Mig 29 - Grey's Winter Project - 2012.

Ok, so I'm opening it up a little early.  There's a new page up top there, "Mig 29 v2 Project".

It's how I've kept myself busy over winter during the terrible weather!

http://greyaero.blogspot.com.au/p/mig-29-v2-project.html

It's not quite finished yet but I'll get there ;).

Mig 29 v2 project.

Recently many will have noticed a bit of a difference in what I've done.  I started making a few "how to" videos where I'd only done flight videos before hand.  They are a bit rought in spots but they achieve what I wanted them to achieve.

I'm not a pro or anything, I'm just a guy.  I'm not looking to start a business either.  I just wanted to complete a project that maybe would help a few people along in their quest for a Scratchbuilt Parkjet.

This is coming to a close and soon a new page will appear about the project.

I hope it turns out worth the effort ;).

"Near enough is good enough".

I see so many new guys in forums worried that their plane isn't "perfect".  So I thought I'd take a little time to say "don't stress"!

There are a few things that need attention to detail up front to be sure.  Your power system needs to be well balanced to prevent you burning anything up, your servos and control rods need to be capable of the job and your hinges for control surfaces need some extra love.  After that?

"A little bit out" isn't going to kill you.  It might change the way your plane behaves in a minor way with some things but on the whole most well-designed scratchbuilt "disposable' foamies will put up with you being on the learning curve.  If your cuts along a join aren't quite straight and it leaves gaps?  Fill the gaps with glue or cover them with tape.  Your throws aren't quite even?  You'll learn to live with it. 

 

I see a lot of people get really fussy about their weight too.  Don't.  A really light and floaty plane is a lot of fun of course but an ounce or two over the listed maximum weight isn't going to stop your plane from flying!  It might suck some of the low-speed performance out of it but it's not going to stop you getting into the air.

While it can be advisable to do things like bevel or round the leading edges of your wings, horiz and vert stabilizers etc it's not mission critical either.

Of course, as with all things, there's limits.  You can't go ridiculously out of whack without creating some major issues but little bits here and there simply aren't going to stop you from flying and having fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Worried about weight?



Sometimes things just don't turn out "right".  You're too heavy and your vertical performance is poor, something is warped and you need a lot of trim, who knows.

As long as it flies?  Don't scrap it, make use of it!  Next time is soon enough to get it right ;).

What a great time to live in!

I was in my local hobby store the other day picking up a few bits and bobs, readying myself for when I get off my butt and order a new case of foam.  The guy was out the back for a couple of minutes so I looked around the RC section and it hit me really really hard...  We live in a really great time to get into RC planes. 

I remember being younger and dreaming of being able to afford to fly but even a basic trainer was 100's of dollars before you even looked at a radio gear, a motor, servos and whatnot.  Window shopping in hobby stores and parking outside of club fields to watch the fun used to be a couple of my favourite passtimes.  I'm not talking as a child here, this was in my 20's and 30's. 

These are passtimes that I haven't indulged in lately and haven't really thought about either, I'm now flying after all.  It gave me a trip down memory lane though.

"Back in the day" I ended up taking the cheaper option which was getting into RC cars.  It was still 100's of dollars but fewer hundreds.  They were fun days too but of course I was always dreaming of flight while I was zooming around tracks or over obstacles in offroad courses.

Then I looked at the price tags on the cars and had another flashback;  Monty Python.



How great is it that building a foam parkjet, with such high aerobatic performance in comparison to the old "cheap" 3 channel trainers, can be done for about $120?  While I truly think my experience should be envied in many ways, fond memories and wistful dreams just don't have a price tag, there are times that I would have sold a kidney to get here if I knew these days were coming.

You live in a truly great time to get into RC planes, to get your kids into RC planes.  A time when you can take an afternoon or two around a table and build a parkjet, alone or with the yard monkeys, watching it take form out of a flat sheet of 6mm foam.

Revel in the age of technological wonders you live in.  It's kind of awesome ;).

New page: "Your first parkjet".

One thing you have to understand bout me is this;

In no way am I interested in building the perfect Parkjet.  All my planes are on elevons or a linked 4x4 setup.  I don't paint a lot of my planes.  I don't cleanly bevel all the leading edges at the perfect angles.

I'm about having fun.  It's why I build parkjets out of 6mm foam instead of building scale replica planes out of balsa and the like.

Even in the 6mm foam Parkjet community though, you'll still find people arguing advanced aerodynamics issues and the like.  Perfect this, optimum that, "the best" something else.  I sometimes dip an oar into that water and the number one mistake people keep making about me is in thinking I really think it all makes a huge difference.

You just don't need an advanced engineering degree to build and fly a parkjet made out of sheets of 6mm foam.

To this end I've started making some videos that concentrate more on the "fun" end of the spectrum.  The stuff you can get away with which allows you to spend more time flying and less time building or worrying!

http://greyaero.blogspot.com.au/p/your-first-parkjet.html

Regards,

Grey.

