GoPro Hero7 Black HyperSmooth is a Relief for Video Editors
Sometimes camera reviewers and tech nerds get into a mode where they forget about the world outside. When a new GoPro comes out, we see many articles repeating the reviewer’s disappointment in the specs, that this version is just an iterative upgrade rather than a whole new camera, questions about GoPro in general and whether anyone cares or if the company is dying.
For the camera reviewer, it may seem like no one is interested in GoPro anymore, maybe because it doesn’t change fast enough, or because there are lots of other competing cameras on the market. But in our opinion, GoPro has never aimed to please the camera expert who already has access to several other cinema and pro video cameras.
GoPro is the tool of choice for sports and action enthusiasts who dabble in video. But more importantly, it’s the tool of choice for practically everyone else on the planet whose only other camera is their smartphone. And those people like to shoot a bunch of GoPro footage and then turn it over to professional video editors, asking them to edit impossibly shaky footage into something cool.
We’ve edited a number of video projects where an organization hands over only GoPro clips. Maybe some photos to boost. But in our opinion, there are still many non-video professionals who turn to GoPros when they want video that’s better quality than their smartphone (at least to their knowledge), but the world of camcorders or DSLRs is far off in the distance.
GoPro Hero7 Black HyperSmooth Stabilization
And so, we think the HyperSmooth feature on the new GoPro Hero7 Black is a big deal. It’s being marketed as “gimbal-like,” which is overstating the ability slightly, but that doesn’t matter. None of the clients we’ve ever worked with who send us GoPro footage would be in the market for a gimbal. So, the fact that GoPro gets even close to gimbal-like stabilization will mean a huge improvement for many local video projects out there.
It’s a bit of a mystery for how the HyperSmooth feature works, but it’s most likely a mix of hardware sensor stabilization with software smoothing. But it does work, without any additional accessories. And better than any smartphone stabilization at the moment. So for us, the GoPro Hero7 Black is a big deal for many organizations out there who want video, decide to shoot it themselves, and then hire us video professionals to edit their footage into video packages.
It also has a bunch of other features like 4k at 60fps and a good screen to see what it’s shooting, all of which will make your life as an editor easier when you get dumped a bunch of GoPro footage and asked to edit it into a kickass video.