Just wondering you can run a lucrative business on the side.

Hi again, look, you have to create a lucrative business , you can't just run one, there  is not a franchise just waiting to be picked up. As with all business start ups you must do your research  with potential clients, create your showreel, show them what you can do and research how it would benefit them, see if they are interested. And remember you will need some kind of liability insurance if you are flying commercially.

I have a professional video company and it is bloody hard work, so be prepared to put some serious effort in if you want to do any commercial activity- and of course you must be totally competent with the art of photography and videography.  Waiving a point and shoot camera around won't cut it when you are after peoples money!
I have been doing this for over thirty years now and I am still learning- I don't wish to dampen your spirit but remember that a poorly shot and paid for video will reflect on us that are earning our living this way!
Rod
Rod

Its not, too many people are doing it. Now production companies are catching on to this and hiring one or two operators/contractors to do this kind of work. I approached fox studios through a connection of mine and  found out they are in the planning and  legality phase and of adding these to their news vans. Don't know what brand or flavor. Non the less it makes sense for them to use these every now and again for on site footage instead of a million dollar jet ranger helicopter. The only way I think you can make money is to get your self a police scanner and be ready to roll. Some news stations in L.A. will buy big story incident footage at their discretion, but in my experience, its got to be shock and awe content. In the end, its a hit or miss, I would keep your day job just incase. Personally, when I have time I stake out some peewee football fields in low income areas and wait for fights to break out with the parents. These always get picked up by the media.

Long and short answer is you can't.

Outside of insurance policies and getting your foot through the door, let's look at obvious elephant in the room.

Let's say you are asked to do a video shoot. They need you to produce 1 hour of aerial footage. You charge your batteries, do your prep, drive to location, fly based on their schedule, go back, edit footage, give it back to them... how much effort and time do you think is spent on all of that?

I have a youtube channel and every one of my 5 minute videos takes about 10 hours to produce (includes filming). If I had to drive somewhere for say 1 hour. I factor in meals, gas, electricity, risk... and trust me the figure that is crossing my mind is in the neighborhood of $300 ish. People that need aerial footage might need it multiple times... so for $1400 they can buy a drone themselves and produce their footage for free going forward.

Just like DSLR cameras killed the need for a professional photographer, drone oversaturation and availability and low cost will put a stop to any potentiality of a video shoot.

Hollywood will have their stock of $25,000 drones. Semi-pros will have their stock of $5,000 drones... and everyone else will have all the other drones. A Gopro can produce pretty darn compelling video footage.

There will be people offering service for free, others (ie kids) offer it for cheap and there goes that.

I would not be banking on making a service out of this.

Heck I pitched the idea of drones to my employer... R&D and all that... hinting that I could... well... you know... become a designated drone guy... meh... after presentations and all that... our contractors already pitched their idea (licensed, bonded, insured etc) and their drones... and employer is keen on buying a few units so that I could teach some of our field guys how to fly the darn things. In other words I do the research, I lay the foundation and someone else gets to have the whole fun.

I am keeping my mouth shut more or less and just plow with the program. Sad thing is that I won't even be a middle man in purchasing the equipment. I can't get any kickbacks or credits because this will have to go through finances and accounting...

As they say... future generations will stand on shoulders of giants.

Pretty soon contracting a drone service will be synonymous with trying to hire someone because they have a personal computer. Cheaper to buy and fun to learn.

yarik83 Posted at 2014-11-6 11:59
Long and short answer is you can't.

Outside of insurance policies and getting your foot through th ...

People that need aerial footage might need it multiple times... so for $1400 they can buy a drone themselves and produce their footage for free going forward.

Just because someone can purchase the drone, doesn't mean they could make the same video.

You would be surprised what people can do. In 2007 I had no idea that I would be making scuba videos, wildlife and nature videos, have a rapidly growing youtube videos, would be filming kayaking, mountain biking, traveling, selling my footage to production companies, sell my scuba videos, buy a dslr and submit my photos for contests, buy my phantom and get pretty darn good flying it... I was twice removed from being able to do anything even remotely close to video or photo... and I am being told I am halfway decent in what I do.

And so let me be the first to tell you that people do not value "superb quality" over "quality". People want it now, people want it fast, people want to make decisions on the fly and when I say on the fly I mean pronto. Most people thinking about using drones for anything want results, be it rescue crews, corporations seeking to get eye in the sky or otherwise. Most normal people outside drone hobby are impressed just with anything these days and so if I can teach my 52 year old mom to fly my phantom 1 in a circle and then 2500 feet out and back... anyone can pick up a drone, fly it a few weekends and get semi proficient with it. My 13 and 15 year old sisters picked up my controller and started flying it like it was nothing. Mind I was out in the -9F blizzard with batteries lasting barely 2 minutes in atrocious conditions. Video came out so good that I am seriously thinking about giving them my phantom 1 when I retire it.

Just a thought. On another hand phantom is not in the same category as S1000 for example. To get cinema quality video you have 2 pilots one for drone, 1 for camera, then a spotter, then a director with a 2nd screen... it is a giant operation. Cinechopper posts videos on how he does his thing. It is never just a guy coming out... it is entire village worth of equipment and people that travels with him.