Flinders -Behind The Scenes - Camera Settings, Editing & Colour Grading

This is for motorcycle video nerds. Geeky stuff on settings etc.

[@PabloSanz]

I loved the whole series about the trip and preparation Brent, thanks a lot for putting the time and sharing it with us

[@brentbat]

You are welcome Pablo. I love sharing what I learn.

[@archjapanmotovlogs]

Hi Brent this has to be one of the best adventure rider content tutorials I've even watched and I've watched many, you have done the communitty a huge service by creating this thank you !

[@brentbat]

Hey Arch, glad you enjoyed it. I enjoy sharing what I have learned.

[@jeffday777]

Thank you for sharing your settings, Brent, this is very helpful!

[@PTG847]

Thank you Brent! Exceptional videos. I also am an adventure rider but new to GoPro and filming. This has been very helpful!

[@brentbat]

Glad that you found this series useful. It's nice to know that I can help others with a few simple videos.

[@tjracingteam]

That's Brent. Way over my head but I did pick up a thing or two. Brilliant work

[@pckopp]

The Flinders ride is just superb! The riding adventure and your video quality are a cut above. Thanks for sharing it and for sharing all the GoPro tips and tricks. Really most excellent. Thank you.

[@brentbat]

Hey Phillip Glad you enjoyed it. you are most welcome. BP

[@pckopp]

@@brentbat - Just a quick follow-up. It took me a couple of tries but with the microphone clipped to the back of my jacket I am getting the best moto audio EVER! First couple of attempts were no good because the mic was nearly under me and also right against the seat. I moved the mic up a few inches and it works perfectly. Can't thank you enough. PK

[@brentbat]

@@pckopp Hey Phil Really glad to hear that the tips have helped. It really does make a big difference if you have clean audio. Happy for you.

[@thecorporategypsy]

Loved the last part where you did the before/after wipe

[@LeeHollingworth]

Thanks Brent, interesting to see the evolution of the camera settings. Appreciate you taking the time to teach us.

[@bazza8947]

Great amount of useful info! Thanks for taking the time to put this vid together

[@kiwiadventurer]

Manjeona there's some work in there. You're my go to folder Brent. Can't thank you enough.

[@vanhap]

Great info Brent, these are super fun little cameras. Thank you for sharing from a techy mind as your testing develops.

[@_vain_]

Thanks for all you've done.

[@josephdemarchi2597]

Hi Brent Have always loved your photography, and for me, the Flinders series will forever be amongst my favourites. Will use most of your recommendations when I get there in August/September. Cheers

[@gavinmarchio5252]

Thanks Brent, great video, thanks for sharing

[@mantheymotoexperience]

Again, thanks, Brent for all that stuff you’re sharing! Surprised to hear that you left Resolve behind! Please remember, We’re waiting for you visit here in Peru 🇵🇪

[@GlennCooke]

Thank you! Great video... One of the best I've seen on this topic.

[@ericsweetadventure]

This was a great tutorial! Thanks. I’ve never taken time to set up different camera profiles on my GoPros.

[@fredsmoto2961]

Brilliant, many thanks for taking time to explain your editing process. I'll give it a try

[@RJvidmoto]

Great details here...Nice job! Hoping to see more of you productions soon. Missing the content.

[@brentbat]

I've got a new video coming next week. :-)

[@ShadowVonChadwick]

Loved it, will revisit this later in the season. Have not long got my first Go pro and starting to familiarise myself with it. A few decades ago I/we used a JVC Digital 720p camera (mainly skate board vids for the kids) and Premiere Pro, but It's like I'm starting from scratch again. Thanks again for sharing.......Shad

[@brentbat]

It's fun learning new skills. Don't get frustrated..... it will come together pretty quickly.

[@ridingluna]

Thanks one more time for sharing with us your knowledge and taking the time to make this video. Very, very helpful and informative !! That 4:3 tip, game changer for some situations. Unfortunately ...... editing and me, its like trying to mix oil with water .... and i've try ..... ! ;) Thanks Brent !

