Creating a free DJI Go Video Manual - looking for help (lectors)

[photo1x1.com]

Hi People,
My name is Wolfgang, I live in Austria and I am pretty new to this forum. I am flying drones for 5 years now.
I have always felt there was way too little information from the drone companies in any regard out there. More so in the beginning, but even today it could be way better. Especially considering, that drones are no toys and can do harm if not used properly.

Being a photographer and filmmaker, I have decided I´m going to change that. I have started to create a free IN DEPTH videoguide for the DJI Go App. I´ve spent the easter holidays (complete last week) to create hundreds of screenshots from the App, imported them to Adobe Illustrator and drew every single icon, etc. to be able to focus on every detail, and also to be able to create the videos in 4k, so that all the details (even the small ones) will be visible.

Now I´m starting to create the videos and this is when I thought It would be better have as many educated eyes controlling the videos as possible. So I´m here to reach out for your help.
I thought I´d upload the videos to vimeo first. Vimeo gives me the option to edit the videos, reupload and change them. Youtube doesn´t. All you can do is delete the video which is not good for search results of the youtube channel, etc..
Then it would be awesome if some of you guys and girls could have a look at them and tell me what you´d change and what I missed. I´m going to change the things discussed and reupload the better version.
Once the video is ready to be published, I´m gonna delete it from Vimeo and upload it to a youtube channel.

I want to be honest with you: I´m going to monetize the youtube channel (youtube ads) because that baby is an awful lot of work (more than 50 hours so far and I didn´t even start to edit the first video), and even though I love doing things like that, I need to find an excuse for doing this rather than concentrating on my dayjob.
But for people looking for a good guide to DJI Go, the small add in the beginning shouldn´t be much of an issue cosidering that they get it all for free.
I´m afraid that I can´t pay anything because 1. the channel won´t make me rich, and 2. I guess you will understand that most of the work will be on my side. But I will honour your feedback by naming you and this site in the credits at the end of each movie.

Another thing I want to be honest about is that while I sure will follow most of your feedback, I probably won´t include all of it because I have a framework in my head that I have to keep in mind and I also want to use studying techniques I´ve learned in college and in my later careers.

So my final question after all this writing is: is anybody interested in participating? and checking the videos I upload to make them even better?

Cheers,
Wolfgang

EDIT:
Here is a list of the currently available videos:

DJI Go Tutorials - 1.1 Overview Part I:

DJI Go Tutorials - 1.2 Overview Part II:

DJI Go Tutorials - 1.3 Overview Part III:

 

[D95GAS]

Hi Wolfgang,

Brilliant idea. I am just starting in this area and have been searching around for video's and information that will help me, so would gladly take a look at your video's and give constructive feedback.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Very cool - thanks. The first feedback within minutes - I´d call that a great start.
Just to give you an idea about the quality I´m going to create - here is a screenshot

 

[D95GAS]

wow that is super clear, this is going to be of a very high standard I can see, which will be awesome. As a new starter to this hobby, I have been scouring the internet for information and tutorials, so this project of yours will be a valuable piece of information for everyone.

The DJI manual is ok, but things always sink in better with good graphics for explanation, and more so in colour.

Thanks for getting this underway

 

[TrayBoz]

A suggestion for you:

Watch all of the mavic tutorial videos that are out there on YouTube. There are already hundreds of them. Check out Ed Ricker Tutorials, Tom's Tech Time, or DJI's own tutorial series; these are all produced very well, high quality, and free, (and no Ads). You can find a mavic tutorial on almost anything to do with the mavic, from specific DJI GO App functions, to the best way to put your mavic in a bag.

Then see if you can think of anything to put in your tutorial that hasn't already been covered a dozen times.

As someone on this forum has suggested before, you would probably be better off making very specific tutorial videos about brand new mavic issues. Look at the most popular topics and threads on this forum and try to address one of the newer issues that everyone's asking about or discussing, like the latest firmware update, or possible problems with battery latches, etc.

Like many (most?) mavic owners, I'd already watched a dozen tutorial videos before I bought my Mavic, and I've watched a few since then. There are already almost too many to choose from.

Just my two cents. Good luck to you.

125 Flights and counting....

 

[photo1x1.com]

A suggestion for you:

Watch all of the mavic tutorial videos that are out there on YouTube. There are already hundreds of them. Check out Ed Ricker Tutorials, Tom's Tech Time, or DJI's own tutorial series; these are all produced very well, high quality, and free, (and no Ads). You can find a mavic tutorial on almost anything to do with the mavic, from specific DJI GO App functions, to the best way to put your mavic in a bag.

Then see if you can think of anything to put in your tutorial that hasn't already been covered a dozen times.

