Out there RC servo/video project

[bassnut]

I posted this project in a reply, then thought I might give it a new post.

I wanted to do a music video for my band, in a very small room, so I fitted a remote controlled video cam on 2 radio controlled cars (2 cut off and joined, the motor power ends, the others motor polarity reversed) and fitted 2 of the steering servos as pan/tilt controls. I then made a circular track near the ceiling for it to run on, connected to an arm on a gimbal in the centre of the ceiling, so that it tracked a circular path without using the steering servos.

I also fitted a video transmitter to the cams output so its output could be viewed on a remote TV, for an operator to see the results of pan/tilt/speed adjustments whilst adjusting the RC controls in real time.

The Cam of course recorded the event on internal tape for later editing.

Several takes were done fast/slow/fwd/rev and edited in Adobe premier pro.

The cams internal stability function smoothed the rolling bumps.

The resulting video is here (some hand held shots were taken too, sorry, the higher shots were with the servo-cam, have patience ) YouTube - Low Profile

The song is not that good (im playing bass), but I was pleased with the RC servo aspect result.

 

[Mikebits]

The video came out good I would say. Band sounded cool, kinda bluesy, ZZ-toppish. Liked the song, not so sure about the front man though. He seems to talk more than sing, but overall pretty cool

Oh and the bass playing was good too...

 

[bassnut]

hehe, your a kind man Mike. No the bass is pretty ordinary, as is the singer, but the RC rocked (the operator was my 15yr old daughter, with no practice at all, you just cant get good workers nowadays, gen z just dont have a clue ;-)

 

[Mikebits]

The 360 deg rotation around the lead guitar is really slick. I know you had two cams, but the 360 rotation looked seemless. How did you do that?

 

[bassnut]

No, theres only 1 cam, it sits on the RC controlled car and drives on a circular 360deg track attached to the ceiling. Round and round it goes, with speed/tilt/pan contol, connected to an arm at the centre, so it tracks without falling off and trashing everything ;-)

 

[Mikebits]

Damn, that is cooler than Shiat...Good work

 

[bassnut]

BTW, the whole thing is powered by an on-board nicad pack, no wires, all wireless control video send, so endless rotation was no problem.

 

[bassnut]

Thanks Mike, from you, thats a worthy compliment ;-)

 

[Mikebits]

That is a klunky looking contraption, but the result are great, I am very impressed. Your quite a clever fellow. Was the roaming RC distracting during the gig? I would guess your cam unit had 5 minutes of battery max... So you had one remote with forward and pan and tilt. Hats off to the operator

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Nice, clever effects - but you obviously put a LOT of effort in to it.

Here's a video my daughter Melissa and her band member Charlie made for their GCSE Media Studies project - based on a song they wrote called 'Tea Is Herbal'. Essentially it's about the dangers of drugs, they got an A* for it

Melissa is the bass player as well.

**broken link removed**

 

[bassnut]

The cam batt lasted the usual 30mins or so, it was only powering itself. The servo used the external pack. We mimed the song each time, to a pre recorded track, way to hard doing it each time live in time ;-). Yes, your average RC remote has speed (used as is) and steering controls seperately (come to think of it, it might have been a plane control, which has extra servo channels, ie L/R and altitude)

 

[bassnut]

Nigel, you should be proud, the audio production and song/performance is awesome, just the the type of rock I listen too. Very professional. Its on my ipod.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Nigel, you should be proud, the audio production and song/performance is awesome, just the the type of rock I listen too. Very professional. Its on my ipod.

Yes I am, they were both 15 or so then, 18 now - they play mostly as a duo, as they keep losing drummers - in the studio Charlie the guitarist often drums on recordings.

Notice that by doing that style of video it removed any lip sync problems!

Here's a live video someone recorded - pity about the poor sound quality, it was too loud for the camera

 

[Mikebits]

Well since we are doing the kids thing. My son is a bass player also. Not my kind of music(It is kinda out there) but he has fun doing it. His day time job is vet assistant I like the song Throw me a bone the best if I had to choose one. My sons bass playing rocks in that one.
Avoid song entitled 16, it is somewhat obnoxious and uses bad langauge

MySpace.com - Sanu! - San Diego, California - Experimental / Progressive / Rock - www.myspace.com/sanuband

To be honest, I just don't get this sort of music. Guess I am too old.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Not my kind of music either, but I admire anything well done - and it is

I did the PA for a friends son's 18th birthday the other week, Melissa and Charlie played, as did another band who used to be part of a similar band to your son's called the 'Kings of Death' - it was a really good night, like an episode of Fame - with various people getting up and playing, I also passed microphones out and the crowd sang along as well.

 

[Mikebits]

Yes I am, they were both 15 or so then, 18 now - they play mostly as a duo, as they keep losing drummers - in the studio Charlie the guitarist often drums on recordings.

Notice that by doing that style of video it removed any lip sync problems!

Here's a live video someone recorded - pity about the poor sound quality, it was too loud for the camera

That would have been nice but the recording was badly distorted. I could tell however that the harmony and the tune was real nice. Be nice to hear a clear recording of that tune. You Brits sure do make a lot of good musicians

I would like to hear new stuff by them.

Keep us posted.

 

[Mikebits]

No, theres only 1 cam, it sits on the RC controlled car and drives on a circular 360deg track attached to the ceiling. Round and round it goes, with speed/tilt/pan contol, connected to an arm at the centre, so it tracks without falling off and trashing everything ;-)

Setting up the track must have been quite a task. Was this in your garage or at some venue?

 

[bassnut]

Yes, your too old Mike ;-). Your son plays a wicked Bass, with passion, and tight as, no fear. What counts is, they do what they wish well, thats the important part, theres nothing lamer than tryhard wannabee nearly-theres. You have bread some talent there, go with the flow. It might not last, but it bodes well that he excells at what he attempt, they will do well what ever they fall into in the future.

 

[bassnut]

I built a floating room-inside-a-room studio, with leadlined vynel sheeting and firewall gyprock (drywall) walls, some 100mm thick. The rest of the family watches TV in the room next door, undisturbed. It also has a hard disk 16 track recorder/analog desk/outboard effects so we can make/master our own CDs.

The Low Profile track was indeed a lengthy project. 1 st recording and mastering, and then miming some 10 times for the video. Editing/sync took far longer than the audio.

 

[Mikebits]

Yes, your too old Mike ;-). Your son plays a wicked Bass, with passion, and tight as, no fear. What counts is, they do what they wish well, thats the important part, theres nothing lamer than tryhard wannabee nearly-theres. You have bread some talent there, go with the flow. It might not last, but it bodes well that they (daughter and son) excell at what they attempt, they will do well what ever they fall into in the future.

Nice of you to say. And I am proud of my son, he has a real good heart, especially wih animals. He would never hurt a soul. I did something right with him (I think my mother helped as she was a good influence on him).

Of course I like to play music as well, my style is quite a bit different. I played and composed this song for my mothers funeral. My Madre...
MySpace.com - Lotion Deep - SAN DIEGO, California - Techno / Alternative - www.myspace.com/lotiondeep

My mother requested that I play her a song when she passed.

For some reason she always encouraged me to do many things like study science, paint, and play music. She called it a courtly way, a man of Virtu. She use to read Machiavelli and Castiglione to me, and taught me this is the way a man should behave. I tried to teach my boys these ways as well. The Book of the Courtier...