A conversation with Ian from DemonView LLC

Meet Ian, the two-time award-winning GoPro creator behind DemonView LLC! In our latest interview, he talks about how his love for action cameras started with the GoPro Hero 2 and led to creating engaging content on YouTube. He also opened up about the challenges he faced along the way and offered valuable insights into the GoPro landscape today. Check out our interview to hear Ian’s inspiring story!

We’d love to hear about your journey with action cameras! What sparked your interest in them, and how did that lead you to create your YouTube channel?

I got into action cameras thanks to my wife, she knows I’ve always loved gadgets and she bought me the GoPro Hero 2 for my birthday in 2012. I have to say, I was really impressed by that tiny little camera, the fact you could capture 1080P video on such a tiny form factor was just amazing to me. Before that I had been playing with camcorders and webcams trying to create timelapses, driving videos and the quality just wasn’t there. So the Hero 2 changed all that for me and unfortunately for my wife, it started me down a path of buying accessories and upgrading my GoPro’s.

When I moved to the states, I was offline for quite a while and then in 2013 I started a small YouTube channel. It was just aimed at shooting random footage with my GoPro and submitting it to the local news stations (some of it was even broadcast on TV).

However, when the GoPro Fusion was released (and I bought two of those cameras for a trip to Alaska) there were a few issues with workflow and the desktop software. I found a better, more streamlined way of doing things (as well as a workaround for software crashes) and I posted those videos to my site and a lot of people ended up watching them. That made me realize that I should take things a bit more seriously. So, I started my current channel (under my real name)

Your brand name, ‘DemonView LLC,’ is catchy and memorable, what’s the story behind it?

At the time I had been playing with GoPro’s first drone collaboration (the 3DR solo) and was thinking of starting a drone business. My wife had decided to buy me a website domain and had tried for Angel View, Dragon View but all those names were taken. Then when she saw a picture of my drone in the air, she came up with the name DemonView and thus my website and channel name was born. So catchy cool name born from the fact all the more acceptable names were already taken. I still find myself having to convince people once a month that I'm not a satanist or something.

A lot of my GoPro Videos have been well received and even GoPro themselves commented on them. I also started logging into the forum daily to help people solve their GoPro issues. When the now famous Boot loop issue occurred with the Hero 10, I was the first person to post a solution to the issue online. GoPro pinned my solution video to the top of their support forum and that ended up getting me 21K views on my channel, for me, that was huge. I felt what I was doing was useful, so that started me down the path of trying to help people with their camera issues.

Also, we noticed you’re a GoPro Award winner, what an achievement!

My first GoPro award was for a compilation video of my night drives to work and back. It was edited with the relaunched Quik mobile app and as a result, I won an award. Funnily enough, I hadn’t really been entering the awards and only really made an effort these past few months (in 2024) and now I’ve gotten interest from GoPro for two more video edits I have completed. So, fingers crossed I pick up another award or two!

Since this conversation, Ian has won a second GoPro award for #WorldAnimalDay. This is the video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAte4DMSHyt/

You’ve produced such a diverse range of content, from in-depth reviews to engaging vlogs. How do you decide which projects to focus on?

For me, I usually try to come up with 10 to 20 video ideas at a time, then I sort out which ones I’m going to have time to concentrate on. Since I’m working full time, trying to find time to film and edit together a video is somewhat limited. So, after I decide which video I’m going to shoot, I usually either come up with a script or notes about key points I want to address. I also try to come up with a list of shots I’ll need for the video (such as slow-motion shots or high frame rate shots). Once I have my insert shots filmed, I’ll then shoot the main video and spend about 2 to 3 hours editing it all together and uploading it.

It’s clear from your videos that you’re a big GoPro enthusiast. In your opinion, what unique feature truly sets GoPro apart from other action camera brands?

I like GoPro’s due to the fact they were my first camera, so I’ve fond memories of filming with them. However, I still think they are the best cameras out there. Some cameras can shoot higher frame rates, some cameras can shoot higher resolution or higher bit rate… but no one offers it all in one package like GoPro does.

