Oppenheimer Reviews GoPro Camera: Video Editing Is A 'Headache,' Not Convinced Consumers 'Willing To Spend The Time And Energy'

In a report published Wednesday, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz attempted to remake a popular YouTube short film titled "Father Son Tandem Bike Ride" with a GoPro Inc GPRO device.

"It is truly a wonderful video," Uerkwitz wrote. "We attempted to make a video by ourselves that does the same. Our conclusion is that making such a casual-looking video is difficult, and likely impractical for parents of children. It is time-consuming and complicated, required multiple takes from multiple angles, and careful editing."

Uerkwitz said that only "prosumers" (a person who buys electronic devices that are of a standard between those aimed at consumers and professionals) will create such videos on a regular basis. The analyst also suggested that general consumers who buy a GoPro camera are unlikely to enjoy the experience due to the "generally cumbersome" video editing.

Related Link: Will Apple's iPhone Replace GoPro?

Uerkwitz noted that consumers value convenience and cost, in addition to time. It is difficult and time consuming to compose a "story board" at every casual family moment, let alone the more time-consuming editing process.

"Watching 20+ Minutes Of Video Gets Tiresome"

In Uerkwitz's attempt to create a "casual home video" he captured over 20 minutes of raw footage from multiple angles. The analyst did admit that taking the actual video was "easy" but he found himself focusing more on the video itself rather than the activity.

After an exhaustive five plus hours and 13 steps in post production, the time effort may not be worth it and consumers may come to the same conclusion.

The analyst uploaded two final videos to YouTube. The first was cut by a professional film maker with Adobe Premier. The second was cut by an Oppenheimer team member using GoPro Studio.

"The short video we made requires a story board (similar to a pre-arranged plan for video recording of the different scenes), several accessories, a third party to help capture additional angles, and five plus hours of post-production," the analyst concluded. "And all those efforts resulted in a one-minute-and-half home video."

Bottom line, the analyst believes general consumers prefer to capture "short life moments" and share them on social media, rather than time consuming GoPro videos.

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