jrickards

I received a GoPro clone (SJ Cam) for Christmas and have been playing a bit with it. I watch videos on YouTube about people who have taken their GoPro (or other) video camera with them on their bike tours, some are well done, others are not so well done. I would like to do the same but I'd like to learn about the various techniques that are available for shooting video (pros and cons of mount placement and options within the camera) and editing (creating the final product).

Does anyone have any leads?

Thanks,

rumrunn6

suppose there is some crossover info that can be useful even tho I have a different brand sportcam

I was surprised that my handlebar mounted videos weren't very shaky. But mounting on the helmet gives a smoother result. Another fun option is mounting it facing backwards. It's interesting to watch cars coming up from behind. I've experimented with not mounting the camera but rather hand holding it to capture a front view, view of my wheels & also pointing it backwards for that view. Cycling videos are pretty boring, especially mine, so anything I can do to make them interesting. I also try to do short clips of interest so there is less editing, if any at all

get out there & try some stuff, that's the best way to start having fun & learn as you go. get some stuff of yourself too. 5-10 yrs from now you'll be amused at yourself

SpeshulEd 

I recommend a chest mount if you're doing mtbing or bikepcaking. Helmet mounted is great for looking around and POV shots.

If you want super steady shots, you might want to invest in a gimbal. And I'd recommend a small, compactible monopod/tripod/selfie stick type device so you can hold the camera away from you. A little tripod can be handy if you want to mount the camera to something to get coming/going shots. I use one of those posable tripods, it's small at about 10 inches and light enough to carry in the back pocket.

jefnvk

That's about the best way to learn photography, coupled with simply going through a bunch of videos and learning what type of shots you like and which you don't and learning how to compose them.

I had mine attached to my handlebars, it gave pretty bland videos if you like the countryside. Next time, I may look at helmet mounted so I can look around at the scenery, instead of just wherever my wheel is pointed.

As SpeshulEd mentioned, mini-tripod is nice for coming/going shots. Don't leave it in your hotel room before you even start, it does you no good there

TimothyH

Editing is just as important as shooting. I use VSDC. It is decent for basic editing and free.You can also mount the camera on your quick release. The short video below was shot with the NUT-R.

BikeLite

I want to shoot videos like boneless.

canklecat

Take a peek at the Bicycle Touring Pro website and YouTube channel. Darren Alff shoots a lot of video from his bike tours and his video work has improved over time, so you can see how he's incorporated new gear and techniques, including a drone for overhead shots following him and his riding partners.

Darren shoots from many points of view to keep the videos interesting. Single POV videos can get boring after awhile. To get those approaching, passing and receding shots a cyclist has to re-ride the same stretch of road or trail at least three times, unless multiple cameras are used simultaneously.

Another good one is Old Man, Fat Bike on YouTube. Like Darren, he mixes up the view by shooting some from the bike, some from a camera placed nearby for approach, passing and receding shots. Keeps the viewer from getting bored by static one-view shots. He doesn't get as elaborate as Darren, but of the many hundreds or thousands of DIY cycling videos, the Old Man, Fat Bike videos are remarkably entertaining considering he's not doing any earthshaking stunts -- although it's better than I can do at about the same age!

I record video for most rides but delete 'em as soon as I get home if nothing interesting happens. That includes group and solo rides. Most of my riding isn't fast or tricky enough to be interesting, even to me.

You can get by with some simple freebies while you're getting comfortable with video. I'm still using Windows Movie Maker because I haven't had time to dig into VSDC.

Windows Movie Maker is very easy to use, with low resource demands so it'll run from a low end laptop, offers some decent tools for basic transitions, audio, captions and titles, etc. I've tried a bunch of other freebies for quickie editing but usually go back to Windows Movie Maker for quick 'n' dirty stuff. My only real gripe about Windows Movie Maker is there's no multiple undo feature, so I have to remember to make multiple copies of a project at various stages of completion, especially if I plan to make shorter and longer edits of the same videos.

Don't worry about a gimbal for now. YouTube has a decent stabilization software fix, and it's improved with less edge distortion than it had a couple of years ago. Try it and see if the effect is important enough to your videos before spending money on a mechanical stabilization device.

BTW, the cheap and effective stabilizer used by many videographers on a budget is just a weight suspended from the camera. I still occasionally see local professional videographers doing pickup scenes and transitions using a tripod suspended from the camera. A tripod with a ballhead works well, despite the ballhead not being ideal for video, because you can walk rapidly or shuffle-run while holding the ballhead (never the camera -- too much strain on the tripod socket), keeping the ballhead fairly loose to let the legs swing slightly to offset movement. Not practical for bicycling. But there are miniature versions of ballhead/gimbal type video stabilizers with weights for smartphones that are very effective and not too expensive.

Here's one of my videos from December 2016, using a handheld Nikon V1 for video. The Nikkor lens has optical image stabilization but it doesn't help much with bicycling. So after uploading the basic edited version I let YouTube add its own software stabilization. The trick to making this work well is to pan and sweep verrry slowly and gradually -- much more gradually than feels comfortable at first. Quick and jerky pans and sweeps will result in hallucinogenic distortion from software stabilization.


*****

Here's a typical POV video from a helmet mounted camera. My Ion Speed Pro has an ultra-wide 170 degree field of view with a near-fisheye effect. It's really intended to be an action cam, not a traffic documentation cam. The ultra-wide view make aiming less critical, but fine detail such as license plates tend to be obscured. And the wobbly view from a helmet cam combined with the optical barrel distortion quickly becomes tiresome for viewers. It's best reserved for an occasional change of view or to show scenes not visible from a bike-mounted cam.


*****

This is the sort of traffic documentation stuff I got the camera for, but it's too wide and fine details are obscured even at maximum resolution, especially on YouTube which further compresses the videos.