[@briangschaefer7048]

Brilliant tips, Brent. Thank you so much :)

[@brentbat]

Looks like you are binging a bunch of my videos. Enjoy 👍

[@motero_miguel]

Awesome those little changes make a lot of diference !

[@HarleyGeezer1954]

Awesome! Thanks for the info.

[@johnhoaglun1]

Thanks for sharing the rational behind the settings

[@danielbrixvillanueva]

Really learned a lot from your GoPro settings and post processing tips. Many thanks! Would love to also see your setups for low-light/night riding in the future!

[@brentbat]

Hey BRX... Glad you found it useful. I haven't done a ton of low-light riding, but if I was going to do that, I'd simply up the ISO to 800 ISO max and then boost it a bit in the colour grade. I might do some night time lapses on the ride that I'm just about to do as we are camping out in the mountains.

[@donsmoto-ozrides]

Hi Brent Thanks for your time in posting your rides and technical advice on your amazing photography and your tutorials on the GoPro & drone footage I know many appreciate you taking the time to share your skills with us all. You have produced some of the best adventure rides and content I've watched over the years. Regards Don

[@brentbat]

Thanks Don. It's a labour of love.

[@DalniySvet]

@@brentbat Hello, how do you force youtube to give a better codec that provides a maximum resolution of 1080 instead of 2 and 4k?

[@brentbat]

@@DalniySvet See the 2nd video in this playlist. It explains how to force KZbin to give you the higher codec. kzbin.info/aero/PLT32jLKJaV8Nrvt1CZGIx4GNTudDFO7PG

[@DalniySvet]

@@brentbat thanks a lot for your work! this is cool content!

[@459007aj]

very helpfull

[@thecorporategypsy]

Very good many thanks. You did not discuss sharpness ie on low or in some cases medium, and your view as to why not higher, what you are accomplishing etc. Really helpful and clear thanks!

[@brentbat]

Hey Charles, yes, for some reason I skipped sharpness... Here's the lowdown. Because I grade, I choose to set sharpness to low. The rationale is that I can easily apply sharpening in post production, equal to or better than gopro sharpening. One of the techniques that I apply in post production is to apply sharpening with a circular mask that is feathered, so that I am only sharpening in the centre of the frame. I do this for shots where I'm riding. This keeps the edges a bit softer and helps create a more cinematic look. You can't. get this if camera is already sharpening the image. If I wasn't doing grading/post production then I would leave sharpening on Medium. High is just over the top in my opinion.

[@thecorporategypsy]

@@brentbat that is really very helpful and clear, thank you. Your films have been super helpful as I learn how to film and try and immulate what you are showing. There is a lot to understand and your explanations are very clear. I am starting to incorporate 360 camera but as you mentioned previously the quality suffers as you key frame it so it requires thought on the right time/place. Your drone work is fantastic and none of the Mavic’s, even the new Activetrack 5.0 can keep up with your Skydio 2.0 in follow mode. Looking forward to your COBDR film later this year! Again Many thank yous!

[@marctracy487]

I'm lost, but i'll learn, good info

[@MotoRidesAustralia]

Ahh, I love the idea of masking the sharpening, I'm going to use that one! Thanks for sharing. Have to admit, what you showed of PP reminded me why I switched to Davinci Resolve. It's hard to switch programs but things like image scaling, and DR you can apply to the whole project or timeline, then I just need to tweak the position if needed. Makes it faster. Now I also understand why you have the GoPro high on your helmet, so you can see which mode you're in. Are you switching modes while riding?

[@brentbat]

Hey Verne , Yeah the selective sharpening works nicely. Regarding Resolve over Premiere... yes, it's very personal. I've used Resolve but came back to Premiere more for it's extensibility. When I edit, Premiere does auto scale my images, but for the tutorial I turned this off to illustrate the relationship between camera resolution and editing resolution. Yes, I deliberately mount the gopro higher on my helmet so that I can view the top of the screen while I ride. This allows me to keep an eye on framing, exposure (by eye), battery level and the fact that it is actually recording (flashing red led). I do swap modes while I'm riding, but I mainly use the gopro remote which makes it very easy to swap profiles while flying down the tracks. Sometimes I'm shooting with Activity profile and getting my POV, and then other times, I flick to Cinematic and focus on the rider in front etc.

