SJ4000 Camera test

GoldenMotor.com

ckangaroo70

Active Member
May 13, 2011
864
126
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Central Illinois
Testing my new SJ4000 video cam. I need to play with the settings a bit because I think I can improve the vid quality, but youtube processing really does not do it justice. The videos are crystal clear before youtube processing and look dark and pixilated once processed. My current settings are
Res 1080HD
HDR off
Motion Detection off
Date Stamp off
Exposure +2/3
Anti Shaking off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5uxpFEKSYA&feature=youtu.be

Think I will try
Res 1080HD
HDR on
Motion Detection off
Date Stamp off
Exposure +1/2
Anti Shaking off

I am hoping that turning on HDR and lightening exposure will make some improvement?
 

Greg58

Well-Known Member
May 1, 2011
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Newnan,Georgia
Ray I wish I had close by country roads like that. I have to load my bike and carry it somewhere to ride. Its funny how much a person moves his head while riding, the first video I made with my Emerson helmet cam made me seem so spastic I wouldn't share it with anyone! It was pretty good scenery too.
 

ckangaroo70

Active Member
May 13, 2011
864
126
43
Central Illinois
Greg

I have plenty of back roads to ride, but it seams I take all my videos on the same stretch of road. Going to have to start taping some new scenery and mix it up a bit.

I actually prefer it if a person looks around a bit and shows a bit of surrounding scenery. With my Emerson helmet cam or my video sunglasses I sometimes catch myself just staring at the road and I will intentionally look around a bit just so the whole video doesn't end up a pavement only video.

I like to see things in a fellow riders video that highlights the area he or she rides in. I want the video to take me to a place that is completely unlike the place I ride and also make me feel as though I could be right there riding along. I want to see things along your route that would catch my eye just like if it was the first time I road that route myself. So I have no problem with you moving your head around while riding unless you are just bobbing your head up and down because you have some song stuck in your head. lol
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
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northeastern Minnesota
As it is your camera does a nice job. Often I think helmet mount videos are rough on the eyes because the head movement is too fast. Yours isn't so it is easier to watch. Quick head movement too often is hard to follow because the camera sees in a different way than the human eye. When we look to left or right we actually kind of blink it or "cut" from one view to the next... not like a steady stare from one position to the next. Try it right now and you'll see what I mean. A camera doesn't do that unless we edit out the steady sweep later on. If the camera sweep is slow enough we can follow it, but if too fast we get uncomfortable watching due to something called "persistence of vision" which means that the image remains in our vision for a bit before it lets the image go. That's why the old first moving pictures were strange to watch and seemed to "flicker" so they were even called "flickers". Once more images were taken per second the image appeared to flow naturally. I'm talking about film rather than video here, but the effect is similar. Anyway, remembering to keep camera movement slower when panning makes for best results. Yours works. Wish I had a go-pro, too, so I could show you the lake country forest where I live.

May I ask what operating system your computer is? I'm wondering how friendly go-pro is with linux based systems. I'm typing on a linux based Chrome book.

Nice melding of sound track with "sub titles" or whatever the text is called in video. Thanks for sharing.
SB
 

ckangaroo70

Active Member
May 13, 2011
864
126
43
Central Illinois
Thanks for the kind words. My operating system is Windows 8. The video wasn't too awful bad until I let youtube auto fix my video. Now the subtitles kinda float around. I'll just keep tinkering with my cameras and youtube settings and hopefully someday I can come up with the settings and formats that work the best for what I use.

Would love to see some lake country motorbicycling video from NE Minnesota. I bet it is real pretty this time of year.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Ray, Thia is surely one of your best. Practice makes perfect.
I loved the passing semi. It fit right in with the music. Trucks and country music just go together so well. And yes, youtube 'fixes' don't always make for better vids. I'm going to decline their offer on my next video.

Panning: It isn't easy but slow head movements with a helmet cam certainly make for better viewing. It's natural to glance right or left, especially at or near intersections but you don't have that many to worry about. It's us who ride city streets that have to look right or left so much.

I've practiced using my peripheral vision and slowly turning my head to let the camera see what is on the sides but keeping my eyes on the road ahead. I'm always a little uncomfortable taking my eyes off what's ahead of me even for a second or two. Even glancing at my rear view mirror I try to move my eyes instead of turning my head.

My neighbor and I went for a short ride yesterday but I haven't edited or dubbed any music to the raw video yet. I wanted good shots of him and his bike riding next to me. I'll post it in a day or two and see what you guys think.

What movie programs is everyone using? I've been using MS Movie-Maker but I've discovered some camaras don't make video in the right format. I retuned a nice Cannon camera because I couldn't edit the raw video in Movie-Maker. It didn't recognise the MOV file type. And I was unable to download the right codecs from the Internet. But I'm a computer dummy and a dinosaur. I've been told there are some far superior video editing software out there but until I buy a new computer I'm afraid I'm stuck with Movie-Maker.

Tom
 

ckangaroo70

Active Member
May 13, 2011
864
126
43
Central Illinois
Thanks Tom...your too kind. I use a couple programs when putting vid clips together. One of my favorite free programs is Any Video Convertor. It allows me to convert any video file into any other video file format I want. That way I make all my vid files compatible with movie maker. I can also convert video files into music files or download youtube videos and convert and save those videos into a format I may wish to use in one of my own videos. I just use windows movie maker to create my vids, which may not be the best video creating software, but just what I have grown used to using over the years.