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Thread: Finally got me a camera drone

  1. #16
    I have thought of getting one of these toys. I have no experience with video editing etc. how hard is it for a tank amateur to learn the ins and outs of this whole process?

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by jared herbert View Post
    I have thought of getting one of these toys. I have no experience with video editing etc. how hard is it for a tank amateur to learn the ins and outs of this whole process?
    My advice is to start slowly. Start by making videos from your smartphone and learn how to edit them. I use PowerDirector which I found to be easy to learn and not that expensive. Other people may give you other ideas.

    Once you feel comfortable that you can produce a video to your standards, get a drone and learn how to operate it.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    My advice is to start slowly. Start by making videos from your smartphone and learn how to edit them.
    I agree. I'd get a video editor that for a desktop or laptop. While tablets and phone apps will allow basic editing in my experiences they can be excruciatingly SLOOOW. There are many editing programs available now and most any should work for basic editing. The PowerDirector looks fine from their web site (if trying that I'd go for the Ultimate version) but I have no experience with it. I've used several professional editors over the years and at the moment am using Adobe Premier Elements, pretty cheap as these things go. I personally am not interested in all the flashy automated thing these programs advertise now, you really only need the basics - a program with good timeline editing, cut/trim (they all do this), basic transitions like cross-fade/dissolve, and good audio support.


    My oldest son is a professional photographer, videographer, and video editor and I asked him recently for software recommendations when I had to create a small video in a hurry. He wrote this:

    Here would be my recommendations, not in any particular order:

    1) Adobe Premiere Elements, on sale for $75 (until 4/19) -- fairly simple, should be easy to learn, free trial, 1-time payment (not subscription)

    2) DaVinci Resolve (free) -- high-end/professional but has a simple editing mode called the "cut page" which should meet your needs for this project. Good starting tutorials on the Black Magic site.

    3) Hitfilm Express (free) -- haven't tried this in a while but what I remember it was fairly intuitive. Can't hurt to try since it's free.

    Something to keep in mind with all of these, some or all may not play well with cell phone video. I would guess that Premiere Elements may play with them the best. But you can always transcribe cell video to a usable format. I had to do this with most of the videos I used in the virtual choir. I can help you more with this if needed.

    I'd recommend download & try them all and see what imports/plays back.


    I took the drone out again today and drained two batteries! Progress.

    JKJ

  4. #19
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    I live in the dc area inside the beltway. You can’t legally fly a drone around here without some special permitting. The neighbor two doors down is a photographer for National Geographic. She bought one and has to drive a ways out of town to practice. She said it’s not any sort of jamming. She said that the better drones have gps chips and there are certain areas where they simply won’t operate. Ohhhkaayy...

    i still think someone is jamming my old garage door opener frequency. I’m told that there is somebody within a mile that gets some sort of protection and that may include some jamming. They aren’t telling and I don’t want to know.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Feeley View Post
    She said that the better drones have gps chips and there are certain areas where they simply won’t operate. Ohhhkaayy...
    The areas around here are clear for flight except, I'm assuming, like elsewhere around airports and perhaps around some of the government facilities in Oak Ridge. (When I was flying airplanes we were discouraged from flying over one particular facility since it put them on alert but wasn't banned, at least back then)

    The B4UFLY app is supposed to let you know if your planned area is OK. I haven't seen any alerts in the limited areas I've flown the drone.
    https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational..._i_fly/b4ufly/

    The DJI drone I bought (Mavic Air 2) is likewise supposed to have built-in checks not only for areas restricted to recreational fliers, but warnings for manned aircraft in the area. It "features" active shutdown if you enter a restricted area. I read one reviewer who said he was flying in one area when his controller beeped and announced the drone had entered a restricted area and would land in 10 seconds. He was flying over water at the time!

    From one writer explaining how the DJI Geofencing works: "Your drone will not take off if you start your flight in one of these areas without special action. If you are already in flight and hit one of these boundaries, your drone will stop in mid-air like hitting an imaginary wall. And then it will auto-land without any regard to what’s below it. Look out!"
    https://www.jmpeltier.com/understand...fe-geofencing/

    JKJ

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    The areas around here are clear for flight except, I'm assuming, like elsewhere around airports and perhaps around some of the government facilities in Oak Ridge. (When I was flying airplanes we were discouraged from flying over one particular facility since it put them on alert but wasn't banned, at least back then)

    The B4UFLY app is supposed to let you know if your planned area is OK. I haven't seen any alerts in the limited areas I've flown the drone.
    https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational..._i_fly/b4ufly/

    The DJI drone I bought (Mavic Air 2) is likewise supposed to have built-in checks not only for areas restricted to recreational fliers, but warnings for manned aircraft in the area. It "features" active shutdown if you enter a restricted area. I read one reviewer who said he was flying in one area when his controller beeped and announced the drone had entered a restricted area and would land in 10 seconds. He was flying over water at the time!

