Action camera mounting on 1x?

[Henry Law]

As a self-coaching sculler I need to see more of what I'm doing so I
feel a GAS attack* coming on. I think I need an an "action camera",
probably a GoPro now that the premium for their brand seems to have come
down a bit.

Has anyone any advice on where to mount it on the boat? Not all at the
same time, of course, but I need to see blades at catch and finish,
hands at both catch and finish, posture from the side and maybe the
front too. I guess a suction mount on either the bow or the stern will
do some of it, but I've seen footage from the side, and even from above.

*Gear Acquisition Syndrome, well known to musicians, photographers and
probably to some rowers.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

Firstly theres no need to rely on GoPro, they're the most marketed brand but there are a number of "almost as good" brands out there which work just as well and get excellent quality footage for a fraction of the price - for example:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SJCAM-Multi-function-Wifi-SJ4000-wide-angle/dp/B00N7CFXE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469460146&sr=8-1&keywords=sjcam+s4000

Mount wise

https://www.amazon.co.uk/fitTek-Mounting-Accessories-Sports-Cameras/dp/B00NSN3X14/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469460146&sr=8-2&keywords=sjcam+s4000

The Sj4000 also has a remote option which is good for avoiding ending up with 1+ hours of footage to review

for front/back views - The black slots glue onto the hull and are very firmly attached, I have never had one fall off, but are easy to remove when you no longer want them on the hull. Personally I find the footage interesting from front and behind, but generally tend to struggle to see too many technical points here to work on

Side view, some options I have seen have involved adding a backstay upsidedown (so you kind of look like an X-wing from star wars) to get the side angle, however one issue is the fish eye lens distorts the view so makes it look a little odd

[Sarah Harbour]

I use a GoPro with the suction cup mount and a lanyard - I don't manage to see the blades at the finish because my lanyard isn't long enough... but I could easy get a longer lanyard and move it further towards the stern (incidentally the only failure we've had with the suction cup was when Mel failed to actually lock it in position... good job I had the lanyard).

Sarah

[aadam]

Used surf mount on the stern, as far back as it will fit, then 3x gooseneck mounts, which allow you to adjust the angle towards the side of the boat: http://shop.gopro.com/mounts/surfboard-mounts/ASURF-001.html and http://shop.gopro.com/mounts/gooseneck/ACMFN-001.html

Make sure to let surf mount cure for 24 hours. Experiment with goosenecks - did get some vibration in the footage. Angle on GoPro was set wide, but that way you get blades at catch and finish.

[RunDMC]

I use a suction cup mount for the view from bow or stern, and I replaced the top bolt on an oarlock with a longer one to allow a mount on the top of the pin, using the standard GoPro hardware. With the wide angle, I can get most of my bladework from the pin mounting, and I find that view generally more revealing of my technique than the bow/stern view.

Dan C

[Gregory Smith]

Hi,

I use a gopro for video feedback. The great thing about the gopro is not the camera, but all the cool mounting adapters that they have.

I tried and rejected the suction cup mount. Three reasons.
1. I worry that it would let go due to dirt or something else messing up the vacuum.
2. Having a lanyard or something as a backup was a pain
3. It's big. It sits higher off the deck and wiggles around a bit. It also just looks janky.

Instead, I used a adhesive clip and the mate on the camera. Its lower, stiffer, and more more secure. I also use an old backstay on the end of my rigger to do side views.

You can check out pictures and stuff for these mounts here: https://quantifiedrowing.wordpress.com/2016/07/26/video-feedback/

[James HS]

well the gopro is a good piece of kit, and linked with a suction mount it can get far enough away to see everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni2Pz2CHnvE shows you how wide it can go (when you set the gopro for low res you get a wider field of view at 135 degrees.)

I use a gopro suction mount with some invisible fishing line as a lanyard (it is stretchy line) - have never had a failure, but am not going to watch a few £00s dropping off the boat!

I also use a RAM mount https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssub91CutaM the mount is very strong - the arm produces quite a bit of wobble .... am working on a simple triangulated one.

It is great for self coaching! - and, if turned sideways, it is great for one on one video with other boats - with you acting as a camera dolly - I have done lots of starts and race pieces with groups of scullers - and the advantage for me is having to do 20 starts in a session to keep up :)

The one thing I would definitely recommend is an extended battery - piggyback - as in the winter when it gets cold :( they die really quickly.

