Category Archives: Technology

Flying, Photography, Technology, Videography

GoPro prep

I USE APPLE’S Final Cut Pro X for video editing. FCPX is pretty good at synchronizing multiple cameras based on the audio. However, when I do video in gliders or airplanes the audio can vary widely depending on whether a camera is connected to the airplane’s audio panel or I use an external microphone or just the built in microphone for “ambient sound.”

When audio fails to provide good cues for synchronization, the system tries to use clock info to sync. Working professionals use a “time code” setup to make this work. I don’t have fancy/expensive equipment like that!

Imagine two of three cameras have the right date and the third thinks it’s 2013. That’s not gonna work!

The clock memory in a GoPro camera is volatile – when the battery is dead or removed for too long, the camera resets itself to some date several years ago. Imagine two of three cameras have the right date and the third thinks it’s 2013. That’s not gonna work!

Before I go do a flying video with multiple cameras, I have gotten in the habit of doing three things: I charge all the batteries, whether in the camera or spare; reformat the Micro SD Card so all its space is available; and I connect each camera to the GoPro Quik software on my iMac. This automatically sets each camera to the computer’s clock. Perhaps they are not set to the nanosecond of each other, but it’s pretty close. Much better than being five years off!

Books, Technology

Books I’ve read recently

Berlin at War

I was in England a couple weeks ago. I stopped in a bookstore and asked if they had a book I had seen online. Buying in person saved shipping, but the train ticket may not make for good math!

I’ve commented before that I’ve been trying to raise the level of what I am reading. I have some basic novels on the way from Amazon and a few good books queued up. Next is the history of the periodic table (OK, that one’s not for everybody).

I was surprised to learn there were American journalists in Berlin for 27 months after the war started in 1939.

Last night I finished reading Berlin at War by British historian Roger Moorhouse. It is an incredible story about life in Berlin from 1939-1945, and how the average citizen lived during food shortages, bombings, no water/electricity, and the Russian assault/occupation of the city. The story of real people is much different than the story of the generals and the grand strategists. I’d like to find a similar book about the UK or the US.

I was surprised to learn there were American journalists in Berlin for 27 months after the war started in 1939.

As a teenager visiting East Berlin a few times, I saw some signs of the war, but nothing to indicate what life must have been like. This book closes that loop.