Originally Posted by Tom Frank

Fairly inexpensive editors (e.g. MAGIX Movie Edit Pro17+ for about $70) can edit more tracks than anyone here would ever need. And a special multicam mode allows two tracks (user selectable and changeable) to be switched back and forth in the main output track by simply clicking on their thumbnails when you want the switch to occur. No cutting/pasting of individual clips needed! And the audio with each clip will follow along with it if you want, or a single audio track can be locked in no matter which clip is current in the frame as an alternative. Can't get much easier than that.

For a simple free solution, a simple click on an Avisynth plain text script file icon can grab two clips (named clip1.avi and clip2.avi), reduce them to 1/2 size, combine them for simultaneous playback in a full sized frame, and output that video video stream into an editor (i.e. VirtualDub) for final editing and output to final playback form. For example, here's the simple script text that directs Avisynth to place the two clips side-by-side:

StackHorizontal(reduceby2(Directshowsource("clip1. avi")), reduceby2(Directshowsource("clip2.avi")))
AddBorders(0,180,0,180)

And this one will stack the two videos vertically:

StackVertical(reduceby2(Directshowsource("clip1.av i")), reduceby2(Directshowsource("clip2.avi")))
AddBorders(320,0,320,0)

Attached are two sample frame grabs of the combined videos (both of which play back normal in their reduced frame areas)... pretty powerful stuff for only having to click an icon once the tools are in place on your PC!

Nice!
I may have to try that. I did see someone had a pic in pic that he could switch back and forth. That's another option.

I tested my two jumbos today on the Radian Pro. The cams are just taped in for the moment, but I plan to do some cf reinforcing for all the foam I cut out of the wing. The footage from the one facing the plane is awesome. I will need to adjust the mount for the forward facing cam, it's aiming too high and getting too much sky. Will remove also timestamp when time permits.

I am having trouble getting dashboard to load the raw video. It says wrong file type but is supposed to open .mov files. Confusing, but I'll figure it out.

Thanks a million for all the great resources and advice here Tom...and others too.

I am extremely happy with these cameras.

First Keycam Test (3 min 23 sec)

Oooooh that IS interesting Tom.
If you can do all that it is certainly worth $70!

That is just what you need for a 2 cam mix. You can't beat that continuous change of view. You have to keep the viewer interested, & that includes the pilot. I think I'll order one!

Too, so many videos are boring because there is too little change in terrain or flight pattern. Two cam compensates for this. But it has to be a very interesting video that non rc people will watch for more than 2 mins. An RC pilot though would probably hang in there longer.

Stability is another big factor. When the plane is rocking all over the place the viewer soon loses interest. I believe, for good video (unless you're on a quadrocopter) you should be on auto pilot

Kev

Has anyone here dropped their camera and had it stop working? Just happened to mine, and having looked inside (I am clueless, admittedly about electronics) could find nothing wrong. The charging light still comes on, but otherwise the cam is dead

I might consider the ones with the bigger battery, but I think it's time the price dropped a little.

Originally Posted by JumpySticks

Nice!
I may have to try that. I did see someone had a pic in pic that he could switch back and forth. That's another option.

I tested my two jumbos today on the Radian Pro. The cams are just taped in for the moment, but I plan to do some cf reinforcing for all the foam I cut out of the wing. The footage from the one facing the plane is awesome. I will need to adjust the mount for the forward facing cam, it's aiming too high and getting too much sky. Will remove also timestamp when time permits.

I am having trouble getting dashboard to load the raw video. It says wrong file type but is supposed to open .mov files. Confusing, but I'll figure it out.

Thanks a million for all the great resources and advice here Tom...and others too.

I am extremely happy with these cameras.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9LhFYsD4o4

Yeah, good Jumpy. That's a good view of and from the aircraft.

As a retired video producer, I am always in favour of showing the aircraft and more of it than just the nose. If you don't show the plane it could be anyone's video shot from some full sized aircraft. It's more interesting to know someone is flying a model plane at the same time as capturing a video.

If we want to make interesting aerial videos (and you may well say hell no I just want some footage of my flight) to show our friends or other RC pilots then we need say to ourselves "I am going to think this through first and make it an interesting video"

So in your case I would first climb up and give them a good over view of the area first (establishes "w.t.f. am I) then come down to about half height & refly the circuit again. Next pick out parts already seen from the higher levels and go in low so one can see now in detail. Viewer thinks :aha, this what I saw before, and now I can see it in more detail.
Then what you have done at the end is perfect - it is a completely different view of you circling overhead. Increases the interest level. As well you have shown a good landing (the end). All videos must have a start, middle and end i.e. always show take-off. flight, landing.

