As usual, I got out early this morning on the scoot. Not usual: I was geared up with equipment for shooting video. Of course, I wanted to try out the new DJI Osmo Action 4 camera, and edit it with some footage from the Insta360 X4, and connect the DJI Mic 2 (inside my helmet) via bluetooth to the Action 4 camera (on a chin mount on the helmet). If you're keeping track, the Insta360 X4 is best mounted somewhere on the bike.
My plan for all this: make some videos where I am talking while I am riding, without having to do a voice-over after the fact (while editing the videos). The reality: it's a lot going on.
Usually when I'm shooting video while riding, I have just one camera and control it using my phone as a remote control. I can see the top of the Action 4 on my helmet, so it is easy to press the shutter release button... but, I can't see the rear screen, so I don't know if the camera is framing what I want, or if the camera is even on (I have the cameras set to turn off if not used for a selected amount of time).
The DJI mic and camera connected up with no problem. Well, no problem until I messed with getting geared up (talking to Steph and Dan who were out in their garage when I rolled the bike out)... and that was just enough delay to turn off the camera... so the mic didn't know what to do... and when I turned the camera back on, it didn't automatically connect up with the mic... so, I had to re-pair them. It all took some extra time.
I didn't turn on the X4 360 camera until I was already riding up the mountain. And then waited to see how it would all work out. I don't usually turn on the 360 camera and let it run - it eats up about a gigabyte per minute, which takes time to edit and download. I did the same with the Action 4, and figured I'd sync them up, somewhat, when I got home and started editing.
The results: The Action 4 camera does a great job with "single view" video; that's why it works best as a helmet mount. The DJI Mic 2 worked perfectly syncing with the camera as I started and stopped recording. I assumed the mic gain would be a matter of trial and error (usually mostly error) to find the best setting for it... as it turned out, with speeds up to 45 mph, it did a fine job of adjusting the gain on its own. Using other external mics in the past was frustrating... this just worked.
To edit, I just pulled in footage from each camera that was shot at about the same time; one clip over the top of the other in the editing, then just cutting away the 360 video as desired. And letting the audio from the Mic 2 handle the audio for both. I'm still working on it, deciding how much to edit out and what kind of other audio (as in music) I want. This will be a departure from the way I have been doing videos, but it should be easy once I have a work-flow, definitely faster than shooting a bunch of 360 video clips.
The advantage: the audio should always be synced to the video. The best part of shooting 360 video is being able to change the point of view... but (for me) the best part of the ride is with the camera facing forward. I envision that I will be adding 360 views for some interest. The key is going to be in keeping what I shoot relatively short... and that's not always easy for me.
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The edited video...
Unlike most of my recent videos, this one is a longer narrated video. Consider this a "Seinfeld" type video: not really about anything - just having a conversation while out riding. The main intent is to try out the DJI camera and mic - yes, I am very pleased with the quality of the video and the audio from the mic. Blending in some video from the Insta360 X4; you can tell which is which by the watermark on the lower right from the X4 clips. Insta is sneaky: I turned off that watermark on the camera and my phone, which is how I capture the video. Then, I work it up on my iPad... who knew there was a watermark switch built into the iPad app, as well? That shouldn't show up on any future videos.
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