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Using GoPro Cameras.


John Phillips

Just recently I used one of my GoPros as a locked-off camera on a drummer on stage in a live music broadcast I was working on. The way the stage was set up we could not get a good shot of the drummer so the GoPro was the next best option. The video quality completely held up to the quarter-million dollar HD broadcast cameras we were using on the show. Earlier this spring I worked on the Red Bull Crashed Ice championship broadcast and as they were a RB sponsor, we were using the Sony Action Cams as POV shots on the course. Compared to a GoPro, they looked abysmal up against the same broadcast cameras.

 

There's a reason why GoPro has a massive market lead in this field.

 

As for "removing the fish eye lens" that is not physically possible as the lens is fixed to the camera body and not removable. You can, however use the GoPro Cineform software (free download) to correct the fisheye effect however bear in mind that this is a form of digital processing. Any digital manipulation or sizing of the picture will result in reduced quality of the original images.

 

There are three different lens "wideness" settings available in the GoPro. Medium or Tight. Both do not have the fisheye effect to the same degree as the Wide setting abd it's easily to change between settings.

 

As for a viewfinder... none of the GoPro cameras come with a viewfinder. You can add a back module to them to give you a small viewfinder but it's not as useful as you'd think. If you really want a viewfinder just download the GoPro App (free) for your phone and you can hook into the camera's Wifi signal and get a streamed picture on your phone (about 4x the size of the optional GoPro viewfinder and way more convenient). Remember you'll have to buy all new protective cases for your GoPro(s) if you use the viewfinder back. The phone app also gives you better control of all of the camera's settings than using their on-camera LCD menu screen. It tends to be a bit cumbersome to navigate.

 

When I'm flying I just aim the camera by eye and lock my magic arm in place (see my previous email reply to the forum which has details on the Magic Arm) and I can usually get it pretty close. I don't recommend using a camera while flying with zoom controls an such unless you're not the one flying the balloon. Too distracting. The GoPro has a specific purpose and that's as locked-off a Point Of View (POV) action camera.

 

For what it is it does it extremely well.

 

If you want to caputre more technically perfect shots from a photographic perspective then have someone else fly and take up a better camera so you can concentrate on getting better shots, in my opinion.

 

Three quick tips from both a balloonist and someone who works with GoPros on a regular basis in broadcasting and in flight...

 

1. Shoot in the highest possible resolution you can. You can always make footage worse, you cannot make it better. 1080i is the best choice for now as there are very few TVs out there that are capable of 4K yet and 4K sales aren't taking off as fast as they'd like. That said, shooting in 4K is better but you'll have a hard time watching the files as there's not a lot of 4K hardware out there yet so you'd end up having to convert your footage to 1080i. With that in mind, my original statement about not making footage better still stands and shooting in 4K will let you enjoy your videos long into the future. If you shoot in 4K you can edit your footage and output your final edited product in 1080i. This gives you get a LOT of ability to digitally zoom into things in the shot with minimal degradiation in the picture quality since the 4K picture is roughly 4x the size of a 1080 picture. Since the GoPro does not have a zoom lens this can be a bonus.

 

2. Best mounting system, bar none is the Manfrotto Magic Arm & Manfrotto Super Clamp. They're not cheap - $128 from B & H Photo in New York - but they're worth it. There are two versions - one with a lever quick lock and one with a knob lock. I use the one with the lever but both work fine. The super clamp lets you clamp the thing to uprights or a burner frame. Both are rock solid in flight and quick and easy to re-aim or level. We use both all the time in broadcast applications to hold POV cameras for live wide venue shots and to hold monitors and such. They're seriously bulletproof.

 

3. As for software for "processing" (editing?) the video, you don't actually "need" anything... you can run the video on any computer raw as it comes off of the camera's card. The GoPro generates a Quicktime .mov file that will play in Apple's Quicktime player (although I don't recommend it if you're running a PC 'cause it's very slow to load and operate) or Windows Media Player. Most other video players will play a .mov file with no problems.

 

If you want to edit and have no experience with editing, Windows Movie Maker or Apple's version of it (I'm a PC guy) both work fine. If you want more editing power then Adobe Premiere is excellent but you'll have to buy a monthly subscription from Adobe to use it.

 


John Phillips
Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada


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    1. This is a very sad blog.

      As many of you know I suffered a massive stroke at the end of February 2020.  I spend most of march in the hospital starting off with 6 days in a coma.  I have now come out of the hospital Weak, Dizzy, Light Headed and unable to fly.   I am now on medication for high blood sugar. (Diabetes). I am on Medication for nerve pain,  I am on medication for High Blood pressure and a few others that I am unaware what they do but my wife puts them in my pill box and I take them.  I am on the phone (Virtual visit) with my doctor about every other week.  Only 1 in 4 survive the stroke I had and about 60% of those who do survive have permanent disabilities.  I do realize how incredibly fortunate I am just to be here. My family (including the balloon world) has been an inspiration to me and kept my drive to continue alive.  In reality, I have managed to come thru reasonably unscathed.  I still have (after being home two months) issues with my strength and equilibrium.  I get very dizzy or lightheaded (I feel like I am on a boat in the ocean) but my mental acuities and physical aptitude are unencumbered.  I have managed to loose enough weight that my medication for High Blood pressure has been reduced once already.  I continue to work each day on the internet, projects in the shop and other house hold chores to keep me busy and build my strength. 

      tissue2.jpgI am slowly coming to grip with the realization that I will never fly commercially again.  After nearly 7,000 flights and who knows how many tens of thousands of passengers I will never again be able to share my joy with those who have never experienced the amazing bliss of a Hot Air Balloon flight. 

