My wife and I spent the weekend in Maine and came across this really interesting field with glacial erratics right at sunset. I learned a lot in the process – especially when editing the video and seeing how flight path, smoothness in turning and other dynamics come to play.



It's a great day to fly,
Michael

Very nicely done and many congrats

Very nice video

Beautiful fall colors! Great flying. That's some low level flying. What software are you using to edit the video?  

Thanks! I actually list it in the end frame - it is Adobe Rush. I usually use Premier for video editing but wanted to try something simple.

That said, I just watched one of member @SkyHighFilms videos on editing using the DJI app and learned quite a bit about synching to audio and doing better cuts. I am going to rework this with additional footage I have and apply some of his techniques.

Well done!

SublimeQuad, Nice video, looks like some buildings were there at one time, may be the reason for the road.  Like the way you fly around, and the colors are nice.  Thank you for sharing.

Thanks all. Bob, there might have been but I think the roads are for 4 wheelers and motorcyclists. There is a few of these erratic fields in this area. I've always been fascinated with them – the area I grew up in Ohio had quite s few.

I've flown aerobatic quadcopter for a few years and they require you to be on the sticks ALL time. I'm still learning how to flow smoothly but it is coming along.

It's a good day to fly,
Michael

Well done!

Nice video!

Thanks for share your region with us.

Hello there SublimeQuad. Thank you for reaching out and for posting this amazing video you have filmed. Great work and keep on flying. .

Looks nice.
Maybe you want to dial down the EV compensation a bit.
The shots have this typical 'average' exposure that is (in my opinion) too light for most situations.

Nicely done.    

Montfrooij Posted at 10-13 23:10
Looks nice.
Maybe you want to dial down the EV compensation a bit.
The shots have this typical 'average' exposure that is (in my opinion) too light for most situations.

I agree, thanks for the feedback. I do have some ND filters on the way too, that will help for some of the overexposed shots and I'll start shooting in manual mode.

SublimeQuad Posted at 10-14 04:23
I agree, thanks for the feedback. I do have some ND filters on the way too, that will help for some of the overexposed shots and I'll start shooting in manual mode.

Personally I would not use ND filters.
Unless you really know you need them. \
The same goes for manual mode.

EV compensation is more than enough for most situations.
At least for me.

ND filters for drones are only required to lower the framerate if you want to get a little bit of motion blur (they say it looks a bit more pleasing to the eye) but if you fly slow (which is a good idea anyways) you probably won't notice the difference.
There are very few examples where you need ND filters because there is too much light and you can't overcome it with a faster shutterspeed.

My advice would be to NOT use ND filters unless you are really ready to push everything out of the footage.
The effect is really minimal and it is quite a hassle to put them on.
And think about this : you are on the ground and look up. How do you know which density to choose?
You don't!
Why?
You don't know what the lighting will be when you are up there. It depends on if you add sky to your frame, or just the ground.
If you take shots with and without sky you will have the 'wrong' density and still get either too much noise because your density is too high OR too fast shutterspeed.

In essence, you have to fly back and change ND filers if you want to be 100% right.
Nobody does that and accepts they still don't have the right shutterspeed.

Also think about one more thing : photography.
If you also take stills on the same flight, chances are you don't want ND filters because you need the fastest shutterspeed to reduce motion blur.

Lastly, the extra glass introduces more risk of lens flare etc. Which you probably don't want....

To conclude : only somebody who knows what he / she is doing / wants AND is willing to invest the time to make sure the right ND filter is on needs ND filters .
Otherwise it is just another piece of glass that costs money and slows you down.

Flying slowly probably  solves any issue you might have AND is free!
With the extra benefit of 'cinematic' shots

Focus on the flying and movement and not on the tech stuff (exposure etc.)until you really master the flying.
The last few percent of your product is determined by that tech stuff.
I fly automatic 95% of the time and don't see any issues (exposure jumps)
And if there are exposure jumps, I just cut around it in post (use only the part before or after the jump)
So EV compensation is your savior to get 'better' looking footage.
Together with slow, controlled flying!

Montfrooij Posted at 10-14 04:57
Personally I would not use ND filters.
Unless you really know you need them. \
The same goes for manual mode.

Thank you for the detailed reply! I am an avid still photographer back from film days with my own darkroom and an early adopter in digital. I was an early Photoshop beta tester back in 1988 too. I've dabbled a bit with video, I've flown a lot of RC including FPV acrobatic quadcopters. But this "drone" video is new territory so I have a lot to learn. I'm always looking to learn from others and "to keep it simple" so thanks again!

It's a good day to fly,
Michael

Very nicely done Michael.  

SublimeQuad Posted at 10-14 07:56
Thank you for the detailed reply! I am an avid still photographer back from film days with my own darkroom and an early adopter in digital. I was an early Photoshop beta tester back in 1988 too. I've dabbled a bit with video, I've flown a lot of RC including FPV acrobatic quadcopters. But this "drone" video is new territory so I have a lot to learn. I'm always looking to learn from others and "to keep it simple" so thanks again!

It's a good day to fly,

You're welcome.
It is my way of doing things (of course)
So use what you think suits you best
There are many ways to Rome
(not sure if that translates to English as well)

Very nice first!

Montfrooij Posted at 10-14 11:56
You're welcome.
It is my way of doing things (of course)
So use what you think suits you best

Yes it does translate!

SublimeQuad Posted at 10-14 12:38
Yes it does translate!

Cool
Good to know!

First successful attempt