You’re really active in helping the Reddit community. In your experience, what are some of the most underrated or overlooked features in action cameras that users should pay more attention to?

One of the things I wish Redditors knew more about are the features offered by GoPro Labs.  That’s a huge advantage over what the competition can do and a real powerful tool for professional filmmakers, whether it be motion triggers, gps triggers or image adjustments. It’s an amazing feature that I don’t think people utilize enough.

With all the footage you capture, keeping things organised must be a challenge. Could you share a bit about your editing workflow and how you manage everything?

Organization is easy for me. For instance, if I’m filming an airplane video. When it comes to storing the footage, I just create a folder with the date and a brief description of the flight. Then within that folder, I’ll create a sub folder for each camera: “Hero 10 cockpit camera”, “Hero 11 looking at plane”, “Hero 12 looking forward”, “Tail camera”. This makes it easy to find the flight I want, the camera angle I want etc. What I will say is this: “Be choosy about what you film”. I never turn on a camera and leave it filming, that would just leave me with hours of footage to wade through when it comes to editing. I tend to plan out what I want to film in advance, shoot those scenes and maybe a few minutes of extra footage in between. This means that whether a flight lasts an hour or 3 hours, at most, I’m editing 20 minutes of footage between all 4 cameras into a 5-minute clip. This is a huge time saver when it comes to editing.

Looking ahead, what do you think is the future for the GoPro and action cameras in general? What do you think that could come next?

It’s hard to say what’s going to come next for GoPro. I think 2025 is going to be the “make them or break them” year for GoPro. Their biggest gamble won’t be the introduction of the Max 2, it will be the introduction of their new motorbike Helmet range (with built in GoPro camera). If it succeeds,  then I can see GoPro expanding beyond Motorbike helmets and trying race car helmets, skateboarding helmets and maybe even a 360 degree helmet. It all hinges on a successful launch and honestly, I want to see GoPro succeed. I have huge respect for the brand and the staff that work hard to make it all happen.

You have been doing this for awhile - I believe since 2020?- what are your visions for the future of DemonView LLC? Are there any new types of content you’d like to explore or platforms you’re considering expanding to?

The future of DemonView LLC? That’s an interesting one, I started this for fun and it wasn’t until around 2020 that it actually became a business. I’ve been steadily growing and have now spun off a 2nd channel dealing with car repair, restoration and modification (all from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about any of that). My dream would be to make enough money that I could concentrate on video production and tutorials and maybe even hire a person or two further down the line to help out.

Having seen all your content on YouTube and your contributions on Reddit, I’m curious, do you have a favourite GoPro model? Which one takes the gold in your opinion?

It is REALLY hard to decide my favorite GoPro model. I’ll always have fond memories of the Hero 2 which started me on this journey. I think the Hero 6 was a game changer with the introduction of the GP1 processor. The Hero 8 had the best marketing campaign I’ve seen by GoPro. As of right now, I think the Hero 13 has given us something really special. With the Macro lens option, it’s given us a complete content creator solution in one camera. The “suggested ND filter” option gives amateur and professionals the ability to have perfect cinematic motion blur every time and personally, I can’t wait for the anamorphic lens next year. I’m all about that camera flare!  So right now, the Hero 13 is my daily shooter.

Before we wrap up, I have to ask; what’s the best moment you’ve ever captured with your action camera? I imagine it must be with a GoPro! What's your favourite activity to capture with it?

When it comes to favorite shots with my cameras, I think it’s anything that may change how the viewer sees the world. I have a video I’m working on editing that’s just some raccoons in my garden eating food and playing with sprinklers. To me though, it captures the intelligence behind these animal’s eyes as well as their innocence as they struggle to survive while people keep encroaching on their habitat. There’s the video where my wife took us “Back Country Flying” in her Maule airplane and that just shows how beautiful some parts of remote Oregon can be (as well as some cool airplane flying shots). I just want people to see my videos and think “Wow” and then learn how to create those types of shots themselves from my tutorial videos.

Thank you Ian for stepping up and sharing your projects with the action camera community! If you want to know more about DemonView LL visit their youtube or found them on Reddit for more GoPro and action camera content!