Post flight video editing; how many do it?

[ReadyKilowatt]

Other than practice days, I always create a rough outline of what I want to produce before I even charge a battery. That also leads to a flight plan, which leads to checking skyvector.com, which leads to checking for airspace rules, etc. Then I see if the weather is going to cooperate, and even what the Sun angle might be.

It helps that I have limited free time (on call for 26 weeks a year, other hobbies and demands) and want to make the most of it. Sometimes I plan out a flight weeks in advance. In fact I should start planning some summer flights so I'm ready when the weather breaks...

 

[nealh]

After reading a post from a member last night about how easy it is to add an amazing title to your videos, Im wondering how many members actually do any editing at all to their videos after they fly? Im guilty of doing maybe 1 out of 100 flights, and am lazy to do any compilations of past footage. How many of you take the time to edit your videos and what type of editing do you do?

I use IMovie on my Macpro laptop, which I upgraded to edit in 4K. It does a great job.

 

[eastsidedronr]

I use lumafusion for quick edits on my iphone for instagram . It simple and not hard to learn. I use or try and use premiere pro for longer edits for youtube.

The video below was edited in lumafusion. Fyi. The road i launched and flew over is an extremely low volume dead end county road. Even less volume in those winter conditions

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[Endeavor]

I edit all videos even my work videos using Movavi, it's fast easy and works quite well.

 

[Oolon Colluphid]

I edit everything I shoot using Premiere Pro. It's a steep learning curve and I'm learning all the time.
I probably use about 2-5% of what i shoot in an Edit.

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[Dale D]

To me, the acquisition of my Mavic Air has completed my long sought after ability to add another dimension to me travelogues, which I have been doing for many years. I combine still images, astrophography, timelapse, hyperlapse, and now, drone footage and stills. I have forced myself to learn Premier Pro and After Effects, and post my work to Vimeo and You Tube. This allows me to stay in touch with friends I meet on my travels and keep in touch all over the world I have traveled (93 countries). Without video editing , as mentioned by another contributor, I would be 30% less gratified by this life long hobby. Here is an example of what I can achieve.

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[RPSM]

Personally, I seem to be quite the opposite from you guys. I almost aways fly with an intent of the video being posted on the internet. Therefore, I don't fly too often, but when I do, I make it count.

So yes, I edit my videos. I like to put in some ground footage as well to mix things up. I think I'm a better editor than drone pilot at this moment, but you can see for yourself:

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Fantastic editing, but your video is very good. I have a long way to go!

 

[Drbobk]

So out of 28 people who voted, 22 edit their videos. Can you give some tips on how you go about deciding on what to keep? How selective are you when pushing the record button when you go flying?

For Mac users, which software do you use and why? Does it need to be expensive full capability software or will something less expensive work reasonably well. Thinking of money, learning curve, diminishing returns, etc.

 

[davidzimagery]

I shoot photos in RAW, so those certainly need editing. I organize them in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC and do most of my photo editing there or Photoshop. I also have a Lightroom catalog for videos. I edit those using Adobe Premier Elements. I don't spend a lot of time making it look like a National Geographic episode. I just edit out the clumsy maneuvers, boring stuff, and put in transitions,, titles and end credits. Unless it's a short quick look a something interesting, I also include a music track.

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[Bengaz]

Personally, I seem to be quite the opposite from you guys. I almost aways fly with an intent of the video being posted on the internet. Therefore, I don't fly too often, but when I do, I make it count.

So yes, I edit my videos. I like to put in some ground footage as well to mix things up. I think I'm a better editor than drone pilot at this moment, but you can see for yourself:

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Absolutely brilliant! How long did it take you to get to that level and what software do you use?

 

[Deleted member 65595]

Absolutely brilliant! How long did it take you to get to that level and what software do you use?

Wow, thank you! I learnt the basics a few years ago, but I didn't make any progress until I decided to give YouTube a shot, around 7 months ago. You can see that my first videos weren't too good, but with every video I made I learnt something new.
I use Premiere Pro and After Effects, but After Effects isn't really necessary. I do recommend Premiere Pro though, as you can grow with it, if that makes sense. It is a great tool both for beginners and professionals.
I don't see myself as a professional yet, but as I said, with every video I make I learn something new. So my tip is to just make stuff to begin with, you don't even have to post it. As you get better people will give you feedback and eventually you will reach a higher level of editing

 

[Gut Stuff]

I am new to both drones and editing but see the advantage of using an editor. I downloaded Resolve and then just started watching YouTube videos (there are tons of them). Each time I start on another project I learn something new. Lately I've been working with raw footage and experimenting in color correction. It's amazing what you can do, but can be frustrating. LUTs are my friend in Resolve. They can take a raw video and turn it into a masterpiece with one mouse click.

