Looking for advice

[R.Perry]

I just shot a video today, and I would love some opinions and advice from others.
I know my vertical transitions are a bit too fast and I'm working on correcting that.
Client wanted close up of a couple buildings.

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[Deleted member 98]

I’d edit it and use some fades where appropriate. Just my .02. Good coverage.

 

[R.Perry]

Thanks, and I do need to work on transitions.

 

[SanCap]

I would say trim out every segment that shows the camera pitching up, down, left or right including the segments when the drone is turning around to show another angle. This is not a cinematic event, the client wants to see the structure and construction. Just show the buildings with a straight movement and then transition to the next side, rotate the copter at times when coming around a corner but leave the camera pitch and yaw controls alone. Get in closer and lower, the roof is important but should not be the main view. I thought I may have seen the exposure changing on one side of the building, If it was set to auto change it to manual to avoid exposure changes. You have good solid shots there and removing the bobles of pitch and yaw changes will make it even better. I hope this helps.

 

[R.Perry]

I would say trim out every segment that shows the camera pitching up, down, left or right including the segments when the drone is turning around to show another angle. This is not a cinematic event, the client wants to see the structure and construction. Just show the buildings with a straight movement and then transition to the next side, rotate the copter at times when coming around a corner but leave the camera pitch and yaw controls alone. Get in closer and lower, the roof is important but should not be the main view. I thought I may have seen the exposure changing on one side of the building, If it was set to auto change it to manual to avoid exposure changes. You have good solid shots there and removing the bobles of pitch and yaw changes will make it even better. I hope this helps.

Thank you, On the Inspire 2 the camera rotates and the drone is always pointed in the direction of travel. I'll go though and remove the "bobles" as you recommend. Doing video is quite a learning process so I do appreciate all the advice. As of exposure I did have it set in auto, I'll try the next shoot on manual.

 

[SanCap]

Thank you, On the Inspire 2 the camera rotates and the drone is always pointed in the direction of travel. I'll go though and remove the "bobles" as you recommend. Doing video is quite a learning process so I do appreciate all the advice. As of exposure I did have it set in auto, I'll try the next shoot on manual.

You might also consider trying Spot Light Pro which is part of the go4app. It will allow you to draw a box around a certain part of the building and will automatically keep the camera pointed there allowing you to concentrate on flying. It really works well

 

[BigAl07]

I'm with @SanCap about not trying to make a Cinematic film of this project. Unless the client specifically says they want it to be "Cinematic" keep it simple yet clean. Those movements are distracting from the subject matter which is why you need to edit them out.

Transitions: Pick one "simple" one and use it if you use any. It's easy to get "Overly Creative" when you start playing with transitions and they become the focal point (viewer trying to guess which one is next etc) instead of the subject matter of the video. My wife went "Transition Crazy" for one client and it about drove ME crazy to watch it. Ever transition was different and even though they were "neat" they can take away from what we're trying to deliver to the client. Keep It Simple and allow the video to tell the story and give the DATA the client is expecting.

Do you have an filters for the camera? It's a bit over exposed and washed out... not bad but it could be a bit sharper and more pleasing. Def set the exposure on Manual as when it Auto Changes the viewer is once again taken away from the subject matter and paying attention to a change.

Playing around with camera movements (lots of practice) is the best way to get smoother and more in-tune with how/when to move the camera.

 

[R.Perry]

You might also consider trying Spot Light Pro which is part of the go4app. It will allow you to draw a box around a certain part of the building and will automatically keep the camera pointed there allowing you to concentrate on flying. It really works well

The flight is autonomous but I have a spotter manning the transmitter and I'm manning the camera transmitter. I couldn't fly this manually and do the video at the same time. I have used point of interest (POI) and you are correct, it does keep the camera focused on one area, but that also seems to become a problem, I'm unable to switch to manual camera control. The other issue is what my client wants to see verses what I believe would look good. For instance they do want to see the roofs, meaning I need to fly higher, closer on some, and that doesn't present a really cool video but the client is happy and that is the objective.

