As a participant in this event our eyes were opened to a great new activity (and part of the reason for today’s post) that can be enjoyed along with driving the Porsche(s); video-taping the rides, editing the footage and creating short clips of our driving experiences. Below is our FIRST attempt at creating a video:
We learned two things while making this video:
- We don’t have the proper camera equipment or software to do things correctly.
- The people that do this and do it well have a very special skill and they should be commended.
Digital Video Equipment for Motorsports
We made the little video above using an older, hand-held, Sony Cyber-shot (the model is a DSC-T1) and the standard video editing software (Windows Movie Maker) that comes with Vista. We know there must be better equipment and software specifically for automotive applications and we’d like to try some out and report back to you. So, if you have any experience, please do let us know.
Some people tape their experiences at driver’s education events, races or just for fun. Are you one of them? If so, what equipment are you using? What type of camera? How is it mounted? What are you using for software to edit?
Based on the research we’ve done so far, the GoPro Motorsports HERO 3 Quick Release 3MP Camcorder seems like the best bang for the buck, but we have yet to use one. Have you?
We’re hoping that of the 12,000 or so people that see this post, during the month of September at least a few of you will have some video experience. Please let us know by commenting below or using the contact page.
View Comments (2)
The video on the link below was sent from a friend at the Porsche archive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eONZ3U_mBe4
According to Jeff, the video was taken on my first outing in the RS - had done about 20 laps and the yellow car was slowing (he was on a cooling down run) and maybe I was overconfident or tired? I went into the corner (the esses at Snetterton) too fast and very rapidly joined the magic roundabout club!
I did a complete 360 and ended up one inch from the barrier so no damage other than to my ego (did get a stone jammed between the tyre wall and rim but the tyre support guys fixed it OK).
equipment is probably the cheapest in-car video around: the Oregon Scientific head cam designed to attach to mountain bikers helmets - current model is $149 but I bought the first version without LCD screen for $99. Originally attached to the on screen data logger it is now attached to a bracket on the roll cage (along with the data logger and an intercom).
You might look at Chasecam.com for both cameras, pvrs and most importantly mounting hardware. I use their 3 suction cup mount as well as the standoff and swivel. This way i can mount a small standard video recorder to the inside of my windshield.
While you can go with a special camera like the Chase BulletCam or Motorsports Hero, I think you get more bang for the buck with an off the shelf camera. You just have to find the right one.
Things to look for are - compact size, records to SD cards, wide angle lens, tripod mount. My current favorite is the Panasonic TZ3. This is actually a good quality digital still camera, but it takes 800x480 30fps movies. It has a 28mm wide angle lens, is metal, records to SD.
I would also look at helmetcameracentral.com - Although its a store, it seems to have legitimate reviews and lots of choices.