Making flying videos

[cscotthendry]

Hi all:

 

I thought I'd start a general thread for hints and tips on making flying videos. What I'd like to know is your ideas about camera types, mounting, shooting and editing flying videos. I'll start off with a few things I've learned from shooting some videos while flying.

 

Zoom: NEVER use it! it makes the footage almost unwatchable and it defeats the objective of making flying videos which is the panoramic view. A wide angle lens is even better as it gives more of the view and is easier to line up a useable shot and reduces the apparent movement of the camera.

 

Rolling shutter distortion AKA Jellovision:Is caused by cameras that continuously scan the sensor rather than snapshot it for each frame. This is the cause of the warped looking props and the stretchy bendy picture if vibration gets to the camera.

 

Picture stabilization: This comes in two forms mechanical and electronic. Mechanical stabilization is generally better than electronic. With mechanical stabilization, the lens, camera or both can be stabilized. Solidly mounting a camera will stabilize it mechanically, and for handheld shooting, a monopod is really useful.

 

Editing:

 

Try to get as many different viewpoints as possible. This will require repositioning a fixed camera or having multiple cameras.

 

Keep the final video as short as possible. A 20 minute video of your favourite flight might be interesting to you but for others it can be as boring as...

 

Keep the clips in the video as short as possible but definitely 5-7 seconds or less. Watch any movie or TV show and time their shots. You'll be shocked at how short they are, some even less than 1 second. Doing this keeps the interest level up.

 

Titles and effects: If you use titles on your videos, pick a font style, colour and size and keep it simple and consistent all the way through. Avoid effects like the plague, they look amateurish and distract from the content.

 

Transitions: Again, keep it simple and consistent and only use "gee-whizz" transitions (if you must) to highlight major theme changes like a change from the aerial part of the trip to the ground part. I use straight cuts or crossfades to transition between clips. Straight cuts give a nice crisp snappy feel to a video and crossfades give a softer, more leisurely impression.

 

Cameras:

 

If you're going to mount a camera on the plane outside there are numerous considerations for safety and security of the camera and the aircraft. Another consideration is whether the camera has a remote control. Remote control isn't the be-all and end-all though. You might miss the shot of the day if you're so busy looking at the action that you forget to put the camera on record.

 

Batteries have shorter power output when cold. If you mount the camera outside the cabin and expect to get the full 3 hour flight recorded on the camera, you're probably in for a disappointment.

 

These are just a few points that came to mind while I was writing this. I'd like to hear about what camera and software you use and why and what tips and tricks you've had success with, especially editing ideas. Editing can make ordinary footage look good or great footage look ordinary.

 

Here's a neat trick I picked up from some flying video on YouTube. The author set the camera on a tripod and walked through the shot, then let the camera run after he had departed the shot. He then split the shot in two and did a crossfade transition from the part where he was in the video to the part where he was out of the video. The effect is that he disappears while walking towrds the camera. That's creative editing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwoVpYN7jU

 

Over to you

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Thanks for your info and the vid Scott. Just a couple of comments. The pilot and pax seem to have fallen out. Not a word between them. Pax adjusts something without asking/telling the pilot, and, that's one bloddy big hole to fall into at the end of the runway. Just my thought.

 

 

[Zibi]

One comment on the video editing - instead of a lot of short cuts you can run the video at much higher rate.

 

It's something I've picked up from one of the videos posted here.

 

Especially if it's a cross country flight, where there isn't a lot of things happening - run it at 8x or even 16x normal speed and you'll be able to show the whole flight in reasonable time and keep the people watching it interested as there will be a lot of scenery changes.

 

Obviously if you're doing some complicated maneuvers or aerobatics that won't work, but a normal joy flight should be good enough and you can always slow the more interesting parts down.

 

One problem I'm yet to solve is my GoPro fogging up after some time flying.

 

Edit:

 

This is the video I was referring to: http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/video-sydney-victor-1-flight.29759/

 

or just:

 

[medio=full]112[/medio]

 

 

[cscotthendry]

Thanks for your info and the vid Scott. Just a couple of comments. The pilot and pax seem to have fallen out. Not a word between them. Pax adjusts something without asking/telling the pilot, and, that's one bloddy big hole to fall into at the end of the runway. Just my thought.

