Advice on job with raw land, lots of trees.

[redleger]

I got my first drone job. I've been practicing, watching hours of video, and made a few myself just of my house and back yard. I get to the job, and it's nothing but trees. Raw undeveloped overgrown land. I decide to use 60FPS and 120 shutter speed, and an ND8 because it was pretty sunny outside. ISO 100 and auto F stop. Using an Autel Evo II Pro V2. (I've seen all the framerate debates, but for sweeping landscape 60fps seems to be good.) Editing in Premiere Pro and After Effects because that's what I have access too. I also have Wondershare, but it's primitive in comparison.

Here's the issue. All the green looks like @$$. There's noise even though I kept ISO low. I've went back and did a reshoot and all the settings seem to yield the same issue. Here is a private link to the video. Anyone offer recommendations? I will add the tracking tonight, this is just the rough part. I'm waiting on pictures he is sending me to add into the video. Any help would be appreciated, or am I just tripping and it looks fine?

 

[herein2021]

First off you don't need the ND at all, waste of money not to mention it could be making your footage look worse (see reason #2 in the referenced post. Next you don't need to shoot in 60FPS, that's only for if you are going to slow down the footage to 1/2 speed later, it does nothing for landscape video footage in most other use cases and just wastes space on your memory card and computer. Your YT video is 1080P, I can't tell from your post if you shot the source video in 4K or 1080P, 4K will yield better results and the EVO II uses 10 bit H.265 4:2:0 for 4K, it drops down to 8 bit H.264 and 4:2:0 for 1080P. Not to mention YT uses their worse compression algorithms for anything below 2K.

So after setting those settings next you will absolutely want to get rid of Auto anything when shooting professionally except for autofocus, I recommend using F11, ISO100, with a shutter speed around 1/200 or 1/400 (whatever is needed to properly expose the image) and a WB of Sunlight/Daylight. You will also want to set your color profile to LOG for maximum post process color grading. With LOG footage you want to use the histogram and expose to the high side (ETTR) ever so slightly. I explain this a bit in this post.

Next you should get rid of the pans in the video, pans should be used very sparingly and look unprofessional unless used in very specific scenarios. Dolly In/Out, Truck Left/Right, Crane Up/Down. Orbit Left/Right and combinations of those movements will look much better than pans.

Ok FINALLY...how to fix the color, I went over the camera settings first because they are critical to getting a useable source image that is properly exposed, has a good WB, color bit depth and editable color profile. It is much easier to get the image right in camera than to try to fix it later. Here is a post where I go into quite a bit of detail on how I work with Autel LOG footage when applying a Rec709 primaries color grade.

For your particular footage I see a few problems and here is how I would fix them:

• Color Cast - Get rid of the ND filter, with it on it is impossible to tell what the colors are supposed to look like and most if not all ND filters add a color cast to the image.
• Exposure - The exposure changes throughout the video, this is due to using auto aperture. Change that to F11 and manually control the exposure to ensure it is even. When your exposure drops so does the color data available to the camera which gives you less data to work with in post.
• Bit Depth - Shoot at 4K 10 bit 4:2:0 to get maximum color data
• Color Grade - If you shoot using a LOG color profile and expose properly you will have all of the possible color data available to you. Follow a Rec709 conversion workflow to maximize the DR of the camera. Since the landscape is particularly boring in this particular scenario with little contrast between the highs and lows I would add saturation and use the curves to increase the contrast. Last but not least, I would add a touch of sharpening to bring in a slight bit of additional contrast in the fine details.
• Camera Movements - As previously mentioned, I would get rid of the pans altogether, and I would add some additional interest to the video such as an opening rising crane shot starting at the road to reveal the property.

 

[pedals2paddles]

Everything @herein2021 said is spot on, so not going to repeat it. Only thing I have to add is that you can't make an ugly property look beautiful. You're shooting trees and weeds. Those trees and weeds will always look like trees and weeds. Your job is to professionally showcase those trees and weeds.

 

[redleger]

First off you don't need the ND at all, waste of money not to mention it could be making your footage look worse (see reason #2 in the referenced post. Next you don't need to shoot in 60FPS, that's only for if you are going to slow down the footage to 1/2 speed later, it does nothing for landscape video footage in most other use cases and just wastes space on your memory card and computer. Your YT video is 1080P, I can't tell from your post if you shot the source video in 4K or 1080P, 4K will yield better results and the EVO II uses 10 bit H.265 4:2:0 for 4K, it drops down to 8 bit H.264 and 4:2:0 for 1080P. Not to mention YT uses their worse compression algorithms for anything below 2K.

