Aerial MTB Enduro with quadcopter

V011. Recording date: 23-03-2014

This has been the first time I shot video flying with the Naza M Lite with GPS flight controller. So in one hand I was feeling more confident in case of losing video signal or disorientation, but in the other hand I was a bit nervous because of my lack of practice with this controller.

I´m a bit disappointed because of the jello effect. As you can see, most part of it is at the beginning of the video. I´m not quite sure about the causes yet. I think it´s a mix of:

- vibrations of the motors (mainly when I go forward pretty fast)
- the propellers don´t fit exactly as they should
- I use bullet propeller holders
- maybe flying in GPS mode?
- too bright conditions with the GoPro. Under these conditions it uses a very fast shutter speed which records all the tiny high-frequency vibrations from your motors, props, etc., and causes this rolling shotter effect, or jello.

Fixing this is still a priority in my To-Do list, as I have to eliminate lot´s of shots that could be used perfectly in the final footage because of the jello. I will try to reduce part of it using a neutral density filter to reduce the shutter speed but letting through enough light for a clear picture. This is how I do it: http://niropter.blogspot.com.es/

Please check your compass is pointing in the same direction as the nose of the quad! After a bad landing, I didn´t realise it rotated almost 45º right, so it was nearly impossible to control it in the air. I still don´t know how I managed to land it. You can easily crash it and cause an accident.

Apart from that, the experience of recording a rider descending the hill at high speed has been amazing. Most part of the times I could not caught him up!

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv motors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Carbon fiber propellers
Naza M Lite with GPS
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Futaba 8FG Super Transmitter
Futaba R6208SB receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Gimbal Tarot T-2D
500mAh 3S 20C battery for gimbal
Plastic landing gear

Motocross aerial test with quadcopter

V010. Recording date: 01-02-2014

I broke one propeller some days ago hitting a tree branch, so I replaced them with DJIs, the only available at the store, as I wanted to fly asap. They don't fit perfectly with my motors, I reckon that could be one of the reasons why there's some jello on the footage. Besides, the cylinder of one of the propellers adapter holder is a bit bended because of that crash, and that's giving me vibrations for sure...

It was not the perfect day for flying: 25mph wind gust and my first time with too many moving objects on stage. Keeping my eyes only on the FPV screen was really complex, as the wind was taking the quad quite far away in a matter of seconds. For that reason I recorded 85% of the videos at a guess looking directly at the quad, and that's why I couldn't make another shoots I had in mind, like from a really high altitude facing down, or following the rider more closely, etc... I chose not to risk this time and avoid problems!

I'm still dealing with the slow motion settings in Sony Vegas, as I haven't been able to make these scenes look smoother. This time I've desabled resampling, and added the envelope velocity to set the speed at 50% (30fps). In previous videos (https://vimeo.com/niropter) I didn't take into account the fps for slow motion scenes, going under 30fps with the smart resample activated (apparently not good for fast scenes with dark background), and clicking the edge of the video and dragging while pressing control.

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv motors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Carbon fiber propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Futaba 8FG Super Transmitter
Futaba R6208SB receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Gimbal Tarot T-2D
500mAh 3S 20C battery for gimbal
Plastic landing gear

Pitch control test and GPH3 FPV aerial

V009. Recording date: 12-01-2014

On this occasion, I've replaced the Turnigy 9XR transmitter for the Futaba 8FG Super with the R6208SB receiver. Is not that the Turnigy is giving me any trouble (maybe interferences with GPH3 WiFi https://vimeo.com/84377244?), but as I'm improving the equipment of the quad, I preffer to control it with a more reliable transmitter. This radio is excellent, and the settings are so easy and quick to configure. The transmission between the radio and the receiver is much faster with the Futaba, you can definitely feel this when flying.

I have also conected the pitch control of the Tarot T-2D gimbal to one free channel of the receiver, so now I can turn the camera face down using the right slider of the radio. I'm also transmitting the FPV video directly from the GoPro, so I can see exaclty what I'm recording. It takes a while until getting used to FPV trough the camera while it's being stabilized by the gimbal, as you loose reference of the quad position.

I replaced the plastic propellers with carbon fiber ones, so they won't brake on air, and they can help holding the weight (1.7kg) of the quad. I've noticed though, that some turbulences are created when descending vertically unless I do it really slow, or while moving it in any direction.

If you wonder about the crash at the end of the video... I connected the voltage alarm to the gimbal battery instead to the main one!! So it did not have power enought to hold the falling. Just minor damage, but happened to me twice already :O

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv rotors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Carbon fiber propellers
KK2 controller board
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Futaba 8FG Super Transmitter
Futaba R6208SB receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Gimbal Tarot T-2D
500mAh 3S 20C battery for gimbal
Plastic landing gear