Yeah, I noticed the pax adjust the radio or something there and wondered about that myself.. I also noticed the quarry at the end of this and other videos from people at this airfield and wondered about the thermals it would generate right on final.. ERK! Also a very "interesting" option if one had an EFATO.

 

 

[cscotthendry]

Zibi:

 

I've been considering the GoPro and the Drift HD cameras for a while. I'd be interested in your opinion (and I'm sure others would too) of the GoPro for useability, quality and just whatever else you care to mention.

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

One problem I'm yet to solve is my GoPro fogging up after some time flying.

Anti fog spray, as used by divers, snowboarders, etc...

 

 

[skeptic36]

Video editing is something I am struggling with ATM. I have bought a drift hd but don't have enough experienced with it yet except to say that it uses mov. This is the source of my frustration. I have only taken a couple of short clips to play with and started using windows movie maker on my lap top. Movie maker can't deal with mov oh well I'll convert to something else, lap top is too old and slow for that. I read that mov is best used on apple stuff, and imovie is simple to use,so with the idea that I can put ozrunways on it as well I have lashed out on an iPad, guess what, I can watch the clips on the pad but iMovie or any other editing app can't see it unless I convert to some other bs format.hmph.

 

What I'm thinking now is I should have not spent all that money on the drift and just got about 3 second hand cameras off eBay. That would have the advantage of several perspectives as Scott mentioned also I could have stuck with moviemaker. The other thing is you wouldn't get the massive fisheye effect you have with pov's. The go pro seems particularly bad. I want a video to reproduce what I see not a distorted view.

 

Regards bill

 

 

[Zibi]

I've got the GoPro Hero HD, which is an older model or at least not the latest one.

 

I've only used it twice so far once on a trike and once on a yacht.

 

Video quality is very good and it's got a very nice wide angle lens.

 

Audio - well you can forget about it, but it's not like listening to engine noise would be that interesting. The newer model apparently has some interface where you can plug your external comms, but so far I've been more worried about keeping it water proof than recording audio.

 

As I've mentioned it keeps on getting the lens fogged up after about an hour of recording, but to be honest I haven't used anything to prevent it.

 

Other minor deficiency is that it's hard to tether it to the plane, as there's nowhere to attach the tether to (I've managed to use a thin line through the mounting bracket, but it's pretty tight in there and anything thicker would not fit).

 

They seem to be used everywhere, so you can find loads of videos from it on youtube, or even on TV (I think I've seen one attached to a wok on Masterchef).

 

 

[cscotthendry]

Video editing is something I am struggling with ATM. I have bought a drift hd but don't have enough experienced with it yet except to say that it uses mov. This is the source of my frustration. I have only taken a couple of short clips to play with and started using windows movie maker on my lap top. Movie maker can't deal with mov oh well I'll convert to something else, lap top is too old and slow for that. I read that mov is best used on apple stuff, and imovie is simple to use,so with the idea that I can put ozrunways on it as well I have lashed out on an iPad, guess what, I can watch the clips on the pad but iMovie or any other editing app can't see it unless I convert to some other bs format.hmph.What I'm thinking now is I should have not spent all that money on the drift and just got about 3 second hand cameras off eBay. That would have the advantage of several perspectives as Scott mentioned also I could have stuck with moviemaker. The other thing is you wouldn't get the massive fisheye effect you have with pov's. The go pro seems particularly bad. I want a video to reproduce what I see not a distorted view.

Regards bill

Bill:

 

For editing, I use Cyberlink PowerDirector. I found it had the best performanc/$ of the few I tried. I downloaded Sony Vegas, The Adobe one and Corel Video Pro. I also purchased the Corel product, but no longer use it as PD does more than the Corel one does. Also, Cyberlink have the DirectorZone where people can upload custom titles and effects that they have created and you can freely download same. I also found PD to be fairly intuitive to use and it will work with a very wide range of file formats.

 

WARNING! Editing video, especially HD video takes a LOT of RAM and a fair amount of processor grunt. If you try to do it on a limited machine, you'll probably have to wait long periods for rendering and worse yet, experience numerous crashes of the program and probably the operating system too.

