A question for the videographers here...

[J R]

Jerry ... Not judging here.

Squirrel,

I am a bit, I guess, conflicted. I hear what you're saying but don't really think it was necessary to bring this up in this thread. I was soliciting advice about learning how to edit. I got some great replies and some real helpful comments.

Two of you determined to bring other observations into this thread. In my opinion, you questioned my understanding of the currently "proposed" regulations and implied that I was flying in a careless manner. I disagree with your opinion and feel that I am an fairly competent, knowledgable and very safety conscious UAV pilot.

I believe in the right of anyone participating in these forums to have and articulate their opinions, in any fashion they choose. Personally, I think you could have viewed my video, had concern, and created a new thread warning your fellow flyers about new regulations and possible legal ramifications. Instead, you chose to slap me on the wrist.

Simply put, I'm here to learn, meet some new, talented and resourceful people, share a little when I can and have some fun. When that is no longer possible, I'll leave. No harm, no foul.

I've said enough. I'm not angry or upset. No biggie at all. I just wanted to close this thread with my opinion now that it's gone totally off course.

Respectfully,

Jerry

 

[RichWest]

Tough crowd, its tough to post questions without getting someone to beat up on you a little bit. I'm fairly certain everyone here is guilty of a few "oversights" to the current "guidelines". I'd imagine if I looked through the hundreds of hours of raw video shot by 333 holders I could have them all revoked, if we followed the guidelines as the law. Same goes for small craft manned pilots, if the letter of "the law" were followed.

I see no problem with your flight. You obviously were keeping safety in mind, by the hour of day choosen. You were not directly over any person. You had a planned path and were not invading anyone's privacy. You found a limit for your VLOS at night, you learned. You're a better pilot today than you were yesterday, good job.

You're a member of that community? Then what law of the community did you break?

I think literal laws make sense, don't murder. But then common sense laws should be judged by the community. What happens below 400' is the community's responsibilities, not a commercial entity or federal overseer. Really, who are they to set the communities view on how things should be handled. Maybe it's a cult town of drone flyers, why should they not be able to judge in their community?

 

[pyrate]

the hijack should have been deleted, this was a good thread that someone totally hijacked and was allowed to

 

[Matt Chevalier]

Don't forget that the current rules unfortunately prohibit flying at night...

Really neat video, though.

Rules are not Laws. Fly safe, be responsible, but don't be bothered by all this FAA nonsens, it just scare tactics. And it's only enforceable by the FAA. Just be respectful and you won't have any problems.

 

[Matt Chevalier]

Jerry ... Not judging here. I think the video is very cool. I'm paying close attention to what the FAA is saying and I just don't want to se any of my people get collected ...

Call me a worrywart but the FAA seems to be really focused ... I remember when the Super Speeder law was new and people were getting ticketed left and right.

Please do not mistake my post for anything other than concern ... I'm skeard

Guys, it's all about being respectful of others, not drawing attention to yourselves, and flying safe of course. The feds just figured out how the internet worked. They've been going on and on and on about how its a matter of national security that they archive every piece of information they can on all american's online activity, yet the san bernadino terrorists had the social sites riddled with information. The point is, they feds can't do anything very well at all, so if you just be safe, be wise, keep a low profile, be respectful of those around you, and be respectful of ALL AUTHORITY figures from land owners to managers to law enforcement, you will be just fine. Never argue with anyone, just apologize and move on. 99% of people support you, including law enforcement. In fact, if there is ever law enforcement around, I always slowly walk up to them, introduce myself and tell them what I am doing and that I just wanted to let them know because I know drones are a hop topic these days. They also know, there are NO laws other then abiding by private property, meaning if someone doesnt want you on their land, then get off. Drone usage and the public just need to be treated with a little tinder loving care for the time being while the feds feel like they actually are getting something done; then it will all calm down. What they are not pointing out, is that any drone laws that come out will be enforced by the FAA. I don't know about you, but I don't see a lot of FAA officers walking around. Which means you would have to really piss off a police officer in order for him to hold you long enough for FAA to show up. Just be cool, and you'll be fine. Of course, if you register your drone, and you put a tail number on it, all they have to do is take a picture when its flying over. Then what do you do when somebody puts your tail numbers on their drone when they are flying and don't want to be caught? And to all the crazy fines and prison time, may I remind you of pirating music, tv shows, and movies for the past 40 years. I believe those fines and penalties are much more severe and there are millions and millions of instances of that happening everyday. If you are not committing crimes or being stupid, I wouldn't worry about any of this.

