Has anyone used Drone Base?

[RocketBrew]

That was interesting! Stopped on the way to work this morning to do a pano before the rain moved in. An empty commercial building in an industrial type park, so no drama...

As I was finishing up, noticed four men walking down the sidewalk. Took the last shot, and saw they all had law enforcement badges hanging from their necks.

The "boss" said nice machine, why are you flying it here? Told him I was taking real estate photos (we were standing in front of the broker sign.)

He said the building next to it was a sensitive facility, but he couldn't say why. It was a typical warehouse building with no signage.

After asking me for ID (gave them my DL, rather than challenge them), he seemed to relax then gave me his business card. I packed up and continued on to the office.

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[microraptor]

Maybe the sensitive building was their office, or perhaps a meth lab.

 

[trevsdad]

Is that a joke with the "loose"?

ROFFL!!! Toche'!...you got me.I stand corrected and promise not to correct others with a cocktail in my hand. ('lose')

 

[Nick DroneBase]

I don't see the relation between 'freedom' and invading people's privacy.
Google Street View has had enough cases to settle to support that and I do not have the budget nor the attorney stable Google has.

I really like the idea of Dronebase and was interested to join but I will pass as I am not comfortable to show up at someone's house, without their knowledge/approval and start shooting with the hope that maybe a realtor will be interested in buying the footage and I'll get $25 to $50 in return.

One could directly work with realtors and brokers and make $250 on a job. I am sure its a great opportunity for those who are ok to do it, but I won't show up at someone's place and start shooting without their consent.
Dronebase should take care of that, have agreed to having a drone shoot with the realtors/home sellers prior to sending drone operators on property. Whether pay is guaranteed or not.

Good feedback Chris. We've thought about this issue and we also have Client Missions that are guaranteed payouts. Trust us, we wish all those properties were Client Missions vs Pano Missions. 2017 will be an interesting year in the drone space as we're hoping (so is the entire industry) that large enterprises will begin to use drones as well.

 

[Ike]

Listen Ike, I don't get on here to argue with Keyboard warriors and know it all's.

-- Good thing I'm neither. I'm educated, licensed, been through most of the trades, self employed filmmaker and Drone Services Provider. I put in 25 hours in a heli waiting on 333 process to come through. This isn't opinion, and I don't need to waste my time educating you. But since you like to throw around smart-Alec little phrases, I'll indulge.

If you think taking Photos from the street, 20' in the air is illegal then so be it. You may want to call Google Earth and make them aware also.

-- DroneBase requires a full pano at 100' up. If you are over the street or sidewalk, you are generally okay. However, the "right of way" is a GOVERNMENT right of way not a PUBLIC USE right of way, and the right lawyer will remind you of that very quickly. Also, from that height you have a good view of a LOT of property. I'm pretty sure other comments have been made here about that already.

No one, including the property owner, owns the air above their land. It's up to each operator to follow laws, and guidelines. My Drone never goes above anyone's property and stays above public streets.

-- The FAA has made it pretty clear that you aren't allowed to fly COMMERCIALLY above private property without permission of the landowner or responsible party. This is different than their regulations for manned aircraft (you know, something that kills you when it crashes). And, while helicopters are encouraged to fly at least 500' AGL, they often fly lower.

-- The instruction from DroneBase contradicts itself on the beauty shots they want. They don't specify to fly above the property to get those shots, but they do use a phrase like 'after getting several beauty shots, pull back and go up to 100 feet and do your pano' -- which seems to encourage pilots to approach the structure. I'm willing to trust that you don't EVER fly above property without permission but I know I have inadvertently found myself outside my intended flight envelope so I'm not going to try to make such a claim.

As for taxes and gas expense, I don't think anyone is getting rich doing this, but it's a fun way to make a little money back on my investment and time.

So, your opinion is appreciated and has been noted!

Take care my friend.

-- Haven't met you yet, but maybe so. However, both these phrases are condescending passive aggressive malarkey so I somehow question if that will happen.

------------- one of the things that bothers me most is from a post elsewhere by DroneBase, where they stated a large portion of their image sales have been to data collection companies. Is it possible that in capturing these "spec" jobs, you are actually assisting a private company in building a high-res map of populated areas for private surveillance purposes? Who is the end customer? Is it nefarious or just borderline criminal? The World MayNever Know --------------


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[Benm1020]

Hi. I just signed to comment on this thread. I've been doing Dronebase since the new pilot program... about 3 weeks now. I've done 14 missions and have gotten paid for all but 1 of them (although that mission is only a day old) averaging about $30 a mission. All the missions have been within a 10 minute drive of my home or within 5 minutes of work. Usually each neighborhood has 2 to 6 homes to do. It literally takes me 5 minutes per property. I've done 4 missions, including driving and finding the properties in about 45 minutes. With no editing, I upload them and they usually sell within the day. I think it's great. $100+ for less than an hour of "work" (I sit in my car while Litchi does the Pano too), is awesome.