      I started my balloon adventure at the age of 13 when my parents took me to see the National Balloon Championships in Indianola Iowa.  I went home and began to build model hot air balloons out of tissue paper and cellophane tape.  At tissue3.jpgfirst they were very crude and I burned up a few before I perfected my aircraft.  Eventually I created a tissue paper balloon with its own burner fed by 50 feet of plastic hose.  The burner was made out of a syringe from a hospital and tin foil.  My "Burner" was clipped in the mouth of the balloon where I would turn the fire, up and down, from the ground with a propane regulator stolen from my fathers Coleman camp stove.  One of my favorite tissue paper balloons was the balloon (on the right) I built for my high school.  It was Blue and White (School colors) and about 9 feet tall.  In the photo I am demonstrating it for my old Jr. High school in the Gym.  Try doing that now a days. I would fly that balloon in the end zone at school football games.  I would continue to fly that balloon even after I had my pilots certificate and my own real hot air balloon. 

      I started my training to become a Hot Air Balloon Pilot in the fall of 1975.  At that time I was 15 years old.  I completed my training and solo flew a balloon while I was 16 years old.  At 17 years old ( With my parents help) I was able to purchase the balloon I had trained in 549484_10151575146373424_1255794086_n.jpgand began my ballooning adventures.  I finished in the top 10 in the Iowa State Championships in 1977.  That same year I flew as a non-comp pilot in the National Balloon Championships in Indianola Iowa.  The same place, where just a few short years before I was a wide eyed 13 year old watching over a snow fence at balloons launching and floating directly over my head from the Simpson Collage campus.  Over the years I have had the privilege to meet and fly with many of the balloon world's "Hall of Famers".  I was able to fly with, (what today are considered) the legends of the sport.  As Capt Phogg would say, "I learned to fly balloons back in the day's when ballooning was dangerous and sex was safe"  (1)

      I am sadly coming to the horrible realization that my commercial flying days are over.  Even now as I recover I am starting to realize that in my condition just flying a balloon could be dangerous for me even if I were alone.   If you are reading this and have been one of 3rdplace.jpgmy past passengers you will undoubtedly realize the passion I had for balloon flying and the love I had for the intricacy of flight and how to "ride the wind". There is simply nothing in life I loved better than the artistry of flying a balloon.  It did not matter to me if I were flying passengers or training students or even flying competition I loved to fly.  I also loved passing along the knowledge of the art form.  I have an old testimonial page from our original Jeff78Natioinals.jpgwebsite years ago that has HUNDREDS of guest book entries. If you read them you will notice that most of them talk about my passion for flying. As one of my passengers said, "Your passion is hard to hide and very infectious".  Even my own father would comment on how I would amaze him with my desire to fly, even after all of these years.  So the idea that I can no longer fly is more than heartbreaking.  At this time there are things I still want to do in Ballooning.  I want to win the National Classic!  I want to take my son for his first flight!  I want to finish training my last two students!  I want to fly more passengers and share the AWE, that is balloon flight! There is so much more I want to do but I simply can not.  There is too much risk for me and for anyone I take along.

      Never told anyone this before.  I was at the National Balloon Championships in Battle Creek Michigan with my father.  We were on the last day of competition and the flight weather was marginal at best.  I had borrowed a balloon from Dave Sullivan (2).  It was a 90K balloon and we were sent out on a GO for flight.  My father made the decision that he would not fly because of the wind.  The conditions were well beyond what we would take passengers flying in, but, this is the National Championships and we are flying with the best of the best.  I was in go mode until my father came up to me and said " I am not going to fly but I will ride with you if you want.  In these conditions you will need the weight".  The balloon, I had borrowed was large enough to carry a pilot and three adults.  In windy conditions and without the proper weight load you are more or less flying a garbage bag in a hurricane.  The winds will toss you around like a rag doll since you do not have the proper load onboard.  So technically my father was correct.  I would need the extra weight on board to help with the performance of the balloon.  BUT....  Father was well into his 70's at this point.  There was a good chance that w35789_401582233423_3999749_n.jpge would be beaten up good on landing, even a good landing at those speeds.  When you land a balloon, you land at what ever the speed of the wind is.  In a balloon that is under loaded you will never get the balloon stopped.  You simply do not have the weight to stop the balloon as the fabric catches the wind and acts like a sail.  I told my father "I am going to stay on the ground too".  I simply could not take the chance of hurting my father at that age.  A broken bone in your seventies may not heal for years.  I wanted to fly in the competition but did not want to do it at the risk of my fathers health.  I shed several tears on the way back.  I hope some day to become half the man my father is.

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