Cannoning a Hero Fly on the Wheel

Cannoning the Hero Fly on the Wheel.

After having lost video footage three times on different occasions, in each one of my three GoPro HD Hero 3 Black Edition cams, and each time on a different memory card, I finally contacted what, erm, GoPro boasts as its, cough, «customer service». This «service» is absolutely sure that either (1) I am at fault or (2) my memory cards. With clear signs of having lost any sense of reason at GoPro I took finally their trademark advice seriously and have «go(ne) pro». So I got myself a shiny new FullHD video cannon, so to speak...

Contour ShuttlePRO Linux Woes

Contour's ShuttlePRO v2 multimedia controller surely is a fine piece of hardware which I like very much. However, the device developers at Contour messed up with the USB HID profile for sure. Unfortunately, in Linux this causes shuttle and jog events to get lost from time to time ... so I started to investigate...

Fallen Heroes: SD Card Err

When you are seeing this with
a memory card inserted...

Unfortunately, and based on my own in-field experience, I'm slowly coming to conclusions that GoPro's firmware in the HD Hero 3 is clearly unreliable. And this even as I carefully handle the cam, never running the battery flat, shutting down the cam correctly before swapping memory cards, and so on. In return, GoPro's famous firmware just has bricked the file system on a memory card for the third time. Unfortunately, you can't repair such a disk in cam or with the basic tools that come with all the operating systems – but fortunately, I found a way to salvage my video footage despite this mayhem, so please read on...

Backscatter 3.1: Big Pink Hero Eyes

As a self-confessed herograph («aberrations? This is art!») I nevertheless would like to try something new, not just plain fish eye shots. I would like to get closer to some of my photo motives, but the built-in fish eye limits the minimum distance. In several situations I could get closer, yet the GoPro HD Hero 3 lense was the limitating factor. Thus, I would like to experiment with a macro lens. In addition, I want to test green filters: do they give any benefits in the freshwater lakes I'm often diving in?

Three Heroes ... and mad as a Hatter

I've just returned from a weekend of ice diving ... well, it actually was more the next-to-the-ice diving, to be precise. I had the chance to test my new Backscatter Flip 3.1 equipment consisting of a +10 macro lens and a green water filter. The winterly Lake Plansee was an unforgiving test environment: really green waters and not much light...

GoPro's Protune Hero 3+ Down-Grade: C+ at Best

Apparently, GoPro changed the Protune tonal curves the HD Hero 3+ uses when white balance is switched off from what they previously used for the HD Hero 3. It seems as if they now use separate tonal curves for the red, green, and blue channel, while for the HD Hero 3 the channels all used the same tonal curve. The unpleasant outcome of this is that raw HD Hero 3+ footage gets a massive tint. To this time, no satisfying set of effects and their parameters is know to deal with such footage in Kdenlive or other open video editing and grading tools. All experiments so far were unsatisfactory.

Albeit this tint problem is only seen when white balance is switched off, this is exactly the mode you want to shot in your underwater footage. Thus, GoPro without any real need mucked around with Protune, making it useless. GoPro's Studio software is nothing more than a bad joke: since when is grading done on raw footage before the footage has been cut and arranged? Whatever GoPro is, it needs to go pro as soon as possible, as breaking Protune is ridiculous.

Over here were I live, we have grades that go from «1» (best, «A» in some other countries) down to «6» (worst, «F» grade). It may be a sign that the HD Hero 3+ thus translates to a C+ grade. At best.

Unfortunately, GoPro still don't gives any useful information about how to deal with Protune. They simply point you to their pointless Windows and OS-X software. Seeing this openly customer-hostile I'm not the only one getting HD Hero 3 Black Edition cams while their prices dives, as the 3+ seems to rot in shop shelves.

Kdenlive, Kubuntu, and the Contour ShuttlePRO v2 Jog Dial

Cuts the video, as well as the mustard:
ShuttlePRO v2 by Contour Inc.

While today computer mice are almost ubiquitous input devices at least for the larger personal computers, it is sometimes much better to (additionally) go for a special-purpose input device. Such specialized devices are much more convenient when working, for instance, with video and audio. (Re)Winding forth and back through the footage is easy, while mice are not exactly the best tool, erm, at hand.

Dry Heroes

Proven in practice at 4°C water temperature.

In the past months, for me GoPro's anti fogging strips performed totally miserable. Today, I could put my new method for defogging to a real-world test under water...

