New year, new camera, new tricks, amirite? The new HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Mini aren't just video monsters, they've also got some artistic prowess that they'd like to flex. The latest GoPros have three new Night Effects modes that appear to bend the very fabric of time as we know it.
Today, we're doing a deep dive on these three new modes. We'll explain what they are, why you should use them, and how you can get the best results. Let's goooo!
What are the night effects modes?
Put simply, there are three new night effects modes:
Star Trails
Light Painting
Vehicle Light Trails
Basically, the camera takes a series of long exposure photos and composites them together into one image or video file. This is the kind of wizardry that night photographers do all the time in post-production, but it typically takes them a fair amount of manual labor or at minimum some hefty computing power, especially in the case of star trails. Not anymore! The HERO11 Black line does all of that instantly, and right in the camera so you can review it right away.
Not only that, but instead of just spitting out a plain image, the camera gives you a video! Essentially it creates an animation of all the layers of images that get stacked onto each other, so you can see how it came together, and you can share the video itself, or using the GoPro Quik app, you can just snag the perfect screen grab and share it as a still.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by GoPro (@gopro)
--
PRO TIP: For all three Night Effects, you have the option to choose 4K or 5.3K. When in doubt, go big. If you're pulling screengrabs from the resulting 5.3K video, it will net you a crispy 15.8 megapixel (MP) still image vs. 8MP from a 4K video.
While each of the new modes work similarly to each other, there are some variations between them, as well as some recommended techniques for each of them. Let's talk about what they have in common first.
Aside from resolution, mentioned above, there are a few main parameters that you might want to adjust if you're trying to go pro (as they say): Shutter, ISO and Trail Length.
Let's start with Shutter.That's how long your camera's sensor will be exposed to light each time it takes an image. For most of the modes you can choose 0.5 seconds all the way up to 30 second Shutter speeds. Generally speaking, the darker the subject is (i.e. the scene you're shooting) the longer you want your exposure time to be, with an inky black sky being about as dark as it gets.
You may also want to adjust the ISO(that's the sensitivity of the image sensor), with the higher number netting you a brighter image. The thing to remember about ISO is that the higher you go the more digital noise you're going to get, so we recommend adjusting the Shutter first and then raising the ISO if you need to.
The other most important parameter you can tweak is Trail Length.Here the options are short, long or max, and the one you choose is really going to depend on the look you're after. We'll dive into this in more detail for each specific mode, but the short version is that this setting dictates the actual length of the respective trail.
Pro Tip: For all three of these modes, wobble, vibration, or really any movement of the camera itself is the enemy. You want to have your GoPro securely mounted to a tripod or at least a stable surface. These modes all have Scheduled Capture and Timer options, and you should use them! Timer is our recommendation, so you can set the GoPro to start capture three seconds after you press the shutter button. This eliminates extra movement (albeit unintentional) from the initial press and any accidental bumpage.
The following are the best practices for capturing with HERO11 Night Effects.
Star Trails
While all three of the new modes are cool, Star Trails might just be the cooooolest. Stacking photos of the night sky in post can be a real pain, and all the work doesn't necessarily guarantee a slick animated video. Star trails, in general, are created by the rotation of the Earth, so if you can find the North Star, you will notice that all of the other stars in the sky swirl around it. Its art meets SCIENCE! Seriously, HERO11 uses the Earth's rotation to help create Star Trails.
Star Trails are super simple. All you have to do is find a space with a relatively clear view of the night sky, select your Trail Length and press record.
For Trail Length, we recommend going with Long or Max. As the name suggests, this will give you nice, long streaks that create some sweet arcs across the sky. Alternatively, Short will create an interesting effect where it looks like each star is a comet with a tail, but it won't be as good for saving a still photo later.
PRO TIP: If you are looking to offset an exceptionally dark sky, play with Shutter and ISO settings. You'll likely get the best results if you set the shutter to a full 30 seconds. And depending on how that looks, you can also crank the ISO up to 800 or even 1,600.
A Star Trails capture may take 20 minutes or even multiple hours, depending on the trail length you chose. We recommend doing a quick test shot before committing. The last thing you want to do is shoot for a long time and then check your camera, only to find that the whole scene was blown out or too dark. Instead, shoot for just a minute and then stop and take a look at the image and tweak settings accordingly.
Light Painting
This one is a classic. If you've played with long exposure photography at night, then you've probably tried writing your name or drawing a smiley-face with a flashlight. The HERO11 Black (and Mini) take that to the next level. First, it eliminates having to scramble and write (backwards) super quickly, because you can set the duration to as long as you want
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
New year, new camera, new tricks, amirite? The new HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Mini aren't just video monsters, they've also got some artistic prowess that they'd like to flex. The latest GoPros have three new Night Effects modes that appear to bend the very fabric of time as we know it.