 

 

[Ultralights]

i have 3 go-pros now, and learnt to edit watching youtube tutorials. and to stop the fogging, if the weather is fine, use the open back cage, if not, then if you have air con in your car, just direct some of the air conditioned air into the camera housing before you close it up. if not, then the small silica gel that comes with electronic toys works well.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

This is why I use a Mac....best machine for software and power to do any sort of editing.....but I don't do any of the fancy stuff it can do.....mabe later when I get more video done and try some different outside camera shots while flying

 

 

[ayavner]

One comment on the video editing - instead of a lot of short cuts you can run the video at much higher rate.It's something I've picked up from one of the videos posted here.

Especially if it's a cross country flight, where there isn't a lot of things happening - run it at 8x or even 16x normal speed and you'll be able to show the whole flight in reasonable time and keep the people watching it interested as there will be a lot of scenery changes.

 

Obviously if you're doing some complicated maneuvers or aerobatics that won't work, but a normal joy flight should be good enough and you can always slow the more interesting parts down.

 

One problem I'm yet to solve is my GoPro fogging up after some time flying.

 

Edit:

 

This is the video I was referring to: http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/video-sydney-victor-1-flight.29759/

 

or just:

 

[medio=full]112[/medio]

Hey Zibi, that was really good - not usually a fan of sped up video OR music in aviation vids, but this one worked really nice! What was the music? Reminded me a bit of Deep Purple or similar. Good stuff. Do you happen to have an un-sped-up version of the Victor 1 flight?

 

 

[Zibi]

It's not mine, you'll have to ask Ultralights in the other thread: http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/video-sydney-victor-1-flight.29759/

 

 

[ayavner]

Oh woops, sorry!

 

 

[cscotthendry]

One problem I'm yet to solve is my GoPro fogging up after some time flying.

Zibi:

 

The method I use to stop the GoPro from fogging is to carry it in the cabin of the car on the way to the field with the aircon on and the GoPro case open. This dries out the camera and the case pretty well. Then I close up the GoPro case before I break the seal on the car at the hangar. Obviously, the longer the trip between the house and the field, the better this works. If you're lucky enough to live 7 minutes from the field like Mark Kyle, it probably won't be enough.

 

Edit: Woops, just saw that ultralights had already posted this tip.

 

 

[Friarpuk]

Hi folks!

 

Having been a television cameraman/editor in a previous life, my advice to all avid aviation cameramen and women is to not worry too much about the how good or bad a camera might be technically. Good vision on a crappy mobile phone is still good vision, whereas crappy vision on a technically brilliant camera is still unuseable.

 

When I was learning the trade I was encouraged to shoot often, over shoot, don't create the action with the zoom, pan or tilt, and edit your own stuff. One quickly learns how to improve shooting when trying to edit your own unusable vision.

 

Use your camera often! Mount it on your kid's bike, or whatever, get heaps of vision and play with it. In doing so you will have to time to sort out the finder details of camerawork and issues with equipment as you go. Even the canon and Fuji lenses on my 100g sony betacam had trouble with fogging up in humid weather, especially taping floods in Northern NSW out of choppers. Just a quick hint on that: I have spent many a time sitting in the car with the heater on full to rid the fog from inside the lenses of my tv camera. It's not very comfortable on a 36 degree day with 90 percent + humidity.

 

As for what equipement to purchase, I have always been quite a scab when it comes to spending money on lipstick cameras. Expensive cameras don't give the the best pics, experienced cameramen do though. Before going out and buying a great camera (Drift HD or GoPro, and the like) practise with el cheapo still cameras with a video option. Editing programmes are numerous, and my opinion a dime a dozen. But a couple of things to look for is the ability to be able to create videos in various formats, and to have a computer powerful enough to run the software smoothly and quickly, or alternatively prepare yourself to be taught a lesson on patience waiting for the computer to digest all the information you're thr0wing at it.

 

One doen't need to necessarily purchase more than one camera. However, when purchasing the camera think about how it mounts to objects (your plane), and how its mount system may or may not allow for correctly aligned horizons, especially on wing struts and the tubing in the cockpit, etc. My first lipstick camera was a poseidon 720 hd camera and it was arguably easier to mount in any situation than the Gopro or the Drift, but stress on the mounts soon cracked them and spare parts were as rare as hen'e teeth. I now have a drift hd and spares are common. I believe Gopro are too. But if you are only new to the videoing and editing game, I would still encourage folk not to throw hundreds of dollars at the latest technology, especially if you are not sure how much you are really going to use it. There seems to be some second hand Gopro stuff around that is still more than adequate to make aviation videos and the like.

