I recently updated my Phantom 3 Pro with the new software update allowing me to do an orbiting path and set a course (way points). I also purchased a new backpack to transport my drone in on a scooter. With my new upgrades I made 2 filming trips with friends to make the Aerial Chiang Mai Quarry & Doi Piu viewpoint video.
Chiang Mai Grand Canyon
I arrived by car with my friend about 4pm at the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon also known as the Quarry. I updated my Canon 6d with a new color profile called Cinelooks. Credit to Zack from lazarus.media for sharing tool. I did almost no color correction and I like the film look coming straight out of the camera. There were some really narrow walkways so I just handheld the camera and stabilized in post. I did mostly 1080p 24fps stock footage shots with my ND filter. I realized after setting up the Phantom 3 Pro drone that I forgot my ipad so I couldn’t use the app! Yes even teachers make mistakes. Luckily I leaned on my previous experience flying the Phantom 1 as I was pretty much flying blind. I had to calibrate the drone manually and kept line of sight of the drone. I knew to control the camera I had to pull the top left wheel on the remote all the way to the left. I used this to do the birds eye photos and videos of the water. The water comes out as a nice turqoise blue from the birds eye shots. In summary not bad footage for a blind flight. Perhaps I could go back and do another flight where I could do the orbiting modes and do more shots facing away from the sun. It is about a 30 minute drive from the Nimman area of Chiang Mai.
Birds Eye photo with almost no editing
Doi Pui Doi Suthep National Park
The second location was shot at the top of Chiang Mai mountain Doi Pui Doi Suthep National Park and the Doi Piu viewpoint. This location required more planning as we were riding by motorbike and we are in the middle of the rain season in Chiang Mai. The clouds looked fairly clear so we made the 47 minute scooter ride to Doi Pui Suthep National Park. We spotted a viewpoint that allowed use to see Chiang Mai, but the opening was too small. My friend Michael gave me the idea to fly through an opening of the trees. I was nervous because I had no GPS signal before take off. I planned to do a simple upward flight to get an aerial of Chiang Mai and luckily the GPS satellite reception improved while in the air. I managed to squeeze in some birds eye selfie footage and photos of my friends. I did a short flight because I wanted to save some battery power for the Doi Piu viewpoint. This viewpoint was crowded and I had to fly with an audience. This can take some time if you’re not used to a crowd. Luckily I’ve had 74 flights with the Phantom 3 Pro and many more with the Phantom 1 under my belt so I’m used to this. I tried the orbit mode in the clouds. Next time I will fly with a larger radius so it doesn’t have the pan look.
Lessons learned
When making this video I wanted to mix my HD and 4k footage in an HD project. I learned a technique in final cut pro x to so I could digitally zoom in my 4k footage to take advantage of the extra real estate. I used this technique in this video. Also learned that the satellite reception can improve while in mid air.
Taking off spatial conform on 4k footage in a Final Cut pro X HD project allows you to digitally zoom
Music by Silence Await by cdk http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/17432 Selfie footage of me: http://unevensidewalks.com/
Gear I used in this video and recommend
This is the gear I used in this video and recommend. These are affiliate links that I get a commission from. Thanks if you decide to click and buy from this link
Phantom 3 Professional
It allows me to film 4k aerial videos and photos. It’s easy to travel with and as a 1st generation flyer I appreciate all the safety and technology improvements it allows. The integrated camera allows me to get great stable videos and photos that I can control from the app on my ipad mini 2.
My drone of choice photo credit:Landon unevensidewalks.com
Phantom 3 Professional battery
The battery gives you 23 advertised minutes of flight time, but in reality with the critical battery warnings you want to bring it down sooner than this. I recommend that once you hit 10% battery you should be coming back to land. If you buy the Phantom 3 pro drone the battery is definitely a smart purchase if you want more flight time. It will save you the hassle of leaving your flight location to find a coffee shop to charge for an hour. Purchase the battery here.
Getting a second battery is a good idea
* indicates required
Email Address *
First Name
Last Name
URL
Comments