Post analysis of a recent shoot

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