GoPro Settings for Balcony Sail-Away

[kevin_ga]

I am relatively new to my GoPro camera and still learning. I see a ton of the sail-away videos and am hoping to get one for our cruise in a week. My question (to the GoPro experts)...

 

What are the ideal settings to use on the camera for sail-away? I was assuming Photo Every X Seconds, but don't know how many seconds to use (2, 5, 10, 30?). I have two 32GB Extreme flash cards and will have my laptop on-board to pull off as needed... so space shouldn't be a major issue.

 

How high should I keep my resolution to get the best results but manageable on space (fit on a single card)?

 

I'm still looking for the best mounting options as well. Not planning to bring a regular tripod, so considering between the Gorillapod, Clamp, and others for mounting on the balcony as needed.

 

TIA!

[shootr]

I film shots like this instead of stills for the following reasons:

 

32GB cards give me 2.5 hours of 1080/30fps video (with an auxiliary battery hooked up as well) - enough for my projects of this type. And you will need an auxiliary battery as I've never gotten more than an hour out of the stock one on my GoPro 3 Black.

 

If the light changes significantly the camera will compensate between pictures and you get some flashing and strobing sometimes - I find video is smoother without the exposure fluctuations.

 

I used magnets and clamps with equal success - Gorillapods work but seem more susceptible to movement (I don't think they grip railings as tight.) Whatever you use - tether the camera with something so if the clamp fails you don't lose the camera.

 

Good luck and have a great cruise.

Edited November 16, 2014 by shootr

[kevin_ga]

Thanks for the input! I have 2 extra batteries but didn't think about needing in-line charging for these long shots. I also have an Anker Astro Pro battery pack that I'll test to make sure it can power the camera during operation.

 

I ordered a 24 inch safety tether to make sure I was covered in case it broke loose while mounted. I saw the DIY design for one of the magnet mounts on an earlier post -- but I didn't know how hard it would be to find something to mount the magnet on. I take it you didn't have a problem? Maybe I'll give one of those a try... if nothing else, it looks like something fun to build!

 

Thanks again!

[GUT2407]

Almost every part of the ship is metal so finding where to stick a magnet should be no problem, what I want to know though is where do I find this magnet mount?

[kevin_ga]

what I want to know though is where do I find this magnet mount?

 

Here's the link I was referring to here. Post #14 has the link to the parts on Amazon and it looks relatively straight forward.

[GUT2407]

Here's the link I was referring to here. Post #14 has the link to the parts on Amazon and it looks relatively straight forward.

 

 

Thanks Kevin, looks interesting.

[kevin_ga]

Np. I can't remember if it was this thread or not, but he also had pics of his cameras mounted. The GoPro worked well and it was even strong enough to hold a dSLR.

[shootr]

Thanks for the input! I have 2 extra batteries but didn't think about needing in-line charging for these long shots. I also have an Anker Astro Pro battery pack that I'll test to make sure it can power the camera during operation.

 

I ordered a 24 inch safety tether to make sure I was covered in case it broke loose while mounted. I saw the DIY design for one of the magnet mounts on an earlier post -- but I didn't know how hard it would be to find something to mount the magnet on. I take it you didn't have a problem? Maybe I'll give one of those a try... if nothing else, it looks like something fun to build!

 

Thanks again!

 

RE: The aux battery - another wrinkle. A lot of the aux batteries have an auto-off feature, meaning when the device it is connected to reaches full charge, the aux battery "shuts off" and the device runs solely on it's internal battery, and the aux battery doesn't "restart" without some sort of intervention on your side (unglugging/replugging it back in). You may want to dry run yours this week or take that into consideration just in case.

 

I had to search a bit to find one that can actually be switched to "always on" from "auto off" mode.

 

My magnet is just a 3" round flat magnet with a 1/4-20 screw in the middle. Then I use a micro tripod head and/or the GoPro tripod adapter. I find that the more/longer arms, extensions, etc. just add flex and "jiggling" to the shot - so the shorter, more compact, and stiffer - the better.

 

This is the magnet (silver thingy) attached to a timing panner. The aux battery is hanging from a camera c-clamp in the green bag:

Edited November 16, 2014 by shootr

[kevin_ga]

I had to search a bit to find one that can actually be switched to "always on" from "auto off" mode.

 

My magnet is just a 3" round flat magnet with a 1/4-20 screw in the middle. Then I use a micro tripod head and/or the GoPro tripod adapter. I find that the more/longer arms, extensions, etc. just add flex and "jiggling" to the shot - so the shorter, more compact, and stiffer - the better.[/img]

 

Now that you mention it, that is also how my battery pack runs... it will shut itself off after the device stops puling from it. Would you mind sharing details of the pack that you found?

 

Very cool setup btw... is that the DIY timer from the Instructables site built from the water sprinkler timer? Yours looks very well made and not much of a "hack." I'd also be interested in any tips/detials on how you made that... I may have to add that to this week's to-do list in preparation.

 

Thanks for sharing & the input!!!

[shootr]

I have the small V15 model of this brand:

 

http://www.voltaicsystems.com/always-on

 

This is the Instructable I did of the timer:

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sprinkler-Timer-Time-Lapse-Panning-Device/

 

NOTE: I trust mechanical fasteners more than glues and epoxies - but this was a lot more complicated than it needed to be. If I do it again, I'd still use the nutsert on the bottom of the timer to mount it - but the GoPro tripod mount on top? I'd carefully drill a few shallow holes in the top, place the tripod mount, and mix about half a stick of JB Weld putty and plaster it all over both of them. With a tether, that stuff I trust.

[kevin_ga]

This is the magnet (silver thingy) attached to a timing panner. The aux battery is hanging from a camera c-clamp in the green bag...

 

Ok, call me stupid but it just dawned on me that there is no USB access while the camera is in the case. I noticed in your picture that you are running it through the case -- assumption is that you cut a hole in a spare case? Is that correct? I'm curious if that's a DIY modification...

 

Thanks!

[shootr]

I cut a hole in the side of a cheapo eBay case with a cutoff wheel in a Dremel so the camera still had some protection but I could plug in the cord.

[Babycat]

When I brought mine, I mounted it with the suction cup on the balcony glass and I used 2 fps. If it turns out that 2 fps is too slow, you can always speed it up in post. 5 fps is more for things like slow moving clouds. When in timelapse mode, it doesn't really matter what megapixel you set it at unless you mean to crop or zoom in. If you plan to crop or zoom, use the highest megapixel setting. If not, the lower the megapixel, the more storage you'll have on your card. Try to use a wide aspect ratio though.

 

Timelapse interval baseline

 

1 second

 

Moving traffic

Fast moving clouds

Drivelapses

 

1-3 seconds

 

Sunsets/ sunrise

Slower moving clouds

Crowds

Moon or Sun near horizon

Telephoto scenes

 

15-30 seconds

 

Moving shadows

Sun across the sky wide/ no clouds

 

15-60 seconds or longer

 

Stars

 

Longer

 

Fast growing plants 90-120 sec

Construction 5-15 minutes

 

...And a little example of how to figure out how long to shoot:

 

Example...

 

Goal 12 second clip

Post Process edit 24 fps

24x12 is 288 shots

288x2 second interval is 576 seconds of consecutive shooting

576/60 is 9.6 minutes of consecutive shooting.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Babycat