Get your GoPro airborne by shoving it into a giant Nerf football and throwing it
Oct 5, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Drones have become the go-to method for getting you GoPro up in the air. But in more and more locations, new regulations limit where we can fly. But what other options do we have? Well, you could gaffer tape it to a coat hanger and swing it around your head on a piece of string. Or, you could stuff it into the front of a giant Nerf football and just throw it.
The latter is the option taken by Aer co-founder Mark de Boer and his friends. Sort of. It’s not an actual Nerf football, but the design of the Aer is very similar in appearance. You will notice, though, that this has much larger fins. These should help to keep it level and not spin wildly through the air as it travels, making for cleaner, steadier footage.
It’s an interesting concept, and fun for the beach or park with friends. It’s never going to replace a drone, but it could be a useful companion. If you find yourself in an area where drones aren’t allowed to be flown, it can be a quick way to grab some short overhead shots.
It also has the advantage of being silent, and you can get it much closer to your subjects than you’d want to risk with a drone. You don’t need to worry about it landing in water, either.
Of course, just how high a vantage point you’ll get will depend on how good your throwing arm is. But, it’s still a neat idea for some fun footage to spice up your videos.
You can find out more about Aer over on Kickstarter, where you can currently pick up your own for €49.
What do you think? A cool idea? Handy for times when you can’t fly a drone? Or a useless gimmick you’ll get bored of in five minutes? Do you have a DIY alternative? Let us know in the comments.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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5 responses to “Get your GoPro airborne by shoving it into a giant Nerf football and throwing it”
Sebastian Excellent!
A fond au ralenti haha
Cool idea!
useless gimmick you’ll get bored of in five minutes.
it depends, if all you do is film family or daily crap with your gopro then yes, but if you are always looking for the cool shot this could be a useful tool, the winner of the 1mill dollar gopro challenge use it a lot.