Brand new to everything!

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Hello all, as the title states im new to everything. Ive just got my first quad copter (P3P) and just started getting into Video Editing. To that end, I would appreciate it if you could take a look at the video at the link below - this was only my second flight, and the first time using Adobe Premiere Pro. I'm looking for any constructive criticism on, well, everything. Flying, camera angles, camera settings, video editing etc etc. Thank you all in advance.

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We have a photo and video section on the forum. The P3 section is clogged enough. Thanks
Now come on, is that any way to treat a new member:(

Welcome Adam. We have a photo and video section on the forum!:p
 
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Thanks guys. No idea what he means as well, I originally placed it in the General Discussion section as it includes everything!
 
Thanks guys. No idea what he means as well, I originally placed it in the General Discussion section as it includes everything!

Welcome to the party Adam,

You will get it all here, good and bad. Keep what you want and ignore the rest. One of the worst things you can do is engage someone who just wants to banter.

There are 3 very helpful links in my signature which can help you get what you want from your Phantom.
The first helps you find what you are looking for without having to post and wait;
the second provides information which will help you be a good poster and a better member;
and the last is to DJI WIKI, where many of your answers are.

Hope we help you and you enjoy your time here. :D

EDIT: Your video looks great to me.
 
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I have a few recommendations:

1) Don't rotate....pretty much ever, keep all shots panning shots (left to right or vice versa), overflights, reverse overflights, rising shots, and camera pan down shots. There's a few others but circling around an object is very hard to do properly and even when it's done properly (think concentric circle perfect focus on target object) most people get a little motion sick after a few seconds.

2) To keep the audience's interest keep it fast paced, I know there wasn't much there to work with, but some fast overlights of the swingset, reverse overflights of the playset, rising shots after a fast low flight to the ground then up over the fence. etc etc.

3) Pick a singe transition for the most part. I saw a flash transition, cross fade transitions, and some with no transition.

4) Try not to edit clips as you approach a subject then have to cut out a part of the same approach. If you have a part you can't use on the same approach, just shorten the approach clip and leave it at that. Or split the clip in two and use the rest of it somewhere else. Otherwise it looks like the video skipped a couple of frames because not much changed.

5) A good shot is also a rising shot with the camera panning down at just the right speed to keep the target object center frame, you could have used that on the central playset.

Certainly not trying to be critical, but you asked for feedback and hopefully I've been helpful.

One thing that will really help you if you are truly serious about making some great footage and videos is to start analyzing every aerial Hollywood scene when you watch movies. I almost hate how much I focus on their lighting, direction of travel, transitions, etc. because I barely enjoy the movie itself.
 
I have a few recommendations:

1) Don't rotate....pretty much ever, keep all shots panning shots (left to right or vice versa), overflights, reverse overflights, rising shots, and camera pan down shots. There's a few others but circling around an object is very hard to do properly and even when it's done properly (think concentric circle perfect focus on target object) most people get a little motion sick after a few seconds.

2) To keep the audience's interest keep it fast paced, I know there wasn't much there to work with, but some fast overlights of the swingset, reverse overflights of the playset, rising shots after a fast low flight to the ground then up over the fence. etc etc.

3) Pick a singe transition for the most part. I saw a flash transition, cross fade transitions, and some with no transition.

4) Try not to edit clips as you approach a subject then have to cut out a part of the same approach. If you have a part you can't use on the same approach, just shorten the approach clip and leave it at that. Or split the clip in two and use the rest of it somewhere else. Otherwise it looks like the video skipped a couple of frames because not much changed.

5) A good shot is also a rising shot with the camera panning down at just the right speed to keep the target object center frame, you could have used that on the central playset.

Certainly not trying to be critical, but you asked for feedback and hopefully I've been helpful.

One thing that will really help you if you are truly serious about making some great footage and videos is to start analyzing every aerial Hollywood scene when you watch movies. I almost hate how much I focus on their lighting, direction of travel, transitions, etc. because I barely enjoy the movie itself.

I wish I could "LIKE" your post twice.
Thanks for the info.
 