 

[R.Perry]

Transitions: Pick one "simple" one and use it if you use any. It's easy to get "Overly Creative" when you start playing with transitions and they become the focal point (viewer trying to guess which one is next etc) instead of the subject matter of the video. My wife went "Transition Crazy" for one client and it about drove ME crazy to watch it. Ever transition was different and even though they were "neat" they can take away from what we're trying to deliver to the client. Keep It Simple and allow the video to tell the story and give the DATA the client is expecting.

I did only use one transition, I have a ton available, do you recommend one type of transition over another?

Do you have an filters for the camera? It's a bit over exposed and washed out... not bad but it could be a bit sharper and more pleasing. Def set the exposure on Manual as when it Auto Changes the viewer is once again taken away from the subject matter and paying attention to a change.

Good question about filters, I have a good selection of filters for my Nikon, but not the X5, I will get a few. The original was over exposed and I did try to correct that, but obviously not well enough. They now want a weekly video so I'll be shooting the same path next week, in the mean time I'll shoot some video and work on the areas I need to correct.

Playing around with camera movements (lots of practice) is the best way to get smoother and more in-tune with how/when to move the camera.

I think my horizontal movements seem ok, but you all are right, the vertical isn't good.

Thanks all for taking the time to watch and review, it is appreciated.

 

[BigAl07]

I think with weekly shoots of the same project you're going to get very good very quickly as you can see what needs to improve from one to the next.

I don't use any "fancy" transitions for Construction tracking but some of my clients like "fancy" transitions for their projects (Real Estate, Events, etc).

 

[aerialimagery]

IMHO you should just use straight cuts 99% of the time regardless of the subject. Transitions, especially fancy ones, draw attention to themselves and away from the subject, and once again IMHO, scream, "AMATEUR."

 

[R.Perry]

IMHO you should just use straight cuts 99% of the time regardless of the subject. Transitions, especially fancy ones, draw attention to themselves and away from the subject, and once again IMHO, scream, "AMATEUR."

As for video you have amateur correct. I've just never dove into doing video so this is a learning process for me. I have a young man from the college that just passed his 107 and is working with me as an observer, will probably become my replacement, so we are both learning together.
This last year and eight months has been a tremendous learning experience, both in construction and construction documentation, wish I was twenty years younger.

You think I should drop the transitions, when I watch the video without transitions it seems to abrupt, should I fade it out and in, or just bang from one clip to the next?

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Here's my 2 cents....

• First thing I noticed was pan and tilt control is manual (you mentioned that; a bit jerky and distracting). Might want to consider that "Hangar Autopilot" app we spoke about a few weeks ago; makes the camera lock-on to one specific point and "stare" at that one point - automatically turning - all while running a pre-programmed route. You can shift focal point and different junctures throughout the route.
• Slow the drone down by at least 50%. Don't rush...
• Popular saying: "A good video is at least 50% audio"... in this case music - even if it's a construction vid. Clients love it. Add music to compliment the content.
• Try shortening the clips just a bit (makes it more engaging/less boring). Sometimes more is not better. Use just the steady/smooth clips and cut the rest.
• In general, increase your altitude. I realize the client specified close-up, but I think this is a little too close/cramped. You can always zoom-in in post-production if necessary, especially if you capture in 4K.
• Might want to add company logo would be a nice touch. They will like you for voluntarily doing that.
• I concur on transitions.

 

[R.Perry]

Here's my 2 cents....

• First thing I noticed was pan and tilt control is manual (you mentioned that; a bit jerky and distracting). Might want to consider that "Hangar Autopilot" app we spoke about a few weeks ago; makes the camera lock-on to one specific point and "stare" at that one point - automatically turning - all while running a pre-programmed route. You can shift focal point and different junctures throughout the route.
• Slow the drone down by at least 50%. Don't rush...
• Popular saying: "A good video is at least 50% audio"... in this case music - even if it's a construction vid. Clients love it. Add music to compliment the content.
• Try shortening the clips just a bit (makes it more engaging/less boring). Sometimes more is not better. Use just the steady/smooth clips and cut the rest.
• In general, increase your altitude. I realize the client specified close-up, but I think this is a little too close/cramped. You can always zoom-in in post-production if necessary, especially if you capture in 4K.
• Might want to add company logo would be a nice touch. They will like you for voluntarily doing that.
• I concur on transitions.

