Has anyone used Drone Base?

[jiggyb21]

I have scoped out 10 missions near my house and I get a really bad vibe from this company. Most of the houses are occupied. I know several real estate agents and there's no way they're selling these pictures to real estate companies in two days. (That's how fast people say they get paid). I really think they're doing something else with them. Selling them to N Korea or something.

On the other hand,I did my 1st client mission today but even that was a little sketchy. I had to pull teeth to get any sort of intel on the job. IE selling the building or what. Why the pics? He finally told me that the pictures were being commissioned by a real estate broker (gave me the name.....big company) in the sale of the property. Then he was kind enough to tell me that no one on site would have any idea about any of this. It was about 1 hour from my house and took me about an hour, so 3 hours total. It involved high quality ground shots with my DSLR also. In total I submitted 35 pictures. Pays $225 which they tell you up front in the job offer. We'll see if they hold up their end. Nice to finally have some income from this business of mine. I was actually contacted about 6 months ago from the same guy for a different job but I wasn't certified at the time so I had to decline.

 

[rccrazy30]

I have scoped out 10 missions near my house and I get a really bad vibe from this company. Most of the houses are occupied. I know several real estate agents and there's no way they're selling these pictures to real estate companies in two days. (That's how fast people say they get paid). I really think they're doing something else with them. Selling them to N Korea or something.

On the other hand,I did my 1st client mission today but even that was a little sketchy. I had to pull teeth to get any sort of intel on the job. IE selling the building or what. Why the pics? He finally told me that the pictures were being commissioned by a real estate broker (gave me the name.....big company) in the sale of the property. Then he was kind enough to tell me that no one on site would have any idea about any of this. It was about 1 hour from my house and took me about an hour, so 3 hours total. It involved high quality ground shots with my DSLR also. In total I submitted 35 pictures. Pays $225 which they tell you up front in the job offer. We'll see if they hold up their end. Nice to finally have some income from this business of mine. I was actually contacted about 6 months ago from the same guy for a different job but I wasn't certified at the time so I had to decline.

I read somewhere that they sell these to data collection companies whatever that means. I have some friends at Keller Williams that have never even heard of dronebase (there's suppose to be some kind of deal with KW) so I'm planning on doing some of the properties they have just to see how dronebase handles it see if their actually selling.

Your client mission sounds very similar to the one I did (directional photo, 360 orbits,ground photos). I was lucky mine was only 10 minutes away I used all 3 batteries so that was around 45 minutes of flying. Next time around i kind of have a good idea what they want so I should be able to get it done in 2 batteries.

I made this quick video on Drone Base (ignore the click bait tittle)

 

[Richard Walker]

Haven't yet and won't until it is more mature and it uses more current maps. Be careful with early versions of any software.


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[royster]

My neighbours know I fly a UAV, couple of them came over on Sunday to tell me about this guy:
He comes to your door with a file of UAV pics of your house to sell you. 10 bucks a shot!
Seems he went door to door in neighbourhood, (I must have been in my garage.)
Almost all of my neighbours purchased at least one sky view shot of their home.
Enterprising young man, but, nothing to do with real estate sales, just thought it was interesting

 

[rccrazy30]

Haven't yet and won't until it is more mature and it uses more current maps. Be careful with early versions of any software.


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what do you mean by more current maps? They just did an update this past week? The company wont mature if they don't have pilots in your area.

 

[Richard Walker]

The map shown in the application of my area in Boise Idaho is two years old. Roads have change etc.


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[rccrazy30]

The map shown in the application of my area in Boise Idaho is two years old. Roads have change etc.


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well that's on Google Maps unfortunately Drone Base would have no control over that.

 

[2nd2non]

I read somewhere that they sell these to data collection companies whatever that means. I have some friends at Keller Williams that have never even heard of dronebase (there's suppose to be some kind of deal with KW) so I'm planning on doing some of the properties they have just to see how dronebase handles it see if their actually selling.

Your client mission sounds very similar to the one I did (directional photo, 360 orbits,ground photos). I was lucky mine was only 10 minutes away I used all 3 batteries so that was around 45 minutes of flying. Next time around i kind of have a good idea what they want so I should be able to get it done in 2 batteries.

I made this quick video on Drone Base (ignore the click bait tittle)

I fell victim to click bait. Give me my free Mavic Pro!!!
Just kidding. I did like the tip that I don't have to wait for the "processing" to complete after upload. This saves me time waiting near the computer.
Great vid!

 

[rccrazy30]

I fell victim to click bait. Give me my free Mavic Pro!!!
Just kidding. I did like the tip that I don't have to wait for the "processing" to complete after upload. This saves me time waiting near the computer.
Great vid!

