Nick Hope

Aliases: nick hope, BubbleV (early forum posts)
Role: Underwater videographer, filmmaker, stock footage provider, marine life identification contributor
First appearance: 2005 (^[1])
Location: Southeast Asia (based in Thailand; extensively filmed in Myanmar, Indonesia, Fiji, Tonga, and the Philippines)
Affiliation: Bubble Vision (bubblevision.com)
Forum posts: 2,166+ across 250+ threads
Threads started: 76

Biography

Nick Hope is an underwater videographer and filmmaker who operated the Bubble Vision production company, making him one of the most prolific and technically sophisticated video-focused community members in Wetpixel’s history. Based in Thailand, he filmed extensively across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, producing feature-length documentaries, stock footage, and educational marine life videos.

Hope joined the Wetpixel forums in early 2005, when his first known thread documented post-tsunami conditions at the Similan Islands, providing video evidence to counter inaccurate reports of total reef devastation (^[2]). He quickly became a fixture in the Video Gear and Technique forum, contributing technical expertise on everything from camera settings and housing modifications to post-production workflows and stock footage licensing.

His work demonstrated that “you don’t necessarily have to have the best equipment” to produce high-quality results (^[3]). Adam Hanlon personally endorsed his first documentary, calling it “a top class DVD” (^[4]).

Equipment History

Hope’s equipment evolved significantly over his career, reflecting the broader transition in underwater video technology:

Standard Definition Era (pre-2006)

• Camera: Sony VX2000
• Housing: Gates housing (with some vignetting on fully wide shots)
• Format: Standard definition DV, 4:3 aspect ratio
• Shot early videos in Thailand, Myanmar, Similan Islands, and Bali (^[5], ^[6])

HDV Era (2006–2014)

• Camera: Sony HVR-Z1P (purchased 2006; replaced after saltwater damage in November 2006)
• Housing: Light & Motion Bluefin HD with flat port and 80-degree wide port
• Close-up: Century Optics +3.5 achromatic diopter behind flat port
• Lights: Light & Motion Sunray Elite halogen lights
• Format: 1080i HDV (both 50i PAL and 60i NTSC)
• Editing: Sony Vegas Pro with advanced AviSynth/QTGMC deinterlacing and resizing

Hope customized his Bluefin HD housing, modifying the side button actuator to enable AE (auto-exposure) Override mode — allowing the iris knob to function as a “darker/brighter” control combining iris and gain adjustments. He documented this modification in detail for the community (^[7]).

In November 2006, he suffered the loss of a new Z1P camera when a single drop of saltwater entered through the handle screw and fried the main PCB — an incident he recounted with self-deprecating humor on the forums while on a trip to Lembeh and Bunaken. The repair cost 44,000 Thai baht (approximately $1,221 USD) (^[8]).

4K/Mirrorless Era (2015–2020)

• Camera: Panasonic GH4, later considering GH5
• Housing: Nauticam NA-GH4
• Lenses: Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ; Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro
• Close-up: Nauticam Compact Macro Converter CMC-1
• Lights: 2x Keldan Luna 4X or 2x FIX Neo 1000 DX SW II
• Tripod: Xit404
• Format: UHD 4K downsampled to 1080p for delivery

Hope started the major Wetpixel discussion thread on the Panasonic GH5 in September 2016, which grew to 243 replies — one of the longest video gear threads on the forum. He noted his two biggest issues with the GH4 underwater were autofocus and color rendition (^[9]).

Post-Production Expertise

Hope was exceptionally knowledgeable about video post-production, particularly the technical challenges of format conversion and color correction. His key techniques included:

• Color correction: Manual curves-based color correction of every clip in Sony Vegas Pro, adjusting black levels to 16 and white levels to 235 on a 0-255 scale for broadcast-legal video levels (^[10])
• Deinterlacing: Used AviSynth with QTGMC (a high-quality motion-compensated deinterlacing algorithm) to convert interlaced HDV footage to progressive scan (^[11])
• Format conversion: Developed workflows to combine 1080-25i (PAL) and 1080-30i (NTSC) footage into a single 720-30p production using AviSynth and QTGMC (^[12])
• Upscaling: Used AviSynth with Spline36Resize to upscale 576i PAL DV footage to 720p for YouTube, and MVtools optical flow processing for PAL-to-NTSC conversion (^[13])
• White balance: Advocated for manual white balance with lights and color-correction filters, experimenting with techniques such as leaving CC filters on with lights and using green filters over video lights (^[14])

Key Productions

”Reef Life of the Andaman” (2008–2012)

A 116-minute documentary covering the marine life of Thailand and Myanmar’s Andaman Sea, filmed over the course of more than 1,000 dives at the Similan Islands, Phuket, the Phi Phi Islands, Hin Daeng/Hin Muang, the Mergui Archipelago, and the Burma Banks. Featured marine life ranging from seahorses to whale sharks (^[15]).

