GoPro tips and settings for climbers

TINYHULK

Treehouser
Joined
Oct 30, 2021
Messages
574
Location
Virginia
Not sure how many of you use go pros but I see a lot of great footage so I figured a few of you use them and know a lot more than me about them. I just bought myeself a GoPro 10 black and mounted it on my camera. I did it for three purposes. Self reflection for growth, making videos to be used as advertising for the company, and when people ask about my work I can show them. Like a growing resume. Here is my first video. Just some high lights of my first control speed line job with some bad music in the back ground. Not my final product but it was shot using the extended battery mode, 4K, 30fps, and narrow field of view. Also what editing software do you use? The GoPro one let me down quickly with there audio file issues so I used iMovie on my MacBook Pro.

 
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I wear long sleeves and gloves your round. That was Thursday. It was a high of like 85 so not too bad compared to what we have been having either
 
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I have 3 long sleeve and one short sleeve work shirt. The short sleeve gets worn 2-3 times out of a month. When handling bark and doing a lot of snap cuts in the bucket as well as the hellacious farmers ran and sun burn. I just condition myself to stay fully covered. Clogger zero gen 2’s, long sleeve shirt, atlas 300 gloves, and my protos helmet, Every day all day regardless of the job.
 
Some people are like that. Nothing wrong with it, plenty right with it.

But yeah it would be too hot for me also. I stick with the farmer's tan and sometimes I'll cover my neck to keep it from getting even craggier.
 
I edit with Final Cut Pro X.

I have Hero 8. I normally shoot in ultra wide, 30fps, hyper smooth.

Overheating is an issue with the GoPros and most cameras. I have one Sony body (FX3) with active cooling that does well in the heat.
 
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I cut the stubs off those were all at the top of the tree. The control speed line was because of limb size and a narrow landing zone. The pictures don’t show it but there was an overhang for a boat below me so everything had to speed line over it until I could start flopping 10-12 footers backwards against the lean. I was scared to control speed line the whole top due to my guys not having experience with it yet so I climbed up to the final crown of three limbs. Took everything off of it besides the top three stems and pulled that over by hand. Was small enough I was comfortable doing a free speed line so my guys didn’t over rig a top on a controlled line and rock the hell out of me in that tree. Was like a 90ft pine
 
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I have pretty small hands so the gloves help there a lot. Growing up turning wrenches at my dads shop. The guys would always get my help where there hands wouldn’t reach. By the time the piece gets to a 5in dbh I can no longer grab it with one hand.

I experienced the overheating with the GoPro. I bought that extreme case for it that makes it waterproof to protect it in the tree and it over heated once during that day and it was only 85 degrees.

I like the settings lumberjack. I ran huper smooth on that one. I was concerned with the fish eye effect distorting the video so I tried narrow view first and found too many times where it cut out part of my footage making it not good for video. Had the tree down in about 5 hours, got an hour of footage and only found 2 minutes of footage that I actually liked. Everything else was either slow and boring cause my guys were inexperienced or the camera field of view messed up my shot
 
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I see what y’all are saying about the stubs. I normally clean every cut to the collar. I’ll go further if I’m really scared of a hang up causing an issue. At the top I planned on taking every little stem at a time so I wasn’t too worried about a little stub.
 
The reference to stubs also harkens back to the founder of this Forum. It was a favourite comment of his whenever anyone posted a removal picture with ANY stubs in it LOL
I actually like the odd stub for a foot rest, but keeping in mind the potential for causing problems later in the job
Long sleeves and gloves here too!

With the video, it would be good to see more of your attachment and lowering setup, along with the bits being cut and sent and I personally like it when the music (if any) is lower in the background, natural sounds to the fore, chainsaw, wood cracking, the comments of the climber rather than music.
 
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I like the points Bermy! Eventually I’m going to play with some speed effects to increase the tempo on the slower parts of the video. The audio being louder came that way on imovie and I need to get familiar with editing software.
 
Matt, is this not a public video on YouTube yet? Tried to search it on the big screen and no dice

Good idea to record your jobs.
I usually set up my cell phone and record my work. It’s very informative to see what actually happened from the 3 rd person perspective. It’s cool to share with friends and family as well. I don’t do any editing though. At least not at this point.
 
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No I didn’t make it public. Video isn’t completely done yet so I didn’t want to publish it.

Great points Bermy! I need to change the music and work on some speed adjustments on the video so I can add more footage and speed up some of the slower areas of the work. Control speed line with two inexperienced guys on the ground was a very slow process at times so that video didn’t get used much
 
My neighbor, "Brother Charlie's" grandson will be my video editor.

Looking for some input on buying camera(s).

I'm going to look into Patreon.
 
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I’ve been happy with the anti shock and clarity of my GoPro 10. I bought the heavy duty waterproof case for it and it overheated on an 85 degree day. I have a silicon case and screen protectors coming for it. Hopefully that will help
 
Just an idea, guide the 'work' down rather than bear the entire weight. If you can shove it off the spar (cut straight through and resting on the spar, or snap-cut), its easier on your body. Pushing is better that twisting while bearing weight.
 
I'm 49 now. Going strong.

Sharp saws and being as "lazy" as possible helps a lot.

I'm not sure, but i got the impression previously that you're similar in stature to me.

It is all cumulative, so saving small bits along with the big bits adds up.
 
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Yeah for sure. I just turned 29 and my guys made it super hard on me with forgetting gear and not being on the ball today. Had to climb and pull the rope up so much that my hands started to cramp. I was sitting at dinner with my girl and my left thumb locked up and I couldn’t move it. Pinched nerve from being over stressed today. Luckily tomorrow should be bucket work and much shorter
 
If you got that much stuff to pull up, have them send it on the rigging line. You rest while they pull, which is an easy task and faster for them since they're standing on the ground pulling down hand over hand. In the heat especially you need to spread the work to others if you need a hand. Yeah most of the time I'll pull the stuff because they're working, but if I'm getting worn down and need help I'll get it. That way everyone on the team can help each other, because if the climber is dragging the whole job is dragging. It's not often you are gonna be able to tap another climber in if you're burnt out, so they can help so you have more gas in the tank if you've got a tough one.

Another really good trick is to set a pulley above you as a redirect so you are pulling in a downward direction, this way you can lay back and relax into your harness while you pull stuff up. I have a handled ascender with a revolver on the tail to use as a 3 to 1 and for hauling stuff. Quick second to clip it on my climbline above my head at full reach, clip my climbline tail, and now I'm pulling down with gravity rather than lifting up awkwardly over the side or in between your legs. This is much faster and ergonomic, using bigger muscles in your arms and back. A sling with an alpine clutch works stunningly well too for normal loads, since it will capture progress so you don't need to hold on. It's the little things in life :lol:
 
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