    From one writer explaining how the DJI Geofencing works: "Your drone will not take off if you start your flight in one of these areas without special action. If you are already in flight and hit one of these boundaries, your drone will stop in mid-air like hitting an imaginary wall. And then it will auto-land without any regard to what’s below it. Look out!"
    https://www.jmpeltier.com/understand...fe-geofencing/

    JKJ
    wow! All I knew came from my neighbor. It sounds to me like a modest software upgrade is in order. I like the wall idea but not the auto land.

    btw, you can google my neighbor. Karen Kazmowski (sp). You know those National Geographic photo cruises to exotic places where the send a pro to help you? She does some of those. I think she won a Pulitzer or something for a book. She’s been all over. Kinda cool. And she’s really nice.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Nice Toy! I'm surprised you are still feeding hay, this time of year. Ours won't even bother to smell of hay, once the grass is out.
    It's a bit of coastal burmuda hay. They think it is candy for horses and vacuum up every bit.

  8. #23
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    I can get Coastal dirt cheap here, but it has a bad reputation for creating colic, so we've stayed away from it. We had a pony a long time ago that was prone to colic, and did once on Coastal hay.

    edited to add: Also, I remembered it didn't keep weight on the ones that were hard to keep weight on through the Winter.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 06-04-2020 at 6:42 PM.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    I can get Coastal dirt cheap here, but it has a bad reputation for creating colic, so we've stayed away from it.
    I have read about that reputation and the reasons for the reputation. I decided it is fine for snacks and treats for the horses and mini donkeys. Most of the hay I feed in the non-pasture months is a good mixed grass. The llamas and alpacas get the same hay but with small alfalfa treats.

    JKJ

  10. #25
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    First video from the second drone in the family

    My oldest son Ben is a freelance videographer and photographer. Soon after I got my camera drone I sent him some clips and he decided to get one! He got the same model I did, the DJI Mavic Air 2. He played with it a few days to get the hang of what it would do then took it on vacation last week and took some shots.

    This is the first video he put together with shots from the new drone.

    https://vimeo.com/433783734

    This thing seems like an excellent addition to a videographer's tool kit!

    I can't wait to see what he does next.

    JKJ

  11. #26
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    That's really cool.

  12. #27
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    Beautiful!

  13. #28
    Very nice,

    friends son has one, me being an old guy totally unaware hit him up with questions and finally how far can that go before you lose it. 8 kilometers wholly crap.

    Now if someone can figure out how I can use one to trim the candles on my white pines that are about 22 feet tall now and oh the ash tree has died, can I hook up the Stihl chain saw to it? For years ive told arborists I want a laser tree trimmer so I can do it from the ground. Drone with a laser?

    Those drones are amazing. Even RC cars and how far they have come. I think some can go faster than the Wallywagon.

    Reminds me of the old Clint Eastwood movie with the RC car with the bomb in it doing wheelies and chasing him down the road.
    Last edited by Warren Lake; 06-29-2020 at 10:35 PM.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    Very nice,

    friends son has one, me being an old guy totally unaware hit him up with questions and finally how far can that go before you lose it. 8 kilometers wholly crap.
    Although youtube is full of people who do otherwise, the FAA has some rules that may limit the distance.

    "Keep your drone within your visual line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of a visual observer who is co-located (physically next to) and in direct communication with you."

    I get nervous when mine is at the other end of my horse pasture, maybe 1000 ft from the house. At that distance it's so tiny I can't see it without binoculars.

    The controllers are evidently getting better at communicating at long distances. The Mavic Air 2 used dual frequencies for incredible distance control. This guy turned back at over 5 kilometers when his battery started to die. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjW2smXRsTE

    These things can be set to automatically turn around and come back to the starting position if the signal is lost for some reason. One reason is signal interference.

    JKJ

  15. #30
    John think he told me about the turn around and come back thing. I was pretty stunned at how advanced they are.

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