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How do they do this ?

Dale I am going to take some ideas from this on my trip to Fuertaventura
A mild form but using involved people playing something like beach net ball ! Tell them to strike a statue like pose in different game positions as if a still from the game !
Fly around them at very slow speed 2 mph and then speed up the video in editing !
I cannot speed up if they move or the movements speed up but yes the above movie got me thinking 😎
Keep waved out of the shot too. They would look weird sped up in post.
 
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You can get a HappyModel Mobius 6 for around 200 bucks with an HD Zero cam that shoots 720p... Thats great for a miniwhoop that only weighs around 60 grams. Now, thats Drone only You will need the ELRS Radio and HD Zero goggles to play!
1734465850451.jpeg

As far as the GepRC Cinebots...These are one of the best if not the best Whoops on the Market you can get them in many configurations including O3 (DJI occusync)!! Most people filming shots like this probably have a GO PRO mounted on their CineBot see below, That is a cinebot with a go pro mounted: They are Very pricey when compared to say an Avata BUT nothing comes close to the cinebot period! these whoops have NO modes you must fly them.
1734465781816.jpeg
Besides the Iflight cinelifters the GepRC cinebot is the most widely used Drone for filming.
 
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Skilled pilots working for a professional production company, actors, a closed set, tight direction. This is not some teen with a 200$ drone...it takes real skill and experience to pilot through those obstacles and that close to people. Pretty amazing skills!

Chuckle.

You have no idea how many teens with $200 drones could do that in their sleep. 🤣
 
Many do not realize the fact that when you film people for a video thats going to make money those people are now actors in the eyes of the Government and as such fall under the guidelines of OSHA 7929 you do not want to get the attention of OSHA. Hence paperwork.

Wellllllll, people that just happen to be caught in the video by happenstance because they were part of the public (people walking down a busy street as you fly along parallel) are not. Production companies do not need to identify, contact, and get a release from every such person.

So there's some criteria by which a person captured in an image must contacted and managed some way legally. Its more than just, you were in the picture.
 
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Wellllllll, people that just happen to be caught in the video by happenstance because they were part of the public (people walking down a busy street as you fly along parallel) are not. Production companies do not need to identify, contact, and get a release from every such person.

So there's some criteria by which a person captured in an image must contacted and managed some way legally. Its more than just, you were in the picture.
Yes indeed. There are subjects and Incidentals. Incidentals are People you film in public or in a scene that have no subject meaning.. e.g. You film a group of rafters going down the river for a T,V. commercial. Those in the raft or rafts directly involved in the filming or "scene" are considered actors. Others on the beach lets say with no involvement are incidentals and do not apply to the rules even if filmed. ( incidentals that are close enough to be involved in the subject, Or "on set" would be considered actors.
You are only required to follow the osha guidelines for workplace safety while filming Actors or while others are considered "on set".
keep in mind this has nothing to do with say Monetized videos on you tube( in most cases ). BUT Staged videos of something do apply, if you film it commercially and all agree beforehand in that the video will be published for profit or monetized say a music video or stunt.
 
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You can get a HappyModel Mobius 6 for around 200 bucks with an HD Zero cam that shoots 720p... Thats great for a miniwhoop that only weighs around 60 grams. Now, thats Drone only You will need the ELRS Radio and HD Zero goggles to play!
View attachment 179851

As far as the GepRC Cinebots...These are one of the best if not the best Whoops on the Market you can get them in many configurations including O3 (DJI occusync)!! Most people filming shots like this probably have a GO PRO mounted on their CineBot see below, That is a cinebot with a go pro mounted: They are Very pricey when compared to say an Avata BUT nothing comes close to the cinebot period! these whoops have NO modes you must fly them.
View attachment 179850
Besides the Iflight cinelifters the GepRC cinebot is the most widely used Drone for filming.
Think I will need to get one or the Avata as quickly coming to conclusion you need multiple drones with different specialities
 
Think I will need to get one...
Just be aware that manoeuvring a fully manual FPV quad... no matter type or size, is something very different than flying a photo drone like a Mavic. A manual quad doesn't have anything helping it fly or staying airborne besides you... every second of the flight. No height hold, no GPS position that helps it hold position & on top of that, the sticks control the craft in a totally different way than for a Mavic. And to be totally honest... you need to quickly forget all what you have learnt about controlling a ordinary photo drone, this as that knowledge will work against you when trying to re-code your muscle memory for a manual quad.