Kev

Originally Posted by billhally

My first attempt at editing #11 HD with VideoStudio Pro x4.

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7lCnowoiivg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Well I guess the embedding did not work so here is another try and a link to the video:-

Wings Over Warkworth Castle. (10 min 0 sec)

Bill

Originally Posted by Berkie

Yeah, good Jumpy. That's a good view of and from the aircraft.

As a retired video producer, I am always in favour of showing the aircraft and more of it than just the nose. If you don't show the plane it could be anyone's video shot from some full sized aircraft. It's more interesting to know someone is flying a model plane at the same time as capturing a video.

If we want to make interesting aerial videos (and you may well say hell no I just want some footage of my flight) to show our friends or other RC pilots then we need say to ourselves "I am going to think this through first and make it an interesting video"

So in your case I would first climb up and give them a good over view of the area first (establishes "w.t.f. am I) then come down to about half height & refly the circuit again. Next pick out parts already seen from the higher levels and go in low so one can see now in detail. Viewer thinks :aha, this what I saw before, and now I can see it in more detail.

Then what you have done at the end is perfect - it is a completely different view of you circling overhead. Increases the interest level. As well you have shown a good landing (the end). All videos must have a start, middle and end i.e. always show take-off. flight, landing.

Kev

Thanks for the great advice Berkie.

I shot about 35 minutes of footage, about 6 up and down flights. No thermals as it was late in the day the afternoon showers had just passed. I have some looping footage and some better footage of circling over my head (the trick is keeping a point on the ground stationary), but this flight was a good compromise for a short clip. I'm really hoping to shoot some long thermal flights (ideally with hawks). Haven't seen any online of a whole flight from start to finish.

I really need to work on flying technique and keeping the video smooth and fluid. That's easier with sailplanes, and how they should be flown anyway.

Your critique is appreciated and welcome. Please chime in with your advice any time on my facebook page or my blog here. I'm getting really interested in this perspective and expert guidance can only help.

Thanks,
JS

Originally Posted by Tom Frank

Have you checked the editing tips in the FAQs post #3. The free AVIdemux editor will load and edit the native .MOV video, trim/clip out unwanted sections, re-encode to many different formats (includinh H.264/MP4), or even do direct copy of the original video/audio streams with no re-encoding (VERY fast) if you don't need any of the filters to tweak colors, invert/sharpen the image, etc.

<EDIT> Did you intentionally reduce the frame size from the native 1280x720 frame size down to 720x576... kind of defeats the advantage of the HD recording? <EDIT>

Hi Tom,
I have tried (and am still trying) AVIdemux and it does all I need but I can't get it to save. I've read several help pages to no avail. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong but I will get it right eventually.
I had to reduce the frame because I was using AVC and MEP. I've started saving my pennies / cents? to upgrade my ancient PC which should solve all problems - well, not all unless I can buy an upgraded brain!
Mike.

Originally Posted by Berkie

Yeah, good Jumpy. That's a good view of and from the aircraft.

As a retired video producer, I am always in favour of showing the aircraft and more of it than just the nose. If you don't show the plane it could be anyone's video shot from some full sized aircraft. It's more interesting to know someone is flying a model plane at the same time as capturing a video.

If we want to make interesting aerial videos (and you may well say hell no I just want some footage of my flight) to show our friends or other RC pilots then we need say to ourselves "I am going to think this through first and make it an interesting video"

So in your case I would first climb up and give them a good over view of the area first (establishes "w.t.f. am I) then come down to about half height & refly the circuit again. Next pick out parts already seen from the higher levels and go in low so one can see now in detail. Viewer thinks :aha, this what I saw before, and now I can see it in more detail.
Then what you have done at the end is perfect - it is a completely different view of you circling overhead. Increases the interest level. As well you have shown a good landing (the end). All videos must have a start, middle and end i.e. always show take-off. flight, landing.

Kev

Great tips, Berkie... something I had thought of mentioning once, but never got around to it.