On reflection...

Think for a minute.  Just one.  What is it that gets you buzzing when it comes to RC planes?

If you go out there and look at Youtube channels, you'll see different people flying in different ways and all of them are having a ball!

I enjoy building.  Quite a lot.  I find it relaxing and I like to have something constructive to do. 

I enjoy flying.  Quite a lot.  Learning how the different planes behave and learning to get them doing interesting stuff.

I enjoy flying with friends.  Well, it's like flying, only with more laughing and joking going on ;).

What really gets me going about flying?  It's a couple minutes of excited nervousness leading up to a single moment...  That split second after the plane leaves your hand when you realise it's taking to the skies for the very first time.

What is it that gets you going?

For those of you without a Google or other compatible account, anonymous posting is enabled!  You can either post anonymously or put your name in the box ;).

RCPowers Mig 29 v2 re-maiden and review.

Sorry about the grainy quality! Cheap camera + low light conditions = poor picture quality. It's watchable in 480 or 720p tho.

RCPowers Mig 29 v2

• RCTimer 2826-6 2200kv outrunner.
• RCTimer 30A Programmable ESC (might need a 40A, might need plastic spoon scoops for the ventilation holes, I'll figure it out tomorrow!)
• 1600mAh 3s 20C battery (might be better off with an 1800mAh 20C or 1600mAh 25C).
• 2 servos - Elevon only.
• Stock KF2 aerofoil
• CoG is set 1 inch behind stock.
• Throws are stock 1.5 inch
• No Expo (stock = 30% on elevator).

A very nice plane. This setup isn't the fastest but is wonderfully aerobatic and precise at low or high speed on just elevons. High alpha actually takes less throttle than cruising speed which is nice.

I'm flying on no expos. The plane is just so smooth that having a bit of skill with fine control on the sticks was all it needed. For a plane so aerobatic it's very stable and IMO you just don't need expos on elevon only. If you are a beginner it's probably a good idea to start with the stock 30% expo on the elevator tho.

Enlarging the elevons was a good call. There's plenty of pitch and roll authority to have fun with as long as you don't expect to roll like a drill (mind you I mostly stuck to 3/4 stick being a "re-maiden", having made alterations). If you put on a 4x4 or linked elevons you should be able to cut the elevons down some for you guys who keep breaking them.

I'm being cheeky and I've flown it pre-bevelling of any leading edges just to show you don't need to go to the effort if you don't want to (or aren't sure what you are doing)! The speed suffers a little but the aerobatic capabilities obviously aren't being effected.

I've gone light because I don't have a huge field to fly in. Although by the time everything is bevelled/rounded I'll gain speed, I don't see the Mig 29 V2 having any problems carrying something like a Megajet V2 (or any generic 2836 motor). While I doubt a 3s and a 6x4 prop will provide any benefit over my setup, a 3s and a 6x5.5 prop or a 4s and a 6x4 will be a definitive speed boost. The stall speed will go up over mine but it's exceptionally low as it is, adding a few mph to it isn't likely to create any drastic issues.

F1 was spot on with the "1 inch back" on the CoG. The plane is about perfectly balanced. There's no nose or tail drop on a roll. It took the nose drop out of it on sharp turns and also took it out on a stall (I stalled it at the end of the high alpha run). I climbed at about 45 degrees on it's wingtip and the nose didn't drop there either. I prefer a touch nose heavy but I'm just under 1 inch back and it's perfect.

I also had zero trouble with orientation even with the light as low as it was and the plane being unpainted. The plane has a distinctive profile from most angles making it very easy to keep track of.

Even slowing down and dumping the throttle to make sure the prop was working hard there was little torque roll to deal with.

And when I say "effortless" in the video I mean it. This plane went from maneuver to maneuver smoothly without any complaint what so ever. Pitching and rolling violently just led to a quick but smooth change in direction. When it stalled at the end of the high alpha run it just sat there, you can't even tell in the video that it happened. Climbing at 45 degrees under nearly full throttle with a slow roll to invert for a split S, a 1/4 loop at about half stick and then a savage kick of full elevator for the rest of the loop out and.... well if you look at about the 3:15 mark of the vid you can see for yourself. It was happy to do it.

All in all this is a plane I'm really looking forward to becoming friends with.   
Regards,

Grey.

6mm foam parkflyers are toys?

Well...  Yes.

I've been to my local club a few times now and it's interesting to see how different guys approach the hobby.  Now don't get me wrong, I walk down the lineup of planes of everything from scratchbuilt 6mm foam planes through balsa gassers right up to a 15 foot turbine powered jet.  I get jealous, as jealous as all get out.  There's some absolutely beautiful planes on display whether they are 3D planes, warbirds or the turbine jets.

