In-car 25p footage

[Critters]

Shot using the 25p setting with shutter priority set to max (2000)

The good:
Every single frame is in focus and at any speed there is no, NO, motion blur, even on the edges and cars coming the other way.

The bad:
The "wobble effect" is bad. Also artifacts are more visible over the 50i footage. I guess cos the pin sharp, fast moving images overwhelm the bandwidth / compression ?

The footage:
http://www.novelconcepts.co.uk/HV20/in-car-shakey/

I can recommend looking at the PNGs, especially this one:
http://www.novelconcepts.co.uk/HV20/in-car-shakey/vlcsnap-2372031.png
Which was on a sharp corner taken at 55-60mph (88-96kph) there is NO blurring.

So each and every frame is a great photo, but as you can see from the footage the wobble at speed is awful, though on some shots it does make the car look faster than it is going ;) officer.

And the audio is spot on again, even with the window open the engine noise can be heard over the wind noise.

So still looking for a in-car rig with MUCH more dampening.

[johnbatista]

You went 60 round that corner? Mad bastard.

[kbrafford]

You went 60 round that corner? Mad bastard.

I think he went 50i around that corner :hv20-smilie03:

[Critters]

hehe, I know the car can do way more than that.. but you never know whats round a corner on a public road.

[Rawfa]

Jesus! The wobble is horrendous here. Damn you, Canon! Damn you!

[jaelupo]

I don't uderstand why there is so much "Wobble". I have shot a few sceens in the car and it didn't look this bad. It might be so bad because the shutter was wide open and it is in 25p mode. I don't think that is nessary unless your going very fast or there is not much light. I would use 60i mode with the settings on auto so the camera can handle the fast changing conditions. I will do some tests and upload it here.

[Norbert]

The wobble seems to always appear worse when the camera is vibrating. Same thing happened in the helicopter shot that was posted in the wobble thread.

[Critters]

It is vibration, when the car was stopped the image appeared to wobble, like it was been randomly scaled vertically by a few pixels. Need a dampening solution.

[DSleep]

wow, while watching that I was more worried about you dying in a fiery crash than the wobble issue. That wobble is really interesting looking, I actually loved the famous helicopter footage, that fluid, melty look.

I am curious how software correction does with this kind of thing. Like the new Motion for example borrows Shake's camera stabilization effects. This movement is pretty extreme though...

[jaelupo]

OK, I did some testing today in the car and it is true that the wobble effect comes from the camera being mounted to any part of the car. It appears that the camera can't handle the vibration from the car no matter what settings I used on the camera. The funny thing is if you hold the camera in your hand and drive (not easy to do) the problem goes away. Here is a test clip driving while holding the camera, a little shaky no wobble:

http://hv20.info/yopu/Driving-in-the-car.WMV

[bluegrass]

OK, I did some testing today in the car and it is true that the wobble effect comes from the camera being mounted to any part of the car. It appears that the camera can't handle the vibration from the car no matter what settings I used on the camera. The funny thing is if you hold the camera in your hand and drive (not easy to do) the problem goes away. Here is a test clip driving while holding the camera, a little shaky no wobble:

http://hv20.info/yopu/Driving-in-the-car.WMV

I haven't tried it with my HV20 but in the past I have sucessfully recorded some nice video using my SD camcorder mounted on a tripod with one or two legs on the passenger seat and one or two legs on the carpet. I took a lot of Colorado mountain scenery this way. It was a typical mountain road and not a lot of bumps.

here is a link where it should stream right away for you:
http://johnhartford.org/videos/highmountainhayfever2006/drivetowestcliffe.wmv

keep in mind that I shot this through the windshield and I was driving alone. i glanced once in awhile at the LCD and adjusted occasionally as I was driving. I usually adjusted to have the camera follow the road on curves. this is almost a six minute clip but you won't have to wait to view it, if you have Windows Media Player. I think the ride is worth it. I wish I was a professional editor and photgrapher and could do this again with an HV20. well maybe someday. in a couple weeks, i'll film driving through brown county indiana to the bean blossom festival. i should get some pretty scenery shots there.

[Mal]

So it's obviously high-frequency shakes that the HV20 doesn't like, as opposed to simply all movement of the camera.

I am still thinking we'd need to narrow down some simple solutions in regards to what can and can't be recorded.
Looking at this latest in-car footage, I bet it's just a matter of correct stabilization together with ideal shutter-speed...

[Dodgy Nick]

Critters, did you have image stabilisation on? That would explain the wobble effect if the camera was vibrating because of the car.

[Critters]

It was on, shall I turn it off? Anyone care to post what they think would be the beset possible setup (25p / 50i / shutter speed / etc)

[DSleep]

yeah, definitely try turning the OIS off.

[jaelupo]

OK, I did some more tests today in the car. First I turned the OIS off and used some manual seetings. I mounted the camera to the dash with a special tripod I have. The wobble effect went away but the camera really shake was so bad that the footage was worthless. I then tried mounting the camera in the headrest of the car and had the same results. You really see how well the OIS works when you are not using it. Next I tried holding it in my hand and this pretty bad as well. The best results I have had in the car is with the OIS on and holding it in my hand with full auto settings. If anyone else can find a better way let us all know. Thanks.