So after setting those settings next you will absolutely want to get rid of Auto anything when shooting professionally except for autofocus, I recommend using F11, ISO100, with a shutter speed around 1/200 or 1/400 (whatever is needed to properly expose the image) and a WB of Sunlight/Daylight. You will also want to set your color profile to LOG for maximum post process color grading. With LOG footage you want to use the histogram and expose to the high side (ETTR) ever so slightly. I explain this a bit in this post.

Next you should get rid of the pans in the video, pans should be used very sparingly and look unprofessional unless used in very specific scenarios. Dolly In/Out, Truck Left/Right, Crane Up/Down. Orbit Left/Right and combinations of those movements will look much better than pans.

Ok FINALLY...how to fix the color, I went over the camera settings first because they are critical to getting a useable source image that is properly exposed, has a good WB, color bit depth and editable color profile. It is much easier to get the image right in camera than to try to fix it later. Here is a post where I go into quite a bit of detail on how I work with Autel LOG footage when applying a Rec709 primaries color grade.

For your particular footage I see a few problems and here is how I would fix them:

• Color Cast - Get rid of the ND filter, with it on it is impossible to tell what the colors are supposed to look like and most if not all ND filters add a color cast to the image.
• Exposure - The exposure changes throughout the video, this is due to using auto aperture. Change that to F11 and manually control the exposure to ensure it is even. When your exposure drops so does the color data available to the camera which gives you less data to work with in post.
• Bit Depth - Shoot at 4K 10 bit 4:2:0 to get maximum color data
• Color Grade - If you shoot using a LOG color profile and expose properly you will have all of the possible color data available to you. Follow a Rec709 conversion workflow to maximize the DR of the camera. Since the landscape is particularly boring in this particular scenario with little contrast between the highs and lows I would add saturation and use the curves to increase the contrast. Last but not least, I would add a touch of sharpening to bring in a slight bit of additional contrast in the fine details.
• Camera Movements - As previously mentioned, I would get rid of the pans altogether, and I would add some additional interest to the video such as an opening rising crane shot starting at the road to reveal the property.

These are all great tips. I swear I watched hours of people telling me some of this and other things. Noted, drop the 60fps and the filter. As for the camera technique, I will work on those moves in particular. The pans were actually requested, and I agree with you, they were boring. Color grading I guess is my weak point. Not going to lie, in Lightroom, I got it down. In Premiere Pro, it feels overly complicated and daunting. I will be going over your posts. For right now, Ill see if he likes it, otherwise I will go reshoot it. I want to make sure they get what they want. Don't want my first job to loom over me shamefully.

 

[redleger]

Everything @herein2021 said is spot on, so not going to repeat it. Only thing I have to add is that you can't make an ugly property look beautiful. You're shooting trees and weeds. Those trees and weeds will always look like trees and weeds. Your job is to professionally showcase those trees and weeds.

Yes, I was struggling with that same thought, but I still need help on presenting it professionally, and I'm considering driving back out there after work and reshooting everything, but I don't want to delay the deliver, which that will do. I'm torn.

 

[pedals2paddles]

Color grading I guess is my weak point. Not going to lie, in Lightroom, I got it down. In Premiere Pro, it feels overly complicated and daunting.

This is where I'm at in life as well. So for video, I do not use log color. I set the white balance and call it a day. But I haven't had anything super professional to produce with video either. So probably best to learn it eventually.

 

[redleger]

This is where I'm at in life as well. So for video, I do not use log color. I set the white balance and call it a day. But I haven't had anything super professional to produce with video either. So probably best to learn it eventually.

I am working on it. I've been shooting scenery in Oklahoma and then going in an playing with it not in LOG. Now I will begin shooting in log and learning premiere pro since that's one of the top programs professionals are using. going to school and working a job on top of it until I can make a living with drones is putting me in a time deficit. I'm going to get there. Great news is this site has just a wealth of knowledge on it. Thank you for your replies.

 

[herein2021]

I am working on it. I've been shooting scenery in Oklahoma and then going in an playing with it not in LOG. Now I will begin shooting in log and learning premiere pro since that's one of the top programs professionals are using. going to school and working a job on top of it until I can make a living with drones is putting me in a time deficit. I'm going to get there. Great news is this site has just a wealth of knowledge on it. Thank you for your replies.

