GoPro Protune

Renton Maclachlan · October 9th, 2012, 02:24 PM

What exactly is this much healded update supposed to give, which wasn't available before...and why?

Ron Little · October 9th, 2012, 02:46 PM

I shot a clip before I did the protune update and then after I went back and shot the same thing. There was a big difference in the two clips. The first clip has a lot of noise in the image and the second one does not. The protune image is flat so you have to drop a color correction on it to really see its potential.

Jason Garrett · October 9th, 2012, 02:51 PM

Yeah, my apologies, I’m just not taken back or anything from the clips that I got at lunch. I’m sure somebody here will come up with a comparison that will show it off. These monitors at my job aren’t the best either. I never so much as do any tweaking of levels in post – so, I’m far from the best judge of the value of the higher bitrate most likely.

I am very pleased to have the upgraded firmware as long as it works and doesn’t keep locking up my camera.

Ian Newland · October 9th, 2012, 03:50 PM

ProTune will not be for everyone, it's time consuming to process and export out of Cineform Studio, takes up more hard drive space and you get 2.5 less footage on an SD card.

There is no 50p only 60p ( not a deal breaker).

What you can expect is better motion from the flatter unsharpened image as there is less hard contrast edges to judder across the frame and more bitrate handle fast motion.

The Protune image will blend much better with camcorder or DSLR footage in a project than before after grading.

Now we have a very cheap high quality ultra wide image in a tiny form factor.

Jason Garrett · October 9th, 2012, 03:55 PM

What he said! Here’s some more of my ‘average user’ video – just straight from the Gopro up to Vimeo:

Paul Wags · October 9th, 2012, 04:22 PM

Hey Jason, I got a Suzuki Vstrom 1000 cc twin and no matter where I put the GoPro the dreaded CMOS jello is there from vibration just like on your Harley there.

I have mounted the camera on the car too many times but the quality out was horrible, sky was blocky and compression artifacts all over the place. should be much better now. I'll do a car test today with the new Protune installed.

Jason Garrett · October 9th, 2012, 05:04 PM

Yeah, I get the jello and the whole thing – when I can keep the rpm’s in the higher range it seems to smooth out the vibrations. It’s the nature of the Dyna rubber mount engine with no counter balancers.

My Colorado videos came out pretty decent actually. I can’t do the helmet mount thing and I don’t know how those guys know when it is recording or not anyway without the remote.

Ian Newland · October 9th, 2012, 05:07 PM

Mark Rosenzweig · October 9th, 2012, 05:24 PM

Everyone: I really appreciate the videos with the new Protune settings, but what I have seen so far is horrifying: jello and incredible noise (relative to non-Protune in the latter case). I do see the muted color scheme, which I suppose is desirable for those who love to post-process.

Is the Go Pro HD2, with fix or not, just hopeless in terms of video quality compared to even an average camcorder? Does the high bitrate really at least reduce blotchiness and improve resolution compared to the Sony Action Cam, which before Protune seemed to have better quality?

Ian Newland · October 9th, 2012, 05:46 PM

Still from video without and with ProTune. Click to see full size.

Lynne Whelden · October 9th, 2012, 05:49 PM

How's the saying go...
Good light into cheap electronics...light coming out looks, well, cheap.

Put another way, perhaps what we have here is Protune trying to put lipstick on a pig?

Ian Newland · October 9th, 2012, 05:56 PM

Mark, put the Sony down for a while and go watch some of the hundreds of thousands of quality GoPro videos on YouTube. You will be amazed. Yes there is jello in poorly handled GoPro videos, especially the ones mounted on motorbikes with no thought gone into eliminating camera vibration.

Chris Harding · October 9th, 2012, 06:10 PM

Hey Ian

Nice comparison.

Since you are also in PAL what record time do you get at 1080 25T ?? I get 1hr 23mins on a 32 GB card but all the USA guys get double that time using 1080 30T??

A 16GB card gives me only 41 minutes?

Chris

Jason Garrett · October 9th, 2012, 06:12 PM

I’m sorry I posted them – I should have known it wouldn’t be appreciated here to just try to share the first videos taken with the new Protune for what they were. Just what might be an ‘average user’s’ experience I suppose. If somebody might get an idea of the color etc. then great.

FYI, the GoPro’s are used by a lot of Harley riders – some with better results than others, but generally you will find from that community that there is a real disgust with there not really being any remedy for the vibrations and jello. I may have even asked here and been rebuffed for any remedy. Then you’ve got us out there just doing the best that we can do – in my case with a RAM Mount system mounting it rigidly. I have, in fact, attempted using materials to dampen the vibration, but to no avail. This is the best setup that I have come up with so far and it serves my purpose for my use of it.

