soulbabel

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Posts posted by soulbabel

  1. Fastest way is to use ffmpeg http://www.ffmpeg.org/. It's free and works fast since it just copies out the segment of video you specify without re-encoding.

    Quote

    ffmpeg -ss 00:00:30 -t 00:00:05 -i original.mp4 -vcodec copy -acodec copy output.mp4
    -ss indicates the starting time you want to begin extracting from
    -t indicates the duration of the footage to extract from the start time you specified



    http://askubuntu.com/questions/59383/extract-part-of-a-video-with-a-one-line-command

  2. I modded by Sony NEX-5n with a remote switch port over a year ago. I've learned that the safest way to make sure your pictures come out throughout the jump is to put it on sports mode and set it to continuous shooting mode. You'll get one photo about 0.7 seconds. It's slow, but that's because the camera is actually adjusting the exposure and focus so pretty much all the pictures come out.

    It sucks that you don't get to take advantage of the speed priority ability of the camera, however, there is one benefit that I've discovered in my opinion. I took an old bite switch, stripped the wires and twisted them together to close the circuit. When it's plugged in and I'm ready to take pictures, I just turn the camera on and it will start taking properly focused and exposed photos. I like this, because I really only freefly these days and this way I don't have a dirty bite switch in my mouth, and I don't have to keep remembering to take the shot. I just focus on my flying, and in the end I can just turn the camera off to stop taking photos.

    Sure I could do the same thing with my Hero3 (now), but I really like the photo quality of the NEX and the 16mm lens. It's also more dependable, since I can feel the shutter going off through my helmet. To be honest, I don't really recommend anyone follow my route, but since you're practically almost there.. I figure why not.

    Here's some NEX photos from about a year ago:
    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.316165238467291.74295.100002214539052&type=1&l=065733b0ea

  3. It's doable, but the angle of the camera platform is pitched downward for freeflying. You'd have to come up with a way to pitch it upward to film tandems (perhaps with a custom bracket). This is from my experience though, perhaps it will not be an issue due to the way you fly when filming tandems.

  5. Actually, now that I think about it, the mirror was my favorite thing at Skyventure Colorado when I was tunnel training. If I had body position issues, I could always look at myself in the mirror and get sorted quickly. In some time, you may become the most awesome coach/freefall tool ever.

  8. Quote

    Quote

    We believe the location is worth the wait and the end is near!


    Hate to break it to you, but it's more likely they're referring to the end of the world, and not the beginning of the tunnel.


    End of the wait or end of the world... eh, either one works for me.

  9. This was just posted today on their facebook page:

    Quote

    Tomorrow, there will be a brief article in the paper announcing the final comprehensive terms of a deal which the City Manager of Virginia Beach will support. On Feb 12, there will be a vote by City Council to authorize the City Manager to enter into a binding contract with the development team. Sorry it been so long, but there's a lot of red tape dealing with the purchase of public property which a normal development does not have to contend with. We believe the location is worth the wait and the end is near!

  10. The YouTube video is blocked over copyright issues (in the US at least.)

    The only thing I really wish Sony would do for the HDR-AS15/AS10, is to increase the video bitrate. GoPro did this with the Hero2 through a firmware update.

    Here's a video that really shows how detail is lost when the scene is too complex:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUIYlqyRAc
    This shows up in the raw video, it's definitely not due to export process. The grass is just too detailed for the maximum bitrate that is allowed.

    Your wingsuit video is mostly blue sky, so the compression artifacts aren't really there, however, you can see the compression issue at the end when you are looking at your canopy on the grass. In your case, I think the camera does its job since it gets the wingsuiting footage pretty well and who really cares about looking at grass. If you were freeflying and were transitioning from headdown/headup with a few people on screen, you would definitely see the compression artifacts crop up.

  12. Quote

    Please elaborate?



    Aside from the bitrate issues causing compression artifacts, the flaws (perhaps limitations is a better word) I was speaking about aren't dealbreakers. These are just issues I've encountered that others might run into as well.

    - No audio when recording at 60fps or 120fps.
    I want to be able to shoot at the higher framerate to have smoother slowmo capabilities when editing the skydive, but I'd also like to catch whatever the tandem might say on the way to the door. (Hero3 Black records audio at 120fps, so perhaps this could be changed on the Sony via a firmware upgrade.)