Originally released as a DVD (available in both PAL and NTSC versions at £14.95), Hope later serialized the documentary in weekly episodes on YouTube beginning April 2012 (^[16]), then released the full documentary on YouTube in November 2012. The 10.2 GB upload took approximately 30 hours; the initial upload was lost due to a YouTube glitch that prevented it from reaching subscribers, requiring a complete re-upload (^[17]).

Community member simonspear wrote that “watching ‘Reef Life’ inspired me hugely when I was first finding my fins filming underwater” (^[18]). Multiple community members praised the quality of the narration alongside the footage.

”Mucky Secrets — The Marine Creatures of the Lembeh Strait” (2007–2015)

A 92-minute documentary about the marine life of Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Shot during 9 days of diving in September 2007 with his Sony HVR-Z1P, the post-production took approximately 7 years — a timeframe Hope acknowledged with characteristic humor: “Speed of post-production is not one of my strengths” (^[19]).

The film explored the biology of dozens of species including corals, tunicates, clownfish, partner shrimps, mantis shrimps, squat lobsters, hermit crabs, sea urchins, stingrays, sharks, eels, octopus, cuttlefish, and tropical fish. It examined ecological strategies such as camouflage, mimicry, and symbiosis.

Release timeline:

• October 2013: Prologue posted on Wetpixel forums (^[20])
• April–August 2014: Serialized as weekly episodes on Wetpixel and YouTube, with 48 community replies (^[21])
• September 2014: Full 90-minute film released on YouTube (^[22], ^[23])
• April 2015: Released on DVD at $24.95 with 20 themed chapters, English narration, switchable subtitles, Dolby Digital soundtrack, a 4-minute prologue, and a 19-minute bonus feature “Diving the Lembeh Strait” (^[24])

Community member wydeangle noted: “You can now teach a college course in fish ID, behavior and everything from that film” (^[25]).

”Dakuwaqa’s Garden” and “Dakuwaqa’s Dream” (2008–2012)

Two videos from Hope’s time as video pro aboard the MV Nai’a in Fiji and Tonga in 2008. “Dakuwaqa’s Garden” compiled approximately 100 clips set to music (^[26]), while “Dakuwaqa’s Dream” took a different approach, slowing 8 clips to 50% speed using QTGMC deinterlacing of the original 1080-60i HDV (^[27]).

”Saturation” (2017)

A showcase of colorful marine creatures from the Lembeh Strait and Anilao, Philippines, shot with the Panasonic GH4 in 4K. The UHD footage was downsampled to 1080p, allowing cropping and zooming in post — a technique Hope embraced as one of the key advantages of 4K capture. Hope considered submitting a refined version to film festivals (^[28]).

”The Giant Manta Rays of Thailand” (2012)

A video featuring giant manta rays (Manta birostris) at Koh Bon, Hin Daeng, and Richelieu Rock. Hope noted he had done 1,000 dives in the Andaman Sea before seeing his first whale shark at Richelieu Rock (^[29]).

Other Notable Videos

• “Chariot of Fire” (2015) — Fire urchins with Coleman shrimps (Periclimenes colemani), urchin shrimps (Allopontonia brockii), and zebra crabs (Zebrida adamsii) in Anilao, Philippines, shot with GH4 (^[30])
• Lembeh Strait Night Dive (2006) — Macro night dive footage from Jahir, Nudi Falls, and “Muka” (^[31])
• “Macro Video of Saddleback Clownfish Eggs in Anilao” (2015) — 4K macro shot with GH4 (^[32])
• Stock footage demo reel (2012) — Featuring marine life from Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Fiji, and Tonga in HD (^[33])

Stock Footage and Commercial Work

Hope actively pursued stock footage licensing, discussing the economics and strategies on Wetpixel. He explored platforms including Getty, iStockphoto, and oceanfootage.com, analyzing the trade-offs between rights-managed pricing (around $100 per second for unlimited advertising use) and royalty-free models (as low as $48-$65 per HD clip on iStockphoto) (^[34], ^[35]).

