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Epic Learns to Fly - Octacopter Thread

Dominik Muench

Dominik Muench

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Hey Guys


I figured it would be a good time to start a thread for aerial and remote controlled filming with the EPIC where people with rigs or questions about the topic can get together.

I'm excited to announce that our system (with Epic "Lucy") which can be seen here in the promo photo, is ready to go and available for hire in Brisbane Australia....our rig is currently on a job in Vanuatu this week after we have done some extensive testing the last couple of weeks flying it with the EPIC.

These rigs offer exciting new opportunities for filmmakers to get interesting and unusual shots. Our octacopter rig comes with gyro stabilization as well as full GPS tracking and way point navigation.
Thanks to the on board video camera it can be flown out of the operators line of sight through video goggles, the digital remote system allows for a stable operation up to 3 kms away.

The whole rig is powered by LiPO batteries including the EPIC itself which runs on a separate 2cell LIPO system, which gives the camera a running time of around 8 minutes.
We currently have a total flight/ recording time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds per battery charge on the current rotor/ motor configuration.

The camera mount itself has independent pan, tilt and rolling capabilities.

octa.jpg


There will be a flight footage reel coming very soon :ihih:


here is a short video from our first hover test with the EPIC attached to the rig: http://vimeo.com/40583682 sorry about the quality, filmed of an Iphone.
 
Hey Dominik

That is one impressive unit WOW! I was wondering if you require CASA approval to be able to legally fly that thing commercially?
 
I've had 7 min flights on mine, but I don't have an epic battery, can you tell me how to wire up a 2cell for powering camera? also I have the same pan tilt...seems a bit flimsy for the weight? I am sure you had to offset for balance? cool rig, I have a rig with 20,000mah 4s spacks and 8 rotors. :)
 
Also how are you seeing camera output? Red is HDSDI and HDMI but no composite for analog transmitters.....
 
Any links? I love my totally home made rig but I'd like to see what pros are doing.
 
That is an awesome rig! I am assembling a 4 rotor Droidworx CX4 for testing and training purposes. Not sure how soon I will be willing to fly my EPIC but I have a larger ship planned for later this year once I get my practice in.

The Black Magic camera that was just announced looks like a good, lightweight cam to fly that would make sense for the weight and cost factor (and to save the "pucker" factor of putting your EPIC in the air)

Send more pics of your rigs guys! I'll take some pics when I get back to the studio.
 
Yea I am planning on the BM camera for my rig. I just don't like flying an Epic, one radio glitch, one lost motor...one ANYTHING and you will have a total loss on your epic.
 
I wish the BM cam is better in low light, and the chip size is four third.

Black sun is till an issue.

Don't recommend it at the moment, maybe they will get it right soon.
 
Michael, I agree with you that there are some issues but for $3K, I can afford to fly it and even crash it. I imagine that if I am flying, there will be light. If I am flying, I can avoid pointing into the sun.

So, I still think it is a viable solution rather than flying my EPIC.

(I have flown RC craft most of my life and we have a saying: "If you fly them, you will crash them")

Don't want to go there with my EPIC.
 
hey obin

we pretty much just wired two small 2cell lipo batteries together, the pilot had a cable made with the epic lemo connector on one side and the two lipo inputs on the other, when the rig is back from vanuatu i can take a photo of the power supply cable for you.
yeah the actual gimbal where the camera is sitting on is a bit thin, i reckon it would be better made out of carbon fiber than currently aluminium, but offsetting the camera definitely helps. the EPIC with a small canon zoom lens is definitely the max weight capacity though.
you can tune these octa rigs a lot with different prop and engine combinations. for example just changing from one prop type to another can make a big difference in stability and up to 2 minutes of flight time.

as for camera output, we bought an HD/SDI converter, took the electronics out of the big square case and pretty much just rigged it in a piece of foam, then attached a 2,4GHZ wireless video tap to it.
 
If you want to see a whole 'nother take on remote control aerial platforms, mosey on over to booth C9545 at NAB. The guys from SnapRoll Media have something you have to see to believe. Camcopter S-100 complete with a Cineflex head. Flight time of three hours. This ain't your father's R/C helicopter. Made by Schiebel in Austria and working in conjunction with the other very talented folks from Brain Farm Digital Cinema, this thing is in a class by itself.

SnapRoll was my go-to pilots for our recent project and they did an outstanding job. Their teaming up now with Brain Farm only makes things sweeter. Lots of talent to go around.

No one platform will be the answer to all needs, some are better suited to certain situations than others. The Camcopter is not an indoor type of unit. Not by a long shot.

http://vimeo.com/40483583
 
Mark Phelan said:
Camcopter S-100 complete with a Cineflex head
http://vimeo.com/40483583
Click to expand...

DAMN that is a serious rig ^^


Michael: I had the same thought too, packed up in a little aerodynamic case with one of those small soda air capsules to trigger on emergency, couldn't be that hard ?
 
Dominik Muench said:
DAMN that is a serious rig ^^


Michael: I had the same thought too, packed up in a little aerodynamic case with one of those small soda air capsules to trigger on emergency, couldn't be that hard ?
Click to expand...

The size and weight of the parachute required to slow a fully loaded Epic lifting multi is prohibitive. People have tried it, with some success on light machines, but not on heavy lifters. Plus you have to be high enough (Most of my shoots are well under 100ft) and I can't stress enough that when you crash, it happens FAST. :)

Here is one of my custom Y6's with my Scarlet:

ScarletMega.jpg


Powered from the main lipos, no problem. HDMI converter on board for downlink. Easy stuff.

I build mine custom so they are durable, fold up, and 2 fit into a Pelican 1650 for rough handling in the rental production van.

Here is a show with a bunch of aerials I shot for Geo last summer. Not Scarlet obviously, broadcasters don't like my RED's.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2208618097
 

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No one platform will be the answer to all needs, some are better suited to certain situations than others. The Camcopter is not an indoor type of unit. Not by a long shot.

http://vimeo.com/40483583
Click to expand...

The fixed landing gear limits the Cinflex FOV significantly, wonder if they are developing a retractable gear system to solve that?
 
As far as reliability goes, the differerence between a true professional and an aspiring amatuer is the pro loses the attitude and expectation that crashes are inevitable, paving the way to make the opposite the reality. I put nothing on my rigs that has not been fully proven and tested in advance. I have a test platform that is only used to qualify compnents for use on the camera rigs. Preventive maintenance logs and so on. Zero defects or nothing.
 
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