 

[Marich]

Squirrel,

I am a bit, I guess, conflicted. I hear what you're saying but don't really think it was necessary to bring this up in this thread. I was soliciting advice about learning how to edit. I got some great replies and some real helpful comments.

Two of you determined to bring other observations into this thread. In my opinion, you questioned my understanding of the currently "proposed" regulations and implied that I was flying in a careless manner. I disagree with your opinion and feel that I am an fairly competent, knowledgable and very safety conscious UAV pilot.

I believe in the right of anyone participating in these forums to have and articulate their opinions, in any fashion they choose. Personally, I think you could have viewed my video, had concern, and created a new thread warning your fellow flyers about new regulations and possible legal ramifications. Instead, you chose to slap me on the wrist.

Simply put, I'm here to learn, meet some new, talented and resourceful people, share a little when I can and have some fun. When that is no longer possible, I'll leave. No harm, no foul.

I've said enough. I'm not angry or upset. No biggie at all. I just wanted to close this thread with my opinion now that it's gone totally off course.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Yup, well said.
The point - forgive me if I'm mistaken, JR, but I think this is what you're saying - is this:
We know - or at least are pretty sure we do - our capabilities and limits regarding how well (or safely) we can fly our own drones. If a good opportunity presents itself, such as flying over an area we might not ordinarily pick but that is currently fairly deserted or closed for the evening - such as a schoolyard or someplace downtown, say - we all make quick decisions about flying there and going for the shot.
Is it private property in the sense that the owner is going to get ticked off and scream his head off and/or call the cops? Is it public land or the like, say a lake, pond or river? What happens if Solo decides to do double duty as a meteorite - what's the damage gonna be?
There are obviously times when we can fly responsibly in situations that might leave another pilot's hair standing on end. Nothing is entirely risk-free.
If nothing is going to happen if your craft falls out of the air except it being scattered into pieces on the road, just leave it be - we're capable of making our decisions about whether to fly or not and know (at least as far as humanly possible) that we're not endangering anyone.
Granted, that's not what you're likely to find taught in a rulebook, where it's play by those rules all the time. However, the very fact that a prospective flight makes us uneasy enough to plan it out beforehand and pick time of day, altitude, etc.. for max safety is pretty solid evidence that we are exercising decent judgement.
We each know how we fly. We know our specific aircraft. We know what we can and can't do, and no one else does. Trusting our gut is absolutely mandatory when engaging in a hobby such as this, and if we become so obsessed with being 100% perfect that we become soulless robots always flying the "official and approved" route, we've really lost touch with said gut.

 

[Mauiwind]

Hey Jer, I really enjoyed your vidi. I particularly like the shot down lower, coming down downtown. Those street lights are wonderful illuminators. Kudos to your town decision makers. It might be a little more interesting if you color balance a bit cooler. meh...
For sure, shorter would be better, and the music doesn't really support the emotional aspect of what is a terrific middle America town.
The brick buildings and the awesome street lights... love it.
you cold throw in some tight shots of "character" parts of your town. Perhaps some shots where it looks like you're a standard crane shot but you aren't because you fly away.
If they keep the lights on like at 2 or 4 in the morning then it'll be even more deserted. That would allow you to do some things without endangering anyone.
I encourage you to try it again. Keep away from needless dark tops of buildings. That doesn't add to your story.
Yeah, cut between close ups, middle shots and the big views.
Anyway, you have a cool downtown...
Merry Christmas, happy holidays Jer.

