An overwhelming number of viewers (er two) have asked how I get the rad third person cycling shots for my YouTube videos.
Is there a follow car? Do I employ the services of a meecro-drone?
Does my best dog friend chase me with an action cam strapped to his back?
(Which isn’t actually a bad idea.)
But the answer to all three questions is, of course, no.
Instead, I use a 360 degree camera and employ some whizzbangtrickery in post, as us filmmaking hand jockeys call it, to ‘get the shot’.
In this post (and the related video), I’ll reveal to you my ‘process’, such as it is, which you can copy, or disregard, to capture and craft your own sweeping shots of your own splendiforous bikes rides.
Or film yourself a bit.
I welcome you within my kimono, behind my curtain, up my bib short.
And, well this is exciting, because maker of said 360 degree camera, Insta360, is the sponsor of the video accompanying this post.
They sent me their top-of-the-range 360 degree camera, the Insta360 X4, as well as two brand new road cycling specific mounts.
I’ll be using all three to demonstrate… the art of the veloTuber…
Action!
Why Do I Use a 360 Degree Camera?
In short, to provide me with a variety of eye-catching shots with which to titivate my videos.
I do not have white hot charisma, I do not do fascinating things – I review bike computers for gawd sake. My films need vajazzling with different views and angles to maintain your interest.
And YouTube is all about maintaining viewer interest.
The archetypal MontyVideo contains a static talking torso shot in my workshop, “Hello!”, and some handlebar shots captured with an action camera or a shaky one-handed iPhone.
Throwing in the 360 degree camera adds an extra dimension or 8.
With all the different angles, I’ve got more options to drop dynamic clips into my videos that will keep you glued to your toilet seat, ideally whilst illuminating some particular aspect of my script.
Wait, what? The videos are scripted?
Yes, I’m reading from an autocue. I wrote the bloody thing though.
That Time I Bought An Insta360 X3
I bought the Insta360 X3, the X4’s predecessor, in April 2023. Immediately the footage found its way into my videos, starting with some lovely Scottish location shots.
All the third person shots you’ve seen so far in my videos have been filmed with the X3, which I remain very happy with.
But now we have the X4.
X4 facts!
The X4 films 360 degree footage in 8K.
That’s not the resolution of the framed output – that depends on how much you zoom in or out for your final answer – but it is 78% more pixels than possessed by the X3.
More importantly, it results in clearer, sharper clips to use in my videos.
Those clearer, sharper shots taken be captured at 30 frames per second. Let’s call that normal footage speed and get the audio visual wonks frothing in their anger pants. If I drop the X4’s resolution down to 5.7K, the max setting on the X3, we can up things to 60 frames per second. Which means decent quality slo mo is now on the table.
Battery capacity is upped – although that’s partly offset by higher consumption in 8K mode, there’s built in image stabilisation, and it’s waterproof to 10m, which I’m hoping is enough for the English winter.
It should be clear to all that I’m no camera reviewer, but basically the X4 is better in all respects I care about so it’ll likely be my primary shotcrimper going forward.
The easy-to-use camera I use to capture all my high-quality, third person 'action' shots on the bike. Highly recommended.
How Do 360 Degree Cameras Work?
Prepare for some science… or just a vague summary.
Basically it comes down to having two lenses filming simultaneously, with the images then stitched together to form a single 360 degree view.
With this all-round footage you can then, probably post-ride, frame different shots and angles using the Insta360 app.
But it gets even cleverer … -er. The field of view from each camera overlaps. Which is important.
Most of my footage is taken with the camera attached to the end of Insta360’s dedicated ‘invisible’ selfie stick.
You can see it now – or can you… – but by the power of Greyskull, plus that overlapping footage, it’s invisibled out in the video.
Which is basically how we get those third person shots.
I’ll admit, occasionally you get some weirdness – what is that little worm on my shoulder – but most shots turn out amazing, given there’s no other crew involved.
Now, if Insta360 can add in some software to invisible this belly, we’d really be talking.
In terms of how I brandish my pole, I go for a variety of positions.
We’re still talking bike videos, potty brains.
In my YouTubes you’ll see a mix of out front, to the side, down below – whoops too slow – as well as high and somewhat out the back.
And, woah, yes that is a 360 degree camera, the newer X4, filming a 360 degree camera, my older X3. I think we risk breaking into the fourth dimension. Beware of orcs.
Sometimes I whirl my giant stick round my head like a tech-enabled fisherman, to get these lollopalooza rotating shots that serve no purpose whatsoever.
And this is what it looks like when you try to get a decent Strava segment time, whilst riding one handed like some medieval velo-jouster. Which is the name of my prog rock group.
Insta360 Front Handlebar Mount
There is a school of thought that waving a four foot pole around your head whilst riding one handed has an element of risk. I will concede that point.
So to bring some semblance of safety to my setup, at least for full frontals, a few months ago I bought the dedicated Insta360 front handlebar mount. It works well from a shot capturing perspective.
My camera is suspended out on this little carbon rod from a mounting rig attached to my handlebars. Very attached.
But if I’m filming a GPS review or comparison video, the rig rather dominates the shot.
And this brings us rather neatly to the first of the new mounts that Insta360 has sent over.
Insta360 Bike Computer Mount
This is the Insta360 bike computer mount. It comes in two versions, for integrated and non-integrated handlebars. They sent me the latter.
The non-integrated version attaches to the face plate of the bike stem – the bit that clamps down on the handlebars and holds it in place.
You fit the mount and the stem clamp together using two extra long bolts supplied with the kit, replacing two of the existing ones.
