[funat9000rpm]

I thought I'd start a thread about the (now famous) GoPro camera... Several of us are already proud owners of this magnificent system, and others are aspiring to become part of the club. I wanted to compile some useful info into this thread including mounting tips, how-to's, and useful info to help navigate through the settings menu. It would be amazing if other owners could chime in and provide some useful info that they've gathered on their own in order to improve this guide. The GoPro has a total of 5 settings with which to capture some amazing footage. These settings are:

R1: WVGA @ 60 fps (standard DVD resolution)
R2: 720p @ 30 fps
R3: 720p @ 60 fps (best if you intend to do timelapse shots, also most memory friendly HD setting)
R4: 960p @30 fps
R5: 1080p @30 fps (a true hard drive killer, it will take up a LOT of space as well as take forever to upload)

But the GoPro not only facilitates video recording, it also has a self-timer picture mode, a picture mode (able to be set at any interval of your choice), triple shot photo mode and of course a settings menu with extensive options to chose from.

A detailed PDF of the instructions can be found Here

A useful video tutorial on the settings menu I found on youtube can be viewed here

Useful youtube tutorial for time lapse here

Preferable mounting spots on the S2000

I found it gives a very nice angle if mounted in the top left hand corner (passenger side) of the windshield:


DSCN0252

It can also be mounted in the front bumper like so:


DSCN0271

Simply use one of the adhesive pads that come with the HD motorsports kit and mount it in a similar location for an amazing angle


DSCN0272

Notice that the camera is mounted upside down. The camera has a upside down mode which can be activated through the settings menu, allowing you to play back the footage right side up instantaneously without any video editing software

[TheSteel]

I like to stick mine inside the windshield just to the right of the rear view mirror (assuming in driver seat) facing forward. It doesn't get any wind noise there and it semi protected should you leave it in the car, like I often do. This uses the suction cup.

Otherwise one of the best spots is atop the hidden compartment facing forward. This gets a decent in car view for you to review your shifting skills, turn ins, and rpm. With the 1080 you can really get see the entire dashboard along with the track. Regular adhesive mount.

I also like putting it midway up the hood, or even further up a bit to the wind shield using the suction cup as well. And my other fav place is on the fender a few inches behind the badge. If you have the backing plate, or just want to guess and check a lot you can get the full "s2000" in the shot along with a good amount of the track and tire.

[CKit]

I use the hidden compartment top location. Don't forget the little rubber cushion to prevent the "mount clicking" noise.

[MagnumXL2]

I would like to present my single greatest tip regarding the go-pro and audio.

Take your smart phone (we used an iphone) - use the sound recorder and place it in the net next to the transmission tunnel, or have someone hold it. On your computer, sync the audio. You have a mostly wind-noise free audio solution that works great and allows you to hear everything, including all engine noises, conversation within the cabin - no matter where the camera is mounted.

This is the end result:


Tapping the record button in front of the camera makes syncing the audio much easier as you know exactly when the track starts.

This was discovered after attempting to solder an external mic onto a regular go pro. That failed, but this works great.

Let me know your thoughts.

[MPosey]

^ This seems like a great idea. What software do you use to combine the files? I had always thought that wind noise was always a problem for autox.

[skkppy]

magnum.... you are a freaking genius!!! im getting my gopro and im am totally going to use your idea. many thanks for sharing!

[nofearofdanger]

I find that when not shooting in perfect lighting conditions, the quality is terrible and the picture is extremely noisy.
Also, I like mounting my gopro on friends cars to get external shots!

[MagnumXL2]

skkppy, on 14 August 2011 - 08:22 PM, said:

magnum.... you are a freaking genius!!! im getting my gopro and im am totally going to use your idea. many thanks for sharing!

Sorry, but I don't really have an idea what my buddy uses. He has the go pro and does all the editing. I doubt that it is anything spectacular though. I can't imagine it being harder than overlaying a song or something like that on top of the video.

Maybe windows movie maker has this feature even?

[funat9000rpm]

MagnumXL2, on 15 August 2011 - 05:17 PM, said:

Sorry, but I don't really have an idea what my buddy uses. He has the go pro and does all the editing. I doubt that it is anything spectacular though. I can't imagine it being harder than overlaying a song or something like that on top of the video.

Maybe windows movie maker has this feature even?

It's much easier in iMovie

[MagnumXL2]

funat9000rpm, on 15 August 2011 - 05:27 PM, said:

MagnumXL2, on 15 August 2011 - 05:17 PM, said:

Sorry, but I don't really have an idea what my buddy uses. He has the go pro and does all the editing. I doubt that it is anything spectacular though. I can't imagine it being harder than overlaying a song or something like that on top of the video.

Maybe windows movie maker has this feature even?