Hero Power Bar

Not exactly on everyone's agenda, yet hero power users may probably face the same problem: how do I power all this video equipment for recharging? While on a tour, wall power outlets are typically a rare sight. And then you can spot only loners. Of course, one can buy power strips almost everywhere, so where's the problem?

Mass Heroes Charger

When travelling with a bunch of GoPro HD Hero cameras, then getting all the batteries charged for the next day of happy shooting becomes of concern. Of course, charing one battery per HD Hero camera is easy ... but throughout the day these little suckers basically eat batteries.

While I'm on site, recharging batteries is often not possible. So evenings get packed with constantly petting the charging station; something I don't like. Luckily, GoPro finally managed to deliver its (long promised) new and smart add-on...

Heroes of Thin Air: Castle Wolfstein 3D

I have to confess: I could not resist when titling this new blog post. Anyhow, this is about a real Castle Wolfstein, a ruined one, to be precise. Because I shot this landmark portrait from my Phantom quadcopter, I'm ... well ... entitled to also tackle on a shiny «3D»!

Castle Wolfstein, Upper Palatinate (view on YouTube)

My first attempt to film on site wasn't exactly any success. Light was bad, the sky was overcast when I returned on site. Colors were simply dull, contrast was awful. So I deleted all footage and I never did since regret. But then there simply was this afternoon, with its beautiful autumn Sun light ... so I grabbed my equipment and off I went to Castle Wolfstein. This time, everything was (nearly) perfect. Beautiful light, only few clouds on a bright sky, almost no wind at least in the heights I wanted to fly. And then these fantastic colors of Nature: red, yellow, and green ... like a lovely poem.

Fine conditions for flying and shooting. And on top I had this incredibly unlikely fortune to get a motor paraglider on, erm, tape. So enjoy watching my newest video!

Full Face Snorkling Mask...?

We were afraid it might happen one day: here we have it ... a full face mask for snorkling, named «EASYBREATH». Believe it or not. The mask has been announced by Tribord, which is a brand of the well-known French company DECATHLON SA which produces and sells sports goods.

Tribord claims, this full face snorkling mask is for those people who don't like to breathe through the mouth and dislike the usual and well-proven biting mouthpieces as being unhygienic.

Well, I can perfectly understand that people don't like biting mouthpieces. However, why do such people really want to even swim in a sea, full of piss and oil, to start with? And breathing unfiltered surface air, full of dirt and fine dust?

Let's hope that Decathlon packs a full-body condom into the box.

What really irritates me: how do such people react when they get a good  charge of sea water into their full face mask, so they need to purge it? I yet want to see a snorkel with a working automatic plug. Not without reason, SCUBA divers don't use such «snorkels». Yet, Decathlon uses such a design? Seems as if attorneys will surely have their field day soon after this mask goes to sale.

Food for Heroes: SanDisk Extreme Plus 32GB in the Red

First Ultra, then Extreme ...
and now for the, well,
ultimate climax:
The Extreme Plus. Woo-hoo!

It caught us in total surprise. Yet another product name rehashing the «plus» meme in its name. This time, SanDisk marketing had this great idea in order to create another microSD card wonder.

So, SanDisk's product management managed to pimp up its product names from Ultra to Extreme, and now even to Extreme Plus. How im-press-ive. It seems that the Extreme Plus series is going to replace the previoius Extreme series of microSD memory carads. However, I don't really see any real differences, at least not in terms of packaging and the labelling on the microSD card itself...

Fogging-Free Heroes

«Dry Suit» for my HD Heroes.

Lately, my GoPro HD Heroes have been massively plagued by fogging when filming under water. And this after years of fog-free operation – despite (or because) of the anti-fogging strips that GoPro sells.

While I could salvage most of my footage by declaring it to be a work of true art, I yet had to find a working solution. It seems that I was successful in keeping my Heros free of fogging...

IBAN Specialist

For quite some time I asked myself: what really differentiates the Ten-Star-Instructor from the diving plebs and instructor subworkers?

The IBAN expert: gets you high ranks.

Since a few days ago I now understand, thanks to a friend: it is the knowledge. Knowledge about numbers. But not arbitrary numbers, but only these numbers that matter: the IBANs of dive tricking organizations (for those in the U.S.: IBANs are an internationally agreed means of identifying bank accounts across national borders). So it is exactly this card that makes the difference. Only with it, you are a real master.

Oh, sweet irony: the idea for this particular specialty card was born of all places in Schwabach, a German town near Nuremberg, which is especially famous for its gold foils. Go figure...