In the last blog I discussed how I approached a shoot. Its now time to look at how it went, what I learnt and what I can share with you.
So it went mostly ok. The big issue that has cropped up is I shot the drone footage in 30p (my personal preference) but my client who did the ground based video shots used 25p and it turns out trying to get them both into the same production is a pain in the ass. So tip 1: ask your client what frame rate they need to work in and use that. The next issue is I assumed I would be able to use Litchi, but in fact because it the section of the warehouse we shot in was very deep under roof, there was no GPS and Litchi went out the window. Tip 2: If you plan to use Litchi make sure you will have GPS Luckily I shot with the P4 Pro and its very stable indoors even without GPS and therefore I could fly very comfortably. The client asked me to do some very low shots, like 2 feet off the floor and look up at this giant contraption as I flew past it - great idea except for the huge amount of dust that got blown up: Tip 3: If the floor is very dusty wet it down first I then decided to use Tapfly to shoot some smooth Flyby shots. The problem is that you cannot disable obstacle sensing in Tapfly, so when I got near this giant object the obstacle sensors went nuts and the drone slowed down and I lost that smooth continuous momentum. Tip 4: When using Tapfly remember you can't disable obstacle avoidance and therefore obstacles will cause you to slow down or stop Then I took the risk of flying through this giant metal hollowed out tube as the client wanted a fly-through shot. Flying through a metal object is a very bad idea as on the first occasion it went fine but the second time the compass went nuts and I started drifting and lost control but luckily got out without a crash. Tip 5: avoid flying through anything that can badly throw your compass especially when the money you are making from the job does not justify taking risks Then the client walked with me as we did several shots and he kept looking at the drone and I kept saying look at the monitor: Tip 6: tell the client to look at the screen so he can be sure he is happy with the shot. And remind them during the shot. Well it was an interesting shoot and I wish I could show you the footage but its a very hush hush project and I am not allowed to. I hope my tips help you out and please share or comment on this as much as you like
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I have a shoot tomorrow of a gigantic piece of industrial machinery and after having done a site inspection I sat back and visualized the shots I think I can get (safety is key as crashing inside a poorly lit warehouse is a risk). So I decided to make a short video showing you my shot checklist and the reasoning behind it. I hope you enjoy. I am not sure if you have seen this video (scroll down). It is a wake-up call for all drone pilots. This poor lady crashed an Inspire into the side of a boat and then into the sea. I posted this on the Phantom Filmschool Facebook Group and I got reactions from many students. some of the students are seasoned sailors and gave good advice for trying to land on a boat. The main moral of the story for me is not following basics. and by that I mean ALWAYS taking off and landing in forward orientation and not reverse orientation. It is obvious to me in this video that this pilot would have had a much better chance of a safe landing if she was flying in forward orientation. The reason for this is simple. When landing your drone manually your brain is managing many things. Wind, weather conditions, bystanders and the noise of the drone and its proximity to you can increase your adrenal levels. Then add a moving boat and an expensive drone into the picture and adrenal levels go right up. Then do this in reverse and your brain is just about overloaded. By landing facing forwards this would have been tricky but doable. As always keep it simple and practice the basics so when you panic you have rehearsed what to do Happy flying Laurence Here is a tutorial on how to use titles in Premier Pro. I hope this helps improve your video editing. If you’re really serious about video editing to get great professional looking results then the next step would be to sign up for Phantom Filmschool 2 which has a few great videos on video editing such as:
These lectures will show you how to make your videos pop with color and wow your audience! At only $32 it’s the tiniest investment you can make and still have a realistic expectation of results. So get it now while you can at less 20%: http://courses.phantomfilmschool.com/courses/phantom-filmschool-2?coupon=1pfs2less20 This price won’t be available much longer, so I would grab your copy now while it’s still fresh in your mind. |
AuthorI am the founder of the online series of courses called Phantom Filmschool Archives
May 2018
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