Aerial Video of Local Wedding Facility

[Chris Geiger]

Here is an aerial video I did of a local wedding facility. This was all shot with a Hero 3 black.

YouTube (Short URL)

[James Redmond]

Chris, Very nice video. Your clients must have been very happy.
How many days did you shoot it over?
What was your biggest challenge?
How long have you been shooting aerial footage?
What helicopter did you use?
What gimbal?
I'm very interested in getting one at some point. Thanks and happy holidays! James

[Chris Geiger]

I have flying the RC multirotors for a full year now. I have a full size aircraft pilots license as well but don't fly the big ones anymore. I have over 100 hours in the air this year with 4 different RC aircraft. I started with the Phantom but then built some larger craft for more stability and larger payload. For these videos I was using a Vulcan frame with 6s power and Navigator 4014 motors. The gimbal used for all of this video is a DJI H3-2D. Over the winter I am transitioning to larger S800 frame for even more stability. I expect I will be able to smooth out the video even more and I will be able to use a larger Nex 5n and RX100 cameras in gimbals. I expect to get better video with fewer minutes needed in the air.

This location was very large. I have promised to deliver three different videos. There are three different wedding venues on this property. One is for a restaurant and venue on the site called the FeedLot. That video is finished and can be seen below. It involves mostly ground shots done with my 5DIII.

The Feed Lot, Restaurant and Wedding location in Sanger California. - YouTube

There are also "Lakeside" and "Gardenside" venues. I have yet to start the Lakeside video but I have the footage now.

I have gone out to the site about 10 different times. I have three batteries that each fly for 10 minutes, giving me 30 minutes of flight for each trip. So I have roughly 5 hours of aerial footage. 99% of the footage is useless. The hardest part is getting the shot smooth. I would keep flying the same sections over and over again until I have a usable cut. Wind can be an issue, but most of the time it was just an unsteady hand at the controls causing a an unwanted slight yaw or not controlling my altitude correctly.

[James Redmond]

Chris, another great video. Your aerial footage is great! You are on to something. The aerial angles just give a whole new depth. Plus the fly by over the chairs. Great.

please keep us posted as you progress and refine.

All the best, James

[Mark Williams]

Really nice looking work. I have flown some over the years sans camera and would like to get back into it. My main question is how to you guys do commercial aerial video work with RC craft when it is my understanding that it is prohibited in the U.S. by the FAA? Do you have an exemption or some type of license permit?

[Chris Geiger]

At this point I am only doing it as a hobby. The FAA's position is that as long as long as filming is done away from crowded areas and airports and is done below 400' and within line of site for non commercial use it is ok (there are a few other restrictions too). There are no rules that specifically say you can't use these for commercial operations, but the FAA believes it can apply full size rules to model sized craft. Those full sized rules were never intended for RC sized equipment. Obama gave specific direction to the FAA that they were to integrate commercial use into the airspace by 2015. Many other countries have procedures already in place to allow commercial activities. As usual the USA is way behind the rest of the world. Currently there is a court case pending that could test the FAA's ability to enforce full size rules upon RC sized craft without those rules being reviewed specifically for that application.

One way around the rules is that if you attach a string to the multirotor and run that down to the ground, it is considered a tethered object and not an aircraft. There are many people offering real estate photography this way.

I can tell you that there are hundreds of these in use by commercial film crews all over the USA right now. They are not waiting. Multirotors are safer and less expensive than flying full size helicopters. Every year pilots and cameramen are killed during filming operations with full size aircraft. When a multirotor goes down there usually is no one hurt. You can build a larger multirotor that can carry a Canon 5DIII and the whole thing will weigh around 25 lbs. Some film crews are now flying Epic Red cameras. The lower costs and better safety is causing wide spread use in commercials, music videos, movies and tv. Just this week there was one featured on Gold Rush (Discovery.) They featured video of one of their multirotors crashing. It just hit the ground. No pilot or passenger was hurt. In this case the aircraft was an $8,000 DJI S800 carrying what looks like to me a Sony nex7. The aircraft was repaired and put back into service.

