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Feedback on O'Shaughnessy Dam Footage

muchuckwagon

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I recently got my first drone, a MA2. I still have a good deal to learn about just the basics of flying the drone to make the footage appear smooth. Beyond that, I've got a long way to go since I know absolutely nothing about film making, photography, video editing or color grading. I have to admit, flying the MA2 is addicting and relaxing. I have a ton of footage but the first five hours is garbage. I finally got some video that I'm not totally embarrassed to share. Here is a small clip, this computer is not powerful enough for video editing but I do plan to add another 2 or 3 minutes to this clip once I get some feedback.

I welcome the constructive feedback. Thanks!

 
Love the clarity, the color grading, and the movements are definitely smooth.
 
Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy,
Video was a bit long for the subject as shown. 25-40 seconds would do it.
 
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I welcome the constructive feedback. Thanks!

Hi muchuckwagon,

the shot looks good and also the pan up is perfect, very shmoth!
Here some Tipps/rules of thumb: A shot should be as long as one can realise all the shown details. If the shot is longer it becomes boring, because there is nothing new to see/discover! Make a good mix between wide, overview, mid and also closeup shots. That will make your video much more interesting to watch. If you show only wide shots it gets boring!
If it´s not possibel to approach the subjects for a closeup shots (because of people standing around) You can also make some handheld shots with the drone. Due to the fact that the drone has a perfect gimbal stabilization the shots will also be very smoth, even if you walk around a subject!
Sorry if my english is not perfect, but I am a german speaking Swissman :rolleyes:

cheers Paul
 
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Thanks to everyone for the feedback, it is much appreciated. I have more clips of the dam from various angles and distances. I just need to move the video editing software to a computer with a CPU that is a little more powerful so I can stitch the various shots together.
 
thanks for the thumbs up :) Thumbswayup
I don't want to hijack a thread but it's my way of saying "keep it up". I'm got a lot of good pointers from that post. All the kind of stuff I'm struggling with myself.
 
Thanks for sharing and glad the birdlife did not prove awkward.
You will get good advice on this forum.
Looking forward to future productions.
Safe flying and quick learning mate ...from Down Under
 
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Yes, it's certainly addictive!

OK, I do have some feedback if that's OK.

I appreciate that your PC isn't maybe up to video editing, but this depends on what software you are using. I use Adobe Premiere Pro and this will produce proxy files to work with. On my PC (also not really designed to edit video) premiere pro wont work with the original 4K files, but it works fine with 1080. So what happens is it copies the files into a low res version you can work with, and when you render the final product it uses what you have done with the proxy files but applies it to the 4K originals.

So you can use much smaller files to make a smooth editing experience, but have a 4K finished product. It takes a while to produce the proxy files, and a while to render the final output, but you can go and watch TV or whatever whilst it's working. I think there are other programs that work with proxy files to edit, but I'm now used to premiere pro. The proxies I use are 1080 but you can have lower quality and that works fine for editing on a poorly specced PC. If you are trying to edit 4K files directly, most PC's won't work too well - or in my case not at all.

Secondly, drones are about movement. Either the drone has to be moving or the subject has to have movement if the drone is parked. An example being a film I've just finished, I'm riding a bike around local heathland. There are some shots where the drone is parked and I'm cycling across the frame, and some shots without cyclist where the drone is moving over landscape. There are even some shots where both the drone AND me are moving - DJI drones are marvellous! But my point is movement. If nothing is moving, you are looking at a still picture.

I understand you need to get the editing software / hardware sorted first, but when you have, pick the absolute best bits of each shot and try to group them in a logical order. I tend to go for an ascending shot, some flying around shots and finish with a descending one. Also, be ruthless with editing - holding people's attention is hard! Cutting to music helps people have a slightly longer attention span, but avoid duplicate shots.

Hope this helps :)
 
Yes, it's certainly addictive!

OK, I do have some feedback if that's OK.

I appreciate that your PC isn't maybe up to video editing, but this depends on what software you are using. I use Adobe Premiere Pro and this will produce proxy files to work with. On my PC (also not really designed to edit video) premiere pro wont work with the original 4K files, but it works fine with 1080. So what happens is it copies the files into a low res version you can work with, and when you render the final product it uses what you have done with the proxy files but applies it to the 4K originals.

So you can use much smaller files to make a smooth editing experience, but have a 4K finished product. It takes a while to produce the proxy files, and a while to render the final output, but you can go and watch TV or whatever whilst it's working. I think there are other programs that work with proxy files to edit, but I'm now used to premiere pro. The proxies I use are 1080 but you can have lower quality and that works fine for editing on a poorly specced PC. If you are trying to edit 4K files directly, most PC's won't work too well - or in my case not at all.

Secondly, drones are about movement. Either the drone has to be moving or the subject has to have movement if the drone is parked. An example being a film I've just finished, I'm riding a bike around local heathland. There are some shots where the drone is parked and I'm cycling across the frame, and some shots without cyclist where the drone is moving over landscape. There are even some shots where both the drone AND me are moving - DJI drones are marvellous! But my point is movement. If nothing is moving, you are looking at a still picture.

I understand you need to get the editing software / hardware sorted first, but when you have, pick the absolute best bits of each shot and try to group them in a logical order. I tend to go for an ascending shot, some flying around shots and finish with a descending one. Also, be ruthless with editing - holding people's attention is hard! Cutting to music helps people have a slightly longer attention span, but avoid duplicate shots.

Hope this helps :)
Thanks. That all makes sense because movement = action which keeps the viewer interested. I need to use the movement of my subject or create the movement with the drone.

To be honest, it took three trips to this location to even get usable footage. I’m going to try to incorporate everyone’s advice and hopefully post an improved video in the next few weeks.
 
Thanks for sharing and glad the birdlife did not prove awkward.
You will get good advice on this forum.
Looking forward to future productions.
Safe flying and quick learning mate ...from Down Under
There were a good number of large and beautiful birds in the area. I was trying to avoid them as much as possible, no need to bother the wildlife. They seemed to fly around the drone more during the end of my filming and I was just lucky to capture them on film. While I think it makes my video of the dam more interesting, as a new drone pilot I’m nervous that the birds will approach/attack the drone. I don’t want to harm the birds or my drone.
 
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