The testing continues with the GoPro Hero2 in this vlog:

In the above video, I set out to accomplish three things -

First, I wanted to really test the new mic the Hero2 has on board. The original mic was really tinny and pretty much useless to capture speech. When watching reality shows, I could always hear when they forgot to swap out the lavalier mics and left the GoPro running. The Hero2′s system corrects much of the first generation’s problems, but still has a tinny sound. Even with that effect, I think it’s works well enough to do a quick vlog. Capturing ambient noises doesn’t seem to create the same effect. It’s really only with speech that you pick up on things.

Second, I wanted to test my frame placement. In a few weeks, Jo and I will be shooting our next Your Neck of the Woods video and I plan on using the GoPro when walking and talking during my interviews. Since there is no LCD screen facing the subjects, I needed to master how to frame myself. By using the bubble lens reflection, I’m able to correctly guess where I sit in the frame. This is a technique I picked up when using the camera in my office for Vlogs. I also found out that I really don’t need to hold out my arm that far when vlogging like I do with the Canon. This should make things a lot easier. As you can see in the image above, if you pay attention, you know exactly where you’ll appear.

Finally, I wanted to test out some additional Twixtor settings. When making the coffee video, everything was shot in 720p/60fsp. This vlog combined 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps. I’m glad I did this, because I learned a valuable lesson. When combining the footage in FinalCut, I need to first drag the 1080p footage into the timeline to get the clip settings uniform. Then I can bring in to the 720p clips. Otherwise, things get all haywire and I have to export and re-import. That just takes too much time. The clips were slowed down to about 14% and there is still a little choppiness. On Monday’s shoot I will test using the camera’s 120fps option and see how that integrates to a 1080p project. My friend Chuck showed me a gun firing clip me made using the 120fos mode and slowing footage down to 0.3% – it was very smooth!