On Friday, January 4, 2013 10:42:15 AM UTC-5, Bill D wrote:
I have no idea how it would be done but better video of instrument panels would be welcome. Most videos, most of the time, have the panel in shadow so the instruments are not readable.
On Monday, December 31, 2012 11:11:25 AM UTC-7, KiloKilo wrote:
I'm getting interested in taking some hd videos on XC missions ... is the GoPro Hero 3 considered the best camera for this type of project.
I've also been fooling with a new Video Editor called Power Director .... great app... much better then then older software I had before.
I re-reprocessed a file Evan Ludeman provided ... and I put a re-edited version on you tube. I don't think the base video is HD quality - and I used a stock audio track - but you can see how nice the transitions and other features work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMUGr...ature=youtu.be
KK
The problem with panels is that they tend to be much darker than the surrounding scene. I've battled with this and find that shooting overcast or low light helps a lot as it reduces the brightness range so everything is more likely to fit into the (every) cameras limited capture range. Also with direct sun, if the sun is lighting the panel directly the shot looks good. When I edit, I often cut the scenes with backlight panel. I've also experimented in the past with graduated filters that darken the top of the image only, but it's difficult to do well. Also made a mask to brighten the panel in my video editor which works but is time consuming. A video camera that could shoot HDR would be the trick. Or video HDR in editing. It will come to the masses eventually.
I think my GoPro2 has really excellent image quality. It's too bad it doesn't have a tripod thread in the bottom like most cameras do. I do not use the GoPro housing for cockpit shots. You can see my suction cup mount in this video. The mount works well because it also holds my bluetooth GPS for XCSoar. The mount is an open box I made out of aluminum with velcro for friction. I can pull the GoPro out quickly in flight and point it out the window for a shot, then quickly slide it back in place in the mount. (I rent gliders only so no permanent mounts)
One nice thing about the wide lens on the GoPro is that when you hold it out the window and point it back at the glider, it looks like it's 6 feet away from the glider and you get a very dramatic shot. (when in reality, it's only arms length) The original GoPro had a horrible menu system. The 2 is not too bad.
This video below was shot with GoPro2. Notice the cockpit cup mount with ball head and BT GPS that you can see when I hold the GoPro out the window and point it back at the glider. BTW: When viewing in youtube, if you don't hit the little gear icon and set the resolution to 1080, it won't look sharp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHSXN...assCENqV2vyryg
Below are some still images. All the shots in the air were shot as stills with the GoPro2 in still shot mode. Pretty impressive quality I think.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/05jfyu7rgfaxec9/kVjWE6L2VG
.... Aaron