Aerial Photos using a Radio Controlled Platform

sebphoto

cellosid wrote: »

700 size RC Helis have no trouble lifting a DSLR. The issue of vibrations on a Heli can be problematic, particularly non electric models.

That footage is impressive, made possible by the BOSS image stabilization feature of the Sony.

I was thinking about such issues too. I don't know much about video, but I've seen those go pro hero advertisements. Everything is nice and smooth, but in real life it's not that simple to put a camera on a helmet or a heli

cellosid

sebphoto wrote: »

I was thinking about such issues too. I don't know much about video, but I've seen those go pro hero advertisements. Everything is nice and smooth, but in real life it's not that simple to put a camera on a helmet or a heli

Putting a camera on a Heli or Helmet is the easy part, achieving stable, jello free footage is the challenge. ? Sometimes it seems like all the Planets need to align to achieve good results from CMOS sensor cameras. :rolleyes:

stedabee

cellosid wrote: »

Putting a camera on a Heli or Helmet is the easy part, achieving stable, jello free footage is the challenge. ? Sometimes it seems like all the Planets need to align to achieve good results from CMOS sensor cameras. :rolleyes:

But all links posting in this thread the footage looks very smooth and jello free so how are they achieving this especially the guy using the go pro on the dji quad copter? Surely there using some sort of absorber or gyro to stabilise?

cellosid

stedabee wrote: »

But all links posting in this thread the footage looks very smooth and jello free so how are they achieving this especially the guy using the go pro on the dji quad copter? Surely there using some sort of absorber or gyro to stabilise?

Yeah, there are certainly vibration free mounts and gyro stabilized Gimbals. But there is no substitution for a smooth flying Platform. Good frame, balanced Props and motors for a start.

Here are two YT videos of mine from a Quadcopter made largely from household items and a simple flight controller. GoPro is hard mounted to frame.
Footage has been processed through YT.

stedabee

cellosid wrote: »

Yeah, there are certainly vibration free mounts and gyro stabilized Gimbals. But there is no substitution for a smooth flying Platform. Good frame, balanced Props and motors for a start.

Here are two YT videos of mine from a Quadcopter made largely from household items and a simple flight controller. GoPro is hard mounted to frame.
Footage has been processed through YT.

Thats lovely footage and nice flying, did you use any absorbers or gyro's? and also is that the hero 2? gonna get as much info myself on this and see if there's a market for this sort of thing. My years of flying might come in handy now and all those euro's spent might pay off haha!

cellosid

BFassassin wrote: »

http://flitetest.com/articles/H_Quad_Scratch_Build

I'm following these plans and all the components. It uses a HobbyKing i86 flight controller. I thought it would be the easiest way to get going but its a pretty big learning curve trying to get everything setup the right way. I could have bought a quad thats ready to fly but it would have been twice the price probably.

If you run into difficulties......... I'm sure those guys will offer support ?

cellosid

stedabee wrote: »

Thats lovely footage and nice flying, did you use any absorbers or gyro's? and also is that the hero 2? gonna get as much info myself on this and see if there's a market for this sort of thing. My years of flying might come in handy now and all those euro's spent might pay off haha!

Thanks ! No absorbers or gyros............ just a balanced Quadcopter , smooth flying and some PP. It didn't happen overnight though, a lot of trial and error, tweaking here and there.

It's a GoPro HD(original)......... now that the GP3B is out they have discounted the original. I have also seen some footage from the GP2 clone and it was impressive for the money.

If you find there is a Market, can you let me know ?

stedabee

cellosid wrote: »

Thanks ! No absorbers or gyros............ just a balanced Quadcopter , smooth flying and some PP. It didn't happen overnight though, a lot of trial and error, tweaking here and there.

It's a GoPro HD(original)......... now that the GP3B is out they have discounted the original. I have also seen some footage from the GP2 clone and it was impressive for the money.

If you find there is a Market, can you let me know ?

Ye i use the go pro hero 2 on my planes and when the weather is good the views at low speeds really high is superb so i can imagine how nice the results would be on the quads.

Currently i do alot of nightclub photography and the odd bit of videography and im hoping to focus more on the video side and this short of work would be having all my passions mixed into one so if i could make money doing it id be a very happy man. Doing a few things at the minute but im going to spend time researching this and see if theres many people doing it and if there's a market im going to dip my fingers into it, any info that i think might interest you ill pass it on.

humberklog

Careful now...


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056903527

BFassassin

cellosid wrote: »

If you run into difficulties......... I'm sure those guys will offer support ?

Yeah they have a good forum with plenty of support which has helped me out already. I know what my current problem is (esc's not calibrated) I just need to figure out the right way to do it. Then learn how to fly it

cellosid

BFassassin wrote: »

Yeah they have a good forum with plenty of support which has helped me out already. I know what my current problem is (esc's not calibrated) I just need to figure out the right way to do it. Then learn how to fly it

This Programming card makes life a lot easier:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__2169__TURNIGY_BESC_Programming_Card.html

it's possible to use a Radio to calibrate the ESC's but a lot more effort.

Rew

this is interesting use of drones but not aerial photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBTWl-DtKdM

cellosid

Rew wrote: »

this is interesting use of drones but not aerial photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBTWl-DtKdM

Nice !

