Racing Video Makers Thread

[miatainium]

Purpose:

Community sourced best practices, top tips, tools and tricks, and all things racing around video capture, audio capture, post-race editing, and posting/uploading.  Please try to stay on-topic.

 

After the adrenaline rush of the race event fades, the trophies (for the lucky few) are shelved, and the car rests quietly in the trailer, what's more fun than pulling out the GoPros and reliving the racing action from the comfort of your home?  I'm a bit of an in-car video viewing junkie but not all videos are of equal quality, and it has nothing to do with the driving.  Bad audio (I'm guilty of this), terrible white balance, wind-noise, skewed framing, and nauseating image stabilization can really take away from the viewing experience.  The ChampCar community is filled with really smart people and lots of experience with A/V, let's share our thoughts and ideas on how to maximize our video.  

 

Camera Settings Tips:

1. Enable "spot metering".  Setting varies depending on camera, Google it.

 

In-Car Video/Camera Mounting:

1. Use harness bar mount
2. GoPro-style elastic "chest strap" attached to passenger seat (if applicable) thru the shoulder harness pass-throughs 
3. Use a Philips screwdriver to tighten the GoPro mount
4. Mount camera at driver eye level for good exterior view.  Bonus, camera can capture the rear view mirror.  
5. RAM mounts are good when a re-positionable camera extension are is required.  

 

GoPro Specific Tips:

1. (> Hero 5 Black) Spot metering - on the recording screen tap and hold the screen until a small box appears.  Centre box in frame, centre camera view out windshield  
2. (< Hero 5?)  To reduce wind and car noise use the solid back cover, not open mount
3. (All?) Ensure 12V/USB power adapter is 1 amp or the cameras will overheat and shut off
4. (Hero 7) Record with the battery out all together.  Battery in, shuts off after 40 minutes, battery out power via external records 4k60 all day

 

Recommended Video Editing Software:

• Windows compatible - Davinci Resolve (free)
• Windows compatible - Sony Vegas Pro, good for older PCs (paid)
• Windows compatible - FreeVideoCutter version 1 (free) <-- easy to clip out portions of video
• Windows compatible - Avidemux (free?) <-- join clips, convert files, basic filters, text
• Mac compatible - Final Cut Pro (paid)
• Windows and Mac compatible - Race Render 3 (free/basic and paid)

 

Miscellaneous Tips:

1. Radio audio capture - use a digital video recorded connected to a spare radio
2. For paddock/pit videos, use a gimbal for smooth filming.  (e.g. Hohem iSteady)

Edited June 3, 2019 by miatainium

[Wittenauer Racing]

Biggest thing I learned- Turn on spot metering if you put the camera inside. 

 

As for camera mounting/camera angles, the harness bar is pretty good. We've also used the gopro elastic "chest strap" to attach to the passenger seat thru the shoulder seat belt pass-through openings with good results (helps with stabilization too). 

 

GoPro specific notes:

 

We use the solid back cover. Racecars are loud so it picks up well, but does make the audio a bit muddy. Way better than the wind noise of open covers though. 

 

Use a screwdriver and actually tighten the GoPro mounting bracket flex joints. The thumb screws do fine to get snugged up and aimed correctly, but unless you really crank that stuff down it will move...

[thewheelerZ]

GoPro tip, make sure your 12V/USB power adaptor is 1 amp or the cameras will overheat and shut off. 

 

I have used Sony Vegas Pro to edit though it's not free. Was good even if a bit slow on my old computer. Now using Devinci Resolve 15. Free version. Does everything I need - including shifting the audio if the audio got shifter during recording. 

 

What i I want to try, but haven't pulled the trigger on yet is a digital audio recorder. Plug into our third radio and record audio comms for addition into the video. 

[miatainium]

1 hour ago, Wittenauer Racing said:

Biggest thing I learned- Turn on spot metering if you put the camera inside. 

Totally agree, spot metering is critical or else the picture increases exposure to capture the relatively dark interior and washes out the exterior view through the windows.  