I've never had anyone complain yet. A few neighbors have noticed, I told them what I was doing, and they were fine with it.

As for client missions, I email someone in the company quite regularly with questions and one of them was about client missions and they said there's not that many available now.

What are your pano settings for litichi?


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[jvmoore1]

What are your pano settings for litichi?


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curious about the Litchi settings as well. Thought about getting "Maps made easy" for this if it would be easier to configure

 

[John Decker]

ROFFL!!! Toche'!...you got me.I stand corrected and promise not to correct others with a cocktail in my hand. ('lose')

Touché.
Well, since you started it!

 

[RocketBrew]

What are your pano settings for litichi?

I just use Pano mode (Settings in attachment.)
It sometimes takes up to a day for them to process the photos, I am wondering if it is because Litchi is doing the sequence in the opposite order that they show on the web page, but I don't see any way to have Litchi reverse their sequence.
The biggest problem I have is the wind causing the aircraft to drift while going through the pano sequence, it can end up away from where it starts, causing glitches in the stitching.

 

[John Decker]

Just a thought for those of you who can't see a problem with privacy.. it may not be the case in the US, but in a lot of countries (and certainly here in NZ) the phrase that is bandied around is 'reasonable expectation of privacy'. So, if you're in a park, at the beach, walking down the road etc, you have little or no reasonable expectation of privacy, and can't complain if someone takes a photo of you, or surveillance cameras are looking at you.

In your house and/or behind a garden fence, wall or hedge, things are different.

To make it plain, imagine how long you'd last if you took a stepladder onto the pavement (sidewalk to you) and stood at the top with a camera, taking pictures over a fence and onto private land. Imagine someone did that to you. Imagine how you'd react if someone set up a surveillance camera looking at your house.

Reasonable expectation of privacy. I can't imagine a home owner losing a court case if it got that far. Just saying.

 

[shenzi105]

Just a thought for those of you who can't see a problem with privacy.. it may not be the case in the US, but in a lot of countries (and certainly here in NZ) the phrase that is bandied around is 'reasonable expectation of privacy'. So, if you're in a park, at the beach, walking down the road etc, you have little or no reasonable expectation of privacy, and can't complain if someone takes a photo of you, or surveillance cameras are looking at you.

In your house and/or behind a garden fence, wall or hedge, things are different.

To make it plain, imagine how long you'd last if you took a stepladder onto the pavement (sidewalk to you) and stood at the top with a camera, taking pictures over a fence and onto private land. Imagine someone did that to you. Imagine how you'd react if someone set up a surveillance camera looking at your house.

Reasonable expectation of privacy. I can't imagine a home owner losing a court case if it got that far. Just saying.

Same here in the US. And the more we will use drones and shoot peoples' home without authorization the more laws will get passed against us.

 

[shenzi105]

I just use Pano mode (Settings in attachment.)
It sometimes takes up to a day for them to process the photos, I am wondering if it is because Litchi is doing the sequence in the opposite order that they show on the web page, but I don't see any way to have Litchi reverse their sequence.
The biggest problem I have is the wind causing the aircraft to drift while going through the pano sequence, it can end up away from where it starts, causing glitches in the stitching.
View attachment 71775

Question is for the 45 degree angle required.
I understand setting zero degree for ROW 1 but isn't Litchi angling down 15 degree for Row 2?

 

[DoubleV]

Same here in the US. And the more we will use drones and shoot peoples' home without authorization the more laws will get passed against us.

Why don't we have any laws against cell phones and the privacy issues of someone filming or taking our photo with them? Hundreds of millions of would be offenders every single day and they are worried about drones. Can't have your cake and eat it too government boys.

 

[shenzi105]

Why don't we have any laws against cell phones and the privacy issues of someone filming or taking our photo with them? Hundreds of millions of would be offenders every single day and they are worried about drones. Can't have your cake and eat it too government boys.

well, you're actually not fully free to film people with your camera or cell phone without their approval. There are actually laws in places in various states, citizens can use when they feel their privacy is invaded or threatened.

"
The privacy laws of the United States deal with several different legal concepts. One is the invasion of privacy, a tort based in common law allowing an aggrieved party to bring a lawsuit against an individual who unlawfully intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information, publicizes him or her in a false light, or appropriates his or her name for personal gain.[1] Public figures have less privacy, and this is an evolving area of law as it relates to the media.

The essence of the law derives from a right to privacy, defined broadly as "the right to be let alone." It usually excludes personal matters or activities which may reasonably be of public interest, like those of celebrities or participants in newsworthy events. Invasion of the right to privacy can be the basis for a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity violating the right. These include the Fourth Amendment right to be free of unwarranted search or seizure, the First Amendment right to free assembly, and the Fourteenth Amendment due process right, recognized by the Supreme Court as protecting a general right to privacy within family, marriage, motherhood, procreation, and child rearing.[2]"

 

[shenzi105]

my biggest challenge with the panos is the wind. 5-7 mph wind and the drone will move a bit. I tried Litchi but that didnt go well, first row was perfect but drone took like 3 minutes to start the second row and the angle was more like 50-60 degrees.

