The all GoPro models discussion thread

[TheRainMaker]

Nope, not really.

But if all his friends get the black 4K one you're in trouble

[sidicks]

Go Pro 5 due out early next year, is that correct?

[V8Wagon]

TheRainMaker said:

Nope, not really.

But if all his friends get the black 4K one you're in trouble

Ain't that right1!

Looking at it the functionality on the basic one looks pretty limited with no screen etc. It's a case of creeping death with these where the next one up the range is always better. I'd go better ordinarily but this is meant to just be one of his 'smaller' presents as he already has a couple of big more expensive things.

[anonymous-user]

Little help needed here!

Got my first GoPro this week, a Hero 4 Silver. I already have a Drift Ghost HD.

The Drift Ghost files (1080P) will play straight off the card using any media player with absolutely no problems whatsoever, but the 1080P files off my new GoPro will barely play in anything without horrendous jerking and stuttering, especially in the GoPro editor software they ask you to download.

I googled it and it appears that choppy/jerky playback is a really common problem with GoPro videos, even on a decent computer, and GoPro seem to be blaming this issue on users not having a laptop that is powerful enough.

It's really pissing me off, and I found on a few forums it is recommended to download the free VLC Media player to watch the videos, and playing the files back through VLC does indeed seem to have smoothed out 95% of the stuttering/jerking.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the standard 4gb Ram.

Anyone else having these playback issues? If so, what is the best way to edit the videos and then export them in files that still look great but take up less space and are easier to playback and smaller to upload to YouTube?

Thanks

[TheRainMaker]

NinjaPower said:

Little help needed here!

Got my first GoPro this week, a Hero 4 Silver. I already have a Drift Ghost HD.

The Drift Ghost files (1080P) will play straight off the card using any media player with absolutely no problems whatsoever, but the 1080P files off my new GoPro will barely play in anything without horrendous jerking and stuttering, especially in the GoPro editor software they ask you to download.

I googled it and it appears that choppy/jerky playback is a really common problem with GoPro videos, even on a decent computer, and GoPro seem to be blaming this issue on users not having a laptop that is powerful enough.

It's really pissing me off, and I found on a few forums it is recommended to download the free VLC Media player to watch the videos, and playing the files back through VLC does indeed seem to have smoothed out 95% of the stuttering/jerking.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the standard 4gb Ram.

Anyone else having these playback issues? If so, what is the best way to edit the videos and then export them in files that still look great but take up less space and are easier to playback and smaller to upload to YouTube?

Thanks

Everyone I've spoken to about the Codec GoPro use has nothing good to say.... it is really inefficient.

I would aways import the clips onto the computer and edit them in Premiere Pro, don't use the GoPro software for any part of the process.

[anonymous-user]

TheRainMaker said:

NinjaPower said:

Little help needed here!

Got my first GoPro this week, a Hero 4 Silver. I already have a Drift Ghost HD.

The Drift Ghost files (1080P) will play straight off the card using any media player with absolutely no problems whatsoever, but the 1080P files off my new GoPro will barely play in anything without horrendous jerking and stuttering, especially in the GoPro editor software they ask you to download.

I googled it and it appears that choppy/jerky playback is a really common problem with GoPro videos, even on a decent computer, and GoPro seem to be blaming this issue on users not having a laptop that is powerful enough.

It's really pissing me off, and I found on a few forums it is recommended to download the free VLC Media player to watch the videos, and playing the files back through VLC does indeed seem to have smoothed out 95% of the stuttering/jerking.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the standard 4gb Ram.

Anyone else having these playback issues? If so, what is the best way to edit the videos and then export them in files that still look great but take up less space and are easier to playback and smaller to upload to YouTube?

Thanks

Everyone I've spoken to about the Codec GoPro use has nothing good to say.... it is really inefficient.

I would aways import the clips onto the computer and edit them in Premiere Pro, don't use the GoPro software for any part of the process.

Yes, I also read a few complaints about the GoPro codec being really processor/space hungry, and this has unfortunately been my experience, even on a MacBook Pro. I am quite disappointed I must say.

I guess I will just have to edit all the videos and export them in a file type that doesn't cause the laptop to crap itself.

I never used to have to edit anything really, just kept all the clips I wanted to keep in their original 'out of camera' format and they were fine.

[AstonZagato]

NinjaPower said:

TheRainMaker said:

NinjaPower said:

Little help needed here!

Got my first GoPro this week, a Hero 4 Silver. I already have a Drift Ghost HD.

The Drift Ghost files (1080P) will play straight off the card using any media player with absolutely no problems whatsoever, but the 1080P files off my new GoPro will barely play in anything without horrendous jerking and stuttering, especially in the GoPro editor software they ask you to download.

I googled it and it appears that choppy/jerky playback is a really common problem with GoPro videos, even on a decent computer, and GoPro seem to be blaming this issue on users not having a laptop that is powerful enough.