As someone on this forum has suggested before, you would probably be better off making very specific tutorial videos about brand new mavic issues. Look at the most popular topics and threads on this forum and try to address one of the newer issues that everyone's asking about or discussing, like the latest firmware update, or possible problems with battery latches, etc.

Like many (most?) mavic owners, I'd already watched a dozen tutorial videos before I bought my Mavic, and I've watched a few since then. There are already almost too many to choose from.

Just my two cents. Good luck to you.

125 Flights and counting....

Thanks a lot for your feedback, very much appreciated. I have just looked at the channels you suggested. Ed Ricker does have Ads, Tom´s Tech Time (quite surprisingly) and DJI don´t. They are very well made though - qualitywise.
What I miss with many of the available videos is that they don´t have a real structure and many of them are just way too long. When learning new stuff, you need to have it structured, short and in small chunks. You want to start at the beginning and get more in depth as you go. This is what I think I can make different with my background in education. I may be wrong though .

 

[Kilrah]

IMO video is absolutely not the right format to do that in - the problem with video is that you can't change bits as they evolve.

There are subtle changes in the app every release, so whatever you do now will be obsolete/misleading in 2 months. How will you cope for that? Modify the project and rerender the full video everytime? Then you can't properly use Youtube for example or you have to make a whole new video each time, a custom website/platform more suitable would need to be made. Do you leave the old videos with the version number they refer to, or do you remove them completely? If you leave them people will ignore the version and refer to them anyway because some random guy has linked to that particular video 2 months ago.

I work on an open source project that evolves pretty quickly, and we get that problem with every third party who makes video tutorials, after a few months they actually become a problem becasue things have changed so whoever comes across them is lost. Those who need such detailed instructions usually have a level of being able to figure things themselves out close to 0 and thus stop at the first word that doesn't match.

A good text manual that's regularly updated (with a good changelog maintained) seems much more suitable - but then since it's a lot of work to maintain it usually decrepits after a few months when the author gets bored of it, especially if it's free and he gets no compensation for it.

 

[photo1x1.com]

IMO video is absolutely not the right format to do that in - the problem with video is that you can't change bits as they evolve.

There are subtle changes in the app every release, so whatever you do now will be obsolete/misleading in 2 months. How will you cope for that? Modify the project and rerender the full video everytime? Then you can't properly use Youtube for example or you have to make a whole new video each time, a custom website/platform more suitable would need to be made. Do you leave the old videos with the version number they refer to, or do you remove them completely? If you leave them people will ignore the version and refer to them anyway because some random guy has linked to that particular video 2 months ago.

I work on an open source project that evolves pretty quickly, and we get that problem with every third party who makes video tutorials, after a few months they actually become a problem becasue things have changed so whoever comes across them is lost. Those who need such detailed instructions usually have a level of being able to figure things themselves out close to 0 and thus stop at the first word that doesn't match.

A good text manual that's regularly updated (with a good changelog maintained) seems much more suitable - but then since it's a lot of work to maintain it usually decrepits after a few months when the author gets bored of it, especially if it's free and he gets no compensation for it.

Thanks!!!
That´s a very valid statement and I have thought about that already. Unfortunately Youtube won´t let you update videos which is very strange. Vimeo would, but unfortunately they won´t let you work with ads hence you would have to charge people to get at least a little compensation for all the time you put into this.
That website idea is one I am simultaniously working on. But it has to involve video I think. I can then replace an embedded video in case a new version is available. I am a very visual person .
Anyway - thanks again for your valued feedback!

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi People,
the first episode is ready. I´d greatly appreciate any feedback. Be as rude as you need, I may try to find excuses, but in fact criticism is the only thing that helps me grow and get better.
Some of the points that interest me most:

1. Is it too detailled for an overview?
2. Are the animations overkill and would it be better to just write some text (like I did with the read headlines)?
   
3. Is it distracting that I filmed myself talking?
4. Anything wrong that I said or anything you think is misleading?

Keep in mind - this intro is especially made for beginners. I tried to make it modular to be able to change things if there are substantial changes in the app in the future.
Thank you in advance for your help and for having a look

 

[Fly4grub]

Excellent intro video. Look forward to the rest. [emoji1360]

 

[miatecguy]

Very Nice video

 

[Wingo]

Perfect gor me! Great job. Thanks

 

[photo1x1.com]

Thanks, people! Your feedback keeps me motivated. Next video is already in progress.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi People, Video Nr. 2 just went online - any feedback is greatly appreciated - anything you would do differently, is not clear or could be done better?

 

[PvG]

Great Job. I like the way you present. Looking specially forward to the advanced topics.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Great Job. I like the way you present. Looking specially forward to the advanced topics.

Thanks a lot. I sometimes don´t like it and feel I need to redo it over and over

 

[photo1x1.com]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Part III :