EL Pistoffo
Contributor
Hi everyone, Im new to the forum though I have been reading trough it for the last few days.
My wife and will be going on a Western Caribbean cruise in September and will be diving Roatan and Grand Cayman and I will be doing underwater video for my first time.
I have been researching the subject of the GoPro underwater videography and have come to some conclusions but yet others are still unanswered to me.
My equipment plan will be a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition (just purchased), a Amazon.com: Sealife Aquapod Underwater Monopod, Black SL913: SEALIFE: Electronics, a SRP BlurFix3 CYD dome, SanDisk Ultra microSDXC class 10 64GB card, and extra battery.
I have some experience in video editing though most of it was on adobe Premier back in the Pentium 120 days. I have since done some basic editing and format conversions. I currently have the Adobe CS5 suite and also AVS4YOU suite.
My questions or concerns are:
1.To Pro-Tune or not to Pro-Tune. This is really confusing to me. Pro-Tune mode is said to make the video look washed out at first. My understanding is that when using Pro-Tune, post color correction is necessary. Does that correcting involve just saturation, contrast and brightness adjustments? If not using Pro-Tune will the exposure, color freak out problem that I've read about occur? If so i'd rather use Pro-Tune to avoid a ruined shoot if post color editing is not incredibly difficult.
2. Is the use of the red filter necessary if shooting in Pro-Tune mode? Some have said that post color correcting can be done in place of the filter. I'm thinking that using the red-filter will result in a video that requires less post color correction.
3. I will be diving in waters between 40ft to maybe 80ft max. I am undecided on resolution and frame-rate. The popular choices by many here is 1080/30 - 1080/60 - 2.7k/25 - and a few 720/60. I'm looking for a fininshed product in 1080P to be viewed on HDTV's. I've heard 30 fps is better for light gathering and some say 60 fps is. Which is true? I'm unfamiliar with frame cropping on video which is the reason most use higher res. Which would better suit me as beginner?
4. I'm not certain how most of you film in regards to clip length. I seems like most just turn the camera on at beginning of dive and stop at end. Is that the norm? Will the GoPro battery life last the dive? I heard from another user that they filmed in shorter clips turning camera on and off. It made editing easier by avoiding watching through 45min of video. Would that affect post color correcting if done in Pro-Tune mode due varying look in different clips?
5. IS the use of the LCD screen advantageous or necessary? Trying to imagine or visualize how the video is framing or what it will look like is a new concept to me. Traditional filming is done with a real-time view. Is that a valid concern? Will filming at higher res then cropping through post editing eliminate those issues? Is such editing a pain? Is the use of the LCD detrimental to battery life as I suspect?
6. Is a buoyancy attachment a good idea for the GoPro camera such as the GoPro Floaty Backdoor - Lets your HD HERO Camera Float in Water. Does it interfere much with the handling of it underwater? Losing a camera would be a major bummer.
Sorry for the depth and the mount of questions but I like to know as much as possible when getting involved in a new project. I'm sure I will figure out more as I mess with the camera on my own. I have a couple of months till my trip so I will do some snorkeling as soon as I can to experiment though Tropical Storm Chantal is poised to ruin this weekend for me.
Any tips or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. In the meanwhile I will continue to research further.
Thanks
My wife and will be going on a Western Caribbean cruise in September and will be diving Roatan and Grand Cayman and I will be doing underwater video for my first time.
I have been researching the subject of the GoPro underwater videography and have come to some conclusions but yet others are still unanswered to me.
My equipment plan will be a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition (just purchased), a Amazon.com: Sealife Aquapod Underwater Monopod, Black SL913: SEALIFE: Electronics, a SRP BlurFix3 CYD dome, SanDisk Ultra microSDXC class 10 64GB card, and extra battery.
I have some experience in video editing though most of it was on adobe Premier back in the Pentium 120 days. I have since done some basic editing and format conversions. I currently have the Adobe CS5 suite and also AVS4YOU suite.
My questions or concerns are:
1.To Pro-Tune or not to Pro-Tune. This is really confusing to me. Pro-Tune mode is said to make the video look washed out at first. My understanding is that when using Pro-Tune, post color correction is necessary. Does that correcting involve just saturation, contrast and brightness adjustments? If not using Pro-Tune will the exposure, color freak out problem that I've read about occur? If so i'd rather use Pro-Tune to avoid a ruined shoot if post color editing is not incredibly difficult.
2. Is the use of the red filter necessary if shooting in Pro-Tune mode? Some have said that post color correcting can be done in place of the filter. I'm thinking that using the red-filter will result in a video that requires less post color correction.
3. I will be diving in waters between 40ft to maybe 80ft max. I am undecided on resolution and frame-rate. The popular choices by many here is 1080/30 - 1080/60 - 2.7k/25 - and a few 720/60. I'm looking for a fininshed product in 1080P to be viewed on HDTV's. I've heard 30 fps is better for light gathering and some say 60 fps is. Which is true? I'm unfamiliar with frame cropping on video which is the reason most use higher res. Which would better suit me as beginner?
4. I'm not certain how most of you film in regards to clip length. I seems like most just turn the camera on at beginning of dive and stop at end. Is that the norm? Will the GoPro battery life last the dive? I heard from another user that they filmed in shorter clips turning camera on and off. It made editing easier by avoiding watching through 45min of video. Would that affect post color correcting if done in Pro-Tune mode due varying look in different clips?
5. IS the use of the LCD screen advantageous or necessary? Trying to imagine or visualize how the video is framing or what it will look like is a new concept to me. Traditional filming is done with a real-time view. Is that a valid concern? Will filming at higher res then cropping through post editing eliminate those issues? Is such editing a pain? Is the use of the LCD detrimental to battery life as I suspect?
6. Is a buoyancy attachment a good idea for the GoPro camera such as the GoPro Floaty Backdoor - Lets your HD HERO Camera Float in Water. Does it interfere much with the handling of it underwater? Losing a camera would be a major bummer.
Sorry for the depth and the mount of questions but I like to know as much as possible when getting involved in a new project. I'm sure I will figure out more as I mess with the camera on my own. I have a couple of months till my trip so I will do some snorkeling as soon as I can to experiment though Tropical Storm Chantal is poised to ruin this weekend for me.
Any tips or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. In the meanwhile I will continue to research further.
Thanks
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