1st ever mini-documentary shot entirely on P2V+

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Folks,

I'm thinking this is one of the first "production" shorts (which isn't an ad for the device) filmed entirely with a P2V+. That said, I'm clearly not a professional...

I shot this over the course of about 24 hours, mainly on April 22nd. I'm flying the P2V+ in all shots (excluding the hover shots, technically), while also driving the tractor. The tractor has AutoTrac (GPS steering to sub-inch accuracy), which meant I could fly the P2V+ on each pass - usually getting 10 - 14 minutes before having to leave it hovering to turn the tractor around. Since I was planting the entire day, this wouldn't have been possible without extra batteries. (and a spare prop after one minor incident)

I'm hoping to get some great footage throughout the growing season, including harvest this Fall. I get asked a lot of questions about farming from my friends and colleagues, so I thought they might enjoy this video. Hopefully you guys like the footage as well.

Thanks,

Howard
 
Last edited:
hwb2107 said:
Folks,

I'm thinking this is one of the first "production" shorts (which isn't an ad for the device) filmed entirely with a P2V+. That said, I'm clearly not a professional...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVIz-DUxAMQ[/youtube]

I shot this over the course of about 24 hours, mainly on April 22nd. I'm flying the P2V+ in all shots (excluding the hover shots, technically), while also driving the tractor. The tractor has AutoTrac (GPS steering to sub-inch accuracy), which meant I could fly the P2V+ on each pass - usually getting 10 - 14 minutes before having to leave it hovering to turn the tractor around. Since I was planting the entire day, this wouldn't have been possible without extra batteries. (and a spare prop after one minor incident)

I'm hoping to get some great footage throughout the growing season, including harvest this Fall. I get asked a lot of questions about farming from my friends and colleagues, so I thought they might enjoy this video. Hopefully you guys like the footage as well.

Thanks,

Howard
That is amazing! Great job! Looks awesome! May I ask what video editing software you used? It really does look professional.
 
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. I learned that it's difficult to use the highlight / shadow effect on overlapping clips when also fading (so I did every clip manually with RGB sliders) and I also prefer to do all fades manually. Used Adobe Audition for some of the sound effects editing.
 
hwb2107 said:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. I learned that it's difficult to use the highlight / shadow effect on overlapping clips when also fading (so I did every clip manually with RGB sliders) and I also prefer to do all fades manually. Used Adobe Audition for some of the sound effects editing.
sweet, is it difficult to learn? I haven't used that software before.
 
srandall25 said:
hwb2107 said:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. I learned that it's difficult to use the highlight / shadow effect on overlapping clips when also fading (so I did every clip manually with RGB sliders) and I also prefer to do all fades manually. Used Adobe Audition for some of the sound effects editing.
sweet, is it difficult to learn? I haven't used that software before.

It can be difficult - depends on your existing familiarity with video editing, as well as other Adobe products.

The 3 minute clip you saw didn't use highly sophisticated techniques. I've never taken any classes - self taught, so it's certainly not impossible!
 
Spectacular!

If you hired out the VO work, you could traffic it to festivals. I can send you some referrals if you're interested.
 
photomikey said:
Spectacular!

If you hired out the VO work, you could traffic it to festivals. I can send you some referrals if you're interested.

Thank you!! And I agree, my voice isn't exactly documentary worthy.

We have a great person we've used for a few videos before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeL6nbW8A3g

It would come off a little less personal though. Regardless, great suggestion and thank you again!
 
Well done Howard!
We look forward to see the entire season coming together though the eye of your P2V+ :)
 
One of the best Phantom videos I have seen for a long time. I thought your voice over was great. I believe people would much rather hear the farmer rather than some silky voice who is just reading a script. I am not in the film industry though so what the heck do I know.

How did the phantom cope with the dust during the closeup follow?

Good work. I would be really proud if I had made that.
 
HarleyRed said:
Very nice Howard.
People do need to know where their food comes from !

Thanks HarleyRed! I'm hoping to work with some USDA folks here in Nebraska to continue raising awareness.
 
4wd said:
I've been trying to summon courage to control the quad alongside or circling while driving the tractors too, good to see it is possible.

Absolutely do it! Here's a hint: the easiest and best way to practice is on yourself. Go out to a park and just start walking. Get used to doing the 360s while keeping the camera focused on yourself as your moving. That helped me a lot when the tine came. I've got tons (like over 60 mins) of additional footage from that day, including some additional spectacular 360s at sunset. They just couldn't make it into the 3 min version.
 

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