The struggle of trying to build up another youtube channel lol. Yeah I found that little tip by accident. Uploading a client mission is even crazier mine was 13gb's of photos and video

 

[joet]

So the first half-week of shooting Dronebase panos:

Shot 9 properties so far. Would have shot 10, but I ran into the same "issue" that others are having - house had already sold. After speaking to DB, they said that this wasn't an issue, they sell to data companies (as mentioned previously). Might go back and do that one.

Using Litchi for the panos with the settings mentioned previously for my P3 4K. The workflow seems to work well. Unfortunately, we've had overcast skies with sunlight peeking out from time to time, so I've been babysitting the video feed and adjusting the EV as the shots are taken as necessary. When I've missed one or two, I let Photoshop batch-edit the photos to get a more consistent exposure. Only takes a minute or two. About the only real issue is doing 6 shoots in a day and separating the images into the proper missions. Which set of photos is mission number DBXXXXXXX?

Ran into people twice - one residential, one commercial. In both cases I introduced myself, and the general sentiment I got was that as long as they weren't getting a bill, I could shoot all I want.

Here in FL, there is a State law that prohibits using a drone for surveillance - which is essentially defined as intention to determine the presence or habits of an individual. I don't see that as an issue for DB panos since shots from the roofline where no one is visible isn't a problem, and the pano is at 100' - you'd be hard pressed to identify yourself conclusively in such a shot, and the camera is only pointed at you for perhaps 2 frames out of 15. Not much of a case there. Also, the penalties aren't criminal, merely civil - so someone has to get enough of a bug up their butt to decide to sue you over a 10 minute, 1-time job at their house. One commercial job was a restaurant - and the owner actually came outside to watch.

If the payout rate is consistent - i.e. if 80% or more of the shoots sell - it will be worth it to me, especially if it leads to more lucrative client missions.

EDIT: One interesting thing is the number of pano missions in controlled airspace... Who's going to try to get an AA for a pano mission?!

 

[Teamfour]

I'm getting close to being able to participate in DB. Question on claiming. How long is a "claim" good for? How does DB enforce due diligence on the part of the claimant to prevent someone from just locking up all the jobs for a period of time?

 

[Richard Walker]

Google maps shows current view. The application does not use current maps and maybe does not use google maps.


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[rccrazy30]

Google maps shows current view. The application does not use current maps and maybe does not use google maps.


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Ah it looks like their using TomTom Maps which are a few years old... However this shouldn't effect the properties that are for sale/lease. I just wouldn't use it for directions.


UPDATE: The mobile app uses TomTom on the web based site it uses Google Map's that IS current.

 

[cdronefly]

I have scoped out 10 missions near my house and I get a really bad vibe from this company. Most of the houses are occupied. I know several real estate agents and there's no way they're selling these pictures to real estate companies in two days. (That's how fast people say they get paid). I really think they're doing something else with them. Selling them to N Korea or something..

Company is funded by DJI so it's very possible - even probable - that they are paying out some small amounts to get people excited.

It'll be a cold day in hell before I go flying commercially for $25 or $50. Not to be snooty, but 20 years ago a service call on anything (to plug something in) was $75. Actually going somewhere and flying equipment and uploading stuff for that kind of money? No way.

I have a feeling that all this stuff is going to the lowest common denominator (people who will lose money doing it)...somewhat like the stock photo scene.

 

[bow]

When I get my 107 I will try a few. Not going to go out of the way for it. I do find it a little odd that there are 2 completely opposite experiences and the ones who seem to have the best seem to have the highest post count in these threads


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[joet]

I'm sure that I don't have a high post count and I am doing OK.

 

[bow]

I'm hoping for the best. If I can get it to cover some extra batteries and can use it as practice for pics and video editing I'll be happy


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[rccrazy30]

Yeah I definitely don't have a high post count I'm just shy of $600 at this point. Haven't had a chance to fly lately weathers been absolutely terrible. I was looking at my logs each flight averages 4-5 minutes uploading takes maybe 5 minutes. So as long as your not going way out of your way is $20-30 worth 10minutes of work. I'm really hoping as this company progresses and gets their name out there it will be client missions.... and I'm guessing for those of us that take on more pano missions and show them our commitment those client missions will be handed out based on experience level just my guess


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[Sinisalo]

I have done 10 missions now. The first 2 missions both paid quick, $20 each. Then mission 3 and 5 paid $19 each and the rest haven't paid in almost two weeks so I made an average of $7.80 per job. I am thinking that as the poster above stated that DroneBase pays you in the beginning to get you to do more jobs. I will not be flying anymore DroneBase jobs! Don't waste your time!

 

[joet]

I've flown 23 and been paid for just over half. Now that I have a comfortable and speedy workflow going, I spend about 10 minutes total at each site. I try to cluster a number of nearby jobs, knock them all out in an hour or two, and go home to upload. I combine this with errands I need to run, etc - so my time and transportation costs strictly for drone work is minimized. Thus far I am encouraged enough to continue it as an adjunct to other activities.