Brings formation flying to whole new arena. A behind the scenes 'making of' video would be :cool:

secman

The BBC programme "CountryFile" covered this type of photography in one of their recent programmes. The UK agency which covers coastal erosion are using remote control helicopters to shoot video footage of coastal areas and will re visit and fly the exact same route using global tracking tecnology and compare the results. A DSLR camera (lot of cash) strapped to the chopper over water and along cliffs too !

Secman

cellosid

The big snow of two years ago offered some great photo opportunities. My 'CopterCam' coped admirably in the sub zero conditions.

Mylow

Bought one of these

I haven't had the opportunity to set it up yet. I also bought the carbon camera mount.

cellosid

Mylow wrote: »

Bought one of these

I haven't had the opportunity to set it up yet. I also bought the carbon camera mount.

I don't know anything about this model but it has a decent payload at 400g. That will allow you to lift most P&S cameras but the camera mount position which is under the centre of gravity will rule out the GoPro range as the arms motors and props will encroach in the shot.

There is a way to overcome this problem if you really wanted to shoot with a GoPro ?

stedabee

Just thought i'd write back into this thread seeing it started my business. I remember last year i came across this thread and i got quite excited with the prospects of what could be.

Well here i am roughly a year later with a fully licensed RPAS (UAV) business doing well and excited for the future. Having worked with numerous companies including Facebook i must say its going great and i'm lovely my job. For anyone that has an idea no matter how weird or wild it may seem, stick with it if you believe it will work and it will make very happy.

So thanks Cellosid you had a big part to play!

cellosid

Well done !

Good to hear you followed your dream, I'd be very interested to know what opportunities you explored. PM if you want ?

stedabee

cellosid wrote: »

Well done !

Good to hear you followed your dream, I'd be very interested to know what opportunities you explored. PM if you want ?

I'll Pm you now, think you kind of deserve to hear!

thesteve

stedabee wrote: »

Just thought i'd write back into this thread seeing it started my business. I remember last year i came across this thread and i got quite excited with the prospects of what could be.

Well here i am roughly a year later with a fully licensed RPAS (UAV) business doing well and excited for the future. Having worked with numerous companies including Facebook i must say its going great and i'm lovely my job. For anyone that has an idea no matter how weird or wild it may seem, stick with it if you believe it will work and it will make very happy.

So thanks Cellosid you had a big part to play!

Happy to hear this. I've also been following this thread (as i need a hobby ) and seeing someone go from research to success with something they enjoy is the dream!

PM me your details as I might be able to send some business your way. My company will be looking for some aerial stuff around June.

stedabee

thesteve wrote: »

Happy to hear this. I've also been following this thread (as i need a hobby ) and seeing someone go from research to success with something they enjoy is the dream!

PM me your details as I might be able to send some business your way. My company will be looking for some aerial stuff around June.

Hi Steve, to call it a dream would be correct. I'm really enjoying work at the minute and i hope it continues. Cool i'll pm you now!

pullandbang

I've a quadcopter and I'm flying it with my GoPro attached underneath.

Great craic altogether although weather at the moment is awful!

Here's a test flight with my new gimbal attached from a couple of days ago.

Marlow

I thought, I'd revive this thread .. just for the heck of it.

With a shot from:

Mondello Park. Taken last year, end November.

/M

Marlow

cellosid wrote: »

Some years ago I bought a Petrol engined Helicopter with a 1.9m rotor span, so it was capable of lifting a seriously heavy camera. My intention at the time was to shoot footage of Golf Holes Flybyes, but the pursuit of vibe free emptied my pockets and I gravitated towards stills.

I have since developed a number of Platforms called Multicopters using the latest technology and wonder if any posters have experience of AP or considered this approach.

I started out similarly. Experimenting with RC helicopters for the aim of aerial video and photography.

From there I moved on to multicopters about 2 years ago. While I could have build my own, I decided to go with readily available commercial products, as my main interest is in the photography/video aspect of the platform. So I didn't want to add too many unknown variables to begin with.

A bit more powerful rig was needed eventually to make 3D shots and clips, as 2 cams have to be lifted for that.

This year then, I started experimenting with 360 video and photography. With YouTube now supporting these video streams since March this year and even having Google Cardboard support (VR Goggle Support), there is a great platform to present the footage.

I know 360 photos can be taken with any regular device, but the difficulty there is that if they are taken in a busy area, with a lot of people moving around, it's going to be crap. By taking an instant picture in 360 with all 6 cameras, moving objects are not an issue.

The only thing thats still a bit annoying is, that most platforms to view 360 images are half arsed. You'd wonder, why proper image platforms haven't copped on and started to support this kind of footage.

Taking it to the next level will be to get my 360 rig consisting of 6 GoPro cameras, mount them on a multicopter and get that flying.

It means, I need to get a bigger rig than what I have now, which I have ordered. On top of that, next year I should be back flying petrol rigs .. but in the form of a multicopter. Flight time would be an hour then between refueling. And refueling near instant.

/M

Marlow

These shots, I took in Denmark this year.


On the beach of the island Rømø, which has Europes widest sand beach. 3 km wide and 15 km long.



These are taken in Sønderborg. While it may seem, that they're taken in an urban area, they're actually not. The last shot could have been taken from a boat, I guess. But then, this is so much quicker

/M