Doing realty FPV house tour without an FPV drone?

[redleger]

So Right now I only own a Tello (for SDI project purposes) and Autel EVO II Pro. With my Autel is it possible to "fake the funk" and maneuver a drone to capture inside homes in the same manner an FPV drone would with comparable results? I'm looking into getting started into drones in some regard, and in my area it seems like real estate is the obvious starter. I'm saving up for a thermal drone for inspection purposes.

TLR Is it possible to use a non-FPV drone in a comparable fashion for FPV walkthroughs?

 

[herein2021]

So Right now I only own a Tello (for SDI project purposes) and Autel EVO II Pro. With my Autel is it possible to "fake the funk" and maneuver a drone to capture inside homes in the same manner an FPV drone would with comparable results? I'm looking into getting started into drones in some regard, and in my area it seems like real estate is the obvious starter. I'm saving up for a thermal drone for inspection purposes.

TLR Is it possible to use a non-FPV drone in a comparable fashion for FPV walkthroughs?

IMO drones are not the right tool to use for the interiors of most residential properties. For very large commercial properties such as warehouses or maybe some really large mansions, a small drone with blade guards could get some interesting perspectives, but in general a regular video camera on a gimbal for the interior combined with aerial video views for the exterior is a far better combination.

I know people try to do everything with drones, but everything from the camera on drones (low dynamic range), to the lenses (wide angle deep DOF), to the fact they can't capture fine details, all makes them poorly suited for residential real estate interiors. Combine that with spotty GPS coverage and tight spaces and you really have the wrong tool for that type of job.

 

[Dave Pitman]

A cinewhoop is probably the tool for fly-thoughs. FPV and skills are going to be required.

 

[herein2021]

A cinewhoop is probably the tool for fly-thoughs. FPV and skills are going to be required.

That video definitely proved my point, it was a large mansion which isn't your typical residential real estate customer (at least not in my area), and the turns were nausea inducing with the wide angle lens and edge distortion. The type of homebuyer that would have the revenue needed to buy a house like that, and the type of client that would hire a professional to film a property like that would never consider that video to be acceptable quality. Totally lacking in detail shots, way too fast, poor lowlight detail, terrible dynamic range, etc. etc. None of my clients would be repeat clients if I delivered a product like that.

I just picked a random real estate video and there's actually way better ones than this out there, but here is a good representative real estate video with a nice mix of gimbal work and drone work. California real estate videos are some of the best in the industry due to their apparent plethora of mansions combined with what the local clients are willing to pay for quality.

There is just no way around it, if you want to produce quality real estate videos, have repeat clients, and a good portfolio of commercial and/or residential real estate you have to use a gimbal and regular camera; let the drone show the big picture and use other equipment to tell the rest of the story.

 

[Dave Pitman]

That video definitely proved my point,

I'm not defending the choice of tools. That was just an example of using an fpv drone for interior work in addition to exterior, like the OP asked about. Although he asked about gps drones.

Hand held, gimbled, is great. But you are never going to replicate the energy or the flow provided by the fly-through even if the actual pixels are not as nice. It's not a zero sum game. You can use both.

A marketing video is not meant to get an Oscar for photography.. It is to get people interested in actually seeing the property.

Everything is subjective. And, as somewhat of an adventure junkie, that flight was tame. For examples of nausia, take a look at fpv video of motorsports and mountain biking.

All just my opinion. I don't do real estate, so just an observer.

 

[herein2021]

I'm not defending the choice of tools. That was just an example of using an fpv drone for interior work in addition to exterior, like the OP asked about. Although he asked about gps drones.

Hand held, gimbled, is great. But you are never going to replicate the energy or the flow provided by the fly-through even if the actual pixels are not as nice. It's not a zero sum game. You can use both.

A marketing video is not meant to get an Oscar for photography.. It is to get people interested in actually seeing the property.

Everything is subjective. And, as somewhat of an adventure junkie, that flight was tame. For examples of nausia, take a look at fpv video of motorsports and mountain biking.

All just my opinion. I don't do real estate, so just an observer.

