On-ground video suggestions

[Joel Shepherd]

Looking for suggestions for a set-up to video launches. Details here:

My 11 year-old ground crew has grown unreliable, meaning I pretty much go and launch on my own these days. I'd like to get decent, ideally slo-mo, videos of each launch, partly because they're fun to watch, but also because they sometimes reveal interesting dynamics (the moment the over-stable rockets turns into the wind, the launch pad deflecting and bouncing back when it's outmatched by the rocket, etc.). So I'm looking for a set-up that has good slo-mo, high enough resolution that it can work from 25-100 feet back from the pad (to catch the first moments off the rod) but which can be zoomed in (while viewing) to study the details, and ideally can be started and stopped remotely (so I don't have to keep running back and forth to turn it on and off). I suppose a wide-angle could be helpful to put the camera closer to the pad but still be able to capture 10-20 feet of free flight.

Besides a tripod, and suggestions for a camera that'd meet my needs, and any other extras I might need? Thanks!

 

[Williamhimka]

Looking for suggestions for a set-up to video launches. Details here:

My 11 year-old ground crew has grown unreliable, meaning I pretty much go and launch on my own these days. I'd like to get decent, ideally slo-mo, videos of each launch, partly because they're fun to watch, but also because they sometimes reveal interesting dynamics (the moment the over-stable rockets turns into the wind, the launch pad deflecting and bouncing back when it's outmatched by the rocket, etc.). So I'm looking for a set-up that has good slo-mo, high enough resolution that it can work from 25-100 feet back from the pad (to catch the first moments off the rod) but which can be zoomed in (while viewing) to study the details, and ideally can be started and stopped remotely (so I don't have to keep running back and forth to turn it on and off). I suppose a wide-angle could be helpful to put the camera closer to the pad but still be able to capture 10-20 feet of free flight.

Besides a tripod, and suggestions for a camera that'd meet my needs, and any other extras I might need? Thanks!

I have a GoPro Hero 10 and let me say, it’s an incredible camera. Great slo mo up to 240fps and 4K resolution. Those things can survive through anything. It’s a great camera and well worth the price. The Hero 9 isn’t bad either if you’re not willing to go the full price for the 10. Not many differences other than resolutions etc…I’ll show you some footage I’ve gotten of my flight just a few weeks ago that i recorded on my hero 10 that you may be interested in…I’ll link the video that’s on YouTube and the pad footage you’ll see is what I’m talking about.

 

[Starfire73]

I use an old decommissioned iPhone 7 for my slo-mo. On a tripod from about 50’ away. I get from the pad to about 30’ off the ground, then the rocket is out of the shot.

I use my iPhone X for handheld/full speed/tracking video.

Universal Astrocam for inboard video.

 

[Joel Shepherd]

I have a GoPro Hero 10 and let me say, it’s an incredible camera. Great slo mo up to 240fps and 4K resolution. Those things can survive through anything. It’s a great camera and well worth the price. The Hero 9 isn’t bad either if you’re not willing to go the full price for the 10. Not many differences other than resolutions etc…I’ll show you some footage I’ve gotten of my flight just a few weeks ago that i recorded on my hero 10 that you may be interested in…I’ll link the video that’s on YouTube and the pad footage you’ll see is what I’m talking about.

Cool: thanks. With the pad footage, do you have a rough idea of how far the camera was from the pad? That's basically the kind of footage that I'm hoping to get ... though now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be even better to have one camera getting the launch in detail, and a second camera getting more of the flight. I can see where this is starting to go ...

 

[Joel Shepherd]

I use an old decommissioned iPhone 7 for my slo-mo. On a tripod from about 50’ away. I get from the pad to about 30’ off the ground, then the rocket is out of the shot.

I use my iPhone X for handheld/full speed/tracking video.

Universal Astrocam for inboard video.

So, a couple stupid questions that I haven't been able to figure out. (1) Are you able to control the phone remotely, or do you just get it rolling and edit out the footage before the flight? (2) Is there a way to trigger slo-mo from the get-go? I also have an iPhone but in my experience, the slo-mo is triggered by movement in the frame. So I stand in front of the phone and doing a couple jumping jacks to get the slo-mo going, but again if the camera is some distance from the pad that leads to a lot of video without much action. Thoughts?

 

[Williamhimka]

Cool: thanks. With the pad footage, do you have a rough idea of how far the camera was from the pad? That's basically the kind of footage that I'm hoping to get ... though now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be even better to have one camera getting the launch in detail, and a second camera getting more of the flight. I can see where this is starting to go ...

Yes so the camera was roughly 15-20ft ish away from the pad. And GoPro has a little tripod that’s great because it’s small and compact and it raised the camera only a foot off the ground

 

[Starfire73]

So, a couple stupid questions that I haven't been able to figure out. (1) Are you able to control the phone remotely, or do you just get it rolling and edit out the footage before the flight? (2) Is there a way to trigger slo-mo from the get-go? I also have an iPhone but in my experience, the slo-mo is triggered by movement in the frame. So I stand in front of the phone and doing a couple jumping jacks to get the slo-mo going, but again if the camera is some distance from the pad that leads to a lot of video without much action. Thoughts?

I can’t control the phone remotely. I just start it once my rocket is ready and I’m walking back behind the flighty line. It’s easy enough to trim the video later and cut out all the down time. I have the same issue with the Astrocam- a lot of video dead space to trim out while it’s sitting on the pad doing nothing but waiting to launch.

I start the phone in slo-mo video. The time frame for the slo-mo is adjustable afterwards. Sometimes I’ll turn slo-mo off for the whole video and and just save a copy at normal speed.

 

[Joel Shepherd]

I start the phone in slo-mo video. The time frame for the slo-mo is adjustable afterwards. Sometimes I’ll turn slo-mo off for the whole video and and just save a copy at normal speed.

I'll need to look into the adjustments: I didn't realize there were any. The excess video can be trimmed for sure. I just have an instinctual distaste for "wasting memory" (or storage in this case). Thanks for the info!