GoPro camera setting to record pitching motion

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Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
This may not be the right forum for this (mods feel free to move). I am looking for any info on good GoPro camera settings to record pitching and hitting mechanics. Originally I was more interested in recording my DD to help her see her pitching mechanics. I'm sure this could be used for her swing mechanics as well.

Josh, where ya at ? :)
 
Feb 26, 2016
283
28
Murfreesboro, TN
Which model GoPro. Like Eric suggested in 1080p60, the "60" is frames per second, most GoPro's do 960x120 or 1080x120 or some variant of that. The higher the frames per second (fps) the better you can slow it down with less "jitter".
 

Josh Greer

DFP Vendor
Jul 31, 2013
934
93
Central Missouri
From my perspective, it depends on a few more things. For games, where you are recording from a distance, I suggest 1080p/60. If you are talking about mechanics videos during a practice session, where you can get the camera close (and it isn't for presentation for anyone else) I would crank down the resolution as low as WVGA so you can get the highest frame rate possible (240 frames in the case of the Hero 4 Silver). If you have the Hero 4 Black, you can shoot at 720p/240 (but only in narrow FOV...which probably isn't an issue). In all case, none of these options will work inside until your batting cage is also a photo studio. You need the bright light of the sun....noon sun (straight up) is the best.

Hope this helps.
 
Oct 7, 2015
72
8
From my perspective, it depends on a few more things. For games, where you are recording from a distance, I suggest 1080p/60. If you are talking about mechanics videos during a practice session, where you can get the camera close (and it isn't for presentation for anyone else) I would crank down the resolution as low as WVGA so you can get the highest frame rate possible (240 frames in the case of the Hero 4 Silver). If you have the Hero 4 Black, you can shoot at 720p/240 (but only in narrow FOV...which probably isn't an issue). In all case, none of these options will work inside until your batting cage is also a photo studio. You need the bright light of the sun....noon sun (straight up) is the best.

Hope this helps.
Hi Josh,

I just bought a Hero4 Silver (and a lynkspyder... :D). I did a couple games last weekend but didn't change any of the default settings. They came out OK but I did get the fence at the edges. If I'm recording at 1080P/60 do you recommend the "medium" field of view or the "narrow" field of view?

Thanks.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
We use medium, and you can use Gopro studio (free but annoying application) to zoom in and adjust to get the fence out of the shot.
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
I will reply to this even though I am not [MENTION=10964]josh[/MENTION]. I use the narrow setting when my team bats and then I use med when we are fielding during most games. Sometimes the backstop is so close that I have to use med FOV to get 1st and 3rd bases in the video.

Also, since I use a 2 year old IPad, I have to use 1080/30 to view it. My iPad won't work at 1080/60.

As far as getting the fence in your frame, try to move the GoPro bracket as close to the fence as you can. Even then I sometimes get a tiny piece of the fence in the frame but it doesn't effect what I can see and how I use what I capture. Occasionally it could stand to be closer but the adjusting nut won't turn if it's too close.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:

WARRIORMIKE

Pro-Staff Everything
Oct 5, 2009
2,815
48
At the Jewel in San Diego
From my perspective, it depends on a few more things. For games, where you are recording from a distance, I suggest 1080p/60. If you are talking about mechanics videos during a practice session, where you can get the camera close (and it isn't for presentation for anyone else) I would crank down the resolution as low as WVGA so you can get the highest frame rate possible (240 frames in the case of the Hero 4 Silver). If you have the Hero 4 Black, you can shoot at 720p/240 (but only in narrow FOV...which probably isn't an issue). In all case, none of these options will work inside until your batting cage is also a photo studio. You need the bright light of the sun....noon sun (straight up) is the best.

Hope this helps.


This right here.

Batting cage lights suck. I would ditch the 1080 60 fps per second and scale to 1080 at 30 fps . Smoother on the slow mo. Like Josh send too, WVGA is great for slow motion shots
 

Josh Greer

DFP Vendor
Jul 31, 2013
934
93
Central Missouri
Hi Josh,

I just bought a Hero4 Silver (and a lynkspyder... :D). I did a couple games last weekend but didn't change any of the default settings. They came out OK but I did get the fence at the edges. If I'm recording at 1080P/60 do you recommend the "medium" field of view or the "narrow" field of view?

Thanks.

Once again, I am late to the party. The folks above pretty much nailed it. What I do is use the narrowest FOV I can get away with that still captures the corners. If the field is a high school field, which usually has a deep backstop (most baseball fields we play), I generally use narrow. If it is a small field (which we sometimes play softball on), I may have to use wide. However, wide almost always....ok, always will capture fence in the shot. But when shooting medium, if you get the camera as close as the bracket will allow, and you do your job centering the camera in the opening, you should not have fence in the shot (unless the fence openings are very narrow). With that said, I'm often lazy and don't get it completely centered and do occasionally get fence in the shot. When this happens, I fix it in Premiere Pro. Just go into the effects tab for the selected video and go into motion. Change the percentage of scale to zoom it in a bit. Usually around 105-115% will do the trick. Much more than that and you will start to pixelate the video.
 

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