Wasn’t sure where to put this but here goes. There are a couple of things I want to video and would like to record the sound on the drone at the same time.
Would something like a DJI mic plugged into the drone work? I realise it would be pretty memory intensive but…
Please be gentle, I’m an idiot who is still trying to work out how to edit and upload a backlog of footage. I’m promising myself I’ll get it done over the winter 
What sounds are you hoping to record @WhiteIsle ?
If you think how loud the props on a drone are from 50m away, imagine how loud they’ll be from a microphone placed just 5cm away 
This 
My ears are bleeding already 
Be better in manual
Fair enough, point made. Either record separately or download something a add in post.
It might be possible if someone ever devised a filter for the frequencies at which prop-noise occurs, but until that happens there seems to be no method of recording live sound from a drone that will not consist of everyting being drowned out by the whirr of prop-noise; you would need to provide a post-editing soundtrack.
And that’s a whole different art-form. For stereo you would have to ‘position’ appropriate sounds on the accoustic sound stage, and adjust the volume to create a realistic impression based on how loud they are at source and their distance & bearing from the drone. General city noise for urban landscapes might be fairly effective, but anything more than that will probably be too complex for most of us; me certainly!
Interesting question, though!
You still haven’t said what you’d like to have recorded @WhiteIsle 
Voice clips on mobile phone, just need to make sure drone is out of esrshot
Was looking into this recently – tested quite a bit with my DJI Action 2 cam and sound is not very good tbh - loads of wind noise and normal mics do not handle well the change of dynamics so you end up with quite a few cut outs / clipping.
I read there are now ‘mini 32-bit float recorders’ that can handle those conditions pretty well - this model received high praises but seems to have been sold out.
It would be awesome to capture the background from where the drone is flying, minus the drone sounds itself, but until it is something DJI release I will continue to use fee SFX and match them to the footage, its another part of the editing process, and tbh works well.
I do sometimes use my OSMO Poket3 to record video of the scenery, with sound attached, so sometimes this means you can use the recording as SFX and match it to the footage… I did that on the recent Scotland trip footage a fair few times…
I believe the Neo allows you to record sound on your phone while flying the drone. The clever software eliminates the sound of the props…for an example Youtube example…
To start with there’s a couple of waterfalls I hope to film this year, one is the Grey Mares tail, 60 meters top to bottom apparently there is a vortex around the 3rd and 4th cascades that eats drones 
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The other is a very pretty little fall at Rutin Bridge and is close but tricky, tight, rocky and heavily wooded.
In time I’d also like to film the whole of Crichope Linn but that’ll be a hell of a venture and will take loads of planning and editing to complete but there is a very scenic waterfall at the top it’s a sod to get to and I’m not sure I’m up to it. I did actually walk/clamber the whole of the Linn it about 40 years ago very hard going and dangerous in places even then but quite spectacular in places. I may never get it done but I can dream.
Grey Mares Tail is good to fly however, make sure to apply for permission from NTS in advance, I flew my AIR3 and AVATA1 there in October 2024, got some cracking footage…
Don’t think I had any wind issues on that flight, although it was a windy day, I managed to get both the AIR3 and AVATA1 in nice and close 
As for SFX check out Pixabay, lots of free sound that can be used and edited to fit…
I was speaking to the ranger there and it was he that said a few drones had been lost in that area, I think it must just depend on which way the wind is blowing and having looked at the site I can understand how it could set up some interesting conditions
Yes, when we are flying we want environment noise, rather than drone noise, and that is best recorded on location when the drone is grounded and not making any noise itself.
You don’t need specialist equipment to do it, though if you have a stereo field recorder with adequate wind baffling that will obviously do a superior job to an app on a phone, but TBH, the app on the phone works absolutely fine once mixed in with soundtrack and foley elements.
The more difficult thing is getting clean source audio for traveling shots, where the character, tone, and relative volume of environmental elements changes, for example as a drone approaches a waterfall or volcano. What I do in these circumstances is cheat, and simply make a near and far recording of each disparate element, and then fade them up and down in post as the drone becomes more proximal to each feature. It’s a lot of faffing about TBH, and fairly sure only about 10% of viewers notice or appreciate it, so it’s arguable whether the extra effort is worth it !
I have a great list of ambiences in my library, including everything from blustery general wind noise to
lake-side captures, park soundscapes, town bustling, leaves rustling, water flowing, church bells ringing, dogs barking etc, all of which can be persuaded to work together with enough time and attention thrown at them… As much as I hate it, AI can help generate ambiences that it would be more difficult to capture in real time. Useful for distant war cries / crowd noises etc…
