Stepping into the video arena

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Oct 27, 2017
174
43
Just sent in my order for a Link Spyder bracket and will be ordering a Go Pro today.
Did some research, but wanted to see if there were any updates or new opinions.
Is the Hero 7 Black still questionable because of stability issues?
Should I stick with the Hero 5 Black?
1 battery with the battery pack, or should I get a spare battery?
Best (free) video editing program?

Side note: Ordered my Link Spyder a this morning and received the confirmation, shipping today. Great customer service!!!!
 
Aug 24, 2018
72
18
Just sent in my order for a Link Spyder bracket and will be ordering a Go Pro today.
Did some research, but wanted to see if there were any updates or new opinions.
Is the Hero 7 Black still questionable because of stability issues?
Should I stick with the Hero 5 Black?
1 battery with the battery pack, or should I get a spare battery?
Best (free) video editing program?

Side note: Ordered my Link Spyder a this morning and received the confirmation, shipping today. Great customer service!!!!
I'm in the same situation, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Why are you thinking the Go Pro? Seems like so much more money than the 1000 knock offs on Amazon. I was leaning towards the Crosstour, but can't make a decision
 
Oct 27, 2017
174
43
I'm in the same situation, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Why are you thinking the Go Pro? Seems like so much more money than the 1000 knock offs on Amazon. I was leaning towards the Crosstour, but can't make a decision
I'm just not sold on electronic knock-offs (been burned a few times) and figure in the long run it's best to go with a proven product with good customer support.
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
I use open shot video editor. Used Premier Pro for years but lost that job and the license that went along with it. Open shot will do 90% of what I used Premier for anyways.

I can't answer about the Go Pro, I personally use a full sized camcorder. LynkSpyder sells a separate add on bracket. Still works like a charm after several years of using it.
 

Josh Greer

DFP Vendor
Jul 31, 2013
934
93
Central Missouri
One thing to keep in mind: This is the time of year that GoPro usually announces their next flagship camera, which is usually then released sometime in October. I'm not suggesting that the next flagship will be a viable option for our sport, but it generally will drive the price of the previous generations down.

The last firmware update has made the HERO7 a little better. The heat related issues still seem to be greater than the HERO5 (we totally gave up on the HERO6). But when setting auto rotation and auto low light to off, the lockups have appeared to be reduced or eliminated.

The next HERO camera has been reported to include the GP2 chip; the second version of GoPro's in-house processor. The HERO6 was the first to use the GP1, which I feel was the cause of many of the stability issues. I'm really hoping GoPro nails it out of the gate so we can begin recommending their latest devices again. The HERO5 is exactly 3 years old. But it is my goto device when I need something rock solid.

DJI's Osmo camera takes very good video and appears to be very stable. But lacking adjustments in FOV make it unusable (in most cases) for our sport.

MEVO Plus is the best of both recording and streaming worlds. In fact, I prefer the quality and of usability of this camera over GoPro. But it certainly was not designed to be as rugged and may come with impact risks and certainly heat related problems.

As for power, for any of the devices, we highly recommend external USB batteries. They come in far larger sizes than the additional batteries for the cameras. Additionally, they will last multiple games (actually multiple days). This means you won't ever have to stop recording to change batteries in the middle of a game. They are also multitasksers, allowing you to charge all of the extra electronic devices needed at the ball park to remain sane. :)

Hope this helps.

EDIT: One more thing. Premier Pro is the best and most expensive. I can't speak to a free option (sounds like JAG above has a great option that we will test). But Premiere Elements is cheaper than Pro and does many things very well. But we use Premier Pro because it allows us to render our videos in batch overnight. Rendering video (the process of coding the final audio and video in the desired end format) is one of the most timely parts of the process (along with the upload process). So being able to do this for multiple files, automated, overnight is a huge benefit for me.

