In our third episode of indieHACK, Mark shows us how to build some wicked cool DIY GoPro Mounts and shows us two ways to make GoPro Floats. Subscribe for more hacks: http://geni.us/Ksub
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Transcript:
For today's hack make sure you load your goPro's up with high capacity, very fast micro sd cards. This one by Kingston is up to 128 gigabytes. And class 10 ensures you've got the speed and the volume to record whatever you wanna do.
Now the goPro was made to do a lot of crazy stuff, so let's tackle one of the biggest problems which is stability and getting those steady shots.
Yeah the one thing you wanna do is make sure that your camera is stable. Because when your output is very shaky and jittery it can be nauseating for the viewer. A very simple technique that we can use is just stabilizing the camera against, of all places, your chin.
Now a technique like this is good for if you just wanna follow the subject. For example, panning. The second one, something as simple as your own belt you can use to also stabilize your wrist for instances of shooting. You're just creating a counter tension against your hand, just to keep it steady.
And it works far better than just hand holding it in itself. And the key is just keep it steady, so that your viewer doesn't have this jittery, shaky view that's hard to watch.
Cool, it's a good DIY for on the go.
Sure.
Now the goPro is waterproof, but surely you have some hacks for that?
Well the thing is, they're waterproof, but they don't float. So just imagine you're in the water and you drop this thing, especially in murky dark water, you've lost it. For one you can buy this by GoPro, it's 20 bucks. But why not save a few dollars for extra burritos and spend five bucks.
These are designed for key chains. You can affix it with some 3M VHB rated two-way tape. And it's very simple, just cut the size that you need. Affix it to the back, get a good strong seal there, and there it goes.
Beautiful. Look at that.
And you won't have to chase after your camera if you drop it.
You can get some pretty good shots there, too? Hello fish.
All right, so what about those of us that wanna get different shots using a selfie stick?
Well the selfie stick's a bit more heavy, so you need more buoyancy. The thing to secure your rig is get a simple swim noodle.
These cost about a dollar at any random store like Walmart. Cut it to size and just pop it on there. And if you're just in somewhere like a swimming pool where it's not too turbulent that alone is a good enough fix. But if you're like river kayaking or jet skiing in the ocean or even just surfing in the ocean you can use velcro straps or even duct tape just to secure it on the rid.
I'm not cool enough to do any of that stuff but this is perfect for summer.
All right Mark, let's talk about time lapse.
Sure, one of the most dynamic things you can record with your goPro, is a time lapse montage of images that are shot within intervals.
So what you do is, you take your camera, put it in Time Lapse mode, set it to shoot at one frame every five seconds, and something as simple as a $5 egg timer, that can be purchased at any kitchen appliance store. Just set up in one hour, peel the backing off this goPro mount, slap it on the timer, place it in a field of view that gives you the composition that you wanna record.
Best times to shoot are the golden hour, the half hour before and after sunrise or sunset, and let it just do its magic. One frame every five seconds.
Okay Mark, so I hear you have one last crazy trick for us.
Our last hack is a DIY cable slider.
The nice thing about the cable slider, it's a nice alternative from a drone. You can use it for aerial shots or if you wanted to follow a subject from a high vantage point.
Okay, so how would someone make a cable slider?
You can go to a hardware store and get simple pullies, these carabiner type fasteners.
Simple laundry hooks, some scrap wood, and a quarter inch bolt to affix to the goPro mount. You can add a counter balance, something as simple as a water bottle. And it makes it stable throughout it's travel along the cable.
Cool. Fun stuff. All right Mark, well thank you for all the cool hacks.
There's some pretty cool stuff out there. We got to try them out in the field, we even got a few comparison shots to check out. But I gotta know, how did I do?
Okay, the techniques were simple and straight-forward. You did a great job. You're giving the viewer that fantastic out of the box type of view.
