Drones [Archive] - Small Business Forum

turboguy

12-04-2016, 04:18 PM

I am starting to think about buying a drone with the goal of getting some pretty cool videos of my products in action. Possibly some cool photos as well but the videos are my top priority. I see a cheap one on Amazon that looks pretty cool but I don't want to cut corners. I am thinking about either a DJI Phantom 3 or a DJI Phantom 4 at the moment but am quite flexible and don't even know enough about drones to ask intelligent questions. So I am wondering if anyone has a drone and has any suggestions or recommendations either about models or features I should look for.

Harold Mansfield

12-04-2016, 04:31 PM

I watch Know How on the Twit network and they talk about drones a lot. I've also watched a few drone races on ESPN from time to time and have gotten to know some of the brands, although I'm no expert and don't own one myself. .

DJI is a good brand.
Go Pro's new Karma has also gotten good reviews :https://shop.gopro.com/karma
Parrot is also well respected: https://www.parrot.com/us/Drones#decouvrez-notre-gamme-

I think it all comes down to what kind of environment you'll be flying in,and the capabilities/ resolution of the camera, or do you want just the drone and will out fit it with your own camera. Go Pro, Sony and many others make stand alone cameras for mounting.

Here's a PC World article that puts some of the best brands side by side.
The Best Drones of 2016 | PCMag.com (http://www.pcmag.com/roundup/337251/the-best-drones)

turboguy

12-04-2016, 04:58 PM

Thanks for the feedback Harold. I am looking for one with a camera. I don't have a Gopro or other camera that would work. I have seen a bit on the Parrot and did watch the video promotion on the GoPro but GoPro is a little new and have already had a call back so I am inclined to rule them out just because they are new. I will be doing some research for a bit but will look at Parrot and DJI

Harold Mansfield

12-04-2016, 05:14 PM

Go Pro is not new. They were the first in the action camera space. This is their first drone that they themselves are producing, but they aren't new to the game.

nealrm

12-04-2016, 05:28 PM

I am assuming that you want to use these videos and photos for advertising, if that is the case, hire someone to do it. Getting good photos of a product in action is not as easy as just buying a drone. Get a pro with several hundred hours of experience and good equipment. It will make a video that people will want to watch and make your products look good.

Harold Mansfield

12-04-2016, 05:44 PM

That's some good advice. Buying the equipment doesn't mean you'll be any good at using it. If learning is part of it, and you're in no hurry, then it makes sense. Plus drones are cool. I want one too.

I think back to when I was convinced I could do my own voice overs. Purchased all the equipment, (probably spent about $500) and realized in one day that I suck at voice overs and knew nothing about quality recording. Sure, I could record something, but it was nowhere near the quality and professionalism I was hoping for.

I ended up hiring a pro for $50 and he did it in one take.

tallen

12-04-2016, 08:11 PM

Have thought about getting a drone, too, but my partner is concerned about the learning curve and thinks it would just be a time sink. Yes, could hire a pro, but what we would want to shoot is so dependent on weather and tides it would be really difficult to schedule.... There is still a lot of work to do with coming up with story boards, shot lists (angles and altitudes), etc..., maybe it would be worth getting an inexpensive drone to do rough versions to show the pro exactly what you want?

BizAdvisor

12-04-2016, 08:31 PM

A client of mine started a business taking aerial images for realtors and business owners with a single DJI Phantom 3 drone that I believe he bought at Target for like $500..? As far as I know, he didn't have much experience in piloting drones or anything RC related. In fact, I don't think he really knew too much about photography either... But he is doing quite well with it.

turboguy

12-04-2016, 10:43 PM

The way I want to use it makes it really not practical to hire someone to take the shots so if I am going to do it I will have to do it myself. If there is that much of a learning curve then I will just have to devote the time to learning. That isn't my favorite thing to do but I have always done what I had to.

I agree about the voice overs Harold. I think there is nothing I dislike doing more than the voice overs for my videos. That is definitely not my strong point. I did hire someone to do one and it was money well spent and will most likely hire someone for the new ones. I find it funny when I get a call or go to a show and someone recognizes my voice from the videos and that happens a lot. I am sure it is the poor quality that has them remembering the voice.

turboguy

12-04-2016, 10:45 PM

Another plus with having my own is I have felt that the secret of getting good photos and videos is to take a lot of shots or a lot of footage and if you have enough some will be perfect for what you want.

nealrm

12-05-2016, 08:40 AM

Yes, could hire a pro, but what we would want to shoot is so dependent on weather and tides it would be really difficult to schedule....
Last time I checked, we know the tide schedule years in advance and weather at least several days in advance. The weather is something that any experienced drone operator is used to working around. It's outdoor work, they know about the weather.

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Really, I have heard all these argument many times over. They generally boil down to "I am looking for a reason to buy a cool new toy". If someone wants a toy, they are adults and can buy one. But don't try to create a business argument for doing it. Just say you want the cool toy. (And they are cool)

turboguy

12-05-2016, 10:01 AM

nealrm

12-05-2016, 10:33 AM

To be honest, I also really want to buy a drone. But even with the amount of work we could possibly do, there is just not a business justification.