I have considered autopilot and just might try it out. Problem I have with slowing down is the client wants full coverage in the least amount of time, I'm currently flying at 18-20 mph. He also wants the smallest file size because they sent the video to several people. So I shoot at 1080 with a 30fps. I agree the closeness it a bit much but client liked it. I suppose I could shorten the clips a bit.
I have had no complaints from my client, other than file size. We just started shooting video there a few months ago.
Company logo probably a good idea.

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[mdurbanek]

Without knowing the scope of the mission, my only suggestion is to pre-plan each subject using waypoints.

When waypoint flying (shooting landscapes or structures) the drone does a marvelous job of smoothly transitioning direction and altitude from point to point. The PIC is able to concentrate on the framing for each point. Then you sit back and let the drone fly itself. The sUAS’ autopilot flies much more smoothly than I do.

There’s an argument that this is more time consuming and chews up more batteries. But I think it’s worth the planning effort for a more predictable result. Finally, while flying the actual waypoint mission the PIC is able to be a better observer.

 

[R.Perry]

Without knowing the scope of the mission, my only suggestion is to pre-plan each subject using waypoints.

When waypoint flying (shooting landscapes or structures) the drone does a marvelous job of smoothly transitioning direction and altitude from point to point. The PIC is able to concentrate on the framing for each point. Then you sit back and let the drone fly itself. The sUAS’ autopilot flies much more smoothly than I do.

There’s an argument that this is more time consuming and chews up more batteries. But I think it’s worth the planning effort for a more predictable result. Finally, while flying the actual waypoint mission the PIC is able to be a better observer.

That is what I do, the entire flight is autonomous. As I said I do have my observier manning the master controller and I use the camera controller. The next video I shoot this week will be the exact same flight path. I also have a small time window to shoot this because I need to plan the flight while construction people are on break, at least most of them are. The flight path is stet by the client, they tell me what they want to see then I enter the flight, test fly it once if it is a new path, then shoot it with an observer. I'm going to attempt to put these suggestions into practice this week.
Thanks for the response.

 

[mdurbanek]

That is what I do, the entire flight is autonomous. As I said I do have my observier manning the master controller and I use the camera controller. The next video I shoot this week will be the exact same flight path. I also have a small time window to shoot this because I need to plan the flight while construction people are on break, at least most of them are. The flight path is stet by the client, they tell me what they want to see then I enter the flight, test fly it once if it is a new path, then shoot it with an observer. I'm going to attempt to put these suggestions into practice this week.
Thanks for the response.

I can see what your intent is...I was trying to say that if you set your waypoints after you frame each shot, the drone transitions the camera’s zoom, tilt and altitude pretty smoothly - much better that I can do it manually.

The idea is to reframe the subject compositionally at each waypoint and the machine will do the rest.

It probably doesn’t matter as much in these early stages. But as the project comes together and you further refine the subject matter you can more accurately frame each segment to make more of a cinematic presentation - almost automatically.

Good luck RP, you’re on the right path.I hope to see the finished product!

 

[GadgetGuy]

In addition to the other constructive comments, I am seeing a lot of frame judder from your turns. Since you are shooting in 1080p anyway, consider increasing the frame rate to 60fps or even 120fps to smooth out the turns.

 

[R.Perry]

In addition to the other constructive comments, I am seeing a lot of frame judder from your turns. Since you are shooting in 1080p anyway, consider increasing the frame rate to 60fps or even 120fps to smooth out the turns.

I"m shooting at 30 fps because the client complains about the file size. The first video I shot, I shot at 4k and he didn't like it because of the file size. You point is well taken though.

 

[SanCap]

I"m shooting at 30 fps because the client complains about the file size. The first video I shot, I shot at 4k and he didn't like it because of the file size. You point is well taken though.

You could try shooting at 2.7K at 60 FPS and downsize to 1080 for the client.