My name is Noah Spitzer-Williams and I’m the CEO of Highlight Hunter. Our app for Mac and PC helps you find the highlights in your videos 8 times faster than you can yourself. MyPOV360 invited me to share the story behind Highlight Hunter and how it came to be.

Two years ago my buddy got a GoPro for his birthday. We were very excited because we saw the videos that people were posting online and we couldn’t wait to share our own. Every time we went snowboarding or kitesurfing, we had the camera recording.

A few months later we had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: When are we going to see a highlight reel from all this footage? We’ve barely watched any of it ourselves and we haven’t shared a single clip with our friends.

My buddy: Noah, we have 100+ hours of footage and it would take us weeks to find the good parts.

Me: So remind me why we even use this camera if it just creates tedious boring work for us?

Although we were bummed, we knew we had recorded some amazing moments and we were determined to figure out a solution. We decided there were three things our solution needed to do.

1. Quickly and easily create highlight videos. If it wasn’t fast and easy, no one would use it. As an example, we knew fumbling with the camera’s buttons sucked so we wanted a button-free solution.
2. Never miss unexpected highlights. Sometimes you don’t know when your buddy is going to wipe out or do something crazy. We wanted to let the camera record the whole time.
3. Work with existing cameras. If our solution required changes to the camera itself, it would be a while before people could use it. Also, we wanted our solution to work with all cameras so it wasn’t limited by manufacturer.

A few beers and brainstorms later, the concept for Highlight Hunter was born. It solves the “footage overload” problem in a super simple way. As you record your adventures, bookmark the highlights by momentarily covering the camera lens after the highlight is over. When you get home, open Highlight Hunter on your Mac or PC, load in your videos, and in a few minutes the app will create a 30 second highlight clip for each bookmarked moment.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a behind the scenes look at how Highlight Hunter came to be. We encourage you to experience the time savings for yourself. A free version of Highlight Hunter is available for download but we invite you to use the premium version, compliments of us. It features highlight clips without watermarks and faster scanning speeds. Simply go to http://www.highlighthunter.com/redeem-coupon-code/?coupon=MYPOV360.

Thanks!
Noah
www.highlighthunter.com
@HighlightHunter
www.facebook.com/HighlightHunter

MyPOV360: Why did you choose the name “Halfthrottle?”

HalfThrottle: Because all macho sounding usernames related to motorcycling had been taken. A big part of my channel is stopping to see things that are a long the way. I ride a motorcycle somewhere, explore that place, make a review of it whatever. Sometimes I don’t even make it to where I thought I was going because I get distracted by all the cool stuff along the way. I like to take it easy and enjoy the ride.

MyPOV360: When did you begin motovlogging?

HalfThrottle: I started filming my adventures in 2007 when I left on a ride from Utah to Panama. I traveled for 3 months on that trip, and rode over 13,000 miles. I bought what I called, “The cheapest camera money could buy.” Because I was paranoid about getting robbed while traveling through Central America, and didn’t want to be out a nice camera. I never had any problems like that. It was one hell of an adventure, but I never felt threatened by the locals.

MyPOV360: How does your channel differ from other motorcycle vloggers?

HalfThrottle: I feel like people watch motorcycle videos see motorcycles, not just what’s in front of the guy on the motorcycle. In my videos I try to get a lot of different angles. Some from my point of view, some of the bike riding in front of the camera. This can take a lot of time because it means stopping to set up a tripod, riding passed, turning around or walking back for the camera, then riding somewhere else to repeat the process. It can be very tiring especially in hot and humid Panama. If you don’t have the wind blowing passed you with all that motorcycle safety gear death by heat stroke sets in fast.

MyPOV360: What camera equipment do you use to create your videos?

HalfThrottle: The action cameras I use are the Drift Stealth and Drift HD. I like to use the two cameras together when I film vlogs. One camera on my helmet, and one mounted on the handlebars pointing back at the rider. I talk with my hands a lot even when I ride, and it’s nice being able to cut back and forth to show different angles. I often get compliments on the audio quality of my vlogs, and questions about how I did it.  I use the Drift External Microphone to record my voice when riding. I find that positioning the mic inside the helmet, but as far away from my mouth as possible, and putting the sensitivity on the lowest setting gets the best results.

MyPOV360: Do people ever contact you for advise on traveling in Central America?

HalfThrottle: Yes I get emails now and then from would be adventurers wondering what they should pack for the trip and if it’s safe to ride through all those different countries. I try to respond to them all, but I’m a bad person to ask about safety. I’ll always tell you to go for it, even if there was a civil war going on in Mexico I’d say, “Go for it.” The question, “What should I pack” is irrelevant. Sure you’re going on an adventure, but you’re not going to Mars. There are going to be people there. Those people are going to shop in stores, eat food, and wear clothes just like you do. If you get hungry stop and eat. If you get cold stop and buy a jacket. Some people spend way too much time planning rides when they should be taking rides.

MyPOV360: What are some of your favorite adventures?