[@MotoRidesAustralia]

@@brentbat I didn't realise the new remote allows you to change video modes, hmm, might need to now buy one of the only GoPro accessories I don't have yet ;-P

[@brentbat]

@@MotoRidesAustralia Yes, the mode switching is super easy using the remote.... it does that very well.

[@user-jc4wx2rn1o]

Hi Brent. Love your vids for ideas on set up and routes. Can you please share which model drone you use. Thanks, Chris.

[@brentbat]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6eYqX-wnJqKbbM

[@damianwitham8174]

Thanks for sharing Brent. Can I ask what computer system you're using and do you use proxys at all? I haven't used 4K much due to the strain it has on my MAC! Would be good to get a run down of your system and hard drives.

[@brentbat]

Hi Damian, I now have a new fast M1 mac, but before that I was editing using proxys. This is a great tutorial kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5Obh6eQjZtljqM

[@WiredDrummer]

This is some great info! Are you using any ND filters with these profiles and settings?

[@brentbat]

Hi Vasco, yes I do. Please listen to the video from 6:50 where I talk about ISO settings and then the impact on ND filters. I am now setting ISO min = 100, ISO Max = 200 and I'm using an ND16 for sunny conditions, and ND8 for overcast conditions.

[@WiredDrummer]

@@brentbat thanks for replying! I did watch the whole video, but missed that somehow. Thanks again!

[@Gregg6610]

Hi Brent, I really enjoy your videos, what kind of computer are you using/recommend as I have an old laptop that is taking 49 plus hours to render an 18 minute clip with only colour correction, vignette

[@brentbat]

Hey Greg, I'm using an Apple M1 laptop which is really fast for editing. I've heard that the even the M1 Mac Mini is a beast for editing if you plug in a decent monitor. www.apple.com/mac-mini/

[@PavoTreks]

Great tutorial Brent, I was surprised when you showed that you edit 4k clips on 1920 Sequence, but I assume you will export them in 4k and they won't loose any quality, is that correct?

[@brentbat]

Hey Pavo When you edit a 4k clip on a 1920 sequence, it downsamples the clip. So I am throwing pixels away in the edit, but I do this for several reasons. 1) It gives me more reframe options in the edit.. I can straighten horizons, zoom in on clips, reframe clips etc. 2) I'm really happy with the quality of my 1920 X 1080 clips. It is plenty of resolution for me (and most of the viewers that watch my youtube channel) 3) I do Up-res at the end to force the KZbin compression algorithm to always use the higher quality codec, but this is up-scaling, so you it is interpolating pixels into the final render. If you really required full 4K resolution in the final output, then you would need to edit on a 4K timeline to not lose ANY quality in the process. I hope this answered your question.

[@advdan]

Great video! How do you unlock the 60fps in 4k mode? My hero 9 only has 24/30 & 50? The 120 & 240 are not selectable in 4k & 2.7k 🤔

[@advdan]

Just figured it out, I’ve been using PAL instead of NTSC video mode. Changed the anti flicker to 60hz and voilà, 30,60 & 120 instead of 25,50,100 & 200😲 As you were, Brent….

[@5533851]

Great video Brent. I notice you lock the ISO to a range of 100 to 200 and keep the shutter speed variable with an ND filter. Do you find this is the best balance between making the video look 'fast' and 'actiony' and allowing the camera to respond to light changes? Many creators are using 24fps and 1/48 shutter with an appropriately dark ND filter on a bike, but I'm concerned that would have me making too many manual adjustments while on the bike. I just bought a Gopro 8 and testing it on stock settings 1080 @ 60fps found it's very clear and stable but the image presents as slow and boring to watch.. slower than I remember riding! I have the Adobe suite so am keen to have a play. Cheers.