I'm sitting on the bottom end of the scale with my $70 odd worth of plane.  6mm foam with electronics stuck to it with hot-glue or strapped to it with velcro.  I'm happy with what I have mind you, even if I had 1000's of dollars to throw at the problem I'm not sure I'd move up for any other reason than I'm in love with the F4-U Corsair and Spitfire warbirds I'd love a beautiful example of each to fly.

Here's the reason.

I watch these guys fly their 1000's of dollars worth of planes and there's one thing they all have in common.  A look of absolute concentration on their faces when they fly.  You work your way down the chain to the many hundreds of dollars and they ease off a bit, the EDF jet and warbird mob who's spent around $200-$300 bucks and there's a smile or two.

Then there's a couply other guys and myself sitting on the bottom end of the scale with our cheapo scratchbuilt foamies (parkjets and warbirds mostly tho there's a 3D flyer in with us) and we are laughing and joking like idiots.

The main difference is that we play with our planes because deep down all of us know they are toys.  That we CAN play with our "toys" without risking large sums of money.  We can get out there, have some fun and even do a few stupid things every now and then.  Crashes aren't accompanied by a chorus of wincing groans and sympathetic comments, we throw our hands up in the air and cheer amid rousing comments like "that looked AWESOME!"

And you guys who like to show us your beautiful planes costing 1000's of dollars?  We see you.  We see you looking at us fly our cheap foam planes, taking risks you never would dream of betting 1000's of dollars worth of planes on working out.  We see the occasional spark of jealousy.

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not trying to take anything at all away from those guys.  I admire their confidence, getting on the sticks for 1000's of dollars worth of RC plane and taking off, let along looping and rolling.  I'm jealous of their scale and absolutely beautiful planes.  My point is that there's plenty to like on the lower end of the scale too.

Scratchbuilt parkjets like I fly, and I'm told this often, are basically toys.  I occasionally get told this in a somewhat derogitory way meant as a putdown and I have to tell you, it never works.  They ARE basically toys but...  What's inherently wrong with that? 

It's not like I couldn't have afforded a couple decent ARF/RTF parkflyers with the money I've spent on my parkjets.  6 motors at $11 a pop, 6 ESCs at $11 a pop, a case of Depron at $215, bunches of servos at between 3 and 5 dollars each plus all the sundries like connectors, control horns/rods, glues, tapes, printing of plans etc.  So why do I stick to the scratchbuilt parkjets?

There is no doubt that flying a scale warbird or turbine jet around the field is an inherently satisfying thing to do.   It's an achievement to be able to do that, one that everyone who's ever had the opportunity to do so can be well and truly proud of.  Even a nice looking EPO EDF jet carries a certain amount of satisfaction just because of the scale look. But why would you deny yourself the carefree fun of flying a "toy"?

What's to stop you having the best of both worlds?

Just something to think about.

RCPowers Mig 29 v2 first impressions.

This morning was absolutely beautiful flying weather and, as things usually happen, I had a lot to do today.

We are headed out of town tomorrow so it's check over the car day. A bulb in the headlights of the car blew the other day and one indicator decided it wasn't going to work this morning. New bulbs in the headlights was easy but tracking down the problem with the indicator and installing the parts took a while.

2 cars to wash and packing ate up a lot more time.

By the time I was finished I had about half an hour of daylight left so I grabbed the Mig 29 v2 and ducked out for a quick fly. Sorry, no video!

Setup;

RCTimer 2826-6 2200kv motor (50g)
RCTimer 30A ESC (Medium timing)
Turnigy 2200mAh 3s 20C battery.
APC 6x4E prop.
Elevon only (2 x RCTimer 9018 MG servos)
Orange RX

I made 2 mistakes, one more easily fixed than the other.

First, I used a 50g motor and the mount/slot is for the next size down. I didn't recess the motor further like I usually do because the prop sat comfortably in the prop slot. Not centred but not riding the rear of the slot either. A 2200mAh 3s 20C battery put as far forward as it can go JUST hits the recommended CG after I reinforced the nose with hot glue in the seams to get a little more weight in the front.

If I want to use the 1600mAh battery I had planned on I'm going to have to pull the motor out and recess the mount.

The second mistake was I looked at the throws on the planview PDF and I always end up using more. Since I only put on elevons I though I was safe adding a bit. Nope. For your first flight, stick to the throws on the planview.pdf! After one short flight I popped the clevises off and moved them down a hole. The throws are still a little big but I flew anyway. I didn't mess around anymore because daylight was fading and I didn't want to get it all set up properly with about 30 seconds left to fly!

The Maiden;

This is a very surprising plane.

It trimmed out easily requiring very little to counter torque roll. I got it all trimmed out in a single lap of the field.

Impression number one? It just launches. Easily. I had plenty of time to get my hands back on the sticks, even though it needed up-trim once airborne and I'm using the stock CG (a bit nose heavy). It took me by surprise and I actually pitched the plane up into high alpha thinking I was going to have to counter the nose dropping. Nope!

