My camera setup for flying videos

Martin Pauly

Martin Pauly

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Martin Pauly
People often ask me what my camera setup is for my flying videos, so I've made this video to show how I use a combination of GoPro cameras, a camcorder, an audio recorder for the intercom, and other devices to capture everything going on during a flight.

For anyone going to Sun 'n Fun, I'll give a couple of presentations there (Friday and Saturday, 9AM) about the flying video/vlog topic, with a look behind the scenes and some pointers on how to take better videos. Looking forward to meeting some of the people from PoA there.

 
Nice video Martin!

I first started out using my portable audio recorder but once I got the gopro audio adapter I haven't used the Tascam. To get plane audio I usually mix in some live audio from one of the the gopros and just attenuate the levels. I was wondering if you are using the Tascam for ATC+Intercom or aircraft sound???

The other thing that bothered me was the "clap" to synch all the audio, especially if you don't record the entire flight. Are you doing something like that? I finally bought the gopro smart remote. You have to fidget with all the gopros a bit to make sure they are wireless enabled but once that is good you can actually start and stop them all during flight with no audio issues. I ended up going this route because I was either running out of batteries or card storage and longer flights.

Last comment. For the tablet software I just record the screen with the tablet itself. I pretty much can't stand the Apple screen recorder so I usually use my Android tablet which seems to have more options. Perhaps you tried screen recording right on the tablet and gave up to use the offboard recorder?

Perhaps you can mention which NLE are you running?

Now I want a 360 camera :)
 
Sinistar said:
I was wondering if you are using the Tascam for ATC+Intercom or aircraft sound???

The other thing that bothered me was the "clap" to synch all the audio, especially if you don't record the entire flight. Are you doing something like that?

For the tablet software I just record the screen with the tablet itself. I pretty much can't stand the Apple screen recorder so I usually use my Android tablet which seems to have more options. Perhaps you tried screen recording right on the tablet and gave up to use the offboard recorder?

Perhaps you can mention which NLE are you running?
Click to expand...
The Tascam only records the intercom and radio. Ambient (aircraft) sound is picked up well enough by the GoPros, so I mix that together later when I edit.

Synching up the various items can be painful. To make it easier, once I start cameras and recorders I usually leave everything running - that way I have to synchronize everything only once. At least in theory, because in real life there's still a little bit of drift over time...

I tried the iPad screen recording a few years ago, before iOS supported it natively. Maybe it works better now; at the time it was a disaster and would not run reliably for more than a couple of minutes. The hardware recorder I have has been rock-solid, I wouldn't want to miss it.

Finally, I edit in Apple's FCP X on an iMac.
 
Let me know what you think of that 360. I had that same one and could not get it to work.
Per the reviews, it is not a PC / Android user's camera but plays well with MAC.

I ended up returning mine.
 
Martin Pauly said:
The Tascam only records the intercom and radio. Ambient (aircraft) sound is picked up well enough by the GoPros, so I mix that together later when I edit.

Synching up the various items can be painful. To make it easier, once I start cameras and recorders I usually leave everything running - that way I have to synchronize everything only once. At least in theory, because in real life there's still a little bit of drift over time...

I tried the iPad screen recording a few years ago, before iOS supported it natively. Maybe it works better now; at the time it was a disaster and would not run reliably for more than a couple of minutes. The hardware recorder I have has been rock-solid, I wouldn't want to miss it.

Finally, I edit in Apple's FCP X on an iMac.
Click to expand...
That has been the other nice parts of the gopro audio adapter, the intercom/atc audio never gets out of synch (at least on the camera its plugged into).

The one thing I miss about using my Tascam...it records this awesome stereo audio and makes the rumble of the Conti-470 sound almost as good as a Harley :)

I just can't believe how bad the iPad screen recording is. Its apple. It should just be flawless. Actually the first time I recorded it, about 3 minutes in I couldn't stop it and my Garmin Pilot started getting weird. So then I had no idea if it was recording or not. I actually switched to my Android and then turned the iPad off and on again during flight. I was trying to record the SynVis. On the other hand the Android has several apps. I found one that let me pick the video resolution (1080p) and store to the external card...SWEET...but the Android renders SynVis so crappy it wasn't worth it LOL! I still record the Android screen once in awhile. As you said it is handy sometimes (no matter how you record it) to see what was going on.

