Drone videography can add a creative perspective to any video project that needs to be shot outdoors. This aerial cinematography isn’t yet commonly seen in videos, so if you’re looking to make unique, swooping landscape videos, a drone is the best tool to do it.
Drones are small and fairly easy to use and are starting to become a more affordable option for videographers. Although drones are easy to operate, there are ways to make your videos better by simply following certain pointers. If you want to offer a drone video service to customers, then we have compiled some of the top tips to get you started on drone videography.
Top 7 tips for drone videography
Find out about flying regulations
Every country has different rules when it comes to flying drones, so it’s best to check the relevant regulations before you venture into such videography. Whether you want to fly drones for recreational or professional purposes, you must do so in accordance with government-imposed flying regulations. If you’re from the UK and aren’t sure about the restrictions, find out all about it from the UK government website.
Plan your shots
Drone videography isn’t just about setting a drone up for flight and then capturing everything in its line of sight. You have got to plan every detail from what the weather will be like, to safely landing your drone in an open space. Also, think about the editing process of the video so that you know what kind of shots you should be filming. If you’re too busy to plan your own footage, it’s a good thing that there are lots of free drone video footage out there.
Wait for the perfect lighting
While filming on the ground is left up to the videographer’s control, filming up in the sky can be a bit more tricky since you can’t play God. The lighting for your video should be naturally optimal, so you will have to plan accordingly. Shooting during the ‘golden hour’ is what many videographers aim to do, to get the best natural lighting for their videos.
Practise your flying skills
Drone videography has more to do with drone flying and less with camera skills. Practise flying the drone until you’ve got great command over the controls and you can flawlessly fly it over your shoot location. The secret to smooth aerial footage is this impeccable ability to manually control the drone as you would with a video camera.
Experiment with flight modes
It’s important to learn to fly your drone manually but also keep in mind that most drones come with in-built ‘Intelligent Flight Modes’ so that your drone can do half your work for you. These modes include flying in circles around stationary objects or tracking fast-moving objects, among other advanced flight modes.
Shoot in 4K
Shooting aerial footage in 4K gives you plenty of room for editing the video. Although it can be challenging to edit a 4K video, it’s worth the effort in drone videography as you can zoom in without losing out on quality.
Fly slowly
A common mistake with novice drone videographers is their pace of filming. Aerial cinematography is meant to be shot slowly to capture the details. Also, in many scenarios, flying your drone slowly can also help minimize the risk of crashing it.
If you find yourself needing drone footage right now, yet don’t want to commit to the cost of buying and flying at this time, then take a look at Splento’s Aerial Filming services – a fixed-price, low-cost alternative to doing it all yourself.
As with any kind of videography, practice makes perfect with drone videography so keep it at until you get your videos to a professional level. Try flying as smoothly as possible and plan your video ahead of time so that you can shoot in the right weather conditions.
It’s also a good idea to capture more footage than needed so that you can edit it in later if needed. Follow these simple tips and you’ll eventually be no less than an eagle with camera access.
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