A Couple of Issues With The HD GoPro

In the previous post I mentioned a few issues with the HD GoPro Camera. I hope to address those here.

First is a relatively minor image quality issue that most people probably won't notice. There is a noticeable amount of chromatic aberration in the GoPro's image. Chromatic Aberration (CA from now on) is one of those things that once you know what it is and see it once, it jumps out at you in every image you see. Here is a frame from the GoPro:



Notice the blue and yellow "highlights" on the tree in the upper right of the image:



So what now? This makes the image look, well, not as good as if the CA wasn't there, so is there a way to fix it? Well I wouldn't be posting this if there wasn't! For still images, Photoshop has a filter to remove and adjust CA. Its in the Filter > Distort > Lens Correction menu. For video, the best color grading tool I know of is Magic Bullet Looks. It's not cheap, but it is a really powerful tool, is super easy to use and is really a lot of fun! Take a look at the image after I adjusted it with MBL:



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The second issue I had with the HD GoPro was editing the footage. The files the GoPro generated are h.264 .mp4 files which are very generic and although not the ideal format to edit, should work just fine. The files play back fine in VLC and Quicktime, Premiere Pro CS4 however, had issues. Crashing, freezing, very slow performance and several of the files would not even load up correctly, the image would be all green or black. I'm not sure what the issue is here. PPro should be able to edit the files.

Luckily, I was able to come up with a work around. It requires quicktime pro to convert the .MP4 files to .MOV. Just load up the original source file into Quicktime, then go File > Save As. Keep the default setting and save the file:



It's not going to reencode the file, it just has to save a new copy so the process doesn't take too long. Then import these .MOV file into Premiere Pro and you should be good.

A few things:
-The issue I had with PPro was with the 720 60p clips. I haven't shot anything in the other frame rates / resolutions so I don't know if the problem is just this format.
-I'm using Premiere Pro CS4.1, the latest version
-I'm not sure what is wrong here. My guess is that there is something with the way the GoPro generates the .MP4 file that makes Premiere go bonkers. Converting it to the .MOV wrapper seems to work just fine.
-I'll try to update this post as I learn more

Playing With The New HD GoPro

Today I got my new HD GoPro mini, wearable, POV camera from Ryan at Wings Over Wasatch. The original GoPro camera was quite popular and was great for what it did, but it never really interested my as it was standard definition. Not that I am a resolution snob, but it just wouldn't cut well with other HD footage that I would be shooting. So when GoPro announced an HD version, I took interest.



I am impressed with the image quality for what the camera is. Its nowhere near as nice as my GH1 + Olympus 8mm lens, but it is about $2000 cheaper and 2 lbs lighter! The GoPro will go places I wouldn't dare take the GH1!



I plan to experiment with all manner of mounts, booms and camera locations with this mini cam. Although I did suffer a bit of a setback today as I realized that what I was going to use as a mount will not be sufficient. Back to the drawing board for now, but I hope to have something working for flying this weekend (if its flyable.)





I did get a chance to play around with it a bit today before the sun went down. Here are a couple of test clips. Both were shot at 720 60p mode.

First HD GoPro test clip from David Aldrich on Vimeo.

More HD GoPro Madness! from David Aldrich on Vimeo.

I did have a couple of issues with the camera, will try to update this post with that when I get a chance.

"My Journey: Hang Gliding"

Ok, this contest is pretty cool

Finalists from 4 categories are selected by "judges" to compete for a grand prize via community vote. The prize in this contest isn't a big cash prize, but something potentially cooler (for the hang gliding community at least.) The grand prize is equipment, "training" and a chance to film for LonelyPlanet in the San Francisco area. I bet you could guess what kind of footage I would be looking for were I to win Wink This is a chance for some more guerrilla hang gliding marketing!

Contest details here - http://www.youtube.com/lonelyplanet

And my Film

The Keller Run

Today was just as good as yesterday (better for some.) I maxed out at 12,600 ft and made the 15 mile out-and-back run to Keller Peak. Keller is pretty much the last peak east along the San Bernardino mountain range before 5 to 8 miles of "cat country" to San Gorgonio.



The initial climb at the Billboard was probably the strongest sustained climb I have had to date. Minimum climb rate was 1200 fpm with peaks to 2000 fpm or more. My vario was singing the prettiest song I have ever heard!

Out to Cucamonga Peak and Back

Today was the big September day we have been waiting for. Forecast was for 11,000 to 13,000 ft and with no XC partners and no driver I decided on an out and return to Cucamonga peak.

Cucamonga is a nice big ol' mountain (8800 ft.) that sits just a few miles to the north of my house. Everyday its up there saying "common Dave, get up here and fly me wink, wink." But alas, I always have to drive to San Bernardino to go flying.

I launched Crestline at about 2pm (delayed due to a small fire burning out in front of the mountain.) It was a scratch fest at first. No one skying out, lots of lift but nothing strong enough or organized enough to get up to that 11k that was promised. I scratched my way to about 6000 ft. at the "billboard" and decided to try Pine as it often works well on big days.

Pine was working. Caught a beautiful, big smooth thermal over there, constant 1000 - 1400 fpm all the way up to about 11,000 ft. With that, I headed out for Glen Helen. Constant 1000 fpm of sink all the way there coupled with a 20 mph tailwind convinced me that it wasn't the time or place, so I turned back and went for Cajon mountain. There I got another big one that topped back out above 11,000 ft and I found a better line across the pass.




Climbs at Pine Flats and Cajon Mountain.