The second launch was as Smooth with a capital "Smoo".

I have not bevelled or rounded anything yet. The front of the wing with the KF2 is showing 12mm of vertical foam to the wind, the vert stabs aren't rounded off and neither are the front end of the nacelles. Despite this it requires less than half throttle just to tool around the sky which is quite nice. At WOT it's still surprisingly quick too. I pulled the motor/ESC combo out of my RCP J-20 for this one and the speed difference is solid.

The ESC came back hotter than I expected (hotter than than it came back in the J-20). This is a good sign because it means the prop is breathing well and doing it's job, it's not starving for air (making the prop easier to spin) so it's getting the most benefit from the 6x4 prop.

It's not coming back too hot but it's warmer than I'd like so I'm going to move up to a 40A ESC when the opportunity arises though, just to be safe...

Even on elevons only the pitch and roll rate is quite good. I don't think I'm going to be adding Ailerons or putting it on 4x4, it's just not needed. Ailerons are nice because you can keep your roll rate up no matter what your elevons are doing but I just don't think the Mig 29 v2 really needs them.

I didn't push it hard but it had no issues with loops, rolls, a kulbit, an immelman or a split S. Vertical performance is also nice.

My only issue with the plane in it's current state is the large vert stabs. At WOT the drag is pitching the plane up making it climb but it's not savage at all and nothing trimming it out for faster flight won't fix (I trimmed it out at 3/4 throttle).

If you are sitting on an MJv3 and are looking for a v2 to put it in but retain some speed? This will be it. Just make sure you bump your ESC up to a 30A. This plane likes the speed.

I'm really looking forward to spending more time with this plane.

Motor installation how-to!

My newest "how to" video - Mounting a motor in your scratchbuilt parkjet.



This uses the RCPowers Mig 29 v2 as the sample plane and the RCPowers wooden motor mount though the same applies for any similar mount.

Regards,

Grey

Part one of the a build log for my latest project, the RCPowers Mig 29 v2, is up over on my other blog.

http://greysaerobuildlogs.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/rcpowers-mig-29-v2-build.html

Regards,

Grey

I'm a fanboy.

Recently on Flight Test's Youtube channel they reviewed a scratchbuilt F-22 foamy.  Looking at the comments section it became clear that the review got lost and it's become a pissing match on who is the best plane designer and whatnot.

I find myself wondering how Josh and Josh feel that their video is now somewhat redundant because of the replies.  That, despite their positive intent to bring a bit of fun and happy into the world it's been railroaded into a stream of back and forth rubbish from "fanboys" and "haters".

So you know what?  Here's my spin on things.

I'm an RCPowers Fanboy and I'm definately not scared to admit it.  My youtube channel being full of videos of the RCP F-22 V1 is probably a dead giveaway anywho.  I have about 5 of their planes and I enjoy most of them regularly.

What I really don't understand is when Fanboy crosses the line into OCD.  When RCP, RCFF, 6mmFlyRC etc becomes the only thing worth looking at.  They all have planes worth looking at IMO, even though I'm an RCPowers fanboy.

I mean, seriously speaking, what is the point of letting your like for a certain designer or website get in the way of looking at others where you might find a plane that you are going to like just as much?

I look at RCFoamFighters a fair bit.  I'm not really into the speed planes they seem to specialise in, so the majority of it I'll never build, but it's still interesting to go and read.  On the planes, the Nova is wicked fast but just doesn't interest me, sure.  The Aurora though?  Now that's a nice looking plane I could get behind.  It's by a different designer so it's not going to have the performance characteristics that I love in the RCP designs but...  It's sweet looking plane, slick and fast and it's something I'm not going to get from RCPowers.

So...  What's the point of not considering it?  It's not like I need to show some solidarity for starving kids in Africa, people suffering under oppressive military regiemes or trying to save the amazon rainforest.

It's an RC plane built out of a sheet of foam with some electronics stuck onto to it.  It's just a couple hours of fun with the lads.  So if I get a couple hours of fun with the lads out of it...  Why should who designed it really matter?

Do I tell people looking at getting into Scratchbuilt RC planes to go to RCPowers?  Sure I do.  If they are beginners that's about all I tell them because RCP specialises in beginner friendly planes.  But if they are looking for a speed plane?  I mention the RCP T-50 V1 but also send them to RCFoamFighters too.  Thats' what RCFF are good at so what reason is there not to?  If they are an SR-71 plan?  I'll send them links to popular SR-71's with good reports from people who built them regardless of the source.

I really, truly, think that a lot of people are cutting off their nose to spite their face.  There's a lot of good stuff out there, don't let your fanboyhood get in the way of you finding it.

Regards,

Grey.

New blog page

Later today I'll be adding a new page!  I'm putting the finishing touches on my first "how to" video  as one of the first upgrades to the blog to make it a source of info as well as someplace where you can see what I'm doing.