DJI S800 Hexacopter Crash In the filming of Gold Rush - YouTube

[Warren Kawamoto]

Please read the answer to the second question..."and are not for business purposes."
Unmanned Aircraft (UAS)

Photography For Real Estate Warning: FAA Says US Airspace Is Closed To ALL Commercial

FAA has restricted all RC Helicopter flight in the USA airspace mi6films.com

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-faa-gives-nod

It sure looks like anyone flying for commercial or business purposes is doing it illegally....and yes, there are many now.

[Warren Kawamoto]

Originally Posted by Chris Geiger

One way around the rules is that if you attach a string to the multirotor and run that down to the ground, it is considered a tethered object and not an aircraft.

If this was true, could I attach some string to a real helicopter because it would be considered a tethered object and not subject to FAA rules? Other RC operators have claimed they are not charging a fee for flying, but are charging fees instead for editing. They are therefore not a commercial aerial operation, in their opinion. Um.. any judge or jury would be able to see right through this. As of this moment, commercial flying with RC is still illegal in the U.S whether hundreds are doing it or not. By the way, the FAA does not make distinctions between model aircraft or real aircraft. To them, anything that flies is an aircraft and they have authority to control it in all U.S. airspace.

[Chuck Spaulding]

The US Government has its head so far up our butt's we might not see daylight for decades, so lets no turn this thread into another useless debate over the legality of RC AP.

Nice use of AP.

[Leon Kolenda]

Originally Posted by Chris Geiger

Here is an aerial video I did of a local wedding facility. This was all shot with a Hero 3 black.

Wolf Lakes Garden Side Wedding Facility - YouTube

The footage is nice, but, way too fast! I would slow it down. I almost get kind of dizzy in certain parts, I know it may be hard to accomplish in fight, but maybe you could slow it down in post or shoot at 60fps and use twixtor. Especially for a wedding.

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Leon Kolenda

The footage is nice, but, way too fast! I would slow it down. I almost get kind of dizzy in certain parts, I know it may be hard to accomplish in fight, but maybe you could slow it down in post or shoot at 60fps and use twixtor. Especially for a wedding.

I would have to disagree, as I thing the footage is beautifully filmed, very stable and really shows off the venue. I think the pace is exactly right and will be delighted when I am able to reach that standard with my own quad and camera. Nicely done Chris!

Roger

[Finn Yarbrough]

Boy are you right about 99% of the footage being useless! Not in your videos, I mean when one shoots with R/C. Granted, I don't have your experience, but I find it super hard to get good stuff framing blind in the 3rd dimension, all the while terrified of unexpected winds carrying the Quad away. I have trouble determining which way it's facing if it gets more than 75 yards out.

I shot over the water recently, from a sailboat. The wind was strong enough to sail, and I had to maneuver the Quad in it just to keep up with the boat. I got nothing. It was awful!

[Chris Geiger]

It's just like any other piece of camera equipment. You pick it up and play with it and take lots of photos of your cats and other silly stuff. You begin to see what it can do and then your brain starts really going.

I started with the Phantom and totally expected to crash it. I flew it every day for a couple of weeks to get the hang of it and then went to a local park put together some video of the park to see what I could do. This was with no gimbal and I had jello problems with the props. I also had no way to target the camera other than just guess. I was so happy with what that little toy could do that I sold it and started working on some bigger versions that would be more stable and carry more equipment and for a longer time.

Here is the park clips.

woodward-park - YouTube

I sold the Phantom and built a F550 and flew it every day. A few months later I delivered an engagement ring for a wedding proposal...

Alamo Square- Wedding Proposal - YouTube

Now I have both an S800 and F550. I really enjoy flying them, especially now in the winter when there are few weddings and I have more time.

[Tim Lewis]

Nice work Chris.