@herein, that was all fantastic. Thank you for the advice. Will start practising all you have said tomorrow.

Could you also recommend any kind of good shots for a moving subject (I'm thinking dog if you want to be specific).

Thank you too iflyinWY, I'll start researching tonight.
 
Must be wild hair week over there in missouri. Welcome to the forum Adam
 
Hi Adam,

I see you are also from Surrey - we're fortunate in that we have a lot of nice countryside near us, but I do have to warn you that the CAA might not take too kindly to you flying in that park as it might constitute a "congested area". I recommend you check out the laws here:
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1995&pageid=16012

Best of luck!

Nice "Heads Up" Trumple. :D
I like to quote someone with important suggestions like yours. It's just another way to do all you can to make sure they see what you post.

Adam, you may want to pull that video if it can get you in trouble... :eek:
 
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It's ok. Most of the buildings you see are actually empty, and made sure I'm the correct distances (according to the CAA) from the nearest person/house.

It's only a temp flying area till my membership to the the local flying club comes through. If I'm likely to get told off, it's going to be tomorrow when I take it to the Windsor Great Park ;)
 
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Not bad for a first attempt. Not bad at all!

I will add another suggestion to herein2014's excellent recommendations (although I think fast-paced is not always the best approach). Try to get shots from three altitude "zones" (if possible). 100-200 feet or higher, 30-100 feet, and eye level or lower. This gives you something to cut to that's not too much like the previous shot.

Good discussion!
 
@herein, that was all fantastic. Thank you for the advice. Will start practising all you have said tomorrow.

Could you also recommend any kind of good shots for a moving subject (I'm thinking dog if you want to be specific).

Thank you too iflyinWY, I'll start researching tonight.

A following shot is good for something like a dog, just stay far enough away so that you do not scare it and if it darts to the left or right you have enough frame space to slide left or right. You can also do a fading shot if you can get the dog to chase the drone, just make sure you don't run into anything while flying backwards and keep your fading clip short.

Another trick to smooth video is to learn how to hide the fact you are no longer going in a straight line. So if you are following a dog and it is still heading away but at a 45 degree angle vs the original straight line....press your directional stick to the upper right or left corner vs correcting by turning the drone, essentially you are 'crabbing' at an angle which is my favorite feature of quads....you can go in any direction including at an angle while maintaining the same speed.

There's been plenty of times I've been coming over a roof line or setting up a scene and the Phantom starts turning slightly on its own or drifting off course. If you try the slightest left or right correction it will ruin the clip because it will be obvious to the audience that you just adjusted. Instead I have hidden it by "crabbing" ever so slightly to give the perception that the drone is still flying in a straight line. In reality I'm probably flying up to 10 degrees off course but no one will notice as long as I don't try a quick tap to turn the drone.

I spend 90% of my time perfectly setting up my altitude and getting perfectly aligned with my target object (perfect line if an overflight perfectly parallel if a panning shot) and only 10% actually flying over the object.

Another trick is to try to find alignment whenever setting up a shot such as a building overflight. It looks sloppy to fly over a building at anything other than 0, 45, or 90 degrees if the building is your target object. So what I do is I line up perfectly with the building until it fills the frame from side to side then aim the camera down and try to find something to align the bottom or top edge of the monitor with in the display screen. This guarantees that I will have a perfect overflight at a 0 degree angle and I will be perfectly centered over the building as I fly. Since these drones all have rectilinear lenses, you should always go out of your way to perfectly center your target object...the edges of a rectilinear lenses is blurry and distorted.

Yet another reason to never turn in your clips is due to that rectilinear lens. If you look back at your video you will see it looks like a tunnel when you are turning. As soon as the audience notices how distorted the edges are, they will start to notice it everywhere and their opinion of your footage will not be good. You can hide the edges from their attention by ensuring your target object is interesting, centered, and crystal clear.

Not bad for a first attempt. Not bad at all!

I will add another suggestion to herein2014's excellent recommendations (although I think fast-paced is not always the best approach). Try to get shots from three altitude "zones" (if possible). 100-200 feet or higher, 30-100 feet, and eye level or lower. This gives you something to cut to that's not too much like the previous shot.

