Hi,
I am a shortfilmmaker and a beginner in RC Heli. The reason for choosing RC Helicopters is to get some aerial shots in my future films. Right now, I am here to seek help to shoot a small amount of aerial footage for my upcoming shortfilm. I would like to attach either my mobile cam(Sony Xperia S) or a small size camcorder to the RC Heli based on its size and the lead actor needs to be filmed while he is climbing a rock. This will be shot in Hyderabad. Can someone from Hyderabad, who has a RC helicopter, please get back to me if interested in doing this.

sent you a pm

Thanks for the PM. I PMed back.

I hope the Sony is a CCD type camera. The CMOS will cause major "Jelly Wobble" in an extreme vibration situation such as in a helicopter. Smaller amounts such as in a car can be remedied to a degree by post-production. But not a helo.



Please give this video a check. It will show what to expect. 

Your Camera does have a CMOS type camera. So as you can see there will be problems to varying degrees. This owner (on the video) had even gone to the trouble of making a vibration dampener with foam but that helo vibration still got him. The shots do improve later in the video but it is still apparent.

Honestly,I'm not trying to make thing awkward but have you checked this rock for air currents? Depending on prevailing winds the rock could possible cause an up current of air which may interfere with the helicopter control. I guess it depends on the size of the rock and wind conditions at the time. If you spot any slope soarers Pray the wind drops. Good luck, and I do mean that.  Stu

Thanks Propfella, you are absolutely right about the Jelly Wobble effect which is what exactly happened when we shot with Sony Xperia and Heli. I have finished the shoot and the shortfilm is ready. We spent two days for the Heli shoot and lots of hard work due to heavy winds on the shooting days. But the footage is almost not usable. I tried to manipulate the footage in post production and I could clear the camera shake, but not this Jelly Wobble effect. I just kept a 2 seconds clip in the final movie to show the audience that we tried something unusual.

Our helicopter got crashed due to heavy wind. I have posted it on youtube. You can check it here.


Here is my shortfilm's trailer

why donot use a good quad for aerial

Vineet, that is the plan for the next time. Quad and GoPro.

try using your own cam in place of go pro , will wait

What a shame, I'm surprised the heli pilot agreed to fly in heavy wind. I do apologize I didn't check the dates and didn't notice it had already been shot.

The footage for your trailer was excellent. I was expecting an advertisement for a car to start with. I didn't know what the fight was about but your continuity was good and the last shot was very well done. I've heard India is bigger than Hollywood for movies and millions go to cinemas every week. Keep it up.

Actually I developed an unusual shot whilst shooting a documentary. I wanted something different from a vehicle heading off into the Australian scrub. I stood in the rear of a ute (basically a car with the rear removed and a flatbed with tailgate) They are built that way and could be called a small truck) I stood in the back shooting off the shoulder and as the ute moved forward I slowly pulled back on the shot. So starting at full zoom and pulling back to wide. The speed of the ute increased as the shot got wider. It was an unusual effect as there was no actual road just wide open spaces. I never tried it whilst on the road due to traffic laws ut I would love to see it used again. It may take a few shots but I was lucky and matched the pull back more by luck. Unfortunately the company I was working for kept all footage and my only copy was loaned to a friend who "lost it"

I don't approve of using your main cam in place of the GoPro. I'd sooner lose the GoPro if there was an accident. Unless the quad flyer is very experienced I'b be more inclined to use a home made crane on the front of another vehicle.  One of the problems you will have is the air wash from your target vehicle on something as light as a quad.

I've had excellent results with a "Made in a day" rig with 2 x 3 meter aluminium tubes fastened to me on either side of a large leather corset above my belt and the apex was bolted together with the camera slung under it.  The entire contraption was  held upright by a shorter wooden pole held in my left hand connected  to the camera swivel at the apex of the aluminium tubes.

It sounds confusing but basically a tripod with two legs into the corset (small sewn in pockets) and the third leg held by me. That way I could move the camera up and down by moving the wooden pole, left and right by rotating my body. Smaller amounts of tilt and pan was made by moving the wooden pole from hand to hand and raising or lowering my arms. The entire shot was done with me standing on the roof of a semi trailer (Prime mover) and I had a very thick belt around my waist with four shackles tied with rope to the front bull bar and the rear chassis.

It was rather scary but I was completely safe and the shots came out better than we expected. Much of the vibration and shock was absorbed by my legs and I was high enough not to be in the way of dust thrown up by the subject car.  There was still a small amount of unwanted movement but we felt it was to be expected as the subject vehicle was being subjected to a rough ride anyway. From memory the complete rig cost around $90.00 and a lot of the pieces were used elsewhere anyway when we finished.

Keep that tape rolling and good luck with future shoots. Sincerely Stu

What a useful note!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience. we would like to add here that with the rigs and other set up what one looses is freedom of making movie. Meaning one is stuck with the limitations of distance, speed, altitude, locations etc..

A good set up of quad/hexa/heli would sort out the entire problem. the world is behind this idea.

If you think we can be of any help, do let us know. We have the solution ready as we type this.

We would update you with videos soon

Regards,

Sphere Hobbies
+91-99251-20630

Sphere, what would be the minimal setup to have an entry level quad/fpv setup? I am traveling to India soon and would like to setup an fpv quad setup to shoot while I travel around