Oh I agree 100%, I didn't mean it was a bad video, I thought it was a good representation of using a drone indoors, but I also liked how it showed the shortcomings of drones for that type of work. I just want to make sure that the OP sees the clear difference between using a drone where appropriate vs trying to use a drone for everything.

I've probably shot hundreds of real estate photography projects and probably over 100 commercial and residential real estate promo videos so I happen to be very familiar with the industry and what clients look for at different price points / real estate listing valuations.

For brevity I will not go into every detail but there's sub segments and specific shooting styles that need to be understood to cater to the different clientele even within the real estate video tour space:

• Community Promo Videos - These need to be a mixture of exterior drone work, highlights of the community's activities, the clubhouse, amenities and possibly interiors of a few floor plans. For this type of project you need exterior drone work and gimbal camera work as well as some interaction with the residents promoting the amenities (i.e. playing golf, fishing, tennis, etc.)
• Residential Real Estate Listings (<$1M) - These need to be a mixture of exterior drone work, and interior gimbal camera work. These properties are typically too small to use an interior drone. If the property is a part of a community then some of the community amenities should also be captured in the video.
• Residential Real Estate Listings (>$1M) - These need to be a mixture of exterior drone work, and interior gimbal camera work. Sometimes these properties are large enough to use a few seconds of interior drone work such as if they have a two story covered pool or a huge interior atrium, a rising crane shot from the ground floor to the second or 3rd level would be a nice reveal and a way to transition to the next level without using the stairs.
• Residential Real Estate Listings (>$5M) - These need to be a mixture of exterior drone work, and interior gimbal camera work. These properties will probably be large enough to use an interior drone for long hallways or possibly a few crane shots if the property has really high ceilings. The space really determines what makes sense here.
• Commercial Real Estate Listings - These need to be a mixture of exterior drone work, and interior gimbal camera work. Depending on the industry (i.e. warehouse, or massive open spaces) possibly the entire interior can be filmed with an interior drone.

@redleger The big takeaway here is don't overdo the interior drone work. There are times where it is appropriate but more often than not it is not appropriate. The smaller properties are too small to use an interior drone, the bigger properties want higher quality so once again an interior drone won't meet the client's expectations for most scenarios. Also, the more expensive the property the more likely that the buyer is older and older buyers are the last type of buyer that will consider FPV drone video work appealing. Even with interior work, don't ever pan with the drone; the wide angle lens makes pans in close spaces look terrible. Stick to dolly-in, dolly-out, crane up/down, and truck left/right.

A marketing video is not meant to get an Oscar for photography.. It is to get people interested in actually seeing the property.

I agree 100%, it is the resume for the property not the job interview. But every project you complete is also a reflection on your work, so the higher quality you produce the higher quality future clients you will attract so yes, I typically put a lot more into real estate videos than they are probably paying for but that is also how you build up a loyal repeat client base; not to mention real estate video work is probably the easiest type of project I shoot so it is easy to go slow and really focus on the creative side of things. This is also a good time to practice your video work as a stepping stone to other types of projects. Many videographers start out either shooting real estate or music videos. Speaking of which there are some truly incredible real estate videos out there that probably should get an Oscar; some of those Cali mansions are in the $40M+ range and their videos are pretty incredible.

Everything is subjective. And, as somewhat of an adventure junkie, that flight was tame. For examples of nausia, take a look at fpv video of motorsports and mountain biking.

All just my opinion. I don't do real estate, so just an observer.

It was definitely tame, but not when put into context. I've seen FPV videos for everything from FPV racing to FPV tricks but when you are trying to market a multi-million dollar purchase to a 60yr old buyer you have to tailor the project to the intended audience. All I am trying to do is help the OP be successful in the real estate video industry if that is what they choose to do and I happen to have over 10yrs of experience shooting nearly every type of real estate project imaginable.

Sadly I don't live in California so here in FL the typical residential real estate property is around $200-400K and real estate agents in the area aren't willing to pay any real money to promote the listings; they would rather walk around with their cell phones and post that with the listing than pay for quality so these days I mostly just shoot large communities and commercial listings. What is funny is we have one of the hottest real estate markets in the country right now and instead of business picking up in that area it got worse since real estate agents realized demand is so high they don't even need videos to sell the properties.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Also, the more expensive the property the more likely that the buyer is older and older buyers are the last type of buyer that will consider FPV drone video work appealing.

