooting of jpegs at 4 FPS. So by comparison to setting a default Burst Mode that shoots 10 images uninterrupted across a 3-second period, a photographer using continuous shooting in the photo mode could press and hold for 3 seconds (at 4 FPS) and produce 12 jpeg at the same 3000 by 4000 pixel size. When browsing the finished photos in Burst Mode, pressing delete offers individual frames or the whole sequence to be deleted, whereas the jpeg from continuous shutter (press-and-hold) can only be deleted individually.
Summing up the learning curve
Discovering the available settings, then thinking through the defaults to fit my purposes is one step on the way to fluently using this specialized camera to its full potential, or at least for the projects that lie on my horizon. The next step is to gather the experience of other users, posted to blogs, YouTube and Vimeo, and so on. By seeing real life uses like the gallery of 52 time lapse projects or the sets of online movie examples for the GoPro filmmaking book, above, these concrete uses of the camera(s) can stir my imagination to come up with projects within my sphere that might be possible, enhanced by, or desirable to pursue. The third step is to make lists of trial clips and pictures to record, so that the workflow becomes natural or even second nature. That way the camera will come to be easy to reach for it when a special subject arises. In other words, the third step in this learning curve is to practice until the camera and its several modes (time slowed, time sped up, ordinary video, video + photo) no longer require study or look-up for reference; the camera simply can be put into use. Only the composition, framing, and decisive moment need to occupy my mind.
Final thoughts
The futurist John Naisbitt wrote in his Megatrends that all new technology follows three phases of development. It begins as a gee-wiz device that is pricey and unreliable. Normal habits of practice see no use for the novelty. The next phase comes with reliability and scale of use so that it now replaces the older methods and standard practices: it fulfills the existing needs better, or cheaper. Then the last phase is characterized by the spirit of play, similar to the initial (infancy) phase, but now the play is serious, not innocent or ignorant, as mavens and enthusiasts put the device to new uses not originally intended or imagined. In the case of a tiny but powerful and wide view “point of view” camera, my learning curve is still hovering at basic competency, not creative application. But with tripod mount (for rigid time-lapse) and external mic adapter (for interviews and performances) I look forward to making all sorts of short videos, as well as experimenting with time slowed (slow-mo) or sped up (time lapse) in order to extend the visual record of lives and habits of this time and place.
Added 3 July 2019: using the QUIK editor for GoPro
Some advice for making use of the editing software comes from user forums at gopro community hub; no barebones guide seems to exist online. The 2 minute video for QUIK gives a glimpse of the thing in action. But in keeping with the impatient and try-and-see approach of so many products and software programs these days, users are left to their own trial and error experimentation to accomplish some of the tasks that QUIK makes possible. Part of the confusion for newcomers is that three different parts of the User Interface split up the various tools. For example, freeze-frame (extract a frame) is in the top-left menu. Meanwhile, pulling clips from a video file is accessed from the playback screen (beneath the frame is a scissors icon). And adding soundtrack of music or another source, as well as combining multiple clips or full files is accomplished with the “open this file in Creator mode.”
Here are a few functions and how to accomplish them.
<1> Grab a freeze-frame from the video stream.
Starting at the VIEW MEDIA opening screen, open a video file by double-clicking to playback. Then press CTRL+arrow right or left to cursor frame to frame to the desired moment. Top left menu> media >Extract Frame: this preserves the pixel dimension of the source video. For instance in the Hero5 Black the Time-lapse video-mode dimensions give three settings to record: 1080 x 1920 pixels (full-HD), 2.7k (2704x1520 pixels), and 4k (3840x2160 pixels). Of course a screenshot of that same spot in the paused video playback might be faster, but the pixel dimension is limited to the monitor in use at the time, rather than the size of the native video file recorded.
<2> Export one or more segments (clip) from a video file. From the starting screen that shows all media, still or moving pictures, select and open a video file (double-click) to arrive at the playback User Interface screen.
Under the video frame are a few icons — scissors (snip one or more parts of the video file as independent clips), rotate, grab a photo, gauge (to overlay metadata, if available: acceleration, compass heading, GPS if activated, velocity), dot-dot-dot (show information about file; open in file explorer/finder window). The scissors allow pieces from the original source file to be saved under a new filename, either at the original FPS (frames per second) and frame dimensions, or in the custom setting it is possible to save at smaller dimension and another FPS.
