First Video - 4K from Antigua

[Bahnfiya]

I wanted to post my first video from my 3rd time flying Wombat (M2P). The footage was taken over several days while on vacation. My background is a hobbyist landscape photographer and a design professional (Experience Design). I realize this video came out more like a hotel promo but I was really focusing on practicing my 'cinematic' movements. All footage was taken with manual flight controls and manual camera settings. I plan to learn all the auto flight modes once I feel super comfortable with everything auto. I learned so much shooting on this trip and can't wait to get back out there - Jamaica is coming up in June.

Improvements from my perspective are: more locations/different footage/way more points of interest (when I got home I realized I had a lot of the same footage), keep editing (shorter videos), take more risks for interesting shots, and shoot with better lighting conditions (a lot of the footage is from 6am when it was just me and some joggers to avoid being the annoying drone guy)

Please share your tips, tricks and constructive feedback to improve and hope you enjoy some of the shots

And many thanks to so much of the community for helping me get to this point!

*FIXED exposure, thanks @dixter
Old video with incorrect exposure: YouTube link

 

[MPone]

Very good. Looks like a pro video.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Agree, very fine job on that, lots of variety in and the shots and you nailed blue hour light there.

 

[jonthecourier]

Thank you very much, very beautiful and a professional video.

 

[dixter]

looks good... love going to the Caribbean... my only suggestion would be to perhaps bump up the exposure in post work a little bit as the footage looks slightly dark on my monitor... and for future, use the histogram while shooting and if you can get that correct footage then in post it will be easier to adjust the brightness without introducing post noise... keep up the good work...

 

[Bahnfiya]

@dixter thanks for the tips and especially the logic behind it!

 

[LenSavage]

Very nice!
Here's a demo reel I did a few months ago with that same piece of music:

Your video makes me want to fly to the islands!

Len Savage
San Diego

 

[Bahnfiya]

Thanks @LenSavage. Love your pans...I didn’t try cross-fades but your video makes me want test out transitions. Do you offer professional service? And if so, what type of work do you get?

That song, for others, is from YouTube’s free license gallery, I believe it’s called “Escape”. Didn’t love their selection personally but also gave myself a weekend deadline (and a budget of free) so I ran out of time.

I can tell syncing the video to the music better will definitely take the final product up a notch.

 

[Treeofliberty]

Its hard to believe that's your third flight. The segments were so smooth, especially when you were panning in the opposite direction of the flight. That takes a steady finger on both sticks. Really nice work, and a good job with the editing too.

 

[LenSavage]

Thank you very much.
If you like the sync to the music, here's another one from a few months ago that I believe you will like -
Speakers up & full screen:

We do TV & Film work, hi-end real estate and other types of projects.
To answer your other questions and more about us, click here > Pegasus Aerial Images website

Thanks again!

Len Savage
Pegasus Aerial Images

 

[Bahnfiya]

thanks @Treeofliberty - there's quite a few research hours behind it from YT and this community as well I remember seeing one YT video that recommended rubber bands to help with the smoothness, although I haven't tried it yet I do wonder if that will help more complicated movements ?

 

[Bahnfiya]

@LenSavage woah how did your drone not get knocked out by that wave? what model drone were you flying? super solid shots and I think my hunch was right, syncing the audio and video definitely enhances the final product - thanks for sharing along with your company infos

 

[LenSavage]

@LenSavage woah how did your drone not get knocked out by that wave? what model drone were you flying? super solid shots and I think my hunch was right, syncing the audio and video definitely enhances the final product - thanks for sharing along with your company infos

This video - as with most I do, was a combination of more than one drone - Phantom 3 4K, Mavic Pro, etc. I believe the shot with the wave was the Phantom 3 4K. After watching the waves for a bit, I found the spot where I could be close but stay dry. In some ways, the 4K camera on the Phantom is superior to the Mavic - depending on the shot. Larger lens and sensor thus shoots a larger image and is best in low-light - after sunset - as demonstrated in the last 2 shots - but the Mavic is much more stable and has a longer range, so.....

 

[Hardgainer]

great video beautiful location

 

[Bahnfiya]

@dixter - you're so right, something must of happened when I exported for YouTube. I noticed the type is supposed to be white so I pulled up my export with H.265 (on the left) next to the YT H.264 (on the right) and it's night and day difference. I must of been in a rush of excitement to get it on the Tube without noticing.

Can anyone point me to proper YouTube export settings? The instructions I googled/followed were obviously incorrect

Here is the H.265 version on my google drive:

Antigua_2019.mp4

drive.google.com

@dixter can you let me know if the google drive version feels more accurate?