Suggested GoPro Settings for Solo

so low still grounded · Jul 27, 2017

nice Pedals. Beautiful and good emotional content. the HDR across the entire image is good and even. Is this Lightroom? does it batch or sequence process ? in your image you can still see the snaked horizon from the stich even though very slightly. The issue still exists even with the best rectilinear lenses In that once light which is “3D visual light” are set fixed on a 2D planar surface like a sensor or in a picture or video it has limits that can never match the human eye. Simply because the human eye always observes in 3D not in 2D. When Hollywood came out with 3D movies everyone went …WOW!! …..er……you being seeing this way your whole life…..what’s all the fuss about? just your mind has been thinking in 2D and watching too much tv.

Have a look at this rectilinear lens. clamp this baby on a gopro or even better the whole camera on your solo would be very nice.

DKM · Oct 4, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
The GoPro H4B with a 3.83 lens does pretty good work despite being yesterday's technology. I recently went the way of the 3.83 lens and I will never go back to fish eye ever again! I'm done with that distortion. At the same time, I taught myself how to use Lightroom and started taking photos in flat. native. I may never go back to GoPro color mode ever again either!

This is pano of 7 photos stitched together and developed in Lightroom from a storm passing by yesterday around sunset. GP 4 black, 3.83 lens, flat color, native white balance, ev comp 0, and an ND16 polarizer filter from 375ft at about 10 minutes prior to sunset. This would never happen if shot in gopro color with a stock lens. I feel like my camera has been reborn. I must thank one of my neighbors for talking me into the cost of lightroom.

View attachment 6668

I like this idea. Can you tell me where you found the 3.83 lens?

Greg Parker · Oct 15, 2017

The same settings can really help videos also. Some are not aware that Lightroom can be used to to color grade video.

One tutorial here:

Several others on the Tube

Monos2017 · Oct 22, 2017

This an OUTSTANDING post. I don't have a GoPro camera (or at least, not yet), but your information is still very valuable. Thank you!

Airpower · Oct 27, 2017

While Lightroom does color grade video, there are far more options in premiere pro, from multiple kinds of histograms scopes as well as more precise saturation and hue adjustment. Wish i could edit pictures in premiere!

jxo · Nov 4, 2017

Pedals2Paddles said:
The GoPro H4B with a 3.83 lens does pretty good work despite being yesterday's technology. I recently went the way of the 3.83 lens and I will never go back to fish eye ever again! I'm done with that distortion. At the same time, I taught myself how to use Lightroom and started taking photos in flat. native. I may never go back to GoPro color mode ever again either!

This is pano of 7 photos stitched together and developed in Lightroom from a storm passing by yesterday around sunset. GP 4 black, 3.83 lens, flat color, native white balance, ev comp 0, and an ND16 polarizer filter from 375ft at about 10 minutes prior to sunset. This would never happen if shot in gopro color with a stock lens. I feel like my camera has been reborn. I must thank one of my neighbors for talking me into the cost of lightroom.

View attachment 6668

This is precisely why I am springing now for a Solo (its on the way and have not used yet). P2P: any more information on how you post processed this would be much appreciated. I am an advanced Lightroom user-- regular HDR shooter with various plugins for LR. Use Canon DSLRs. Have never tried this with GoPros. Will shoot GP 4, 5 and 6 Black. Is Solex and the gimbal necessary for these types of photos?

John Githens · Dec 10, 2017

A link in the top post in this thread gets a 404 error. Here is a working link to GoPro's page about White Balance.

Djjohan 338 · Feb 10, 2018

I want to know if I can put my 3drsolo a gopro camera session 5

Djjohan 338 · Feb 10, 2018

Quiero saber si puedo poner mi 3drsolo en una sesión de cámara gopro 5

CAMXPOSURE · Mar 16, 2018

figured I would read the sticky threads- since these need attention

Scottr025 · Apr 8, 2018

Anyone think the 4black is worth the upgrade over the 4 silver?
I read the silver has a longer battery life. But the Black has the 4K 30 FPS.
I read the sticky note but should I be shooting at 1080p at 60 FPS for that silky smooth video? Or is 2k at 30 FPS a better choice for the drone with the silver? What’s the opinion between those settings? FPS or higher resolution? Thanks.