He also produced promotional videos for dive operators, including a looping promo video for AquaMarine Diving’s stand at the London International Dive Show (^[36]). In 2008, he served as video pro aboard the MV Nai’a in Fiji and Tonga (^[37]).

In 2005, he was approached about filming dugongs in HDV for a documentary, investigating shooting locations in Australia and UAE (^[38]).

Marine Life Identification

Beyond videography, Hope was an active contributor to marine life identification on the forums, starting and participating in numerous critter identification threads. He was particularly knowledgeable about Indo-Pacific marine life, especially the muck diving fauna of Lembeh Strait and Anilao. He used scientific names extensively in his videos and on his Bubble Vision website, and engaged in discussions about reef fish identification guides, including the “Reef Fishes of the East Indies” app (^[39]).

Community Contributions

Hope was one of the most consistent and generous contributors to the Wetpixel video community. Key contributions include:

• Technical knowledge sharing: Regularly shared detailed post-production techniques, equipment modifications, and workflow advice
• Free-diving for video: Discussed techniques for breath-hold diving to improve video shooting, noting that “the very best underwater camera operators are really good at breath-hold diving” (^[40])
• Event attendance: Attended ADEX 2007 in Bangkok, pictured with a Gates HC7 housing and lights system (^[41])
• Wetpixel Hangout participation: Active in comments on Wetpixel’s first live video hangout in June 2012 (^[42])
• YouTube encoding expertise: Extensively tested and documented YouTube’s video encoding behavior, including luminance level handling across different devices and players
• GH5 community: Started the primary Wetpixel GH5 discussion thread (243 replies), becoming a central figure in the Micro Four Thirds underwater video community (^[43])

Timeline

• 2005-01: First Wetpixel forum post: shared post-tsunami Similan Islands video showing reef conditions at East of Eden (^[44])
• 2005-11: Investigated filming dugongs in HDV for a documentary (^[45])
• 2006-02: Explored stock footage licensing through oceanfootage.com (^[46])
• 2006-05: Posted Burma/Similan liveaboard highlights, shot with VX2000 in Gates housing (^[47])
• 2006-07: Posted Bali diving videos; discussed CC filter and white balance techniques with Mike Veitch (^[48], ^[49])
• 2006-09: Released Lembeh Strait Night Dive video (^[50])
• 2006-11: Destroyed new Sony Z1P camera with saltwater at Bunaken; repair cost $1,221 (^[51])
• 2007-03: Shared Light & Motion Bluefin HD AE Override housing modification (^[52])
• 2007-05: Attended ADEX 2007 Bangkok; pictured with Gates HC7 housing (^[53])
• 2007-08: Prepared for first mola mola encounter in Bali (^[54])
• 2007-09: Shot 9 days of footage at Lembeh Strait that would become “Mucky Secrets” (^[55])
• 2007-11: Discussed free-diving techniques for underwater video work (^[56])
• 2008: Served as video pro aboard MV Nai’a in Fiji and Tonga (^[57])
• 2008-02: Posted AquaMarine Diving promotional video from Bali (^[58])
• 2008-04: Explored stock footage licensing strategies on the forum (^[59])
• 2011-10: Released “Dakuwaqa’s Garden” — Fiji and Tonga highlights from Nai’a trip (^[60])
• 2012-04: Posted stock footage demo reel on Wetpixel (^[61])
• 2012-04: Began serializing “Reef Life of the Andaman” on YouTube in weekly episodes (^[62])
• 2012-06: Released “Dakuwaqa’s Dream” — slow-motion Fiji video (^[63])
• 2012-11: Released full 116-minute “Reef Life of the Andaman” on YouTube — filmed over 1,000+ dives (^[64])
• 2012-12: Released “The Giant Manta Rays of Thailand” video (^[65])
• 2013-10: Posted “Mucky Secrets” prologue on Wetpixel (^[66])
• 2014-04: Began serializing “Mucky Secrets” episodes weekly on Wetpixel forums (^[67])
• 2014-09: Released full 90-minute “Mucky Secrets” on YouTube (^[68])
• 2015-03: Released “Chariot of Fire” video from Anilao, shot with GH4 (^[69])
• 2015-04: “Mucky Secrets” released on DVD ($24.95) (^[70])
• 2016-09: Started Panasonic GH5 discussion thread on Wetpixel (243 replies) (^[71])
• 2017-09: Released “Saturation” — 4K critter video from Lembeh and Anilao (^[72])

References