I found the missing bits of video from my first two GoPro tests. It turns out that their is a maximum file size that can be stored on the card, which is a tad under 2Gbytes and the Gopro cleverly rolls onto another file. Why I didn't initially see all the files through Windows I'm not sure. So I hadn't lost any footage. Except that I then failed to copy of one of the files to the laptop before reformatting the card. So having found the last section of the Stanage run, I lost it again. Doh.
However, all was not quite lost. As well as the high resolution mp4files, the GoPro creates some lower res files, also in mp4 format but with the file extension .lrv. If you rename these to have an .mp4 extension, they can be viewed in your favourite media player.
So the video below is the complete Stanage Causeway run from end to end but the last third is at a lower res.
I'm still experimenting with the optimum settings to use when creating videos to post to YouTube. The video editor I am using has three different predefined configurations for YouTube but even the HQ setup appears to have lost quite a bit of picture quality by the time it gets processed by YouTube. I may try posting the same file to Vimeo and see if there is a noticeable difference. I tend to think that stuff on Vimeo often looks crisper than YouTube.
The final thing I am grappling with is that the sound card on my laptop has either developed a fault or isn't up to the job or maybe it's the driver. You may noticed a few burps it's added to the soundtrack.
With a bit of luck, by the time we go across Scotland with the bikes in May, I will have worked through these problems and know what I'm doing.
Stanage Causeway - Redmires to Dennis Knoll car park
I bought a GoPro Hero 3 Silver edition last week. Apart from a rather brief and nithering muddy ride in Cropton forest last weekend, this is its first proper outing - part of my ride to work over Stanage.
I'm using the GoPro Android app to preview the picture and I though I'd set the camera running down at Redmires from the app. However, when I downloaded the footage onto the laptop, it seems I was some way past Stanage Pole before the recording had started - probably at the point I had to re-adjust the camera on the bar mount after a rather exciting slide on some ice. A similar thing happened in Croption on Saturday, where I found I'd missed the first 15 minutes of the recording. I'm beginning to suspect that the start button in the app doesn't actually work and I need to press the one on the camera. Or perhaps I need to read the (f*!%ing) manual.
It's a pity about the lost footage because the views from the top were just stunning this morning - rich blue sky and snow on the distant hills, bitingly cold in the shade but warm enough in the sun. I could almost imagine I was in the Alps (except for the absence of pointy bits.)
The quality of the mp4 file downloaded from the GoPro is extremely good (HD). This edited and highly compressed clip just doesn't do it justice and the stripes and other artefacts are not in the original. I'll post a hi-def version on YouTube sometime.
The handlebar mount seems to work pretty well. I thought there might be more shaking and vibration evident in the picture but it's not bad. It would be interesting to try the helmet and chest mounting options.
Looking out of the office window, I see it's clouded over now. The ride home looks like being a chilly one.