If you decide to go for it... start out with a controller (radio) & invest in a good PC simulator & start to practise... after approx. 50h there, you ought to be able to try a real flight without trashing the quad immediately.

I went for it when the pandemic lockdowns started... to have something I could focus on all alone (was 53 back then).

This was my skills in the simulator after 50h... note the stick overlay in the bottom & how I move both sticks in combination + how small the movements are.
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Now several years later I fly with ease... like riding a bicycle. Below is flown with a fast 5" (+180km/h) so no tool for a indoor flight, but with a slow & small cinewhoop a flight around people indoors shouldn't be a big problem... just practice a nice route until it sticks to get a smooth line without any hesitation.
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I spend countless hours on the Simulator learning myself. Thats pretty nice flying for 50 hrs!! I like to use LIFTOFF and Velocidrone too!
Its a learning curve BUT once you put a Drone in ACRO or manual you just cant go back to the Camera Drone way! The only Drones I fly now that are not 100% of the time in ACRO are my DJI camera Drones (besides the FPV and AVATA) and then I have to remember I am in a "mode" or I look like a Drunk pilot LOL.
ACRO is the ultimate in Drone control...and the ultimate fun for that matter.
If you want to learn I would strongly suggest you get a Sim like VelociDrone or Liftoff and a Radiomaster or maybe even a compatible DJI controller ( the DJI fpv/Avata controllers work great!) Dont try to learn with a game controller it wont help you at all.
The only thing I would caution you about is as I said once you start FPV it is addictive!! LOL your wallet is gonna suffer a bit.
P.S. The avata 2 is a great Drone that only suffers from DJI's refusal to let us Tune it. I consider it a great little drone still tho it has its places for sure!
 
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I spend countless hours on the Simulator learning myself. Thats pretty nice flying for 50 hrs!! I like to use LIFTOFF and Velocidrone too!
Its a learning curve BUT once you put a Drone in ACRO or manual you just cant go back to the Camera Drone way! The only Drones I fly now that are not 100% of the time in ACRO are my DJI camera Drones (besides the FPV and AVATA) and then I have to remember I am in a "mode" or I look like a Drunk pilot LOL.
ACRO is the ultimate in Drone control...and the ultimate fun for that matter.
If you want to learn I would strongly suggest you get a Sim like VelociDrone or Liftoff and a Radiomaster or maybe even a compatible DJI controller ( the DJI fpv/Avata controllers work great!) Dont try to learn with a game controller it wont help you at all.
The only thing I would caution you about is as I said once you start FPV it is addictive!! LOL your wallet is gonna suffer a bit.
P.S. The avata 2 is a great Drone that only suffers from DJI's refusal to let us Tune it. I consider it a great little drone still tho it has its places for sure!
Thanks both of you for the advice ! I tend to fly my Air3 near terrain / Water and rarely use automatics so FPV would be a good tool to add to the box where it would be ground camera / FPV for very low level and cinematic drone so a case of different horses for different courses and no one drone for all scenarious
 
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This is an example of the sort of close water video I do with the Air3 at present which is limiting what I could achieve for some shots
Just scroll to the close weir work
 
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...I tend to fly my Air3 near terrain / Water and rarely use automatics...
Your Air3 use a lot of automatic functions that you doesn't notice or maybe just take for granted... & furthermore, these functions can't be opted out from with most DJI stock firmware's. That's why you doesn't need 50h in a simulator to fly one...

When you release all sticks your Air3 will start to hover & automatically both hold height & hold position... despite windy conditions that otherwise would make your drone blow away. Think the Air 3 also automatically feed in a roll command if you try to turn during horizontal flight by means of only yaw & pitch. It's a lot that's going on that you perhaps doesn't notice.

So just because you fly close to thing's with a "photo drone" doesn't mean that you are better prepared to handle a fully manual drone like what's shown in post #24 or being used in the vid. in your initial post.

