What This Means

Those of you who have the ContourHD1080p, are already privy to these great features (so you don't need this update). Now we have a firmware upgrade that brings configurablility to the ContourHD as well.

You will now have the power to configure:

• The video (bitrate)
• The lighting (contrast, exposure, sharpness, and metering)
• The microphone sensitivity

How You Do It - The Rundown

1. Download and Install the firmware here
2. Install the new version of easy edit
3. Dial in your ContourHD like a pro!

The ContourHD Firmware Upgrade is explained in full on our website with a step by step guide. If you aren't feeling tech-savvy, have numerous questions, or need additional support, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Grab the new firmware and check out the upgrade instructions here.

Helmet Camera Buyers Guide

Point of view (POV) cameras have gotten more popular over the past few years, and there are a variety of cameras from which to choose. However, figuring out which camera to buy can be confusing. The following article will provide some guidelines to help you make an informed buying decision.

Know Your Application

Knowing your application is the first step. What type of event will you be shooting? Will the camera be exposed to water? What time of day will you be shooting? How important is audio quality? How and where will you mount the camera? Having a good understanding of your application will help in the decision-making process. If you can describe your application to someone at a camera store, they should be able to recommend a few cameras for your consideration.

Seek Expert Advice

As mentioned above, camera store employees have a good understanding of the products they are selling. Some of their staff are camera users themselves and have tried various cameras in a variety of shooting environments. They should be able to recommend specific cameras based on your shooting application, personal preferences, and budget. There are several camera retailers out there, so feel free to chat with a few of them and compare their answers.

Products Reviews

Product reviews are another great way to collect information on cameras. I often type in the name of the camera model and the word “review/s” in the Google search field to see what pops up. Also, camera stores will often publish their own product reviews that provide helpful information for potential buyers.

Product Comparisons

When shopping for a camera, there are several key features to consider, including field of view, video quality, recording capacity, pricing, media format, size, available options, etc. Having a side-by-side comparison is very helpful for reviewing the features of different cameras. Speaking directly with a knowledgeable sales representative is also a great way to understand the differences between products.

Cash to Spend

Camera prices can range anywhere from $150 for entry-level cameras to more than $2,000 for professional-grade cameras. Knowing how much money you have to spend will help in the selection process. Most good-quality cameras are priced between $200 and $350. Prosumer-grade cameras are priced between $500–$800 dollars, and professional-grade cameras, such as the Sony HXR-MC1, cost about $2,500.

Video Quality – Standard Definition (STD) vs. High Definition (HD)

STD (DVD quality) and HD (high definition quality) are the two levels of quality that are currently available. HD cameras provide better video quality and a wide-screen perspective. If your intent is to only post video on YouTube, a standard definition camera may be all that you need. Most of the better cameras come with basic video sharing software that allows you to download video from your camera to your computer, trim clips, and upload the finished product to YouTube. If you are interested in real video editing, the current versions of MovieMaker on PC-based systems and iMovie on Mac-based systems easily handle HD video files. For more advanced video editing software, you might consider programs such as Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut, AVS4YOU, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Corel VideoStudio, Magix Movie Edit Pro, Pinnacle Studio, or Sony Vegas.

Working with HD Video Files

HD video files are data intensive and put a significant load on your computer. This may require upgrading your computer hardware. HD video will look choppy on inadequate systems, and rendering video during the editing process will be time consuming. An ideal computer system designed for HD editing will include the following components: dual- or quad-core CPU, 4–6 GB RAM, a good HD video card (512 MB Ram), and an HD monitor. To burn HD DVDs, your computer will also need a Blu-ray burner. Buying an HD camera can be costly.

Field of View

The field of view is how your camera sees the world. Some cameras have a narrower field of view, down to 50 degrees. Others have a wider field of view, up to 170 degrees. If your camera has a narrow field of view, your subject will fill most of the shot, you will not see much of the surrounding action, and your video may appear shaky. If your camera has a wide field of view, you will see a lot more of the surrounding action, and your video will look smoother. I personally prefer cameras with a wide field of view, between 90–120 degrees, for general applications. If your field of view is extremely wide (170 degrees), you may see a slight distortion around the outside edges of the picture. The top cameras typically have a field of view from 110–170 degrees.

Camera Size

One-piece cameras are priced $200–$350 and are compact and lightweight. Everything is integrated into a small, single unit. Two-piece cameras run between $500–$800, use better optics, shoot better quality video, typically connect the camera to a separate recording device via cable, and include an LCD on the recording device for video playback. The downside of the two-piece system is the hassle of a cable, which can snag on things, and add unnecessary bulk to the recording device.

