My first half decent as a newbie... fly and video... OBX beach stroll

[Kayak Rob]

While I used to fly RC helicopters 15 years ago... video editing
and getting used to the drone camera is a new experience.

The video is either (to you) really boring or soothing

A "Winter's Day in OBX stroll along the beach"....

just some basic color editing in Davinci Resolve (free)... and learning.
As a newbie.

Cheers.
Kayak Rob.

 

[OkDrone]

Welcome to the forum. Not bad for your first posting. Music is soothing as you indicated. Probably should use a ND filter to help with the washed out look from overexposure. Nice touch adding a little story line about the tree stumps. Looking forward to more postings. Thanks for a look at your area of the world.

 

[macfawlty]

We owned a vacation home in Corolla for a while. We still go to the OBX for a week every summer. So, where are you in MD and what type of kayaking do you do? I just started WW kayaking last spring. I’m in Bethesda/Potomac and have been flying for 5 or 6 years. I’d be glad to give you some tips on flying/filming. Here’s a couple of my fav subjects in the OBX.

 

[Kayak Rob]

@OkDrone
thank you for your comments. Yes filters... just haven't learned much about them but have saved some links and videos to learn.
Post editing I turned up the "shadows" and other settings so the shadows in the dunes were not so dark and "popped" a little bit to give them a little life as opposed to just lifeless dark shadows. Just a newbie filming.. but I'll get better.

@macfawlty
well... I'm not really in Maryland anymore.
But that's my last known location... I'm living on the road kayak fishing the mid Atlantic.
Not to bore the rest of the group.. I'm sending you a PM with the details.

So no.. no white water... just kayak fishing after 40 years as a surfer.
Arthritis and bad ankle keep me off the surfboards. I am all saltwater fisherman.
Oregon Inlet is right behind me... Pinwheel and Fish N' Frenzy from Wicked Tuna are docked there... I can hear them fire up the engines.
Good eye spotting video location. My first time up there... you drive Hwy 12... and it ends...
nowhere to go but drive on the beach to nowhere.

If you haven't, you will have a good laugh... check out on facebook (search) "Corolla Beach Idiots". Some where down in the postings... a semi truck followed his GPS
and drove the access and got stuck.

Thanks for your comments... I am all over the mid Atlantic, maybe our flight paths will cross
Kayak Rob

 

[Dan AISCF]

Not a bad first video. Keep it up!

 

[Carlos56]

Very nice, Rob. I'm also a relative newbie filming and editing. Learning about and using ND filters, Polarizing filters etc., and also using Resolve for my editing. Lots to learn there too.

Something you might look into are the advanced settings for yaw and gimbal. Your video would be more soothing with smoother yaw motions in particular. I have reduced the yaw and gimbal speed rates and increased the smoothing on Normal and Cine settings. In particular, I have set the smoothness to the maximum on Cine. This eliminates the jarring start and stop on the yaw and gimbal movements when filming.

I am going even one step further. I was trying to do a cinematic reveal using the gimbal start facing downwards, and then panning up to horizontal. The problem I encountered was that even with smoothing set, the hard stop at horizontal still caused an abrupt stop. To overcome this, I allowed the gimbal to move above horizontal. With practice, I can now release the gimbal control just before it reaches horizontal and let it decelerate to a stop. Even if it goes slightly past horizontal, it still stops smoothly. I usually end up within a degree or two of horizontal, but I prefer any slight error on angle to the jarring effect of a hard stop on the video.

Happy filming and editing!

P.S. You can practice the gimbal control indoors on a table without the motors turned far easier than when flying. I practiced mostly using the elevation grid shown on the DJIFLY screen, but also took some video to get a subjective comparison of my techniques.

 

[sarimento1]

very nice! thx for posting!
most enjoyed the northward-facing shots with snow on the dunes!
OBX is a fabulous area!

 

[Kayak Rob]

thank you for your kind comments and being "easy" on me
and helpful tips provided in mail etc.

Now... a number flights later well, some improvement.

Unfortunately when doing those early flights... I was taking off in "Cine" mode
not realizing that the controller starts in "Normal" mode, even if set in "Cine" mode.

 

[G Lee]

thank you for your kind comments and being "easy" on me
and helpful tips provided in mail etc.

Now... a number flights later well, some improvement.

Unfortunately when doing those early flights... I was taking off in "Cine" mode
not realizing that the controller starts in "Normal" mode, even if set in "Cine" mode.

Really nice Rob. Thanks for sharing. So far as the ND filters I thought there was some sort of math and calculating to do. Then I had someone tell me it's just like the sunglasses you would wear for your eyes but for the drone. Hope that helps. Keep shooting.