...so FPV would be a good tool to add to the box where it would be ground camera / FPV for very low level...
If you by saying FPV just mean, using goggles with a "photo drone"... without any connection to a fully manual drone, then yes... the Air3 will still both fly & be manoeuvred like an Air3 & goggles can rise you awareness regarding the drone position in relation to obstacles in front of the drone which may make it easier to fly close to or through thing's (...or the use of goggles may totally shatter your awareness around the drone & you easier hit thing's you can't see when using goggles).
 
I helped a friend set up this bowling alley/mini golf/cafe fly through. My buddy teaches a HS photography and this was a done for his students. Not very crowded as we shot right after opening. No actors - they were all prepped on what was happening, and those bowling and playing golf were cued to be in place as the drone passed them. Shot with the Avata 1 so the noise was VERY apparent to all of us. No waivers were signed either.
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@Pacefast, I would enthusiastically encourage you to join us in the world of FPV!! I've been flying drones for over a decade, took up FPV about 3 years ago, and now it's 90% of my flying. After experiencing FPV it's just too boring flying a camera drone VLOS. My camera drones have become strictly flown for purpose these days.

All that said, understand that the most flexible, intense, flying on crack FPV experience is in manual mode, and the controls – the way the drone behaves in response to stick movements – operate radically differently than what you're used to with most drones.

DJI camera drones function in what is called "angle mode". Simplified, the pitch and roll angle of the aircraft matches proportionally the amount of stick deflection off-center... push the stick forward a little, the drone pitches forward a little and flies forward. Hold the stick in that position and the drone holds that pitch angle, and speed. (I've vastly simplified this, ignoring the effects of positioning, wind, groundspeed from GPS, and the actions of the Flight Controller, all of which are irrelevant to the point being made).

So, if you've spent dozens or hundreds of hours flying like this, it's become reflexive... you don't think about how to move the sticks when you want the drone to do something. Like walking, you know where you want to go and your legs just do it, you don't consciously think about precisely how to move them.

"Manual" changes the relationship between how stick movement affects drone attitude. It functions in "rate mode", where stick deflection controls how fast (the "rate") the drone rotates around the indicated control axis. Push the pitch stick forward a little and hold it, and the drone starts to pitch forward slowly... and keeps on going! All the way to upside down, and back around to level again. And keeps rotating forward as long as you hold that stick. The further forward you push the stick the faster it rotates around and around the pitch axis.

When you re-center the stick, it stops and holds whatever orientation it's in. Roll works the same way. The throttle changes too, becoming a true throttle controlling motor power only, no longer being a "go up or down" control.

That's a lot already, and enough to give you the knowlege that Rate Mode (manual) flight is an entirely different animal than Angle Mode, a.k.a. N/S flight modes on DJI aircraft. You will have to learn to fly all over again, it's much much harder, and totally different. You will crash. Again and again. Some spectacular. This is why you do it in a simulator first. Don't fly a real drone in manual until you can again and again without crashing in the sim.

Thanks to DJI, you can experience all the thrills of FPV with the safety and familiarity of N/S angle mode flight, full positioning and location awareness, and position hold. In N/S the Avata [1/2] and Neo fly with the same operation and "feel" at the controls than drones you're already familiar and skilled with.

And many of us just love the Motion Controller, I'm among them. I confess that I fly with it most of the time now, even though I've honed manual skills over the years. It's just so much fun!
 
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Great FPV video but how do they do this ? Note extremely close to people ?
I have seen the same with a train video where the drone appears to go through the carriage past peoples heads and then through a restaurant ?
One big giveaway is that in none of these close proximity videos are any of the people aware or make any movement in a startled way as the drone passes within inches !
At first I thought involved actors but now its NOT so can someone explain how these shots are achieved
Drone / people you would get a CAA / FAA visit if as it appears 😎👀😎
I often wonder how they maintain solid connection inside buildings with multiple walls and metal things in between pilot and drone.
 
I often wonder how they maintain solid connection inside buildings with multiple walls and metal things in between pilot and drone.
You can't really compare the possible achievable signal strength between an ordinary DJI Mavic & a FPV Acro quad.

In the FPV Acro quad segment you can chose between many receivers & transmitters... all with a possibility to crank up the transmission power to levels much, much higher than for a DJI Mavic & you can also use ground based relay stations to enhance the connection further.
 
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As stated above (as long as you posses a ham License) You can turn your Drones transmission WAY up.Many do this license or not but with the threat of FCC prosecution I didnt mind taking the test.
 
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