Thanks...I haven't seen Final Cut Pro in years...a Premiere user.
 
Eric Stoltz said:
Question for you please, do you find the audio that much better using the portable audio recorder vs. recording intercom audio onto one of the Gopros/camcorder?
Click to expand...
Eric,
The GoPro Hero records in Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), which is a lossy compressed format, similar to MP3. Lossy compressed formats can sound pretty good as delivery format, i.e. for efficient storing of the final audio. So when you fist listen to the raw GoPro recording, it doesn't sound too bad. However, just like with video, when you start with lossy compression on the raw recording, any kind of processing you do as part of editing (e.g. EQ, noise filtering, etc.), things get a lot more difficult and the final product is going to sound worse. Therefore, I rely on my separate digital audio recorder which records lossless, uncompressed 24-bit samples at 48kHz.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Let me know what you think of that 360. I had that same one and could not get it to work.
Per the reviews, it is not a PC / Android user's camera but plays well with MAC.

I ended up returning mine.
Click to expand...
I've only created one video with the Insta360 ONE X to date, but I like it. It's a different world and takes some getting used to, from the recording to the file formats to editing, and overall the thing you create in the end is of a different nature. I look forward to experimenting more with it, even though feedback on YouTube on my first attempt has been mixed.
 
Sinistar said:
That has been the other nice parts of the gopro audio adapter, the intercom/atc audio never gets out of synch (at least on the camera its plugged into).
[...]
I just can't believe how bad the iPad screen recording is. Its apple. It should just be flawless. [...]
Click to expand...
Screen recording takes a LOT of data. Of all the video files I capture, the one from the iPad screen recording is typically the largest. It's got to be hard for the iPad to process and store all that data, while reliably continuing to do its main job with WingX or ForeFlight or the like.

Regarding synching the audio, yes, that's an extra synch step for me. But with six or more video sources that all need to be synch'ed, what's one more? :D
I like the audio quality I get this way, so I'll go through the extra trouble and synch it.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Let me know what you think of that 360. I had that same one and could not get it to work. Per the reviews, it is not a PC / Android user's camera but plays well with MAC. I ended up returning mine.
Click to expand...

Prolly woulda been cheaper and easier to just buy a Mac. ;)

Martin Pauly said:
Regarding synching the audio, yes, that's an extra synch step for me. But with six or more video sources that all need to be synch'ed, what's one more? :D I like the audio quality I get this way, so I'll go through the extra trouble and synch it.
Click to expand...

I never really considered worrying about audio codecs for YouTube vids, but now I'm concerned. :) All these Jonses' I have to keep up with. I recon I could bring the gimbaled G21 with the dead possum on top, held together with an erector set for Jen to shoot on. But that contraption is the size of a bucket and old. Or maybe sync by timecode on the A cam with the little Zoom I never use on the BMVA... Hmmm. Not that I post my videos online.

Once again, another damned hobby that costs way too much to dabble in, especially since I am no professional. Time to go shopping, btw.
 
So what are u using to do all the editing?? The problem I have had with higher res videos is the files sizes are cumbersome and, admittedly, I know little about the editing.
Mac vs pc based?
What programs?

I did some high altitude ballooning and have great GoPro vids at 100,000+ feet but can’t really edit them. That aspect has turned me off of the HAB hobby.

I was looking at the GoPro VIRB or the newer one but have held back due to the same issue.
 
benyflyguy said:
So what are u using to do all the editing?? The problem I have had with higher res videos is the files sizes are cumbersome and, admittedly, I know little about the editing.
Mac vs pc based?
What programs?

I did some high altitude ballooning and have great GoPro vids at 100,000+ feet but can’t really edit them. That aspect has turned me off of the HAB hobby.

