Still getting the hang of this .... Neat technology and a great / easy thing to fly ......

I have a question. When you are turning, and it is sort of clicking round like that, is there a way to make that smooth? Are you turning the drone or rotating the camera?

lightpanther Posted at 2015-5-15 13:41
I have a question. When you are turning, and it is sort of clicking round like that, is there a way  ...

You cannot rotate the camera sideways with the P3. You'll have to rotate the whole quad.

RuneW Posted at 2015-5-15 18:26
You cannot rotate the camera sideways with the P3. You'll have to rotate the whole quad.

In that case how are people getting smooth turns. I see a lot of videos with a "security camera" effect, but there are also videos that successfully manage to avoid this.

Slow gentle movements. Also, extending the length of the sticks helps with this.

scrufytam@gmail Posted at 2015-5-16 02:16
Slow gentle movements. Also, extending the length of the sticks helps with this.

Thanks - I will extend the sticks and practice more ..

Total Posted at 2015-5-16 04:41
Thanks - I will extend the sticks and practice more ..

What sticks are you referring to here? (don't have my Phantom yet).

lightpanther Posted at 2015-5-15 13:41
I have a question. When you are turning, and it is sort of clicking round like that, is there a way  ...

All of these shots were done by keeping the camera stationary and moving the drone.

You can get some amazing shots by "swinging" around objects.   Put the camera in FOLLOW MODE and use the right stick yaw left while using the left stick to rotate right and you'll get the shot I did of the tombstone statue.

lightpanther Posted at 2015-5-16 09:45
What sticks are you referring to here? (don't have my Phantom yet).

You can adjust the height of the sticks to give better control.   The taller you make them the more subtle the moves.

Sixth Flight.  Some are better at getting the hang of things.  Its taken me a while.  I fly at least twice a day.  Still learning and practicing!

And it helps to read these forums.  I didn't know the sticks extended.  Learn a lot from others.

lightpanther Posted at 2015-5-15 13:41
I have a question. When you are turning, and it is sort of clicking round like that, is there a way  ...

Besides extending the sticks (they screw up and down) you can modify the EXP of the sticks in the Pilot App which makes it possible to make very slow yaw (rotating) etc. movements.
It is still not easy and takes a lot of practice. In reality, for most "serious" shots you'll likely be best off to not rotate/yaw or fly around a lot but just sticking with one smooth motion in one direction (like in JimHare's video) without correcting (for those seconds of video you need for that particular shot).

It is perfectly to be expected for there to be a lot of outtakes when filming to get those few perfect moves and shots you want   Depends on what you're doing naturally - but lets face it, not many people will want to watch a 5 minute video of just flying around   So editing is essential if you want the most out of this great tool.

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Buy your DJI-gear, batteries, cases by using this link - it'll help me out

harderna@yahoo. Posted at 2015-5-16 20:33
Sixth Flight.  Some are better at getting the hang of things.  Its taken me a while.  I fly at least ...

Speaking as a guy who has a lot more experience with still photography and just starting to learn videography....

I'll bet a lot of these shots are made by people who either (a) are beginners and got really, really lucky (b) they have a lot more experience than they let on or (c) like so many still photographers, they shot lots of film and the result was but a tiny fraction of that!

I'll put my money on both (b) and (c). Someone really using the P3 to good advantage probably runs the image in his/her mind before actually shooting and still probably makes multiple passes at their objective. Too many of us see these efforts and think (like the not-so-ladylike comment at the Oscars a couple of years ago) "...they make it look so f*$%ing easy!"

Or as a great sports quote - "...luck is often the residue of great planning."

FantomDK Posted at 2015-5-17 15:36
Besides extending the sticks (they screw up and down) you can modify the EXP of the sticks in the  ...

I'm not yet happy with a single video I've taken thus far - probably a dozen at the most. Too dark - got washed out by the sun (cockpit error - was in manual mode and didn't recognize it until the flight was over!) - far too many jerky movements.

My biggest mistake is the one probably the most difficult to overcome. Someone posted a video here one day and did the same thing I do. Instead of smoothly "going around the corner" he/she would stop and rotate the bird. Someone critiqued it, saying "..keep going and learn to make smooth turns into the scene you're trying to capture..."

I realized that's exactly what I was doing. As a newbie, it seems very difficult to keep an eye on everything that needs to have an eye kept on! I think the deep, dark secret is that most of the controlling of the bird has to be habit - muscle memory - and then the equivalent of the "...framing of the shot...." can take place. For us newbies, there's still too much to try to remember all at the same time. It's gonna take some time to get to Carnegie Hall! LOL