Aerial Helicopter Shoot using RED/Eclipse

[Michael Brennan]

We used their RED and our Lens and our drives. We would have used our RED if not for a snafu on our end. One reason it was important to use our drives is that this was a one day shoot and we needed extra time to off load the drives. It was just nice to be able to take them with us.

This is a very handy feature and something that is hard and time consuming or just impossible to do with other gimbals.

You were spot on with the lens choice.


Mike Brennan

 

[Felix van Oost]

Could you tell me more about the Eclipse? Who manufactures it and approximately how much does it cost?

 

[Keith Nealy]

Aloha Phil,

Was the volcano performing for you? I was out shooting it recently and the very dramatic Kalapana vent had stopped emptying into the sea. We had to work the sloops this time but found some great little spots and the seepage along the coast can be spectacular if the light is right. Last December the vent was spewing and it was very dramatic. It changes quite frequently and you just have to be lucky. Because I live here I can usually get it when conditions are right. You got some nice footage. I like that housing. Who did you rent it from?

aloha,

Keith

 

[Brook Willard]

The Eclipse is a really terrific system. The only bummer I ran into was the way it interfaces with the FIZ... not leaving me any place to connect a separate iris control. We ran into one issue with the BNC lining up with itself perfectly when the lens pointed straight down, resulting in video dropout. Taping a strain-inducer on the line fixed it.

Phil, be VERY careful about doing Finder transfers of RED footage... and be equally wary of using spinning drives in an environment like that on your computer and, frankly, using the LaCie rugged drives at all.



We set up the onboard LCD with the system's witness camera to keep an eye out for dropped frames and to make sure that the media percentage had decreased after a take [there are failure modes where a camera will appear to roll but the media will not tick down]. We were using RED RAMs, but dropped frames still occur from time to time depending on subject matter and interference around the SATA cable.

Fun stuff! The Eclipse is rock solid. I've done 1200mm shots in that thing and it's blown me away.

 

[Phil Bates]

Could you tell me more about the Eclipse? Who manufactures it and approximately how much does it cost?

It was built by the Pictorvision people and uses electronic laser/based gyros rather than traditional mass gyros. I am not sure about the rate since you would have to negotiate with them. I would start with a ballpark guess of around $4K/day. But of course this is only part of the story. There will be significant shipping costs. You would need to set aside at least 3 hours to rig, and another 3 hours to de-rig, paying the tech for a full day before and after (and the day you are shooting). You would need an experienced camera operator, pilot, hotels, transportation, per diem, etc. It seems like the costs never end...

Phil

 

[Phil Bates]

Aloha Phil,

Was the volcano performing for you? I was out shooting it recently and the very dramatic Kalapana vent had stopped emptying into the sea. We had to work the sloops this time but found some great little spots and the seepage along the coast can be spectacular if the light is right. Last December the vent was spewing and it was very dramatic. It changes quite frequently and you just have to be lucky. Because I live here I can usually get it when conditions are right. You got some nice footage. I like that housing. Who did you rent it from?

aloha,

Keith

Hi Keith, the volcano took a day off when we were flying (March 14th). I guess we'll just have to go back!

By "housing" if you mean the Eclipse gimbal, we got it direct from Pictorvision.

Mahalo,
Phil

 

[Phil Bates]

The Eclipse is a really terrific system. The only bummer I ran into was the way it interfaces with the FIZ... not leaving me any place to connect a separate iris control. We ran into one issue with the BNC lining up with itself perfectly when the lens pointed straight down, resulting in video dropout. Taping a strain-inducer on the line fixed it.

Phil, be VERY careful about doing Finder transfers of RED footage... and be equally wary of using spinning drives in an environment like that on your computer and, frankly, using the LaCie rugged drives at all.

We set up the onboard LCD with the system's witness camera to keep an eye out for dropped frames and to make sure that the media percentage had decreased after a take [there are failure modes where a camera will appear to roll but the media will not tick down]. We were using RED RAMs, but dropped frames still occur from time to time depending on subject matter and interference around the SATA cable.

Fun stuff! The Eclipse is rock solid. I've done 1200mm shots in that thing and it's blown me away.

Thanks Brook!

I concur with the warnings about La Cie drives. I should know better. I keep thinking that their next products will be better...

Out of 460 shots, five of them ended up corrupted and wouldn't open on the original Red Drives, three of those were repairable with the RED software. Fortunately, everything is now copied onto our office servers.

Regarding file transfers using the Finder, what is your preferred method? I can learn something here.

Thanks for your comments!
Phil

 

[Brook Willard]

R3D Data Manager is fantastic.

 

[CJ Roy]

For a 128GB or so offload with a helo's time constraints, I might take my chances with a finder offload, and offload to 3 or 4 drives consecutively.
R3D Manager, while the safest, is really slow and might take 2-3 hrs for that kind of load. In that time, power loss or bump with the cables might be more of a hassle than it's worth.

