How I mounted a camera to a modular helmet, but...

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babblefish
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How I mounted a camera to a modular helmet, but...

Post by babblefish »

I wanted to record some of my rides so I bought a new SJCAM M20 camera that is suppose to produce videos almost as good as a GoPro, but for half the price. It came with a lot of accessories that GoPro makes you buy as extras. It can record at up to 2K, has gyro stabilization, and has built-in WiFi. The mounting accessories are compatible with GoPro, too. The quality of the videos look pretty good to me, accept under low-light, then it gets grainy and blurry.

Since I have no experience with video recording or with editing videos, I thought this would be a good and inexpensive way to get started. I still haven't figured out how to do any video editing yet, but at least I have he camera mounted. I love modular helmets, but when it came time to mount a camera on mine, I realized it wasn't going to be that easy since one must take into account the part that flips up covers half the top of the helmet, plus my particular helmet has a ventilation setup on top of the helmet. The problem with having the camera on the helmet is trying to keep my head still, not make sudden fast movements, but still watch out for traffic and pedestrians. I tried mounting the camera to the scooter at first, but there's just too much vibration. I thought about a chest strap type mount, but I'm not sure that would work well either. What have others done to get decent ride videos? I guess I can learn how to edit out unwanted portions of a video. Anyone have any suggestions for a free video editing software? I tried uploading raw, unedited video files to YouTube, but a 3 minute video at 1080i/60 takes over 2 hours. That can't be right, but I haven't a clue. :?
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EvilNerdLord
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Post by EvilNerdLord »

I use both a Cannon power shot ELPH 160 and a VEHO MUVI HD and for editing it's a MAGIX Movie edit pro 2015 I picked up for about $50.

downside, need a fairly fast processor or it takes FOREVER, but does have lots of features.

using yahoo editor I made this:
https://vimeo.com/132299198

but moved it to Vimeo so my memorial video wouldn't end up with f'ing Viagra adds in it... :x
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New2Scoots
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Post by New2Scoots »

Some mount the camera on the side of their helmet. Works out pretty well, gives a view from a lower vantage point, just not centered though.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

EvilNerdLord wrote:I use both a Cannon power shot ELPH 160 and a VEHO MUVI HD and for editing it's a MAGIX Movie edit pro 2015 I picked up for about $50.

downside, need a fairly fast processor or it takes FOREVER, but does have lots of features.

using yahoo editor I made this:
https://vimeo.com/132299198

but moved it to Vimeo so my memorial video wouldn't end up with f'ing Viagra adds in it... :x
That was a beautiful video JM. I hope you did send it to all your relatives because it was perfect, along with the music you choose. I have to admit, I teared up a little while watching that. Makes me feel a bit guilty for not visiting my own parents in too long a while...

I hear you about the fast processor. I'm only running a quad core Pentium 4, a little behind the times, I think. I also found out that in order to run some of the premium "free" video editing software like Davinci or HitFilm, I'll need a better video card than the Nvidia GTX 285 that's in my system now. At least, I have the 64 bit version of Windows 7.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

New2Scoots wrote:Some mount the camera on the side of their helmet. Works out pretty well, gives a view from a lower vantage point, just not centered though.
I wanted to mount it on the side, but my helmet is sculpted on the sides so there's no open space for the mount.
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sc00ter
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Post by sc00ter »

I have seen people mount them on the mouth area/front on the helmet. Looks strange mounted there but lets the camera see what you look at and stays centered.
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EvilNerdLord
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Post by EvilNerdLord »

techmoam has a review of that camera, I think there is a built in vibration feature...http://www.techmoan.com/blog/category/action-cameras

anyway, I mount on side of my modular, just under the hinge point so I can open and catch the traffic on my left (since the US drives on the right all the problems tend to come from the left) and there's a mount on the stella's break fluid cover too.

Point being, there's some pretty good video software out there that doesn't cost fortune.

in one "behind the vid" they use MS movie editor, I think its still available from ms website.
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