I know you guys are mostly pro’s and I appreciate picking up your tips and info, but this is an open forum for the most part from what I gather. You don’t necessarily have to be a professional to participate and you might expect that we’re not all out here spending hundreds, thousands of dollars on the most sophisticated mounting systems money can buy, etc.

If somebody wants to develop a reasonably priced mounting system and point me in that direction I would be interested and I think I may have made these very comments previously.

Mark Rosenzweig · October 9th, 2012, 06:16 PM

"Mark, put the Sony down for a while and go watch some of the hundreds of thousands of quality GoPro videos on YouTube. You will be amazed. Yes there is jello in poorly handled GoPro videos, especially the ones mounted on motorbikes with no thought gone into eliminating camera vibration."

Ian: I am not so happy with the Sony Action Cam either - no need to get defensive (look at my posts in that thread and you will see me even more critical of some of the awful videos peope have posted there). Point me to a good HD Pro 2 video on Vimeo I can download. Even better, point to me a *good* Protune HD Pro video I can download.

I have plenty of experience with cameras and camcorders; I know what good videos look like but there is really no workable search algorithm for "good quality", so help me, and everyone else out. Where are these great HD Pro Protune videos? Just one or two will do.

There are now *pocketable*, waterproof camcorders that give very good HD performance; they can be mounted on cars and motorcycles with suction cups too. I am trying to figure out just what quality you get from a newly-improved or even non-improved HD Pro without having to actually buy the thing if that is possible. The videos from this thread are not helping if the claim is they are operator-flawed. That excuse can only go so far.

Jason: I learned from your video - ignoring the jello, it was a good demonstration of the muted colors (ok) and smooth video when you were moving.

October 9th, 2012, 02:24 PM	#76
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	Re: GoPro Protune What exactly is this much healded update supposed to give, which wasn't available before...and why?

October 9th, 2012, 02:46 PM	#77
Ron Little Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pensacola Fl. Posts: 627	Re: GoPro Protune I shot a clip before I did the protune update and then after I went back and shot the same thing. There was a big difference in the two clips. The first clip has a lot of noise in the image and the second one does not. The protune image is flat so you have to drop a color correction on it to really see its potential.

October 9th, 2012, 02:51 PM	#78
Jason Garrett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 117	Re: GoPro Protune Yeah, my apologies, I’m just not taken back or anything from the clips that I got at lunch. I’m sure somebody here will come up with a comparison that will show it off. These monitors at my job aren’t the best either. I never so much as do any tweaking of levels in post – so, I’m far from the best judge of the value of the higher bitrate most likely. I am very pleased to have the upgraded firmware as long as it works and doesn’t keep locking up my camera.

October 9th, 2012, 03:50 PM	#79
Ian Newland Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 319	Re: GoPro Protune ProTune will not be for everyone, it's time consuming to process and export out of Cineform Studio, takes up more hard drive space and you get 2.5 less footage on an SD card. There is no 50p only 60p ( not a deal breaker). What you can expect is better motion from the flatter unsharpened image as there is less hard contrast edges to judder across the frame and more bitrate handle fast motion. The Protune image will blend much better with camcorder or DSLR footage in a project than before after grading. Now we have a very cheap high quality ultra wide image in a tiny form factor.

October 9th, 2012, 03:55 PM	#80
Jason Garrett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 117	Re: GoPro Protune What he said! Here’s some more of my ‘average user’ video – just straight from the Gopro up to Vimeo: GoPro Hero 2 Protune on Vimeo

October 9th, 2012, 04:22 PM	#81
Paul Wags Ruler of the DownUnder UnderWorld Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Cairns- Queensland - Australia Posts: 248	Re: GoPro Protune Hey Jason, I got a Suzuki Vstrom 1000 cc twin and no matter where I put the GoPro the dreaded CMOS jello is there from vibration just like on your Harley there. I have mounted the camera on the car too many times but the quality out was horrible, sky was blocky and compression artifacts all over the place. should be much better now. I'll do a car test today with the new Protune installed. __________________ www.quadzombies.com www.flykam.com.au www.rotorpix.com.au

October 9th, 2012, 05:04 PM	#82
Jason Garrett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 117	Re: GoPro Protune Yeah, I get the jello and the whole thing – when I can keep the rpm’s in the higher range it seems to smooth out the vibrations. It’s the nature of the Dyna rubber mount engine with no counter balancers. My Colorado videos came out pretty decent actually. I can’t do the helmet mount thing and I don’t know how those guys know when it is recording or not anyway without the remote.