 

[Christian Munoz D]

It was built by the Pictorvision people and uses electronic laser/based gyros rather than traditional mass gyros. I am not sure about the rate since you would have to negotiate with them. I would start with a ballpark guess of around $4K/day. But of course this is only part of the story. There will be significant shipping costs. You would need to set aside at least 3 hours to rig, and another 3 hours to de-rig, paying the tech for a full day before and after (and the day you are shooting). You would need an experienced camera operator, pilot, hotels, transportation, per diem, etc. It seems like the costs never end...

Phil

Great shots Phil!

Can you say the cost was aroud 10k/day. I am very interested in the actual cost, because I am planing to do similar aerial shoots in Patagonia and the Atacama desert in Chile.

 

[Steve Gibby]

Nice images Phil! A day of flying around Hawaii gives you have a whole new perspective of the Islands. I've shot many aerials there - your footage brings back some very good memories.

I'm thinking those shot sequences will license out really well...

 

[Phil Bates]

Great shots Phil!

Can you say the cost was aroud 10k/day. I am very interested in the actual cost, because I am planing to do similar aerial shoots in Patagonia and the Atacama desert in Chile.

Hi Christian,

10K seems a bit low. Helicopter rates could range from $1200 to $1600 per hour for an AStar (in the US). I am not sure what they are in Chile, but shoot all day and you could easily double that number.

Phil

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

Would 85mm at 5k be long enough to get a soccer field sized framing on the ground without blowing off snow/sand/dust at about a a 3/4 or perhaps smaller/lower angle? Or would that be a job for a longer zoom?

 

[Michael Brennan]

Would 85mm at 5k be long enough to get a soccer field sized framing on the ground without blowing off snow/sand/dust at about a a 3/4 or perhaps smaller/lower angle? Or would that be a job for a longer zoom?

Use a lens calculator to calculate distance from subject.
A shallower angle doesn't effect the distance from subject-focallength- magnification relationship. But with a shallower angle we tend to tighten the frame.


I think that you'll be above 150 feet so you are absolutely fine.

However having a wide zoom on board is a good idea if turbulence or foreground trees/buildings demand that you fly closer and wider.

Note the rotor wash as it descends will be driven by the prevailing wind, so shooting and flying into wind is desirable as you get lower.

What aircraft are you planning to use?

Mike Brennan

 

[Roberto Lequeux]

Thank you. I don't know yet. I am only trying to learn, and in the event that we can't budget for an Eclipse I thought the 18-85mm would be the way to go over an Optimo, so long as 85mm is long enough to safely cover us for that shot.

 

[Michael Brennan]

If you are not stabilised then the mantra is shoot wide and fly low.
However it is this configuration of shooting/photography where most aerial filming accidents occur.

A tyler side mount is helpfull in reducing some wobble.

Managing client expectations is crucial when shooting aerials.


Mike Brennan

 

[Steve Dent]

I've been to Kauai three times and I love it. It looks like you flew right over one of our favourite camping spots.

Amazing footage, great pilot, great camera op.

 

[michael zaletel]

Here is a quick and dirty preview reel. FYI there is no audio and the clips need better grading.

http://www.artbeats.com/demo_reels/26

Phil

Did you happen to get an arial shot of the primary hotel zone in Waikiki? I could use that for our i4hawaii.com site. I'll definitely check all these out once they are on Artbeats.

michael zaletel

 

[Phil Bates]

Michael,

I've got a few (ungraded screen-grabs) options for you below. Do you like a wide dolly, tight overhead, or something from the side?

If you see something you like, just PM me, it is all available.

Phil

 

[michael zaletel]

5-0

From Wikipedia...

On August 12, 2008, CBS announced that it was to bring Hawaii Five-O back to the network schedule, targeted for the 2009–2010 television season. The new version was to be an updated present-day sequel, this time centering around McGarrett's son Chris, who succeeded his late father as the head of the unit. Ed Bernero, executive producer and showrunner of Criminal Minds, was to helm the new take, which he described as "Hawaii Five-O, version 2.0". It was also to incorporate most of the iconic elements from the original, including the "Book 'em Danno" catchphrase, into the remake. Bernero, who was a fan of the original and had a ring tone of the series' theme song on his cellphone, had always wanted to bring the series back to TV.[23] This version didn't go beyond the script stage.

In October 2009, it was revealed that Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci had signed on to script a pilot episode, and Peter Lenkov will serve as the series showrunner should it be picked up as a series.[24] Kurtzman and Orci will be rebooting the original concept similar to their work on the 2009 Star Trek movie, rather than a sequel to the original series.

In February 2010, it was announced that actor Daniel Dae Kim had been cast to play Chin Ho Kelly. He was the first actor cast for the remake.[25] Several days later, Alex O'Loughlin was cast as Steve McGarrett.[26] Actress Grace Park was later cast as a female version of Kono Kalakaua,[27] and Jean Smart was cast as Hawaii Governor Pat Jameson.[28] Filming of the pilot for the new series began in March 2010.

-michael zaletel