Editing is fun for me, but does take a lot of time and planning. I'd have to guess my ratio of filming to editing is probably 25% to 75% - I hope that improves as I get more proficient in Resolve.

It does open a whole new dimension to the hobby which does take more time than the flight to get the footage originally.

 

[rlphoto69]

Use LumaFusion for IPad/IPhone. Only 20.00, easy to use. Dozens of tutorials on YouTube. Did this video in about 15 min.

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[Former Member]

Other than practice days, I always create a rough outline of what I want to produce before I even charge a battery. That also leads to a flight plan, which leads to checking skyvector.com, which leads to checking for airspace rules, etc. Then I see if the weather is going to cooperate, and even what the Sun angle might be.

It helps that I have limited free time (on call for 26 weeks a year, other hobbies and demands) and want to make the most of it. Sometimes I plan out a flight weeks in advance. In fact I should start planning some summer flights so I'm ready when the weather breaks...

Great post. Well said.

 

[Former Member]

I use lumafusion for quick edits on my iphone for instagram . It simple and not hard to learn. I use or try and use premiere pro for longer edits for youtube.

The video below was edited in lumafusion. Fyi. The road i launched and flew over is an extremely low volume dead end county road. Even less volume in those winter conditions

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I like the idea of having it edited before you even get home

 

[Former Member]

Use LumaFusion for IPad/IPhone. Only 20.00, easy to use. Dozens of tutorials on YouTube. Did this video in about 15 min.

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Awesome. That would have taken me 3 or 4 hours on my PC. How diffcult is it to add background music, and can you use any music at all?

 

[ciscokid]

I edit almost all my videos, I use Final Cut Pro. I also edit with ground shots from other sources. I have a Osmo pro and the Osno mini
and just got the Ronin-s for my DSLR. I really enjoy the editing part.

 

[BingErr]

After reading a post from a member last night about how easy it is to add an amazing title to your videos, Im wondering how many members actually do any editing at all to their videos after they fly? Im guilty of doing maybe 1 out of 100 flights, and am lazy to do any compilations of past footage. How many of you take the time to edit your videos and what type of editing do you do?

I TRY to edit every flight, but sometimes when I'm reviewing the footage I find it isn't worth the time so I just archive the footage. But the more I fly and edit I find that I edit at least 60-70% of my flights. Reviewing and editing your footage not only makes you fly more interesting flight lines (because you start thinking about how you'll edit it and the final product) but the more you edit the better and faster you get at it. I used to spend several hours/days editing footage for 1 video. Now I rarely spend over 2 hours editing a video (most of the time about 1 hour). Like anything, it takes lots of practice to get good and fast.

I use an older version of Premiere Pro and I get free music from youtube searching "copyright free music"

 

[Former Member]

I TRY to edit every flight, but sometimes when I'm reviewing the footage I find it isn't worth the time so I just archive the footage. But the more I fly and edit I find that I edit at least 60-70% of my flights. Reviewing and editing your footage not only makes you fly more interesting flight lines (because you start thinking about how you'll edit it and the final product) but the more you edit the better and faster you get at it. I used to spend several hours/days editing footage for 1 video. Now I rarely spend over 2 hours editing a video (most of the time about 1 hour). Like anything, it takes lots of practice to get good and fast.

I use an older version of Premiere Pro and I get free music from youtube searching "copyright free music"

This thread has really been an eye opener. It sounds from what you said like many flights you make have meaning and a purpose. If that's the case then I can see really only shooting what you intend to use later, and having to spend less editing time.

Do you find yourself flying less but actually creating more videos? In terms of days going out there and amount of time shooting?

When I 1st got my wife a new Canon camera, she would go out and shoot everything she saw then we would have to go and pick which ones we wanted to keep and not keep. Now she just goes out with a mission in mind and comes back with some absolutely stunning pictures. The Canon is a big camera to lug around, but she always has her Galaxy for impromptu shots.

 

[BingErr]

This thread has really been an eye opener. It sounds from what you said like many flights you make have meaning and a purpose. If that's the case then I can see really only shooting what you intend to use later, and having to spend less editing time.

Do you find yourself flying less but actually creating more videos? In terms of days going out there and amount of time shooting?

When I 1st got my wife a new Canon camera, she would go out and shoot everything she saw then we would have to go and pick which ones we wanted to keep and not keep. Now she just goes out with a mission in mind and comes back with some absolutely stunning pictures. The Canon is a big camera to lug around, but she always has her Galaxy for impromptu shots.

Exactly, the more vision I have for the final product the less video I shoot. And the less video I shoot the faster I can edit it. When I shoot with no purpose I end up shooting too much and then editing takes FOREVER! I also try to stick to 3-4 minutes for youtube. Anymore and it gets boring and people don't watch it. I also always try to edit my videos to the beat of the music, so if I pick something with an easily discernible beat it goes faster. Just little things you figure out the more you edit.