Garmin VIRB Camera with G-Metric

[jimh]

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.

[jimh]

Garmin has not disenfranchised buyers of the VIRB camera who don't happen to own a Windows device. The VIRB EDIT free software package is available for MacOS.

Garmin has prepared an short presentation demonstration of VIRB EDIT. See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujwZt76LbiY

[porthole]

I didn't see on the garmin site if the wifi linkup will work with non garmin products, such as a Lowrance HDS Gen3.

[jimh]

Since the connection between the VIRB camera and other Garmin devices occurs via WiFi, I am not aware of any particular standard method for that sort of data connection to occur between marine electronic devices. The only standard protocols for exchange of data between marine devices that I am aware of are the NMEA-0183 protocol and the NMEA-2000 protocol. Both of those protocols transmit on copper wire connections. Since WiFi is a wireless radio protocol, I cannot see a basis for immediate universal interface of all marine devices via WiFi just because Garmin has made their own devices capable of exchanging data via WiFi.

[jimh]

When the VIRB camera is used with appropriate Garmin chart plotters, I believe the camera image can be viewed on the screen of the chart plotter, and the camera can be controlled through the chart plotter screen. I don't know exactly what controls are available, but I suspect that initiating or stopping a recording and taking still pictures would be possible. If you don't have a compatible Garmin chart plotter, Garmin has a $50 wireless remote control available. The remote is said to work at a distance of 33-feet (10-meters).

The VIRB camera can also utilize external Bluetooth microphones for its audio input, give more flexibility in what can be recorded. This makes possible recording of a narration track using a camera mounted in a position for best view instead of pointed at the narrator.