For starters if I were you I would learn Davinci Resolve vs PP if you are serious about video editing.. I started with PP and hated the endless subscription fees, constant crashing after updates etc. DR has been used for Hollywood movie sets for decades, and has evolved from just color grading to a full featured NLE that IMO is far better than PP not to mention its a one time fee of $300 vs a lifetime of subscription fees for PP. I probably spent around $6K over a 10yr period for PP but at the time it was the only option.

As far as making your video look professional, it is very easy to do with the footage you currently have. Only you notice the colors and honestly like @pedals2paddles said, its just a field with weeds and trees....the customer isn't expecting a masterpiece. I know you want to deliver something professional, but you already have what you need footage wise; a good audio track, high quality transitions, and high quality motion graphics will immediately increase the production value without adding much time to the project.

Also, I never let a customer tell me what camera movements to use in a video; that's like telling a chef how to cook your meal. If the customer told me "I want the camera to pan around to show the surroundings", I would say "Ok no problem, I will ensure that the shot list includes the surroundings" meaning I am not committing to pans but I will meet their requirements. Instead of pans I would use orbits to show the opposing side of the property (position south, orbit towards the north to show the property and surroundings), and rising crane shots to do the same; movements that add movement without the nauseating look of pans.

If you truly want to reshoot for higher quality below is the shot list I would use and how I would edit the video, all shots would be a minimum of 30s in duration.

• Shot List
  • Dolly in along the road in your video
  • Truck left or right slightly below the top of the treeline close to the trees above the roadway...if you can catch the sun coming in through the trees from the opposition direction that's perfect.
  • Crane up camera tilt down from the roadway to the property to reveal the property
  • Left or right Orbit along entire perimeter of the property ensuring to keep a consistent speed and use a tree or reference point in the center of the property to keep the orbit smooth
  • Dolly in about 30' above the trees from one end of the property to the other end (North to South, South to North, East to West and vice versa)
  • Hover in the middle of the property, camera pointed straight down and perform a rising crane shot straight up to 400' AGL (if there is not a lower FAA limit)
  • Perform half orbits at the edges of the property around 300' AGL to show the surroundings
  • Place the drone over the roadway, switch to photography and take a picture in RAW in both directions
  • Place the drone at 300' AGL and far enough away to encompass the whole property and take a picture there.
  • Place the drone in the center of the property right above the treeline, aim the camera down by about 45 degrees then dolly out, crane up, and slowly camera tilt up until you are at 400AGL and far enough away to reveal the whole property.
• Edit list
  • Cover picture (use one of the 3 images you took from the shot list). Always use a cover picture so that YT doesn't pick a random frame, to increase the production value, and because the picture will be higher quality than the video so it will present better.
  • The audio track is everything.....its what ties the whole video together so pick an audio track that is a nice ambient, not too slow, not too elevator music sounding, and the right speed for the video (make sure you own the license to it, the last thing you want is an irate customer because YT put a copyright strike on your video). I use Soundstripe for a lot of my audio, its a subscription service.
  • Opening shot, flying low down the roadway, transition to the truck Left or right shot right below the treeline, transition to the rising crane shot showcasing the property, motion graphic left panel fly-in describing the property (size, zoning, etc), flyout motion graphic panel and transition to dolly in over the property, trasition to higher orbit shot, freeze frame property outlines overlay the property, then end freeze frame into a brief tracking frame showing the outlines of the property as the shot orbits with the property, transition crane up center of property shot rising to 400AGL.....speed up to around 800% for this one, transition to orbit shot, left panel motion graphics fly in highlighting surrounding features (proximity of shopping, no neighbors, proximity of the city, etc)......etc etc, Use speed ramps for the long orbit shots slow down to real time for the motion graphics, etc, etc....you get the point and end with the dolly out rising crane tilt up shot fade to selling agent's contact information card...video done. I would also add my logo/closing animation after the selling agent to help market yourself as well.
  • Don't be afraid to speed up the video, no one wants to watch a 3min video of an empty lot, when I shot real estate my goal was typically 60s to 90s tops especially for a project like this, so flying around at normal speed will never show the whole property in that timeframe unless you speed it up. The drone has to be perfectly steady and all movements perfectly smooth to speed up the footage or it will look terrible.

 

[garycsan]

I got my first drone job. I've been practicing, watching hours of video, and made a few myself just of my house and back yard. I get to the job, and it's nothing but trees. Raw undeveloped overgrown land. I decide to use 60FPS and 120 shutter speed, and an ND8 because it was pretty sunny outside. ISO 100 and auto F stop. Using an Autel Evo II Pro V2. (I've seen all the framerate debates, but for sweeping landscape 60fps seems to be good.) Editing in Premiere Pro and After Effects because that's what I have access too. I also have Wondershare, but it's primitive in comparison.

