GOPRO for the Forza

[MichRocks]

I have wanted a GoPro, but from some of the posted videos taken from the cab of the Forza, wasn't sure how to mount it to provide a good enough field of view to make it worthwhile. Amazingly, I ran across a YouTube video that showed how to attach one to a PCX. His results were excellent...and I thought, why the heck not? As it turns out, today was my first ride in three months. It was cold, snow still on the ground, but the sky was blue, and the ice was minimal...time to lay down some tracks. And what a better way to celebrate the ride than to document it?

Here's an easy way to outfit your bike with a good FOV for the video. This mount method attaches/detaches in a couple of seconds, and pops under the seat for safety. GoPro sells a vacuum attachment that has about a 3" footprint. Turns out there is a 3" flat spot just to the side of the screen...

gofront1.jpg (311.75 KiB) Viewed 2802 times

Placed here, a good view to the front is achieved with minimal cropping of the image, and the camera is centered near the center line.

gofront2.jpg (340.02 KiB) Viewed 2802 times

One thing that sold me on this method was covered in the YouTube video. This mount allows a 'key chain' retractable attachment that can be threaded through the mount...

goback1.jpg (334.06 KiB) Viewed 2802 times

...and the whole thing attached to the inside of the left box. If the vacuum fails, the camera stays with the ride.

goback2.jpg (355.05 KiB) Viewed 2802 times

The resulting image from this has very good viewing placement...

goMPG4.jpg (84.92 KiB) Viewed 2802 times

I was amazed. The results are very nice but be warned: the GoPro Hero3+ generates some large files. A short run today generated 5GB at half resolution. I will be experimenting with some movie editors to create a perfect mix for upload, while keeping the hi-res intact for personal viewing.

Cheers from the frozen north!

[blackcat54]

Very nice!

Do upload some videos of your rides when you can.

[iceman]

Good to have something like that as proof for any accidents and insurance. Do you think the paintwork will survive long term use?

[MichRocks]

blackcat54-
I will...once the scenery comes back. Right now you can get the same effect by opening your freezer and filming it. Just like being here...!

iceman-
I suspect yes, the paintwork will survive. The vacuum is generated by a very soft pliable silicone rubber/plastic type of cup, low profile. It pulls a good vacuum over a large area and not a tiny spot so there shouldn't be a localized area of stress. Time will tell... : )

[MichRocks]

Oh, and by the way, regarding jitter: the frame-rate is so high on the Hero3 that jitter, even in that high of a location, is not bad. The frame above was NOT captured sitting still; it was in the middle of a long straight, and I had cranked the bike up to somewhere between 55 and '35' mph. (One Burgman owner remarked that these only go '35', so it must have been that )

[Fizzy Rascal]

Very cool.

I look forward to seeing your pics dude.

[kramnala58]

Seems like a neat idea for mounting but it just looks like it wouldn't be 100% secure. I suppose the chain is a good safety measure. Happy riding .... once it thaws out.

[Mel46]

Go to the website www.tools4movies.com and buy DVD Catalyst. It allows you to convert any movie to fit any tablet, which means that you can select a size that is small but keep the clarity great. I use it all the time because I have 2 different size tablets. It is on sale now for a limited time for $10. I have been using it now for about 2 years. Just a thought.

[MichRocks]

Go to the website http://www.tools4movies.com and buy DVD Catalyst. It allows you to convert any movie to fit any tablet, which means that you can select a size that is small but keep the clarity great. I use it all the time because I have 2 different size tablets. It is on sale now for a limited time for $10. I have been using it now for about 2 years. Just a thought.

That is a GREAT suggestion! Your timing couldn't be better, either...I am stuck looking for a good editor/solution. The GoPro editor works well, but it produces 'best quality' videos from their capture, and unfortunately, that means reducing a 5GB file down to a 700MB+ size file...I can't post that, so I have been looking for a good video editor that can produce videos that can be uploaded over low-bandwidth connections (we don't have cable and cable modems here...only satellite! I know, I know, kinda archaic).

I will check into it...thanks for the link!!!

[you you]

I have wanted a GoPro, but from some of the posted videos taken from the cab of the Forza, wasn't sure how to mount it to provide a good enough field of view to make it worthwhile. Amazingly, I ran across a YouTube video that showed how to attach one to a PCX. His results were excellent...and I thought, why the heck not? As it turns out, today was my first ride in three months. It was cold, snow still on the ground, but the sky was blue, and the ice was minimal...time to lay down some tracks. And what a better way to celebrate the ride than to document it?

Here's an easy way to outfit your bike with a good FOV for the video. This mount method attaches/detaches in a couple of seconds, and pops under the seat for safety. GoPro sells a vacuum attachment that has about a 3" footprint. Turns out there is a 3" flat spot just to the side of the screen...

gofront1.jpg

Placed here, a good view to the front is achieved with minimal cropping of the image, and the camera is centered near the center line.

gofront2.jpg

One thing that sold me on this method was covered in the YouTube video. This mount allows a 'key chain' retractable attachment that can be threaded through the mount...

goback1.jpg

...and the whole thing attached to the inside of the left box. If the vacuum fails, the camera stays with the ride.

goback2.jpg

The resulting image from this has very good viewing placement...

goMPG4.jpg

I was amazed. The results are very nice but be warned: the GoPro Hero3+ generates some large files. A short run today generated 5GB at half resolution. I will be experimenting with some movie editors to create a perfect mix for upload, while keeping the hi-res intact for personal viewing.

Cheers from the frozen north!

Looks really tidy

[MichRocks]

I have only had the opportunity to ride the scoot one day since I last posted...yesterday. I put up the first edit of my prior ride on my Web (showing why Michigan is such a great place to ride in the winter), but it it short, crude, and I am learning a lot about how to create videos. Especially when it comes to posting on a personal web (other than YouTube). There is a LOT to have to know to make these things work right, and the size- even for a 1.5 minute video is 35MB, too large to post here with the intent of vaporizing poor maddie's disk space. I think he has enough to worry about without having to contend with new hassles, so I will be posting my progress to my Web instead, and dealing with the storage issues there instead. Plus I can update/edit/kill with a vengence any awful early attempts!! It's all a process...

[dustin91]

You can also check out Handbrake for video file compression, which is free: http://handbrake.fr/features.php

[MichRocks]

Dustin-
Meant to say 'thanks', have been a bit busy..!

[dustin91]

No problem!