Helicopter pics...

[Jannard]

Peter Jackson was nice enough to send these pics of the rig used to shoot aerial plates for "The Lovely Bones". "Worked faultlessly", according to Peter.

Jim

http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/9_pj2hc.jpg

http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/9_pj1hc.jpg

[Billy Summers]

Boom.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Cool.

Is that a prototype RED RAM that was used rather than a RED Drive?

[Jannard]

Cool.

Is that a prototype RED RAM that was used rather than a RED Drive?

Yes...

Jim

[Sarah C.]

Oooo.. now that's sexy: RED on a Librahead!

~Sarah

[Pawel Achtel]

Looks impressive; thanks for posting, Jim. What mount is it?

[Johnny St.Ours]

Cool.

Is that a prototype RED RAM that was used rather than a RED Drive?

I shot in a helicopter for the first time on Thursday with the Red Raid- which worked flawlessly after I took it out of the cradle and stuffed it down my shirt, but I guess there was an advantage to not having that nose mount after all.

Friday, I ordered a six foot cable.

[P Andersson]

"hypnotic"

[Jarred Land]

Friday, I ordered a six foot cable.

heh heh heh priceless..

[Steve Freebairn]

Is 6 feet the max length because of it being esata? or do you plan on selling longer cables in the future? Not that 6ft is short or anything, just don't want to invest in the 6 foot if the Pro 10 foot cable comes out next week :)

Another question I have is whether there will ever be modes on the camera that will only be capable on RED Ram vs the normal drives? I'm not aware of the camera being limited because of the drive speed, is there anything in the works? I'm pretty sure that it was said that the RED Drives will not be useable on Epic, will the RED Ram for sure work with Epic?

[Brook Willard]

Nice stuff.

Why the beta build choice?

[Justin Kirchhoff]

RED Ram...nice.

[Casey Green]

Thanks for the pics, Jim.

[Jannard]

Nice stuff.

Why the beta build choice?

I assume that it is because these were taken a couple of months ago.

Jim

[Evin Grant]

Cool, that looks like the same Heliworks A-Star we used for the Tourism NZ shoot. Do you happen to know if Johnny Haora was flying?
http://www.evingrant.com/pics/Heliworks.jpg

[Jannard]

Cool, that looks like the same Heliworks A-Star we used for the Tourism NZ shoot. Do you happen to know if Johnny Haora was flying?

Not sure who the pilot was... but Peter has a favorite down there. He was on the "Crossing" shoot. Great pilot. Forgot his name... but then again, I forget mine every other day.

Jim

[Shawn Nelson]

... but then again, I forget mine every other day.


Come'on Jim, that's what excessive monogramming is for!


:-)

[M Olsen]

Not sure who the pilot was... but Peter has a favorite down there. He was on the "Crossing" shoot. Great pilot. Forgot his name... but then again, I forget mine every other day.

Jim

Most likely, Alfie Speight. Nice guy.

[Piripi Mete]

Yep, Peter's "RED/Crossing the Line" crew were there.....

DOP: Richie Bluck
Key Grip: Dion Hartley
1st AC: Sean Kelly
Heli Pilot: Alphie Speight

And yes the photos were taken during the "TLB" pick ups and b16 v3.1.1 was the latest build available at the time of the aerial shoot.

Flash drives are awesome by the way....

[Deanan]

Yep, Peter's "RED/Crossing the Line" crew were there.....

DOP: Richie Bluck
Key Grip: Dion Hartley
1st AC: Sean Kelly
Heli Pilot: Alphie Speight

And yes the photos were taken during the "TLB" pick ups and b16 v3.1.1 was the latest build available at the time of the aerial shoot.

Flash drives are awesome by the way....


Say hi to those guys for us. Would be great to see them again someday...

[Michael Moreno]

hey jim or piripe mete

What lens and what filters were they using??

Thanks

Just curious about the filters really
As I'm hoping the three pancro ir+nd
Are going to do the job for sunlight.

[Zaphod]

hey jim or piripe mete

What lens and what filters were they using??



The first photo, looks like a Master Prime.

[David Birdy]

Great stuff Thanks for posting Jim/Peter.

The Red Ram is the only way to go for chopper rides!

Dave

[OpalFilm]

Whare can I find info about these lens controls?

[gary adcock]

Great jim,

The "New and Improved" model looks a lot better than the RC model that was hanging in the NAB booth last year.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Amazing!

PJ rocks again with RED.

[Mark Toia]

Yep The pilot was Alphie Speight, He's one of the best Heli film pilots in NZ.
Steady Eddie we call him.

