If money was no option....

[DucktileMedia]

now that I have a little taste of what a HUGE production is like I can see the need for more. I am curious what the pro's experience is with equipment failure from using the common setups most on here are using for light cameras. I.e. avroto/axi, maytech, hobbywing, turnigy,etc. esc's, controller failure.... I dont see motors being a weak point in a setup but if one was asked to bring a heli to another country to shoot using a scarlet/epic, what are the realistic options with a multi? It's really the esc's that worry me. I picked up a bunch of cameras on set to get a feel for the weight and damn they are monsters! Although they did have ext. monitors, batteries, grips/rails all which could be stripped. Any advice for the most reliable systems available for a dual operator setup. Money would not be an object to a certain point. I realize there is always a risk and redundancy is a must. we were flying an enormous hex and the size was great as it made it easy to spot LOS on set around 100+ people and 60+ cameras all rolling simultaneously. I also discovered the beauty of a dual operator setup. It does make it tricky for the pilot to orient in tight quarters though you cant focus at all on the rotation of the gear anymore. When the gimbal is rotated it throws the pilot off at a distance. I have a feeling this is going to be a single rotor heli to fly more than 5 minute shifts at a time with that weight. We held up a few shots because of the constant need to change batteries. Annoying. We would have needed 40 battery packs per day. And the noise of a gas SRH cant be that much louder than this thing. Any input from the guys who actually do this? I can understand fully if you dont want to share your secrets. I think the game totally changes when you need to lift a 15-20lb camera that costs so much.

 

[DennyR]

There is absolutely no question about it. If you want to lift that sort of weight reliably then you need a high end heli. Something like a T-rex 800 (elect.)with 830 assymetric blades and a direct drive tail rotor plus a balanced zenmuse (or one of Tabbs) with Ace One. Not that much more cost than a S800. But much more lift efficiency, endurance and high wind performance. Spares, sound engineering and tried and tested reliability. These are a known safe investment plus you have auto rotation. Vibration is not a problem with the right mounting system. It is no contest against any MR.

Add to that an expensive set of batteries and charger plus a Honda generator.

Total overkill if all you want is to lift a GoPro. But for a loaded 5D and upwards it is IMHO the only way.

 

[DucktileMedia]

I unfortunately believe every word you say here. At the end of the day you end up with a $50k gas heli with 2 meter blades. not what i wanted really. But facts are facts. We were asked by one of Hollywood's biggest stunt coordinators if we could do it and I said of course but was just a matter of money. they dont seem to care so much about that. I dont know if i am ready to get into SRH's again. I like many things about them but the fact is that if anything goes wrong they take SO long to fine tune.

 

[DennyR]

A basic T-Rex 800 Extreme is a little over 2k, Zenmous and Ace One about 5k, a few good servos and that would get you started. Make no mistake that is one powerful electric heli. before you start tweeking it.

When you are working at that level it is of course a two man job. You only fly with a very skilled pilot who is totally familiar with the model and a trained director of aerial filming/operator. The organisation behind the equipment is the key factor. You cannot just jump in and expect not to come out with egg on your face. This is light years away from point and shoot with a GoPro.

 

[Lanzar]

That is why we made the Skyjib 8 or our new skyjib x6 wich are made for red series. We are aware that to carry 50k camera is not a joke. So u have 2 options and a lot of ba..s to do it. Pilot must be skiled and the cam pilot and pilot must be in sync to do the job. We are just on the way to airport with the gear so traveling with this is a hard job. And spare hely is almost a must.

 

[tstrike]

We were asked by one of Hollywood's biggest stunt coordinators if we could do it and I said of course but was just a matter of money. they dont seem to care so much about that.

This doesn't sound like the Hollywood I know, stunt coordinators don't sign the checks. Congratulations on your gig though!

 

[Droider]

Its about the right machine for the right application. If the DOP REALLY knows what your capabilities are and what ever craft you are using are , then there should be no problems. A perfect example of MR integration into a film here..

https://vimeo.com/36358006

We just did a whole days shooting with 8 packs, two at a time with on vehicle charger.. its about planning AND fully explaining the capabilities of your craft.

Lanzar has posted Red Scarlet action.. the footage is limited but it is possible.. IN the right environment and with the full understanding of the DOP great shots can be had with MR's.

Dave

 

[Lanzar]

Yea we did the video in like 30 min. Before we packed it in the box. Some ground shots and some RED shots. Well the red footage is in 4k and when we rendered it it bacame little unsharp but no time to repair. We did not expect to make a film with the footage but we had some spare time and we put it together (fast mode, cut and render). No color corection .....
Well it is an option to do a lot with the multikoters. So if u have the skils in flying and the director has the time to get the felling on what u can do and likes to try new things than everything is possible. The problem is that the directors are usually too important and u dont have the time to explain and let them see the options. But that will change. THey are too much in focus pulling and zoom in out ..... stuff.

 

[llbr22]

A basic T-Rex 800 Extreme is a little over 2k, Zenmous and Ace One about 5k, a few good servos and that would get you started. Make no mistake that is one powerful electric heli. before you start tweeking it.

When you are working at that level it is of course a two man job. You only fly with a very skilled pilot who is totally familiar with the model and a trained director of aerial filming/operator. The organisation behind the equipment is the key factor. You cannot just jump in and expect not to come out with egg on your face. This is light years away from point and shoot with a GoPro.

I say 3 man job: Spotter. ESPECIALLY if you have a 800mm single rotor.

Of course that could be a volunteer ;-)

 

[DucktileMedia]

Yeah, having you there was actually nice. 1-pilot, 1-camera operator and 1-person to call out time left on batteries, spot, charge batteries, view movement of vehicles etc. Let's hope for another amazing gig like that. The funny part is you are the best pilot of all 3 of us there but you ended up being the gofer.

 

[kloner]

I've got a buddy in Hollywood that builds Vario turbine camera ships. if you've never seen an xl-c in the sky, you should make a point to see one. they are the common camera ship in hollywood

http://us.vario-helicopter.biz/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=38592

I was at his place last week, was rebuilding one that was recovered from the bottom of a lake. Even with the turbine reliabilty, stuff happens. if you want somebody to build ya one, let me know. He does it professionaly

 

[DucktileMedia]

I think I got job happy from the huge production environment. I think I will play it smart and wait for the job to roll in before building an expensive heli on faith. but that's the problem, you kinda need to have the heli and experience with it first. Hmmm.

 

[kloner]

growing pains are a *****

 

[DennyR]

Sometimes I think that this heavy lift stuff has no use outside of cinematic production. This entire machine weighs about the same as the Zenmous gimbal. It has tiny flat PCB motors to drive the the gimbal.So light that the wire dampers are made with control line wire. Fact is that with a GoPro Hero-2 you can do most of the work that is going to come your way. The difference is that this not going to kill you if it bumps into you.

 

[Malcr001]

If money was no object I would get some engineering company to design it to my needs whilst I step back and keep an eye on developments. That way everythings designed specifically for your needs.

 

[DennyR]

The basic design theme is what can take us to the next level but it is the constant refinement and development that gets the results. Formula One motor racing is the classic example. No design will ever be completed. The computer that you are now looking at will be obsolete shortly.