Expat Bikers

Buying and using any video camera can be confusing and frustrating when your videos do not turn out how you want them to. I will try to simplify what all the setting on the video do and how they make a difference. This guide is generic and can be used for most video cameras.

 

Video Preferences

 

Video Format

       Generlay there 4 video formats used - AVCHD, MOV, H264(HD) and AVI are all recorded in PAL(Europe)

       AVI is used by Windows based software and produces very large files and high memory requirement, not very user friendly.

       H264 is used by YouTube and Quicktime to produce high qulaity HD videos with lower memory requirements(High Compression)                 storeage requirements - typicaly 5 mins = 525mb

      MOV.  is a Apple format using their industry standard H.422 protocol to produce film industry quality videos but produce very high           storeage requirements - typicaly 5 mins = 1GB  

      AVCHD. is now slowly being replaced by H264 as it requires to be converted into another format for editing

Recommended H264

 

HD Formats 320, 460, 720, 960, 1080, 1440, 2000, 4000

Unless you intend to exhibit your videos and require real HD 1080 quality try using 720 as a compromise as this wiil require only half the memory requirments with little loss of quality. With modern editing software you can resize the video to fit the whole screen anyway. It is also faster to upload.

Recommended 720

 

Frame Rates

       Normal video is recorded at 24 frames a second which produces a smooth easy to view image but this is not very good for fast moving scenes. To avoid scenes jumping, it is best to use a higher frames rate, typicaly 60 frames per second is a big improvement but this will also increase your memory storeage (x2). Some cameras can even provide upto 240 frames per second which is real Slow Motion recording however the definition is reduced to Standard Quality(SD). The faster the frame rate also requires higher lighting levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video Size

4K - Used primarily by major film makers for large screen size and high quality images, requires very good lighting, high memory requirements not usable for general bikers videos. Normal HD video is 1080 but 4K is 4000. You wold also need a 4K video screen which are extremely expensive to take the full benifit.

2K - Same as 4K above but smaller file size of 2000 not usable for bikers videos.

1080P - Full HD high quality can be viewed on most Tv screens

720P   - Half HD still high quality but smaller video image size

480P  - Quarter HD still high quality but even smaller image size

< Less than - Norml standard quality (SD)

 

Frame rates

24 FPS  - Normal scenes, panoramic, people, low light, economical use of memory

60 FPS - On a helmet, moving scenes, good stability, requires average lighting, requires increased memory- This is the most ideal setting

120 FPS - Slow motion scenes up to x6 times requires very good lighting, stable mounting and increased memory

240 FPS - Extrem slow motion up to x10 times requires extremly good lighting, stable mounting, high memory - not available in HD

Recommended 60FPS for on bike recordings

 

Exposure / Metering

This is the amount of light allowed into the camera, the brighter the day is it requires less light, darker the day or night time requires more light to enter in. 

Most cameras have at least 3 settings - Spot, Partial and Average

Spot - only meters what is in the centre of the camera lens which is ideal when looking out through a window into a bright scene

Partial - only meters specific areas of the camera lens, this is mostly used for portraits or special effects

Average - Takes the average lighting level of the camera lens but can suffer from sun burnt images on bright sunny days. This is best used for slow motion or high Frame Rate scenes

Recommended Average

 

Stabilisation

Video stabilisation is often miss-understood as a wonder fix for juttery videos. Unfortunatly it requires a major portion of the scene to be static to provide a reference point for the algorithims to make the required adjustments. This is were a higher frame rate can help to smooth out most vibrations. Alternativly your editing software may be able to improve it but will require a lot longer editing time to complete

 

Audio

Some cameras require the audio recording level to be preset. This is best set at about 80-90% otherwise you get audio clipping and distortion. Most helmet cameras have microphones built in which are affected by high speed wind noise on motorbikes so if you can try connecting an auxilary microphone and place it out of the wind or other high noise output locations.

Recommendation set audio to 80%

 

Lenses

Hand held video cameras usualy have a zoom function allowing you to go from wide angle to zoom in long distance every easily. Sport / helmet video cameras have fixed lenses due to there compact size and price. Try to get a helmet camera with a variable fixed lens via the internal menu. Typicaly this can be 90/170 degree, however the very wide angle will also create a fish eye distortion effect, bending the images. This can be corrected in final editing.

 

Batteries

All cameras suffer with short battery life due to high power consumption of the internal electronics, this can also be reduced by increasing frame rates and frame formats e.g 1080p / 120fps. A further drain can be due to any blutooth connection to a mobile phone or external remote controller.

Always buy additional batteries so that you can change them durring the day or alternativly power the camera from a auxilary power socket. Then you could record until your memory card runs out. Most video batteries will only last for approximatly 40-60mins

Recommendation buy minimium of 3 spare batteries

 

Memory cards

Generaly most cameras use either Micro SD, SD

Always use Class 10 or higher memory cards, otherwise you get frame drop outs in the recordings resulting in juttery videos. 

A normall 32GB Micro SD Class 10 card will provide sufficient recording for 4 hours at 1080p / 60 FPS

Recommendation buy x2 32GB Class 10 cards

 

Camera Cases

Any video camera mounted on a motorbike or helmet is in a hostile location, Subject to high winds, bad weather, insects, stones, general knocks, heat from the sun and vibration.

It is advisable to always mount your camera inside a weatherproof housing to protect it at all times. Most housings are water proof down to 60M and can absorb most bad knocks. When the camera is mounted onto a motorbike or helmet make sure that it has a tether cord attached to it in case the camera mount fails it will keep the camera attached to you and not fall into the road.

Camera mounts should be securly fixed so they do not fall off or get in the way of any moving parts of your motorbike or your view if mounted on your helmet.

 

Editing Software

This will depend on your computer opperating system.

Which ever one you choose, expect a long learning period with lots of experimentation. You will also need a lot of external additional memory HD start with 1TB.  It is best to run the editing software program from your computer and the videos from the external HD for faster rendering times.

 

Windows has a free included editing software which can do the basic cuts, transisitions, titles etc.

Windows - Sony Vegas is  paid software which is quite powerfull but takes time to learn

OSX - Apple has Imovie which is more powerful with added features, additionaly there is Final Cut Pro X which is an expremely powerful non-linear editing software that is even used by pro film makers

Recommendations: Windows- Sony Vegas    or    OSX - Final Cut Pro X

 

General help

Videography is a major hobby of mine and it would tke a lot of time to explain everything, so if there is something you are not sure of or need more explination then let me know and I will try to help.