Ways to monetise the Drone?

[Ben_McPhee]

Hey guys, I'm a photographer/videographer, and am coming from a Mavic Air 2 (My "starter" drone) and into a Mavic 3 Cine. But, before I pull the trigger, I'm trying to think of ways I may not have considered to justify the expense...

So far, the Air 2 was kind of a "Value Add" to my regular services, and almost a hobby/portfolio builder. I got some great shots for myself, but never charged extra for it on a job, and usually pulled it out because *I* wanted to, not because I was asked for. Going forward, I'll attempt to do this with a "drone fee/rate" or similar discussed in advance. (Advice would be great).

And I never targeted drone specific work. I took some stills (which I will hopefully one day sell as prints), but I guess I mostly saw it as a "marketing tool", to have some great shots on my website/socials.

With the Cine though, I want to take it up a notch. I want to be charging if I use it, and I want people to want me to use it so I can be paid for it.

I don't really have any of my own specific "needs" (Such as making travel videos that rely on some drone footage), but... I'd really like to find a way to make it an essential money making tool, because I love flying and using drones.

But... it's not Inspire 2 or "Hollywood" grade, even if the quality is technically there. So my clients won't likely be those types.

So... what are some ways to monetise this? I'm not against "Real estate", but... that's not my lifelong dream, and I think I'd be fine with an Air 2S if that's all it could amount to.

Who will pay me to bring out the Mavic 3 Cine (And not just a regular old Air) and ask me to Shoot in ProRes, and pay accordingly? (Yes, I'll get licensed if required. )

 

[Pixeldawg]

Hey guys, I'm a photographer/videographer, and am coming from a Mavic Air 2 (My "starter" drone) and into a Mavic 3 Cine. But, before I pull the trigger, I'm trying to think of ways I may not have considered to justify the expense...

So far, the Air 2 was kind of a "Value Add" to my regular services, and almost a hobby/portfolio builder. I got some great shots for myself, but never charged extra for it on a job, and usually pulled it out because *I* wanted to, not because I was asked for. Going forward, I'll attempt to do this with a "drone fee/rate" or similar discussed in advance. (Advice would be great).

And I never targeted drone specific work. I took some stills (which I will hopefully one day sell as prints), but I guess I mostly saw it as a "marketing tool", to have some great shots on my website/socials.

With the Cine though, I want to take it up a notch. I want to be charging if I use it, and I want people to want me to use it so I can be paid for it.

I don't really have any of my own specific "needs" (Such as making travel videos that rely on some drone footage), but... I'd really like to find a way to make it an essential money making tool, because I love flying and using drones.

But... it's not Inspire 2 or "Hollywood" grade, even if the quality is technically there. So my clients won't likely be those types.

So... what are some ways to monetise this? I'm not against "Real estate", but... that's not my lifelong dream, and I think I'd be fine with an Air 2S if that's all it could amount to.

Who will pay me to bring out the Mavic 3 Cine (And not just a regular old Air) and ask me to Shoot in ProRes, and pay accordingly? (Yes, I'll get licensed if required. )

If it were me, I would hit heave industrial construction companies, companies who do really big lifts with cranes and helicopters, transportation companies (i.e., trucking companies), theme parks and even ski resorts, golf courses, condominiums, Beachside properties, universities, private schools and maybe even businesses like car dealerships. Has to be dozens of markets and businesses you can hit. If I was still in American and owned my commercial studio, these would be on my list. The heavy industrial construction companies in particular and heavy lift companies are great markets. I had a client who sent me up every time they shipped a process module by barge in their Cesna 172, so lots of interest in this by the companies. Recently saw another company here in China that sent a drone up for an ocean-going process module shipment and had the drone going along in front of the ship, very cool footage. Good luck with this!

Cordially,

Mark

 

[TnDronePilot]

How did you get in my head and type out exactly what I'm wondering with my MA2? So I want the Mavic 3 Cine just as much but I want my freelance profits to pay for it. I'm a post production video editor and cameraman at Discovery Channel and have been there 22.5 years so, I'm lucky enough to get to work with all the latest production gear that's available. But, we don't use drones for our in-house studio shoots as it's the outside production companies that create 99% of the shows that air on Discovery's 100+ channels that have drones.

So, I first got the Mini and then stepped up to the MA2 a couple weeks later. It was just for fun and like you, I sometimes pull out the MA2 on freelance jobs as a freebee as I'm already getting paid a very nice day rate for my services with my professional camera gear. But I want better camera quality with the M3Cine for my freelance jobs outside of Discovery but don't have any experience getting clients or what kind to look for. Real estate aerials seem like easy money compared to what I do for a living but beyond passing our flyers in mailboxes for that kind of service, I don't know how to "sell" myself to people outside my industry. And really for that type of work, the MA2 is way more than enough. But I'm too used to having the latest and greatest equipment around me because Discovery is always buying the best stuff.

