Go easy on the new guy ?

[Mattvic]

This is my first attempt.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Hi Mattvic Welcome to Mavic Pilots.
Better than my first attempt

 

[Tufargon]

Welcome and that's way better than my first attempt too.

 

[TerryToast]

Great video Matt. Your filming was smooth and your editing kept each clip short. With those two fundamentals in the bag, your movie was easy to watch and flowed well.

One thing that you might want to work on, which stood-out to me, is your washed out colours.

 

[Mattvic]

Great video Matt. Your filming was smooth and your editing kept each clip short. With those two fundamentals in the bag, your movie was easy to watch and flowed well.

One thing that you might want to work on, which stood-out to me, is your washed out colours.

Thanks Terry! When I bought the drone, I didn’t know that editing was such a big part of the hobby. I’ll get better with time. Thanks for the tip, I’ll work on it.

 

[TerryToast]

Thanks Terry! When I bought the drone, I didn’t know that editing was such a big part of the hobby. I’ll get better with time. Thanks for the tip, I’ll work on it.

Good plan. One tip, if you’re not already, start filming in the DCinelike colour profile. That will allow you to properly colour grade (when editing) and maximum your dynamic range.

 

[Little bird]

This is my first attempt.

A bit long, but still a nice job. I enjoyed the video. What drone were you using ?

 

[Heindrich1988]

Very good for a first attempt! Oh and welcome from China, and the Air 2 club.

I also picked the Air 2 as well as a total beginner to drones, cinematography/photography. There is so much to learn! But it is fun.

Some constructive feedback as a fellow noob with a few weeks' experience.

1) Agree with Terry's comments about colours. Definitely could use colour correction/grading. With the Air 2, you could also shoot in HDR mode to begin with if you want to make the editing less taxing to begin with.

2) Is your video still processing the HD version? If not, I don't know why it's only 720p? It looks very grainy in parts. Have you exported the video correctly from whatever editor you used? The Air 2 is capable of beautiful 4K, and since YouTube supports that, might as well take advantage.

3) In terms of composition, more variation and focus would be nice. Also look into the rule of thirds and consider toggling the gridlines on in DJI Fly to help with framing.

4) Look into ND filters if you haven't already. Beaches are very bright, I suspect you'll need an ND32 to make the most of Dcinelike on a sunny day.

Finally, some of those cliffside homes, wow, much jealous. lol

 

[tck444]

Great first attempt !

Suggestions if I may ?

Set your joystick controls to be less responsive.

Fly in "Tripod" mode to make the controls easier to manage.

Fly in a straight line in each clip, then add some pan or zoom effects in editing if desired for smooth video.

Good Luck !

 

[TerryToast]

4) Look into ND filters if you haven't already. Beaches are very bright, I suspect you'll need an ND32 to make the most of Dcinelike on a sunny day.

Sorry but this is incorrect.

The one-and-only thing that ND Filters do in videography, is create “motion blur”.

ND filters will NOT help with bright beaches. Nor with DCinelike on a sunny day.

 

[Heindrich1988]

Sorry but this is incorrect.

The one-and-only thing that ND Filters do in videography, is create “motion blur”.

ND filters will NOT help with bright beaches. Nor with DCinelike on a sunny day.

Yes, I know, and in case OP isn't aware, motion blur helps drone footage look more realistic and less jittery. It took me a while to appreciate it but I've really come around on it.

The reason that I associated ND filters with DCinelike is that when I shot on HDR mode, I was less bothered about ND filters, because shutter speed is out of my control anyway. When I shoot on DCinelike, I stick to ISO 100 and the 180 degree rule, so ND filters become essential on a bright day. I didn't mean to imply that ND filters directly help with DCinelike footage.

 

[Dale D]

This is my first attempt.

I watched about 2/3rds of it. Nice smooth flying. Will not comment about flying over people. The first thing I noted was tat my videos as blurred. I checked the You Tube cog wheel and saw that it was 720P resolution. The images are just not sharp. There was apparently no attempt at color correction. Everything looked washed out or over exposed. Music was nice. Length was ok. Flying route was a bit unplanned so it looked sort of aimless.