It's much easier in iMovie

Possibly true, but 80+% of us don't use that.

I just checked it out and it is very easy in "Windows Live Movie Maker" for windows 7.

First, load your video. If you used the trick I mentioned earlier, find the point where you tap the record button on the screen.
Click "Add music at present point" and select the audio track. There will then be two tabs on the top, one for the music track options and one for the video track of the gopro video. Just mute the go pro audio under the video track tab and you're all set... Pretty simple.

[Scotty2H]

Just got my GoPro two days ago and am heading to the track this weekend. Tried the suction cup on the secret compartment, but it doesn't really adhere. Planning to use one of the stick-on mounts, but wondered if it would cause any damage or leave a hard to remove residue when I remove it?

So far quite impressed with the camera. A little hard to aim with the 170 degree field of vision, but it has given some cool shots. If it didn't estimate 203 minutes to upload the videos, I'd post some haha!

[thielepr]

nofearofdanger, on 14 August 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I find that when not shooting in perfect lighting conditions, the quality is terrible and the picture is extremely noisy.
Also, I like mounting my gopro on friends cars to get external shots!

There is a setting for this. It adjust the lighting from outside. I did not know this before took the video below. Magnum you are a genius.
here is my video in top of the secret/windshield with the adhesive. It have a gtreat shot but I'll prefer the camera a little more inside tthe cabin to have a better view of the track.

In my video the sound is terrible

[TheSteel]

thielepr, on 16 August 2011 - 07:17 AM, said:

nofearofdanger, on 14 August 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I find that when not shooting in perfect lighting conditions, the quality is terrible and the picture is extremely noisy.
Also, I like mounting my gopro on friends cars to get external shots!

There is a setting for this. It adjust the lighting from outside. I did not know this before took the video below. Magnum you are a genius.
here is my video in top of the secret/windshield with the adhesive. It have a gtreat shot but I'll prefer the camera a little more inside tthe cabin to have a better view of the track.

In my video the sound is terrible

Swap the video settings to r5 for the 1080p. That'll change the viewing angle to 127 degrees instead of 170 which will make it much better looking. Then you can change the resolution as necessary when uploading to youtube or whatever other site. Here's another forum members video from the console. The track speed and info is recorded using a pbox data logger, and I think using circuit tools for the overlay though I may be unsure. In case you wondered.

Also, which backing plate are you using for the in car recording? You should have the open one for the best sound inside. Though the best sound still isn't great, but it's....manageable.

This post has been edited by TheSteel: 16 August 2011 - 11:47 AM

[TheSteel]

Oh and scotty, you don't use the suction on the secret compartment. The suction will only work well on glass or the paint (I'd recommend some oil or something if you put the camera outside the car to seal any gaps, unless you have insurance on it thru best buy or whoever. In that case who cares if it falls off at 120). You need to use one of the flat or curved adhesive plastic mounts for the secret compartment. I'll let someone else chime in on which to use as I haven't actually fitted mine there yet. I lost my 16gig SD Card during my recent move and am a little annoyed and haven't been recording anything.

edit: It should mount similar to this picture from earlier in the thread, obviously it'll be the other way up on the compartment, but you should get the idea.

http://www.flickr.co...N02/6042761519/

This post has been edited by TheSteel: 16 August 2011 - 11:48 AM

[thielepr]

TheSteel, on 16 August 2011 - 11:43 AM, said:

thielepr, on 16 August 2011 - 07:17 AM, said:

nofearofdanger, on 14 August 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I find that when not shooting in perfect lighting conditions, the quality is terrible and the picture is extremely noisy.
Also, I like mounting my gopro on friends cars to get external shots!

There is a setting for this. It adjust the lighting from outside. I did not know this before took the video below. Magnum you are a genius.
here is my video in top of the secret/windshield with the adhesive. It have a gtreat shot but I'll prefer the camera a little more inside tthe cabin to have a better view of the track.

In my video the sound is terrible

Swap the video settings to r5 for the 1080p. That'll change the viewing angle to 127 degrees instead of 170 which will make it much better looking. Then you can change the resolution as necessary when uploading to youtube or whatever other site. Here's another forum members video from the console. The track speed and info is recorded using a pbox data logger, and I think using circuit tools for the overlay though I may be unsure. In case you wondered.

Also, which backing plate are you using for the in car recording? You should have the open one for the best sound inside. Though the best sound still isn't great, but it's....manageable.

Yeah I will try the r5. I was using the open backing plate. The video that you post obviously were in a more smooth track. But Still have the popcorn sound.

