Now some of you may be wondering why I included video on my list. We often see drone video footage on YouTube and think it’s cool. But the hard fact is commercial buyers of drone video services have a much higher standard. So you will, too, if you want to make money in the Film/Photo/Video market.
By now you know shooting good drone video starts with selecting the right drone, the right camera, with the right lens, mounted on the right gimbal. It’s not a secret any drone enthusiast can go out and buy a DJI Phantom Vision 3 for about $1,200 and shoot 4K video. But just because you can fly it and press the ‘record’ button does not make you a professional aerial videographer. There is much more to it than that. For one, shooting good video requires you to be skilled in the basics of:
For another, there is timeline editing. What are you going to do with all that footage? Hand it to the customer raw? You could, but it’s better to have it edited or least know how it’s done so you can offer assistance or more services. For that, you will need to be skilled at:
Storytelling / sequencing Cuts Transitions Graphics Lighting Color grading
These aren’t all the things you need to know but if you don’t know these I suggest you get some basic film-school training and offer a better service than the kid next door with a quadcopter and a GoPro. Skill 2 – Mapping
In researching drones and aerial photography and mapping, you might find yourself coming across new terms. One of the basic ones you should know is “orthomosaic photo” or “orthophotos.” Orthophotos (aka ‘orthos’) are basically photos that have been stitched together to make a larger one and then corrected. The technique is not unique to drones. Orthomosaics have been created by aerial photographers in manned aircraft for years and used by lots of industries.
The point here is if you are not familiar with the techniques and software to create orthos, then I recommend you acquaint yourself with it because it is a valuable service for which customers in the Mapping / Surveying market will pay handsomely. There are even drone apps that automate the whole process like DroneDeploy and Pix4D.