Need info on GoPro resolution settings...

[Jamar]

I just bought a new GoPro Hero2 along with the GoPro Dive housing and the Red Filter from Backscatter.

Before I take a trip to Cayman in about a week, I'd like to know the best resolution settings for the GoPro for underwater videos. I've done many dives here and don't anticipate any light issues but I am not sure which angle and resolution would work best.

Any thoughts based on your own experiences?

Thx for your help.

 

[PAFirefighter]

Search is your friend ;-) Check my thread below. I shot 720 at 60 FPS and I couldn't be happier:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/gopro-video/427129-those-who-have-shot-underwater.html

 

[Jamar]

Thanks for such a QUICK response! I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the thought of purposely going for a LOWER resolution just to get the higher frame rate. I'd think in an environment where things move SLOWER but there's and abundance of vivid colors and very exotic textures you can see underwater one would want the HIGHEST possible resolution for clarity. I guess one would just have to find the happy medium between the two. Maybe i am missing the point. I will admit I am a novice videographer so I suppose some of this stuff will be trial and error and just seeing what "looks" better to me.

Can you or anyone speak on narrow, medium, or wide angles? I understand why many people like the fisheye look but sometimes i feel like it distracts from the natural look of the video. My goal for video underwater is usually to SHOW people who are unfamiliar with SCUBA or too scared to do it, why I absolutely LOVE IT, so I want them to see the dive the way I SEE it...and fisheye isn't really how we're seeing the dive through our masks.

Just thoughts and discussion! I'd love the hear your perspectives and stories...also some links I can check out.

Thx!

 

[krukster86]

720p60!!!! You are going to be moving around a lot. The high frame rate will eliminate the "drunk camera" effect. It will be hard to watch otherwise.
I shoot with wide. The video will have the fisheye above water but as SOON as you submerge it, it goes away. I heard that medium and narrow do not work well in lower light environments.

 

[toozler]

I can't really understand how filming 60fps will make your video less shaky.. Your hand will shake just the same.. The only advantage in shooting 60fps for me is if you are going to extract stills from the video, you will get more frames to pick and choose, but then you sacrifice on resolution.

I use 1080p 30fps, medium FOV.

 

[cjfox]

You can "stretch" your video during editing (depending on your software) and 60fps slowed to 30fps = half the shakiness without looking like it was slowed down.

 

[PAFirefighter]

Thanks for such a QUICK response! I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the thought of purposely going for a LOWER resolution just to get the higher frame rate. I'd think in an environment where things move SLOWER but there's and abundance of vivid colors and very exotic textures you can see underwater one would want the HIGHEST possible resolution for clarity. I guess one would just have to find the happy medium between the two. Maybe i am missing the point. I will admit I am a novice videographer so I suppose some of this stuff will be trial and error and just seeing what "looks" better to me.

Can you or anyone speak on narrow, medium, or wide angles? I understand why many people like the fisheye look but sometimes i feel like it distracts from the natural look of the video. My goal for video underwater is usually to SHOW people who are unfamiliar with SCUBA or too scared to do it, why I absolutely LOVE IT, so I want them to see the dive the way I SEE it...and fisheye isn't really how we're seeing the dive through our masks.

Just thoughts and discussion! I'd love the hear your perspectives and stories...also some links I can check out.

Thx!

For me I am more than happy with the 720p and 60 FPS. Even playing it on TV it's still great with 720, also it takes up less space. I use the 720 FOV option as well. I just think the 60 FPS is smoother than the 30 FPS. I don't mean smoother as in it shakes less, but it just transitions smoother having those 30 extra frames per second. Lots of threads out there on Google as well:
http://boallen.com/fps-compare.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nU2_ERC_oE

Easier than telling you this is showing it to you...

Here are my vids from Bonaire (Shot in the specifications above):
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...topus-bait-ball-tarpon-hilma-hooker-eels.html

Here are my photos from Bonaire (Most with the GoPro, some with my Nikon D2x and SeaLife DC600):
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/429728-my-photos-last-week-bonaire.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/429729-more-photos-last-week-bonaire.html

 

[RockyHeap]

DING DING DING............we have a WINNER.


"60 FPS is smoother than the 30 FPS."


If you want choppy blurry drunken stutter footage, then by all means shoot at 30 fps.


Just shoot two videos in your house or back yard, and pan around and spin as if chasing a fish. Shoot one at 30 FPS, and one at 60 fps per second, and you'll be sold on the 60 for sure, it is SOOOOOOOOOO much smoother it's hard for me to even watch a 30 FPS video..........even on land, I solely shoot in 720 60fps for the 16:9 format and smooth video. 1080 is over-rated and the only reason to use that mode is for Wide/Medium/Narrow field of view. 1080 is the only mode that allows the FOV setting.

 

[Jamar]

OK!

I shot my first vids with the GoPro. So far I've only edited some 1080 30fps stuff.

GoPro Hero2 : A "Ray"zing Grace on Vimeo

GoPro HD Hero2 : JackPOT on Vimeo

I also shot some stuff in 720 60fps. I'll post later.

Any experienced video guys, by all means give some critique! I'm new at this and I'm OBSESSED! I wanna get better really quickly.

 

[LowVizWiz]

All things being equal a video shot at 1920 x 1080 will be a more detailed picture than a video shot at 1280 x 720 since you have more pixels being captured to create the image. However, when you double or tripple the frame rate you gain motion detail that's just imposible to capture at 30 fps.

For example, imagine a humming bird flaps its wings 60 times in one second (It does not, it's just an example for simple math) If you capture video of the bird at 30 fps you are effectively loosing half the information of the complete motion of the bird flapping its wings. To the eye it still looks ok because it fills in the missing information but if you park the video on a frame you will be unable to get a clear isolated wing. It will be blurred.
But if you were to shoot the same hummingbird at 60 fps you would be able to capture every flap of the birds' wing in one second. The result is a smoother playing video of the motion of the bird and the impression of slowing the flight of the bird.

The difference between 30 and 60 fps is not that great for most subjects, but it does give video a smoother look when played back at 30 fps.

A good example of high frame rate video are the shots of breaching great white sharks you see all the time on the Discovery channel. Those are shot at 1000 fps!