Then a case to put it in ...... then video software ...... then a viewing back ..... then wireless :)

Lots of kit opportunity, but at times it has been one of the best things I have used for self coaching.

The sculler's head video is a case in point (please don't look at the sculling :)) it has to be switched on when I boat, and then an hour later the race starts ..... and it lasts almost to home (with the battery pack and a 64Gb memory card. I tried the remote once and found it used as much power on standby as when it was filming!

Have fun!!!

[Kit Davies]

Overhead shots can be very revealing and are underused IMHO.

The ones that Jim Dwyer got here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C44XxF1_ZA

were done using tent poles.

Kit

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

Would love to see a side photo of Jim using this

[carl]

On 25/07/2016 15:56, Henry Law wrote:

I still have the video that we obtained in the early 2000s from a camera
mounted on the aft deck of a 1x.

This camera, far more clunky than today's wonderful toys, faced the
sculler and showed hands, head, body, legs and, near the catch, the
blades. It also showed the scenery beyond the boat.

It also recorded the fluctuations in force applied at the pins. We'd
built a pair of riggers incorporating a simple but highly accurate
differential force balance. This device was based on a very stiff beam
whose time-variant deflexions under the applied loads were shown
continuously by an analogue dial gauge which was also visible to the camera.

Simple but highly effective.

We could see & study exactly what the sculler was doing throughout each
stroke. We saw how relative hand heights varied from catch to finish;
how force applied was being switched from side to side, & by exactly how
much; how that variation related to deliberate changes in hand height;
how the boat ran dead straight between strokes; how its direction
changed (always to the same side) just before the end of every stroke.
We also heard what was being said between sculler & coach in a language
I was known not to speak but which, when translated, proved exactly the
game that was being played.

My first point is: it has always been possible, & easy, to generate
useful & accurate data on rower performance with the most basic of
equipment & techniques - in this case with a cunningly designed
force-balance & the help of a now long-out-dated video camera & some
adhesive tape. And how you can garner additional, serendipitous but
relevant intelligence in unexpected ways from a crude-looking lash-up
(crude looking, but not crude in performance!). Those same data could
have been generated >40 years earlier with a wind-up 8mm film camera in
place of the video camera that I used. All it takes is basic ingenuity,
plus motivation.

My second point is: what do we then do with those data? My cynical
suspicion is that we collect reams of data for data's sake, but lack
coherent models to which to apply our data.

Cheers -
Carl

--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells -
Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK
Find: tinyurl.com/2tqujf
Email: ca...@carldouglasrowing.com Tel: +44(0)1932-570946 Fax: -563682
URLs: carldouglasrowing.com & now on Facebook @ CarlDouglasRacingShells

[Kit Davies]

He used to post here. Paging Jim Dwyer ...

IIRC he had poles rigged fore and aft, as well as across from pin to
pin, all meeting at the apex where the camera was attached.

Kit

[madur...@gmail.com]

On Monday, July 25, 2016 at 11:40:17 PM UTC-4, Gregory Smith wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I use a gopro for video feedback. The great thing about the gopro is not the camera, but all the cool mounting adapters that they have.
>
> I tried and rejected the suction cup mount. Three reasons.
> 1. I worry that it would let go due to dirt or something else messing up the vacuum.
> 2. Having a lanyard or something as a backup was a pain
> 3. It's big. It sits higher off the deck and wiggles around a bit. It also just looks janky.

You are right to worry about suction cup. I already lost one GoPro camera on the bottom of the Long Island Sound. I even had the flotation cushion but it could not withstand the weight of the camera and the suction cup when it detached from the boat. It detached from the simple stress on the boat that was caused by one of my blades hitting a buoy.

Now, I am on my second camera and I used self adhesive mounts on the bow and the stern. If you are worried that you will have permanent mounts on your boat, you can remove them by holding a hair dryer on them for a few minutes and they will come off.

[Jim Dwyer]

I use the square mount that came with the GoPro camera. Mine was mounted
on a plastic square in a clear plastic cube.
I place a piece of foam on the boat and tape the mount to the boat at the
stern or the bow.
I also use a rigger backstay mounted on top of an oarlock for a side view
and flexible tent poles arched across both oarlocks for a top view. I tie
string from the camera to the bow and stern to hold up the arch.
Here are some of the views:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C44XxF1_ZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrZmiUH1V4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfQFpFrOfkw

Jim Rowing the 1x




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