 

[J R]

Yup, well said.
The point - forgive me if I'm mistaken, JR, but I think this is what you're saying - is this:

Marich,

You got it, thanks for the note.

Jerry

 

[J R]

Merry Christmas, happy holidays Jer.

Maui,

You bring up some great idea! Don't think I'll be shooting there again anytime soon. It's getting a bit too cold and dreary around here. Merry Christmas to you and your Family as well!

Jerry

 

[EyeWingsuit]

May not be the appropriate place for this but I know there are some talented videographers here. I'm trying very hard to learn how to edit my videos. I'm not expecting to be an expert any time soon but would like to get a little better at it. I used Movie Maker, tried GoPro Studio, Cyberlink Power Producer and various others. It doesn't appear that the software has the expertise, apparently I have to learn it.

I've started trying to use Adobe Premiere Elements 13. I did a night video a few weeks ago and I'm trying to make it more presentable. Everything I've done so far, which isn't much, was done in Premiere. There is a lot of "noise" in the video and I believe it could probably look better. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I might want to try to make it more appealing, I'd love to hear from them. It was shot in 1080p 30fps which is also how I exported and uploaded it. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Jerry

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I suggest you try a few things before adding expense and time of a noise reduction plugin.
Set your EV Comp up by 1.
Fly slow and set frame rate to 24.
In post, use a curve to crush the blacks, never use brightness/contrast. Some tools have Broadcast Levels or Black Level control, and by crushing the blacks you'll make the noise less apparent.
RedGiant's DeNoiser II has a free trial if you'd like to go down that road.

 

[J R]

I suggest you try a few things before adding expense and time of a noise reduction plugin.
Set your EV Comp up by 1.
Fly slow and set frame rate to 24.
In post, use a curve to crush the blacks, never use brightness/contrast. Some tools have Broadcast Levels or Black Level control, and by crushing the blacks you'll make the noise less apparent.
RedGiant's DeNoiser II has a free trial if you'd like to go down that road.

Thanks, Eye! You guys sure no a lot about this stuff. I'm not sure I understand half of what you said. I had my comp at 0 and GPS at 30. Speed was about 12. Not sure I'll be making any more runs like that again any time soon. I waited 3 weeks just to do that one. I had no idea it would stir up controversy. Thanks again for your input, it's very much appreciated!

Jerry

 

[EyeWingsuit]

Thanks, Eye! You guys sure no a lot about this stuff. I'm not sure I understand half of what you said. I had my comp at 0 and GPS at 30. Speed was about 12. Not sure I'll be making any more runs like that again any time soon. I waited 3 weeks just to do that one. I had no idea it would stir up controversy. Thanks again for your input, it's very much appreciated!

Jerry

"In post" refers to the editing stage (Post-production). Even if you don't make this sort of run again, it's worth playing with the camera in the dark so you'll be better prepared for next time. Truly, most of my flights are just for trying out this n' that. Maybe 5% are for actual "I want to capture this."

 

[pyrate]

forgot crushing the blacks, should work just fine for a night shot

 

[Maddog]

How do you "crush the blacks"?

 

[pyrate]

open a levels adjustment
move the sliders on the left to center,
if you look at a histogram normally you want a distribution evenly across the graph. peaking in the middle if you favor mid tones, you typically avoid peeks all the way to the left or right Dark and Light respectively.
nudging the peaks to the left side is called crushing the blacks, let me see if I can find a video

 

[pyrate]

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specifically addressing noise

 

[pyrate]

A simpler approach

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[Maddog]

Thanks Pyrate! That was really nice of you to spend the time finding those videos for us rookies.
Makes sense now.

 

[pyrate]

we are all somewhere on the learning curve, none have arrived

 

[EyeWingsuit]

A simpler approach

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There is some humor in Dugdale's "crush the blacks" video, in that Sony Vegas has a Black Restore plugin (seen in this video, but unused) which makes it a singular operation, and doesn't affect any content above 75RGB.
Nice video finds, however. Explains it simply and well.