I wanted to make a video about the forest, but not from above this time, but from the inside.I was looking for shots like flying inbetween trees and among the treetops and floating through the forest.

So I went to the forums and asked around for what settings would be the best and safest, and got
a lot of great tips and advice about flysettings and camerasettings for flying inside the forest.

A huge thank you to the forum for helping me out with this! couldnt have done it without it




P4 Pro
DJI NDfilter 8 and original
4k 30fps - h.265
Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro
I also filmed this using the h.265 codec for the first time.

Nicely done, thanks for sharing! I like the gradience choice you made.

Nice video

Beautiful, people usually fly in open places, for me it's the first time I see a video like this, congratulations

Aloha Austevik,

     Nice job!  Now you are addicted!  Remember though, sometimes reversing your path allows you to keep the light or GPS or some other variable in play to assist in the shot.  Keep it up.  You are a natural!

Aloha and Drone On!

I like the consistent visual style. It's brave to keep everything slow and toned down instead of the usual saturated action shots.

What settings did you end up with on the aircraft btw?

Cetacean Posted at 2017-5-11 03:31
Aloha Austevik,

     Nice job!  Now you are addicted!  Remember though, sometimes reversing your path allows you to keep the light or GPS or some other variable in play to assist in the shot.  Keep it up.  You are a natural!

Do you mean flying the same path reversed, flying backwards?
or flying the same path reversed, flying forwards?

Sometimes it is easier and safer to reverse the video, then you can appear to fly backwards, however while recording you can still see if you are going to hit anything on the FPV so it is much easier to fly...

Fruxen Posted at 2017-5-11 04:00
I like the consistent visual style.  It's brave to keep everything slow and toned down instead of the usual saturated action shots.

What settings did you end up with on the aircraft btw?

Thanks alot for that. Was nervous when i first started flying close to the trees, But after some practice it went easier and easier.
The settings i ended up with was:

Setting when/if lose connection with controller : Hover. So that the aircraft would not take off into a tree when RTH.

Tripodmode

Assinging the C1 button to Narrow Sensing - this was essential. Didnt want to take away obstacle avoidance in case I needed it, but with the narrow sensing I could override it for a moment. Assigned it to C1 because of the right hand was more occupied with steering the drone.

From there on it was more about planning the route and trying to get it as smooth as possible.

Cetacean Posted at 2017-5-11 03:31
Aloha Austevik,

     Nice job!  Now you are addicted!  Remember though, sometimes reversing your path allows you to keep the light or GPS or some other variable in play to assist in the shot.  Keep it up.  You are a natural!

Aloha and thank you for all the good advices.

Nigel_ Posted at 2017-5-11 05:20
Do you mean flying the same path reversed, flying backwards?
or flying the same path reversed, flying forwards?

Aloha Nigel,

     Good point!  Even speaking the same language we can have ambiguity raise its problematic head.  Your points are well made.  I was speaking about reversing course with your head still leading the way.  There are always two ways to use a path, unless we include walking backwards.  So simple but so confusing yet it is somewhat normal when flying a drone!

     Here in the jungle, flying a jungle tunnel path can lead to danger zones near a skyhole (where you can see the sky through a hole in the canopy).  My first inclination used to be to tilt the camera up +30 degrees and rotate up vertically looking for obstacles.  Then the light came on (bing!) and I realized you can descend into that skyhole looking straight down with the camera and see all the possible obstacles, then fly the jungle tunnel path in the other direction.  Much safer!

Aloha and Drone On!
Descending into a SkyHole

Austevik - Well done! I liked the moodiness of your shots, and, the moody piano. Did you create the piano piece yourself while watching your footage?
Regarding the closeness to the trees - Oh Boy . . . That would make me nervous also.
Thanks for your settings info; I'll try to keep them in mind if I ever try a forest fly through.

Grate job. brave & different, did you use CC or CS6 I'm practicing with CS6 but I hear there are a lot of new features in CC

Great job!This requires skill .

Good example of close flying Austevik & good result on video too. Makes me all keen to give it a go...nah,I'll leave it to the experts.

Michael Kaine Posted at 2017-5-11 20:15
Grate job. brave & different, did you use CC or CS6 I'm practicing with CS6 but I hear there are a lot of new features in CC

Thanks alot. Im using CC, havent used CS6 so dont know about the features. There is alot to learn in editing, so much you can do, thats right.

Nice job, and I'm glad we were able to help you on this. This is one of my favourite things to do with my drone as I love to hike anyway. Kind of like walking the dog.

Capo Posted at 2017-5-12 06:20
Nice job, and I'm glad we were able to help you on this. This is one of my favourite things to do with my drone as I love to hike anyway. Kind of like walking the dog.

Yeah exactly like walking the dog. And now that Ive learned this I will certsinly do this alot more. Now I can play with more oerspective in my videos. High and Low thanks alot

kyrvas Posted at 2017-5-11 19:24
Austevik - Well done! I liked the moodiness of your shots, and, the moody piano. Did you create the piano piece yourself while watching your footage?
Regarding the closeness to the trees - Oh Boy . . . That would make me nervous also.
Thanks for your settings info; I'll try to keep them in mind if I ever try a forest fly through.

Hehe No I cant play the piano, by the way I have a world famous pianoplaying cousin that I could have asked but no. Its a copyright free song from youtube. You should try flying low and close. Its fun and challenging! Thanks alot for your comment.

sky wombat Posted at 2017-5-11 21:02
Good example of close flying Austevik & good result on video too. Makes me all keen to give it a go...nah,I'll leave it to the experts.

