My first try at droning, added another.

[Nwcid]

This weekend I picked up a GoPro Karma Hero 6 drone. I did lots of research and I am aware of all the positives and negatives of this uint. I was going to buy a gimbal and Hero 6 regardless, and for a $300 difference also got me a drone.

Here is a video from my 5th flight. It has been quite some time since I did much video editing. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.



Sound track is Entropy by FASCINATING EARTHBOUND OBJECTS

 

[NancyMoranG]

Wow, for only a few flights, you did really well on this.
Since I slept in a Holiday Inn Last night, I can tell you what to do, but I can't do it myself.
When you sweep around the barn, can you sweep downward to show inside of barn silhouette with sun (somewhat) in background, and then sweep up into your continued flow?
As a watcher, I wanted to see a little of the inside of the barn..

 

[Nwcid]

Wow, for only a few flights, you did really well on this.
Since I slept in a Holiday Inn Last night, I can tell you what to do, but I can't do it myself.
When you sweep around the barn, can you sweep downward to show inside of barn silhouette with sun (somewhat) in background, and then sweep up into your continued flow?
As a watcher, I wanted to see a little of the inside of the barn..

Anything is possible, but is it probable is another thing.......
I bought the unit Saturday morning. Few it a few times on Sunday, took this video midday Monday.

I have a few other shots, getting set up for this one, that does show some more, but they did not flow a smooth. At the risk of making excuses, it was about 18* out and the ~15 min flight it took to get this was freezing. I will be doing more more practicing and posting.

I also might try and pull some screen shots, because there are some great angle of the barn. I hope to play with it more this weekend.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Oh, I know it takes practice. You just seemed to be doing pretty well at it quickly! That's why I felt like I could comment.
I got the Mavik about 6 weeks ago. As an 'old person' who never played video games, it is a whole new learning curve for me. I applaud anyone doing so well at it.

I will,put up a couple of clips soon but won't Be a movie...yet..

 

[Nwcid]

I truly appreciate the comments. I have a ton to learn also. Comments help.

 

[ac12]

I've been practicing in an underground parking lot, because I don't want to loose the quad by doing something stupid. In the underground, there is a ceiling to keep it from flying off to "never never land," and calm air so it won't get caught by the wind and blown away from me.

The hardest thing for me (also a non-video game senior) to learn, is to fly it head in.
I have a hard time thinking from the perspective of the quad.
When headed in, the quads right is my left, and the quads left is my right. And that is where I keep getting myself confused.
I need a lot more stick time.

 

[Nwcid]

I've been practicing in an underground parking lot, because I don't want to loose the quad by doing something stupid. In the underground, there is a ceiling to keep it from flying off to "never never land," and calm air so it won't get caught by the wind and blown away from me.

The hardest thing for me (also a non-video game senior) to learn, is to fly it head in.
I have a hard time thinking from the perspective of the quad.
When headed in, the quads right is my left, and the quads left is my right. And that is where I keep getting myself confused.
I need a lot more stick time.

In that respect, I am lucky. I have a ton of property with a couple of large fields to fly in.

Wind has me concerned also. I did do something a little risky yesterday. There was an area I wanted to fly. I had been watching the wind as I drove up and it had been pretty calm. When I got all set up it was starting to get gusty. I took off in a nice open area and watched it hove in the wind to see how stable it would be. Held well, so I went and did my shot. On review of the video it was a bit more gusty where I was shooting, but the unit did great. I am hoping to work on the video tomorrow.

Flying head in, looking at the unit can be hard for sure. I try and use the camera view screen most of the time, that helps. My biggest challenge is flying in camera view is up and down. In an airplane, if you want to go up, you pull back, if you want to go down, push forward. So far I have only crashed into the ground doing that one time, but have come close many times. On my unit, there is now way to change that.

 

[ac12]

John,
Ah you are lucky, I don't have an on-done view, so I have to work from my position. Like old fashioned RC flying.
Maybe a quad with on-drone view will be a future purchase, once I get out of grade-school quad flying. I'm still in 1st grade. At least I'm out of kindergarten (grin).

 

[Nwcid]

Here is the one I tried in high wind.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Wow, what great clarity on that video!
I am trying to imagine the drone camera view being my way to figure the controls. If it's facing 12:00, then my right hand 'up' is forward, etc but yes, I am having to just figure controls. It would help if I got out more. :{
But, that is my own fault..

Those horses would make a great night shot with the stars and some light painting! (Not a drone shot, just camera)

 

[Nwcid]

As I mentioned before, I am still working on my "ups and downs". From camera view, I am use to pushing forward to go down and pulling back to go up.

Well if you catch it just in time, you can make drone snow angles.

 

[ac12]

On my transmitter, the up/down is not like an airplane with a center hold for going level. Mine is 0 power at the bottom, to full power at the top. Hold is whatever power level it takes to keep it at a stable altitude. So as the battery gets near the end, I need more power to hold altitude. That also tells me that I need to bring it down to change batteries.

I've read some pros and cons of both methods of power control; center hold altitude and 0-full.
And it seems that center hold looks like an easier way to learn and fly.

 

[ac12]

Here is the one I tried in high wind.

HIGH wind? It looked pretty stable to me.
Are the newer quads able to hold position in the wind, without operator control?

 

[Nwcid]

Here is the one I tried in high wind.

HIGH wind? It looked pretty stable to me.
Are the newer quads able to hold position in the wind, without operator control?

Starting at the 50 second mark, look at the sage brush in the bottom part of the frame. It takes a lot of wind to move it like that. I would not be shocked if it was gusts of 30-35mph. While the image is stable, you can see the drone moving quite a bit, and only a little of that is operator error.

Depending on which drone you get, will depend on how it is controlled. All of this style have some kind of automatic positioning. In the case of the Karma, it is only GPS so it is not as stable as some others out there. There are others that use proximity sensors along with GPS and are almost rock solid.