I need to pick your brain on the Go Pro operation...
You can answer me here or PM me if ya want..
Yesterday I bought a Hero +3 Black edition.. I spent a few hours and fabricated a mount / bracket and attached it to my plane this morning.. I will get some pics on how I did it.. Now some questions..
1- How did you import the cockpit audio since the camera is out on the wing?
2- What camera settings did you use ?
3- I charge the Go Pro battery through the puter USB port, does that give it a full charge or do I need to buy the 110v stand alone unit ?
4- What software did ya use to edit it ?
It has started to rain /snow so the test flight might happen on Weds.
Thanks in advance for the feedback...
First I'll summarize my answers to your questions, than add a bunch of stuff that you might already know, or might find useful.
1- How did you import the cockpit audio since the camera is out on the wing?
Answer: there are 2 separate audio sources in the video. One is the ambient noise/engine sound. That audio was captured by the gopro camera mounted outside the cockpit. The second audio source was the comm radio; this was recorded by a separate audio recorder that was connected to the comm radio and headset. Then, in video editing, I combined the audio from the comm radio with the video-and-audio from the gopro. In editing I also varied which audio had the higher or lower amplitude, dpending on what was being filmed (for example, when there was a radio call, I lowerd the audio from the outside captured by the gopro; or, when there was no radio comms made, I left the outside audio from the gopro at its normal level.
2- What camera settings did you use ?
Answer: 720p 60 frames per second with my gopro 2. If I had a gopro 3 black, I would use whatever highest resolution available that would still give me 60 frames per second. For example, my gopro 2 gives me 60 frames per second at 720p, but only 30 frames per second at 1080. I think gopro hero 3 gives something like 60frames per second at 1080p which is pretty amazing. But, for small displays, you will generally not notice any difference between 1080p and 720p, but you would notice the higher frame rate vs. lower frame rate. IMPORTANT: I think you tube reduces the frame rate from to 30 frames per second, not matter what your original frame rate is. That's why you tube videos look ****ty compared with original video's high frame rate (you tube also further compresses your video).
3- I charge the Go Pro battery through the puter USB port, does that give it a full charge or do I need to buy the 110v stand alone unit ?
Answer: it does not matter. You can get maximum charge capacity out of USB and 110V outlet. But I personally find it a pain in the butt to turn
on my laptop and connect my gopro via USB just to charge it.
4- What software did ya use to edit it ?
Answer: Lots of options here and I only have experience with only 1: Adobe Premiere Elements verison 11 (a newer version is now available). I can do anything I want with it, but for me, the interface of the stupid thing is mostly not intuitive. Almost nothing comes naturally. But once I learned the basics (and I don't forget them!), it is very useful. There better options out there that are easier to use for basic video editing (note: Adobe premier Elements version 11 has a basic mode and advanced mode; I did not try the basic mode because it didn't let me do some of the editing I wanted to).
And Now for the Extra information of what is needed to do video/audio from go pro, as well as auxiliary audio from com radio.
GoPro Video Camera
You already have it.
GoPro Suction Cup
You already have it.
GoPro3 Skeleton Housing ($28)
http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-AHDKH-3...4508076&sr=8-1&keywords=gopro+hero+3+skeleton
You will need this if you want to record comm radio audio with the GoPro. If you use the GoPro
to record comm radio, than the video in the GoPro will have comm radio but will not have ambient/engine noise
audio. You can use the GoPro to record ambient/engine audio and then use a separate audio recoder
to record comm audio. Then you will have to use some video editing application to combine the
gopro video with the engine audio with the comm audio from the separate audio recorder.
GoPro Hero 3 Audio Adapter ($47)
http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/9311 You will need this if you want to record com radio. This can be used to interface the device that will record
the audio (either GoPro or separate audio recorder). Your headset will also interface inline with this cable
to get com radio. Note that the example above works ONLY with GoPro Hero 3 and above. For GoPro Hero 2 or
earlier you need a similar cable but it has a differnt plug.
Olympus Digital Voice Recorder VN-702PC ($50)
http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-VN-702PC-Voice-Recorder/dp/B006ZW4HY2/ref=sr_1_3?
s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1394507556&sr=1-3&keywords=Olympus+Digital+Voice+Recorder
This is if you want to record com radio and allow the GoPro to record ambient/engine audio. You'll need a cable adapter to connect the comm headset with this audio recorder as well (so you can record what you hear in the headset).
Video Editing software: Adobe Premiere Elements 11 ($60)
http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Premier...=1394507606&sr=1-3&keywords=elements+premiere If you decide to record ambient engine noise AND comm radio, you will need an application to combine
the video/audio from the gopro with the comm audio from the separate recorder. Even if you do not
record separate audios, you might still want to use some sort of video editing software to trim
your video and make basic edits. I usually end up using only about 20 to 40% of what i film, when i want to
show it to others, because the normal audience gets bored quickly.