    - It's hard to hear the recording beep on the plane with the camera in it's waterproof case.
    I either have to have my cellphone on me with the Playmemories app working to make sure it was recording, or ask someone to look at the camera's rear recording light. It makes me appreciate the Hypeye, because I really don't want to have to carry my phone on me every skydive.

    - When I swap out the CX150 and place the HDR-AS15 on my top mounted camera bracket, the bracket ends up blocking the camera case latching. I have to remove the tripod screw that I use to mount it, so I can get the camera out of the case to change camera settings or copy data from the memory card. It's only a minor hassle, but it raises the chance that I accidently drop, and possibly lose my tripod screw. Not everyone is going to run into this issue, because it depends on how they choose to mount the action cam. On my Tonfly CX2, the HDR-AS15 mounted onto the zkulls using a tripod screw is actually pretty perfect; easy to flip the latching and get the camera out to adjust the settings. It definitely wouldn't be an issue if I used the sticky mount, but then I lose the flexibility of using my CX150 if the HDR-AS15 isn't working correctly.


    I'm sure if someone really wanted to lighten up their load, they could get this camera working well on their helmet setup and in their video editing workflow. My CX150 yields good quality while keeping things simple and reliable, so it's what I prefer/recommend for filming tandems.

  13. For fun jumping I plan on using the Hero3 Black, just because it was a lot easier to attach to my Cookie G2 and it's easier to change the camera angle for whatever type of jump I find myself on. I'd be careful of using the Hero3 for filming tandems though, because that battery drains pretty quick right now. It went from fully charged to dead in 2 or 3 days, despite being powered off and wifi disabled the entire time. The Sony's battery life has held up pretty well; when I turned it on, it had a strong charge despite being left off the charger for two weeks. I don't know if I'd recommend the HDR-AS15 for filming tandems either though, because it has its share of flaws as well. I'll probably stick with my trusty CX150 for tandems, or upgrade to a HDR-PJ710V if the price point is low enough after Sony releases next year's cameras.

  14. Quote

    Is not the GP's new glass lens a distinct step up?


    I shot some comparison video over the weekend, and I think the Sony Carl Zeiss lens delivers significantly sharper video than the GoPro Hero3 Black lens. That's based on my initial comparison though, the Hero3 was in Protune mode so I don't know if sharpening the footage would make them more comparable (I kinda doubt it). The thing that hurts the Sony though is the lower bitrate that it encodes at. At 120fps the Sony encodes around 24Mbps, whereas the GoPro in Protune mode is nearly double at 46Mbps. The Sony bitrate results in strong compression artifacts (evident in the youtube link below).
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUIYlqyRAc
    Hopefully Sony updates its firmware to allow increased bitrate like GoPro did with the Hero2.

  16. It's a bug the Playmemories app has with Nexus devices. If you look through the feedback on the Google play store, you'll see a lot of complaints with it not working on Nexus devices. I called Sony Techsupport several weeks ago to report the bug, but they never did anything about it. I think I'm going to write a shitty 1 star review and hope they eventually take notice of the issue. I was able to get the Sony to connect to my old Tmobile G2X phone though, so I know the camera is not defective.

  18. Quote

    WIFI works perfectly on my iPad, Galaxy III cell, Galaxy 2 tab.



    Are your Android devices still on Ice Cream Sandwich? My Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 are both running Jelly Bean and will connect then disconnect right after. Last night I tried my old T-mobile G2X running Gingerbread and that successfully worked with my camera. Perhaps it's a Jelly Bean issue?

    Regarding the smearing, it's just what I saw in the source footage I took. Here are the links to the source footage:

    Since the source files are pretty large, I also extracted the segments I used in my comparison clip. The clips were extracted with ffmpeg to avoid recompression (each command took less than a second to complete) 
    

    ffmpeg -ss 00:00:31 -t 00:00:14 -i GOPR0089.MP4 -acodec copy -vcodec copy GOPR0089_clip.mp4

    ffmpeg -ss 00:01:12 -t 00:00:28 -i MAH00014.MP4 -acodec copy -vcodec copy MAH00014_clip.mp4


    HDR-AS15 source footage (185MB, clip 22MB)
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/MAH00014.mp4
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/MAH00014_clip.mp4

    GoPro source footage (141MB, clip 28MB)
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/GOPR0089.mp4
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/GOPR0089_clip.mp4

    YouTube footage (184MB)
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/youtube_source.mov

    Avisynth command file
    http://sux2b.me/dz/compare/comparison.avs

  20. Were you able to get the WIFI feature working? I tried connecting to it using an iPad3(iOS5), Samsung Galaxy Nexus & Nexus 7 (both Jelly Bean) and they all fail. All my devices see the camera's WIFI network, but the Sony app keeps saying "connecting..." over and over on Android, and the iPad just says "Unable to join the network." I'm trying to figure out if I just have a defective camera. I believe I am using the correct password, because I found it printed on the user manual, as well as in the "WIFI_INF.TXT" file.

