Garmin VIRB Camera with G-Metric
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:06 am
The latest electronic motion picture camera from GARMIN introduces several significant innovations. I am very impressed with the features the Garmin VIRB X and VIRB XE cameras have and the pictures they can produce. Let's review some of the most important new technologies provided in these $300 to $400 cameras.
The Garmin CIRB X and VIRB XE cameras has their own GNSS receiver built in. This provides the camera with its location and with extremely accurate time stamping of every frame. The time stamping allows for synchronization of multiple VRIB recordings. Alignment of recordings in time synchronization is accomplished in a companion motion picture editor, VIRB EDIT.
The VIRB XE has built-in image stabilization, using its internal motion sensors. This reduces the often seen "shaky-cam" artifacts of amateur photography, particularly when shooting from a moving boat. The XE can also shoot at 1080-lines (progressive) and 60-frames-per-second.
To me the most amazing of the many features is G-METRIC, which allows recording of a great deal of metadata along with the images. The internal motion sensors and GNSS also provide metadata about the images, such as the camera orientation, speed of movement, direction of movement, and G-forces. The camera also has a WiFi interface. This allows the camera to communicate wirelessly with other Garmin devices in range to get even more metadata about the images. For example, on a boat you can link engine data like RPM to the camera, and then record RPM as metadata for the images.
The free VIRB EDIT software permits creation of composited images with overlays of selected metadata on the motion pictures. Using this feature you can create information-rich presentations. For example, you can record a boat underway and show all kinds of data about the boat and the camera, such as:
--engine speed
--water depth (from a Garmin echosounder)
--camera orientation such as tilt and roll axis
--G-forces exerted on the camera
--speed of motion of the camera and its heading
This metadata can even be presented as overlaid gauges, and you can design and use your own custom gauges as overlays.
This is quite an amazing collection of features in addition to a very high-resolution near-professional level camera.
For more information see
http://virb.garmin.com/en-US/virb-xe
For an example of a VIRB XE recording from a boat undereway with a lot of interesting metadata overlaid, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JwxzWlkXY
The G-METRIC integration of this camera with Garmin chart plotters creates added value for both products. For anyone interested in producing information-rich motion picture recordings from a boat, the VIRB E and EX camera make a strong argument for also having Garmin chart plotters and SONARs onboard.
The Garmin CIRB X and VIRB XE cameras has their own GNSS receiver built in. This provides the camera with its location and with extremely accurate time stamping of every frame. The time stamping allows for synchronization of multiple VRIB recordings. Alignment of recordings in time synchronization is accomplished in a companion motion picture editor, VIRB EDIT.
The VIRB XE has built-in image stabilization, using its internal motion sensors. This reduces the often seen "shaky-cam" artifacts of amateur photography, particularly when shooting from a moving boat. The XE can also shoot at 1080-lines (progressive) and 60-frames-per-second.
To me the most amazing of the many features is G-METRIC, which allows recording of a great deal of metadata along with the images. The internal motion sensors and GNSS also provide metadata about the images, such as the camera orientation, speed of movement, direction of movement, and G-forces. The camera also has a WiFi interface. This allows the camera to communicate wirelessly with other Garmin devices in range to get even more metadata about the images. For example, on a boat you can link engine data like RPM to the camera, and then record RPM as metadata for the images.
The free VIRB EDIT software permits creation of composited images with overlays of selected metadata on the motion pictures. Using this feature you can create information-rich presentations. For example, you can record a boat underway and show all kinds of data about the boat and the camera, such as:
--engine speed
--water depth (from a Garmin echosounder)
--camera orientation such as tilt and roll axis
--G-forces exerted on the camera
--speed of motion of the camera and its heading
This metadata can even be presented as overlaid gauges, and you can design and use your own custom gauges as overlays.
This is quite an amazing collection of features in addition to a very high-resolution near-professional level camera.
For more information see
http://virb.garmin.com/en-US/virb-xe
For an example of a VIRB XE recording from a boat undereway with a lot of interesting metadata overlaid, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JwxzWlkXY
The G-METRIC integration of this camera with Garmin chart plotters creates added value for both products. For anyone interested in producing information-rich motion picture recordings from a boat, the VIRB E and EX camera make a strong argument for also having Garmin chart plotters and SONARs onboard.