 

[CareyL]

This is my first attempt.

The videography and experimentation with cuts, dissolves and wipes was a good start. I would suggest that once you have the raw video that you think of a story, assemble it in a coherent order and then add music. If possible have your music change with or anticipation of the following scene. Unless you are a musician; in which case you would create the music first. In your effort I would have had the boats leaving port first, the various panoramas and then the boats arriving back.

You might find Jason Levine's YouTube tutorials, (Adobe oriented), useful.

PS: I never use ND filters. I never want blur. I prefer the crystal clear option that modern film making allows us.. Those who talk about motion blur are from a bygone era when film speeds could not keep up with the action of a moving picture. The mythology is that blur gives the illusion of smooth motion. You choose.

 

[MavicMan64]

This is my first attempt.

Good job. I've been flying for 3 months now and I'm STILL terrified of flying over the lake. I've only done it a total of 3 times. And I have a house on Lake Erie.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome from Chicago the Windy City.
Nice first, try, you already received enough advise on how to make it better.
Some body mentioned about not flying over people.
Here are some CAN'T Fly Over. People, over occupied cars, sporting events, National parks, close to airport, Check it out for your self. Want to save you future issues. Fly Safe and have fun.

 

[vjpapa]

Thank you CareyL for your opinion concerning ND filters. I agree with you on the blur issue in video. Blur has it place but probably not in every video capture. Some of the best still shots of waves crashing on rocks have an element of blur. I fly a MA2 in very sunny Texas. If I use HDR with no filter will it out perform(before post) HDR with a ND8(before post) on a sunny summer day?

 

[Hauptmann]

Welcome to the forum, from Hauptmann, in the friendly skies of North Texas!

 

[vjpapa]

Thank you! Much appreciated from San Antonio, Texas.

 

[mattbixby]

Welcome from Chicago the Windy City.
Nice first, try, you already received enough advise on how to make it better.
Some body mentioned about not flying over people.
Here are some CAN'T Fly Over. People, over occupied cars, sporting events, National parks, close to airport, Check it out for your self. Want to save you future issues. Fly Safe and have fun.

As a fellow, Noob... I'd love some clarification on this. Can't fly over people... I took this to mean flying over crowds. I only watched the video once, but my perspective was that it was flying NEAR people on the beach but was not overhead... and that the drone was largely over water but shooting back towards the beach.

Personally, I'm still terrified of flying anywhere near people and have abandoned flying altogether because there were a few folks nearby. But I do hope to fly around my town a bit, and there are locations I'd like to capture that are rarely devoid of at least some people. I plan to do everything possible to avoid flying directly over anyone, but that may not always be possible.

Seeking your help... I want to do this the right way.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[LWehrung]

It seems a little clarification regarding ND filtration is needed. ND filters simply darken exposure. They are primarily used in cinematic and still photo applications where the camera operator wants a shallow depth of field, but current shutter speed and aperture options won't allow it.

If your standard, bright sunlight exposure is 100 ISO, 1/100 second shutter and f/16 aperture, then pretty much everything in the frame will be relatively in focus (sharp). By introducing ND filtration, you effectively lower the ISO by reducing the amount of light that enters the lens. This allows you to "open up" the aperture (f/5.6, f/4, or lower, depending on the filter factor or ND rating. With a larger aperture (smaller f/ stop number) your depth of field becomes more shallow, throwing the foreground and/or background out of focus (what folks here are referring to as "blur", I think) thereby emphasizing your subject.

The only way to get "motion blur" with an ND filter is by changing the shutter speed, instead of the aperture, which is a mistake because then you have poor definition, or resolution, overall, but especially if the camera, the subject, or both are moving. Which, in the case of most drone work, is 99% of the time. If you want crisp motion then keep your shutter speed as fast as possible while balancing exposure (ND or no ND).

Of course, shooting 720P has less resolution than Full HD, which has much less resolution than 4K, but that is a whole other discussion.

I hope this clears it up a bit.