    EDIT: I saw your article, I guess you got it working. Maybe I got a lemon.

  22. http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/29/sony-action-cam-hands-on/

    Quote


    it'll ship in late September or early October for $199, wifi version for $270

    16-megapixel Exmor R sensor (great for low-light shooting) and fixed-zoom Carl Zeiss lens, complete with SteadyShot image stabilization, a 1080/30p capture mode and a 720p option at 120 frames-per-second

    removable storage (microSD), a swappable battery, and includes HDMI, USB and audio input jacks



    Judging from the video review, it doesn't look like the camera has a rotatable lens like the Contour, though. There's a bunch of skydiving clips of the camera top mounted included in the video review.

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/859169

    Quote


    The HDR-AS10 and HDR-AS15 are both equipped with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, with an ultra-wide 170° viewing angle. They also have back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensors, which offer superb low-light performance and support Full HD video.

    Sony includes a ruggedized, waterproof housing with each camera. The housing has a universal tripod mount, and is waterproof down to a depth of 197 feet (60 m).

    These lightweight and rugged wearable action camcorders weigh only 3.2 ounces (90 g) and they record at resolutions up to Full HD 1920 x 1080p at 30 frames per second (fps). They also support other shooting modes, including a 2x and 4x Slow Motion Video Mode. The 2x Slow Motion Mode supports 1280 x 720p HD resolution video capture at 60 fps. The 4x Slow Motion Mode supports 1280 x 720p HD resolution video capture at an amazing 120 fps.



    More specifications on this page:
    http://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=7925&NewsAreaId=2

  23. I was finally able to mod my NEX-5n to support a tongue switch and tried it out this weekend. I was wondering what settings people are using and/or recommend for this camera.

    Here are my current settings:

    > Menu: Shoot Mode
    Program Auto


    > Menu: Camera
    Autofocus Mode:
    Single-shot AF
    (Continous AF seemed to really slow down how many images/sec the camera would capture, however, I also think Single-shot AF has the weakness of overexposing images during the exit if I hold down the shutter release during the transition from looking into the airplane and following the tandem during the exit.)

    Drive Mode: Continous shooting
    (Continous shooting seems to offer a higher overall average rate of images/sec where Speed priority shooting seems to fill up the buffer really fast for 1 to 2 seconds and then gets a slower images/sec rate than continous shooting. I suppose preference for this setting is heavily dependent on shooting style, as I tend to just keep triggering the shutter versus moving into a spot and bursting at the angle I want.)

    Object Tracking/Face Detection/Smile Shutter: Off

    > Menu: Brightness/Color
    Metering Mode: Multi

    > Menu: Setup
    AF Illuminator: Off

    Auto Review: Off

    Front Curtain Shutter: On
    (Not sure if this should be on or not for the 16mm/2.8 pancake lens)

    Touch Operation: Off
    (The touch screen sits flush against my camera bracket causing random menu presses until I disabled this feature.)

  24. Shelf is easier to get off the net with since you are just keeping your legs symmetrical versus finding the right balance from front/rear leg input for daffy. However, it's always safer to have daffy first, because you'll have more control over your forward and backward movements at this early stage. If you only know how to fly shelf, then you risk tracking yourself into the wall really fast if you lean too much in one direction to move.

  25. I have both..

    The Opteka can capture more vertical area than the Raynox, which means there's less chance that a tandem might go partially out of frame. For that same reason, the tandem will appear a little bit smaller through the opteka. The image quality is ok. I also have the century baby death, and I don't really notice much difference between it and the opteka.

    The Raynox I have is .3x, but it's only a semi fisheye. Although the tandem is more likely to go partially out of frame if you are not careful where the camera is pointing compared to the Opteka, I find the video comes out with better sharpness and color.

    In my case, I usually jump the Opteka since I end up doing alot of freeflying.