We used the same Libra 5 head that's based out of Queenstown NZ with our RED about a week after Peter used it for Lovely Bones.
It worked a treat! We got some great pics from it.
Only problem was we had 2 operators driving the LIBRA, one to level the LIBRA the other to operate the wheels for pan and tilt. (I heard they are sorting this out very very soon so to have auto horizon correction.

Still it's not as steady as Spacecam or the CINEFLEX unit and you could not really shoot anything over say 100mm without a little bit of wobble, but still a good cheap alternative with a RED in it.
For most shots you do, the Heli mounted LIBRA it's very very good. I'd recommended it for any wide/ mid lens shooting.

Note: SPACECAM with RED in it is the best Heli platform out there with a RED in it, CINEFLEX HD is the best most stable heli mount in the world today. It's like a tripod in the sky! You can shoot 2000mm rock solid!, it's like magic. Blew me away when we first used it, yet still it's 2/3 inche chip HD video camera. Still awesome pics though.

[Mark Toia]

Whare can I find info about these lens controls?

http://www.prestoncinema.com/products_FI+Z_bro.html

Was just a normal standard PRESTON setup that comes with the LIBRA hire.
or you supply your own.
The Preston also has a run button as well as focus, zoom and aperture control all via radio link or hard wired.
Very good unit.

[Stuart English]

Another question I have is whether there will ever be modes on the camera that will only be capable on RED Ram vs the normal drives?

RED-RAM will be able to go to slightly higher frames rates at the maximum frame sizes.

[Steve Freebairn]

RED-RAM will be able to go to slightly higher frames rates at the maximum frame sizes.

So, higher than 30 on 4k?

[Joseph Ward]

RED-RAM will be able to go to slightly higher frames rates at the maximum frame sizes.


Yes...

Jim

Nice job on incorporating the RED-RAM! That should be more stable for longer capturing. :ninja:

Has the RED-RAM specs/price changed?

[Vico Martin]

We used the same Libra 5 head that's based out of Queenstown NZ with our RED about a week after Peter used it for Lovely Bones.
It worked a treat! We got some great pics from it.
Only problem was we had 2 operators driving the LIBRA, one to level the LIBRA the other to operate the wheels for pan and tilt. (I heard they are sorting this out very very soon so to have auto horizon correction.

Then, you use the Red + Libra with Red Drive??

[Mark L. Pederson]

Here's some snaps from the US 2nd Unit of Knowing - AMAZING footage.

[OpalFilm]

http://www.prestoncinema.com/products_FI+Z_bro.html

Was just a normal standard PRESTON setup that comes with the LIBRA hire.
or you supply your own.
The Preston also has a run button as well as focus, zoom and aperture control all via radio link or hard wired.
Very good unit.

By hard wire did you mean "mechanical wire".
I cannot find mechanical solution at www.prestoncinema.com.
Maybe you can sugest me some mechanical solution?

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Pearson]

Here are a few pics from My Bloody Valentine 3-D's Helicopter shoot...

[Mark L. Pederson]

Here are a few pics from My Bloody Valentine 3-D's Helicopter shoot...

BLOODY WICKED!!

[Jannard]

Wow!

Jim

[Sarah C.]

Like that!

~Sarah :gun:

[Mark L. Pederson]

I expect My Bloody Valentine 3-D to do over $25 million on it's opening weekend.

[Jason Diamond]

that is an amazing sight!

[Joseph Ward]

Here are a few pics from My Bloody Valentine 3-D's Helicopter shoot...

What cameras were used?

[Jason Murphy]

Wait... Does this mean that Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine are finally getting that oft-rumored new album finished?? That would be awesome!

EDIT: Oops. Never mind. Guess My Bloody Valentine 3D is not the shoegaze-rock followup to last years U2-3D concert film... My bad.

[Accel]

Here's some snaps from the US 2nd Unit of Knowing - AMAZING footage.

There's the photos, was waiting for them to pop up. That was a fun shoot, I was skeptical at first but on the 3 jobs I've done now I've loved working with the Red.

[Evin Grant]

Cool Mark, I just operated that same ball on Friday out over the San Andreas fault.
http://www.evingrant.com/pics/SanAndreas.jpg
http://www.evingrant.com/pics/pictorvision.jpg

[Brian Pearson]

What cameras were used?

Do you mean which two RED Ones? #1050 & another #. Not sure which one.

Brian Pearson

[Joseph Ward]

Do you mean which two RED Ones? #1050 & another #. Not sure which one.

Brian Pearson

Sweet!