Here in the PNW, and I'm sure other places as well, there are lots of younger folk with lots of $$, think software engineers for one group. They grew up gaming and have short attention spans. I doubt they will be put off with faster than hand-held walk-throughs. But, go with what you know!

I do agree that a 3 bed rambler is probably not a candidate. In fact, I don't even see that many videos in that segment, here anyway.

 

[redleger]

All great advice and perspectives. Looks like I'm buying a gimbal.
thank you all.

 

[Dave Pitman]

All great advice and perspectives. Looks like I'm buying a gimbal.
thank you all.

I have a near new Zhiyun Crane M2 that I can part with if you are looking for something inexpensive to start with. I used it with a Sony RX100 and it worked great. I just never used it.

Good luck with your adventure!

 

[herein2021]

Here in the PNW, and I'm sure other places as well, there are lots of younger folk with lots of $$, think software engineers for one group. They grew up gaming and have short attention spans. I doubt they will be put off with faster than hand-held walk-throughs. But, go with what you know!

Speed ramping is the modern way to cover large spaces in real estate with a handheld gimbal so that it is not slow and boring but also less jarring than a jump cut. With speed ramps you get the benefits of high quality footage and a faster pace without the downsides and low quality look of just walking around. That way you appeal to the younger generation with the faster pace, but also the older generation and higher end buyer with the higher quality. The video I sent previously had a nice mix of this as well. Low cost high quality gimbals really enabled this capability over the past few years and it works very well for RE videos once you learn the proper technique and how to edit them.

I do agree that a 3 bed rambler is probably not a candidate. In fact, I don't even see that many videos in that segment, here anyway.

That is because RE agents do not want to pay the additional premium for video for properties in that price segment. I tell my customers if the asking price for the property is less than $1M RE video is usually overkill. RE agents only make money when the property sells and there is no guarantee that they will be the one to sell it so every expense to market the home comes out of their own pocket with no guaranteed ROI. So yes, they pinch every penny on RE listings. That's why commercial RE videos pay so much more, millions are on the line nearly every time.

All great advice and perspectives. Looks like I'm buying a gimbal.
thank you all.

I think that's a good decision, and if you ever have any RE video questions let me know, like I said I've created many of these videos for both commercial and residential clients.

 

[gschulzuio]

So Right now I only own a Tello (for SDI project purposes) and Autel EVO II Pro. With my Autel is it possible to "fake the funk" and maneuver a drone to capture inside homes in the same manner an FPV drone would with comparable results? I'm looking into getting started into drones in some regard, and in my area it seems like real estate is the obvious starter. I'm saving up for a thermal drone for inspection purposes.

TLR Is it possible to use a non-FPV drone in a comparable fashion for FPV walkthroughs?

Replace the Tello or add to your collection something like a DJI Avata cinewhoop as its a great companion to the E2P, as well as tool to have in your toolbox (besides regular camera, traditional drones, handheld gimbals etc). Have flown E2P indoors including with prop guards many times which works good if you have room to work, however the Avata has such as narrow footprint (including prop cage) it is great for close quarter work indoors, as well as outside (in and around obstacles). Have flown in and around things where would not think of flying a regular drone without it crashing or getting stuck in a tree or something.

With the regular controller you can fly the Ava with or without goggles similar to a regular gps camera drone, or go into manual mode to do freestyle flips etc. The motion controller which gets a bad rap from traditional FPVers is useful once you get used to it for flying indoors and in or around obstacles as long as you dont need to do flips, rolls, tumbles etc.

With the December fw/sw updates, DJI have added 4K @ 30 which helps for shooting indoors doing home/realty type stuff, also they have added 10bit when using cine, along with other camera enhancements. If you need better images than what the Avata (or other drones for that matter), then add a Hero10 or Hero10 bones or similar.

The Avata or any FPV is not the solution for everything, just like a handheld gimbal, or regular camera is not for every scenario, rather different tools to use for the task or project at hand. Otoh, if you only have one tool such as a hammer, eveything then looks like and gets approached like a nail. Likewise, not all FPV missions require doing flips, rolls, tumbles etc.