Thanks alot. Think that everyone can learn this. The technology is great, combined with practice everyone can make it.

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-12 07:34
Hehe No I cant play the piano, by the way I have a world famous pianoplaying cousin that I could have asked but no. Its a copyright free song from youtube. You should try flying low and close. Its fun and challenging! Thanks alot for your comment.

When you say low, I understand; but when you say close, does that mean flying only very short distances from the Home Point?  I ask this because I have found when approaching foliage to take a picture of flowers, even on a bright day, perspective to the branches can be difficult.

kyrvas Posted at 2017-5-12 23:12
When you say low, I understand; but when you say close, does that mean flying only very short distances from the Home Point?  I ask this because I have found when approaching foliage to take a picture of flowers, even on a bright day, perspective to the branches can be difficult.

When I said close, I meant up close, but yes, im close to the drone too.
I walk the dog as you could call  it. So I am very close to the drone.
But even when your close the branches can get in the way. My drone became a woodchipper 3 times when making this video. cut 3 small branches, no damage.

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-13 03:45
When I said close, I meant up close, but yes, im close to the drone too.
I walk the dog as you could call  it. So I am very close to the drone.
But even when your close the branches can get in the way. My drone became a woodchipper 3 times when making this video. cut 3 small branches, no damage.

"I walk the dog as you could call  it. "
You should try that with auto-track while staying low and close, but not too close to the trees unless it is flying in front so that you can see if it is safe.  Also be ready with the pause button just in case!

Nigel_ Posted at 2017-5-13 04:27
"I walk the dog as you could call  it. "
You should try that with auto-track while staying low and close, but not too close to the trees unless it is flying in front so that you can see if it is safe.  Also be ready with the pause button just in case!

How would that work, wouldnt it be filming me then, in active track?

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-13 10:58
How would that work, wouldnt it be filming me then, in active track?

Yes, it films you, you go for a walk through the forest and it follows like a dog would - you get a dogs eye view of your walk.

Just remember that when it is following you it will always cut the corners so keep it on a short leash, but let it out a bit (right stick forward) in the more open areas and let it run around (right stick sideways) when you get into a decent sized clearing.

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-13 03:45
When I said close, I meant up close, but yes, im close to the drone too.
I walk the dog as you could call  it. So I am very close to the drone.
But even when your close the branches can get in the way. My drone became a woodchipper 3 times when making this video. cut 3 small branches, no damage.

Thanks for the clarification Austevik.

Nigel_ Posted at 2017-5-13 13:09
Yes, it films you, you go for a walk through the forest and it follows like a dog would - you get a dogs eye view of your walk.

Just remember that when it is following you it will always cut the corners so keep it on a short leash, but let it out a bit (right stick forward) in the more open areas and let it run around (right stick sideways) when you get into a decent sized clearing.

Dont know if I would dare do it in areas like I was in, in this video. Too narrow I feel. Dont think the drone would know how to safely navigate around trees and branches. Will try it in more open areas

Jerryjin Posted at 2017-5-11 20:45
Great job!This requires skill .

Thank you! Think everyone can learn this with a little practice. Just land if you feel you loose control.

Really great experience! Nice job!

Nice video...  Great Job!

SKY-CINEMA Posted at 2017-5-18 14:30
Really great experience! Nice job!

Thanks alot!

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-11 08:25
Thanks alot for that. Was nervous when i first started flying close to the trees, But after some practice it went easier and easier.
The settings i ended up with was:

Firstly, Great job and thanks for sharing the video
Secondly, thanks for the hots tips, like hover mode for lost connection, obvious when you think about it, however I doubt I would've thought of it if you had not posted it here before learning the hard way.  Now hopefully I won't need to learn the hard way.  (added to my flight note/checklist)
Thank again.
Stephen Pritchard

Great flying skills

pritchiedotcom Posted at 2017-5-19 04:41
Firstly, Great job and thanks for sharing the video
Secondly, thanks for the hots tips, like hover mode for lost connection, obvious when you think about it, however I doubt I would've thought of it if you had not posted it here before learning the hard way.  Now hopefully I won't need to learn the hard way.  (added to my flight note/checklist)
Thank again.

No problem! Happy to. And I know, for me the obvious part wss tripod, but didnt know about the narrow sensing. That was a big deal when flying like this. Also hover was a smart tips I got from here on thr forum.
Miggt do a "how to" or "training" video about this.
Fly safe!

Rodger8 Posted at 2017-5-19 04:47
Great flying skills

Thanks alot Rodger!

pasaytenpete Posted at 2017-5-18 14:43
Nice video...  Great Job!

Thank you Pasay!

Austevik Dronef Posted at 2017-5-19 12:55
Thanks alot Rodger!

Really, you did a great job. I would never try that.

Thanks for sharing this. Now I feel more confident flying mine in close spaces

Cetacean Posted at 2017-5-11 14:04
Aloha Nigel,

     Good point!  Even speaking the same language we can have ambiguity raise its problematic head.  Your points are well made.  I was speaking about reversing course with your head still leading the way.  There are always two ways to use a path, unless we include walking backwards.  So simple but so confusing yet it is somewhat normal when flying a drone!

You trimming trees again with your props

Gorgeous. Emotive. Thanks for sharing.

Very cool.