I apologise in advance because I really need to buy a better microphone!

Regards,

Grey.

Blog updates;

Still havn't managed to fix the "Followers" gadget :P.  The same fix that worked for the last template doesn't work with this new one.  It works in both Firefox and Chrome but I just can't seem to get ti working in IE...

Updated the RCPowers eCourse page to reflect the new "Ultimate Parkjet System" name, I'll fix the link for it tomorrow.

Have done some work to gadgets so I can get video working well in the sidebar (for future updates).

Well, it's 2am and the house is getting cold, winter is almost here.  I'm shuffling off to a warm bed for some well-earned sleep.  Nighty night ;).

Regards,

Grey.

An evening flying

I managed to make it out flying the other evening! 

The result is 2 new videos.  As usual, both are available in up to 720p.  The first needs fullscreen because of the video of the Funfighter Corsair from Hobbyking.  Those funfighters are quite small (600mm-ish wingspan) and wicked fast so the mrs has a hard time keeping the video camera pointed at it!

The music is the same because I was originally only going to make 1 video.  They both turned out OK (although they both have a couple issues with Image stabilization, one has a spelling mistake and the other is missing a transition :P).

Hopefully today will see me out again.  Batteries are charged and waiting, all I'm doing is waiting for it to warm up a bit!

Regards,

Grey.

Whare is this blog going and why hasn't much been happening to it?

So I changed the blog around a bit.  I've had some complaints about the old black format so I moved to something a little more colourful and cheerie (as well as easier to read!).

I've been toying with it off and on, between spending far more time on my wife's blog,.  Her blog has given me a chance to add and shuffle features to try them out and see what works and what doesn't.  I'm far more ready to begin some serious work on my own now.

I've got plans for some upgrades to the blog with more constant and more informative posts about my spin on the Scratchbuilt Foamy portion of the RC plane hobby. It will take a while though, it's a lot of fact checking to try to avoid spreading bad information! It also involves some Multimedia stuff which will take some time to produce.

My Youtube channel is also going to get more than just flight videos soon.  I plan on doing a few instructional videos and some opinion-based vids too.  Hopefully it all works out in the end!

Tax time is almost here too so I'll have a new case of Depron!  Australia is a bit of a bumer for Depron or other foams with a single sheet costing you about $25 after shipping :P.  The new case should see my Build Logs blog start to populate itself around late july or early august some time!

There should be a few RCPowers planes, I'm going to do some Tom Hellberg planes and there's a couple designed by the guys in the RCPowers and RCGroups forums I'd like to make too.  This should see my Youtube channel get populated with  larger variety of planes than the RCPowers F-22.  Of course, being one of my favourite planes, it will still make appearances!

Regards,

Grey.

Video Editor Comparison Time.

We all tend to look through things with rose-coloured glasses sometimes.  I'm going to make some recommendations BUT if you have a program you already use and like then STICK WITH IT.  There's no point in spending extra money for a "better editing program" if what you have keeps you happy.

Scenario 1; The Budget is tight.

Lets face it, when thinking about RC plane videos, video editing is a side pursuit to flying.  Every dollar you spend on a video editor and a computer to do it is a dollar less than you can spend on your planes.

Windows Live Movie Maker is the clear winner being free and working fine on any windows-based system.  Vegas is a good runner-up though.  It's got a nice and rounded set of features that allows you to take things a step further and make your videos look different to so many others using WLMM for their Youtube videos.

Scenario 2;  Throw together a Video and get it up on Youtube.

The 2 clear-cut winners here are Windows Live Movie Maker and Cyberlink PowerDirector.  Both are exceptionally easy to use for the basics of cutting together your video, adding a title, throwing in some transitions, adding some music and uploading it onto youtube.  Powerdirector offers a much wider variety of titles and transitions if you shoose to make your own but both offer to quickly and easily add a theme to your movie that adds titles and transitions on your behalf with only the text to be filled in.

Scenario 3; Add a little flair to your videos

Powerdirector, Vegas and Premiere Elements all allow you to do this, just to differing degrees of personal skill level and computer specs.  Powerdirector is probably the best "all round" but each of the others also have their advantages to make them desirable.  All will zoom and stabilize, have a variety of titles and transitions and a healthy range of effects to choose from.

Scenario 4; The family will want to use it too.

The results are just a backup of scenario 2.  Both WLMM and PowerDirector are easy enough to use that the whole family can get in on the action to varying degrees.  Not only will both do your plane videos they will also do the vacation videos, easily create slideshows from digital stills, etc.  The main difference in this area is that Powerdirector has event-specific titles on offer, lighting correction to help you spiff up those videos that came out a little dark and more in the way of effects that the kids will want to play with.

Scenario 5; You are looking to build video making into a hobby of it's own rather than just a sideline to your RC.