 

GoPro Tip (Hero 5+):  To enable spot metering, on the recording screen tap and hold the screen until a small box appears.  Move the box to the centre of the frame and ensure the camera is positioned with the windshield view in the centre.  

Edited May 30, 2019 by miatainium

[macheesy]

Agree handily with Davinci Resolve for editing video/audio. How they give this away for free is beyond me. 

 

Gopro 7 specific tip: record with the battery out all together.  I can't make it last more than 40 minutes if the battery is in so I use an external one and it recorded 4k60 all day at watkins without hiccup.

[Team Infiniti]

1 hour ago, thewheelerZ said:

GoPro tip, make sure your 12V/USB power adaptor is 1 amp or the cameras will overheat and shut off. 

This!

[Bremsen]

Racerender offers free and cheap software to overlay data onto your video, have multiple camera angles etc.

[Shawn Sampson]

We are working on this right now

 

We get questions all the time with regards to recording in-car communications. Right now the best and least expensive way is to record from extra radio to a recorder. We build radio jumpers that go from a Coil Cord or Jumper to a 3.5mm plug which should fit in most recorders audio inputs. Analog radio setup $65 or digital system $200

 

We have our engineer working on an in-car setup which will pick up motor noise along with in/out communications. The new system will plug into your current in-car harness (at the radio jumper connection). It will, in turn, run to a camera mounted in the car. There are a few folks that make them at $200 each now and we would like to offer it at a better price. 

 

Cheers, Shawn

 

 

[Bremsen]

9 minutes ago, Shawn Sampson said:

We are working on this right now

 

We get questions all the time with regards to recording in-car communications. Right now the best and least expensive way is to record from extra radio to a recorder. We build radio jumpers that go from a Coil Cord or Jumper to a 3.5mm plug which should fit in most recorders audio inputs. Analog radio setup $65 or digital system $200

 

We have our engineer working on an in-car setup which will pick up motor noise along with in/out communications. The new system will plug into your current in-car harness (at the radio jumper connection). It will, in turn, run to a camera mounted in the car. There are a few folks that make them at $200 each now and we would like to offer it at a better price. 

 

Cheers, Shawn

 

 

 

Was gonna say there are systems out there that do that.  But, more competition = better equipment at better prices so.....

[Shawn Sampson]

4 minutes ago, Bremsen said:

 

Was gonna say there are systems out there that do that.  But, more competition = better equipment at better prices so.....

We already offer in-car system that can do the same thing for the Off road and rally teams plus 2 passager intercom system, so this will be an easy build.

[miatainium]

I'll respond to my own thread in an effort to keep things going with the idea share.

 

I've tried a few different action cameras over the years, trying not to spend the premium money on GoPros.  5 years ago I bought Xiaomi Yi action cams for about $100 at the time.  Image quality was good, had decent recording reliability on-power but the audio was terrible.  The newer Yi 4K seem like a good unit capable of live streaming, but I'm not sure if the audio quality is that much better.   Also based on an old recommendation from @E. Tyler Pedersen I tried one of those unfortunately named GitUp Git1 cameras and was not satisfied with it.  Image was muddy and sound was even worse than the Yi 1 cam.  

 

Recently, I broke down and bought 2x GoPro Hero 5 Black cams and the experience has been better.  The audio is finally good with reduced wind-noise out of the box and the default image is acceptable.  I'd like to use ProTune to enhance the image further on-camera but I notice that enabling ProTune actually reduces record time, so get an extra big card if you want to enable it.  The Hero 5 Blacks aren't without their issues as it was randomly shutting off on me if I turned it on, then hit the record button.  I find that using one-touch recording (GoPro off, press shutter button once) is reliable with the camera running until the card is full or power is depleted.  

 

I'd be interested to hear other camera recommendations and a enduro racing reviews.

[Guest E. Tyler Pedersen]

I still enjoy the Gitup Git1s as they are the best quality for my liking.  I haven't had good luck with GoPros as they usually shut off on me or screw up.  Never had a problem with the Git1s and they give me the quality I need. @miatainium sorry if this didn't work out for you based on my suggestion, but I still think it is the best camera for what we do based on my video.  Here is some video from a Git1:

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest E. Tyler Pedersen]

Shooting video around the paddock or pit stops I will use a Hero 5 Black because it shoots 4k and it gives you a good video.