Scottr025 · Apr 8, 2018

Scottr025 said:
Anyone think the 4black is worth the upgrade over the 4 silver?
I read the silver has a longer battery life. But the Black has the 4K 30 FPS.
I read the sticky note but should I be shooting at 1080p at 60 FPS for that silky smooth video? Or is 2k at 30 FPS a better choice for the drone with the silver? What’s the opinion between those settings? FPS or higher resolution? Thanks.

Disregard my question about about either using 1080 60fps or 2k 30fps I think I answered my own question, reading the sticky again. But does anyone think buying a go pro 4 black would be a decent upgrade from the silver, for solo use?

erikgraham · Apr 11, 2018

Scottr025 said:
Disregard my question about about either using 1080 60fps or 2k 30fps I think I answered my own question, reading the sticky again. But does anyone think buying a go pro 4 black would be a decent upgrade from the silver, for solo use?

Personally I always preferred the Hero 4 Black 4K@30fps if final delivery was going to be 1080P. I even shot at 24fps depending on which land based cameras we were trying to match. Even for personal stuff i still use the lower frame rates. I think you lose too much image quality going for higher frame rates on GoPros of that generation. I also prefer the more cinimatic feel of 24 or 30 FPS (when matched to the appropriate shutter speed and ND filter). Keep in mind we stabilize all footage from air or ground. A lot of footage that looks smooth on a phone or computer screen is noticeably “jiggly” on a larger format screen. Even the ground cameras. Anyway, the 4K footage also let’s you crop to reframe, so that’s a nice bonus if delivering in 1080p.

Having said all that, a lot has changed since I wrote this sticky. It’s pretty out of date now. There have been a lot of updates to GoPro firmware. If I were still actively using the Solo and using GoPros, I bet I'd still prefer the black at 4K 30.

(I don’t come around these forums much, so I apologize for non-answers or slow answers. I do miss my Solo. It’s still my favorite drone so far. You still can’t beat it’s smart shots on anything else, including $10,000 drones)

pyrate · Apr 11, 2018

still pretty much spot on not that much has changed, as to if it is worth the upgrade that depends on your need
you can get 4 blacks really cheap now. And a 4 Black with a good flat lens is the best image you are going to squeeze out of a solo with full control to the camera via gimbal

Scottr025 · Apr 11, 2018

Thanks for the update guys. I still love using the solo. Just trying to decide weather to sell my silver and get a black. I can upgrade for about $100. Wouldn’t it be better to shoot at 2.7k at 60 with the black then slow the footage down to 30 in post production to get that cinematic feel? I’ve watched tutorials online that recommended this technique. Because you can always slow down the frame in post but you really can’t add afterwards. Plus shooting at 60 with the drone I’ve read you will get less jello effect. I’m still new to flying and editing footage so just trying to get as many opinions on shooting as possible. Thanks for the tips so far.

pyrate · Apr 12, 2018

I shoot primarily in 2.7K 60 so if I chose to slow it down I can
it just gives you more flexibility speed ramping period
Now if I know I am not going to speed ramp, 4K is just really good for detail

AlienPanda · Apr 14, 2018

Pedals2Paddles said:
The GoPro H4B with a 3.83 lens does pretty good work despite being yesterday's technology. I recently went the way of the 3.83 lens and I will never go back to fish eye ever again! I'm done with that distortion. At the same time, I taught myself how to use Lightroom and started taking photos in flat. native. I may never go back to GoPro color mode ever again either!

This is pano of 7 photos stitched together and developed in Lightroom from a storm passing by yesterday around sunset. GP 4 black, 3.83 lens, flat color, native white balance, ev comp 0, and an ND16 polarizer filter from 375ft at about 10 minutes prior to sunset. This would never happen if shot in gopro color with a stock lens. I feel like my camera has been reborn. I must thank one of my neighbors for talking me into the cost of lightroom.

View attachment 6668

This is a very nice picture. Very clear and clean details. Do you remember this pic was shot in 4k or 2k?

DigitalMD · Oct 22, 2018

Lots of good info.
Just wanted to point out that another reason for using a high frame rate is to get a smooth slow motion effect when you playback your video. ie. shooting at 120fps allows you to get a smooth video at 4x slow motion when played back at 30fps