Saturday, November 17, 2012

GoPro Hero3 with the Atomos Ninja2

I've been trying to find out if the HDMI output on the Hero3 was able to live-feed to a Ninja or something similar for capture as a ProRes HQ file instead of the mp4 that the GoPro captures internally...

Well, today i tried it... briefly. Just a little test to see if it worked...and... it does!

There are some caveats though:


  • It doesn't work in ProTune mode as the HDMI out is disabled.
  • It's still limited by being 8bit and having the tiny sensor.
  • You can't have the GoPro in it's waterproof housing as the HDMI cable needs to be in.

Other than that, it works a treat. I need to do some more detailed testing and analysis of the footage.. it marginally looks better than the same shot using the ProTune option on the GoPro.


Both were captured at 1920x1080 running in 25p mode....medium lens width. I had a quick play with both the files in FCPX and obviously, the ProRes file was ready to rock immediately and seemed to respond well to colour grading... the ProTune mp4 from the GoPro itself need some time to transcode to ProRes, but once it was done, the footage was also quite plyable in post...  If i had to choose, i'd say the file from the Ninja was slightly cleaner with less noise.

Of course, using the Ninja takes away a lot of the portability and attractiveness of the GoPro, but in some instances, it's a really nice option to have.

I would have posted the footage, but by the time it's been through Vimeo or YouTube compression there's no discernable difference.

As you can see, the mp4 is 35mbps and the ProRes HQ is 172mbps, but both are HD 1-1-1 (REC709)



26 comments:

  1. any chance you tested higher frame rates on the HDMI output? Like 720p120?

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  2. Hey Benjamin

    I've got the Silver edition, so 720p 50 is the highest frame rate i can do... but i just tested it with the Ninja2...and it records perfect 720p at 50fps... it looks really nice. Again, it only works with ProTune turned off.

    Hope this helps.

    S

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  3. Cool! Thanks for the quick reply - we're specing out a project and trying to figure out some different workflow options, but they all require live high-fps out of the camera.

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  4. Hi Sean - any updates on how your Go Pro 3 & Atomos Ninja 2 footage paired together?

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  5. I've not done much more testing... but from what i can tell you've got a choice. You can shoot with the 'ProTune' option and capture internally on the GoPro3 and the resulting footage will need work in post to clean it up, but it looks pretty good... or you can connect it up to the Ninja2 and capture without the 'ProTune' option, but with full Pro Res HQ instead... The Ninja captured footage is definitely better in my opinion, but then you loose some of the flexibility of the GoPro's size and indestructive capabilities. The 2 lots of footage cut together very well i think... same lens/sensor etc...

    Hope this helps.

    S

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  6. It does, indeed! Many thanks....

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  7. Of course the Ninja recording was cleaner - protune turns off sharpening and noise reduction.

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  8. Yes, ProTune does defeat the noise reduction and sharpening, but it also ups the bit rate. However even after some tweaking and cleaning in post, the pro res file looks better to me....maybe it is the in-camera processing that is helping.. Anyone from GoPro out there to confirm this?

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  9. Sean - any chance you post samples? Perhaps to Vimeo with the option for us to download? I love the idea of attaching a Ninja to the GP3 for moments when I need to pack light but also need the versatility of Go Pro’s “set it, forget it".

    Tnx

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  10. Not this week... just too busy. But sometime soon i will try to get some test footage up. :-)

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  11. Hey Sean!
    Thanks for the test! Is it possible to get 720p50 on the hdmi output (live from camera) on the Silver edition?

    Thanks! // Henrik

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  12. Hi Henrik

    I just tested it again to make sure...

    1080 25p works via HDMI to Ninja 2....

    720 50p works via HDMI to Ninja 2...

    None of the other resolutions work.....

    Remember 'ProTune' has to be off for live HDMI output to work...also remember to remove the screen overlays in the menu.

    The 720 50p looks really good from the Ninja.

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers

    Sean

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  13. Thank you Sean!
    I really appreciate you taking the time to test this and I am very happy about the result!

    Thank you again!

    // Henrik

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  14. Hi Vincent,

    The HD3 Black can output HDMI in Protune mode.
    This is connected to my Dell 27 or SmallHD 4.3".

    Silver does not have the bandwith like Black.
    Silver is HD2 slightly improved.

    However do note :

    Stand by mode HD3 Black , its HDMI output, the frame rate is not the same as when recording. I do not have a HDMI recorder but I can tell by the darkening and noisier video when testing in low light while recording vs standing-by.

    So example, resolution chosen as 1440p at 48 fps . In stand by it is 25fps or 24 fps, when you press record it will then be 48 fps.

    I think its a way to save battery during stand by.

    Have fun trying.

    Regards
    Surya

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  15. How do you setup the camera to receive the feed?
    I mean do I have to play record of can i see what is in preview?

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  16. The GoPro will send a signal in preview, without being in record...so the battery lasts longer... make sure screen overlays and ProTune are turned off and that's it... it just works.

    S

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  17. I just tested it and I see lines on the ninja 2 recording similar to interlacing. Unacceptable. How did you get rid of those lines?
    Thank you
    David Hoffman

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  18. Hi David

    I don't get these lines... what does the Ninja2 say it's getting signal wise? 1080p or 720p? Even if the GoPro is set to 720 25p, it will still default to 720 50p..... so it's either 1080p or 720p... there is no way to get an interlaced signal from the GoPro to the Ninja2. Are you using a Hero3?

    Maybe it's the HDMI cable? I've used 2 different ones...neither particularly expensive and both work fine...

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  19. thank you Sean. indeed I was trying a hero 3. I switched to my hero 2 which is somewhat better. I also found that the ninja setting 1080i was better than 1080 P in terms of quality.

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  20. also. my old sony hdr-hc7 hdv 1080i camcorder looks better on the ninja 2 then either the hero 2 or hero 3.

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  21. It's all about sensor size... taking a direct hdmi output into the Ninja2 will always look better with a bigger sensor... or one with a higher native ISO might certainly look better at first. I use the FS100 most of the time and the 422 signal looks stunning in ProRes HQ.

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  22. Sean: Yes to your comment above. I love the size of the Gopro plus Ninja on a single monopod for my documentary work which is most of what I do. But not the quality of what the Ninja is recording. I am now looking for a small Sony or Panasonic camcorder with 3 CCDs to up my quality and still be able to simply hold it on a monopod. I am also using a Sony M10 audio recorder as I cannot find a way to make the Hero 3 (Gopro) record decent sound.

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  23. Yes, the GoPros record horrible sound... not good enough for docs....and the low light performance isn't really up to anything but short action shots. Why not look into a DSLR? Seems it might be the best solution for a good performance/price ratio?

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  24. DSLR - I do not find the cameras comfortable to hold for handheld man-in-the-field documentaries and also, it just doesn't look unimposing when talking with people in the street etc. For me I am afraid it has to be a small camcorder until GoPro gets it right.

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  25. I would like to try the Black Hero3 + Ninja option for a project. But I need to achieve the longest continuous recording option possible. I can compromise on top quality as the footage is destined for the web. Any ideas? Thanks, Brian

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  26. The best option would be to use the ProRes LT setting on the Ninja then...that gives the longest record time..coupled with a big HD.. I don't know how long the battery in the GoPro would last though...you would have to check. The Ninja batteries should last for over 4 hours i reckon if used continuously. ..but they are hot swappable, so you could just keep adding new ones for a longer record time.

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