Can I find paid work learning 2D/3D mapping or roofing? M2Pro

NicknMorty · Jun 9, 2022

Thank god I found this forum!! Researching drone information has been a nightmare for me it's either "You need to spend money and buy this drone course!" or 2-year-old information from old blog posts. I'm hoping to learn if there is any real or steady paid work on learning 2d/3d mapping and modeling for construction sites or if there are other areas I should try cold calling to try and find work by helping solve problems with my drone.

I just upgraded to a Mavic 2 Pro and purchased a course on Drone Launch Academy on Drone Mapping and Modeling Fundamentals. In the past, I have flown on construction sites (for photography practice) and the construction companies have told me they wanted to hire an in-house drone guy but couldn't for x, y, or z reasons. However, they couldn't think of what tasks they wanted the drone to do or what problems the drone would solve. So I don't know if 2d/3d mapping or modeling would benefit them or if they just don't know how helpful it can be. I have contacts with a blueprint drafting company, but I don't know if I can add value to them with 2d/3d modeling either.

So I'm wondering if any of you Awesome Commercial Drone Pilots have any knowledge on if there is any paid work in this area or should I focus on something else? I am in California, so I am not allowed to do measurements with an RTK Phantom 4 pro, because I am not a licensed surveyor.

On the roofing side...
I kept hearing about drone roofing inspections, but the roofing companies I have called all do free estimates for their clients, so there is no money to pay me. Also, I think roofers use some kind of google earth software for roof measurements so there is no need for drone measurements. I bought a drone Roofing Course and now regret it, but at the same time, I wonder if I am doing something wrong here on the roofing side. Not afraid to make 100 calls if anyone has suggestions for me on where to aim for work with roofing companies. I was hoping to do solar work with my Mavic 2 Pro, but I think I need the more expensive thermal camera.

The plan to find future paying work...
I am practicing my first 2d/ 3d map this Sunday on one of my friend's construction sites. I plan to give the project owners and the construction company the 2d/ 3d maps for free and do weekly progress reports for a while. I'm hoping that it solves some problems for them and they'll want to hire me for future work. However, I don't know if this is another pipe dream (like the Roofing Course I spent time money and energy on only to find out no one wants it.)

I don't mind working for free to show how the drone service can help them out in some way. However, I can't afford to lose more time and money like I did on the Drone Roofing Course. DroneDeploy software is $300-$500 a month and I'd be locked in for a year. I know they have a $99 a month, but that doesn't include counting or measuring stockpile service which I think is important for construction sites, (again not sure if this is another pipe dream service. Pay more for the software service to offer the construction companies something they don't need and won't pay for).

My background is in film and tv (reach out if you want to pick my brain on anything in the industry). I tried getting into this line of work, but the permitting is very expensive even to build a city reel. Film permitting is a nightmare in California. It's $250 for just the film permit (depending on the city) and I can't pond 5 the footage unless it's been permitted. I can't even afford to build a drone reel resume with all the red tape of city film permits. I purchased one of Alex Harris's courses, which has a lot of great info, but his advice of "just build a town reel" is expensive in just getting permits. Otherwise, I would have hit up all of my old film contacts and started to find work in the industry.

If anyone has any first-hand knowledge, tips, suggestions, or experience I would love your take. Be as harsh as you need to be if I have been doing things wrong. I have a thick skin and will really appreciate your feedback and advice. I don't know anyone who flies a drone so information and knowledge have been very slow and now costly for me to obtain.

Thanks for hearing me out.

airpreneur · Jun 10, 2022

Unfortunately I’m in much the same boat as you in large part so I can’t help with your questions but I’ll turn around and ask you to elaborate on one of your points: what’s the threshold for needing filming permits? That’s not something that has even occurred to me. Surely I don’t need permits simply to put together an informal demo video on YouTube?

Snowghost · Jun 10, 2022

Somebody was looking for some drone video and photos on Hollywood Blvd, for less than $100 IIRC. That notwithstanding, how much would a permit be for something like that? Sure wouldn't be worth the trouble for that kind of pay.

NicknMorty · Jun 10, 2022

airpreneur said:
Unfortunately I’m in much the same boat as you in large part so I can’t help with your questions but I’ll turn around and ask you to elaborate on one of your points: what’s the threshold for needing filming permits? That’s not something that has even occurred to me. Surely I don’t need permits simply to put together an informal demo video on YouTube?

Hi, I don't know if I am too overly cautious because of my background of always needing written permissions for insurance purposes, avoiding lawsuits, and or getting fired if you were the company was sued because I wasn't thorough enough. You don't want to film, use the footage and then get a lawsuit and have it pulled down. For a reel, I doubt you would have all these hurdles though.

From what I have researched if you have any kind of commercial ads when showing your reel on youtube OR (here's the kicker) if you are promoting Yourself... Then you are filming for commercial purposes and need a permit. What are you trying to film? This could depend on your city ordinances though. Some might be lenient. I think the only threat you would have is that you would have to pull your video down so you might be fine, but do some research and let me know what you find.

I was trying to film footage I could license out to try and generate some income. I researched what sales on youtube and nature videos which are easier to film don't really pick up a lot of business. So I thought I would film city time-lapse videos. Then, came the problems. Well, you need to ask businesses for permission to fly on their lots, you can't fly over people. People's faces and business names can't be identified on your video otherwise you would need written permission from them to be able to license out your footage. etc. Otherwise, they can pull the footage or companies won't be interested in your footage if you don't have those written permissions.