[TheSteel]

thielepr, on 16 August 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

TheSteel, on 16 August 2011 - 11:43 AM, said:

thielepr, on 16 August 2011 - 07:17 AM, said:

nofearofdanger, on 14 August 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

I find that when not shooting in perfect lighting conditions, the quality is terrible and the picture is extremely noisy.
Also, I like mounting my gopro on friends cars to get external shots!

There is a setting for this. It adjust the lighting from outside. I did not know this before took the video below. Magnum you are a genius.
here is my video in top of the secret/windshield with the adhesive. It have a gtreat shot but I'll prefer the camera a little more inside tthe cabin to have a better view of the track.

In my video the sound is terrible

Swap the video settings to r5 for the 1080p. That'll change the viewing angle to 127 degrees instead of 170 which will make it much better looking. Then you can change the resolution as necessary when uploading to youtube or whatever other site. Here's another forum members video from the console. The track speed and info is recorded using a pbox data logger, and I think using circuit tools for the overlay though I may be unsure. In case you wondered.

Also, which backing plate are you using for the in car recording? You should have the open one for the best sound inside. Though the best sound still isn't great, but it's....manageable.

Yeah I will try the r5. I was using the open backing plate. The video that you post obviously were in a more smooth track. But Still have the popcorn sound.

It took me a minute to remember what that sound is from. It's part of the camera rattling. Either the camera is rattling inside the plastic housing, or where the mounts slide and lock together it's rattling. Mine doesn't have this problem from what I've seen, but I was told to put a piece of paper where it slides or something along those lines to cut down on the movement in the event it happens.

[OvaDaLimiT]

Here's my first gopro vid. Recorded in r2 mode, sticky mounted on the secret compartment.

Supercar Sunday 2011 on Vimeo


Those of you getting the rattling need to use the rubber doohickey thing where the gopro snaps into the plate.

This post has been edited by OvaDaLimiT: 16 August 2011 - 05:08 PM

[thielepr]

OvaDaLimiT, on 16 August 2011 - 05:07 PM, said:

Here's my first gopro vid. Recorded in r2 mode, sticky mounted on the secret compartment.

Supercar Sunday 2011 on Vimeo


Those of you getting the rattling need to use the rubber doohickey thing where the gopro snaps into the plate.

That come with the camera?

[jonathanyip343]

I want to love mine, but I returend it within a week
Something is rattling inside the camera. THe noise is recorded in the video.
It's not the case, backing, or the clips. Took everything off and shake the camera during recording. It's still making that noise
it's a diffirent noise . not the "mount clicking" noise

[TheSteel]

jonathanyip343, on 17 August 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

I want to love mine, but I returend it within a week
Something is rattling inside the camera. THe noise is recorded in the video.
It's not the case, backing, or the clips. Took everything off and shake the camera during recording. It's still making that noise
it's a diffirent noise . not the "mount clicking" noise

battery?

And yes that rubber white clip came with mine as well. However remember which package it came in since I bought the HD Helmet Hero, then proceeded to buy a ton of mounts.

[Nu4mulaRedd]

GOPRO FTW =)

[Nu4mulaRedd]

go to eyeofmind.com alot of good accessories.

[Saki GT]

MagnumXL2, on 14 August 2011 - 06:16 PM, said:

I would like to present my single greatest tip regarding the go-pro and audio.

Take your smart phone (we used an iphone) - use the sound recorder and place it in the net next to the transmission tunnel, or have someone hold it. On your computer, sync the audio. You have a mostly wind-noise free audio solution that works great and allows you to hear everything, including all engine noises, conversation within the cabin - no matter where the camera is mounted.

This is a great tip since GoPro audio generally sucks - wind free and stereo sound!

I also like to mount the camera behind the front wheel wells low to the ground, youget more of a sense of speed and the dynamic of watching the wheel and suspension work a bit.

Generally I record footage, do quick trims in QuickTime to make clips, import the clips into iMovie, but if i synch sound like this I'd just dump it all in iMovie and go from there. I always move the camera around and create clips so I can build a dynamic movie with lots of angles.

[Mocky]

So where have people found works best outside with the least amount of noise.
At Mid Ohio (at speeds as low as 40), the noise was still ridiculously loud. I used the covered back as well. I tried on windshield (outside). On front of hood. On top of hardtop. All were so noisy.
Meanwhile, my friend took his camera on a motorcycle mounted between the front headlights of his bike and up to 155 the wind noise was close to non-existent

[thielepr]

OvaDaLimiT, on 16 August 2011 - 05:07 PM, said:

Here's my first gopro vid. Recorded in r2 mode, sticky mounted on the secret compartment.

Supercar Sunday 2011 on Vimeo


Those of you getting the rattling need to use the rubber doohickey thing where the gopro snaps into the plate.

what a difference that little piece does!!!! tested today and i'm surprised about the result. Thanks for the tip