Best Video Settings For GoPro 3 Black Edition??

[W8PMC]

After much trawling, i still can't find a definitive answer to the above for in car recording & those i did stumble upon appeared to be for the GoPro 2 or Silver Edition so not the same variety of settings available.

I'm mounting my GoPro next to the rearview mirror (forward facing) using the fixed mount (not suction cup). It will be used in the main for track days, so continuous recording for say 20-30mins. I naturally want a crisp, clear & high quality image but don't want a resolution that's too complicated for playback on most devices (laptop & iPad etc.) I've read about Spot Meter being a must if recording external views from inside a vehicle (dark to light) so i've switched that on. The GoPro has a 64gb MicroSD so has a reasonable amount of storage space & i'll always have a 2nd SD card with me at events.

Please advise on the best video settings for in car to record track day activity??

Thanks in advance

[TREMAiNE]

I personally find that 720p 100fps works best for filming track days and the file sizes aren't ridiculous either.

At the end of the day, you really don't need tip-top quality, frame rate is key when you're driving fast.

Don't bother with 4k, it drops to 15fps.

EDIT:

Here is my friends footage using my Hero 3+ Black Edition on these settings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5J3RnJChDA

And for comparison, my footage on the same settings by massively compressed as I didn't want to wait 28 hours for my PC to upload the original file to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1urqV9hNh8

Edited by TREMAiNE on Wednesday 4th June 18:26

[itz_baseline]

TREMAiNE said:

I personally find that 720p 100fps works best for filming track days and the file sizes aren't ridiculous either.

At the end of the day, you really don't need tip-top quality, frame rate is key when you're driving fast.

Don't bother with 4k, it drops to 15fps.

EDIT:

Here is my friends footage using my Hero 3+ Black Edition on these settings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5J3RnJChDA

And for comparison, my footage on the same settings by massively compressed as I didn't want to wait 28 hours for my PC to upload the original file to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1urqV9hNh8

Edited by TREMAiNE on Wednesday 4th June 18:26

Watch the first video and only look at the clouds, nothing else. Really strange kind of effect due to the wide angle lens and some kind of software giggery pokery going on. Never noticed that on a GoPro before. Strange.

[TREMAiNE]

itz_baseline said:

Watch the first video and only look at the clouds, nothing else. Really strange kind of effect due to the wide angle lens and some kind of software giggery pokery going on. Never noticed that on a GoPro before. Strange.

I feel sick now!

You can turn that effect off using the GoPro Studio software after you've recorded your footage.

[W8PMC]

Thanks

I was thinking 1080p & 60fps but your 720 looks more than adequate. Agree that i don't want a huge file that will take days to upload.

Worth pointing out that i'll not be doing any post production, just film & save/upload so would perhaps 1080p & 60fps be a better option?

[SpeedyDave]

If you are mounting to the windscreen / mirror then the entire view will be outside the car so spot metering mode is not important (may even be a little detrimental). Spot is used when much of the scene is the dark interior of the car so you tell the GoPro to set the brightness for the view out the windscreen otherwise it tends to be too bright and washed out.

I'd suggest thinking first about the composition before the settings, ie what is included in the shot and how wide the shot is. The reason I say that is some modes like "medium wide" are only available in certain resolutions (medium only in 1080p)

I personally think its much better to get some view from inside the car. Seeing at least part of the steering wheel movement creates a much much better sense of what the car and driver is doing - its way more involving that just a sterile shot of the track ahead. Example from mine;

http://youtu.be/KT6Pi-htcJg

Was shot in 1080p, Medium, camera located beside me, very slightly back.

Yes this means part of the shot is just static car interior, but a windscreen mount also tends to have plenty of 'dead' area like the bonnet.

1080p/60 produces roughly the same size files as 720p/100. 60fps is plenty, and watching some vids directly on my TV where it could really exploit the full 1080p is really stunning, TV's are only getting bigger and higher res...

If you want to really understand a particular setting and what it is best for there is a good article here by a GoPro employee

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-your-new-gop...

and part 2

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-your-gopro-p...

Cheat sheet here:
http://imgur.com/a/CjmC5

[Shaoxter]

TREMAiNE said:

I personally find that 720p 100fps works best for filming track days and the file sizes aren't ridiculous either.

Do you actually have a monitor which has a 100Hz refresh rate? Because if not, 100fps will look worse than 60fps on a normal 60Hz monitor.

All my videos are in 1080p 60fps, here's a couple:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYp8j2XKG4o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsNzN8LCyE
Note they look much better on a computer, since youtube converts it to crap quality and 30fps.

[SpeedyDave]

Shaoxter said:

Do you actually have a monitor which has a 100Hz refresh rate? Because if not, 100fps will look worse than 60fps on a normal 60Hz monitor.

All my videos are in 1080p 60fps, here's a couple:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYp8j2XKG4o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsNzN8LCyE
Note they look much better on a computer, since youtube converts it to crap quality and 30fps.

The very high frame rates are mostly good for two things;

1. Slo Mo

2. Reducing rolling shutter effects. If you have a lot of vibration (race car) and its causing that wobbly effect like you're filming through jelly then the faster exposure inherent in the high frame rates will help a lot. Will be crap in low light though.

50 - 60 fps tends to be plenty for avoiding rolling shutter wobbles in most cases though.

[Zod]

I use 1080p 60 fps and am pretty satisifed with it. It works well for skiing videos, both my own adventures and filmingthe kids.