Lastly, we have over the years given up on uploading full games to YouTube. It certainly can be done if you have decent internet. But for our purposes, we just upload hero snippets to YouTube and other social media, and share the full videos with families via a traveling external hard drive. The team parents share the drive after we process the video. If we don't get the drive back, nobody gets more video until it returns. It seems to police itself very well.

Speaking of hard drives....you don't have enough. :) But that's a future conversation.
 
Last edited:
Feb 26, 2018
21
13
^^ What @Josh Greer said.

LynkSpyder brackets are solid and stable. For backstop mounting, it's the only one that can hold the camera steady through multiple foul ball fence hits, etc. I can push record and confidently come back in 8h.

Small thing, but for LynkSpyder users, this aftermarket case is super helpful for us. It's the perfect size:
Amazon product ASIN B00DUGZFA6
I use Fence Clip for a secondary (non-backstop) camera. I love that it's compact, but it can slip when in the line of fire. In the video below, the primary cam is on LynkSpyder (good, since a foul ball really rattles the setup), the bottom left PIP-cam is on Fence Clip.


I went with HERO5 after testing HERO5 / 6 / 7. I use Sandisk Extreme Pro 128GB, shoot at 1080 30fps for 8h records. If you just doing softball, the only benefit of the HERO7 over HERO5 is digital zoom. I just bought more cams for my league, and I went with HERO5. Nice that it's 1/2 the price too.

A general note: I tested and returned HERO6/7 due to stability issues. Today's action cams are designed for short action videos in Instagram attention spans, not 4h continuous records. There are definitely issues with cameras overheating and crashing. (Not all the time, only on killer plays.) I spoke with a Hollywood film crew that still uses a HERO4 fleet.

You'll need an eternal battery. I use Voltaic Systems V44 because it will last 12h and can be configured to "always on". One less button to remember to press during chaotic field swaps.

And yes, uploading to YT can be a pain. But it's always going to be up there! Do it for the memories. When we meet new people in the softball world, it's cool to pull out your phone and show them one of their plays from way back...
 
Last edited:
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
EDIT: One more thing. Premier Pro is the best and most expensive. I can't speak to a free option (sounds like JAG above has a great option that we will test). But Premiere Elements is cheaper than Pro and does many things very well. But we use Premier Pro because it allows us to render our videos in batch overnight. Rendering video (the process of coding the final audio and video in the desired end format) is one of the most timely parts of the process (along with the upload process). So being able to do this for multiple files, automated, overnight is a huge benefit for me.

I think this is the largest issue you'll run into. I could use Premiere to make some really dang nice stuff. However, that takes TIME. As in lots of real time. Then once you've made all the edits you need, you have to export it and render that entire video. That takes very real, and very serious processing power. The stronger your computer, the faster it goes. (Just bought a new laptop, powerhouse, 8th gen i7 processor) It's basically a walk away and let it finish type deal if you're trying to export an entire game. Honestly, I don't do any of this stuff for our team. I solely record video and cut out highlights for my DD and upload it for her youtube channel that's solely there for college coaches to view. Also... for family that want to watch. Once, so far this year, I've gotten a request from a team parent to cut out some clips to send to a college coach for her DD. I've never advertised that I can do this, but I did it. Still, that alone took me an hour, knowing exactly when the plays occurred via game changer.

I see parents of younger kids making awesome full game edits with pitching speeds and everything put in. I don't tend to see that at 14u and above. ROFL The reason? Every parent wants it and expects it, not realizing it takes a few hours of your time for EVERY game. Sure, you get better at it, but eventually it's almost like it's a demand. At this point, I record solely for my DD and my family. Sometimes I'll help out other people, but I absolutely never offer it up willingly. I'm busy, damn busy, and taking an hour of my time is pretty precious.

Oh yeah... hard drives. I have 6 2TB external drives and 2 4TB drives to backup those... because hard drives break.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Great advice here, and (IMO) you picked a good solution. Hero 5 with a 128 card, and a 20000mAh external battery will cover a whole weekend of games in most cases.

Safety tip: Always have a backup - memory cards, batteries, and cables.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,477
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top