 

[John Decker]

Why don't we have any laws against cell phones and the privacy issues of someone filming or taking our photo with them? Hundreds of millions of would be offenders every single day and they are worried about drones. Can't have your cake and eat it too government boys.

We/you do have laws against people taking images with cell phones, though it's not the fact that they're cell phones that triggers it, it's the circumstances. If I filmed you on a street you might not like it but you'd have to suck it up cos it's a public place where you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. If I climb a lamppost to film you in your back garden, would you care whether it was a cell phone or not, or would you be straight on the phone to the cops complaining about the invasion of your privacy (or fetching a hose/rake/gun to 'fix' the problem yourself)?
The law cares less about the tools and more about the action, in this case.

As for government boy? You'd laugh if you knew me. Part of keeping the powers that be at arms length is knowing exactly what powers they have.

 

[John Decker]

my biggest challenge with the panos is the wind. 5-7 mph wind and the drone will move a bit. I tried Litchi but that didnt go well, first row was perfect but drone took like 3 minutes to start the second row and the angle was more like 50-60 degrees.

I use Litchi panos and set it to 3 strips of photos, which I presume is flat, 45° up and 45° down, plus the two vertically down.
Wind is a hassle but less so than with videos, I find. Yours might have taken the extra time in order to align itself. Judge on the results, is the best advice I guess.

 

[Helihover]

Update time!

My first payout started on November 23, which puts us at a little over a month shooting panos for Drone Base. I had right around 60 completed right before Christmas and, as of today now have 80 completed missions. I keep getting better at efficiency and see no problem doing 100+ /month. You can easily shoot 3 properties an hour, givin you are in a populated area.

Out of the 80 missions completed, I've had one, not so good experience. Wasn't bad by any means, just uncomfortable and broke some of confidence down for a few hours. I had completed the mission when the home owner walked out and asked in a rude fashion, "what's going on." Long story short, the guy was a cop with a bad attitude who said his house was all ready sold. I explained my side and actually turned the conversation around. He than began telling me about how his department is integrating drones into their routine. His overall concern was me being suspicious, which brings me my next idea......

ID badges and maybe a magnetic car sign. I plan on at least making ID cards (on a lanyard) with my companies name and so on. I think this would ultimately benefit the perspective.

This is not just for Drone Base however ..... I am contracted with another company (who I will not name) which is very similar to DB. This company actually assigns you a work order and pays you. So keep an eye out for more start ups similar to DB, this could be a new thing for commercial operators. Or, maybe not

Some of you guys were asking about insurance. I must say Alex at Skyvuzes is just a great person with the same passion we share. He also has some great packages.

Litchi settings are very basic, and if you guys watched the how to vid, you would understand better. Set your pano in Litchi for 2 rows of 12 with the top row at 0, and 1 nadir (straight down) for a total of 25. This is for my P4 though, your P3 settings might be different?

 

[shenzi105]

Update time!

My first payout started on November 23, which puts us at a little over a month shooting panos for Drone Base. I had right around 60 completed right before Christmas and, as of today now have 80 completed missions. I keep getting better at efficiency and see no problem doing 100+ /month. You can easily shoot 3 properties an hour, givin you are in a populated area.

Out of the 80 missions completed, I've had one, not so good experience. Wasn't bad by any means, just uncomfortable and broke some of confidence down for a few hours. I had completed the mission when the home owner walked out and asked in a rude fashion, "what's going on." Long story short, the guy was a cop with a bad attitude who said his house was all ready sold. I explained my side and actually turned the conversation around. He than began telling me about how his department is integrating drones into their routine. His overall concern was me being suspicious, which brings me my next idea......

ID badges and maybe a magnetic car sign. I plan on at least making ID cards (on a lanyard) with my companies name and so on. I think this would ultimately benefit the perspective.

This is not just for Drone Base however ..... I am contracted with another company (who I will not name) which is very similar to DB. This company actually assigns you a work order and pays you. So keep an eye out for more start ups similar to DB, this could be a new thing for commercial operators. Or, maybe not

Some of you guys were asking about insurance. I must say Alex at Skyvuzes is just a great person with the same passion we share. He also has some great packages.

Litchi settings are very basic, and if you guys watched the how to vid, you would understand better. Set your pano in Litchi for 2 rows of 12 with the top row at 0, and 1 nadir (straight down) for a total of 25. This is for my P4 though, your P3 settings might be different?

View attachment 72066 View attachment 72067

aweosme post. Thanks.

 

[Michael Humphrey]

I use a lanyard that has my id and 107 credentials.
A quick explanation usually does it for me. If evidence of occupancy exists I usually give a quick knock for explanation. No problems yet.


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