Velocirotor - FPV and Aerial Videos by Snarls

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
Hello everyone, I am excited to announce the launch of my new Youtube channel - Velocirotor! The concept of making and sharing aerial videos is what got me into the hobby and now I finally feel ready to start producing my own videos.

Most of my videos will be freestyle FPV at various locations, but every now and then I aim to produce cinematic videos with my larger gimbal toting quad. Sometimes I might even upload something completely random to keep things interesting.

I hope you all will come to enjoy my videos and will be kind enough to subscribe. I encourage any feedback to help me make better videos to entertain you guys!



To start off is a video of my first time flying FPV anywhere besides my backyard. Unfortunately there is not a lot of obstacles to fly around and through when you are in an open field. The quad is shaky at high speeds due to flexing props (Gemfans) and poor tuning, but has since been tuned smooth.

 

PHugger

Church Meal Expert
Good Start! Bon Voyage.....

For a nerdy type like most of us, it doesn't get any better.
  • Complicated RC Flying
  • Complicated Quad Building & Tuning
  • Complicated Video Editing

I haven't done a lot of video editing recently (last 5 or 6 years), but I just updated my Adobe Premiere to the CC version.....


Best regards,
PCH
 

Revere

New member
Nice, I notice there's a lot of vibration after each flip, I presume caused as your controller tries to auto-level, if you dial it down a bit that might be corrected (on the main board or perhaps the ESC's, could be either is a bit twitchy).
What camera are you using and does it have the option to swap out lenses? There is a bit of lens distortion around the edges of the video, mostly noticable during pan and bank maneuvers, not an issue of any kind, but if your like me then after a while that distortion might make you feel a little "seasick" when flying FPV for long periods.

All in all, looks good. Hope there wasn't too much damage from the crash shown at the end?
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
Thanks PHugger and Revere! Yeah I filmed that video when I was running Gemfan 6030s, ESCs without Oneshot, and it was the first time going that fast so unfortunately I had to deal with the vibrations at high throttle. Since then I have switched to HQ props and Oneshot and am still working for the perfect tune. I have some newer footage that is a lot smoother, with just a hint of bounce after flips which I suspect is too high/low D gain, not auto-level because I'm flying only acro.

I am filming with a GoPro 2 although I'm tempted to upgrade. I have it on medium mode, but by default GoPro footage has that curvature at the edges. The FPV camera runs a 2.1mm lens so it is also wide angle. And yes like you Revere I get a little sick if I move around with the goggles on and even when I review the footage later. Part of the ride I guess.

That crash broke all props, my homemade wooden camera tilt, compressed my battery a little, and at the time I thought it broke my FPV antenna. Upon further inspection the antenna was fine, but the inner pin on my RP-SMA pigtail was moved enough to short out my antenna. Hoping my VTX is ok. I have new antennas in the mail, but as of now it works enough to fly at the field and around my house.
 

Revere

New member
Something you should consider, if your aim is camerawork more than racing:
I used to bring a basketball and several lengths of marking tape to my practice field. (you know the yellow and black striped "danger" warning tape?)

I would practice orbiting the basketball at a constant speed, height and distance, occasionally altering one or more of those variables.
The tape I would pin down in a long straight section and some long and short curved sections. which I would practice following at different heights and speeds whilst always keeping centered on the tape.

Sounds simple but is harder than you'd think with crosswinds and what have you, but these helped me become both more proficient at tracking objects and smoother while doing so. Following a friend while they fly or even drive an RC car around is also good, but for those times when your on your own these are good practice and really easy to set up.
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
Thanks for the tips Revere, I may just have to try that. I am trying to get my flying smoother as I tend to correct a lot to get a certain line. I sometime try orbiting objects in the field or making an imaginary line, but it's harder to tell if you're off the mark with imaginary obstacles.
 

Revere

New member
It can become tedious (and frustrating with decent winds) but it does help, when you get frustrated just take a quick freestyle blast around your flying area and come back to it when you have settled.
For the past several years I have worked in video and post production, the old guy who taught me camera techniques used to work for the BBC and these were essentially some of his "tricks" for teaching better camera control. I just took them and applied them to FPV flight - after all it's just a moving camera right? ;)
The problem with those imaginary lines is when you become so absorbed in trying to follow them that you dont see the not so imaginary tree coming... been there, done that. That's when I figured a marked line would keep me in a safe area. Once I'd plotted the line is when I remembered what the old geezer had tried to teach me and thought it would work for this also.
I look forward to seeing more videos on your channel, I am definatly more of an aerial video/photography guy than a racer or acrobatics guy.
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
New video! In search of obstacles to fly through I discovered the only two trees on the field I could fly under. I broke my angled camera mount off on the first flight and resorted to directly attaching the camera to the frame. The HQ props are much smoother and quieter. I am also still working on timing my flips as you can see some of them only get 270 degrees instead of a full 360.
 

Revere

New member
Kudos on your tinkering, motors sound a lot smoother now, less vibration and no more stuttering when you reach the end of a flip or turn tightly.