[Piripi Mete]

The lens was a Optimo 15-40 with a doubler. The only ND's around at the time were straight ND's. I was on main unit at the time but I believe Richie and Sean ran either a ND.6 or ND.(Perhaps Richie could confirm!?)

To OpalFilm ,the Preston remote focus was supplied by CineFocus New Zealand as it had all the necessary RED cables. Dion Hartley sorted out the logistics of the aerial shoot (monitors, cable looms etc) and the Preston was hardwired into this loom for extra insurance! All aspects of lens were controlled (Focus, Iris and Zoom) from inside the helicopter....

[wildcatfilms]

Yep The pilot was Alphie Speight, He's one of the best Heli film pilots in NZ.
Steady Eddie we call him.

We used the same Libra 5 head that's based out of Queenstown NZ with our RED about a week after Peter used it for Lovely Bones.
It worked a treat! We got some great pics from it.
Only problem was we had 2 operators driving the LIBRA, one to level the LIBRA the other to operate the wheels for pan and tilt. (I heard they are sorting this out very very soon so to have auto horizon correction.

Still it's not as steady as Spacecam or the CINEFLEX unit and you could not really shoot anything over say 100mm without a little bit of wobble, but still a good cheap alternative with a RED in it.
For most shots you do, the Heli mounted LIBRA it's very very good. I'd recommended it for any wide/ mid lens shooting.

Note: SPACECAM with RED in it is the best Heli platform out there with a RED in it, CINEFLEX HD is the best most stable heli mount in the world today. It's like a tripod in the sky! You can shoot 2000mm rock solid!, it's like magic. Blew me away when we first used it, yet still it's 2/3 inche chip HD video camera. Still awesome pics though.


- don't forget the HD Gyron; just as stable as the Cineflex, but unlike the Cineflex you can, in principle, fit any similar sized camera in it...

[Libra_Unlimited]

Only problem was we had 2 operators driving the LIBRA, one to level the LIBRA the other to operate the wheels for pan and tilt. (I heard they are sorting this out very very soon so to have auto horizon correction.

Still it's not as steady as Spacecam or the CINEFLEX unit and you could not really shoot anything over say 100mm without a little bit of wobble, but still a good cheap alternative with a RED in it.
For most shots you do, the Heli mounted LIBRA it's very very good. I'd recommended it for any wide/ mid lens shooting.


We fly with the Libra in Europe several times per month, and have just recently flown with the Red One, on a Jetranger at 2800 meters. As for needing to people to operate it, this is mostly resolved. Typically we fly with the Libra operator and a Director. Also with the Jetranger you can shoot longer focal lengths than with the A-star.

[M Olsen]

Also with the Jetranger you can shoot longer focal lengths than with the A-star.

Curious on this.. back when there used to be Jet Rangers in NZ we always chose the A-Stars.
A - Star is generally much smoother with the 3 blade main rotor in my opinion.
I guess depending how you configure your mount the hard points around the nose landing light could help with extra rigidity. Seen some vibration from nose mounts on the A-Stars that were not built to the hard points behind the belly pan and also mounts that were not ultra solid construction from those points forward.

[Libra_Unlimited]

The A-star is a 3 bladed helicopter, using a semi-rigid rotor system. This transfers more vibration into the structure than a 2 bladed rotor system. Granted, by nature more blades are smoother, but it also depends how those blades are attached. Eurocopter uses 2 anti-vibration "hammers" under the cabin floor of the helicopter, to make it feel smoother. These hammers can sometimes be out of adjustment, which leads to a rougher helicopter. The A-stars can also vary widely in how smooth they are from one helicopter to another. The Jetranger on the other hand has less variation from one to another. A properly tracked and balanced Jetranger can be very smooth. The Jetranger is also easier to track and balance, so you also have a greater chance that the company will actually do it, when you ask them to track and balance before you shoot with it.

[Michael Brennan]

The A star does not have a rigid head. The elastomeric bearings in the rotor heads are hinges. The Eurocopter BO105 Bolkow does have a rigid head and will rattle your fillings. The benefit is that it can do aerobatic maneuvers!

Both AS350 (A Star) and Bell 206 Jet ranger have semi rigid heads.

As I understand it, nose mount a Libra on a A star and it interferes with those very hammers that are designed to reduce vibration!

As the libra does not have any means of protecting the camera from aerodynamic forces its stability gets progressively worse as speed increases above 40 knots. Wescam, Spacecam Cineflex Gyron HD have a mechanically isolated (some better isolated then others) outer case that protects the camera from aerodynamic forces, thus allowing both the stability software and hardware to be fine tuned to reduce high frequency vibration.