I guess I'm unintentionally spoiled being at Discovery where I've always just shown up to edit sessions and production shoots while other people were the ones to "land the clients." In the past, I've spent thousands of dollars of my own money to get edit systems and camera/production gear before I had any clients. It was the "build it and they will come" mentality but guess what, they never came and I ended up selling it all. That's what I don't want to do with the M3 so, I'm just going to try and learn how to get clients with what I have and let that be the driving force to save up for it.

By the way, most of the "clients" that we are talking about trying to get would never know the difference in video/photo quality between the two drones and IMHO would not pay more for the job because you had the latest and greatest. Some people in my industry can't even tell the difference between HD (1080p) quality and 4K and those are $100k cameras we're talking about.

 

[TnDronePilot]

If it were me, I would hit heave industrial construction companies, companies who do really big lifts with cranes and helicopters, transportation companies (i.e., trucking companies), theme parks and even ski resorts, golf courses, condominiums, Beachside properties, universities, private schools and maybe even businesses like car dealerships. Has to be dozens of markets and businesses you can hit. If I was still in American and owned my commercial studio, these would be on my list. The heavy industrial construction companies in particular and heavy lift companies are great markets. I had a client who sent me up every time they shipped a process module by barge in their Cesna 172, so lots of interest in this by the companies. Recently saw another company here in China that sent a drone up for an ocean-going process module shipment and had the drone going along in front of the ship, very cool footage. Good luck with this!

Cordially,

Mark

Great suggestions! Those are the kind of jobs I'd love to shoot. Time to Google Fu.

 

[Pixeldawg]

Great suggestions! Those are the kind of jobs I'd love to shoot. Time to Google Fu.

You go, Boy!

 

[Pixeldawg]

How did you get in my head and type out exactly what I'm wondering with my MA2? So I want the Mavic 3 Cine just as much but I want my freelance profits to pay for it. I'm a post production video editor and cameraman at Discovery Channel and have been there 22.5 years so, I'm lucky enough to get to work with all the latest production gear that's available. But, we don't use drones for our in-house studio shoots as it's the outside production companies that create 99% of the shows that air on Discovery's 100+ channels that have drones.

So, I first got the Mini and then stepped up to the MA2 a couple weeks later. It was just for fun and like you, I sometimes pull out the MA2 on freelance jobs as a freebee as I'm already getting paid a very nice day rate for my services with my professional camera gear. But I want better camera quality with the M3Cine for my freelance jobs outside of Discovery but don't have any experience getting clients or what kind to look for. Real estate aerials seem like easy money compared to what I do for a living but beyond passing our flyers in mailboxes for that kind of service, I don't know how to "sell" myself to people outside my industry. And really for that type of work, the MA2 is way more than enough. But I'm too used to having the latest and greatest equipment around me because Discovery is always buying the best stuff.

I guess I'm unintentionally spoiled being at Discovery where I've always just shown up to edit sessions and production shoots while other people were the ones to "land the clients." In the past, I've spent thousands of dollars of my own money to get edit systems and camera/production gear before I had any clients. It was the "build it and they will come" mentality but guess what, they never came and I ended up selling it all. That's what I don't want to do with the M3 so, I'm just going to try and learn how to get clients with what I have and let that be the driving force to save up for it.

By the way, most of the "clients" that we are talking about trying to get would never know the difference in video/photo quality between the two drones and IMHO would not pay more for the job because you had the latest and greatest. Some people in my industry can't even tell the difference between HD (1080p) quality and 4K and those are $100k cameras we're talking about.

I remember when the old ProBeta machines were $250k. My brother was aboard the Gorky when President Bush was meeting with the then Russian President, and some unknowing (Russian) security guards thought my brother was an intruder and smashed him and his $250k Betacam up against the side of the ship, smashing it to itty, bitty pieces... and the thing many don't realize is that with a smaller hard drive, like in the 128GB iPhone 13 Pro, it automatically downgrades to 1080 anyway, even with ProRes. Cool gig you've got there!

 

[TnDronePilot]

and the thing many don't realize is that with a smaller hard drive, like in the 128GB iPhone 13 Pro, it automatically downgrades to 1080 anyway, even with ProRes. Cool gig you've got there!

Haha so true. So my cousin bought an 85 inch 4K TV last year and during the last college football championship game, he kept reminding everyone how clean 4K looked versus his old HD TV. Yet he was watching it through his cable box that was only pumping out HD (1080). You gotta give credit to the manufacturer's in how they gets consumers to buy the next best "K" resolution. Now if you're watching a 4K movie from a UHD Bluray player then yeah, he's seeing a 4K picture but, most people are ignorant in understanding that just because you hang a 4K TV on the wall, doesn't mean everything you watch through it is actually 4K, 8K, etc. It's actually there just waiting for you to feed it the good stuff.

