So this is pretty cool! MeCam is a tiny helicopter that follows you around capturing video of you "all day", or as long as the battery lasts I suppose. This new technology, which is still being refined by the creators Always Innovating, boasts that MeCam will be able to instantly upload the video to your social networks such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and more! This could be a great way to film yourself during a shoot, while setting up your lights or while stuffing your face full of Doritos while you're waiting for the "models" to "show up". How would you use a product like this? Let us know down below in the comments ... non-creepy answers only please! Enjoy!
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Sounds fun! :)
how about some sample video of the copter flying, besides a crappy animation?
I just can't see it.....um......"taking off".......lol.....I have a little micro heli, that has a little lipo battery in it that you charge with either USB or by hooking it into the transmitter, and charging with 4 AA's....and literally it lasts about 4 minutes......aaaaaaand then it takes about 30 min to recharge....lol.....i def dont see this being very good. But please, prove me wrong!!
You aren't wrong, I fly with people who have very nice Multi Rotors, some last an hour or so. But they are VERY expensive setups and use VERY large batteries.
In the small multi rotors they don't have the lift capability to use long life batteries. it might work in short situations, I'm sure they could drag it out to 15 minutes or so.
Yeah, I have a mini quad that flies maybe 4-5 minutes off a 1 cell lipo. And I don't see it flying without a remote control.
I think battery issues aside. The main issue would be the noise from the spinning blades in the shots.
Even if you had a separate mic on your lapel or something, mini copters are still pretty loud and irritating noise wise.
Yes but they make a rather specific (constant, high pitched) noise that could easily be ereased with an appropriate filter.
Record the copter alone, figure out what frequency the sound is and take your audio through a band-filter.
having played this game a few times, it's not a constant and not that high pitched noise that is quite loud. while hovering, the mikrokopters are constantly altering engine speed changing the pitch of the sound. mikrokopters are a pain on set for audio even when they are supposed to be there. and as others have mentioned 'all day' would probably end up around 4-5 minutes.
Is there even audio?
So is this consider illegal also??
it wouldn't be illegal, the FCC has no classifications for this in personal airspace, it's under the weight limits. ALTHOUGH they are attempting to screw with the FPV (First Person View) flyers which will more than likely include laws about flying within X distance of other people.
As far as the federals are concerned, for commercial use, yes. You can strap a camera on any old remote control aircraft and even operate the purpose-built helicams all day long and stay within the confines of the law as long as you don't charge people for your use of the equipment or the resultant footage/images and you . Right now, it is illegal to operate for commercial purposes any remotely piloted vehicle in the United States.
The rest of it depends on your state and local laws and ordinances. While it may be perfectly legal for me to have this thing follow me down the street in Knoxville, Los Angeles might have a serious problem with it.
In other words, the answer is complex and can only be summarized with a particularly unhelpful, "It depends."
I do see a great product here (at least until a malfunction cause the MeCam to go rouge and decides to cut your throat or slice an eye off you)!
In the future when limitations are eliminated I can see this replace the go pro for self-action-sports video
This would obviously be pointless for Video Shoots, due to sound and whatnot - but for Photo s
Shoots, as long at it works properly and has a decent amount of battery life would be a clever idea.
Has anyone here read, "extras" my Scott Westerfeld? He introduces a similar concept called the HoverCam.
ANYWAYS, I think we'd have to know more about the product than a flash animation promo video can tell us (especially when it looks like a high-school-done infomercial). Once we see it in action, maybe.
Just make sure you eat a breath mint between the Doritos and shooting.
I see where this technology is going, I just don't think the market is ready for it. I see it working in professional application, and in certain situations. But I think in general, people are getting ahead of themselves with multi-rotor. even the real hi end, super stable multi-rotors still have an inherent flaw that, yes they balance well, but as soon as they get into trouble the only means of recovery if basically blind. So it could end up somebody gets hit. I've been hit in the face by my small (MQx) multi rotor, which is larger than this and it hurt a little but that is it.
But, I also realize that these are steps forward, in 5 years the tech for this stuff, especially the self stability will be MUCH better, as is the tech is much better than it was 5 years ago. But I still think stuff like this is cool, just not where it needs to be. The programming can be good, but i can't see it being good enough not to end up in trouble.
Check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns3_n_lyPws
Cool Idea! I was close to dreaming of strapping a GoPro to toy remote control helicopter. Hope the photos and videos are as good with this product.