Tips for flying in urban areas?

[Hungrypilot]

So there's a bazillion videos out there of folks getting great shots in urban areas, but I don't quite know how (I'm a newbie).

How are people maintaining line of sight for a video feed? Are they launching from rooftops? I'm headed to Europe this week and would love some tips for filming some beautiful city shots in the old parts of town.

Cheers,
Joshua

 

[Mossiback]

...How are people maintaining line of sight for a video feed?...

Many do not maintain VLOS, even though they should. VLOS is not required to get a video feed unless you are at the limits of the connection.

...Are they launching from rooftops? I'm headed to Europe this week and would love some tips for filming some beautiful city shots in the old parts of town....

Most rooftops are not accessible, so I doubt that they are being used as a launch point. Since you are not supposed to fly over people, the safest way to get video of an urban area is to launch straight up and do a slow pan. This will give you a 360 degree video of the area without threatening the safety of others.

Make sure you know the local laws regarding drone use. You could face fines and confiscation in some areas.

 

[FoxhallGH]

Make sure you know the local laws regarding drone use. You could face fines and confiscation in some areas.

As @Mossiback says - this is the most important bit ... Sounds like you come from somewhere that the drone flying reg's are quite lax' ... Please make sure you research the 'local' regulations where you are going, as - for example - if you tried to fly your drone around the "old parts of town" in the City of London - you'd have an Armed Response team (Uk equivalent of S.W.A.T) on you P.D.Q!

 

[Maviac]

Many do not maintain VLOS, even though they should. VLOS is not required to get a video feed unless you are at the limits of the connection.

Most rooftops are not accessible, so I doubt that they are being used as a launch point. Since you are not supposed to fly over people, the safest way to get video of an urban area is to launch straight up and do a slow pan. This will give you a 360 degree video of the area without threatening the safety of others.

Make sure you know the local laws regarding drone use. You could face fines and confiscation in some areas.

Good call. My approach thus far has been to just launch straight up and stand directly under it to make sure I don’t fly over anyone, UNLESS it’s at an hour when there’s clearly nobody around (such as early mornings in parks).

 

[Congoblue]

That still would not be allowed in urban areas of the uk, where you have to stay away from "built up areas". As said above make sure you check the local rules.

 

[Sniperfritz]

Many do not maintain VLOS, even though they should. VLOS is not required to get a video feed unless you are at the limits of the connection.

Most rooftops are not accessible, so I doubt that they are being used as a launch point. Since you are not supposed to fly over people, the safest way to get video of an urban area is to launch straight up and do a slow pan. This will give you a 360 degree video of the area without threatening the safety of others.

Make sure you know the local laws regarding drone use. You could face fines and confiscation in some areas.

I do the straight up and pan thing. Not brave enough to fly over other peoples houses.

 

[Mossiback]

If you use the straight up routine, start the video at about tree-top (building top, or whatever the obstruction is) level. It would make a more interesting video to slowly reveal the distant scene. It also helps to use Tripod mode so the pan would not be too fast.

 

[Hungrypilot]

Thanks for the info, all. I always double check all regs before I fly in a new place

 

[Hungrypilot]

Also, here's an example of what I'm trying to learn. Also, because I'll be in Hong Kong next week.

Where in the heck did this person launch from? Was this just a GPS flight? The range on this video is nuts, and would definitely be too far to maintain a video feed... I guess? Maybe I don't understand my drone yet

Thanks again all,
Joshua

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

As @Mossiback says - this is the most important bit ... Sounds like you come from somewhere that the drone flying reg's are quite lax' ... Please make sure you research the 'local' regulations where you are going, as - for example - if you tried to fly your drone around the "old parts of town" in the City of London - you'd have an Armed Response team (Uk equivalent of S.W.A.T) on you P.D.Q!

Yet they couldn't find a drone operator, apparently flying their drone around Gatwick Airport for 3 days...