FYI - if you are planning on using the video for advertising, be sure to follow all the legal requirements. They apply to ALL commercial use of the product INCLUDING work you do for yourself. So you can't just order a drone and start shooting advertisements. While the feds, may or may not catch you and same goes for the local police, your insurance isn't going to pay a claim for anything you do illegally.

Harold Mansfield

12-05-2016, 11:23 AM

In my case I am sure I am not looking to buy a cool new toy. I have no doubts that is a motivation for many people. Probably one of the motivating factors is that I saw some cool video one of my competitors shot using a drone. Perhaps it is a case of p---s envy. :cool:

That's a sound reason, but did they shoot it themselves, or hire someone to do it?

I see both side of it. If you understand that you're going to have to learn how to use it, and something about photography and probably editing your own videos...then OK.
However, what you seem to be doing is making a lot of assumptions about what your competitors are doing without knowing for sure.

I'm all for buying a drone, and I don't need a reason. Just be realistic about your own abilities and be serious about learning how to use it and take professional photography. Much like my attempt at voice overs, doing it wrong would have been far worse than not doing it at all.

nealrm

12-05-2016, 11:39 AM

Also - The drone is not the only thing needed to make the videos. You will likely want some software to edit the video. Depending on the computer you current have, you may need an upgrade or new one to handled the editing.

turboguy

12-05-2016, 01:26 PM

That's a sound reason, but did they shoot it themselves, or hire someone to do it?

They shot it themselves but it was a friend's drone so he had some experience in running it.

I have always done our photography. Many of the photos I use have the background changed and I probably spend about as much of my time working in Photoshop as I do any program. Right now we have a major catalog company adding our products and the photos we had did not meet their requirements so I am practically living and breathing Photoshop. I would guess the week before the show I put 40 hours just working in Photoshop.

I have also edited our videos before and have been doing that for a long time. I started when VHS tapes were the rage and used an MX-1 as a mixer. I still have the MX-1 and the title unit that went with it up in my attic. Going digital was a nice change and I have edited the videos before on my existing computer. If I went 4K then perhaps my computer might have a problem but I don't know since I never tried it. I have used Roxio Creator to edit my videos but do have Adobe Premier (CS-3) which I probably should start playing with.

From a legal standpoint I believe you need to register a drone with the FAA and of course need proper permissions for what you are photographing or videoing but that is all the regulations I am aware of.

nealrm

12-05-2016, 01:58 PM

From a legal standpoint I believe you need to register a drone with the FAA and of course need proper permissions for what you are photographing or videoing but that is all the regulations I am aware of.

That would be for non-commercial use of the drone. You need to review this summary: https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf. There is some testing and certification requirements. They are not hard, but there is a backlog.

turboguy

12-05-2016, 02:13 PM

Thanks for letting me know about that. Our government seems to try to make everything a bit of a pain but in this case since there is the possibility of damage, death and terrorism it is probably good that they do regulate things the way they do.

nealrm

12-05-2016, 02:43 PM

I'm glad the rolled back the requirements to taking a simple test. They basically want to make sure that the people using them keep them away from planes and other people. Before they modified the requirements you had to have a pilot license to operate commercially.

There is also the possibility of local and state laws.

Harold Mansfield

12-05-2016, 03:51 PM

As with everything ( except driving) some idiot will do something that upsets a lot of people and those people will DEMAND that something be done with this new fangled technology, and we'll pivot too far to account for that one thing. And then commercial drone operators and hobbyists will get together and lobby for legislation to exclude or include certain things to protect themselves and keep others out of the market. And then someone will sue, so there will be more regulation on the other regulation to correct the things they did wrong on the first legislation. Before you know it there will be an entire book of regulations for drones that make it costly for the average person to get into the business, while everyone else has to jump through all the hoops.

And that's how over regulation happens.

It's weird how we don't do that with cars. It's pretty much, watch this video, study for this multiple choice test ( here are the answers by the way), drive around the block, Good. Here's the keys. Good luck out there. "Look out! Coming through!".

Bobjob

12-05-2016, 04:21 PM

Whoever creates drones that clean skyscraper windows is gonna make a fortune.

Harold Mansfield

12-05-2016, 04:43 PM

Whoever creates drones that clean skyscraper windows is gonna make a fortune.

It's been done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRxxhHWdW3o

turboguy

07-30-2017, 03:51 PM

I just thought I would post an update to this thread. About a month ago I finally bought my drone. I haven't had time to play with it until this week and just completed my first flight about an hour ago. I am charging the batteries for my second flight as I write this.

I ended up buying a DJI Mavic Pro. They sell for $ 995.00 but I got a new one on Craigslist for $ 850.00 (test flown once). I liked that one because it folds up to about the size of a water bottle and since I want to take it with me it is more compact that the other DJI drones. If that wasn't an issue as it would not be for most the DJI Phantom 3 pro or DJI Phantom 4 might be the better choice. For someone doing it professionally the Phantom series probably looks more professional. The Mavic that I bought has a lot of nice features such as obstacle avoidance, auto return home on low battery, the ability to follow people or objects, 4K video and 12 MP camera and lots more. It was fairly easy to fly but there are so many things on it that I still have a lot to learn.

DJI seems to be the leader in camera drones. Most of the others seem to be hobby drones except for GoPro but GoPro is pretty new and I think DJI is the better choice. I own stock in GoPro so if I felt it would have been a good choice I would rather have supported them.