Yes some helicopter camera brackets are not rigid, they are designed that way, I commissioned a A star nose mount bracket for the cineflex and other gimbals and moving parts was a critical part of the design.
Would love to put a libra on it but it would have to shed a few pounds.

Evaluating effects of high frequency vibration on the image should be done at the delivery resolution.
Beware, some people expect zero on screen vibration, RED's superior resolution demands very careful attention for the aerial cameraman to find and limit the exposure of the camera to the effects of high frequency vibration.

For instance, high frequency vibration that is not visible on a 720 line monitor can be a show stopper when viewed on a 1080 line monitor.




Mike Brennan

[Libra_Unlimited]

When the Libra is mounted it does not interfere with the hammers. It mounts to the helicopter the same as the tyler nose mount, and Spacecam. The Spacecam and Wescam systems are primarily stabilized through the use of spinning mass. These systems require protection from wind since they do not have the power to overcome it. The Stab-c / Gyron uses motors for stabilization, but due to their low torque, also require protection from wind. The Libra uses high torque motors, which allows it to fly without a housing. The motors have enough torque for shooting at high speeds with most cameras. Only on some extremely large cameras does the wind resistance prove to be a problem. We have routinely flown aerial shots in excess of 100 knots. Due to the size and weight of the Red One, it is ideal for flying with the Libra, and could be flown to VNE on the helicopter.

If you are interested in flying the Red One on the Libra, please let me know and we could arrange something. One of the other advantages that we offer is that we do not restrict the camera operating to a "company" operator. Any camera operator or DP who is experienced with handwheels or joystick is welcome to operate the Libra for aerial shooting.

[Mark Toia]

When the Libra is mounted it does not interfere with the hammers. It mounts to the helicopter the same as the tyler nose mount, and Spacecam. The Spacecam and Wescam systems are primarily stabilized through the use of spinning mass. These systems require protection from wind since they do not have the power to overcome it. The Stab-c / Gyron uses motors for stabilization, but due to their low torque, also require protection from wind. The Libra uses high torque motors, which allows it to fly without a housing. The motors have enough torque for shooting at high speeds with most cameras. Only on some extremely large cameras does the wind resistance prove to be a problem. We have routinely flown aerial shots in excess of 100 knots. Due to the size and weight of the Red One, it is ideal for flying with the Libra, and could be flown to VNE on the helicopter.

If you are interested in flying the Red One on the Libra, please let me know and we could arrange something. One of the other advantages that we offer is that we do not restrict the camera operating to a "company" operator. Any camera operator or DP who is experienced with handwheels or joystick is welcome to operate the Libra for aerial shooting.

Hi Libra unlimited, Can you send me a private chat, I want to know were your based and also your contact details etc. We do a lot of heli work using all sorts of heads. Libra is my preferred on the ground and we have just finished a shoot in the AIR with it as well. But I would like to keep my contact base up.
thanks
Thanks.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Here are a few pics from My Bloody Valentine 3-D's Helicopter shoot...

Was one of my two RED's #851 or #852 used in this set up?

ciao

[Brian Pearson]

Was one of my two RED's #851 or #852 used in this set up?

ciao

Not sure, Ketch. I lost track of which other camera was used. But I did notice that my one went for a little flight...

[KETCH ROSSi]

Not sure, Ketch. I lost track of which other camera was used. But I did notice that my one went for a little flight...

Thanks anyway Pearson.

ciao

[avatuar]

Hey this may be redundant, but DO NOT SHOOT TO THE DRIVE ON A HELICOPTER. We tested the rig on the gyro stabilizer before going up and we had skipped frames. Long story short we had to ground the shoot for a couple hours to locate a bunch of red cards. Bottom line: if you shoot to the drive on anything with vibration you're risking your footage being NG. Just a heads up, go solid state:)

[Libra_Unlimited]

We have done aerial shooting with the Red One, on the Libra, and did not have a problem with dropped frames. When the Libra stabilization is on, the Red One did not drop frames, when off, it would occasionally drop frames. We will be building an isolated drive mount for the Red One as well.

[Mark Toia]

This is with a 18-50 RED lens and a stripped 6x6 arri matt box.

[Tanner Stauss]

Hey this may be redundant, but DO NOT SHOOT TO THE DRIVE ON A HELICOPTER. We tested the rig on the gyro stabilizer before going up and we had skipped frames. Long story short we had to ground the shoot for a couple hours to locate a bunch of red cards. Bottom line: if you shoot to the drive on anything with vibration you're risking your footage being NG. Just a heads up, go solid state


I just did some really low budget heli shooting in Kazakhstan. It was all on a RED drive, in a RED cradle, and was all handheld. We shot some actors inside a large military type craft, and shot pointing out of an open door of a smaller heli. The whole time I was watching the drive vibrate like crazy in the cradle I was sure we were going to have problems. However the camera reported no dropped frames, and the footage was fine. Maybe it was because we were handheld and not mounted. Go figure.

