Like anyone in 2020 getting into a new hobby, I had my Google-fu sharpened and my YouTube channel in its holster, ready for what lies ahead. In this case, it’s video creation and editing, specifically a setup for creating vlogs. Video Logs, or vlogs, are gaining popularity, especially as social interactions have been curtailed. People still want to connect, and how do you do that safely? Through the Internet, of course!
I know, I just said I was going to shorten the format of posts on this site, but this is too darned good to break into click-baity sections and post over several days. I want it to help anyone else starting out like I am, to save them some trouble, frustration, and give pointers. Everyone will have different budgets and needs, so your mileage WILL vary, but hopefully this helps! Excuse the long-windedness, I just want to convey how much effort went into getting this to work.
I have a passion for motorcycles. I ride as often as time, weather, and family permit. I go on some beautiful rides, and want to share that with others. This line of thought led to me doing some tests with an old GoPro Hero3 that I had laying around from when I used it as a dash cam in my 2011 F-150.
Time marches forward, and so does technology, so after shooting some test videos, I got to work finding suitable video editing software and finding out what I wanted to use to record my vlogs. The Hero3 is old and the newer models are better-equipped for what I wanted to do. Plus, new gadgets are always fun!
Step One was to acquire enough software to use my old GoPro to do some feasibility tests – it’s a holdover from my IT day job, in order to prevent too much wasteful spending.
Here’s where I started:
- HitFilm Express (video editor, free download)
- GoPro Hero 3 (camera, already owned)
- Parrot app on my phone (audio recording, free download Android)
- Audacity (audio editing/mixing, free download)
I recorded a short video of me watering plants (yes, I actually did that) to test audio and video recording, and give me something to edit in HitFilm Express.
Finally, I decided a GoPro Hero8 was going to do what I wanted with relative ease, so I ordered one with a bevy of doodads I thought I’d need.
Step Two was to get a helmet vlogging setup in place. I wear a half helmet when I ride, so the normal chin mount for a camera wouldn’t work. My audio was going to be difficult, as well. At this point, I had run dozens of tests – GoPro mic, Media Mod mic, audio mixing/editing.
None of that worked. The video was good, naturally, but the audio was crap. Unusable. Frustrating.
The natural progression was then to try different things. Out came the notepad and on went the thinking cap. Conventional thinking says an external mic would work, and my SENA BluTooth communicator on my helmet had a mic boom already, so let’s piggyback on that.
Nope. Nada. Zilch. Scratchy, unusable audio again. But did I take pics of this setup? Of course not! I was too mad at it for not working!
Recurring question: Does anyone do a moto vlog with a half helmet? I can’t be the first one to do this.
Then I took out my bobber. That audio was fantastic! What the heck? Why would it work on a bike with no fairing and no windshield, but my fancy Harley with its big fairing and windshield gives me fits? It’s gotta be something to do with the way wind flows around it, right? Well, it’s going to me my main moto vlog rig, so I have to figure this out. I obsessed about it for weeks, racing thoughts keeping me up at night. I want what I want, dammit!
Then I found this guy: #SmokedMedia Harley Davidson Street Glide Special, 2019, same as mine. No helmet, great audio. Can it be? Where’d he put his mic? Can I email him? I tried.
Crickets.
Then I found THIS: How to MotoVlog without a Full Face Helmet! Now we’re talking!
It turns out that you CAN get great audio with a half helmet and an external mic with a Dead Cat on it, but only if its placement is correct, and that means inside your shirt!?!? Haha, here’s this guy with 2 t-shirts getting better audio than me with all my fancy contraptions!
Out came the notepad again, this time to list out all the tests I wanted to run. Time was short, rain was expected, so the route and setups had to be optimized. It’s also a huge pain in the ass to edit down hours of video to what amounts to about 60 seconds of footage you need. So I did just that, and went out for a quick ride. The results were astounding! Anything under 50mph was usable. Above that speed, my voice gets drowned out by the bike’s motor, not the wind. How often do you go faster than that while vlogging, anyway? Not often enough to worry about.
Sometimes good is good enough.
Here’s where I’m at now:
- GoPro Hero8 + Media Mod (camera)
- Purple Panda mic w/dead cat (external mic)
- DaVinci Resolve (video editor, free download)
I did the audio tests, I edited the footage. Now I just need to film the intros for the video and individual clips, add some text, and it’ll be ready to post to YouTube! NOTE: I will update this post when I finish the video and post it to YouTube.
Note 2: Here’s the Moto Vlog Intro:
Keep in mind, this is just the start, and things will change as I gain more experience. Subscribe to this site or my YouTube channel to see new content as I upload it!
Enjoy the ride, and keep the rubber side down!
-John