Great job - very entertaining. Please tell us how you did it. What camera, and where were your mounting locations for the various shots?
I used two
GoPro cameras, the Motorsports HERO and the Motorsports HERO Wide. I picked them up on closeout from Circuit City for about $100 each, one of the unintended benefits of the economy swirling around the toilet. The cameras use very inexpensive 2 GB SD cards, come with a surprisingly strong suction cup mount and, as an extra bonus, a waterproof case. The cameras themselves are a little bigger than a box of matches.
In playing with these tiny cameras, I learned a few things. One, if you're not paying close attention, it's easy to take off thinking you are recording, only to find out you didn't hit the button. There is a little red light that blinks when the camera is recording, but it's hard to see. That's the only feedback you get to show you are recording. Also, the cameras need to be placed with a straight horizon, which can be hard to judge using a suction cup on a motorcycle fender. The mounts are pretty adjustable, it just takes practice.
The biggest downside is battery life. These cameras take two AAA batteries, and the manufacturer recommends those really expensive lithium Energizers. I bought some rechargable ones, and they seemed to work OK, but they sure don't last very long!
What's the UFO over your head at 1:30?
As for the 'UFO' at 1:30 of the video, that's actually the sun. The contrast ratio on these cameras is average at best, so the bright, hot noonday sun renders as a black dot. Shadows lose detail and turn to black mush pretty easily too. But what do you expect for a cheap-ish camera? The Canon 5D MK II still camera, which costs over ten times more, has a similar problem with very bright lights.
The video output is an .AVI file, but unfortunately those AVI files aren't recognized by Adobe Premiere Pro, my editing program. I had to use another program called 'MPEG Streamclip' to translate the video into something that Premiere Pro recognized. I am fairly sure some quality was lost in the translation. I contacted GoPro about this, but they had no ideas at all about using their video in an editing program. Not much help, but they got back to me quickly at least. The videos on their site look much better and cleaner than mine do. But then again, I am an audio guy!
All in all, for this kind of fun, web-only video, the GoPro is an affordable and decent little camera with a sturdy mount and it's waterproof. I don't think you'll see these cams on the next installment of the
Long Way Up, Down and All Around... series, but for what it is, it's pretty good.
What more could you want?
Cute!