I was looking at the GoPro VIRB or the newer one but have held back due to the same issue.
Click to expand...
Use lower res. 4K is nice but YouTube is going to downgrade it anyway, and even few TVs will take advantage if it. And, unless your Mac or PC is pretty robust, it may not have the resources to handle the editing chores.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Use lower res. 4K is nice but YouTube is going to downgrade it anyway, and even few TVs will take advantage if it. And, unless your Mac or PC is pretty robust, it may not have the resources to handle the editing chores.
Click to expand...
I use the 1080 res. Nice Combo of quality and recording time max
 
To those of you guys who make videos of your flights....kudos. Thank you for putting content on YouTube for those of us who don't fly, or don't get to fly very often, to watch. I know it takes a lot of your time, and money, but it sure is nice to be able to view what some of you do with your planes.
 
Fallsrider said:
To those of you guys who make videos of your flights....kudos. Thank you for putting content on YouTube for those of us who don't fly, or don't get to fly very often, to watch. I know it takes a lot of your time, and money, but it sure is nice to be able to view what some of you do with your planes.
Click to expand...


this may be the most informative and educational 5-second aviation video you will ever see:

 
benyflyguy said:
So what are u using to do all the editing?? The problem I have had with higher res videos is the files sizes are cumbersome and, admittedly, I know little about the editing.
Mac vs pc based?
What programs?

I did some high altitude ballooning and have great GoPro vids at 100,000+ feet but can’t really edit them. That aspect has turned me off of the HAB hobby.

I was looking at the GoPro VIRB or the newer one but have held back due to the same issue.
Click to expand...

I was at the appleshop the other day and played with a computer that chewed through a 6k video on finalcut like buddah - for $10k. My macbookpro cannot edit 4k directly without grinding to a halt. But I can edit ginormous resource eating 4k video by proxy. Simply put, in pilot speak, yer making a lowres version of the video ya shot, editing the lowres footage, and telling the editing program to do the same to the 4k stuff. In other words, when the 4k video is imported into whatever program we are using, we then convert the footage from 4k to something much less, like 720. There will be two copies of the footage, one 4k, one 720. Do the edit on the 720 footage, render it, and give it our omni-omni-airball salute. Then, have the editor do the same exact edit to the real footage, and render that. While we are waiting, we can go out to the airport and fly a wee bit. When we return, we will have two versions of our edit. Kinda...this is more of a process more than a how too. I do it on Davinchi Resolve, but I don't know how to use it on PP, FCP, Avid, as I don't want to pay for software.

This is the article I reference frequently in regards to my workflow. It is called optimized video in Davinchi Resolve. And it is slick as snot for working with high bitrate files.

I'm sure more programs do the proxy thing or similar, so this list isn't comprehensive, FinalCut, PremierePro, Avid, and the industry powerhouse making a significant dent in the old guard: Blackmagic Studios DaVinchi Resolve. DaVinchi Resolve. Revolutionary tools for editing, color correction, audio post, visual effects, all in a single application. Biased, indeed.

Still, making video in 1080 is way more important than making no video! Get your story out there!! Don't let the hard stuff keep ya from making something you would like to watch. Other want to, also.
 
There's a place for 4K video, and I'm sure it'll become more and more widespread in the future - just because the bandwidth and technology are there.
Still, a good HD picture, taken with a good camera of a well-lit scene is so much better than a lot of the 4K footage out there today. 4K is a waste if we don't even know how to make HD look good.
 
Martin Pauly said:
There's a place for 4K video, and I'm sure it'll become more and more widespread in the future - just because the bandwidth and technology are there.
Still, a good HD picture, taken with a good camera of a well-lit scene is so much better than a lot of the 4K footage out there today. 4K is a waste if we don't even know how to make HD look good.
Click to expand...

The most useful practical benefit of shooting 4K (and higher resolutions) is the ability to punch in on the image (when editing at 1080) and still maintain image quality.
 
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