GoPro Settings
There are different parameters that can be set. Most common settings are for
- resolution: 720, 960, 1080, etc.
- frame rate: 30fps, 60fps, 120fps, and some other stuff in between
- aspect ratio: wide angle or 4:3
Resolution
Naturally, higher resolution gives just that - but I don't always chose it because
it has some impact on battery life, the speed at which data is written to the card, the filesize
to be managed. So, because I watch most of my videos on things like ipad, laptops and smarphones,
is usually select 720p.
Frame rate The higher the framerate, the smoother the dispplay of the video. My goPro2 does only 60fps
and it does that only at 720p. At 1080 i think it does only 30fps. With gopro3 black edition
it think you can do 120fps. That's a very high rate and some people use it with fast action
and then do slow motion in post-processing editing. The higher the frame rate, the smoother the
video looks when you slow it down. In avaition things the action is generally not that fast
so I personally don't do slow motion and do 60fps. Note that a higher frame rate will
use battery faster, generate a larger file size and takes longer to process by the editing application
unless you have a fast hardware.
Aspect ratio
Most people are used to wide screen. In aviation it works well. I have done both and both have their
merit. I sometimes use the 4:3 ratio when i want to capture more stuff vertically, like if i'm in the cockpit
and i want to see, both the full windsreen from top to bottom as well as the instruments. Of course,
the view is not so wide. Generally i use the wide option.
View Angle This is not something you can change (at least not with gopro2, not sure about gopro3).
I think it has a 170* viewing angle which is super wide! This is why it is possible to stick a gopro
in tight spaces and still get a very wide view. But keep in mind that this also distors the perspective
considerably. Things get streched sideways more than they are in reality and as a consequence they get
totally flattened - so whatever is high, becomes short and wide (which is y many gopro videos
give the impression that airplane are far from the runway and very low).
Mounting Option So far i have always used the suction cup mount for an airplane - and for this information i will
only discuss mounting the gopro in the interior of the aircraft. MAke sure the suction cup is clean
and that the surface you mount it to is flat and clean. I generally mount it on side of the window
opposite of me' I've also mounted it in the near side window.
Try your best to align the camera in a position parallel with the horizon. My camera does not
have the auxiliary ddisplay to see "waht does the view look like". That would allow to adjust
the camera until satified, and then record. I've done some amateur photography stuff and am used
to perspective, wide angles, etc., so i usually get what i want without having to see what the image
looks like when setting the camera up.
Exposure Option
I won't get too much into this. Keep in mind the following: The camear's sensor have a limitted
dynamic range, which is usually difficult to manage in a cockpit where the inside/instrument panel is
generally much darker/lesser light, than the sky. So this normally manifests itself in one of teh following
ways: either the instrument pannel/interiof of the aircraft looks "normal" (not too bright, not too dark),
while the view outdise looks totally bright, washed out, with no detail. Or, the opposite can occur:
the view outside looks "just right", while the cabin is totally dark and you cannot see any details in
the instruments. There is only one basic setting that can help you manage this, and is usually set by default
(in photography it is equivalent to the option of "matrix metering", don't know what gopro menu calls it).
In general, videos (and photos) come out best when the sky is somewhat high overcast, or the sun is early
rising or 15 minutes before setting. Reason being that the light has a more even intensity; it is a time
when there are generally no harsh shadows, so the light is of approximately equal intensity. Not much
control over this, so its mostly FYI.
Common Mistakes/Issues/ - Forgetting to power ON the gopro
- Battery is not charged enough
- Not having an SD card available
- Forgetting to press the REcord button (!)
- accidentally change the mode of the camera from video to something like photos (!) so, instead of recording
video, it takes one photo only, or a series of photos at an even interval (which is actually kid of cool
for post processing, creating a montage of photos).
- mouting the camera oblique to the horizon.
- not being able to anticipate how wide of a view can the camera capture from a certain distance/position.
- generally people underestimate how long it takes to create a good, edited 5 minute clip from a
1 hour video.
- basic video editing is simple, but when you want to combine multiple audio sources with teh same video
source it gets a bit more complex.
- when combining audio/video from gopro with audio from comm radio, it can take some time to "line up" or
synchronize the audio fromthe comm to match the video from the gopro (unless you start both the video
and auxiliary audio recording exactly at the same time).
- it is tempting to monitor/think about the camera in flight, instead of comletely foregetting about it
and flying the plane.
IN SUMMARY
Charge the battery, insert an SD Card, mount it safely, set the camera to video mode and press the record button. The rest will follow.
And now for the disclaimer - this is just my understanding of things and I'm definitely no expert in audio/video stuff.
Good observation. I generally keep the elevator at neutral (although on the ground it isn't clear to me what "neutrual" is until the airplane is weight off wheels); 
the CFI will come up with.
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