 

If you want to shoot with a gimbal in the paddock here is a great one I just picked up for a reasonable price:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G57GGQM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Here is a good tutorial on settings to make the GoPro work better:

 

[hardwolf]

So, is there consensus that the Devinci Resolve 15 is the best for editing, converting and uploading.  I find myself with 7 hours+ of video and it takes me two weeks to edit (I don't edit much) convert to correct format (usually avi for you tube) and then upload (involves multiple fails).  Ive been using videopad video editor (free). 

[enginerd]

I use FreeVideoCutter version 1.2 for clipping files. Drag and drop, then select the start point and end point. Very fast and easy to cut the pace laps off the start of a video or clip out just the footage of a crash.

 

Avidemux easily merges all the clips together. Merges 8+ hours of 1080 in 3 hours. Can convert the file to MP4 / MKV / whatever else you want. You can add some basic filters and fade in / fade out transitions. Can add text as well.

[LuckyKid]

I make sure WDR is turned on for interior/exterior shots.

 

WDR will scan each frame twice at two exposure speeds, then create one composite frame that is properly exposed.

[Racer28173]

Adding something that may be obvious:

 

You don’t want to use a long extender to get your camera at the location you want it.  The closer it is to the solid bar the better, as it will vibrate a lot more if it is on a long arm.  It will seem rigid when you mount it, but your video will be shaky if the camera is on a long moment arm. Many of the videos posted on the forum have some sort of constant shudder (including half of mine). 

 

Also slightly off topic perhaps:

You want your camera at the same height as the driver’s eyes.  Too many cameras are too low and the video doesn’t end up picking up the track.  Extra bonus is if it picks up the view in the mirror 

Edited June 3, 2019 by Racer28173

[miatainium]

On 5/31/2019 at 4:06 PM, E. Tyler Pedersen said:

@miatainium sorry if this didn't work out for you based on my suggestion, but I still think it is the best camera for what we do based on my video. 

It's a good camera especially factoring in the price.  In my application I found the video quality was acceptable, the audio was too muddy for my preference, and it wasn't stable when powered ... I had it cut out mid-race.  Perhaps it's specific to the unit that I've got.  Another upside is thatat the time GitUp updated the firmware regularly adding new features.  I still have the camera, I should update it and try it again as a secondary camera.  

 

On 6/1/2019 at 7:42 PM, LuckyKid said:

I make sure WDR is turned on for interior/exterior shots.

 

WDR will scan each frame twice at two exposure speeds, then create one composite frame that is properly exposed.

This is for photographs, not video, correct?  I looked into the settings on my GoPro Hero 5 and I don't see a WDR/HDR option for video.  For video to make sure the video isn't washed out I enable spot metering exposure centred on the windshield which results in a nice exposure for the exterior view and an darker under-exposed interior.  

Edited June 3, 2019 by miatainium

[miatainium]

1 hour ago, Racer28173 said:

You don’t want to use a long extender to get your camera at the location you want it.  The closer it is to the solid bar the better, as it will vibrate a lot more if it is on a long arm.  It will seem rigid when you mount it, but your video will be shaky if the camera is on a long moment arm. Many of the videos posted on the forum have some sort of constant shudder (including half of mine). 

 

Also slightly off topic perhaps:

You want your camera at the same height as the driver’s eyes.  Too many cameras are too low and the video doesn’t end up picking up the track.  Extra bonus is if it picks up the view in the mirror 

 

An option for a positionable extension arm is a RAM mount with a GoPro ballmount.  I have this setup, which is pretty portable for renters and is solid once everything is snugged up:

• RAM rollbar ball mount
• Arkon swivel ball for GoPro
• RAM 3" double socket arm

 

[Racer28173]

4 minutes ago, miatainium said:

 

An option for a positionable extension arm is a RAM mount with a GoPro ballmount.  I have this setup, which is pretty portable for renters and is solid once everything is snugged up:

• RAM rollbar ball mount
• Arkon swivel ball for GoPro
• RAM 3" double socket arm

 

Yes - I’ve used that setup pretty successfully. I originally tried the 5” arm - it was too long and there was way too much shake.  

