At NAB, I’m always on the lookout for something different — a new technology or a new production tool that’s destined to change the way we work, and possibly change the way that content is created. This year, it wasn’t an “app” or a software program, or even a new 4K camera. In fact, this year — it had rotors. Totally Wicked
Not too long ago, a series of videos went viral on YouTube, and if you search the YouTube site for “nano quadrotors,” you’ll see an amazing performance by miniature flying robots. Keep these images in mind as you read on.
For years now, RED Digital Cinema has taken the film and video production community by storm, with the finest and most versatile digital cinema cameras on the market. At NAB, the RED booth is generally standing room only, but I managed to wedge myself in — and then had the foresight to look up.
Suspended from the truss was the most wicked looking machine I’d seen in recent times, straight out of a science fiction movie. It looked faintly like a quadrotor — but it had six arms instead of four, and two rotors per arm instead of one. Suspended beneath the central hub was a RED digital cinema camera, on an advanced gimbal mount. Clearly, I was looking at the coolest stabilized remote control (RC) flying camera rig to come along in years, and I wanted to learn more.
A Passion for Flight
I quickly learned that a Swedish company called “Intuitive Aerial” was partnering with RED, with the launch of their first product — appropriately named the “Black Armored Drone.” I spoke at length with Torkel Danielsson, the company’s CEO, and the first question I asked was an easy one: “What does it take to become a pilot?”
“Just to learn to fly the drone, we recommend that you start in a simulator,” said Danielsson. “Then, you can move up to a small RC helicopter system, and maybe after 50 to 100 hours of flight time, you can jump to our system once you’re proficient. However, if you want to fly professionally on a movie set, with thousands of dollars of video equipment below the gimbal, RC helicopter flying should be your passion — whatever happens, you want somebody that knows what they’re doing.”
Shots Without Limitations
The Black Armored Drone is designed on a strong carbon fiber frame, with three claw-like extensions that protect the camera and act as landing gears. The unit has built-in gyroscopic stabilization and a compact telemetry package to relay video, battery status and camera control functions back to the ground crew. In conjunction with RED, a full HD downlink is under development to provide high-resolution video for the Director.
With a full 20-pound payload (such as a RED camera with a professional lens, filters, and remote focus, iris and zoom control), the system offers five minutes of flight time before the batteries need to be changed. With a lighter payload and a smaller lens, the drone can stay airborne for up to 20 minutes.
I asked Danielsson what sparked the company’s idea for the drone. “It’s been a dream to make a camera fly,” noted Danielsson. “Flying gives you a vantage point that determines what the world looks like, and that freedom creates amazing shots. There’s a scene at the beginning of Forrest Gump, where the camera follows a feather as it drifts down. That scene was filmed with a large crane, but imagine shooting it without the limitations of heavy equipment. Shots like that gave us the idea to take drone technology to the next level.”
Prior to NAB, the engineers at Intuitive Aerial had been working on the drone for about four years. From the funding stage to the prototype stage was a lengthy process, but based on customer reaction at NAB, the product’s “world premiere” was remarkably successful.
“We call it a drone because that’s how it is perceived by the market,” continued Danielsson. “We’ve had great feedback and interest at NAB. Some people simply wonder how this rig can fly, but others immediately see the professionalism and stability that’s built in. In fact, there are some DPs who are already framing up their aerial tracking shots with the drone in mind.”
Defining Moments
I asked Danielsson why the drone had six arms instead of four. “It’s actually a hexacopter with a co-axial setup using 12 motors,” said Danielsson. “This design provides more power and speed, and a higher degree of resistance to wind. Because we stacked the motors, we have a smaller package with a higher power ratio.”
The Black Armored Drone is definitely not a single-operator rig. In a professional setting, it takes a crew of three to run the drone. A pilot controls the drone, a camera operator (or DP) controls the camera and frames the shot, and then, typically in a professional shoot, a third operator pulls focus. All three are in communication with the director at all times.
Back in 1975, an inventor and cameraman named Garrett Brown brought the Steadicam to market. He won an Oscar for his invention, and in the process, re-defined the way that “tracking” shots were created. Today, with the advent of the Black Armored Drone, the ability to create remarkable tracking shots just took a dramatic step forward.
As a visionary, Danielsson clearly sees the potential for this technology in film and video production. “The ruggedness, the stability, this is what we bring. Our technology costs less than a boom or a crane to operate, but in terms of where you can position cameras, our system is a small revolution in the type of shots you can create,” added Danielsson. “When we meet again in five years, I think that you’ll see this type of system used on almost every movie set.”
With NAB serving as the industry’s premier technology showcase, I’m convinced that we’ve witnessed something remarkable from the standpoint of creativity. To see a demonstration of the drone at NAB, I invite you to log on to YouTube and search for “Black Armored Drone.” To see the drone in action on a movie set, search for “Intuitive Aerial behind the scenes.”
And if I start now, there’s still time to learn how to become a pilot.
Paul Berliner is president of Berliner Productions in Davis, CA. He can be reached at pberliner@plsn.com.