 

With regard to mounting for different angles, the more angles you have the better. One needs not have lots of camera's, just one you can mount in different spots without damaging the plane, upsetting its balance, or losing the camera in flight. There are a stacks of differnt mounts one can purchase off ebay for cameras that have the standard 1/4 inch spigot of most still and video cameras. Also the 1/4 spigot mount also allows for inventive souls to create their own mounts.

 

And one word of warning. Editing is a tedious and frustrating task, but time taken will also improve results too! Much great vision has beem wrecked by inexpericence and hurried work in television and movie edit suites!

 

Hope this comes in handy and I'm not telling folks how to suck eggs!

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Friaarpuk

 

Did you fly the skyranger from WA to Kingaroy?...or did it get shipped?

 

 

[Friarpuk]

Neither! It's still in the hangar in WA. I am I going through withdrawal? Yes big time! Will go and get it when the seasons change and the trade winds start blowing the fronts across southern OZ and we are getting clear frosty weather up here in the Roy!

 

Puk

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

well at least the roy has a nice runway...I did quite a few years gliding up there and got to love Kingaroy....That will be a long flight to bring her over for sure

 

 

[Friarpuk]

It looks okay! I have not yet had the pleasure of greasing my wheels onto either of the strips there yet!

 

 

[Friarpuk]

And I am still seeking somewhere to hangar her too! There maybe a place at Nanango! But all going well would like to by a place and have my own strip! Oneday perhaps!

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Actually looks like you will have some great outings up there I see the burnett aero club have a new clubhouse and they will be doing breakfasts every second saturday of the month from 13th of April at Angelfield its a nice flight from here about 60 mins either way back to YCAB http://burnettflyers.org

 

 

[ayavner]

Great advice puk!

 

Question for you and everyone really - just opinion - what view of a flying video do we find most aesthetically appealing?

 

To me, I prefer just over pilot's shoulder, mostly the scenery in the viewfinder, but just a bit of the panel below - I like to see what is happening on the instruments. But that might just be the student/geek in me wanting to see not only the flight but the flying. Preferably with the comms and just a bit of engine noise. I don't like the one off the edge of the wing facing in as much, esp. if there is the fish-eye effect. top of the tail looking forward is a nice shot too.

 

 

[cscotthendry]

Great advice puk!Question for you and everyone really - just opinion - what view of a flying video do we find most aesthetically appealing?

 

To me, I prefer just over pilot's shoulder, mostly the scenery in the viewfinder, but just a bit of the panel below - I like to see what is happening on the instruments. But that might just be the student/geek in me wanting to see not only the flight but the flying. Preferably with the comms and just a bit of engine noise. I don't like the one off the edge of the wing facing in as much, esp. if there is the fish-eye effect. top of the tail looking forward is a nice shot too.

Ayavner: The most interesting videos (IMHO) are the ones with a multiplicity of camera angles. Check out Puk's videos. They are composites of numerous flights shot from many different places on the aircraft. This is what pros do. When you watch a TV show or a movie, you'll see multiple camera angles in every scene. It is extremely rare (almost non-existant) for a movie director to shoot a whole scene from a single camera position. That type of technique is only used to convey something special such as footage shot from a fixed spy camera or something like that.

There is something I just can't put my finger on why I like Heath's videos better than mine. There is something subtle in his videos (quite possibly that he has more human faces in his than I do), but I prefer his style.

 

Heath: Thanks for the tips on shooting. Can you give us the inside gen on editing too please?

 

BTW, I particularly liked your point on editing your own footage. My wife shoots a fair bit of unuseable footage as, try as I might, I cannot get her to leave the zoom alone. I might get her to edit her stuff next time.

 

 

[Friarpuk]

Actually looks like you will have some great outings up there I see the burnett aero club have a new clubhouse and they will be doing breakfasts every second saturday of the month from 13th of April at Angelfield its a nice flight from here about 60 mins either way back to YCAB http://burnettflyers.org

Thanks for this! I was not even aware there was a strip at Murgon. But I'll keep the day free if possible.