Another scuba diving video I made (DEC 2010)

[dieselboy]

FINALLY got around to editing, adding colour and putting together a semi decent video onto youtube. I did really struggle with this! I know I have overcolourised in the majority of the video but I havent managed to work out how to not over compensate whilst not letting the video look like you are looking through a badly tinted blue window. I've attached a pic of the original video so you know what I'm talking about.

Sadly, since Sharm-el-Sheikh was closed to all but a few divers, I wasnt able to see any large sea life and definitely no sharks But we did see some turtles and other colourful things.
ALSO for my next dives I've bought a modified lens for the camera I am using which stops the fish-eye lens producing a blur under water. It also comes with a red filter which should aid the editing process!

Hope you like it. Oh and be sure to select 720p from the drop down list and make it a little larger - it was recorded in HD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auyNpLT81wg&fmt=22

[slobodan]

I liked it.

My attention span is only 2 mins. But it was a good 2 mins.

[dieselboy]

LOL Thanks!

[JUDWAK]

how well trained are you in diveing

[Vultch]

Great stuff dieselboy..wish I could dive...

Anyhow GoPro are making a lense adapter for underwater filming to ease/remove the distortion as the GoPro was designed for filming in air.. should make things a bit clearer..

[dieselboy]

Cheers,
you see the bloke at the beginning of the video securing his weight belt. Well he is our instructor. He taught us in the beginning of 2010 and we did our advanced and enriched air course with him the other month. He looks Jamaican / rastafarian but he is Egyption and a really nice bloke as well as a great tutor / instructor. He will just stop sometimes underwater and has full control over his boyancy and orientation. It sounds strange but it can be difficult to control where you are in the water sometimes. Something as simple as taking a breath will move you up and staying orientated is difficult as well. I found it easier this time around but on the first few dives if I looked around I always felt like I was falling / sinking so it was difficult to not flap your arms to try and "swim". Although you're supposed to not use your arms at all and keep them beside you to keep warm really. (well I always get cold anyway. I have to wear two suits in 25c water just to not shiver).

The instructor was fastening his belt because he just gave someone else some weights as they wouldnt sink.

[markcl]

Your Video is not to bad for what the Go Pro cost. Lens and filter will help but will only be good down to about 10 - 15 m max then you will need lights.

Some of the editing software do have an auto correct for underwater now just have to check out the specs of the software. Or get the trials if you can and see which works best for you. hope you have a good spec PC editing video.

Did you get to dive the Blue hole / Canyon or the Bells there about the best in Dahab have you been to Sharm?

I would wear a dry suit in January in the Red Sea done the cold in january before not fun.

Weight sharing a depth ??? sorry pet hate.

[dieselboy]

To be honest there isn't much beyond 15m any way. All the fish and things are from the surface down to about that level!

I have an auto correct and I seem to get better results when I don't use it. I would like a mac as the software available there is a lot better than windows. My PC is a 3.4Ghz quad core with 4Gb RAM but I need to invest in a decent GPU as this one is ancient and was £30 then!

Didnt dive the blue hole or anything like that. It seems we did 50% course with the other half doing fun dives in Sharm.

Weather in Sharm on the surface was high 20's, I reckon 30c one of the days I was there, not cold. As you can see in the other vid people were wearing half suits at 5mm, i need the 10mm to be comfortable though. I havent done dry suit training yet.

Dont understand your last comment. This was our first dive in Dahab I think. The bloke wasnt sure of his weight and he wasnt enough so he nicked some off the instructor.

Cheers

[markcl]

Sorry for the comment not directed at you. But is not a good thing to be doing at depth.(PADI Instructor head on sorry)

Your PC is better spec than mine so you might not be there for hours editing. Not a fan of MAC's or is that i have spent to much on dive gear and cant afford one. If you can get a copy of Sony Vegas that software is fantastic.

Plenty to see and Film below 15 m i take it you have not done the Dunraven or the Thistlegorm yet and from May onwards is the time for the big stuff.

[mullinsj]

Sorry for the comment not directed at you. But is not a good thing to be doing at depth.(PADI Instructor head on sorry)

Your PC is better spec than mine so you might not be there for hours editing. Not a fan of MAC's or is that i have spent to much on dive gear and cant afford one. If you can get a copy of Sony Vegas that software is fantastic.

Plenty to see and Film below 15 m i take it you have not done the Dunraven or the Thistlegorm yet and from May onwards is the time for the big stuff.

"Weight sharing a depth ??? sorry pet hate"

OK your an instructor, is this not something you experience on every dive?? Divers always over/under estimate weight especially if they are not regular divers which is probably the case 9 times out of 10 in Egypt as the salt content will alway make it difficult. I've alot of dives and its still a lottery for me :-) I'm not really sure why its a "pet hate" for yours.......I never know what i need and I'm a MSDT!