Adobe Premiere Elements is the winner here IF you can afford a computer to run it well.  The range of options and features is just far superior to the other 3 offerings.

PowerDirector and Vegas are both close runner-ups but I'd go with a better version of vegas than the stock.  Each has it's own advantages but the main one they have in common is the ability to run on lower-end computers.  Both of these run well on my setup which isnt' really designed around video editing. 

To bring my computer up to spec to run Premiere Elements well I'm looking at a better CPU, more ram and cleaning up my hard drives.  Overall I'm looking at about $350 for this upgrade to do "ok".  The only upgrade most people would need to run PowerDirector or Vegas on the average desktop computer is a video card with hardware video encoding to speed up the process.  You dont[' need anything flash and there's offerings from both nVidia (gForce) and AMD (Radeon) that will do the job admirably for $140-$160 easy enough.

My opinion?

Based on making RC plane videos quickly and easily so you can show off via the internet?

Free; Windows Live Movie Maker.  Honestly speaking?  For a good 95% of people this is all you are going to need in order to cut out the bits you don't want, put together the bits you do want and get your video online.

Paid; Look, I would LOVE to recommend PowerDirector, I really would.  At $20 more than Vegas it's worth it just for being so easy to use.  There's nothing "wrong" with Vegas at all it's just that PowerDirector is by FAR easier to use for 95% of everything you will likely find yourself doing with it.  The issue of it not wanting to work with multiple high-def files just makes it so I can't.  Sony Vegas therefore wins that race.

It's more fiddly to use but it's still a powerful piece of kit that allows you to get your video onto youtube with the minimal of fuss.

Do NOT buy Peemiere Elements unless you intend to get much deeper into video editing and have the money to splash out on a computer to run it.  Just because your computer runs games blisteringly fast it doesn't necessarily mean it will push Premiere Elements either.  If Adobe could wrap their heads around using video cards more effectively I would have little trouble recommending this over Vegas.  As it stands though, Vegas is far better for the average user if you want to take your first steps into a more professional-type setup for video editing.

RC Plane Video Part 4; Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD 11

So a few of my friends, and guys on the RCPowers forum, swear by Sony Vegas.  I wanted to use programs around the $100 mark and most of my friends are using Movie Studio 11 which is at $50.  This means downloading the Trial version to look at.  Until, that is, I looked at the product comparison.

The basic version of Vegas has everything I'm looking for.  Hardware assisted encoding and preview, zoom, image stabilization and the other doodads I'm after.  This means it's $50 price tag is going head to head with PowerDirector's $70 price tag.  As with the 2 different versions of Powerdirector, the main difference between the basic and $100 version is editing 3D stereoscopic video.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegassoftware

It's got some (many) good points

• It's the cheapest commercial editor I'm looking at.
• Inbuilt tutorials that show you how to do almost everything.
• Compression is fast and clean.
• Preview rendering is reasonably fast and has options to let you customize the settings to perform well on your computer.
• There's a large range of transitions to choose from.
• There's a good range of title animations to choose from.
• Zoom is easy to use.
• Stabilization is basic but works well.

Like the others it has some issues to deal with though.

• Many of the features are needlessly complex to use, seemingly set up more for "professionals" than throwing together quick videos.  Once you get used to the way it does things it gets a lot easier though.
• You can't cut/crop on the timeline, you have to use a separate tool to do it.  Again, more complicated than is needed but easy once you get used to it.
• The most difficult to align with music because of the above.

My verdict?

It is incredibly hard to find anything "wrong" with Vegas and every bad thing I can say about it revolves entirely around it's more complicated setup for basic editing than other programs.  The program itself seems pretty bulletproof, works well on my middle-of-the-road system, never crashed and had plenty of features to explore and experiment with.  Every time I ran into a roadblock with a confusing tool there were the tutorials right there that showed me how to do it, step by step.

Although it's more complicated, the tutorials make sure that just about anyone over the age of about 10 will have no real problems coming to grips with it.  They might find it a bit drawn out and boring but the interface won't physically stop them from doing anything because of the complexity.

You'll notice that there's no finished video with this one like the others though.  I was about 3/4 the way through before I decided it wasn't worth so much effort.  Don't get me wrong, the resulting video so far I was quite pleased with and Vegas gave me every tool I needed to do everything I wanted to do.

It's just that so many of the things are achieved in such a round-about way that it feels needlessly complicated for a consumer-level video editor.  If you are squeezing for dollars you can't really go wrong with Vegas and, as I said, although it's complicated some times you get used to it quickly.  It works well on lower end computers which is a huge bonus too.

A solid piece of software and I can see why so many people are happy with it.  Smooth, stable and feature-rich allowing you to produce some solidly good looking video for Youtube or your home movie collection.  Some people are just going to find it too labour-intensive to come out with a slick looking result if they've used more simple editors in the past.