It's really pissing me off, and I found on a few forums it is recommended to download the free VLC Media player to watch the videos, and playing the files back through VLC does indeed seem to have smoothed out 95% of the stuttering/jerking.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the standard 4gb Ram.

Anyone else having these playback issues? If so, what is the best way to edit the videos and then export them in files that still look great but take up less space and are easier to playback and smaller to upload to YouTube?

Thanks

Everyone I've spoken to about the Codec GoPro use has nothing good to say.... it is really inefficient.

I would aways import the clips onto the computer and edit them in Premiere Pro, don't use the GoPro software for any part of the process.

Yes, I also read a few complaints about the GoPro codec being really processor/space hungry, and this has unfortunately been my experience, even on a MacBook Pro. I am quite disappointed I must say.

I guess I will just have to edit all the videos and export them in a file type that doesn't cause the laptop to crap itself.

I never used to have to edit anything really, just kept all the clips I wanted to keep in their original 'out of camera' format and they were fine.

Which OS are you using on your MBP? El Capitain is pretty much maxing out a 4GB memory, I think. Also SSD rather than HD is better. But I don't think you should have to upgrade the MBP to play these files.

[anonymous-user]

AstonZagato said:

Which OS are you using on your MBP? El Capitain is pretty much maxing out a 4GB memory, I think. Also SSD rather than HD is better. But I don't think you should have to upgrade the MBP to play these files.

Pasted the info from 'About this Mac':

10.10.3 - Yosemite
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB

[V8A*ndy]

Guys I think you might be misunderstanding how the gopro works.

The video is heavily compressed off the camera that's why it runs so poorly on your computers as they struggle to decode it.

It needs to be converted into a DI in this case Cineform.

Cineform is one of the best out there and IMO one of the fastest to edit in.

I often edit on a 5 year old Dell 2.3ghz laptop. Cineform flies on it when editing, rendering however is another story.

[dave0010]

So can anyone recommend the best settings on the go pro then software to take the video clips off it and then be able to piece together to make a short home made movie. Theres so many different ways and like others I'm slightly struggling to understand the best way.

[V8A*ndy]

dave0010 said:

So can anyone recommend the best settings on the go pro then software to take the video clips off it and then be able to piece together to make a short home made movie. Theres so many different ways and like others I'm slightly struggling to understand the best way.

Forget about camera settings for now except maybe the Protune setting.

Import your clips into the gopro SW

Cut out the waste and the bits you don't want and then convert them. Here you can remove fish eye and set up a folder to export these files to as they will now be uncompressed after conversion and have more information including Protune (if that was selected). You can keep the original MP4s if you wish. (note frame rates)

Move to part 2 and select the now uncompressed (AVI) files you have just converted for editing. You can now select protune features if that feature was selected on camera. Edit your movie, crop, adjust image and whatever you like.

Finally once you are happy you can export a final product. Export in filmscan if you want to maybe use the footage in another edit in the future. You can also export in various formats.

Really that is the simplest way. You can also take your converted clips and load them into any other NLE.

As for camera settings, well every situation is different. I suggest watching some tutorials though selecting Auto on a bright sunny day will work fine. What you do in post counts for a lot so if you want to change a few more things go protune.

Here is some very late Autumn sunlight, followed by night footage. Edited in gopro software but colour graded in something else altogether. Weather stopped me from finishing this little video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep-krTYa6CA

[TheRainMaker]

V8A*ndy said:

Really that is the simplest way.

And a massive pain the arse

If GoPro paid for a decent codec in the first place you wouldn't have to do this.

[V8A*ndy]

TheRainMaker said:

V8A*ndy said:

Really that is the simplest way.

And a massive pain the arse

If GoPro paid for a decent codec in the first place you wouldn't have to do this.

FFS it's cineform. Nearly every Hollywood studio uses it. GoPro paid millions for it (bought the company) and it's one of the best out there and bonus!!! it's free.

Protune is very good, free and there are lots of LUTs out there to play with.

MP4 and AVI are just wrappers. You want great video you convert it that's why Gopro footage is broadcast "acceptable". What time you lose cutting down and converting you make up in spades with editing speed and rendering.

Gopro wrap H.264 cineform in MP4 so you can get a smaller file onto your memory card at a decent bit rate. Unwrap it and you have so much more to play with and it's so much faster to work with.

Edited by V8A*ndy on Monday 28th December 15:59

[theboyfold]

TheRainMaker said:

And a massive pain the arse

If GoPro paid for a decent codec in the first place you wouldn't have to do this.

Codecs and video files are a massive pain in the backside. Everybody's codec or workflow is better than that of the next company.

The workflow Andy described is perfectly good and a nice way to do it (if you understand what's happening and what you are doing). I got bored of it and how badly the files performed natively in FCP 7. So I ended up going with Adobe Premiere Elements, it's about £60 and from memory I could drag the files from the card (via my hard drive) on to the timeline without any transcoding.
It's a decent enough piece of software with nice and simple export process once you've finished.

