Please give me you opinion on this video.

[Aleksander]

Hi.
So besides the keyboards I have another hobby that is flying around with multicopters and making films,
This weekend a friend of mine and I did some flying and the resulting video can be seen below.
The reason I want your opinion is that everybody else that has seen it is either in the multicopter-hobby or family/friends, and I think you can give me more unbiased feedback
The main thing I am concerned about is the length of the video and general editing-related stuff like music and transitions, so I guess what I really want is constructive criticism

On to the video (HD available and recommended):

[mr_a500]

Very nice. That looks like an awesome place. I really like the lighting with the sun low. I definitely have to visit Norway some day.

The only thing that bothered me was the occasional graphical corruption. The music is fine, but gets repetitive after a while. I didn't have a problem with the edits and I'm very glad to see you didn't add any horrible "speed up and slow down" crap that you see everywhere these days.

Wow, I can't believe people can make videos of this quality on their own now. I feel like I've stepped into the future. I still remember back in 1979 making a plan with my friend to attach a Super-8 film camera to a hobby plane and film from the air. It seemed like a radical idea at the time. (and we never did it because it would have cost too much)

Now people can get their own multicopters with HD cameras. What a time to live in. (but sadly, nude sunbathing is history)

[Findecanor]

That must be some serious 'copter you have there, to be able to catch up with the boats and pan and tilt with the camera. It also shows that you must have a realtime video feed to be able to control it that good.
Too bad about the dropouts, though. Is that because of wear of the flash video card or insufficient EM shielding?

Norway is indeed photogenic. I have only visited Oslo and a ski resort up in the mountains and only that was many "oohs" and "aahs". I regret that I did not take the opportunity to visit the west coast to see some fjords when I was there.

Film wise... It feels sometimes a bit like you are flying around searching for cool things to shoot and then deciding on something rather than having the route plotted out from the start. Some clips are a bit short, and I think that they would have needed a beginning and an end or be cut. But that is just my opinion, and I am not a film guy.

[Aleksander]

Thanks guys, I will keep this in mind for the next one

I really don't know why the graphical corruption happened, It annoys the crap out of me to, I even edited a video that I know was perfect (it is on the youtube-channel) where we chase a fast coastguard boat, and it came out with errors in it.. might be something with the editing software.. :/

Findecanor, you are absolutely correct about the live feed

The copter is semi-serious, I have one that has a 3-axis camera stabilizer.. Here is a picture of the copter used for the film, actually we used two of these:

[damorgue]

Nice video and environment. My thoughts:
-Way too much vignette, which looks like it was added afterward.
-At 5.29 to 5:40 it just looks like it stops and rotates. I think this breaks the flow a bit. If it had transitioned a bit into the rotation and out of it it would haev been a bit smoother imo.

[wheybags]

i think my copter obv beats yours :3

[Aleksander]

I think I agree.. :p

[nathanscribe]

What they said. Lovely.

Do you need some kind of license to fly those things and film?

[Aleksander]

If I want to make money of of it, but this is just on a hobby-level.
However, the aviation authorities follow the same rules on one of these as on a large airplane, so to get it approved for making money i actually need the same paperwork as the large ones do; complete flight log, service history, pre flight checklist, clarance for takeoff from the local ATC, and also follow and document that I follow the rules regarding rest between flights etc.....

[Muirium]

Could be worse: they might demand all of that stuff even if you weren't making money! I expect no less from the authorities over here in Britain. The few people I've known who got pilot's licenses couldn't afford to keep flying as a hobby.

[matt3o]

It's a terrific video, Aleksander. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed it, the BGM is also very nice.

I don't know how you could make it better. Maybe it's a bit too long. You could montage a shorter version. Also, would it be possible to make the camera more stable? I dunno, maybe with a gyroscope or something. It's very good already, just wondering.

[Muirium]

Editing is the key too all video. Trim things down to as short as they can possibly go. Then cut again. You need to keep viewers eyes busy the whole time, treat them like their attention span is about a second. Because it is. Mine too!

[damorgue]

The only thing which truly bothered me was the very heavy vignette. It is really distraction now that I looked at it again. The scenery and video was beautiful otherwise.

[mr_a500]

Editing is the key too all video. Trim things down to as short as they can possibly go. Then cut again. You need to keep viewers eyes busy the whole time, treat them like their attention span is about a second. Because it is. Mine too!

No, I think that's the problem with videos these days - the editing is way too fast. I like to have time to actually look at the image and the freedom to look anywhere in the image I want. With fast editing, images are shoved in your face like meat into a sausage grinder. You have no chance to actually focus on anything. It's almost like a brainwashing control technique. (and judging by modern moronic TV viewers, it's probably working)

[Muirium]

Depends. The first video anyone makes (and this isn't a sly attack on the OP, just a general principle) is way too long and requires the filmmaker to narrate it to you when watching, because it's so damn vital that you understand what they were getting at. The video equivalent of a dull relative's holiday slideshow (back when that was a thing), which lasts longer than the holiday itself…

Some of the best editing ever is in Citizen Kane. That film (for anyone who doesn't know) was made in 1941, back when A500 was still at school, and it shocked audiences with how fast it was and with its nonlinear timeline. It looks perfectly ordinary, even quaint, today because everyone copied it intensely. But cinema was younger then, and Kane was a major step up in editing. Things were just so glacially slow back then. It wasn't for your convenience, but the filmmakers. They just pointed cameras at a stage and filmed a play.