I got across the Cajon pass just fine, but found sink again on the other side. A few turns in another thermal and I was flying in front of Cucamonga peak. It is really cool to see the big mountain up close for a change. I have been there before (when Jonathan and I flew to the Miller brewery, but we flew by pretty fast and I wasn't really able to take it all in.)



Looking down for my house from Cucamonga.


Getting back was a challenge. I definitely did not have the LZ on glide so it was going to take a few climbs. I was down to maybe 14:1 glide ratio from the LZ as low as about 4500 ft. I got the climbs I needed and was able to pull a 7:1 which is a pretty comfortable glide in my Sport 2.



The climbs that got me back.


It was a very fun and challenging flight, can't wait to do it again! Total out-and-back distance was about 30 miles.

Convergence: DSLR Pictures + HD Video

The big thing happening in the video world right now is the "convergence" of still photography and video via the use of new DSLR cameras that can shoot both high resolution stills and beautiful video. The sensors in DSLR cameras are much larger than even the most expensive video cameras enabling them to shoot in very low light and offer the shallow depth of field of a film camera that has been impossible with a video camera without the use of a tricky, complicated adapter.

So what does this mean for me and Hang Gliding photo / video? Well yesterday I was able to shoot both beautiful HD video and high resolution stills with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1. I had the camera mounted about 1 foot in front of the control bar which made it easy to reach all the controls of the camera so I was able to switch between video and still mode. To shoot the stills I just set the self timer to 2 seconds and pushed the shutter button, then assumed flying position. I used my new Olympus 8mm f/3.5 fisheye lens for 4/3rds mount with my GH1.



The lens is pretty heavy, camera + lens weighs just over 2 lbs which would be the heaviest I have mounted on a glider. My boom was able to handle it just fine. The lens is so wide I only had to mount it about 1 foot away from the control bar to get these images.

As much as I like doing in flight video, I also want to do more in flight stills. Our national organization's (USHPA) magazine features some really stunning photography (mostly from Jeff O'Brien) and I hope to get some publishable images.











More on my Flickr page as usual.

I am really pleased with the quality of the images. They are very sharp, beautiful color and no chromatic aberration that I can see. Much better than using a standard lens + fisheye converter lens.

Here is the video

A Marshall Evening from David Aldrich on Vimeo.

Filming At The Factory

I spent the better part of the day at the "Chocolate Factory" shooting video for a project. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now. The Discovery Chanel did a nice piece on Wills Wing for the "Factory Made" show but it felt very rushed and lacking detail (television time constraints.) There were also a few factual errors.

My goal with this is to really get in close and show the finer detail and craftsmanship that goes into building a modern hang glider.

Today I pretty much focused on the sail loft where they were building a beautiful T2C sail.





I would really like to do an all out documentary but a lot of that depends on what kind of gear (especially audio gear) and time I can get.

I will try to get down there more in the coming weeks. There is a lot more to the process that I hardly looked at today.

A few more teaser screen captures here

Owens September 09

I went up to the Owens again this September, with hopes of another smooth, high and long flight. Last year, my first experience with the Owens was overwhelmingly positive. I got my first XC flight for 61 miles landing just on the south end of Bishop, my goal.

This year conditions were much more challenging. No one was skying out to 13,500 like last year, but no one was really sinking out either. I launched next to last and had to scratch hard before finally getting up to 11,000. Conditions above 11,000 were less than pleasant thanks to the western winds starting to push through.

The lift was not the strongest but it was consistent. Every spine was going off just as I needed it. After what felt like almost an hour in the air I passed Mt. Whitney.



A few more miles to the north is a beautiful place called Onion Valley



Beautiful in looks, but not beautiful to flying things. The valley is like a tunnel through to Fresno and funnels the west wind. Everyone that made it this far got pounded in sink and turbulence. This prompted me to leave the Sierras and head out across the valley. Luckily I was about to get back up to 12,000 before making the crossing.

I opted to fly up the middle of the valley, over the highway, instead of going all the way across to mountains on the other side. There was a substantial tail wind and I was able to cover some serious ground.

A few low saves over the flats and I eventually worked my way up to "Big Ears" and onto Black mountain. There I hit a boomer, 1400 fpm up to 10,000 ft and back in the game. Unfortunately that would be all she wrote and I failed to find any more lift after that and set it down in the best clearing I could find. Turns out the best looking LZ from the air was and LZ, the "Flynns LZ."

Total distance was 64 miles, beating my previous best last year by 3 miles. Airtime was 3 hours 40 minutes, also to new personal best.

In flight pictures here

And other pictures from the weekend here

Playing With The Panasonic Lumix GH1

This is an awesome camera.

Some stills shot with the kit lens:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/designbydave51/sets/72157621959139608/

Still shot in low light with Canon 50 mm f/1.4

http://www.flickr.com/photos/designbydave51/sets/72157621849384149/

And 3 videos.

The first is just random shots to play with shooting video with the Canon FD 50 mm f/1.4

GH1 @ The Shop & Landing Zone from David Aldrich on Vimeo.

The second is "Sunglasses" People putting on sunglasses in slow motion ...Because everyone looks like a badass putting in sunglasses in slow motion

Sunglasses from David Aldrich on Vimeo.

This video is just a silly little thing I did for fun, but has been getting more attention than any other film I have made by a long shot. As of right now it as 3,600 views with 1,400 of that coming so far just today!

And the last video is Hang Gliders launching and landing in slow motion. Some of the landings shot with Rod Clark's Nikon 80 - 200 mm f/2.8 which is a really nice lens. With the magnification factor on the GH1 it acts like a 160 - 400 mm!

Slow Motion Launches & Landings from David Aldrich on Vimeo.