HalfThrottle: There are a couple playlists on my channel that are awesome. The Cerro Banco Adventure and The Tigre Salvaje Adventure are both great. Recently I took a ride from sea level here in Panama to the top of Volcan Baru (11,398 feet). Because Panama is such a thin country if the weather is clear you can see the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from the top. It was the roughest road I had ever attempted to ride, I dumped my poor KLR650 15-20 times. Both of us came home pretty banged up.

The footage I got from that ride was awesome and I decided to do something special with it. I self published a book for the iPad called, “The Volcán Barú Adventure.” Inside the book there are 7 videos with a total length of over 70 minutes. It’s a rich multimedia experience with photos and videos of the ride, and I was able to use the text of the book to fill in the gaps between videos. It’s a cool way to let people know what else was happening and how I was feeling during the ride.

The book is on sale in the iTunes store now, and costs $2.99.

“The Volcán Barú Adventure.” by Ryan Grassley

The Eastern Snowboard League was conceived with the notion of giving back to our communities, and culture of east coast snowboarding. Its most basic function is to cultivate the talent of up and coming riders on the east coast, giving them an avenue not only to progress with their peers but also to expose them to the next level of competitive snowboarding.

So check our new supply of helmets, goggles, body armor, and more.

Travis Rice has filmed outstanding video parts year after year, producing jaw-dropping shots like his switch 540 over Chad’s Gap in Utah, a 120 foot backcountry gap jump. On top of that, he has won several US Opens, an X-Games gold, and an Icer Air gold, where he landed the first double rodeo 1080 in competition.

The Art of FLIGHT follows Travis Rice, John Jackson, Mark Landvik, Scotty Lago, Jake Blauvelt, Nicolas Muller, Gigi Ruf, DCP, Mark McMorris and Pat Moore as they dream up new global adventures and progress the sport to unimaginable levels.

World Combat Paintball clan is a Scenario Team that loves to play paintball whenever work and wives permit. They have an American division based in Lynchburg Virginia and a Canadian division based in Kingston Ontario.

Drift has announced the introduction of  makers of several new accessories and a firmware upgrade.  This comes in conjunction with the  recent release of the NEW DRIFT HD.  The DRIFT HD is a new compact, durable, easy-to-use camera. With its LCD screen and RF remote, the NEW compact DRIFT HD the most feature-rich, multi-functional helmet camera available to date.

Drift Accessories

Every accessory is compatible with the new Drift HD, which also features an LCD screen, replaceable lens, wireless remote control, and 25% smaller housing than its predecessor.

Drift Firmware Upgrade

Unleashing the ultimate potential of the HD, Drift is also releasing a firmware upgrade. The new firmware was created for all current Drift HD170 and Drift Stealth owners and will automatically be integrated into all production models as of Oct. 15. To upgrade your current Drift HD170 and Drift Stealth with the latest 1.1.8 firmware please visit and download here.

The new accessories and firmware upgrade have been made possible by the feedback of Drift users and hours of video analysis by product development.

Jeb Corliss flies through the cave on Tianmen Mountain near Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.

If you are planning to use the camera primarily underwater, GoPro is the hands down winner. The GoPro camera can handle a 200 ft. submersion whereas the Drift HD is merely splashproof. The Drift Waterproof Protective Case adds an extra 10 ft. of waterproof protection, but if you’re planning to use your camera primarily for surfing or diving, the GoPro HD is probably your camera of choice.

Drift’s area of dominance lies in its built-in LCD screen, wireless remote and rotating lens. When Drift first came out with the Drift X170, a standard definition camera, consumers were forced to choose between Drift’s LCD screen / remote / rotating lens and GoPro’s HD video quality. With the introduction of Drift’s HD version in July 2010, the competition began to heat up. The past twelve months have seen two new generations of Drift HD cameras – the Drift Stealth (added night mode and slow motion capability with 60fps chip) and now the lighter, tighter Drift HD, which is 25% smaller than its predecessors.

In any head-to-head comparisons, the advantages of the LCD screen become clear. In addition to the ability to align the camera, the LCD screen allows you to play back your video to make sure you got the shot. GoPro recently released the GoPro LCD BacPac which adds an external LCD screen for $79.99.

Both cameras take still pictures. GoPro’s camera shoots 5mp stills and the Drift HD shoots 9mp stills. Both are able to shoot continuously in time lapse mode which is a great feature when photographing action sports.

The new GoPro cameras have the ability to film right side up or upside down. This adds extra flexibility in mounting options. Older GoPro cameras can get this feature with a simple firmware upgrade. Drift HD goes another step beyond GoPro by incorporating a rotating lens, which allows you to change the body angle of the camera up to 300 degrees, and the picture will still appear upright.

Drift’s wireless remote allows you to turn the camera on and off when it’s on your helmet or outside your vehicle. When you use a remote, you often shoot shorter clips, saving editing time later. GoPro does not have a remote at this time.

For a detailed side-by-side comparison of the tech specs of the GoPro HD, Drift Stealth and Drift HD, visit the MyPOV360 Comparison Chart.

Arbor Longboard Demo at Suburban Blend – Drift HD POV from MyPOV360 on Vimeo.

Find out more about the new Drift HD cameras.