[@brentbat]

Hi EveryDayCar, With GoPro capturing motion blur is a bit of a fine balance. If your shutter speed is too high, then you get no blur in your shot and your images look kinda chaotic. If you have too much motion blur, then the image stabilisation algorithm battles and you get shake. You might want to look at this experiment I ran on the topic kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnmzdYZqnLigZsU The classic rule of shooting cinematic (180 degree shutter rule - 24fps and 1/48fps) doesn't work for high speed motorcycle shooting where you rely on in-camera image stabilisation. So now I shoot at either 30fps or 60fps and I am for a target shutter speed of 1/125s, I set min ISO=100 and max iso=200 and I go a bit easier with my ND filters. An ND 8 works well in mixed shade/sun If I'm riding in direct sun I'd probably put an ND16 on. I hope that helps.

[@user-mr1tz1ke4q]

Dear @@brentbat , thanks a lot for your work! It's not entirely clear to me, do you use automatic shutter speed or fixed - 1/125? Have a nice day)

[@brentbat]

Hi there.@@user-mr1tz1ke4q I set my shutter to Automatic, but try to target it at 1/125 sec through the use of ND filters. I hope this clarifies.

[@StevesBikes01]

Excellent as always Brent. Have you every returned from a GoPro shoot and found that the MicroSD card is unreadable? The camera will say the only fix is to format it, however you will lose your data. If so, how did you solve the issue? Cheers

[@brentbat]

I've had sd cards fail on me, but luckily not with video that I haven't had a chance to recover from it. I try to back up my cards regularly so that I have more than one copy of a video. That way if a card does fail I have a backup.

[@StevesBikes01]

@@brentbat thanks Brent, I managed to recover an additional card with some software I found but it was $164 for a one month subscription, so I’ll be looking at better backup. Cheers

[@brentbat]

@@StevesBikes01 Hey Steve, I've now put together a portable backup solution so that I can back up cards to an SSD while touring using my iPad. You can also use the same approach using a mobile phone to manage the backup.

[@orpaztron]

As for Go pro videography, I prefer the 3/4 wide tip you gave with the larger freedom to edit the point of view as needed. the sound I think in this video the exhaust noise was different and flatter did you change settings?. I've been playing with Color Grading in photos and videos quite a bit for the last two weeks and it seems to me that I'm starting to realize how deep and fluid the subject is. I've downloaded few LUT but I don't have a clue about checking them in changing lighting, angles and environment so I still adjust it manually- and also it's forces me to learn more. In any case, appreciate the generosity and thoroughness. thanks!

[@brentbat]

Hey Dror , Yes, my lapel microphone broke, so I grabbed a cheapie... at some point I'm going to do some experimentation with reasonably priced lapel microphones to see if I can find one that captures exhaust sounds nicely. Regarding Colour grading, there is a definite "approach" to it. 1) Correct each shot first (make it look good) 2) Match. your shots 3) THEN apply any creative LUTs When applying creative LUTs, generally you apply them to a big chunk (or all) of your clips to create a look.... I usually do not change the LUT from clip to clip... the LUT is generally giving me my overall look and feel. But this is one of those topics where the more you do it... the better you will get. There are some amazing things that you can do. even when colour grading video.... If you want to see a guy who is pretty awesome, check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGaseGCXhb2Fr7c He does a lot of selective grading which is amazing... one day I'll start doing this too.

[@orpaztron]

@@brentbat Thanks for the tip and the channel. The color matching from the full frame cam, phone and the GOPRO is one of the important challenges at this point. I have already watched several hours of videos on this subject and each photographer has a different work process with different explanations and edits also about 500 stills shots with Lightroom. I can write a book about the irrationality in Adobe's colors tools in Photoshop Lightroom and Premiere :) I think the color is pretty bad in my videos (also) because I work with a 15" laptop screen for 20 years. I'll have to change that too.

[@brentbat]

@@orpaztron Yes, colour matching and grading is definitely an interesting topic. When I was doing photography I bought an entire book on the subject of colour management just so I could understand the science behind it before I even started learning how to grade or correct colour. Definitely a deep topic.