Things we frequently see that if simply trimmed/edited out or eliminated by good camera mounting can make a video much more enjoyable to watch:

• The dinking around before the flight getting the battery hooked up, checking controls, walking to the flight line etc. etc. The video should begin as the plane is starting it's takeoff.
• Ditto for the dinking around at the end retrieving the plane, disconnecting power, etc.
• Long climbouts at high power levels, showing nothing but sky
• Redundant circles of the flying area showing the exact same thing as the first circuit
• Rough air buffeting or wildly panning video that is hard viewing
• Video shot through a rotating prop with a CMOS camera ("venetian blind" effect)
• Video shot with a lot of camera vibration ("jello effect" with a CMOS camera )
• MOTOR SOUND. If you don't mute it all together, at least reduce the volume to a very low background sound. Nothing more annoying than starting a video and have the cones blow out of my speakers when the motor throttles up.
• Overly long video. Limit to 4 min. max., and 3 min. preferred.

I know many don't like to do ANY editing, but even simple free editors can do all these things, and it doesn't take long to do it once you use the editor a few times to get used to the feature controls.

Guys,

will the time stamp removal trick also work with the older 640x480 keychain camera ? it worked easy enough on my new 808 #11

Originally Posted by mixer421

Hi Tom,
I have tried (and am still trying) AVIdemux and it does all I need but I can't get it to save. I've read several help pages to no avail. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong but I will get it right eventually.
I had to reduce the frame because I was using AVC and MEP. I've started saving my pennies / cents? to upgrade my ancient PC which should solve all problems - well, not all unless I can buy an upgraded brain!
Mike.

Can you be more specific about "can't get it to save"? Clicking the "file/save/save video" menu option will output the video to the folder and file name you specify when the output requestor pops up. Are you saying nothing gets saved, you can't find the file, or what?

There might be some easier ways to do your editing and keep the full frame size. What all do you need to do during your edits?

Originally Posted by i3dm

Guys,

i just got a new 808 #11 camera, whats the easiest way to remove the time stamp without risking anything ?

See the FAQ's link in post #3 for this. Follow the instructions EXACTLY and the risk is very miniscule.

Originally Posted by Berkie

Oooooh that IS interesting Tom.
If you can do all that it is certainly worth $70!

That is just what you need for a 2 cam mix. You can't beat that continuous change of view. You have to keep the viewer interested, & that includes the pilot. I think I'll order one!
...
Kev

Kev, you can download the program and try it (fully functional!)for free for 2 weeks (and can extend another two weeks, I think). Then if it is something you want, you can buy it on liine at a major discount.

MEP17+ can do SOOOOoooo many things with both video and audio... I barely have used it's power. One of the things I am getting fine tuned is using a vignetting filter to brighten the darkened corners and edges the #11 cameras have. Each camera has it's own vignetting pattern, and you can make the filter mask with the camera so its a perfect match. Then MEP can use the mask to not only correct the brightness in the darkened areas, but also the contrast, gamma and individual RGB intensities to virtually wipe out the vignetting effects! The only thing that makes it more difficult is that the cameras vigentting effects changes with the exposure level of the video. So the necessary mask to give best image correction throughout an entire video usually changes as well. So one mask may not be the best in all scenes. Bright sunny days need a different mask that darker overcast days, for example. But this mask correction can VERY visibly improve the poor lens quality in the #11.

Anyway, download it from here and take a look. Make sure you get the MEP17 PLUS version, not just MEP17. With your background, you might want to also look at the VideoPro X3 editor if you have lots os $$$$

Originally Posted by i3dm

Guys,

will the time stamp removal trick also work with the older 640x480 keychain camera ? it worked easy enough on my new 808 #11

It's not a trick... it's a firmware change. If you read the first couple of posts, you saw the #11 is totally different camera from the other lower resolution 808 cameras, with the ONLY similarity being the case! That's why this thread was started in the first place... it's a different animal!

Originally Posted by drzen

Has anyone here dropped their camera and had it stop working? Just happened to mine, and having looked inside (I am clueless, admittedly about electronics) could find nothing wrong. The charging light still comes on, but otherwise the cam is dead

I might consider the ones with the bigger battery, but I think it's time the price dropped a little.

Did the flash memory card pop out? But that would just cause the yellow LED to flash when you power it up, and you say its dead, so I guess that means no yellow LED at all?

p.s. You may have a long wait for any price drop!

Originally Posted by billhally

Well I guess the embedding did not work so here is another try and a link to the video:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCnowoiivg

Bill

That's some really nice subject video you had to work with, Bill. You have a good editor to work with as well. Nicely done. See some of the tips posted right after your video post for ways to make the video even more enjoyable to watch by trimming it down a bit.

Please show some more of your flight video here!