 

[TnDronePilot]

If I was still in American and owned my commercial studio, these would be on my list. The heavy industrial construction companies in particular and heavy lift companies are great markets. I had a client who sent me up every time they shipped a process module by barge in their Cesna 172, so lots of interest in this by the companies.

Can you explain what kind of drone shots these companies look for? So for a heavy lift, they just want an aerial shot of the lift and the shipping of a process module, what kind of footage were they after? I'd figure they'd want something for the first time they ever set sail or lifted an object and not every time a new job is started. Thanks.

 

[Pixeldawg]

Haha so true. So my cousin bought an 85 inch 4K TV last year and during the last college football championship game, he kept reminding everyone how clean 4K looked versus his old HD TV. Yet he was watching it through his cable box that was only pumping out HD (1080). You gotta give credit to the manufacturer's in how they gets consumers to buy the next best "K" resolution. Now if you're watching a 4K movie from a UHD Bluray player then yeah, he's seeing a 4K picture but, most people are ignorant in understanding that just because you hang a 4K TV on the wall, doesn't mean everything you watch through it is actually 4K, 8K, etc. It's actually there just waiting for you to feed it the good stuff.

Back in the bad old days of Analog TV, I convinced my (now ex) wife that we NEEDED a high definition set because analog was going away... sure it would be another year, but why wait until the last minute, right? Then, I saw "Planet Earth" with the narration by Segornia Weaver in HD and was hooked.

 

[Pixeldawg]

Can you explain what kind of drone shots these companies look for? So for a heavy lift, they just want an aerial shot of the lift and the shipping of a process module, what kind of footage were they after? I'd figure they'd want something for the first time they ever set sail or lifted an object and not every time a new job is started. Thanks.

Sure, for the heavy lifts, just as you stated. Helicopter lifting the heavy object off the building or whatever. For the barge shots, I used to go in a Cesna 172 and shoot over the module going down river. We would also skim the water in the opposite direction of the barge, which was always a lot of fun. The pilot I worked with had mondo experience as a crop duster, which was great. You can do this much more easily with a drone and the drone is MUCH faster than a river barge, so easy to keep up. Find a few places on a river that you can go to and meet the barge.

 

[TnDronePilot]

Sure, for the heavy lifts, just as you stated. Helicopter lifting the heavy object off the building or whatever. For the barge shots, I used to go in a Cesna 172 and shoot over the module going down river. We would also skim the water in the opposite direction of the barge, which was always a lot of fun. The pilot I worked with had mondo experience as a crop duster, which was great. You can do this much more easily with a drone and the drone is MUCH faster than a river barge, so easy to keep up. Find a few places on a river that you can go to and meet the barge.

So is this to provide overwatch to keep collisions from happening and where you and the pilot of the barge or heli are in constant contact? Or are you there to provide footage for them in case of a mishap or to keep "on file" for insurance or other purposes? Also, in the helicopter scenario, I believe the drone has to be at least 100ft away from a helicopter and I would assume there would have to be some serious trust between you and the pilot to even be anywhere near them. Right?

 

[Pixeldawg]

So is this to provide overwatch to keep collisions from happening and where you and the pilot of the barge or heli are in constant contact? Or are you there to provide footage for them in case of a mishap or to keep "on file" for insurance or other purposes? Also, in the helicopter scenario, I believe the drone has to be at least 100ft away from a helicopter and I would assume there would have to be some serious trust between you and the pilot to even be anywhere near them. Right?

We meet with the barge captain prior to them departing, usually during the onloading, which can take days to complete, depending on the load. Some of the process modules are hundreds of tons and just setting up the crane can take 2-3 days. The captain knows our exact flight path, where on the rover we will meet them and we keep as wide a distance between them and us as possible. we are closer to the water than the actual barge. And yes, fully insured. Be crazy not to be. This again was done with a Cesna, so a much more difficult task in comparison to a drone.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome to the forum, from Chicago the Windy City.

 

[TnDronePilot]

We meet with the barge captain prior to them departing, usually during the onloading, which can take days to complete, depending on the load. Some of the process modules are hundreds of tons and just setting up the crane can take 2-3 days. The captain knows our exact flight path, where on the rover we will meet them and we keep as wide a distance between them and us as possible. we are closer to the water than the actual barge. And yes, fully insured. Be crazy not to be. This again was done with a Cesna, so a much more difficult task in comparison to a drone.

Got it. So they're hiring you to just get footage of the event. For insurance, I was asking if they were wanting your aerial footage for their needs in case something happened, they would have your footage for an insurance claim.

 

[Pixeldawg]

Got it. So they're hiring you to just get footage of the event. For insurance, I was asking if they were wanting your aerial footage for their needs in case something happened, they would have your footage for an insurance claim.

I missed this. The footage was used for all kinds of things. Insurance, sure but also advertising, something nice to give to the clients and as a technical example of how these very large projects get to whatever point on the globe they are going to.

Cordially,

Mark