F3 Helicopter Shoot

Mwjace

Mwjace

Active member
We having been Planning this for weeks. we are going up in a helicopter tomorrow to get footage of our campus and surrounding areas. its a 2 camera shoot one f3 on a Tyler Micro Gyro and shooting out the other side a ex3 on a Jimmy Riged steadicam Sabilizer. I'm wonding if you have any last minute suggestions or tips, also any suggestions on a picture profile setting for the f3. We will be shooting under mid day light and will be shooting farmland and the Teton mountain range
 
Um, Steadicams, as in traditional ones with arms and sleds, don't work so well in a helicopter. besides being a safety issue if the operator somehow lets go of the post. Theres also the issue where it's supposed to be signed off on by an FAA representative.

http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=4347

To further talk you out of it, I'll tell you why it deosnt work. A Steadicam arm only isolates against vibrations on one axis, but the helicopter vibrates in many axis, so it's not nearly as isolated from vibration as you'd think. Also, the wind from the blade wash is going to blow the steadi rig every which way, ruining shots. Please read the above link...don't get hurt.
 
the steadicam is not a traditional steadicam. its a jimmy rig we have done extensive testing and it will provide what we want, and be safe. but this is also our B-camera shooting out the other side. the f3 with the Tyler Micro Gyro is the A Camera.

Thanks for your concern though. I don't want to hurt anyone thats for sure :)
 
Alright. Justsayin. I used to be a Steadicam op 10+ years ago, and it was common for low budget producers to come up with the idea of Steadicam in a helicopter instead of a Tyler to save money. Sounds like you have it sorted, good luck.
 
the Shoot was Epic the Teton Mountains are Spectacular. We have the Best Jobs in the world...well at least I do :)
 
Everts said:
is it monday allready :) ?
Click to expand...


YA about that. The footage was almost completely unusable the best stuff we go was the go pro that i stuck on the top of my head :) we are re grouping and going to go out with it again this spring. we have done a lot more research, but will see.

Ya for wasting peoples money :)
 
Maybe he didn't make it back... EDIT: He lives!!

Steadicams and helicopters are a bad mix as Nate mentioned. Usually done with two or three gyros and a hardmount with some kind of rubberized elastic contraption. Mention this idea in a room full of Steadicam Ops and you are bound to get a serious talking to for even considering the idea of using a Steadicam in a helicopter. Just because it seems to make sense doesn't mean it is.
 
In the end with heli shooting, you get what you pay for. I talk clients out of "handheld-assisted" video shoots. I don't even like the door-mounted Tyler with gyro. A nose-mounted and properly secureed Tryler can work. Here's one we did a while back http://vimeo.com/12127721, but vibration can still be a problem. The only real way is a Cineflex or Wescam.
 
I've done plenty of helicopter shoots with Tyler mounts, A European mount I believe was called a Heli mount, Kenyon Laboratories Gyros and bungees, bungees and a Schwem gyro zoom, just plain bungees and handheld out the door. Nothing can beat the work these guys do; http://www.helicamhdmedia.com/

Mike, if you don't have a budget for a Tyler mount try Kenyon Labs, they rent Gyros and battery packs. I've used them for low budget stuff with a bunch of bungee secured to the air-frame. The staff at Kenyton Labs are very helpful and will talk you through the set-up. Stuff happens in our business, the best you can do is re-group and do it again. I also want to add that Steadicams do not work on rolling boats at sea :) .
 
We used a Tyler Micro Gyro for the on the f3, but the wind was quite massive and and the operator just kept fighting it. Also we overloaded the helicopter with wieght so we could hover at all. suprisingly the jimmy rigged steadicam ex3 footage wasn't to bad either, but since it was only a b camera shooting out the other side of the copter i never got anything to good.

I very much want to use a proper rig with a nose mounted gyro stablized such as a cineflex. we have priced it out and the average is around 10,000. which is a large pill for administrators to sallow when talking about only a few hours of footage. I will continue to champion that but until i can convince them i don't might having them spend a little less and let us experiment :) the campus has a volenteer pilot which owns his helicopter so the price to fly ends up only being gas, which isn't to bad.

Just last week we purchased a Easyrig so i'm thinking of trying to pair that with a set of keyon labs gyros any thought on this?
 
so why was the footage almost completely unusable? I'm planning a helicopter shoot for a few weeks away. Suggestions for camera stabilizer mounts? I looked at the Tyler.... what problems did you have?
 
Sometimes your footage can be saved by using the smoothcam filter in FCP. You loose some sharpness because is zooms in a little to do its magic. If you have to much movement in your shot you get a kind of jellow effect, a bit like a rolling shutter. I used it last time on aereal shots taken from the shoulder in a helicopter. I didn't get Wesam quality but my client was very pleased with it.
 
I agree with Klaas...I shot some aerials here which were shoulder mounted in a small, 4 seater Cessna & they turned out great with the filter: http://vimeo.com/16009219

I recently shot a real estate video with an FS-100, hanging out of a helicopter with a 14mm lens (handheld) & the client was ecstatic with the results...all thanks to smoothcam.
 
I would consider using the warp stabilizer in After Effects. I find it to be much better then Smoothcam in FCP. I managed to fix some wobbly F3 aerial footage.
 
Yes I'm used the Warp Stabiliser to great effect on handheld aerial shots of mountain climbing. It kills the FCP Smoothcam. Another reason for FCP users to switch to Adobe.
 
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