Diving in Mauritius

[Chris B]

Here's a video of a dive that I took in Mauritius.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZsQKTqAoo[/youtube]

Taken with a GoPro Hero 3 Black strapped to my wrist with a red filter + a little post production in Vegas. Depth is around 12-15 meters.

Because the GoPro doesn't have a screen I take at 1080p and then edit at 720p which allows a little scope to move the frame to centre targets that I otherwise missed...

[sidd finch]

Chris, That looked really good I liked it. The red filter really helps with the color a lot. Looks like that was a really fun dive. For a wrist mount, you really have some very steady footage. How did you swim and keep the camera so steady? The water looks really clear. I also liked your choice of music too. Most dive videos I see always has a very murky soundtrack. Keep up the great work.

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

That is so cool! Incredibly beautiful footage. Never been diving...I think I'd always feel like I had to hold my breath, even with an air supply.
You can post more like this anytime.

[Chris B]

David - First rule of scuba - never hold your breath (it can lead to some very nasty lung injuries).

Sidd - it was a great dive the water was the clearest all week. Kept the camera steady by swimming slowly, judicious choice of clips and the application of the stabiliser effect. Fortunately the occasional wobbles look fine when it's underwater.

I got the filter half way through the week and the difference was much greater than I thought. I still did some work with levels etc. Here's a before and after comparison.

fish.jpg

To the right is unprocessed (hopefully obviously).

[_Paz_]

Fine aquarium you have there, Chris!!! The section with the ultramarine blue fish all over is enough to take your breath away. Not good when underwater!

The way you've cleaned up the murkiness with levels is remarkable. The water looks so much clearer and the fish so much sharper. Sweet video and processing.

[videovillageidiot]

What a great video! There was something to see every second - so much that i had to remind myself to blink!!

Loved the big clump of yellow fish. Yes - the filter was a good addition - can you post a link to the one you used?

Very VERY nice job. Like Dave said, post more!

[Chris B]

Thanks for your comments. There are more - I'll get to them ... soon.

I brought the filter in a shop rather than online - I think it's this one:
http://polarprofilters.com/shop/hero3plusredfilter

With the levels plugin I used these settings:

levels.JPG

From my experimentation elsewhere the key seems to be reduce the gamma and reduce the input range to expand the output range to fill the entire range. Obviously more easily done with a waveform scope.

[momoffduty]

Very nice filming Chris! Thanks for posting the comparison shot. The motion was smooth too. I guess that is from experience diving? I've shot 1080p for a 720p project many times. It helps to have room to level the horizon later. Great job!

[sidd finch]

Chris that filter almost looked like you took windex to the lens and cleaned off the fog. Huge improvement.

Sidd

[Gerlinde]

Great video, Chris! The last time I went diving was in 2007 If I ever wanted to go again I had to take a class first. But looking at your footage makes it really tempting. Diving here in San Diego is not always fun. Too much gear to lug around and I really hate the 7mm wet-suits.

[Chris B]

OK - Here's another.

This one is a wreck and is considerably deeper than the last (nearly 35 meters). There is much less light and the world is much more blue at that depth even with the red filter attached. Also - my footage isn't as good at the other one. Towards the end of the dive we moved to a shallower area and the colours get a lot better.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT5mnDIOSM8[/youtube]

For reference here's a processed/unprocessed shot.

deep dive correction.jpg

[sidd finch]

Chris that dive looked pretty cool too. I can see what you mean about the deeper blue the farther down you were. That ship looked pretty cool sitting on the floor instead of resting to one side. Still looks a bit spooky.

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

I can see how people get addicted to diving. The experience looks to be unlike anything else. The reduced light at those depths does mute the colors, but it also adds to the mystique. Like Sidd says, "spooky." I recognized the music. I've used it in one of my projects somewhere.

[sidd finch]

I really liked that shot at about 1:47 with the sun and the bubbles. That would make a pretty cool still image.

Sidd

[Chuck Engels]

Awesome footage Chris, sure wish I could get back to the UK for another get together...