[@StayAliveGuru]

Hey Brent! Do you ever lock your shutter speed and then just use your ND filter to correct exposure?

[@brentbat]

Hey ShaveReady, No I don't do that. The reason is that the exposure varies too much as I ride... if a cloud comes over or if I go from sun to shade... that is a stop or two exposure change. If I wasn't adventure riding and I was just trying to make a movie... then I probably would do that to optimse my blur... but I'd rather have good exposure and my shutter changing than my exposure bouncing around. I hope that answers your questions. I have locked my shutter to do experiments on blur etc. Eg: in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnmzdYZqnLigZsU

[@StayAliveGuru]

@@brentbat Thanks for the insight! While leaving the shutter in auto are you using NDs at all?

[@brentbat]

@@StayAliveGuru Yes, i'm using NDs (mainly ND8 and ND16, and I'm locking my min iso=100 and my max iso=200 so that GoPro doesn't crank up the shutter speed and negate the ND filters.

[@thecorporategypsy]

So these changes to ISO are driven by the ND filter usage. So in a situation where you do not use an ND filter, keep the ISO are per your original film i.e. 100min - 400max?

[@brentbat]

Correct, if you are not using an ND filter, then you can turn he max iso up to 400 or 800, but just be aware that GoPro is probably going to take that option earlier than a traditional camera would. As I mentioned in the video... With "normal" cameras, the shutter speed would drop to something close to 1/60 of a second BEFORE the camera would start cranking up the ISO. But I'm fairly sure GoPro cranks it up much earlier to keep a higher shutter speed. I can't prove this easily because there is little exposure info displayed or written to meta data with GoPro.

[@thecorporategypsy]

@@brentbat super thanks. Finally broke down and got the Skydio 2+. Learning how to use it and watching your film on the subject. Thanks again.

[@brentbat]

@@thecorporategypsy OK. So here are my top Skydio II tips. 1) Throw an ND16 on it and just leave it on there. 2) Whenever you are riding in tight terrain, either bring the Skydio in tight behind you, or throw it out high and far so it flies above the trees. 3) The best shots with the Skydio are the dynamic repositioning shots... so for example have the Skydio at your 2'Oclock position, and then hit the left arrow 4 times quickly and the skydio will fly across the front of the bike and then down to your 8'oclock position all the while tracking you. Those are the shots that look great. 4) Learn how to use the cable shot. Perfect for when you are stopped at camp or a lookout and want to do a nice smooth transition shot 5) Learn how to use orbit mode.... also great for lookouts etc. 6) Learn how to track Skydio's last location using the map.... if it does crash (and mine has crashed a couple of times), then you need to know how to locate the drone. 7) Have fun and try not to stress (I hope you bought the insurance just in case)... the first few flights with Skydio are stressful until you learn to trust it.

[@thecorporategypsy]

@@brentbat you have gone above and beyond mate, much appreciate. When we someday meet, probably riding with Neil after you get out of his dog house, you drink for free. Riding Wyoming BDR in August with Neil so working on learning how to operate the drone for that trip! Thanks again!

[@brentbat]

@@thecorporategypsy Sounds like a deal.... Yeah, Neil won't let me on one of his bikes anymore. I say it's not my riding... his bikes are cursed.

[@mantheymotoexperience]

Brent do you use also Instagram?

[@paritoshpatil5578]

Do you have instagram ID so I can follow you also there?

[@brentbat]

Thanks Paritosh, but no, I only publish videos on KZbin.

[@1paulcave]

Thanks Brent - learning more and more about editing all the time. So much to learn - no wonder most youtube video is straight out of the camera :-)

[@brentbat]

Yes, editing is quite the learning curve, but if you have patience, it is fun and rewarding. I recommend you go to something like LInkedIn learning and do one of their "Fundamental Courses" on the editing software.... play around with that for a while, then come back and look at my editing tutorial... which will give you a methodology for using the tool and doing an edit.