RC plane video part 3: Adobe Premiere Elements.

Adobe Premiere Elements 10 is a pretty powerful piece of kit.  It has loads and loads of features and does quite a few things that other consumer-level video editing suites don't.  The offset?  It needs quite a good computer to push it and some experience to come to grips with.


http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere-elements.html


It's up there in features for your RC plane videos;

• a large range of titles, credits and transitions.
• a large range of output formats.
• direct upload to Youtube, Facebook and other video/social networking sites.
• multiple video and audio tracks.
• image stabilization effect to take out shaking from hand-held cameras.
• easy to use zoom effect.

However, it does have it's drawbacks and foibles.

• It needs a fairly high-end computer to run it smoothly with high-def video
• The image stabilization is good, even when there's little in the background for it to reference. It has reasonable options allowing you to tailor the stabilization to your needs bit it DOES take a lot of zoom to operate well though.  Otherwise you end up with black strips popping in and out on the edge of your video.
• Titles are powerful but messy for newcomers.  If you choose not to use a stock title it can be fiddly to create your own and it's definately not "entry level" stuff. 
• It has many issues even on reasonably powerful computers with playback in the preview.  This can make it exceptionally fiddly to time everything correctly.   

It's a great program all up but if you are just looking to throw together a RC video it's way overpowered and over complicated IMO.  I had reasons outside of RC videos to purchase this and I really can't recommend it for lower-end systems or video beginners.


Overall the output quality is high and the file sizes are often much smaller than many other programs even though you pay for it in the time it takes to compress the video.

 Although it's "consumer level" video editing software, Adobe Premiere Elements is not the easiest for you or your computer to drive.  It's one of those programs aimed at enthusiasts with the expectation that they spend their "toy money" on cameras and computers capable of high-speed editing instead of using it as an add-on to your RC plane hobby.

Given this I simply can't recommend it for the masses.  IMO you are much better off with Powerdirector or Windows Live Movie Maker unless you have some special reason to want Adobe Premiere Elements.

RC Plane Video Part 2: Cyberlink Powerdirector

I used Cyberlink Powerdirector for quite a while for various reasons.  I used PowerDirector 9 and that's what this post will cover but PowerDirector10 is out now.   For a couple of reasons, when I upgraded, I bought Adobe Premiere elements 10 instead.  If I had just needed to do RC videos I might have stuck with PowerDirector longer than I did.

Powerdirector has some marvelous features for making "home movies".

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_AU.html

The absolute best thing on offer is it's ability to use nVidia and ATI hardware accelerated encoding and shadow files for editing.  This means that Powerdirector runs well and compresses relatively quickly on quite low-end systems (where Video Editing is concerned).

It's also well up there in features on offer.

• easy to use titles, credits and transitions.
• a large range of titles, credits and transitions.
• a large range of output formats.
• direct upload to Youtube, Facebook and other video/social networking sites.
• multiple video and audio tracks.
• image stabilization effect to take out shaking from hand-held cameras.
• easy to use zoom effect.

However, it does have it's drawbacks and foibles.

• While it's fast and delivers high quality video on output, the files can be quite large.  This is partly due to the compression used but mostly due to the intense nature of many of the effects, transitions and titles.  They look great but it all impacts on your video file in the end.
• The image stabilization is good when there's plenty in the background for it to reference but when it's a plane against a blue sky it's not all that good.  For normal video this isn't a concern at all but it's a bit of an issue for RC planes which can be a little frustrating at times.
• It has some issues working with multiple HD files which can cause the video compression to hang.  You can work around this by putting all the files through Windows Live Movie Maker and joining them all into one high quality file but it's a bit of a pain, especially of you don't have a lot of hard-drive space or are in a hurry.
• It does have some stability issues and occasionally crashes.  Save frequently!

HOWEVER!!!

It's a great program all up.  It's powerful and runs smoothly even on lower-end computers.  It's also easy for just about anyone to pick up and use the basic features like titles and credits.  You don't need to read the manual for most of it, it's laid out well enough that you can just play with it on a piece of video and get the hang of most of the features.

This video was made with Powerdirector and includes the usual stuff plus volume adjustments, zoom, image stabilization and minor colour corrections.

If you would like to give it a try there is a 30 day trial version you can download from here;

http://www.cyberlink.com/downloads/trials/powerdirector/download_en_AU.html

The trial is fully functional.  It has a reduced range of titles, transitions and effects and places a watermark on the video you make but otherwise you can create complete movies.  You can test it and see how easy it is to use, see how it works with your hardware and compare it to whatever you are using already.

My verdict;

I actually really like this program.  I bought the Ultra edition for the native 64 bit version (deluxe is 32 bit only) but for the most part you can save your pennies and get the Deluxe.  The huge deal about Ultra is it's ability to edit 3D video from stereoscopic cameras so if you don't have one of those it's no great loss.