- remove the top two bolts from the stem face plate
- thread the longer bolts from the kit through the back of the mount, then through these small spacer posts and on into the stem face plate
- re-align your handlebars and then tighten to the appropriate spec, which in my case, I, er, guessed at.
The mount comes with four different GPS inserts, Garmin, Wahoo, Bryton and, er, another one. The insert is fixed with two small hex bolts and is easy to replace if you too happen to own twelvety-throusand bike computers.
The camera attaches at the front. The thumbwheel means you can keep it in a nice flat orientation whilst you tighten it up.
There’s also a mount underneath for a suitable front light.
And here are some shots with the X4 attached. The aforementioned tech wizardry means you can’t see the mount.
Surprisingly though, you do get a clear view of the front edge of the GPS device, even though the latter is almost on top of it.
Zooming out, we can get nice third person shots from the front at various distances and with increasing eye of fish. We can also frame shots on the wonk and facing forward down the road.
And so far I like it.
The mount is sturdy and feels very safely attached to the bike.
It’s lightweight, the bumf says it’s made from aluminium and I’ve no reason to doubt it.
Even with the bijou ELEMNT Bolt V2 as my GPS weapon of choice, the mount is largely hidden by the bike computer.
My only point of concern relates to my local riding surfaces, rather than the mount per se. The UK government calls them roads but I’m not so sure.
The particularly rough ones cause lorra lorra shake, rattle and roll and I’m a touch nervous about the stress on the join betwixt camera and mount. I’ll be monitoring it and trying to keep to the more buttery of my local rat runs.
We touched on my rear earlier. These back end shots are either with the selfie stick tucked under my arm like a Victorian gentleman skier or held behind me in a contorted and distinctly un-aero and likely un-safe position.
To answer the glaring questions:
- Yes, I have noticed that these bib shorts, which have seen some use over the years, now appear see-through.
- No, there’s no uncensored version of this video on OnlyGlutes.
- And yes, the shorts have now gone to the great recycling bin in the sky.
Which almost sighting of my tail brings us on to Insta360’s new bike mount number two, the tail mount!
Insta360 Bike Tail Mount Kit
The tail mount kit comprises two components, or maybe three. There’s a mount that attaches to the rails under the saddle and a mount that attaches to the seatpost.
The selfie stick screws on to the seatpost mount. This bracket, with its two multi-directional ball joints, hangs from below the seat and supports said stick further up the handle.
Attach the camera to the end and extend your stick as far as you feel comfortable.
Loosen and tighten the clamp around the balls to adopt different rod positions.
And like the bike computer mount up front, I very like this new mount for my filming. It doesn’t require me to ride like superman. I can operate both brakes and all the gears.
It’s positioning so far back means I can frame a variety of different shots, both near to and far back from, my thunderglutes.
I did try the selfie stick fully extended. It makes for a great wide shot without distortion. But on the rickety roads I ride, I am a little nervous about shaft shake – aren’t we all – so I shortened my length slightly.
At medium extension it all feels a lot more secure, with lesser dark forces exerting voodoo on the connection points between mount, selfie stick and camera. And I can still get nice third person follow shots with the X4 to add more than enough ice spice to my videos.
A couple of other things I’ve noticed, which I’ll have to muse more on:
- First, there’s no room for a saddlebag. This is fine as they should be banned anyway and I’ve employed this water bottle holder thing instead. But what happens if I need double bottle?
- And second, I’ve not yet worked out how to mount a
radar rear light when the tail mount is installed.
And then a final word to the wise: make sure that the selfie stick is screwed on securely, and that the support bracket is firmly clamped down on your shaft.
I’m not sure I did initially, and the whole caboodle started to work its way loose. So don’t do that.
Framing Shots In The Inst360 Studio App
Right, I’ve got my 360 degree footage, it’s time to frame some shots.
Which I do in the Insta360 Studio app. Now I’m sure the company would like me to demo this on the iPhone app and seamlessly post the output to Tikkytok.
But I’m an aging incompetente and the rest of my editing is computer-based, so it’s the PC version for me.
Having imported the footage, I click buttons and fiddle with my mouse scroll wheel until I produce a series of framed shots that might look good in the final video.
I frequently use the Deep Track function to automate the process.
Select an object: a front wheel, a chainset, frequently my humung-ass, and the software frames the footage to keep said object in the centre of the shot.
You can overlay some basic ride stats in the desktop version but you’ll need to use the phone app to display a fuller array of Garminstats.
When I want to go for more wacky perspectives I have to go manual, setting a couple of keyframes with my desired position, level of zoom, and strength of wack and the Studio app works out the frames in between.
If I want these slightly crazy riding on a beachball through space shots, I can take some relatively normal end of stick footage and then click the tiny planet option in the app.
I’m certainly not the expert. As I said up top, my aim is to get a variety of different and interesting angles with which to pebbledash my vids.
There’s far more you can do in the mobile Studio app, with various AI-enhanced features. I’ll leave explaining those to the GenZ-fluencers, if you can work out what they’re saying.
And that’s my process. Avant garde mixed with lots of method, juiced up with dadaism.
The X4 camera is available now – feel free to use my link (I get a small commission; you pay the same price).
You can also buy the X4 as part of a Road Cycling Bundle that comes with the bike computer mount, an invisible selfie stick, a lens guard, and a rubber lens cap. If Insta360 hadn’t already sent it to me, this is the option I’d start with.
The bike tail mount is available as a separate kit. It’s worth getting if you want some set-it-and-forget-it follow shots.
Now we just need them to work on a camera mount that fits a badly-behaved Jack Russell and I’m all set.
The easy-to-use camera I use to capture all my high-quality, third person 'action' shots on the bike. Highly recommended.