Ease of Use

When shooting in the field, you do not want to spend a lot of time adjusting your camera. Fortunately, you can operate most cameras with just one hand. For instance, the ContourHD has a large sliding record switch on the top, which you can easily activate with one hand, even wearing ski gloves. Some cameras like the VIO POV and the X170 have wireless remotes that you can
wear on your wrist to activate the camera. The ContourHD also has built-in lasers, which greatly help with camera alignment. Where some cameras allow you to adjust the recording settings (resolution and frames per second) on the camera itself, others require you to connect the camera to a computer and make the necessary adjustments using software. Some cameras are easier to mount than others due to their design. Regarding ease of use, buyers should consider camera operation, making recording adjustments, installation and removal of the battery and recording media (memory card, DV tape), making physical adjustments, downloading video, mounting to various surfaces, verifying camera alignment, and video playback (higher end models).

Water Resistant/Waterproof

Most cameras are water resistant, which means you can shoot in a light rain. If you are recording in a dynamic water environment while kayaking, jet skiing, or water skiing, you will need a waterproof camera. You may want to talk with the camera store or manufacturer to collect more information on the camera’s level of water resistance.

Traditional analog based helmet cam systems use an off the shelf camcorder with video input capabilities (aka A/V jack) to connect to the "helmet cam". What's scary about the analog systems is that Sony and others are completely phasing out camcorders with A/V inputs. In fact, none of Sony's current camcorder products have simple A/V inputs on them! This leaves analog based users scrounging around on eBay for older used & refurbished camcorders. All the helmet cam vendors know about this trend, and most of them are working diligently to find new solutions.

There are two core parts to a helmet cam system. The Recording Unit and the Camera. All of the systems on the market today can claim they use a "digital" recording unit because all camcorders ultimately record onto "digital" media. They can also claim the cameras are also "digital" because they use digital CCD (some are CMOS) imagers to capture the image.

The PROBLEM with traditional helmet cam systems (not the POV1) is the cable between the camera and recording unit is NOT DIGITAL. The digital ccd image must first be converted to an ANALOG, INTERLACED video signal and transmitted via the standard A/V cable to the camcorder where it is converted back into a digital signal, compressed, and stored onto tape or some other digital medium. The Digital-Analog-Digital process creates quality issues in many areas, I will briefly touch upon two core quality issues.

The first quality atrocity with traditional helmet cam systems (not the POV1) is interlacing a perfectly crisp digital video stream. Have you watched video footage on your computer that was captured directly from a camcorder and noticed those shaky lines in the footage (especially during motion)? If you have read anything about High Definition video, the big buzz is "Progressive Video". I will not say any more about this, except that Progressive Scan video is WAY nicer than Interlaced video. Check out the WIKI pages on Progressive Scan Video and Interlaced Video for more information and great visual examples.

The second atrocity with traditional helmet cam systems (not the POV1) is converting all that great digital color information into an analog signal. Once a signal is analog and travels along a length of wire information is lost. So, information is lost in the conversion and also lost in the transmission - once it's gone it is gone. When you couple this loss of information, along with the fact that many helmet cams on the market today are simply security cameras sold as helmet cams - the end result is poor color quality.

The SOLUTION is to not covert the pristine digital video stream into analog. Guess what? The POV1 has solved this, albeit somewhat expensively, by engineering a fully digital cable between the recording unit and the camera imaging sensor. VIO calls this cable the "LDVS Cable", rightly so, since it is based on the widely used LDVS Standard. Low-voltage differential signaling, or LVDS is used behind the scenes in many high-speed data transfer protocols such as FireWire, Serial ATA, SCSI, and more.

That being said, the digital connection between the camera and recording unit on POV.1 contributes greatly to the overall color and quality of the video produced from this unit. The Viosport POV1 is the first to market with an affordable 100% digital helmet cam system targeted at the consumer market. Kudos VIO - thanks for taking the first leap.

Fully Integrated vs Pieced Together
Again, a brief update on the current state of traditional camcorder based helmet cam systems. The typical helmet cam system on the market in 2007 is generally a hodgepodge of equipment pieced together into a "system". The hodgepodge generally consists of a recording unit, power system, external camera, microphone, and remote control.