Later the assorted clips can be combined to form a larger video project when accessing the Creator screen. — As well as using the scissors to make clips out of a video file, when the source is a time-lapse made from JPG rather than from a single MP4 file (those are alternative forms of time-lapse, depending on purpose), the only way for others to playback the time-lapse effect of accelerated time is to use QUIK to “save as…” original frame dimension and default FPS, or in the custom setting, adjusting the output of the finished MP4 video file.
<3> Combine multiple files and clips with audio track (music, voice-over, field recording of on-site sounds). While a full-featured video editor allows many layers and inputs, for simple and quickly produced work the QUIK editor’s “open this file in Creator” does allow a few kinds of project.
There are a few royalty-free music tracks pre-populating the workspace; others in the GoPro store can be purchased, or sources can come from Internet sources, library CD collections of public domain and royalty free audio, or purpose-recorded audio of one’s own.
Since the little camera produces several forms of still and moving picture files, there are other tasks one may wish to make from those files: single shot, single video file, time-lapse mp4, time-lapse jpg image sequence, video+JPG (in which a still image is created at intervals of one’s choosing, alongside the ongoing video recording), photoburst (30 shots in 1 second or as slow as 3 shots in the course of a 10 second space of time) or pressing and holding the shutter in continuous mode (maximum 4 shots per second until 30 have been recorded at the maximum per episode), and video loop of user’s own period (at minimum 5 minute passage re-recorded until user stops it; at maximum a 2 hour passage). But for starters the three tasks, above, have been puzzled out by trial and error for the reader’s convenience.
=-=-=-= updates appended
2019-October-31<>Voice commands are great, so long as your subject is mostly action and not extended conversation, lest some syllables accidentally trigger end or recording, change in mode, etc. For verbal-type recording do not use that convenience. By contrast in JPG (photo) mode at a low-light situation in a museum, since there is no self-timer to release the shutter smoothly, voice command allows a “no touch” method to capture a photo when shutter speed will be low and blur or shake is a concern.
2019-October-15<>External mic involves a few special considerations to get the best results. I failed to do a test recording on the day of a short segment with an author friend introducing his book idea, so after the freestyle conversation ended and I checked the result, it was truly maddening to see the lips moving but no sound coming forth! The external adapter + mic combination have worked perfectly in the past, but in hindsight the error seems to have been to power up and press record as soon as the touchscreen icons show up. Apparently that is not enough time for the device to inventory all attachments and to engage the mic. The solution is to power up and wait a few more seconds before initiating the recording. Wind is a big danger for microphones, whether built-in or external, so it is worth experimenting with foam and other available coverings — home-made or off the shelf. Minimizing noise and getting as near to the signal (source/subject) is a general principle, too. High quality film projects involving lots of audio mixing and other editing (not simple point and shoot clips with “editing” in-camera with start/stop) might call for back up audio on a portable (digital) recorder, too, in case the on-camera result is unsatisfactory. And capturing 30 seconds of “location” sound (ambient, background noise or “room sound”) provides a reserve of “filler sound” to cover any gaps or editing decisions in the timeline later on.
The external mic adapter dongle is awkward to use since it holds onto the camera by its USB-C connector. For action sequences that is not secure enough. Third-party cages or frames to confine camera and adapter offer one solution. But for non-action video work, my work-around is to wrap wire twist-tie in spiral fashion around the neck of the adapter to stiffen it, then use rubber band to provide constant pressure to USB-C connector. The connector allows up-down or down-up orientation to keep it out of the lens field of view. But since the camera automatically rotates the touchscreen and image, I leave the adapter and mic pointing upward and if the situation demands more discretion (not to draw attention to the camera and videographer), then I turn the kit 180 degrees so the adapter and camera are “upside down” (adapter points down to the ground). The video clip will be automatically be corrected inside the camera to produce a normal, rightside-up perspective.
2019-July-27<>Burst is one way to capture a moving subject when the lag time between shutter release and capture makes the shot impractical to complete manually. Alternatively, a short video clip (or the loop function) makes reasonable “freeze frames” possible, whether it is 30 or 60 fps. And when the goal is to chronicle the passage of time, setting an interval in the time-lapse menu allows systematic logging 1 photo per second or per 5 seconds, and so on.
