Dronebase.com Questions?

zpdana · Apr 26, 2017

So I was checking out this dronebase.com site that enables part 107 holders to find commercial and residential jobs involving from what I understand is aerial photos and video pertaining to possible roof inspections, general aerial imagery, etc of different properties.

My question is this: can I ask permission/inform the business owner or the real estate agency or the homeowner that I am a contracted worker here to photograph and take video from the air with a UAV prior to filming? I have asked this question at dronebase but haven't gotten an answer. I have read their FAQ and rules but didn't see anything answering that question (unless I just overlooked it).

Has anyone used this site and made money? Or just in general even used the service?

Thanks y'all!

Doecliff · Apr 28, 2017

I have signed up with drone base but have yet to do a pano job. I'm waiting for the weather to break here where I live. I intend to do a handful of them and see if things work out but I'm not expecting much. There are a couple of you tube videos out there about some folks experience with drone pan and a few people made money and others didn't. The pano jobs you just go out and shoot and its like your on public property using your drone and no one can really say anything, that being said I intend to scope things out and set up and do the shoot in just a few minutes so as not to draw attention to myself. I wouldn't ask for permission because those people haven't actually requested a drone job. Drone base is going to take your photos and see if they can persuade them to buy them. They claim that the pano shoots are selected by an algorithm that selects them based on their probability of a payout but its not guaranteed. Looking at them I figure they are real estate homes and apartments that have been for sale for an extended time without offers. Some of them are in sketchy areas and I wont do them. I have been looking over the pano jobs in my area and I am going to pick and choose the best ones and give it a shot. Plus I have been looking for a pano program that works well with my mavic but haven't got one yet. I cant get drone pan to work but I have some other apps that I am going to try. There are a couple of other companies out there that do the same thing but jobs seem to be few and far between. I figure you probably have to do a ton of pano missions before they kick you down a client mission with a guaranteed payout. Good luck. I would like to hear if you have any success.

zpdana · Apr 29, 2017

Ok late reply here y'all..

Interesting stuff..

I scored a client based job for $175 for ONLY photos!! What!! Very surprised.

So dronebase emailed me the other night notifying me there was a client based job in my area..I went to accept it but it was already taken (within 1hr and 6min from the time I received the email).

I sent them an email asking would I be notified if the job for any reason became available again...well....I about ****..I got an email two days later saying the pilot couldn't fly in the time frame they wanted. So they offered it to me! I've read these "client based" jobs are kind of rare..so I feel super blessed, now to deliver!

The job is 51 minutes from me but after calculating gas to and from, and estimated time it'd take me to do the job, I'm still making great money. First job as far as from dronebase.com.

I want to say though, my contact at dronebase said this..and I quote from an email.."No one will be on-site and most likely the current tenants are not aware that this building is for sale. Our customer is the commercial real estate broker that is working with the owners of the property. No need to check in with anyone on-site."

That was the response received once I asked about the tenants/owners/etc being aware of what I'm doing.

I mean hell, my worries are completely founded, I live in Mississippi.

Let y'all know how it goes.

Cheers Mavic owners and flyers!

Doecliff · Apr 29, 2017

Congratulations on getting a paid job! I have a small aerial photography business and its tough to get jobs. You have to hit the bricks and go out and talk to business owners and really sell it. I have often thought to myself if only I had someone to partner up with. They could get the jobs and I would shoot them and we could split everything 50/50. That's kind of what dronebase and a few others out there do. Interested to hear how the job went.

zpdana · Apr 30, 2017

Doecliff, I will most surely keep you up to date on how it goes along with photos.

I just started my sUAS service business and being in the Deep South I think I'll be focusing firstly on agriculture. Crop analysis, etc.

mrshanes · Jun 30, 2017

Any updates on how this is working out?

Doecliff · Jul 1, 2017

Well dronebase is definitely not a scam. The first job I did with them sold and then 2 or 3 others as well. The only thing is that the jobs only netted me $17 each. I think they sold them to an aerial imaging company or something and not a realtor. I shot some manually and I shot some with the hangar 360 app. They give you feedback if the panos stitch correctly or if there was a problem and you need to reshoot. The uploading seems to take forever but I have been moderately pleased with them as in at least I did get some paying jobs. I wouldn't quit my day job though. I shot only commercial jobs that I could easily get to and set up in a big parking lot or something. I avoided residential real estate jobs. I did see someone comment that they had good luck with residential real estate though. I shot less than a dozen jobs and haven't shot any in a couple of weeks due to being on vacation and I'm pursuing other work with my drones currently. It's good experience and I would definitely recommend it to someone just starting out and trying to break into this line of work.

PilotSmith · Aug 30, 2017

I would like to ask that all DroneBase Pilots please join us at DroneBase Pilot Nation to share information and tips Se requiere un control de seguridad

PilotSmith · Sep 5, 2017

Doecliff said:
Well dronebase is definitely not a scam. The first job I did with them sold and then 2 or 3 others as well. The only thing is that the jobs only netted me $17 each. I think they sold them to an aerial imaging company or something and not a realtor. I shot some manually and I shot some with the hangar 360 app. They give you feedback if the panos stitch correctly or if there was a problem and you need to reshoot. The uploading seems to take forever but I have been moderately pleased with them as in at least I did get some paying jobs. I wouldn't quit my day job though. I shot only commercial jobs that I could easily get to and set up in a big parking lot or something. I avoided residential real estate jobs. I did see someone comment that they had good luck with residential real estate though. I shot less than a dozen jobs and haven't shot any in a couple of weeks due to being on vacation and I'm pursuing other work with my drones currently. It's good experience and I would definitely recommend it to someone just starting out and trying to break into this line of work.

Are you still doing DroneBase Missions? If so can you please share you settings..