GoPro time lapse BBG...anyone?

[Mark Owen]

Wanting to document my BBG. I have a new GoPro Session 4 that I literally just took out of the box. Got it two Christmases ago.

I'm thinking I can set it to take a time lapse photo every 30 seconds (2880 pics) or 60 seconds (1440 pics) and then string them into a movie. Has anyone done anything like this before? I'm sure it's not an original idea, Just curious. And if you have, I'd love to discuss it.


Thanks!

 

[BMWguy]

I did a short video of a gas stop on a BB1500 I did with two friends - maybe about 5 minutes of video, but nothing close to what you're suggesting.
The only reason I took the footage was to prove that we saw a Big Foot... well a statue... LOL!

 

[marcham]

Does it not have a time lapse video mode?

 

[Hampe]

Swedish member Skye documented a trans-european ride of like 2650 km in 36 hrs (not Gold) in a Time-lapse fashion a couple of years ago.

Filed as a SS 1000 as IBA Sweden only accepts SS 1000 / SS 1600K as first threshold rides
Love the dawn, the light at the horizon - and how the shadows moves during the brief stops.


Some Finnish guys did a very entertaining movie/time-laps report 10 years ago on their SS 1000.
It's up in two parts:

Make sure to wait for the "reindeer-counter" to kick in.
...and drop out.
Riding motorcycles in the wilderness of Sapmi-land is something extra, and soon enough you just turn a little Buddhist on the fact that there are herds of critters roaming the same road as you are, and "aware" is not simply enough.

Just some examples on what can be done by time-lapse recordings on what we do.

 

[kwthom]

I did it:

First five minutes of this video - same frame rate as well.

 

[Mark Owen]

I did it:

Most excellent! That is exactly what I was looking for. I've got a couple questions for you.

1. Did you need to use auxiliary power for the GoPro or did the battery last for the duration? I can't seem to get an answer on how time lapse effects battery life.

2. Did you use "night mode" while filming at night? I was planning on buying the remote so that I could change modes when then sun set but I want to make sure it will actally make a difference.

 

[kwthom]

Most excellent! That is exactly what I was looking for. I've got a couple questions for you.

1. Aux power 100% of the ride. +5V USB converter from eBay, wired to a Gerbings pigtail for pillion. The only time I worried was on my eastbound ride, about 30 minutes of rain, but at that point, I was committed to getting the shot!

2. No; thought that was a video setting. I really didn't know how the images were turning out until I was in Jax (see my other video - did the same when I went and rode a Why? to Whynot! / SS2000) and was looking thru the images. You really don't see much, and that's kinda the point.

 

[Mark Owen]

1. Aux power 100% of the ride. +5V USB converter from eBay, wired to a Gerbings pigtail for pillion. The only time I worried was on my eastbound ride, about 30 minutes of rain, but at that point, I was committed to getting the shot!

2. No; thought that was a video setting. I really didn't know how the images were turning out until I was in Jax (see my other video - did the same when I went and rode a Why? to Whynot! / SS2000) and was looking thru the images. You really don't see much, and that's kinda the point.

All good. Thanks for the info.

You should join us! We're leaving Vegas the morning of September 7th and riding straight through to Ashland, MO. Two nights of camping, adult beverages, a little riding, and then an exploratory ride home starting Sunday, September 9th. You could join us on I40 as we pass through your area. Get ourselves a convoy!

 

[Stephen!]

Has anyone done anything like this before? I'm sure it's not an original idea, Just curious. And if you have, I'd love to discuss it.

Yup.... Here's a few.

2013 Big Sky Rally: (~2000 miles in 31 hours)

Utah 1088 3-day Rally: (including the bike's view of an unplanned tire change)

 

[kwthom]

All good. Thanks for the info.

You should join us! We're leaving Vegas the morning of September 7th and riding straight through to Ashland, MO. Two nights of camping, adult beverages, a little riding, and then an exploratory ride home starting Sunday, September 9th. You could join us on I40 as we pass through your area. Get ourselves a convoy!

Ahhh...sounds like fun, however...

Since September 2017 is my last month of employment, I'd better stick it out until the bitter end.

Good luck on the ride!

 

[Mark Owen]

Since September 2017 is my last month of employment, I'd better stick it out until the bitter end.

That's a pretty good reason!

 

[Ron]

Wanting to document my BBG. I have a new GoPro Session 4 that I literally just took out of the box. Got it two Christmases ago.

I'm thinking I can set it to take a time lapse photo every 30 seconds (2880 pics) or 60 seconds (1440 pics) and then string them into a movie. Has anyone done anything like this before? I'm sure it's not an original idea, Just curious. And if you have, I'd love to discuss it.


Thanks!

Mark,

I've done this on a SS1000 (21 hours on the nose). The video is posted here:

Here is what I ran. It was a 10 second time lapse using an external power source (within a waterproof casing) mounted to my helmet (although I highly suggest mounting it to the motorcycle). 720MP (or whatever is just below the highest resolution) is the resolution, along with a 64GB microSD. I did not use any night time lapse mode throughout the ride. Throughout the 21 hour session, I believe I used like 30% of the the memory.

For my next IBA ride, I'm going to mount the GoPro to my motorcycle and decrease the time lapse increments to 5 seconds. This is to increase the
"smoothness" of the playback video (The video uploaded to YouTube is sped up ~50%).

For charging, I hooked it up to a 20K mAhr portable battery back. I used ~3/4? of the battery life (Only LED lights have a glimpse at how much battery I used). However, this was only because the GoPro was mounted to my helmet and I didn't want to have to unhook external power any time I wanted to go inside. Therefore, I suggest hooking up to a 5V source.

I'm not aware of your MC, but if you mount the GoPro to the MC (esp if its a Harley), using blue Loctite to prevent vibrations from shaking loose the GoPro/Ruining the angle (as happened to me).

 

[kwthom]

Here's another point to consider...

If this is for your personal use, the finished video is whatever it turns out to be, again based on frame rates captured, then based on the conversion from still shots to a video output.

If you're sharing - especially sharing with those that might not truly understand our passion for LD riding, for anything longer than a few minutes...now, you're having to become a storyteller.

You have to make that story of your ride compelling, or it won't be watched.

If it's just flashing lights in the dark. They'll go watch something else. I really struggled with mine, until I stumbled across some of that background music which helps make the story more compelling to watch. I'm still a bit nervous that it's a bit long, yet I didn't want the stop action to be 'cartoony' fast.