*****

Here's one from the Ion Speed Pro mounted on the handlebar. Distortion is less noticeable with the camera leveled. Shaking isn't too bad, despite the inexpensive nylon or plastic mount included with the camera.

I had something like five flats in two days on the front tire. Turned out to be a couple of tiny grass burrs embedded and poking through only when the tire was under pressure. Had to use 2x reading glasses and tweezers to find 'em. The LBS along this trail Slimed the front tire for me, which should help with these minor tube nicks.

This video probably won't be visible for long. I inadvertently mixed copyrighted music into the video -- I mislabeled a tune from my collection of public domain stuff. So YouTube will probably either take it down or delete the audio completely, unless the original artist has a licensing agreement that allows use of music with ads and promotion favoring the artist/production company.

jrickards

Thanks guys, this is great information.

Yes, I've watched a lot of Darren Alff's videos and while he has a lot of great techniques and shots, he has, in my opinion, too many shots of him talking, I'd rather see what he's talking about and hear his voice in the background. I like the shots of him riding by, I've seen that in many other videos also but the intent of my videos is not a promotion of bike touring but to show others what I've seen and witnessed so I don't think I'll be riding sections 3x just to get a video of me riding, well, maybe the occassional time but not as a regular thing.

Yes, drone shots are beautiful but I don't want to carry that much (or spend that much on) equipment. Same goes for a gimball but I might look into that small one that someone referred to here.

I have both VSDC as well as Corel VideoStudio (which I've used more) but I was more concerned here about the shooting of the video rather than the editing.

I have a mini-tripod that I can use. The only issue I have with all of these perspectives is that the typical GoPro-style mount does not lend itself to quick transfers from one mount location to another: there might be quick-release adapters but given the nature of action videos, quick-release could result in quick-loss.

I like the NutR mount, that's cool.

Right now, my videos are quite shaky but that's because I'm riding on rough, hard-packed snow/ice on my way in to work and although the YT image stabilization did work, it resulted in some strange "artifacts": the path ahead, in the center of the video was stable but the street light poles were flexing back and forth. There is some reference to image stabilization in the Corel VideoStudio software, I'll see what that is all about.

Great help people, many thanks.

rumrunn6

I actually don't change during a ride. meaning one ride will have it on the bars, another ride on the helmet & another ride in a sling bag around my shoulder that I can take out without stopping

Cyclist0084

Wow, that certainly gives a ride a whole new perspective. I like it.

The majority of my videos are shot from my handlebars. May have to try this come Spring just to shake (no pun intended) things up some.

rumrunn6

good stuff! & I like this shadow!

canklecat

The easiest way to get varying perspectives with a single video camera is a ball head mounted on the handlebar. If you're passing something interesting along the ride you can pivot the camera sideways for a panning shot. Even occasionally aim the camera back toward yourself or the road behind you.

If your camera didn't include a ball head you can find 'em on Amazon, B&H Photo and Video, Adorama and many other retailers that handle video gear.

My Ion Speed Pro included a pretty decent nylon/plastic handlebar mount with a ball head. Works pretty well for pivoting around to get different views. I don't have any samples on YouTube at the moment, mostly because my slowpoke rock bottom speed DSL service takes half an hour to upload a 1-3 minute video, and I usually save the edited videos at lower rez (you can see the compression artifacts and degradation in the gravel ride video above).

The only hindrance to the ball mount is occasionally I use a handlebar bag on a KlickFix mount, which blocks the forward view. I can record sideways or behind me, but to record straight ahead I have to mount the camera on my helmet when I'm using the handlebar bag.

jrickards

There is a Klickfix Multiclip (https://www.amazon.com/KlickFix-acce.../dp/B004R2HSI4) that might help although it would be sturdy enough for lights or cyclycomputers, it might not be sturdy enough as a stable mount for a camera.

Staypuft1652

Thanks folks, good tips here.

canklecat

Thanks, I'll check that out. I had considered another clamp-on accessory bar but haven't done much shopping yet.

I got the Klickfix system on a whim. Nashbar had a short blowout sale for the Agu Qyoto canteen style handlebar bag for only $20 including the Klickfix mount, which by itself usually sells for $20-$25. Agu makes weather resistant gear for the Netherlands cyclists and it's nearly perfect for my photo equipment. Basically I got the bag free with the purchase of a Klickfix mount.

Klickfix is very handy and seems secure, even riding on rough gravel and the levees around here which are just close-cropped grass, not even trails. On some rough jolts the bag pivoted over the bar upside down into my lap, but the contents were secured by the overflap lid and fasteners. I just threaded a small bungee cord through the bag's D-rings and around the bike's head tube. No more flipping around.

Dan Burkhart 

The most important thing is to have fun with it. I use a GoPro Hero 2 for my ride videos and edit them in windows movie maker. I see the production values of some other people's videos, and it inspires me to try to up my game, but while an old dog can learn new tricks, sometimes it takes a while.
I use a few different types of camera mount systems, from chest and helmet mount to clamp on type.
This one was shot with a flexible gooseneck clamp on mount.


As was the ride portion of this one. The beauty of this type mount is you can quickly re mount it for a different perspective.


This one was a ride on the tandem with my grand son. I used the chest mount, facing forward, rearward and downward, and also strapped my grandson into it for a while.

BobbyG

FWIW, some of my commute vids
On some I've varied the camera mount, but I pretty much stick with the helmet cam now. Lowering tire pressure can help with vibration. For some of the more creative stuff I used a broom handle or telescoping bar to place the camera away from the bike and include me in the shots. I then velcro'd the bar to the bike in various locations, or stuck the bar in my back pack..
Have fun experimenting.