Newbie...Hello

[Onx1327]

Hi everyone. Just joined the forum for help, education, support and collaboration.

At the moment i am looking to purchase my first Drone to film sporting events in the hope to produce some really good professional videos.

Having studied video production and editing to degree level i am wanting to move onto the next level of filming with Drones.

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Hoosier Heartland Onx1327.
There's plenty of Mavics to choose from.

I think the Mavic Air 2 seems to be the hot ticket item now, but they're all pretty good, depending on your wallet.

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

 

[Onx1327]

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Hello from the Hoosier Heartland Onx1327.
There's plenty of Mavics to choose from.

I think the Mavic Air 2 seems to be the hot ticket item now, but they're all pretty good, depending on your wallet.

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

Thanks for reaching out @MA2 317 .

Im thinking about getting a DJI with Active track to film football (soccer) games.

I have looked into the ACTIVE TRACK feature and my main questions are:

Can the ACTIVE TRACK feature lock onto the ball and follow it around to film a match?

Which Drone would be best recommended for filming football games?

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Hi Onx1327 Welcome to Mavic Pilots
So what do you think you are going to go for ?

 

[Steel63]

Greetings from ? Florida

 

[Onx1327]

Hi Onx1327 Welcome to Mavic Pilots
So what do you think you are going to go for ?

@THE CYBORG

My research so far tells me its going to be out of the ones listed below...

• Mavic Air 2

• Mavic 2 Pro

• Mavic 2 Zoom

• Inspire 2

These (as far as i can tell) have the ACTIVE TRACK feature so it would be one of these unless you guys have any further advice?

I guess its a case of cost, features, camera/lens capabilities and also trying to future proof myself. I know...a tough ask right but im a little pedantic like that!! ?? but need to reach that happy medium as experienced editor but a newbie to drones...?

More importantly can the active track feature follow a football around the pitch...?

 

[THE CYBORG]

I doubt active track will follow a football around but that’s only speculation, it’s something I have never used.

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[MA2 317]

More importantly can the active track feature follow a football around the pitch...?

I haven't messed with the Active Track feature but I would think the ball is too small and fast to successfully track.

You could manually follow the action with a wide view and zoom in on the action if the drone is equipped to do so.

If filming a game, you're not supposed to fly over people so you may have to fly off to the side or the end zones. The zoom feature would be perfect for this.

 

[Heindrich1988]

Welcome to the forum!

Regarding the football active track thing... I doubt any drone on the market will be able to accurately track a small and fast moving object like a football. Most drones are also not really agile enough to smoothly follow the motion of the ball as it gets pinged around the field.

If you think about how football matches are televised professionally, there isn't a "follow the ball" camera. Instead there's massive TV cameras placed all around the pitch for close up action, and they have cameras on wires for the wider angles from above. A drone could probably do the work of the latter, but that's about it.

What I'm saying is that if you're imagining a small drone automatically flying in and out of the action, always following the ball... that's not gonna happen. You can however use a Mavic Mini (the most agile drone) to manually follow the action as best as you can. Or if you want some active tracking, then the Air 2 is probably your best bet, it is the best bang for your buck for sure.

 

[Onx1327]

MA2 317" data-source="post: 1116038" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I haven't messed with the Active Track feature but I would think the ball is too small and fast to successfully track.

You could manually follow the action with a wide view and zoom in on the action if the drone is equipped to do so.

If filming a game, you're not supposed to fly over people so you may have to fly off to the side or the end zones. The zoom feature would be perfect for this.

Thanks @MA2 317

I envisage flying the drone at least 5 meters or so away from the side line to emulate a football match being filmed. If the active track could lock onto the ball that would be perfect but moving the camera from left to right manually to follow play could work too but i guess that would take some practice to get a smooth run.

 

[Onx1327]

Welcome to the forum!

Regarding the football active track thing... I doubt any drone on the market will be able to accurately track a small and fast moving object like a football. Most drones are also not really agile enough to smoothly follow the motion of the ball as it gets pinged around the field.

If you think about how football matches are televised professionally, there isn't a "follow the ball" camera. Instead there's massive TV cameras placed all around the pitch for close up action, and they have cameras on wires for the wider angles from above. A drone could probably do the work of the latter, but that's about it.

What I'm saying is that if you're imagining a small drone automatically flying in and out of the action, always following the ball... that's not gonna happen. You can however use a Mavic Mini (the most agile drone) to manually follow the action as best as you can. Or if you want some active tracking, then the Air 2 is probably your best bet, it is the best bang for your buck for sure.

@Heindrich1988

Thanks for your reply...

I am wanting to emulate filming a match as you would see on TV...so high in the stands with the camera moving/panning left to right following play.

With what im wanting to do not looking to be entirely possible in an automated way, i guess for me it would be a case of having the drone more or less stationary and manually following play? For that i guess it depends on what the camera and lens capabilities are like to be able to zoom in during the editing process without losing too much quality for key moments in the game...fouls, free kicks, goals etc...

With the speed of play during a game it may ruin the shot in my opinion if i tried zooming in during a key point in the game...and got it wrong or mis aligned the shot? Altho i guess that may depend on my camera skills...?

I'll check out the Mini and the Air 2 in the meantime.

Im wondering if anyone here has ever tried tracking such an object (football) before and what the results were like...?

Thanks again for the reply @Heindrich1988 ...?

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum

 

[Drone Master]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots! Enjoy the forum!

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. You will find helpful advice and support here. We look forward to your participation and seeing your part of the world.

 

[MA2 317]

With the speed of play during a game it may ruin the shot in my opinion if i tried zooming in during a key point in the game...and got it wrong or mis aligned the shot? Altho i guess that may depend on my camera skills..

Purchase two drones and another pilot. ?

Edit in post for a two camera shoot.

 

[mrjohnc1]

Welcome!

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

 

[Bill Kennedy]

I used the track feature on my M2Z to follow my grandson round the pitch - which it did brilliantly- but would doubt the reaction time would be quick enough to follow the ball.

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!