Dieselboy, great video..... music reminded me of "le grand bleau", if you haven't seen the movie you should definitely check it out..........

I worked as a underwater videographer for a few years in SE Asia and mac is definitely the way to go, if you want more info just send a PM and i will get back to you

It would be great if you could give a long term review on the HD PRO, I'm in the market for one myself but I just bought a ikelite housing and a first hand review would be great

[Vultch]

I'm a big Mac person..Apple certified on their studio stuff and i use Color to grade..

But Sony Vegas is a great programme, a lot of bang for your buck, I'v just ordered a GoPro its got a lot of great reviews. Hey Mullinsj..who did you film for..

[JUDWAK]

so can any of you dive in murky waters? on ya own with a crew on the bank or beech has back up?

[dieselboy]

Sorry for the comment not directed at you. But is not a good thing to be doing at depth.(PADI Instructor head on sorry)

Your PC is better spec than mine so you might not be there for hours editing. Not a fan of MAC's or is that i have spent to much on dive gear and cant afford one. If you can get a copy of Sony Vegas that software is fantastic.

Plenty to see and Film below 15 m i take it you have not done the Dunraven or the Thistlegorm yet and from May onwards is the time for the big stuff.

Hi, I understand what you are saying but we had just gone down from the surface, the surface was still within reach at that time.

I use Sony Vegas pro for the video editing. Final cut pro is what is used on the MACs and the quality of the video with that software is immense. The blues are dark and the fish are brightly coloured yellows / oranges / blues etc.

"Weight sharing a depth ??? sorry pet hate"

OK your an instructor, is this not something you experience on every dive?? Divers always over/under estimate weight especially if they are not regular divers which is probably the case 9 times out of 10 in Egypt as the salt content will alway make it difficult. I've alot of dives and its still a lottery for me :-) I'm not really sure why its a "pet hate" for yours.......I never know what i need and I'm a MSDT!

Dieselboy, great video..... music reminded me of "le grand bleau", if you haven't seen the movie you should definitely check it out..........

I worked as a underwater videographer for a few years in SE Asia and mac is definitely the way to go, if you want more info just send a PM and i will get back to you

It would be great if you could give a long term review on the HD PRO, I'm in the market for one myself but I just bought a ikelite housing and a first hand review would be great

Cheers I'll look it up!
I'll eventually obtain some kind of MAC laptop. I'll eventually need one for work when I leave my current placement and begin contracting.

I've had the gopro for about 14 months now. I like how it's robust and a do anything camera, you don't really have any concerns for it getting damaged. I've seen on youtube where someone had to ditch the camera so his secondary parachute could be deployed from a sky dive. The camera free fell to the ground and only dropped a frame or two when it impacted the floor. I've also seen where they have been stuck to race cars improperly and detached at speed to get caught between the front splitter and the tarmac for some time to then be thrown free with little to no damage.

The only problems I have with it is the camera is funny about memory cards. It seems you MUST use real, not "fake ebay" Kingston memory cards with class 4 rating and upwards or else it has trouble writing to them.
If you do get one, I recommend buying the camera and the LCD screen so you can at least line up shots. The fish eye lens is very good at capturing most but for a shot to be lined up is a lot better.

If you are going to use the camera under water then I suggest the eye of mine underwater housing. I just bought a replacement lens and havent been able to try it out yet but going by the eye of mine videos their modified housing looks like the better option.
Take a look at a sample vid http://vimeo.com/15273716
You can buy the replacement housing from this site http://www.eyeofmine.com/gopro/order-gopro-hero.html

I think I'll wait until they release a 60 metre pressure tested housing for the wrist mount. I think a wrist mount will help keep the video steady.

[dieselboy]

I'm a big Mac person..Apple certified on their studio stuff and i use Color to grade..

But Sony Vegas is a great programme, a lot of bang for your buck, I'v just ordered a GoPro its got a lot of great reviews. Hey Mullinsj..who did you film for..

My 16gb transcend card died about a second after updating the gopro's firmware. I'm not sure if the two are related but a second card I tried in it also became corrupt so it seems. I've been using an SD to USB adapter which has been fine for a year but it's not SDHC approved so might be causing it not to be read correctly. I'm also having trouble with a 3rd card which is actually a micro sd inside an SD adapter so not sure if that's the problem there... I warrantied the 1st SD card and got a credit note for amazon to buy another. I'll try and get a Kingston class 6 as recommended by gopro themselves, although I'm weary of Kingston cards as there are a lot of fake ones about.

[dieselboy]

so can any of you dive in murky waters? on ya own with a crew on the bank or beech has back up?

Why? People in England practice dive in quarries. Although I'm not interested in doing that - murky and cold so not my sort of thing! Not even any fish!

Sea diving is my interest.