How to turn your YUNEEC drone into a CAR Steadicam?

Discussion in 'Yuneec Drones' started by Sara, Mar 10, 2016.

  1. Sara

    Sara Drone Minds Presenter/Pilot

    Sep 9, 2015
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    Female
    York, UK
    We decided to utilise a drone in a new and yuneec way and operate it as a car mounted camera to get smooth steadicam type shots of the roads while driving.
    DSC07532 (2).JPG q500-3.jpg
    The drone is strapped securely with ratchet straps and placed on rubber mats. The mats offer the best grip and elevate the camera to remove the view of your car. You can get rid of view of the car completely in editing by zooming into the video frame or set the sequence setting to 1080p (dropping the 4K video onto the frame will give you more flexibility in framing your shot).

    The ratchet straps were making a lot of vibration noises when driving, similar to a guitar string (even at 20 mph). We managed to get rid of them by twisting the straps.

    We used the ST10+ controller to operate the camera, having it plugged into the car’s 12v socket will give you hours of driving around. The handheld gimbal that comes with the Yuneec wouldn't work as well, because the battery life isn’t as long and the phone connections keeps dropping out.

    Make sure you’re driving in the area where it’s always easy to pull over in case it starts raining or something goes wrong. We did not go over 30 mph, not sure how it would behave at higher speeds. Might be interesting to try it with a more robust setup (working on it atm).

     
  2. Ragnarok

    Ragnarok Member

    Jul 28, 2015
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    Netherlands
    Nice video, it seem to work very well.
     
  3. Skymaxx Photography

    Skymaxx Photography New Member

    Mar 15, 2016
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    Have you done the lipo conversion to the steadygrip yet?
     
  4. Sara

    Sara Drone Minds Presenter/Pilot

    Sep 9, 2015
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    York, UK
    no we didn't attempt that, because that would mean that you'd sill had to operate the camera via mobile app.
     
  5. Skymaxx Photography

    Skymaxx Photography New Member

    Mar 15, 2016
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    True, what's the difference in the app and the remote when it's on the car, other than looking down, which you wouldn't want to do right?
     
  6. Jonathan

    Jonathan Drone Expert
    Crew

    Aug 31, 2013
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    Drone Aerial Photographer
    York
    The phone app drops out all the time, the connection isn't as good - especially when it's not attached to the steadygrip, which you obviously wouldn't want when driving round town.
     
  7. Skymaxx Photography

    Skymaxx Photography New Member

    Mar 15, 2016
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    Yeah, haha, I never thought about how you would attach the steadygrip to the car...
     
  8. SoCalDroner

    SoCalDroner New Member

    Nov 28, 2016
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    Director of Field Technology
    Northridge, CA
    Brilliant idea! Not sure I would want to try that with my H, though.

    One thing - the car must be producing a magnetic field that causes the video to flip horizontally... everyone is driving on the wrong side of the street! :D
     
  9. Jonathan

    Jonathan Drone Expert
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    Aug 31, 2013
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    Drone Aerial Photographer
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    :D
     

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