The recording unit is generally a Camcorder with A/V inputs, or more recently, handheld DVR's such as the various Archos products. These recording units will have their own batteries to charge, power switches, video inputs, and remote control inputs. As noted earlier, many camcorder manufacturers are actually doing away with video inputs all together, which means the market will be forced into the DVR space. The core issue with using camcorders and DVRs in helmet cam systems is that they are not designed to be used in the many ways helmet cams are used. Here is a short list of issues we have encountered with traditional helmet cam systems:

• Tons of freak'n wires everywhere! A wire from the camera to the recording unit, a wire from the camera to the camera battery, a wire from the recording unit to the remote control, a wire from the recording unit to the microphone - ARGH!
• Broken A/V connectors and wire connections that fall out or disconnect - duct tape is a typical ingredient in traditional helmet cam systems, and so is LOST footage of amazing escapades
• Moving parts are bad - tape based camcorders do not like their recording heads to shake, and hard drive based DVR's do not like shock either

The actual Helmet Cam piece of the system is generally an off the shelf security cam with some simple cable adaptations to connect to various recording devices. Almost all of the cameras out there have extreme low light ratings - this is not because the helmet cam market likes to film in the dark! The external cameras connect into the recording device using standard A/V 1/4" connectors. These A/V connections on the camcorders where never designed to be "plugged into and stuffed in a backpack". Hence, the often frustrating loss of video due to broken A/V jacks or simply the connector popping out. Of course, this can be easily remedied with some duct tape. Doh! Lastly, where does the external helmet cam get it's power from? Not from the A/V jack on the camcorder - These cameras require an external battery to power them. This contributes to the crazy wire mess generally associated with helmet cams.

The standard Remote Control for helmet cameras today is based on the Sony LANC interface. This is a protocol that Sony developed years ago to allow people to control camcorders via a wire based remote. To use a Remote Control on a camcorder based system today requires the camcorder to have a LANC jack (which is another feature that is VERY hard to find on low end camcorders) - hence another wire and connector to duct tape and break. I will mention that there are a few DVR based helmet cam systems on the market today that have integrated the remote and power INLINE with the camera cable, but generally you do not want the remote tied to the camera cable since the cable is travelling towards the recording unit - which is stuffed in a pack somewhere. These DVR based systems also suffer from under engineered connectors that are prone to breaking as well.

Let's throw in the microphone too. The microphone needs power as well, and usually draws power from the battery powering the camera. This means the microphone wire has to tie into the camera power AND tie back into the recording device as well. Basically, more wires.

Again, the SOLUTION is to engineer a complete system that is "Fully Integrated". A fully integrated helmet cam system would have meet the following requirements:

• An easy and efficient user experience
• A recording unit designed around the uses associated with weareable video. Shock, temperature, water, long recording times.
• One power source for the whole system, preferrably inside the recording unit to protect it from the elements. This means the camera draws power from the recording unit.
• Strong and waterproof connectors designed to be beat up - aka duct tape not required.
• A remote control that interacts with the recording unit and camera.

That being said, the POV.1 has been engineered from the ground up to be "fully integrated." This is one of the most exciting aspects of this helmet cam system. All of the elements were designed around the same goals and objectives: filming events in extreme conditions. VIO is not the first to market on a fully integrated system, but they are the first to produce fully integrated system that is durable, waterproof out of the box, and has a wireless remote control.

This first video goes over some mounting strategies:

VIO Mounting & Filming Tips Tutorial from THE VIO VOICE on Vimeo.

Next we have a video on the basic setup steps for a POV.1:

VIO Out Of The Box POV Tutorial from THE VIO VOICE on Vimeo.

And lastly, check out this freakin sweet snowmobile video! These guys are ripping it up! This is a clip from Slednecks 11:

Slednecks 11 - VIO Point of View Shots from THE VIO VOICE on Vimeo.

They have a bunch more content over at THE VIO VOICE so go check it out!

In this video, the camera was mounted on a rigid pole across the top of the helmet, with the camera at the end pointing back at the face. Quite an interesting view!

Note: Revver has compressed this video for web viewing.

What I typically do nowadays is to:

1. Download the original video footage into my computer from my mini DV camcorder.
2. Create a movie for viewing using video editing software (i.e. Adobe Premiere, Apple FinalCut, Microsoft MovieMaker, etc).
3. Export the movie as an un-compressed AVI file (DEINTERLACED!)
4. Use Quicktime Pro ($30) to encode the AVI file into an H.264 (Mpeg-4) movie file.
5. Upload the movie to a video sharing website.
6. Done.

You may watch some of my videos on YouTube.com and Blip.tv by searching on the following "helmet camera mikie". I typically use QuickTime Pro for encoding the final edited AVI file to H264. One tip to help your videos look good on the Internet is to make sure you de-interlace the video when you encode it! Click here for a great article that is very useful in helping you learn how to use various encoding programs like QuickTime, and others. Below is a list of some video sharing websites for your reference.

