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Putting my I1 through hell! Love this bird

Joined
Mar 28, 2015
Messages
60
Reaction score
32
Location
Costa Rica
Website
www.aerialmediacostarica.com
We have been shooting for a extreme sport movie that is coming out in Sept. 2015. The last few weeks we have been getting the final shots for the movie and I have been learning tons about the Inspire over this time while flying nearly 50 flights last week. I was flying Phantom 2 before. Our locations were high altitude mountain settings (8000 feet) Urban settings and beach. The Inspire handled everything great, is just a joy to fly and the footage is much better than the GoPro now that I have learned the right camera settings.

Things learned so far....
Treat her right and she will be good to you - during our beach shoots we had high winds (12-25mph), salty air blowing around and a sandy enviroment. I used the catch landing method nearly 30 times to keep her out of the sand and wiped the bird down at the end of each day. She took it like a man and it seems that we escaped with no damage.

Camera settings for me - Log, soft, none, 100 ISO and the lowest shutter speed possible. We shot 4k at 30fps for this video.

Cathing the I1 - so easy, landing gear down, bring her directly over your head, extend your arm like statue of liberty and then slowly bring her down. I grab her about mid body with the struts on my palm fingers towards gimbal.

Have a different sd card for every battery - I was flying over water or in valleys where there would be little chance to get the bird back if something went wrong. I changed cards after every flight and dumped them while re-charging.

Don't let people talk you into something your not comfortable with - I was filming a bunch of hot shot athelets that push the limits everyday at work. They were trying to get me to do all kinds of things that would have been dangerous to other people and my bird. At first I took a lot of flack for not "going with the flow" and doing what they were asking but once we got down the road and they realized that the shots looked good they started to respect me and my opinion.

Lastly - the I1 is a ferrari compared to the Pinto P2. I have filmed extreme sports with both and the speed of the I1, its stability and her performance outclasses the P2 in everyway. I can't imagine the P3 coming close to the I1's capabitlies.

I hope you enjoy the trailer, full movie coming out in Sept.

 
Camera settings for me - Log, soft, none, 100 ISO and the lowest shutter speed possible. We shot 4k at 30fps for this video.






Nice video ! When you say lowest shutter speed, what speed were you using for that video.
What confuses me is that when you use low shutter speeds for fast moving action doesn't it get too blurry, or am I being dumb asking that !
 
Nice video ! When you say lowest shutter speed, what speed were you using for that video.
What confuses me is that when you use low shutter speeds for fast moving action doesn't it get too blurry, or am I being dumb asking that !

Definitely not a dumb question!!!! You are right that a slow shutter speed can produce blurred effect but I have not been able to get correct exposure with a shutter speed slower than 1/120 during the day, even with the nd filter that came with the I1 and, I am usually around 1/240 or 1/360. So when I say lowest shutter speed possible 1/120 is my starting point. Sorry I should have been more clear. The reason I wanted the slowest possible (1/120 and above in my case) is to keep the footage looking "real" Check out this article and the videos for a great explanation of shutter speed and video. http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/quick-tip-how-does-shutter-speed-affect-video--photo-12092

I should also be clear that I did not shoot for the trailer. I just finished a week with the crew and flew for the Costa Rica part of the film. The footage won't be seen until the full movie is released in Sept. I was stoked to hear from the producers and other camera men that the footage we captured via the I1 was on par and in some cases better than footage from other UAV platforms. The I1 rocks!
 
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Looking forward to seeing the final cut of the film. There's some OG snowboarders whos names I haven't heard in years! Also thanks for the link on the 180 degree rule. I was wondering about what shutter speeds to use at the different frame rates and now it's crystal clear. Appreciate it.

Also if you were in costa rica I assume you were filming Carlos Munoz surfing?
 
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Looking forward to seeing the final cut of the film. There's some OG snowboarders whos names I haven't heard in years! Also thanks for the link on the 180 degree rule. I was wondering about what shutter speeds to use at the different frame rates and now it's crystal clear. Appreciate it.

Also if you were in costa rica I assume you were filming Carlos Munoz surfing?
My pleasure tbarnesarc! Carlos was supposed to join us in Pavones last weekend but it didn't work out. We are trying to get him this week but the swell is small right now and they crew leaves Thursday. Hoping it works out!
Paz
 
So dope, I would love to be a part of a project like this, hell I'd do it for free if I could ride lines like that with some pros!
 
Great shots! Question about camera settings, when you say "Soft" does that mean you turn the sharpness down or keep it at 0? For a few days I accidentally put my sharpness at +1 and there is noticeable nasty grain in lots of the shots
 

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