Hi All,
Ok first up greetings to you all from India. I am a independent TV commercial filmmaker and producer by profession.
I am a complete newbie to all this. I was wondering if any of you could help me out by creating a defintive list of stuff i would need to get to have a fully operational helicam on the arducopter platform. My primary goal would be to have a Canon Mark II 7D or equivalent up in the air with full camera controls.
Cheers and respect to all you droneheads :):)
PS : Anybody willing to consult for the project and train me , i would be willing to sponsor tickets to India and throw in a small vacation to see the sights and sounds. Please PM me. Thanks
Replies
Hello Jeebak, take a look at our www.steadidrone.com website, we specialize in Arducopter APM2 full RTF systems specifically for film and production. We would be intersted in helping you build a rig for your filming, pop us an email anytime.
Heavy camera - personally, I think you can get what you want with a lighter camera. Weight is very costly in flight.
That being said:
Your choice of pre-assembled hexa's:
1) http://store.jdrones.com/jDrones_ArduCopter_Hexa_p/achxkit1arf.htm
Upgrade the motors (880), props (12") , and ESCs (30A)
Add the radio, if you don't already have an RC tx and rx.
Or, if you don't like the appearance, or want a slightly stronger (heavier) frame:
2) http://www.udrones.com/product_p/achrtf1.htm
You can get the camera gimbal included for a modest cost. With the option above, you'll need a gimbal, but it is lighter than this frame.
Whichever aircraft you get, you'll also need:
An RC TX/RX. The turnigy 9x, with rx, flashed with er9x is very popular. Any major name brand RC TX/RX should work, but you want 8+ channels, mode 2. Turnigy, Spectrum, Futaba are all very popular.
4S 5000 mAh batteries - Flightmax are a popular brand
IMax B6 charger
get a few extra male/female deans or XT60 connectors
A soldering iron (to swap the connectors onto your batteries)
Solder
I also recommend getting the 3DR telemetry set, and locating a Windows 7 laptop (can be a native install or Windows 7 running in a virtual machine) to act as your ground station.
I have't worked all the numbers, but you should be able to get 8+ minutes flight time in low/no wind with about 1Kg payload with either platform.
I also recommend getting a spare parts bag, including a half dozen extra props, an extra motor, an extra arm, an extra frame plate, an extra landing gear.
I also recommend getting a QR Ladybird with move 2 transmitter - value edition. This is for flight training. It costs about $120USD, but could save you one or two thousand dollars in gear.
Good luck. Let me know if you have questions. You can do this many different ways, with many different designs and kits. But the parts I've listed here are maybe the easiest and quickest way to get started if you don't have an electronics background. You can save cost by assembling it yourself. You can optimize by getting carbon fiber frames, but then you need to fit the gimbal to it yourself, or find one that has a gimbal already, and you'd need to tune the PIDs for your custom frame, which adds to the learning curve. Getting it pre-assembled will save you some of the countless hours, but you will definitely want to learn to fly on a QR Ladybird, and you'll need get a crash course in how to arm motors, auto trim, configure your TX for six modes, and basic stuff like that. It's all covered in the manual, but it helps to have someone talk you through it.
I'm tied up for about a month, and my passport is getting renewed, expires in July, but if you still want on-site help in August-September timeframe, let me know, and maybe I can come visit and help you out.