Some Video Sharing Sites:

• www.blip.tv
• www.youtube.com
• www.dailymotion.com
• www.googlevideo.com
• www.videoegg.com
• www.broadbandsports.com

Video Sharing Website Rankings & Reviews:

• <http://video-share-review.toptenreviews.com/>
• <http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=100934>
• <http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=112147>
• <http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Video-Sharing-Services&id=536110>

Chao,
Mike Stoll

Read on for the checklists!

First, a PRE-Pre-Filming Checklist.

1. Get a helmet camera that has a guarantee against fogging. Many will tell you they are selling vacuum sealed units - but through experience I have found this to not be the case. You would be surprised how quickly some humid weather and a bit of sunshine can fog up the INTERNAL side of the lense.

2. Build a system that minimizes batteries and wires! Most systems on the market today involve a camcorder w/battery, a helmet camera w/another battery, a external microphone which uses power from the helmet camera battery, and a wire based LANC remote to start/stop recording. So, that's 2 batteries to charge, to batteries to watch power levels on, that's a wire from the camera to the camcorder, a wire from the camera to battery, a wire from the camcorder to the remote, a wire from the microphone to the camcorder, and a wire from the microphone to the battery. Wow! That's a lot of wires - do your best to communicate your needs to your helmet cam vendor of choice.
3. Get a good LANC remote control. The helmet cam remote control should allow you to power on/off and start/stop record your camcorder at will - AND provide some type of visual feedback as to what state your camcorder is in. Some older camcorders with LANC support will not support the power on/off functions.
4. Find a power system for the actual helmet cam that works for your needs. A simple AA battery pack may work for you. Others may need a long lasting lithium ion based battery pack. Motorcycles and cars have the option of drawing power from the vehicles power systems.

To recap: A good camera, a good cable harness, a good remote, and a single battery setup = a fantastic helmet camera system.

Helmet Camera Central's Pre-Filming Checklists

Equipment Checklist:

• Camcorder
• Camcorder batteries
• Camcorder storage pack or case
• Helmet Camera
• Helmet Camera batteries
• Helmet Camera mounting system
• Cable Harness to connect Camcorder to Helmet Camera
• External microphone
• LANC Remote Control
• Video Storage Media: MiniDV tapes, blank dvd's, etc.
• Soft pouch to store helmet camera in. (Fleece mitten liners work great.)
• Chemical based Hand warmers to heat batteries in cold weather
• Duck tape and electrical tape for securing cables to camcorder, etc. (Life saver.)
• Camcorder A/V cable for TV hookup to show off your footage at the bar or a friends house afterwards.

Day Prior to Filming Checklist:

• Charge at least 2 camcorder batteries.
• Charge at least 2 helmet camera batteries.
• Label all batteries with some duck tape & permanent pen. This allows you to keep track of which batteries have been used during filming sessions.
• Attach small pieces of colored electrical tape to wire connectors where they have disconnects. This allows you to quickly pair up nessecary connections when digging through your pack.
• Attach some extra strips of electrical tape and/or duck tape to your batteries and camcorder. You never know when these may come in handy.
• Prepare a MiniDV cassette. Rewind it. Label it with the future date and location.
• Test the complete helmet camera setup. This means putting the camcorder and batteries in the backpack, put a jacket on, helmet, helmet camera, mounted microphones, and remote control.
• Test alignment of helmet camera mounting system. Did you properly simulate the position your head will be in when riding your bike or skiing? Experiment filming subjects from a variety of distances and review the video footage. Generally, subjects in helmet cameras get pretty small after about 15-20 feet!

Just Prior to Filming Checklist:

• Check the helmet camera lense for spots, dirt, and scratches.
• Put rewound cassette in Camcorder.
• Connect the various cables to Camcorder and Batteries.
• Secure all wire connections with tape where needed.
• Place (or tape) a hand warmer near the camcorder and/or helmet camera batteries (Cold weather).
• Place (or tape) a hand warmer near your spare batteries. Cold, charged spare batteries are not much better than a cold, drained battery (Cold weather).
• Double-check cable connections.
• Power everything up and confirm that a video and audio signal is being received from the helmet camera via the camcorder LCD.
• Power everything down until you are ready to start filming.

During Filming Checklist:

• Check your battery levels on a regular basis.
• Check your helmet camera lense on a regular basis.
• Check your footage on occasion via the camcorder LCD to make sure everything is working.
• Check the helmet camera angle once you are out filming. Adjust if nessecary.

That's it for now. Any other suggestions?

-Chad

Go here for the download and install page.