DJI Mavic Discussion, Bashing, and Mis-Information

Can you guys tell me - does aerial footage sell well? I would think a lot of success would be related to where you live of what you have access to - correct? No offense, but if you live in Cleveland or Alabama - your options for nice drone footage are limited. But if you live in Hawaii or Colorado, etc - you could get all kind of great stuff - mountains, rivers, streams, city, fields, ocean, sunsets, etc. Are any of you selling over 10 aerial clips per month? If so, are they selling as 4K or HD?

I am buying the Mavic next month and I dont know what to price my 4K OR HD at -- is there a going rate?

The stuff that sells best for me seems to be what could have been done with a cable cam or jib .. smaller scale scenes. Don't try to emulate or replace helicopter/airplane Cineflex footage. If you are not familiar with DJI compression, and you have discerning eyes, brace yourself ... make sure to study how best to reduce the sharpening! Look up the Phillip Bloom reviews .. he's a real guy not a tweaker ... use his settings. Do not use Dlog! The codec cannot handle it. The HD stuff can go for $479 ... and has ... even though a 4K version was available for cheaper. Do not underprice. Use imagination to provide PERSPECTIVE. This is another tool for gaining perspectives unique ... that's one of the hardest things ... when you have a clear vision of what the shot should look like, perform it several times to make it happen ... don't just fly around like a guy having fun (which is what you will be doing anyway, cuz it is fun!) and remember time stretches when you are airborne ... you might think it looks cool when piloting, but then you get home and what you thought was a 20 second clip turns out to be 3 ... no joy. As for location ... well, there are epic locations (but you will have lots of competition) as well as "normal" locations where you and your imagination and happy accidents (not the crashing kind, but the oh wow, that's cool!" kind will help you create unique shots/perspectives of otherwise normal things, and that will be great. Simple nature stuff is easiest, most likely to be legal and fun, but also sells the least. Finally, understand that every flight could be the last time you see your bird. Have multiple small cards, so if you are our shooting for a day you switch cards so you don't lose all the prior footage when you land on a lake (for example). Just the nature of the thing. And learn your controls so if things go wrong you react properly.

Wow - Mizamook - thanks for the in-depth response. Im gonna need to learn a LOT - because I am NOT a video pro. 99% of my sales are on my green screen -- I am really an actor. My camera is locked down on my tripod, my lighting is set in place, my mic is mounted above me - I simply walk in - turn on the lights and shoot! I have seen Phillip Bloom, I will have to watch more. I was hoping that I could use the Mavic to film myself - fly fishing for example (I am in Colorado) - I heard it has spotlight and follow mode where it could just hover above me while I cast. Not sure If I could do this alone (especially over water) or if I need to bring someone with me. I usually work alone, so I was hoping I could do it all by myself. I dont even know what DLOG is...lol. Im buying the $1300 option with 3 batteries and car charger. Since many locations in Colorado are at least 1 hour drive.

Dude - your footage is AWESOME Mizamook!

Now I am thinking - if I bring my drone on vacation - it can be a "business trip" on my taxes -- if I spend a good amount of time getting footage!!!

Mr. Wolfe,

Many thanks for your comments ... and while that was a quick off-the-top-of-my-head expression response to your question, I feel it a big mistake to not have mentioned the batteries .. yeah ... more batteries is definitely a huge need ... nothing worse than holding off from flying, waiting for the perfect moment due to limited batteries, then missing it altogether.

Are you sure it has three batts? Looks like a total of two, but maybe I'm wrong. Worth it to get another. Oh, and keep them warm. DJI batteries do NOT like being cold .. and they think cold is anything cooler than 45 F.

Every trip is a business trip. Stock is everywhere, like zombies. Never know when a shot is gonna pop up.

I wish I was an actor, or had one ... I usually fly around looking for one, but they never wander in front of my lens. I appreciate your work too .. it's just a totally different skill set/mindset than mine ... I always wish I could combine them...

Don't be this guy ... this guy is the classic stock Dweeb ... https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/27784482/aerial-top-world-view-successful-peak-climber-alaska-usa.html

But yeah, the beauty of these modern drones is you really can take your hands off the controls and let them hover without any special instructions which is glorious, and with a few commands, tell it to circle you (or another object) so you can get those nice POI rotations (which are pretty hard to do manually anyway).

Have fun, fly safe, and good luck!

Thank you! There is actually a drone store in my small town called "MultiCopter Warehouse" - they said the Mavic is shipping now from China and they have pre-orders to fill and after that they can start selling them to people like me. I will keep you posted!

Three is no atti mode on MaVic. .

I know ..that SUCKS. but considered blinding the GPS with a lead foil temporary sticker? Flying smooth shots in GPS is hard with anything.

Well said Gene!! You've got an actor buddy... just say the word!