Here's the issue. All the green looks like @$$. There's noise even though I kept ISO low. I've went back and did a reshoot and all the settings seem to yield the same issue. Here is a private link to the video. Anyone offer recommendations? I will add the tracking tonight, this is just the rough part. I'm waiting on pictures he is sending me to add into the video. Any help would be appreciated, or am I just tripping and it looks fine?

Looks good to me, maybe your look around shot could pan a little slower, otherwise fine.

 

[redleger]

For starters if I were you I would learn Davinci Resolve vs PP if you are serious about video editing.. I started with PP and hated the endless subscription fees, constant crashing after updates etc. DR has been used for Hollywood movie sets for decades, and has evolved from just color grading to a full featured NLE that IMO is far better than PP not to mention its a one time fee of $300 vs a lifetime of subscription fees for PP. I probably spent around $6K over a 10yr period for PP but at the time it was the only option.

As far as making your video look professional, it is very easy to do with the footage you currently have. Only you notice the colors and honestly like @pedals2paddles said, its just a field with weeds and trees....the customer isn't expecting a masterpiece. I know you want to deliver something professional, but you already have what you need footage wise; a good audio track, high quality transitions, and high quality motion graphics will immediately increase the production value without adding much time to the project.

Also, I never let a customer tell me what camera movements to use in a video; that's like telling a chef how to cook your meal. If the customer told me "I want the camera to pan around to show the surroundings", I would say "Ok no problem, I will ensure that the shot list includes the surroundings" meaning I am not committing to pans but I will meet their requirements. Instead of pans I would use orbits to show the opposing side of the property (position south, orbit towards the north to show the property and surroundings), and rising crane shots to do the same; movements that add movement without the nauseating look of pans.

If you truly want to reshoot for higher quality below is the shot list I would use and how I would edit the video, all shots would be a minimum of 30s in duration.

• Shot List
  • Dolly in along the road in your video
  • Truck left or right slightly below the top of the treeline close to the trees above the roadway...if you can catch the sun coming in through the trees from the opposition direction that's perfect.
  • Crane up camera tilt down from the roadway to the property to reveal the property
  • Left or right Orbit along entire perimeter of the property ensuring to keep a consistent speed and use a tree or reference point in the center of the property to keep the orbit smooth
  • Dolly in about 30' above the trees from one end of the property to the other end (North to South, South to North, East to West and vice versa)
  • Hover in the middle of the property, camera pointed straight down and perform a rising crane shot straight up to 400' AGL (if there is not a lower FAA limit)
  • Perform half orbits at the edges of the property around 300' AGL to show the surroundings
  • Place the drone over the roadway, switch to photography and take a picture in RAW in both directions
  • Place the drone at 300' AGL and far enough away to encompass the whole property and take a picture there.
  • Place the drone in the center of the property right above the treeline, aim the camera down by about 45 degrees then dolly out, crane up, and slowly camera tilt up until you are at 400AGL and far enough away to reveal the whole property.
• Edit list
  • Cover picture (use one of the 3 images you took from the shot list). Always use a cover picture so that YT doesn't pick a random frame, to increase the production value, and because the picture will be higher quality than the video so it will present better.
  • The audio track is everything.....its what ties the whole video together so pick an audio track that is a nice ambient, not too slow, not too elevator music sounding, and the right speed for the video (make sure you own the license to it, the last thing you want is an irate customer because YT put a copyright strike on your video). I use Soundstripe for a lot of my audio, its a subscription service.
  • Opening shot, flying low down the roadway, transition to the truck Left or right shot right below the treeline, transition to the rising crane shot showcasing the property, motion graphic left panel fly-in describing the property (size, zoning, etc), flyout motion graphic panel and transition to dolly in over the property, trasition to higher orbit shot, freeze frame property outlines overlay the property, then end freeze frame into a brief tracking frame showing the outlines of the property as the shot orbits with the property, transition crane up center of property shot rising to 400AGL.....speed up to around 800% for this one, transition to orbit shot, left panel motion graphics fly in highlighting surrounding features (proximity of shopping, no neighbors, proximity of the city, etc)......etc etc, Use speed ramps for the long orbit shots slow down to real time for the motion graphics, etc, etc....you get the point and end with the dolly out rising crane tilt up shot fade to selling agent's contact information card...video done. I would also add my logo/closing animation after the selling agent to help market yourself as well.
  • Don't be afraid to speed up the video, no one wants to watch a 3min video of an empty lot, when I shot real estate my goal was typically 60s to 90s tops especially for a project like this, so flying around at normal speed will never show the whole property in that timeframe unless you speed it up. The drone has to be perfectly steady and all movements perfectly smooth to speed up the footage or it will look terrible.