If you give me a nudge tomorrow I'll confirm all this as I'm out and about at the moment.

[TheRainMaker]

V8A*ndy said:

FFS it's cineform. Nearly every Hollywood studio uses it

FFS it's a consumer camera.

[Craikeybaby]

V8A*ndy said:

Forget about camera settings for now except maybe the Protune setting.

Import your clips into the gopro SW

Cut out the waste and the bits you don't want and then convert them. Here you can remove fish eye and set up a folder to export these files to as they will now be uncompressed after conversion and have more information including Protune (if that was selected). You can keep the original MP4s if you wish. (note frame rates)

Move to part 2 and select the now uncompressed (AVI) files you have just converted for editing. You can now select protune features if that feature was selected on camera. Edit your movie, crop, adjust image and whatever you like.

Finally once you are happy you can export a final product. Export in filmscan if you want to maybe use the footage in another edit in the future. You can also export in various formats.

Really that is the simplest way. You can also take your converted clips and load them into any other NLE.

As for camera settings, well every situation is different. I suggest watching some tutorials though selecting Auto on a bright sunny day will work fine. What you do in post counts for a lot so if you want to change a few more things go protune.

Here is some very late Autumn sunlight, followed by night footage. Edited in gopro software but colour graded in something else altogether. Weather stopped me from finishing this little video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep-krTYa6CA

That workflow makes sense to me.

Which files should I be keeping though? The files from the camera? The uncompressed files? Just the exported files? All o them? What about the GoPro project files?

At the moment I'm keeping all of them, and rapidly running out of hard disk space.

[theboyfold]

theboyfold said:

TheRainMaker said:

And a massive pain the arse

If GoPro paid for a decent codec in the first place you wouldn't have to do this.

Codecs and video files are a massive pain in the backside. Everybody's codec or workflow is better than that of the next company.

The workflow Andy described is perfectly good and a nice way to do it (if you understand what's happening and what you are doing). I got bored of it and how badly the files performed natively in FCP 7. So I ended up going with Adobe Premiere Elements, it's about £60 and from memory I could drag the files from the card (via my hard drive) on to the timeline without any transcoding.
It's a decent enough piece of software with nice and simple export process once you've finished.

If you give me a nudge tomorrow I'll confirm all this as I'm out and about at the moment.

Just checked, you can drag the files direct from the camera on to the timeline for Premiere Elements, and it's good to go. So if you aren't interested in the whole transcoding to edit concept, it's a decent answer. It's also 30% off at the moment: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/premiere-elements...

[V8A*ndy]

theboyfold said:

theboyfold said:

TheRainMaker said:

And a massive pain the arse

If GoPro paid for a decent codec in the first place you wouldn't have to do this.

Codecs and video files are a massive pain in the backside. Everybody's codec or workflow is better than that of the next company.

The workflow Andy described is perfectly good and a nice way to do it (if you understand what's happening and what you are doing). I got bored of it and how badly the files performed natively in FCP 7. So I ended up going with Adobe Premiere Elements, it's about £60 and from memory I could drag the files from the card (via my hard drive) on to the timeline without any transcoding.
It's a decent enough piece of software with nice and simple export process once you've finished.

If you give me a nudge tomorrow I'll confirm all this as I'm out and about at the moment.

Just checked, you can drag the files direct from the camera on to the timeline for Premiere Elements, and it's good to go. So if you aren't interested in the whole transcoding to edit concept, it's a decent answer. It's also 30% off at the moment: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/premiere-elements...

Did you ever try converting to prores as the DI for FCP? ProRes is really for Apple and once you have converted it usually works very fast with FCP.

[V8A*ndy]

Craikeybaby said:

That workflow makes sense to me.

Which files should I be keeping though? The files from the camera? The uncompressed files? Just the exported files? All o them? What about the GoPro project files?

At the moment I'm keeping all of them, and rapidly running out of hard disk space.

Depends....

If you have finished your project and happy with your final result you can just ditch everything else but keep a high quality (fimlscan) copy.

This means if you ever wish to use part or all of the finished project in another project you have the best quality to work from.

If however you want to go back some time and re-edit the entire project or add stuff to it, you would keep the uncompressed files and project files.

It's up to you if you want to keep the original MP4s. If you do keep them it means you can start all over again and because they are compressed they are much smaller files. You can also cut them down to size with an MP4 editor, keeping the good bits.

[theboyfold]

V8A*ndy said:

Did you ever try converting to prores as the DI for FCP? ProRes is really for Apple and once you have converted it usually works very fast with FCP.

Nope, and at the risk of sounding flippant, I couldn't be bothered with a solution where it didn't work out of the box. I work in TV and spend way too much of my life worrying about codecs, wrappers and all that to have to deal with it at home as well!