Is it time to use physical R/C flying models?

[newtontomato539]

Hi there.

I've been checking youtube vids of the Avatar Scorpion Gunship and I've seen the ads for the Star Wars Falcon copter.

Has anyone thought of using physical R/C flying or wheeling miniatures instead of cgi puppets?

So much of what had to be fully cgi puppets does not have to that way anymore. (The Thing Prequel, Underworld series.)

Heck, I've just seen a Large Flying RC Paper Airplane.

[Maurice]

For what application? Spaceships? Flying creatures?

[Potemkin_Prod]

We actually discussed using one to get us some footage from overhead.

[Today]

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

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We actually discussed using one to get us some footage from overhead.

That's actually a pretty neat idea, I considered trying to build a helicam when I first bought my DSLR. But I don't think I would have ever trusted it enough to put an actual camera in it.. let alone one that expensive. Might work reasonably well with a smart phone though. Most of those can shoot HD video these days, though rolling shutter is pretty bad on most cellphone cameras

I don't entirely understand the original post though. Miniatures (which I presume the OP is talking about) work much better shot stationary against a green screen. I would think it would be a massive hassle to try and composite in an actual RC plane or helicopter.

[Potemkin_Prod]

i think the OP wanted to have starships battling in air by remote control. But I have no faith in that being a viable alternative.

as far as the idea of using the camera on the rc helicopter came from watching a commercial where the little remote heli was carrying a minicam -- I think it may well be a phone cam, but as you said, it's an idea worth considering. But it still would require a financial investment for the copter and cam, as well as learning curve (i.e. time) and the right story.

[Today]

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

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i think the OP wanted to have starships battling in air by remote control. But I have no faith in that being a viable alternative.

as far as the idea of using the camera on the rc helicopter came from watching a commercial where the little remote heli was carrying a minicam -- I think it may well be a phone cam, but as you said, it's an idea worth considering. But it still would require a financial investment for the copter and cam, as well as learning curve (i.e. time) and the right story.

You may want to try a video search for helicams. When coupled with DSLR video the results are pretty spectacular. Great for scenic establishing shots.. but as I said, I'd never trust one enough to put $1000+ dollars worth (camera body and a suitable lens) of camera equipment in an RC helicopter.

[Potemkin_Prod]

I'll take a look, but $1000 is seriously more than the budget of any average Potemkin vignette.

[Today]

I've debated whether it would be worth stripping down a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera, and mounting it to something like an RC blimp.

Probably wouldn't cost more than $100 total, but I'm not sure how much lifting power a remote controlled blimp actually has relative to a real helicam rig

[Potemkin_Prod]

Some of the helicams on Amazon were the ones I've seen in the commercials. They're less than $100, and I'm really tempted...

[Today]

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

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Some of the helicams on Amazon were the ones I've seen in the commercials. They're less than $100, and I'm really tempted...

For under a $100 you're probably not going to get much in the way of a radio controller. Consider that RC helicopters are really hard to control even under ideal circumstances.

[Potemkin_Prod]

There's an RC group here in Albany that meets at the Exchange Club Fairground. I think I'm going to visit them next weekend, and see if any of them happen to be the owner of cam equipment and happen to be Trek fans.

[Maurice]

You can do some neat things with RC copters and small cameras (here's a great example flying around my city...the bison in this shot lives only a few blocks from me).

Flying RC ships around in the air to do space battles seems silly and expensive, especially because you'd have to matte in the background anyway and most tiny cameras are going to give you video compressed up the wazoo that's notoriously hard to pull good mattes off.

I notice the OP hasn't replied to anything in this thread, so I suspect this was a drive-by post.

[newtontomato539]

[QUOTE I notice the OP hasn't replied to anything in this thread, so I suspect this was a drive-by post.[/QUOTE]

Hello there.

Fighting starships, tanks, etc. That's my idea.

Stripping cameras on them is a great idea.

the models don't have to be large.

I wanted to get the old brain juices flowing. Thank you for the feedback.

[USS Jack Riley]

Randy: I bought one of those RC helicopters from eBay. Not recommended. My eldest broke it inside of 24 hours. The crash, however, was spectacular.

[Potemkin_Prod]

USS Jack Riley wrote:

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Randy: I bought one of those RC helicopters from eBay. Not recommended. My eldest broke it inside of 24 hours. The crash, however, was spectacular.

LOL! Well, of all the rocket launches I did as a kid, and supervised with the boys as an adult, the ones that are the most memorable were the crashes.