Same issues for when I tried to build a film reel. I approached student filmers and offered to film footage B footage or a shot they would like to have in their film. And wow here we go again, can't fly over people, good luck flying following this actor in this car while driving down the road in a city/town. Can't show the names of businesses on buildings and or nearby people's faces. If they are on the film and the film is on youtube for ads or to be sold in the future. Then you need to get a lot of written permissions. Film permits cost the student filmer $X amount plus all the written permissions they need. They felt like the hassle wasn't worth the cost and time needed to fly and film the shots.

Now, you can still go through all of it, and odds are you will be ok, but I didn't want to work with students and then have their project threatened if they couldn't sell or monetize it later because of the work I contributed.

This has been my experience again maybe I am too paranoid or you guys have done similar work with no issues. Please let me know if I am missing something and I can do these jobs. Just out of curiosity what have been your experiences? and What have you worked on in the past?

NicknMorty · Jun 10, 2022

Snowghost said:
Somebody was looking for some drone video and photos on Hollywood Blvd, for less than $100 IIRC. That notwithstanding, how much would a permit be for something like that? Sure wouldn't be worth the trouble for that kind of pay.

Hi, depending on the city the film permit could be $200+, but sometimes they want you to have hired cops to block roads or, people to block of streets. You might need written permissions from any businesses that have the names clearly in the video. If people are in the video you need their permission. I elaborated on this in another message on this thread if you would like to check it out.

Also, you might be required to have $2 million dollars of insurance, etc., etc., etc.

I was dumbfounded by how much red tape there was in trying to just build a reel. The better way to go about it is to reach out to the person and say I'll film for the $100, but you will have to pay for the permitting, insurance, and permissions needed. Sometimes they'll think of alternative shots that save the trouble. Drop me a line if you need help with this in the future.

Do you work commercially with your drone? If so what do you do?

R.Perry · Jun 10, 2022

Nick, a close friend of mine granddaughter graduated from the film academy in Monterey about three years ago. She also now has her 107 license and I'm told she is making very good money and doing a fair amount of drone work for the movie or TV industry. My personal opinion is for someone with the knowledge and experience the film industry seems like it might be a much better options for prolonged employment.
As for construction it is tough to get your foot in the door. You mentioned drone deploy and it is excellent, but the 99 a month isn't worth it, it won't give your clients the data they need. What found most want pile and volume reports, able to download to CAD. They also like panos. The larger the project the better the chances are of getting some work.
Roof reports aren't worth it. I had a home inspection business and used the drone for exterior roof inspection because I got tired of climbing on roofs, actually too old for it.

Satoshi N. · Jun 10, 2022

Hey NIckandMorty,

If you really want to earn a living working as a drone pilot full time I would suggest that you go on Indeed and start applying to some of the posted jobs that you think you are qualified for. I worked for a surveying and civil engineering company as one of their drone pilots flying a large drone with a LiDAR sensor to scan construction sites before the buildings are built...i.e. just the ground. That's what surveying is for. I learned how to fly this 55lb. drone and use the LiDAR data to create TOPO maps that the actual licensed surveyors could use in CAD for their projects. Don't try to do this kind of work on your own. The drone and LiDAR that I flew cost $200k+ plus all the software you need to process the data is hundreds of dollars a month. So the moral of my story is...work for a company and let them spend the 300-400k you would need to do the same work. I was hired with absolutely no construction or surveying experience...they will teach you what you need to know to do the job!

Just something to think about.

NicknMorty · Jun 11, 2022

R.Perry said:
Nick, a close friend of mine granddaughter graduated from the film academy in Monterey about three years ago. She also now has her 107 license and I'm told she is making very good money and doing a fair amount of drone work for the movie or TV industry. My personal opinion is for someone with the knowledge and experience the film industry seems like it might be a much better options for prolonged employment.
As for construction it is tough to get your foot in the door. You mentioned drone deploy and it is excellent, but the 99 a month isn't worth it, it won't give your clients the data they need. What found most want pile and volume reports, able to download to CAD. They also like panos. The larger the project the better the chances are of getting some work.
Roof reports aren't worth it. I had a home inspection business and used the drone for exterior roof inspection because I got tired of climbing on roofs, actually too old for it.

Hello sir,
Originally that was the path I was trying to learn and grow in. When I reached out to my old film school, friends, teachers, and mentors no one worked with drones. If they did it was with one company or person once years ago. Also, I think anyone who did work with drones, didn't want to teach their craft because I think they feared future competition from me. Which, I understand. I think the film industry is getting smaller and work has been very competitive for my friends still in the industry.

When I tried to build a drone reel, one city wanted me to pay $250 for a film permit, hire police officers to block off the roads, have millions of dollars and insurance, and on top of that, I would have needed written permissions from all the businesses that would have been in the shot. If I didn't have the permissions. I wouldn't have been able to license the footage and or put it up on youtube because the video would have fallen into the category of commercial use because I was advertising myself lol.

I wanted to reach out to all the film students I can easily meet and start filming them for free, but I couldn't get passed the red tape. If they were filming out in the desert (which they usually don't have the budget to house, feed, and film in those far-out areas.) Then I could do more for them.

I'm still networking and talking with people who film in the hopes that something can work out. If anything I am learning all the things I can't do. Once I learn what I can do I can focus hard on that niche.

I'm happy to hear that she is getting steady work, I'll look up that area to see what I can learn!

Thank you for replying!
Nick