[Mark Krueger]

We needed around 5-6 inches to get the desired camera location, so we opted to weld a piece of roll bar tubing with a flat surface.  I used a regular GoPro flat-surface sticky thing-a-ma-bob to mount the camera.  Does a great job and was basically free.

[miatainium]

On 6/4/2019 at 1:21 PM, CoachMK21 said:

We needed around 5-6 inches to get the desired camera location, so we opted to weld a piece of roll bar tubing with a flat surface.  I used a regular GoPro flat-surface sticky thing-a-ma-bob to mount the camera.  Does a great job and was basically free.

My personal preference from viewing your latest video is that the camera position is up a little too high and too far on the right.  I prefer the windshield in the centre of the frame and the cam positioned right of centre, so the direction of motion is almost down the centre-line of the car.  It feels more natural to me.  

 

Point being, welding a flat surface for the camera mount is great for stability and simplicity, but trades off flexibility for repositioning the camera to taste.    

 

Sample Krueger video - camera positioned far-right, action out the window to in the top half of frame.

 

Sample Junction video - action in centre of frame, camera positioned right of centre

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by miatainium

[Mark Krueger]

12 hours ago, miatainium said:

My personal preference from viewing your latest video is that the camera position is up a little too high and too far on the right.  I prefer the windshield in the centre of the frame and the cam positioned right of centre, so the direction of motion is almost down the centre-line of the car.  It feels more natural to me.  

 

Point being, welding a flat surface for the camera mount is great for stability and simplicity, but trades off flexibility for repositioning the camera to taste.    

 

Sample Krueger video - camera positioned far-right, action out the window to in the top half of frame.

 

Sample Junction video - action in centre of frame, camera positioned right of centre

 

 

 

We have 2 cars, the RX7 you posted and a Volvo.  The Volvo is the one we race in the Northeast area and the one that has the fixed post.  We use just a plastic roll bar mount in the RX7 and can't get it to the spot I'd prefer (like yo mentioned) due to other wires in the way along the roll bar.

 

Here is a video of that car (and me) at Pittsburgh.  It has a much better point of view.  You can see the cars behind, due to the wink mirror. (Of course I can't get the video to imbed, so below is the link - Yes, I know the sound is off....silly GoPro)

https://youtu.be/g1GQXKTuugU

Edited June 8, 2019 by CoachMK21

[enginerd]

1 hour ago, CoachMK21 said:

 

 

We have 2 cars, the RX7 you posted and a Volvo.  The Volvo is the one we race in the Northeast area and the one that has the fixed post.  We use just a plastic roll bar mount in the RX7 and can't get it to the spot I'd prefer (like yo mentioned) due to other wires in the way along the roll bar.

 

Here is a video of that car (and me) at Pittsburgh.  It has a much better point of view.  You can see the cars behind, due to the wink mirror. (Of course I can't get the video to imbed, so below is the link - Yes, I know the sound is off....silly GoPro)

https://youtu.be/g1GQXKTuugU

Excellent camera spot. My only suggestion to improve it is to move the camera forward just enough to have a less obstructed view of the left side mirror. Then it would be perfect!

Edited June 8, 2019 by enginerd

[miatainium]

2 hours ago, CoachMK21 said:

Here is a video of that car (and me) at Pittsburgh.  It has a much better point of view.  You can see the cars behind, due to the wink mirror. (Of course I can't get the video to imbed, so below is the link - Yes, I know the sound is off....silly GoPro)

https://youtu.be/g1GQXKTuugU

 

Agreed, this looks great. If I had to nitpick I'd say that it's a little bit low and moving it a touch to the right would give a view of your footwork, as well as the left mirror as mentioned.  Otherwise a very watchable in-car video. Final Cut Pro would make short work of fixing the audio issue.