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First Time Aerial Filming Tips

M

Michael Notar

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I may be filming a golf course from a helicopter in 4-6 weeks and am curious for tips. I am not new to filming but new to aerials. I will be flying low in a R44 helicopter, doing a fly over of each hole. The pilot is very experienced. I am thinking that I will be most likely shoot on my Scarlet at 4k, ISO 800 at 1/125-250th Shutter at what ever F stop I get. I will be out putting the project at 1080, but really the client wont use it much bigger than about 540p.

My main question is regarding stabilization, I am anticipating needing to have the helicopter pilot aim for perfection flying along the path I want. I plan on using an image stabilized lens as well as stabilizing the footage in post. Is this all necessary or am I over thinking it. I can also use the pilot's gyro stabilizer but I think thats more for still photos.

If I need to do some in post, what plugin do you recommend for Final Cut 7? If the only option is to use a After Effects plugin, then I will buy the software, but would like to not. I have tried the FCP plugin and really dont like it. I think I saw Warp Stabilize in AE and it seemed to be pretty good.

Should I aim to over crank or under crank while filming, does this have any benefit for stabilization (I realize what it does to speed)?

Many thanks.
 
Did a quickie chopper shoot last week with Epic-M and Duclos 11-16 at 16mm. Also a Kenyon K8 gyro. Shot 5k at 60 fps. I kept the camera loosely hand held with side grip and left side handle. Raw footAge turned out pretty good. Some stabilization in post with NukeX cleaned up some drift from the chopper having to crab along the flight path to give me a good forward view. The 5k frame gave me the extra real estate I needed to stabilize to a 4k HD frame. As you likely know, never let the camera contact the chopper body. I imagine that your lens stabilization will help a lot to cut the high frequency vibes. Good luck! Sounds like a fun shoot. BTW, I over ranked. It never hurts having more frames. Also shutter was at 1/500 to help with stabilization. I planned to use NukeX to add motion blur, but did not have too in the end.
 
yep, shoot at as high res as you can, which will give you plenty of room for stabilisation. Overcrank to at least 2 x output framerate, if not 4x, and shoot with fast shutter speeds (1/250th minimum to counteract chopper vibration). You will only need f5.6 as everything will focus at infinity. Use a nice wide lens.

ProDad's Mercalli 2 is by far the best and fastest stabiliser out there at the moment, IMHO.
 
Paul Russell said:
You will only need f5.6 as everything will focus at infinity.
Click to expand...

Why have aperture at F5.6? That is the sweet spot for sharpness? I've heard talk about the lens being it's sharpest 2 stops above full open. Is this why?
 
Michael,

Any chance you can share some footage with us?

Michael Mayda said:
Did a quickie chopper shoot last week with Epic-M and Duclos 11-16 at 16mm. Also a Kenyon K8 gyro. Shot 5k at 60 fps. I kept the camera loosely hand held with side grip and left side handle. Raw footAge turned out pretty good. Some stabilization in post with NukeX cleaned up some drift from the chopper having to crab along the flight path to give me a good forward view. The 5k frame gave me the extra real estate I needed to stabilize to a 4k HD frame. As you likely know, never let the camera contact the chopper body. I imagine that your lens stabilization will help a lot to cut the high frequency vibes. Good luck! Sounds like a fun shoot. BTW, I over ranked. It never hurts having more frames. Also shutter was at 1/500 to help with stabilization. I planned to use NukeX to add motion blur, but did not have too in the end.
Click to expand...
 
Paul, why the 2 stops above full open? Why not 3 or 1? or 5? Trying to get away from shallow DOF you would then to find in wide open situations?
 
In a chopper you're going to be at least 60ft from anything. With a wide angle lens on an S35 sensors you'll get all the DOF you need at F5.6. Stop it down more if you like, but you're better off trying to get the shutter speed up as high as possible without flickering to counteract the micro vibrations that cause blur and make stabilisation difficult. YMMV, IMHO, HAND etc :-)
 
Still not exactly understanding what's going on. Why not go full open at F2.8 and even higher shutter?
 
Will Keir said:
Still not exactly understanding what's going on. Why not go full open at F2.8 and even higher shutter?
Click to expand...

opening up means shallower depth of field which is not what you want when shooting aerials. You want everything in focus, not just the building in the foreground, then having to rack focus to infinity.

Aerial you usually want deep depth of field unless your focusing on a specific object. Therefore, you would want to close down a bit on the lens to get that deeper depth.