This was my experience.

Here are the choppers that we were in:

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c91/Tannerstauss/Picture2.png
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c91/Tannerstauss/Picture5.png
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c91/Tannerstauss/Picture6.png
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c91/Tannerstauss/Picture3.png

[erik_reichenbach]

Here are a few pics from My Bloody Valentine 3-D's Helicopter shoot...

Nice - That was our Shoot with the Gyron-FS and Pilot Cherokee Walker (http://cherokeehelicopter.com)

Notice the setup of the FI+Z. Also please note: As of this time, you can NOT power the MDR for the Preston FI+Z off of the RED. It has to be powered off the system, or a separate power source.

http://aceeast.com/credit_images//GyronFS/mbv-gyronfs-redone-4.jpg

Here's a link to some more pictures from that shoot

http://aceeast.com/credits.php?credit=201

We just recently finished a shoot on sunday with a single RED Camera. We were using a 10:1 Cooke and were able to get nice and stable out to 500mm at 2K.

http://aceeast.com/credit_images//GyronFS/UA_GyronFS_RED_1.jpg

http://aceeast.com/credit_images//GyronFS/UA_GyronFS_RED_6.jpg

Here is a link to more pictures from that shoot

http://aceeast.com/credits.php?credit=52


When the Libra is mounted it does not interfere with the hammers. It mounts to the helicopter the same as the tyler nose mount, and Spacecam. The Spacecam and Wescam systems are primarily stabilized through the use of spinning mass. These systems require protection from wind since they do not have the power to overcome it. The Stab-c / Gyron uses motors for stabilization, but due to their low torque, also require protection from wind. The Libra uses high torque motors, which allows it to fly without a housing. The motors have enough torque for shooting at high speeds with most cameras. Only on some extremely large cameras does the wind resistance prove to be a problem.

Just to clarify, The GyronFS (http://aceeast.com/equipment.php?system=2) has no problems flying without it's housing, as you can see above. If you would like to fly faster than 80 knots, the SuperG (http://aceeast.com/equipment.php?system=18) is also an excelent option, should you need to fly at 120 knots.

Love seeing RED cameras flying. Word to the wise - DO NOT use the spinning hard drives for aerial work. Use Cards or SSD.

~BACH

[Joseph Ward]

http://aceeast.com/credit_images//GyronFS/mbv-gyronfs-redone-4.jpg

From the words of Miss Hilton, Thats Hot!:wink:

[randywrap]

I thought the Gyron worked flawlessly!! It was able to shoot !!! 2 k with 55 to 500 or 10 to 1 Cook lens and the clint loved the footage!! we did a very quick lens change!! to the Red lens 18 to 55 for a little wider look at 2k
the Red and Stab C Gyron was cost effective!!! and versatile!!
when it counted !!! when the sun was going down !!! The only thing that i would add is that i wish we didnot have to land so much to change out the cards!! but i here that solid state drives are in the works!

[David Birdy]

Thanks for Posting Baltimore!

Great shots.. That rig is hot!

Let's get My Red on that rig next time you guys are in Pittsburgh!

Dave

[erik_reichenbach]

I saw someone posted that the "My Bloody Valentine 3D" trailer was out - you can see some of the Helicopter shots in the trailer

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810027306/trailer

Pretty sweet!

[vincelucero]

That Bloody Valentine trailer looks SIC! In 3D it's gonna rock.

[Charlie Anderson]

I had the pleasure of working with ACE and Cherokee helicopters for a shoot I was producer/DP on a shoot for the Owner of Under Armour for his farm in Maryland.

ACE did a phenomenal job, as did Cherokee Helicopters. I definitely recommend them for ANY job that requires helicopters.

Here's a pic right before take off, pretty nifty with the cooke lens and rigged filter on it ;)

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/30/43/18415130/n18415130_35557270_1415.jpg

And also, if you want to know if the StabC is stable without it's housing, here's a clip shot at 4k:
http://stratatekstudios.com/movies/UA/Sagamore_flyby_horses.mov

[jetaddiction]

hand held.nothing wrong with shoulder mount with a single ks8 gyro .i had a cord taking some weight from the roof of the astar. the camera wasn,t red but will be going up soon with the red .shots have not been smoothed in post yet, will be using 2 ks8 with the red. www.jetaddiction.com click on movies /click on the seaplane.