So unless you're into the sound of a swarm of bees buzzing incessantly, some background music is needed for videos made with a UAV.
While there are always options for popular songs to be used, the best approach is to use royalty-free music whenever possible -- particularly with videos that are for enjoyment rather than commercial use.
I found this site which offers several different tunes, and am quite impressed. I'll be using one in my upcoming "First Flight" video... hopefully the music adds enough interest to offset the boring-ness of me trying to get my bearings on the controls!
http://www.bensound.com/
If I find more that I like, I'll post them back here.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Initial Hardware Research
As I prepared to undertake this, the first step was to look into hardware and whether a good balance could be struck between cost and quality -- this was the step that discouraged me completely from this endeavour two years ago.
My initial look was at the DJI drones. These seemed to be the most popular, and usually that comes with a good reason. I started by looking at the Phantom 3 Standard, retailing around CA$700, it seemed reasonable. That said, with a 2.7K HD camera, there was definitely less wiggle room for image cropping and digital panning that are available with a 4K videodrone, but stream. Not to mention, this price doesn't include a full ready-to-fly system -- you need to "BYOD" (bring your own device), whether it be an iPad or iPhone in order to fully control the UAV and its camera. Seemed to be a decent option, but I wasn't fully sold.
Of course, in the DJI Phantom 3 line, there are also options of the Advanced and Professional - but you're adding about CA$250 per step to step up to those models. The Advanced improves the range of the drone, but is still only 2.7K video. It's not until the CA$1350 Professional that you get 4K imaging. And you still need to BYOD. I still wasn't feeling good about that approach.
Then I wandered in to Hobby Wholesale here in Edmonton for some model paint, where another customer was set on getting a drone. He hadn't done his research, so was getting the full run-down of the different models and I heard another brand come highly recommended: Yuneec.
After looking into Yuneec's offerings, I was very impressed, particularly with the full integration of the touchscreen device with the rest of the controller. Initially, I was looking at the Typhoon Q500+, when the Typhoon H caught my eye.
As Yuneec's customer support is very highly regarded, the brand seemed like a no-brainer sort of decision -- especially given the concerns expressed about DJI's support.
As for the model... the "H" appeared to be the best of all worlds. With the extra two rotors, there's some fault-tolerance built in, and the new controller offered some features that the older one didn't. Couple that with the GPS-based "smart" navigation functionality to allow for more consistent shots, and I was pretty much sold.
Only thing left was to get my hands on one, as they weren't shipping to Canada yet!
My initial look was at the DJI drones. These seemed to be the most popular, and usually that comes with a good reason. I started by looking at the Phantom 3 Standard, retailing around CA$700, it seemed reasonable. That said, with a 2.7K HD camera, there was definitely less wiggle room for image cropping and digital panning that are available with a 4K videodrone, but stream. Not to mention, this price doesn't include a full ready-to-fly system -- you need to "BYOD" (bring your own device), whether it be an iPad or iPhone in order to fully control the UAV and its camera. Seemed to be a decent option, but I wasn't fully sold.
Of course, in the DJI Phantom 3 line, there are also options of the Advanced and Professional - but you're adding about CA$250 per step to step up to those models. The Advanced improves the range of the drone, but is still only 2.7K video. It's not until the CA$1350 Professional that you get 4K imaging. And you still need to BYOD. I still wasn't feeling good about that approach.
Then I wandered in to Hobby Wholesale here in Edmonton for some model paint, where another customer was set on getting a drone. He hadn't done his research, so was getting the full run-down of the different models and I heard another brand come highly recommended: Yuneec.
After looking into Yuneec's offerings, I was very impressed, particularly with the full integration of the touchscreen device with the rest of the controller. Initially, I was looking at the Typhoon Q500+, when the Typhoon H caught my eye.
As Yuneec's customer support is very highly regarded, the brand seemed like a no-brainer sort of decision -- especially given the concerns expressed about DJI's support.
As for the model... the "H" appeared to be the best of all worlds. With the extra two rotors, there's some fault-tolerance built in, and the new controller offered some features that the older one didn't. Couple that with the GPS-based "smart" navigation functionality to allow for more consistent shots, and I was pretty much sold.
Only thing left was to get my hands on one, as they weren't shipping to Canada yet!
Monday, June 20, 2016
Introduction
Where to begin?
About two years ago, I started considering the idea of aerial photography using a UAV (drone), marketing primarily to the real estate industry. Unfortunately, when I started looking into the hardware costs and quality, it was just a little too immature.
Not to mention, there were no provisions for "exemptions" to the licensing rules -- basically anyone operating a UAV for commercial purposes needed to hold a commercial pilot's license. To recover the costs of such a license doing aerial photography would take quite a long time.
Fast forward to 2016. We now have drones that cost less than $2,000 which are capable of 4K video and 12 MP stills. And, Transport Canada has updated the licensing rules to include a exemption and provided more information on preparing an application for a Special Flight Operations Certificate or SFOC (more on that later).
Is it commercially viable now? I believe so, so am taking the leap to get into this.
So I'm going to do my best to document the trials and tribulations, as well as the successes, in starting down this path.
Some topics I can already see covering (in no particular order): liability insurance, hardware research and purchase, applying for an SFOC, my first flights, and recruiting new customers.
Fast forward to 2016. We now have drones that cost less than $2,000 which are capable of 4K video and 12 MP stills. And, Transport Canada has updated the licensing rules to include a exemption and provided more information on preparing an application for a Special Flight Operations Certificate or SFOC (more on that later).
Is it commercially viable now? I believe so, so am taking the leap to get into this.
What will I be posting about?
In doing my research, there was a significant lack of information about getting started. Nobody seemed to really document the trials and challenges. There were a lot of experienced folks telling everyone about how hard parts were in order to either discourage market entrants or sell their consulting services.So I'm going to do my best to document the trials and tribulations, as well as the successes, in starting down this path.
Some topics I can already see covering (in no particular order): liability insurance, hardware research and purchase, applying for an SFOC, my first flights, and recruiting new customers.
Welcome to the journey!
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