Thanks Steve, all home taught on flying and video editing - but with a background as a PPL and simulator flier, plus a background in stills digital photography… The only training I have done is my A2CofC, to allow me to fly my larger drones closer in…
AIR3 is awesome, I can only imagine how good the AIR3S is…
As to learning, watch my stuff and other creators that you find hit the spot, see what hey do, then try and replicate it… I do a lot of panning orbits, with added forward and backwards or height changes, and some gimbal and zoom changes, takes time to coordinate, but when you get it, it just clicks,…
Do check out the EGR610 times for low flying aircraft, as bringing down a Typhoon or F35 wouldnt be a good way to end your flight…
Good luck - they’d be fools not to want some of that.
Of course there are other possibilities too; e.g. Hotel chains in Scotland … in fact any business that has a “scottish” web site . Have you considered putting some footage (I’m old school and call video “footage”), on one of the video for sale web sites.
Not only are the shots so good you ave also managed to capture brilliant sunshine which, as you know, can be difficult to find at some times of the year !!
Thank you again, Suzanne. There’s a lot to go at isn’t there? Is it worth doing an A2 CofC?
We’re going to Perth, Western Australia & Hong Kong in October so I should be much better at the videography side by then
I was hoping to get more practice in since I treated myself to this drone back before last Christmas but the weather has just been too wet so I’m really looking forward to spring and summer when I can get out with it more.
I will definitely check out the EGR610 times, thank you for the heads-up.
A2 CofC allows you to fly larger drones in closer, which works for both my AIR3 and my AVATA’s, the AVATA’s I can fly up to - but not over people - and the IR3 comes closer in, so 50m instead of 150m, makes a huge difference for me, but you have to decide for yourself…
Lots of time between now and October, so once the weather is flyable, then get out and fly, start with just familiarising yourself, and doing figures and box exercises, then try filming simple things - orbits and flying forwards, then more complex moves… It takes time to lose the nervousness, I would say a good 6 to 12 months of flying, but even now I still have nerves at times…
Have a look and see if there are any meet-ups locally, r organise one, folks will often spend some time helping one another
I am wondering about buying a DJI Air 3s. The diminutive Mini 4 pro is versatile and very handy from a legal standpoint but the camera isn’t quite what I 'd like. I see from your reply to another poster that you use an Air 3. Seeing the quality of your film that A2 CofC exam might the way forward.
Lol, half the footage on that reel was captured with a MINI3Pro, a bit with the AVATA1 and the rest with the AIR3, each drone has its forte, all depends on what you want to film, and much as it pains me to say, the quality achieved is perhaps only 50% of the equation, the MINI4 Pro is a very capable drone, the AIR3 is a step up in quality, but its more how it is used that matters… The Calaish footage was filmed with a MINI3 Pro, the Waterfalls were filmed with a MINI3 Pro, the wet days in Glencoe and the Rannoch moor were all MINI3Pro… The AIR3 will give you the option to use the tele lens, and a slight quality improvement, but its main benefit is wind resistance and being able to see it further away, allowing you to fly further away. Just changing the drone - or adding a second drone - won’t automatically make your videos better…
As a lot of the comparisons say the differences between the 3/4 and the Air 3 are subtle. I totally agree. I’m not a gear freak. I tend to want the best out of what I can afford but within the realms of my abilities!! I know someone with an Air 3s who films and shoots commercially. The results he gets are what I aspire to. Low light, backlighting and high-contrast scenes are my thing and the Air 3s seems to favour these tasks, with a higher dynamic range.
As you’ve progressed have you found yourself wanting more from the drones, or are you happy with the status quo? Do you shoots stills much?
Lol, yeah, it was cold, wet and windy, with drizzle, just possible to fly enough to capture what was seen and this was on the way back from the holidays…
Air 3S is a definite upgrade over the MINI’s and AIR3, but I cant justify sending more £ on new drones yet… My next one will probably be a MINI5 Pro, when it comes out… I would love a MAVIC4 Pro, but cant justify spending money I haven’t got on a drone that will replace my AIR3 yet, as the AI3 is only 14 months old itself…
ATM we are trying to pay the mortgage off early, then to pay both the cars off early and get some extra savings together for our Scotland move, which I am hoping will be in about 5 years time - 4 years before I officially retire and get my govt pension, so new drones are sadly only a necessity when we need to replace one that is reaching the end of its life or an opportunity for a bargain arises…
I have not used my drones for photography, I am happy enough shooting video…
Thanks for your reply. I have done a bit of research into this. We have a 40" HDTV and we find 1080p quite adequate for this. Watching 4K in Currys on a similar sized TV looks odd and excessively sharp. The forums seems to state that a 65-70 " TV is about right for 4K.
So why do we have to upload at 4K to youtube ? Why does not uploading at HD come out as HD ? I have just tried 4K at 60fps on the mini2 but find it is not completely smooth, not quick enough for it I suspect, but the quality is better.
I suspect the DJI 3 drones are very much better at video, that is why Suzanne’s look so good.
Because the 4K upload is encoded using a better codec with a high bitrate. So uploading a 1080p video as 4K will force YT to encode it on their side in a better format than if you just upload a straight 1080p video.
I only found out about this through Digital Foundry who do video game graphics analysis. Silly nerds.
so I’m really looking forward to spring and summer when I can get out with it more.