 

[Mossiback]

Also, here's an example of what I'm trying to learn...

I only watched enough of the video to see that it is more than one recording edited together. As for a launch point, could have been anywhere and there is probably more than one but if from a hilltop using a MP or above could easily gone a few miles out with good video reception. Remember that the video you see with Go 4 may be a degraded version of the original stored on the aircraft.

And now I put on my nanny hat and tell you that although cool, the video shows what you should not do with your drone. If any unexpected problem were to arise (aircraft or battery malfunction, bird strike, flight exceeding battery capacity, etc) and the aircraft go down, injury or property damage could result. That is why more and more places are instituting restrictions on our hobby.

 

[Hungrypilot]

That was my second guess is that it was stitched together, but yes... Too high altitude and flying over populated areas is a no-no in HK.

 

[philippecaron]

[QUOTE = "Hungrypilot, post: 675187, member: 86961"] Ce n’est pas une de mes vidéos en tant que real made in people, réalisé à partir de superbes photos en milieu urbain, mais je ne sais pas commenter.
À votre santé,
Joshua [/ QUOTE]

En France également disponible en anglais.
Suvol des Maisons et des villes Interdits et Des personnes.
Géoportail >> Site officiel des zones interdites. ALTITUDES restreintes
AlphaTango le site des règlements de vol.

 

[dewster]

Discretion.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Also, here's an example of what I'm trying to learn. Also, because I'll be in Hong Kong next week.

Where in the heck did this person launch from? Was this just a GPS flight? The range on this video is nuts, and would definitely be too far to maintain a video feed... I guess? Maybe I don't understand my drone yet

Thanks again all,
Joshua

This is not one long flight. If you watch closely you will see several transitions. And the length tells you he used more than one battery.

 

[Intelair]

Also, here's an example of what I'm trying to learn. Also, because I'll be in Hong Kong next week.

Where in the heck did this person launch from? Was this just a GPS flight? The range on this video is nuts, and would definitely be too far to maintain a video feed... I guess? Maybe I don't understand my drone yet

Thanks again all,
Joshua

This is some really quality video of Hong Kong. As an airline pilot I do not recall the beauty reflected here. Probably missed it because I was always shooting an ILS through some soupy, smoggy, soupy air. I would love to read some information on how this was captured. It must be a very good post production of several shoots combined. Kudos.

 

[Hungrypilot]

This is some really quality video of Hong Kong. As an airline pilot I do not recall the beauty reflected here. Probably missed it because I was always shooting an ILS through some soupy, smoggy, soupy air. I would love to read some information on how this was captured. It must be a very good post production of several shoots combined. Kudos.

Funny how I just shot the ILS down to mins at 3am this morning... I never come in here when it's daylight, so I spend my overnights around the city. Hopefully I'll get some good Mavic flying in on Tuesday when the clouds clear up

 

[FoxhallGH]

Also, here's an example of what I'm trying to learn. Also, because I'll be in Hong Kong next week.

Where in the heck did this person launch from? Was this just a GPS flight? The range on this video is nuts, and would definitely be too far to maintain a video feed... I guess? Maybe I don't understand my drone yet

Thanks again all,
Joshua

This is an absolutely exceptional video that could even be classed as a valuable historical record in 100 years time. It's obviously a labour of love, put together over many days flying. It's interesting to watch this on one screen, with Google Earth zoomed in on Hong Kong Island on another and track where the drone is. Although I understand why here in the UK we are restricted from overflying built-up areas, and must keep VLOS - it's video's like this that illustrate a need just for social history's sake - to get a commercial drone pilot to do this sort of work as a public recording. It's not something that a private flier could do here legally - and not something that could be posted non-commercially without repercussions.
@Hungrypilot - if you are wanting to do something like this in Europe, then be aware that you'd be pretty much breaking every rule in the Drone Code ... Also - to do this sort of recording properly, you'd need to be on something a lot longer than the usual lightning-tour of European Capitals ...