GoPro - 30 or 60 FPS for games

[Josh Greer]

We were recently asked why we suggest recording baseball/softball games in 30 frames per second (FPS), as apposed to 60 FPS. Here's the answer, (and it involves admitting that it is no longer valid for the GoPro Hero 4). At 1080p/30 FPS, the GoPro Hero 3 Black would hold about 6.5 hours of video on a 64GB card. If you shot at 60FPS, you could lose about 2.5 to 3 hours of storage capacity. Make sense, as technically there is twice as much data in 60fps vs 30fps. However, we have recently discovered that this is not the case with the Hero 4. Due to the higher bitrate that the Hero 4 records, you will get about 4 hours and 20 minutes of storage on a 64GB card NO MATTER IF YOU RECORD IN 30 OR 60 FPS. So it stands to reason that there is no benefit not to shoot in 60FPS with the Hero 4 for the purpose of quality. However, you may find, depending on the horsepower of your computer, that 60fps playback may be choppy. This is typically resolved by post video production. If you don't post produce your video, and playback on your computer is your primary purpose, you might consider sticking with 30 FPS.

 

[vdubya]

Geek me up Greer! Thank you for this useful post.
VW
PS: I love my linkSpyder.

 

[Frenchy101010]

I love mine too, I must get 10 to 15 people a weekend asking about my setup. Hopefully I've sent you some business Josh. I know for sure one guy just ordered a fence mount like last thursday for his GoPro 4.

I was doing the 1080/60 for fall ball games and it took forever to download, convert, upload to youtube, I made the switch to 1080/30 and it has cut down on the process tremendously and I cant tell any difference.

 

[alabama_lowlife]

I always film in 60fps. It's better for slow mo. It also works better for pulling a still image from the video. This is my DD making the tag at the plate. But it does take a toll on your computer. I added a 1TB harddrive last season and went ahead and added a 2TB harddrive during this season. I'm afraid to erase anything.

 

[RetiredCoach]

I've gone from 60 fps to 240 fps with my iPhone6. If you try 240 fps you may never go back.

 

[Josh Greer]

I've gone from 60 fps to 240 fps with my iPhone6. If you try 240 fps you may never go back.

Agreed that 240 and higher is a perfect option for recording small burst; specifically when looking at mechanics. But recording entire games at that resolution would difficult to manage. Our final games (which are shot at 1080p/30 or 60 and usually 1.5 hour games) are around 4-6GB in size. And that includes quite a bit of reduction in quality just to get them that low.

 

[Fastpitch86]

Which GoPro app are people using? I see several apps available and some cost a lot.

 

[Josh Greer]

Which GoPro app are people using? I see several apps available and some cost a lot.

If you are talking Post Production applications, I would suggest either Adobe Premiere Elements (less than $100) or Adobe Premiere Pro (monthly service, as low as $19 per month). We use Premiere Pro exclusively now, for no other reason than to be able to export/render our final productions in batch. Basically just build all of the sequences and send them to the batch queue and let them run over night. It's awesome!

 

[Fastpitch86]

Use 1080 or 1080 wide? My default on the 4 silver is set to 1080 wide.

 

[Josh Greer]

Use 1080 or 1080 wide? My default on the 4 silver is set to 1080 wide.

I would turn SuperView off. This will allow you to use medium field of view. SuperView is an ultra wide field of view that will almost guarantee fence in the shot. It was designed for people who mount the camera to themselves (POV). it is not only wider but taller. So for POV, more of the shooter is in the shot. Good for skiing and skateboarding...bad for softball.