I got a GoPro Hero from wife for anniversary I wanted help expediting my learning curve on how to ultimately convert/ upload to YouTube and other online sites. Are there any easy to use, free video editing programs available?
Thanks
Drew
Dunno for sure - but if you have a mac, iMovie is pretty easy to use / learn to do all that.
I pulled this off another forum: Just got myself a GoPro for Christmas but haven’t used it yet.
Imovie for mac and movie maker for windows - both free. More advanced editing software I got a recommendation for Final Cut Pro.
For uploading to youtube, set the size when exporting to 1280x720 (for 720p footage), after this your going to want to change your compression settings to either (Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), H.264 or mpeg-4 video).
Windows movie maker is simple but won’t output files in HD so the 720 and 1080 quality from the GoPro won’t be kept if cutting up the files with that program.
For motocross most people are using the r4 wide angle. 30 FPS. Gives you a little of the bike and rider and far enough out front to see other riders.
On thumpertalk.com, there is a ton of information under the forum section for dirtbike video and editing if you search under GoPro with comparison videos of the different settings. Let me know what you end up using.
Maybe you’re thinking about an older version of Windows Movie Maker that won’t do HD. Windows Live Movie Maker available for free can certainly output HD video, It has a preset for 1080p and you can create custom outputs as well. I just made a DVD with it last weekend. Turned out great.
Yeah, but when you upload to Youtube don’t you lose the 1080. my understanding is vimeo, allows you to post in 1080?
I have a Hero HD and I use 1080p and 720p in 60fps. For mtn biking, I use the 720p 60fps. As things move around you faster, the 60fps seems to do a better job of capturing it without the blur. Also, if you want to do slowmo stuff you’ll need the 60fps. When you export, export to 29.97 or whatever it is. Otherwise everything will export in slowmo.
I use Powerdirector 10 64 bit right now. While Movie Maker works great and it’s technical HD 1080 footage, I don’t like the WMV files. I don’t think they are as clean and rich as an mp4. MP4 is also the native format of the GoPro device. Movie Maker doesn’t do anything other than WMV. Also, its much more limited compared to Powerdirector.
As for Vimeo or Youtube, I personal like Vimeo better. I think the overall quality is better. Youtube will compress your video and try to turn a 720 video into 1080p as feature. But I think it degrades the video. Vimeo on the otherhand just posts the raw video in their viewer which is also why you can download the video that’s posted. This is nice because you don’t have to keep the file on your home PC. The other feature is that you can do video’s longer than 15 minutes on Vimeo. The only problem with Vimeo is you have to pay for it to upload larger files. It’s 10 bucks a month but you get 5GB a week you can upload at whatever length you want.
I haven’t tried the new Windows Movie Maker as discussed in the previous post yet. But I did purchase a program by Cyberlink call Powerdirector. I have version 9 and the CD software can be purchased online from around $35-$45 and the download can be purchased for around $40-$55. Lots of features and effects and it uploads directly to Facebook and Youtube so you can share easily.
Very cool little cameras. I’ve used them a few times when biking, surfing, and on the zipline. Have fun with them!
Surfing video.
http://youtu.be/jSS0HTySaoY?hd=1
Zipline
http://youtu.be/stEAv4DCzOY?hd=1
Kayak Tour
http://youtu.be/8zQMZ3xr-f0?hd=1
Biking (In Windows Movie Maker before I purchased Power Director.)
http://youtu.be/d8KAcJJjJ98
I have a Hero 960 and have liked using the Ulead VideoStudio product. Isn’t quite as complex as using Sony Vegas and makes it quicker to get things out the door. Havent used the Premier Elements product, but hear good things about it as well.
I have experimented with several applications, and the best I have found (on a Window’s 7, 64 bit machine) is Adobe Premier.
The problem is it is SPENDY. I used a fully-functional 30 day license and it was smooth and stable. Now I keep trying to find
something less expensive than an $800 pro package that works nearly as well.
Windows Movie Maker has crashed on me too many times to trust it, I’ve played with some shareware / cheapware stuff
like PictureIt and Nero - they all crash unpredicatably when you are working with a 2GB, 20 minute HD clip. I have also used
Adobe Premere Elements - but it crashes as often as the others. Most of these are 32bit apps that trip over their pixels on a 64bit
machine. Supposedly the new version of Premiere Elements (v10) has a 64 bit video engine.
I’m going to examine PowerDirector - that sounds like a new one and 64 bit is encouraging.
iMovie on my kids iMac also chokes on big files…but not as often as on Windows. Mostly I can’t ever figure out how to do what
I need on the Macs.
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Youtube allows 720p, which I think is the max.
I have wanted a GoPro but haven’t decided on how to mount the camera. Any suggestions? I will ask the wife to get it for Christmas.
I use Windows Live Movie Maker (2011 version) - which works pretty well. Use it for virtually every video I publish. It’s got 1080p outputs and presets, and I can do speeding/slowing of video. I wish I could do more around multi-camera support (i.e. PIP), or multi-channel stuff, but for free, I can’t go wrong.
I have wanted a GoPro but haven’t decided on how to mount the camera. Any suggestions? I will ask the wife to get it for Christmas.
I’m struggling with this same thing. I got mine in May and have spent hours tinkering with those little plastic pieces trying to get the right angle (but to no avail). The bike mount is pretty much too small to attach to an oversized stem, and if you do get it to fit somewhere, the hardware usually gets in the way. Is there some sort of aftermarket product that uses stronger/more rigid connectors that won’t slip? I’ve mounted it on my bike a few times for races, and the camera tends to flip upward whenever I hit a bump. The only truly secure place I’ve found on my bike is the Cervelo 2-bolt behind-the saddle accessory mounting point. The bike mount bolts VERY securely onto that for some good rear-facing footage. I have yet to find an equally solid location for forward-facing footage.
Perhaps the biggest defect with the camera is that in order to get horizontal, forward-facing footage with the camera upside-down you have to use an extra connector or two because you can’t bolt it directly to any of the mounts in a horizontal position…
I’d pay a crapton of money for an aftermarket GoPro mounting device that just plain worked. If I get desperate enough and nothing suitable comes up I’m probably just going to start fabricating my own in the engineering shops on campus next semester (my professor thinks we’re just building airplanes…HA!).
OK - just back from my first session with PowerDirector and it is the Goods!
I had 30 minutes of HS band concert to strip off a SD card and prepare for the Grandparents. I was able
to compile the clips, insert a few transitions and create a nice menu in less than an hour first time out - No crashes!
It rendered the ~30minute movie in a little over 10 minutes.
I give PowerDirector 10 two thumbs up. There is a special going on now for $89.
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Youtube now allows longer than fifteen minutes, my last few cross races have been forty to forty five minutes and the whole things gone up on one piece. OTOH, I am using the older GoPro Wide and only have 480x360 or whatever it is. I used to prefer Vimeo because it only limits your file size but now I’ve switched everything over to youtube for standard video.
K-Edge makes some really great looking mounts. I ordered one but it hasn’t come in yet.