For $89 (deluxe) or $109 (ultra) it's not "breaking the bank" so to speak for the quality features on offer.  It's lacking some features of other programs but those generally cost more and it's doubtful if you'll use them anyway.  Where I am interested in these programs is personally is in very few key features.

Zoom  - The zoom function has to be smooth, be able to track the plane well and be relatively to use.  The zoom in Powerdirector is quite easy to use though it's got some boundary issues.  It's not always immediately apparent if the frame will wander off the video leaving you a black edge.  On some long files the duration between marker points can be a little long but simply splitting the video file fixed this.  Overall it's a workable feature that doesn't take a rocket scientist to use.

Stabilization - This has to work.  I always work with the highest quality of video I can and on many cameras the image stabilization for their max rezolution just isn't that great.  This means I need to be able to do it through the software!  The stabilization on PowerDirector automatically zooms the image for you so your stabilization doesn't wander off the edge of the video which makes it especially fast and easy to use.  The only drawback is that it's not that great unless there's a fair bit of background for it to reference.  As I said earlier, a plane against the blue sky won't see much stabilization going on.  Other than that?  Nice.

Output quality Vs file size: I generally upload to youtube in 720p which can end up being quite a large file.  The quality has to balance out with the file size so I'm not needlessly uploading files that are larger than they should be.  This is mostly a time consideration for me rather than a usage-allowance issue.  I have a sizable allowance (200GB) so I'm not overly worried about uploading large files in that respect.  It's more an issue of time.  However, Powerdirector's smooth previews during editing and hardware assisted compression more than save the extra time the larger files take to upload.

In the end, the issues with using multiple high-def files was a deal breaker for me. This is something I constantly do in my RC Plane and other videos and pumping through another program to join everything was getting annoying beyond belief.

Not everyone has this issue and there's workarounds for most people, it's just a personal preference that made me "change brands".  I haven't uninstalled PowerDirector though, it's still there to be used.  It's just no longer the one video editing suite that suits all of my needs.  I'll still use it when the opportunity presents itself.

Powerdirector is, despite it's issues, a fast and easy to use program that's much more suited to low end systems than other programs offering the same features.  Some programs struggle on my system during editing because of the previews but PowerDirector is always smooth.  Even with hardware acceleration turned off, the shadow-edit files help dramatically by previewing in a lower quality.  They take time to generate in the background so it can slow your system down while they are generated but that's an excellent time to go make yourself a fresh cup of coffee!

If you are on a low-end system and want to work with hi-def files and rich features, PowerDirector is almost a must!

Notes:

All comments are based on my Desktop computer:

AMD 965 Black Edition (not overclocked)
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 motherboard
4gb Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 DDR3 ram (running at 1333mhz)
Seagate Barracude SATA II 7200rpm hard drive
XFX Radeon 6850 2gb (used by some programs, not by others).

Not anything special but not low-end either.

All raw video edited is 1080p .MOV files
All music added is in MP3 format.

That being said, I've used PowerDirector since before my computer upgrade.  PowerDirector ran well on my old Pentium 4D system which was a quite aged piece of hardware.  It's not hard to buy a cheap computer these days that is better than it was in overall performance.

RC Plane Video part 1; Windows Live Movie Maker.

If you aren't looking for all that many bells and whistles?  Windows Live Movie Maker is great for turning your RC plane video into something ready to upload to Youtube.

Windows Live Moviemaker is part of the free Windows Live Essentials package which you can download here;

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials

You will want to install the K-Lite codec pack to use with Windows Live Movie Maker.  It uses system installed codecs to read video files and installing this will all but guarantee that Moviemaker will be able to read the files from your video camera;

http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

WLMM is suprisingly powerful considering that it's free.  It has a good range of titles and transitions and even a few effects you can play with.  It also has an "Automovie" feature where you can pick a these and it will add your titles, transitions and credits for you, all you have to do is fill in the text!

This is a video I made for my wife's Youtube on making a shideshow.  Video uses the same basic principles!

If you are just looking to make something a little more slick than just a block of video, Windows Live Movie Maker is easy to use and does a commendable job for average joe.

Of course it is limited in what it can do.  It only works with a single video track (though you can load multiple videos into it) and only has one extra audio track meaning you have to choose between adding Music or a voice over.  But it's free, it's easy to use and has more features than some of the low-end paid-for products.

This video was done with Windows Live Movie Maker in about 20 minutes;

Windows Live Movie Maker is well worth giving a look even if you have something better. You can throw a movie together in under 5 minutes ready to upload to youtube etc if you just want the job done fast. It's also simple enough that the kids can learn the basics of video editing!

Of course it lacks some of the things you really want to be looking at like zoom and image stabilization when considering RC plane videos but if you don't care about that sort of thing?  There's no reason to pay for a video editor that will do the job.

Coming Soon;  RCPlane Video; Cyberlink Powerdirector.