You also have to be careful when upping the shutter speed since you can start to create some bad staccato effect ala Saving Private Ryan which is not what you are trying to attempt again unless that is the look you are going for... Shoot at a higher frame rate (60fps is usually great) with slightly faster shutter speed (greater than 120 but not much more or you get the SPR look).
 
as far as stabilization goes, i'd shoot 4k @24 or 30fps with a target shutterspeed between 120-500 and target f-stop between 3.5-11. Use your lens stabilization, and use the gyro being offered if possible - I'm guessing it's a kensington. You'll probably still have to do some stabilization in post, but it should be minimal and I'd use AE's warp stabilizer. Make sure you're prepared to handheld (+ some extra pounds for the gyro) for more than enough time to operate comfortably. Safety first :)
 
I understand ya. The SPR look is 45 degree shutter angle, lotta ways to get that combo. It looks bad with aerials is interesting... I love that look not sure if you can take out or add that look in post.


Matt Ryan said:
opening up means shallower depth of field which is not what you want when shooting aerials. You want everything in focus, not just the building in the foreground, then having to rack focus to infinity.

Aerial you usually want deep depth of field unless your focusing on a specific object. Therefore, you would want to close down a bit on the lens to get that deeper depth.

You also have to be careful when upping the shutter speed since you can start to create some bad staccato effect ala Saving Private Ryan which is not what you are trying to attempt again unless that is the look you are going for... Shoot at a higher frame rate (60fps is usually great) with slightly faster shutter speed (greater than 120 but not much more or you get the SPR look).
Click to expand...
 
Will Keir said:
I understand ya. The SPR look is 45 degree shutter angle, lotta ways to get that combo. It looks bad with aerials is interesting... I love that look not sure if you can take out or add that look in post.
Click to expand...

It can look great for aerials if that is the look of the rest of your piece. If it's just basic stock aerial than SPR look is definitely not the right choice.
 
Michael (hey there!) - what sort of gyro does the pilot have access to? Just a single Kenyon KS-4/KS-6, or something more substantial like a Tyler MiniGyro or Aerial Exposures ATM/LSG? Keep in mind, with single engine helicopters (piston especially), you've got a choice between low, and slow...but not both. That can be an issue on the R44, as it is to be not flown out of trim (crabbed flight), at any substantial speed, as per Robinson's own directive ( http://www.robinsonheli.com/srvclib/r44sa_avoid_out_of_trim_0607.pdf ) "TO PREVENT A CATASTROPHIC TAIL ROTOR BLADE FAILURE,
AVOID FLYING OUT OF TRIM."

I'd imagine that you're aiming to shoot straight forward. Keep in mind that your forward visibility may be limited because of the lack of out-of-trim capability, since the pilot likely won't want to plod along at 100' at 20kts, squarely below the H/V curve.

Can you get an MD500 or JetRanger for this job?
 
I will be playing with gyro hopefully later this week, i think it is 2 axis. ya might be able to get away with the R44 but wont be suprised if i need a bigger turbine, tho more expensive can prob get it done in less tries and time. i am going to look at the R44 later this week and look at shooting looking forward as much as possible, like 30-45 degrees. waiting to hear back for a quote on a bigger ones (eurocopter AS 350 BA and B2)
 
The AStars are super capable machines, but might be overkill for your needs. Around here they're around $1800/hr, but I've seen them as low as $1450/hr in other places. I'd think you could get away with a JetRanger (206B) if there are any by you for a reasonable price, perhaps around $1,000. The perfect machine would probably be an MD500/530... or the MD520N (NOTAR Model!) but you don't find those everywhere. They'd be the perfect size though for golf course filming.

My opinion is that an AStar will be more stable than an R44, and also the flat floor in the back and abundance of room can be helpful. Once you're spoiled on turbine machines, it's hard to go back. I'm probably guilty of that.
 
I was shooting last week at Niagara falls and shot a higher frame rate, and got great results. I did not know to shoot at a much higher shutter speed though, but will know for next time. I think I had it around 180, and a higher f-stop around 12. I shot between 72 and 90fps. You burn cards quickly and finished a 256gb card in a about 1hr at 10;1. I used a 16-35 f2.8 , and of couple of times dropped to punch in to 3k to see how it worked. 5k and wider is definitely better. You should be able to get low, unlike us.

I used a hand held rig, but only resting the shoulder pad lowly and supporting it with my arms mostly was best (I did not have a gyro) Yes avoid rigged contact.
 
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