mark kibort

The HI audio setting is totally useless, unless you are in a room not moving. (as you saw) The LO setting works better in all automotive applications. Ive tried the tape thing and it didnt work that well either!

are you using the clear case?

the second two videos dont have an option of "Hi quality playback" due to the encode with media maker. you have to convert the captured video in the highest bit rate possible for that to be an option.

mk

dr bob

I'll make an amateur viewers constructive suggestion:

Mount the camera so that almost all of the frame is filled by your target images. These 'test' videos have more than half of the frame taken up by dashboard. I like to mount the camera (and/or adjust zoom where available) so that there's just enough car showing to maybe identify the car, or provide a literal frame of reference. Otherwise it's all about the real subject, the drive.

Charley B

Mark I'm surprised you say the Lo sound setting is best. It's all about hearing the engine, I don't care how much other noise is picked up, i want to hear the engine, and the first video was much better for that. what am I missing here?

mark kibort

The sound quality of the camera is not that good. However when on low, you can get good engine sound. check out my videos with the go pro. I did one incar (inside the car) and the sound was so bad i had to edit in the wave file from the DV video and post it. the problem is, the sound gets over saturated and you get that crackling noise. my first videos at Sears point with the vet right on my rear bumper was on HI setting. (or it was low, with the tape over the sound hole, i forget) anyway, the crackling noise is like fingernails on the blackboard to me.

Good point about the video framing position, Bob. after watching countless incar footage, including many others., I the most interesting is to have not only the view out the front but the driver as well. you want to see what the hands and, if possible, what the feet are doing. the only thing that should be left out, is anything above the top of the windshield.

mk

dr bob

Someplace there's a video of Hans Stuck doing a lap of the 'ring in BMW M3 GTR. Great ride with a great driver. They inset a lateral of the driver so you can see steering, pedals and shifts. The main event is the forward view though. With modern, relatively inexpensive video editing software, this is easily possible. That would of course require two cameras, but as cheap as the hero and the Aiptek are it well within reach of most anybody. The Aiptek is an hour of hi-def on a mini SD for well under $200, easy to insert the 320 or 480i from the Hero.

kshipp

Yep, I'm using the clear case that comes with the unit.

HQ playback - it's likely because the first clip was a HQ mpg I uploaded (about 90 MB), whereas the other two clips I converted to FLV before uploading (about 30 MB each).

kshipp

Hi Bob,

Yeah, I didn't mention that in my orig. post. I didn't spend a lot of time on the angle of the camera, so there's a lot of "dash" in the video.
I was lazy in my set-up.
I doubt that I'll mount it indoors again - it's just too boring. I may try to find a way to mount it near the bumper or fender area. Not sure yet.

kshipp

The HI setting does create a *lot* of "crackle" that is very annoying to some of us. I like the HI setting only because you get more sound, but the crackling sounds are very annoying. Here's my humble thoughts: I think it's rattling inside the case. If you listen closely in my first clip, you'll see that the crackling happens more when the car hits bumps in the road, etc. I've noticed that the camera doesn't fit "snug" inside the case, so there is opportunity for the plastic-to-plastic bouncing around inside, which may attribute to the interference/crackling in the audio.(?)

As for angle - if you want wide angle, the GO PRO folks have released a Wide Angle version of the camera, giving a very wide view if you want the road AND the driver POV. Personally, I just want the road action.

kshipp

Here's my very first video clip of a working HERO camera. Sorry for the low camera angle (dash view). The audio setting was on HI and you can guess when the audio interference crackles the most.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfEk1YCwBEk

mark kibort

There is just too much gain on the video input on HI. but, for stock 928s with all the sound deadening materials, and windows rolled up, I see your point, BUT, that still sounds very nasty! try low and then open the camera case back.

Here is some of my experimenting with the camera in and out of the case in the car with the sound on low. actually, the best sound in the car was on low but out of the case. see (hear ) for yourself.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usn7OPN804