Behind the Scenes: Drone Dudes’ Awesome Cinema-Grade Octocopter

Craft & Design Photography & Video
Behind the Scenes: Drone Dudes’ Awesome Cinema-Grade Octocopter
YouTube player

 

The Drone Dudes stopped by the Maker Media Lab recently to show off their custom octocopter setup, and we took the opportunity to get it — and them — on camera.

The crew is a group of commercial, aerial cinematographers specializing in using high-end, custom octocopters for close proximity filming. Their current platform is based off of the CineStar 8 camera platform from FreeFly Systems — but they’ve heavily modified the aircraft to pack down easily when traveling to a shoot, and be quick to deploy when they get on location. The platform supports a payload of up to 27 pounds, which they use to carry their gimbal-stabilized, carbon fiber-bodied Red Epic Dragon, a 6k, cinema-grade camera that tips the scales at a mere 4 lbs.

DroneDudes_MakerMediaLab_Visit-5

The aircraft’s props make an especially arresting sound, even at idle.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

Video producer for Make:, also tinkerer, motorcyclist, gamer. Reads the comments. Uses tools, tells stories. Probably a human. Tweets @photoresistor

View more articles by Tyler Winegarner

ADVERTISEMENT

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 16th iteration!

Prices Increase in....

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
FEEDBACK