Anyone do any FPV like this?

P

pixel_ninja

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[video=youtube;gVGWln-dxkQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVGWln-dxkQ&feature=g-hist[/video]

footage starts a minute in. It's really awesome and I am considering going into something like this, would just like to know if there is anyone who has done/tried this locally yet?
 
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At the film and photo exhibition there were a couple of companies selling radio controlled planes and helicopters for this sort of work. I can look up the names of the companies off the brochures tonight if you are interested.

Aerial video is also becoming a local industry lately. Some security companies are doing it for surveillance on complexes. It is not always legal due to issues about control of airspace etc. so it is done on the quiet. If you are interested in doing this and staying legal your local radio controlled model club can advise you where it can be done. They might even let you put your camera on one of their planes.

Some of this I tried in the past suggested that a lot of experience will be needed to get results like the awesome video that you found.
 
As a matter of fact busy investigating this - my start up gear arrived this morning. Starting up with a cheaper kit and have 3 various models lined up to progress as I get better flying as you can't run before you walk here or you going to end up losing a lot of expensive gear.
 
Thanks guys,

I managed to find a local RC hobby store here in EL, and they advised that I start off flying a Cessna type plane.

I understand that it does take experience to fly the thing, but surely if I am wearing those goggles, then it should be no different to an Ace Combat / HAWX game?

@lived666: what all have you ordered? and how much has it set you back?

Edit: Also am I correct in assuming that this camera is fixed on the plane and doesnt require a second person to pan/tilt etc while the first guy flies?
 
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Sigh, sorry about the upcoming wall of text, but you asked, so here goes.....

My initial idea to play with UAV planes, fit one with GPS, autopilot, cameras and whatnot but after reading about a few people who lost signal and then had to go hunting for their gear decided that for a beginner that was too expensive and risky.

Then started looking at multi-copters as these are supposedly easier to fly. There are various options, ready to fly, almost ready to fly, kit form or build your own from parts etc.

Re camera, you can go with fixed option, you just take video of what ever direction the camera is pointed at, or you can get a gimbel and go fancy and rotate etc - you can get a 9 channel controller and then you can fly and handle the video or you can have it that one person is the pilot and one person the camera man.

Also once you get into the better gear then a second person is usually required to act as your spotter, check for hazards or location if your plane/heli goes down.

Once you have expensive gear then you can add on extras such as tracking device, long range receivers etc - some of these can easily get to heights of 8000 feet plus so without a spotter or auto pilot you will probably lose your gear.

Anyhow as I said, baby steps is the way to go. I purchased a cheap quad copter, it does some amazing tricks though, it does a 360 flip and is cheap if it breaks. Locally they sell them for R750, I just imported mine cause I import a few things so to add it in a shipment doesnt cost me much, so quad with radio control with LCD panel, mini FPV camera and memory card set me back about R975. I have a second quad on the way as a test order and if it arrives ok cost is under R500, but no camera.

Just did my first session flying, sweating like crazy, scared to break the thing, but its pretty awesome, will have to find a decent park or rugby field to go test it in better, but managed a full session without damage and did the 360 flips. Now got to figure out the camera, instructions are minimal :)
 
lived666 - do you have a link to that quad copter? :D
 
jprheeder said:
I understand that it does take experience to fly the thing, but surely if I am wearing those goggles, then it should be no different to an Ace Combat / HAWX game?
Click to expand...

Very much no, and with an attitude like that, assuming you're serious, you pose a very serious risk to anyone in the vicinity of your chosen aerial vehicle's flight zone.

I'd recommend going to a flight school to learn about the aerodynamics involved in flying something. There's a massive difference between flying a model plane or helicopter in an empty field where you don't risk injuring anyone/anything or damaging anyone's property and flying these things over homes or urban areas.

As for the actual hardware, in most cases you're going to need something to dampen vibrations from your aerial vehicle or your footage is likely to come out a blurry mess. Setups strong enough to carry decent quality cameras that won't break the first time the thing falls out of the air are not cheap, either. You could go with a GoPro as your camera, which is small and light, but that's going to limit what field of view you're working with as well as limit the potential video quality when considering things like flare and such. On the other hand, the GoPro is far cheaper than your average high-quality camcorder or DSLR and is likely capable of getting far more recording in before having to be recharged. Hell, you might even be able to use the new wireless control capabilities of the Hero 3 to your advantage with the right equipment.

*edit* Also if you do ever get into doing this, the first thing you should learn is how to stabilize your video so you don't have nausea-inducing shakycam footage like these 'Team BlackSheep' people have.
 
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