Looking for some constructive criticism on my first filming/editing attempt

Mark_D · Apr 6, 2017

All shot on our trip to South Africa so we weren't short of decent scenery!

mavic53 · Apr 6, 2017

Very nice good use of the drone. When you shoot plan (straight down) they need to be longer. The human brain is not ready for the angle and takes a while to register. If the shot is very short you miss the view.

Top Hat · Apr 6, 2017

Very NICE....Kudos Thumbswayup

ollyglenn · Apr 6, 2017

Stunning!

corbyjames · Apr 6, 2017

Like it Mark!

Joely-Bird · Apr 6, 2017

Love it! You've got some great shots in there. My only crit is the bridge shot around 1:44. I'm not opposed to the jump on the beat, but as it's not very far between jumps, it almost looks like a glitch in the video, rather than the intended. It might also be as the rest of the shots are very placid, this one particularly sticks out, it might be a method best saved for a faster-paced video with a more choppy soundtrack.

tcope · Apr 6, 2017

Wish my first videos looked as good. Great edit. Really liked that you added some non-drone footage as well. When the entire edit is all drone shots (and not varied), it gets boring.

Mark_D · Apr 7, 2017

Thank you very much guys! I absolutely agree with the points made and it's nice to have extra pairs of eyes to point out to me what I didn't see while I was working on it

frankiez · Apr 7, 2017

Stunning! Thanks for sharing, Mark.

DodgeP · Apr 7, 2017

What software are you using for editing? In my opinion a few things I see that can be improved are:

1) Use ND Filters. There are a few clips where there is a haze over the clips where it looks like an ND filter would knock that haze from the sun down.
2) Your highlights and shadows look good but there are some exposure (shutter) settings that could have been tweaked on the fly. I always try to make sure I keep my histogram and zebras turned on and have all my scene(s), highlights and shadows lineup in the same areas of the histogram in each scene/location.
3) Post Production sharpening always helps.
4) In this situation, I don't see the still photos fitting alongside the footage that you displayed here.

All just my opinion(s).

Fishstiq · Apr 7, 2017

Excellent all around! I loved the choice of music, and the way you mixed in the different perspectives. IMO, this is what the Mav was made for. Travel, vacation, and capturing those memories you made in a high quality medium.

Normally going through someone's vacation photos can be unpleasant at best. With your video, I didn't want it to end. Great job!

Question; how did you get the camera to pan upward so smoothly and slowly? Mine is way to touchy to be able to do that. Is there a setting I'm missing?

DodgeP · Apr 7, 2017

Fishstiq said:
Question; how did you get the camera to pan upward so smoothly and slowly? Mine is way to touchy to be able to do that. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Gimbal Settings in the GoApp.

Fishstiq · Apr 7, 2017

DodgeP said:
Gimbal Settings in the GoApp.

Was just looking at that in the app going through menus, thank you!

DodgeP · Apr 7, 2017

Fishstiq said:
Was just looking at that in the app going through menus, thank you!

I think it's Gimbal Tilt Exp.. I know mine is set to something really low like; 4.

Mark_D · Apr 10, 2017

DodgeP said:
What software are you using for editing? In my opinion a few things I see that can be improved are:

1) Use ND Filters. There are a few clips where there is a haze over the clips where it looks like an ND filter would knock that haze from the sun down.
2) Your highlights and shadows look good but there are some exposure (shutter) settings that could have been tweaked on the fly. I always try to make sure I keep my histogram and zebras turned on and have all my scene(s), highlights and shadows lineup in the same areas of the histogram in each scene/location.
3) Post Production sharpening always helps.
4) In this situation, I don't see the still photos fitting alongside the footage that you displayed here.

All just my opinion(s).

Hi Dodge, thanks for the comments! I was using Adobe PP for editing, just the trial while I got a feel for it.

1) I noticed the haze in some of the shots too. A lot of the areas were VERY hazy anyway, but I would have loved to have removed a little more of it if I could. I was using a set of PolarPro ND filters on the Mavic (although admittedly sometimes my choice of strength might not have been quite right). Are you talking about physical filters or graduated filters in post in the same way you can do with Lightroom?
2) Noted on the shutter speed
3) I did up the sharpening a little in PP, but I couldn't seem to get a good feel for the correct level while I was doing it so I erred on the side of caution because I hate overly sharpened footage. Any tips or techniques for sharpening or is it just a case of eyeballing it?
4) I agree in part with your comment about adding the stills into the video. This was more of an attempt at a less boring holiday photo montage, but I may skip them next time or try to integrate them a little more seamlessly.