October 9th, 2012, 05:07 PM	#83
Ian Newland Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 319	Re: GoPro Protune GoPro HD Hero 2 Protune Test - YouTube

October 9th, 2012, 05:24 PM	#84
Mark Rosenzweig Trustee Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: New Haven, CT Posts: 1,004	Re: GoPro Protune Everyone: I really appreciate the videos with the new Protune settings, but what I have seen so far is horrifying: jello and incredible noise (relative to non-Protune in the latter case). I do see the muted color scheme, which I suppose is desirable for those who love to post-process. Is the Go Pro HD2, with fix or not, just hopeless in terms of video quality compared to even an average camcorder? Does the high bitrate really at least reduce blotchiness and improve resolution compared to the Sony Action Cam, which before Protune seemed to have better quality?

October 9th, 2012, 05:46 PM	#85
Ian Newland Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 319	Re: GoPro Protune Still from video without and with ProTune. Click to see full size. Attached Thumbnails

October 9th, 2012, 05:49 PM	#86
Lynne Whelden Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: williamsport, pa Posts: 604	Re: GoPro Protune How's the saying go... Good light into cheap electronics...light coming out looks, well, cheap. Put another way, perhaps what we have here is Protune trying to put lipstick on a pig?

October 9th, 2012, 05:56 PM	#87
Ian Newland Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 319	Re: GoPro Protune Mark, put the Sony down for a while and go watch some of the hundreds of thousands of quality GoPro videos on YouTube. You will be amazed. Yes there is jello in poorly handled GoPro videos, especially the ones mounted on motorbikes with no thought gone into eliminating camera vibration.

October 9th, 2012, 06:10 PM	#88
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: GoPro Protune Hey Ian Nice comparison. Since you are also in PAL what record time do you get at 1080 25T ?? I get 1hr 23mins on a 32 GB card but all the USA guys get double that time using 1080 30T?? A 16GB card gives me only 41 minutes? Chris

October 9th, 2012, 06:12 PM	#89
Jason Garrett Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 117	Re: GoPro Protune I’m sorry I posted them – I should have known it wouldn’t be appreciated here to just try to share the first videos taken with the new Protune for what they were. Just what might be an ‘average user’s’ experience I suppose. If somebody might get an idea of the color etc. then great. FYI, the GoPro’s are used by a lot of Harley riders – some with better results than others, but generally you will find from that community that there is a real disgust with there not really being any remedy for the vibrations and jello. I may have even asked here and been rebuffed for any remedy. Then you’ve got us out there just doing the best that we can do – in my case with a RAM Mount system mounting it rigidly. I have, in fact, attempted using materials to dampen the vibration, but to no avail. This is the best setup that I have come up with so far and it serves my purpose for my use of it. I know you guys are mostly pro’s and I appreciate picking up your tips and info, but this is an open forum for the most part from what I gather. You don’t necessarily have to be a professional to participate and you might expect that we’re not all out here spending hundreds, thousands of dollars on the most sophisticated mounting systems money can buy, etc. If somebody wants to develop a reasonably priced mounting system and point me in that direction I would be interested and I think I may have made these very comments previously.

October 9th, 2012, 06:16 PM	#90
Mark Rosenzweig Trustee Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: New Haven, CT Posts: 1,004	Re: GoPro Protune "Mark, put the Sony down for a while and go watch some of the hundreds of thousands of quality GoPro videos on YouTube. You will be amazed. Yes there is jello in poorly handled GoPro videos, especially the ones mounted on motorbikes with no thought gone into eliminating camera vibration." Ian: I am not so happy with the Sony Action Cam either - no need to get defensive (look at my posts in that thread and you will see me even more critical of some of the awful videos peope have posted there). Point me to a good HD Pro 2 video on Vimeo I can download. Even better, point to me a good Protune HD Pro video I can download. I have plenty of experience with cameras and camcorders; I know what good videos look like but there is really no workable search algorithm for "good quality", so help me, and everyone else out. Where are these great HD Pro Protune videos? Just one or two will do. There are now pocketable, waterproof camcorders that give very good HD performance; they can be mounted on cars and motorcycles with suction cups too. I am trying to figure out just what quality you get from a newly-improved or even non-improved HD Pro without having to actually buy the thing if that is possible. The videos from this thread are not helping if the claim is they are operator-flawed. That excuse can only go so far. Jason: I learned from your video - ignoring the jello, it was a good demonstration of the muted colors (ok) and smooth video when you were moving.