[Aleksander]

Thanks guys!
Matt3o, the camera is already on a 2-axis gimbal setup with gyros, accelerometers and compasses for all axis, so I just need to make it work better, some parts to improve the dampening is on its way so hopefully that will make stuff even smoother.

I see there is different opinions about editing, and I think that slow paced editing works well for scenery and faster editing works for more action filled stuff.

I have more footage from inside the city/town and more from the ship, so I might make two or more seperate videos, just to get down to videos that are shorter than 4 minutes..

the vignette that some seem to dislike is a filter within youtube, personally I feel that it makes the image more vivid, but it does go a bit to dark in the corners imo...

[mr_a500]

Depends. The first video anyone makes (and this isn't a sly attack on the OP, just a general principle) is way too long and requires the filmmaker to narrate it to you when watching, because it's so damn vital that you understand what they were getting at. The video equivalent of a dull relative's holiday slideshow (back when that was a thing), which lasts longer than the holiday itself…

Some of the best editing ever is in Citizen Kane. That film (for anyone who doesn't know) was made in 1941, back when A500 was still at school, and it shocked audiences with how fast it was and with its nonlinear timeline. It looks perfectly ordinary, even quaint, today because everyone copied it intensely. But cinema was younger then, and Kane was a major step up in editing. Things were just so glacially slow back then. It wasn't for your convenience, but the filmmakers. They just pointed cameras at a stage and filmed a play.

I agree that the video here is too long and can probably do with faster edits, but I really dislike the modern "one second attention span" editing. I can appreciate fast editing when fast editing is required - for some action scenes and places where you want to make a quick visual impact. I am against non-stop unnecessary fast cuts for the morons out there who don't have attention span. (that and "drunken camera work" you see all over the place these days - doesn't anybody have a god-damned steadycam??)

[Muirium]

It all comes down to NYPD Blue…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/graham-mi ... 80069.html

I remember first watching that show (when I was in fact starting high school) and wondering just what the problem with the camera was. It's obviously meant to feel more intimate, documentary-style, than a nice steady perspective, but NYPD Blue had the jitter dial turned right up from the start.

One place it worked well was The Office. (The Ricky Gervais one. Don't know about the remake.)

[mr_a500]

It all comes down to NYPD Blue…

I never saw that show. (I was too old at the time)

I do remember the introduction of the "speed up and slow down" effect that I came to violently hate. I think the first time they used it was in the James Bond "Die Another Day" in 2002. Since then, it's been used everywhere - in commercials, documentaries, IMAX films. I've even seen it used in homemade Youtube videos. It's unbelievably annoying.

[vivalarevolución]

Editing is the key too all video. Trim things down to as short as they can possibly go. Then cut again. You need to keep viewers eyes busy the whole time, treat them like their attention span is about a second. Because it is. Mine too!

I hear Norway is the land of the slow video. Like they show the complete process of sheering a sheep to knitting a sweater. Or a pile of longs until it burns down.

Also, reminded me of Pilotwings for Nintendo 64.

[Halvar]

Some time when I'm even older, I'd definitely like to do the Hurtigruten post ship tour. I imagine it to be calm and beautiful like this video, only two weeks longer...

[Monkay]

Hey, this sure is an impressive video you did. But as some already mentioned I think that it is a bit too long. You should try and get the best parts in a shorter video.
I would also like if the music would be a bit more "spicy" if you know what I mean.
Also you could try to use some stabilizing-filters when editing the video. If the whole video would be perfectly without shaking it would be awesome.
And something else that I really like in this kind of videos: The perspective on the ground, in an area where you can not see much of the environment. Then your chopper takes off and when it is high enough (going above a house/tree), an awesome sight is visible and the music kicks in.

Just some ideas, but anyways: Nice video!

[mr_a500]

I would also like if the music would be a bit more "spicy" if you know what I mean.

I don't like the idea of "spicy" music for this. The video is a nice slow drift over winter scenery. The music should be smooth and ethereal, sort of like this Solaris music:

[Aleksander]

Yeah, I think the "spicy" music is fitting for more action filled stuff, like this video;

Thanks for all the reply guys, I will keep it in mind when flying and editing next time!
Hopefully the upgrade-part for the camera stabilizer will arrive soon, so most of the uneven stuff in the roll and tilt axis will be solved, side to side (turn/yaw) is up to me and my frozen fingers

[fireglow]

I really liked the video, especially when you matched speed with the RHIB.
How fast can your drone go?

[Aleksander]

The flying was done by my friend Robert, he has the same copter as me, well I built most of it for him... (we are starting a small business together)
We have flown at around 80kmh, it starts to get really unstable at those speeds thou...