Jae

[Critters]

With OIS off, and 25p with 2000 shutter (no motion blur) would the footage be a candidate for some shake removing software?

[jaelupo]

With OIS off, and 25p with 2000 shutter (no motion blur) would the footage be a candidate for some shake removing software?

I think it depends on the car and how bumpy the road is. With my car (Honda Accord) and a normal paved road it is pretty bad. I can't imagine software would be able to fix this.

[Yancy]

Has anyone been able to capture decent in-car footage with the HV20?

If so,
what mounting method did you use? Camera settings? any post/editing tweaks?

Thank you

[scsz]

I am having the same results, not good :( I have two different mounts that I have tried with no luck. Going to try a few other ideas, but it seems like hand held is the only way as of now. It must just be the OIS of the HV20 as my two SD cameras work fine on the mounts. I knew this could be a problem from reading some other forums and that the Sony HC5/7 worked better. But the HV20 was a better deal then either of the Sonys, and I wanted to try 24p eventually.

[Ian-T]

All of my in-car footage is great. I don't mount it on the dashboard...I mount it on the tripod. I've mentioned in other posts that when you put it on the door or any part of the car you can see some small wobbles...but if you mount it correctly then there is no wobble. I travel down 95 south at 80 to 85miles per hour and...no wobble. I will try and upload or link a sample footage. As someone mentioned above you need some sort of dampening solution. This camera definately acts diferent in this regards from other cams but there are definately workaround solutions.

Oh.....and I still have not used the OIS...I turned it of the day I got the cam (2 months ago).

[scsz]

All of my in-car footage is great. I don't mount it on the dashboard...I mount it on the tripod.

Can you post a picture of your setup? How do you secure the tripod? Thanks.

[Ian-T]

If I don't have my own Web site how do I upload an image?

Edit: Ok I apologize for my ignorance. Here is a link to some pics..... Also...there is a video i did 2 months ago called "3 Beach Day"...this is actually the first time I put something together with the HV20. Nothing special...as I am a beginner in videography.

http://www.fortvir.net/gallery/v/P3U_videos/Ian-T/?g2_fromNavId=x0bdbd7d7&g2_navId=x087d53d0

The tripod is actually sitting in a cup holder....snug tight. I operate it with my right hand while i'm driving with the left.

[Ian-T]

Now I understand that this method will not be the same for everyone (not all cupholders are the same)...but it is the principal of the matter....which is....you can get great footage from this cam while driving depending on how you mount it. unfortunately I believe i deleted all of my highway high speed footage...but i do have a more moderte speed footage that i am currently renderiing and will upload shortly. The speed in the upcoming footage is only at 45 mph but i think you'll get the point.

[Ian-T]

File loaded. You can check it out at the above link. It's about 102 megs but the aspect ratio came out strange. It is a 720P file but i rendered 1.333 intead of 1.0. You can see every now and then when i am handling the cam while driving you get the bumpity bumps.....but....what the hey....this isn't one of my better jobs.

[tkmslee]

I too would suggest to turn off the stabilizer. I hardly ever use it anyway, even handheld shots. The HV20 doesn't do well to have the OIS on when mounted to moving devices like a glidecam or crane, so maybe the same in the car. Maybe I'll try some in car tomorrow without the OIS on.

[scsz]

Well, tried a different mounting point for one of my camera mounts. A little better. Also for fun used Deshaker on the footage (aspect ratio was off some). It has could have some potential and has tons of adjustments, but the extra steps required IMO are not worth it at this time. Next test is to turn off the OIS as tkmslee suggested.

http://hv20.info/yopu/cammounttest.wmv

Watching the footage it also seems that when I render it at 640x480 vs 1280x720, it does not look as bad.

For reference here are some videos taken with my two SD cameras on my headrest mount.
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/pages/zdrive012107/index.html

[mik]

i wouldn't use a cmos with high vibrations like directly mounted to a car. there is no cmos is fast enough for it, any crappy ccd will be better. next year maybe but not now.

if you must use cmos at least ask a friend to hold the camera by hand

[Ian-T]

Well, tried a different mounting point for one of my camera mounts. A little better. Also for fun used Deshaker on the footage (aspect ratio was off some). It has could have some potential and has tons of adjustments, but the extra steps required IMO are not worth it at this time. Next test is to turn off the OIS as tkmslee suggested.

http://hv20.info/yopu/cammounttest.wmv

Watching the footage it also seems that when I render it at 640x480 vs 1280x720, it does not look as bad.

For reference here are some videos taken with my two SD cameras on my headrest mount.
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/pages/zdrive012107/index.htmlWow...that does not look good at all. i don't know why but I never get video any way near like that. What did you mount it on? Maybe you can get one of those beanbag mounts..something like that should dampen any vibration. With this cam one has to use a little innovation to get good results.

[scsz]

Wow...that does not look good at all. i don't know why but I never get video any way near like that. What did you mount it on? Maybe you can get one of those beanbag mounts..something like that should dampen any vibration. With this cam one has to use a little innovation to get good results.

This is the HV20 on my other mount, it is even worse.
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/incartest/incartest.html

Here is the headrest mount I use
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/photos/cammounts/CIMG3946.JPG

Window/dash mount
http://www.socalspeedzone.com/photos/cammounts/CIMG3947.JPG