Ok, still learning. How would I get high quality motion graphics? I know that sounds stupid but I'm still learning the verbiage. I have inserted transitions and I'll pick out a royalty free track when I get home. As for the next shoot I'll be paying attention and planning it out better based on your advice. Thank you so much for your guidance. I really mean it.

 

[herein2021]

Ok, still learning. How would I get high quality motion graphics? I know that sounds stupid but I'm still learning the verbiage. I have inserted transitions and I'll pick out a royalty free track when I get home. As for the next shoot I'll be paying attention and planning it out better based on your advice. Thank you so much for your guidance. I really mean it.

You can make them, buy them, or try to find free ones. Real estate for PP is easy, literally tons of free ones. Here is just one example site.

 

[redleger]

OK, so I've churched it up, added some graphics, and released it to the client. It can be viewed here.

Google Drive: Sign-in

Access Google Drive with a Google account (for personal use) or Google Workspace account (for business use).

drive.google.com

Lessons learned will be applied next time and again, I thank you all for your help and mentorship.

 

[Marcle]

If you pan, you will be rewarded with jittery footage at high shutter angles. Forward, backward and turns (to a degree) don't show it as much. I can't tell you how many drone videos I've seen that are so jerky on the panning to be almost unwatchable at full screen. Do what you like but the 180 degree shutter rule is because of a long history of cinematography over many year. Not just film but digital as well.

 

[pedals2paddles]

Back in the days of old crappy gopros attached with old crappy vibration isolation, slower frame rates were needed to prevent rolling shutter waves in video. And the only way to do that was with ND filters to darken it down forcing the automatic frame rate to slow down. It worked. I remember putting an ND32CP filter on my 3DR Solo's GoPro 4 at the beach because it was so bright with the sun, sand, and water. It made the video actually usable. The polarizing made the water look amazing too. But polarizing is whole other rabbit hole that often isn't worth the trouble.

These days slowing the frame rate for video usually isn't needed because the equipment has improved exponentially. I haven't seen rolling shutter artifacts and waves in years. I'm sure there are specific circumstances where it is needed for other mission, specific reasons. But in general, for most of our uses, it's just not anymore.

 

[herein2021]

Back in the days of old crappy gopros attached with old crappy vibration isolation, slower frame rates were needed to prevent rolling shutter waves in video. And the only way to do that was with ND filters to darken it down forcing the automatic frame rate to slow down. It worked. I remember putting an ND32CP filter on my 3DR Solo's GoPro 4 at the beach because it was so bright with the sun, sand, and water. It made the video actually usable. The polarizing made the water look amazing too. But polarizing is whole other rabbit hole that often isn't worth the trouble.

These days slowing the frame rate for video usually isn't needed because the equipment has improved exponentially. I haven't seen rolling shutter artifacts and waves in years. I'm sure there are specific circumstances where it is needed for other mission, specific reasons. But in general, for most of our uses, it's just not anymore.

Those are very good points, I used to shoot 60FPS when I had the DJI P2 with the GoPro because I never knew when rolling shutter aka jello was going to ruin part of the shot and I hoped I'd be able to slow it down enough to save some of it in post. You used to have to start recording before ever leaving the ground and you had no idea what the GoPro did or did not capture until you landed and looked through those massive video files. Pictures were even worse, you had to set a timer to take a picture every 10 or 15 seconds before taking off and then use a stopwatch to guess when it had taken the picture you needed....and forget about raw or manual anything, all auto and you had to hope the GoPro got the shot you needed.

For awhile I still used 60FPS with the EVO II to compliment speed ramping, but since the EVO II drops down to 8 bit when shooting 60FPS I don't think I have ever used 60FPS for a commercial job with it.

The only thing I miss about those days is the money. I was only the 2nd photographer/videographer in my area at the time to start offering drone photography/video and it really took my business to another level, I couldn't get the phone to stop ringing. These days the market here is so saturated residential real estate photography prices wouldn't even pay for the batteries for the EVO II so now I only offer commercial real estate photography and video.

To make real money these days you really have to do more than just real estate and definitely more than just drone work...but I digress.