Very first practice video of a house...

56_kruiser · Nov 17, 2017

For anyone with time to waste and interest, below is my very first practice video for House Drone Footage. (Hoping maybe I can get some business with real estate).

I've annotated it by voice with what I was trying to do and a little of what this flight told me. It's less than 5 min long.

Recorded at lower resolution, 1280X720, rendered at 1920X1080. I had / have not yet looked at video and camera settings. Will be obvious in the video. This is just flying practice, not picture quality practice.

But one thing I notice, and noticed later on higher quality video, is some artifact of some kind that I'm sure is the blades causing in the video. I'm interested in any thoughts anyone would like to share on the video, and in particular related to the blade artifacts (not sure how else to refer to it.)

Even comments on Youtube about the video if you prefer.

56_kruiser · Nov 17, 2017

I think the 'blades' thing is the blades interrupting sunlight from above. So maybe shadow flashes in the scene. Not sure what to do about at this point that other than not fly on sunny days.

Mossiback · Nov 17, 2017

Try using some of the different Intelligent Flight Modes to control the camera aim. They allow you to just concentrate on flying. Use the Tripod mode to get that slow, cinematic look (and it is safer in tight areas), use the Point of Interest mode to control your orbit above the house, and the Cinematic mode to generally smooth out your movements. I have moved in close enough to select the front door in Spotlight mode then moved away for a pull-back shot. You can then move back toward the door for the opposite perspective all while the camera stays pointed at the door. The mode controls the camera position freeing me to fly. I would also suggest a sun hood and polarizing filter. As long as the movements are gentle it will not appear in the video and it really helps eliminate sun flare and the lines caused by the sun shining through the blades. The filter will take away some of the harshness and bring up the colors a bit.

Practice using the different Flight Modes and you will see how helpful they can be. A note of caution with Cinematic mode; it takes more distance to stop than normal so factor that in while flying.

56_kruiser · Nov 17, 2017

Thanks for the input. I presumed some of the other flight modes would help. The POI which I did use in the video is the only one I've played with so far. All else was manual.

One of the things I am focusing on is learning to manually control the unit. That being said I definitely need to get going on the others intelligent modes.

One of the issues I had with the point of interest in that initial video was I don't think I was high enough nor did I have a large enough radius. And given that cinematic mode was not available in POI, needing to adjust the camera during POI, any manual adjustments are not as smooth as would be desired.

Mossiback · Nov 17, 2017

56_kruiser said:
... any manual adjustments are not as smooth as would be desired.

You dampen the gimble and stick reaction times in the Go 4 app. Google it and you will find instructions on how to do this. With a lot of practice you will get it.

56_kruiser · Nov 17, 2017

Mossiback said:
You dampen the gimble and stick reaction times in the Go 4 app. Google it and you will find instructions on how to do this. With a lot of practice you will get it.

Thanks. I think I've seen the setting (maybe gain?) ....but I'll definitely check that out.

Montypaks · Nov 18, 2017

I'm really interested in this as well... Subscribed!

mavic53 · Nov 18, 2017

Start with lateral shots first then go up and tilt down to plan. Our brain is not used to plan views it needs to orientate itself gradually.

56_kruiser · Nov 18, 2017

Appreciate the input folks..

So I went out and tried Tripod mode. It does help. But I still need to practice a lot.

I attempted the shot where I start at the flag, pan toward the front of the house while moving across the yard. Still was not good. I definitely need to practice that type of move. I probably need to start with mavic53's recommendation. Although I don't seem to be having much problem with lateral moves.

I watched a video this morning about follow-me mode. One thing I got out of it was in follow-me mode you didn't need to have the camera focused on you and you could lower the altitude once activated. For some reason I didn't get it to work.

In the video I watched I did not see the pilot have to click on himself on the screen after activating. So I took it up, activated, lowered some, and started walking. It did not follow me. Now, I never had myself even in view in the screen...as the demo never selected himself in the screen, lI presumed I never needed it to see me. My thought process in that attempt was, besides just experimentation, to take away the right stick work by having it follow me, and just focus on panning the camera and lowering the drone as it moved. (Interestingly, that may be a type of move I never need to use...but again, experimentation and practice).

I tried cinematic mode. I'm not sure what the difference would be between cinematic vs tripod. I'm going to go watch some more videos on that. IT seems to me that maybe the drone was slower in tripod than cinematic...but both seemed more or less the same thing. So, more studying to do, then more practice.

If I get any videos done that offer value to this discussion, I'll load them up.

One thing that might be nice to have is a way to lock onto a point, and then you manually fly left, right, up, or down manually and it keep that one point centered in the view.

Montypaks · Nov 18, 2017

Active Track - spotlight??

I'm yet to practice all these modes but I believe that's what spotlight does. Worth a try...

56_kruiser · Nov 18, 2017

Montypaks said:
Active Track - spotlight??

I'm yet to practice all these modes but I believe that's what spotlight does. Worth a try...

I'm like you. I'm thinking I need to identify what type of shots I would do with a specific mode, then practice that to get it good. Then move to the next one.

I just watched a video, here, that shows how he does exactly what I was trying, moving down, and right while keeping things in center. I don't think he said so, but I think doing that in tripod mode would be in order. Although his shot in the video is a pretty good distance from the subject, so maybe tripod isn't needed.

Montypaks · Nov 20, 2017

Excellent video! Thanks

56_kruiser · Nov 22, 2017

Montypaks said:
Excellent video! Thanks

Glad you liked out. I will post another when I improve the flight and annotate it with what functions I used that helped. Will probably be next week before I even get back to learning.

56_kruiser · Nov 30, 2017

Well, I tried spotlight mode today. I didn't have much luck. The problem is, from where I was shooting the drone would pass behind tree trunks, and it would immediately lose the target. Seems to be zero tolerance for lost of sight of the target, and unable to catch it again.

56_kruiser · Dec 2, 2017

I found pain in using the Spotlight mode to try to keep it on the front door and then move across the front, and lower altitude while moving. I'm only showing that last few painful seconds when it lost the target. Object avoidance was of no help, and for some reason it rushed the tree. Tree didn't move. Fortunately only damage was one blade.