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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Red Dragon's first flight on Octocopter

T

Tabb Firchau

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I got the email from Fedex on Thursday saying our Dragon had shipped and would be arriving on Friday. We have all been super excited to get our hands on this beast and see how well it can hide our inadequacies as operators. Dragon arrived Friday night just in time for happy hour and for everyone to fawn over it. I woke up at the crack of dawn saturday morning to prep our octocopter to fly the dragon. Saturday lunchtime it was ready to fly but the weather had turned and was drizzling. We lucked out and caught a beautiful break in the weather just at sunset and grabbed 2 quick flights.

My thoughts from this initial outing were:

1. Wow - I have no idea about best practices with Dragon! I have no idea what compression ratios you can get away with, how to expose properly, etc. I have lots to learn and would love feedback from other Dragon shooters as to what is working well and tips / tricks you have learned

2. Beautiful dynamic range - We had no iris motor installed for this flight so I had to try and find a compromise between the very dark shadows down on the pond and very hot sunset. I was probably a stop or more off where I should have been but the Dragon handled it very nicely.

3. I still can't believe we can have this kind of resolution, dynamic range, and image quality in a ~5lb package that I can fly on my toy helicopter. I dreamed of this stuff 10 years ago flying big helicopters and now it exists Just incredible!

4. Specs for these clips: 6K 60FPS | 180 degree shutter | Tokina 11-16 | 13:1 compression | All footage played back realtime | small tweaks to the curves for color | - I have lots to learn on extracting the most out of the Dragon!

Hope you enjoy this quick test video - and thanks to Ben MacDougall for the music


Tabb
 
Great stuff Tabb! Very excited for you guys to have a Dragon! I hope someday to be flying one of these rigs myself...

Please let me know the next time you're in Denver so I can buy you a beer!
 
Where is this octocopter available? I've needed one in LA a few times.
 
Congrats Tabb! It was really beautiful footage and music :-)
 
Very nice! That move around 1:14 over the stump looked like an accident waiting to happen, but sure was fun to watch.
 
Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so very accomplished in flight. Do you ever worry about losing the camera and copter in the water because of loss of battery power?
 
I have seen some small rigs that have sensors, overriding operations, such that a return to base command goes high, when the battery reserve is below a certain threshold.

Thank you very much

fury
 
Amazing footage, thanks for sharing. A good show of the Dragon's DR and resolution, pretty impressive.
 
Which model octocopter is this? How long does it take to master using it? I want one! Beautiful footage. It definitely feels like the beginning of a movie.
 
Firstly, really amazing footage! Great operation, great compositions, flares, whole thing is stellar! I can't believe how crisp Dragon is, truly insane!

Secondly, do you mind talking to us about what its like flying a rig like that below tree line in areas such as this? Seeing how silky smooth the operation is it makes me want to look into learning how to fly one someday. Do you need line of sight for the operator or can you use gps programs/cameras to monitor the pattern from afar regarding flying in urban environments or dense trees? Namely I was wondering how viable a system like this would be in say an on going riot situation like Ukraine. I'd imagine you could get some pretty powerful imagery while keeping crew safe is what I am thinking in say war zones, sketchy areas like Mikes recent shoot inside a Volcano, things where you want to minimize crew risk while still getting some shots basically is what interests me about applications such as this. Even guerrilla film making, say shots like "the cove" but just flying cams and over cranking instead of risking crew and spy games to install hidden cams on the ground?
 
Great stuff Tabb! Very excited for you guys to have a Dragon! I hope someday to be flying one of these rigs myself...

Please let me know the next time you're in Denver so I can buy you a beer!
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Sounds like a plan! I hope you are flying one as well. Nothing has been as challenging / rewarding in my life as aerial cinematography

Where is this octocopter available? I've needed one in LA a few times.
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Hi Christopher, Freefly Cinema operates all over the world. There are also operators that buy the same package we used for this shoot and are setup in LA. I will look for some specific referrals if you like.

Very nice! That move around 1:14 over the stump looked like an accident waiting to happen, but sure was fun to watch.
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The great shots always involve some risk right?? ;)

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And so very accomplished in flight. Do you ever worry about losing the camera and copter in the water because of loss of battery power?
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Joel- I made a conscious decision to accept the fact that if I was going to pursue aerial cinematography from UAV that part of the price of entry would be smashing up a lot of gear, I did smash a lot of gear learning how to fly and have crashed cameras throughout the years. It always sucks when it happens but the as soon as you capture something magical again the feeling fades.

Which model octocopter is this? How long does it take to master using it? I want one! Beautiful footage. It definitely feels like the beginning of a movie.
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Manfred, This was shot using the CineStar 8 Octocopter. I have been flying obsessively for the last 10 years. It varies in how long it takes to master the craft but to give you some context it is the most difficult thing I have ever done. Some people I have seen are getting great shots after a year of practice, but it usually takes longer.

Firstly, really amazing footage! Great operation, great compositions, flares, whole thing is stellar! I can't believe how crisp Dragon is, truly insane!

Secondly, do you mind talking to us about what its like flying a rig like that below tree line in areas such as this? Seeing how silky smooth the operation is it makes me want to look into learning how to fly one someday. Do you need line of sight for the operator or can you use gps programs/cameras to monitor the pattern from afar regarding flying in urban environments or dense trees? Namely I was wondering how viable a system like this would be in say an on going riot situation like Ukraine. I'd imagine you could get some pretty powerful imagery while keeping crew safe is what I am thinking in say war zones, sketchy areas like Mikes recent shoot inside a Volcano, things where you want to minimize crew risk while still getting some shots basically is what interests me about applications such as this. Even guerrilla film making, say shots like "the cove" but just flying cams and over cranking instead of risking crew and spy games to install hidden cams on the ground?
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Brian, sure happy to discuss! I do all of my flying with big rigs like this line of sight. Certainly you can use an FPV package to fly the unit first hand but I find it a bit scary as I have not practiced FPV enough to feel comfortable yet. I think flying a machine like this over a crowd is a bad idea (though I guess if the crowd is shooting at each other then the octocopter is the least of their problems!)

Thanks for all the comments guys, and thanks to Jarred, Jim and the whole team at RED for creating a camera that works so well for what I am passionate about......Toy helicopter filming!

Tabb
 
Confident Ballz flying that bird over the swamp and buzzing that dead tree ;-)
 
A bunch of courageous confidence there. It feels like hanging a big bag full of dollar bills alongside the far end of the burn plume from a flame thrower and praying the wind does not change. I didn't care less about the technical specs during the watch, only thought about it afterwards. The vision and yes the underscore as a perfect complement speaks for itself. It is a proud piece as is, fit for a head titles sequence.
 
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Great test video. Where are you located?
 
Nice work Tabb these shots that have a mood that would be impossible to do any other way (assuming it was remote and from a producers perspective rigging a cable cam was not feasible)

What frame rates did you use?

What is the hardest part of making a $ out of flying RCs?…is your kit insured and does it cover you if the camera had got its feet wet?

Insurers like to see procedures or technology that mitigate their risk, in this case is it feasible to adapt a self inflating life vest and also make splash protection for the camera and lens so if it went in the drink the camera and lens could be recovered?



Mike Brennan
 
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