Good discussion!

I agree, there is certainly something to be gained with artistic footage, just remember to keep it short, cue music that matches the pace of the footage (no techno for a nice beach flight), and change scenes often to keep your audience interested. What looks great to us as aerial pilots won't be enough to keep your audience from clicking that next cat video. How many non drone pilots do you know that will watch an 11 min distance or altitude test flight?

Keep your target audience in mind when filming. I've seen plenty of videos that have long flights with no variety that are like watching paint dry if you are watching the video to be entertained by its contents.
 
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Welcome, good effort. You will do well.
Ignore unprofessional comments. Some folks are just unhappy all the time.
 
If you see a thread in the wrong area, no problem. Just report it and we'll do the rest. ;)
 
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I have a few recommendations:

1) Don't rotate....pretty much ever, keep all shots panning shots (left to right or vice versa), overflights, reverse overflights, rising shots, and camera pan down shots. There's a few others but circling around an object is very hard to do properly and even when it's done properly (think concentric circle perfect focus on target object) most people get a little motion sick after a few seconds.

5) A good shot is also a rising shot with the camera panning down at just the right speed to keep the target object center frame, you could have used that on the central playset.
Please use the correct terms.

Pan - A pan is a horizontal camera pivot, right to left or left to right, from a stationary position. With a simple pan on a tripod, the camera is slowly and steadily moved either to the right or left. The best pans are slow, smooth and end by coming to rest on a pre-selected scene. The director's written or spoken cue to initiate this move is either "pan right" or "pan left". On aircraft, this is the "Yaw" or "Rudder".

Tilt - The tilt is the vertical version of a pan: an up or down pivot of the camera without changing its elevation (pedestal). As with all camera moves, tilts should come to rest on a shot that's well composed. The director's cue is "tilt up" or "tilt down. There is no equivalent in rotorcraft.

Pedestal - Not tilting, but physically moving the height of the camera up or down, usually on a tripod. the director's call is "Ped Up" or "Ped Down". On a rotorcraft this movement is accomplished with the throttle.

Zoom - The term "zoom" came into existence with the variable focal length lenses common today. The director calling for "zoom out" wants the focal length changed so that the new shot encompasses a wider angle of view. "Zoom in" calls for the opposite effect. The best zooms often start and stop so smoothly that the audience's attention stays focused on the action in the scene and they don't notice the camera move. Often, a director will use the terms "push" and "pull" instead of zoom in and zoom out. In rotorcraft, you ccomplish the zoom with a "Dolly" (see below).

Truck - "Truck" is one of the terms that originated with pedestal-mounted cameras. The base of the pedestal was called a truck. A truck move is a rolling move to the right or left, parallel to a moving subject. The director's cues are "truck left" and "truck right. In a rotorcraft the closest move would be the "Roll" or "Aileron".

Dolly - A dolly is a companion move to the truck but instead of moving parallel with a moving subject, the camera moves physically closer to, or farther away from, a stationary object. Beginning videographers often mistakenly believe that zooming-in and dollying-in achieve the same result. They do not. While both moves make the object appear larger and closer, there's a substantial difference in the two techniques and the results they have on the look of the scene. Dollying changes the apparent relationship of the object to its background. Zooming doesn't change the relationship of object to background, but changes the depth of field. A director will call for a "Dolly In" or "Dolly Out". There is no direct movement in a rotorcraft, but the "Tilt" control (Elevator) with a stabilized camera gimbal will accomplish this move.

Arc - The arc is another wheeled shot that can be very effective. Imagine that you tie a string from your subject to the camera and move the camera left or right in an arc keeping the string taut as you move. The arc shot virtually circles the subject, revealing new background as the camera moves while keeping the audience's attention on the subject. It's hard to execute an arc without an extremely smooth surface or a curved-wheel and track system, but it's a stunning shot when done with finesse. If you can replicate this movement in a rotorcraft, you are truly a master.

Oh, Adam (OP) - very nice video for only your second flight.
 

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