Hello all...Am a new Solo owner as of today.

[clearimagemedia]

Hi, my name is Steven. I live in Spokane WA. I am a small business owner, Clear Image Media. I am a videographer/editor by trade over 30 years now. Retired Air Force Combat Camera.

I have always thought about the possibilities of owning/using a drone in my business. When the FCC regulations got sooo stick I put the idea on hold until things loosened up....well, as we all know that day has finally come and the rules for operation for commercial/profit are reasonable.

I have done video work for a few large general contractors in Spokane. Some Govt contract work for them which leads to other work, leads etc....and the "Do you have a drone? always eventually came up. I have been to seminars as a guest of one of the contractors about drones in construction. Have seen them used for surveying using Lidar, crop surveying, lots of farms in WA...and possibilities.

The fact that 3DR looks like they are serious about working with "industry" and that there is future growth was the deal maker for me.

I was fortunate to see that the Solo and 3 axis gimbal were on sale today at BestBuy for $599.00. I jumped on it. BestBuy also matched the prices that I had in a B&H cart to order, a backpack, extra battery, Solo, gimbal and Hero 4 Black all for $1384.00 out the door....saved over $500.00 in price matches....it was a good day.

Sorry for being so long winded. I have read many post and I am sure be asking for help and thank all of you that have the knowledge and experience to help!!

 

[LAK-USA]

Hi, my name is Steven. I live in Spokane WA. I am a small business owner, Clear Image Media. I am a videographer/editor by trade over 30 years now. Retired Air Force Combat Camera.

I have always thought about the possibilities of owning/using a drone in my business. When the FCC regulations got sooo stick I put the idea on hold until things loosened up....well, as we all know that day has finally come and the rules for operation for commercial/profit are reasonable.

I have done video work for a few large general contractors in Spokane. Some Govt contract work for them which leads to other work, leads etc....and the "Do you have a drone? always eventually came up. I have been to seminars as a guest of one of the contractors about drones in construction. Have seen them used for surveying using Lidar, crop surveying, lots of farms in WA...and possibilities.

The fact that 3DR looks like they are serious about working with "industry" and that there is future growth was the deal maker for me.

I was fortunate to see that the Solo and 3 axis gimbal were on sale today at BestBuy for $599.00. I jumped on it. BestBuy also matched the prices that I had in a B&H cart to order, a backpack, extra battery, Solo, gimbal and Hero 4 Black all for $1384.00 out the door....saved over $500.00 in price matches....it was a good day.

Sorry for being so long winded. I have read many post and I am sure be asking for help and thank all of you that have the knowledge and experience to help!!

Hello Steven and welcome! Congrats on your shiny new Solo. From your post I have cunningly detected the rarest of commodities: experience! Please feel free to drizzle it here liberally & frequently.

Clear Skies & Go AirForce!

 

[Maddog]

Hi Steven-.welcome to the forum!
Thank you for your service- my brother is also retired air force (Maj General). Lots of good info and peeps here!
Looks like drone use in construction, surveying, agriculture, etc., is going to be where "it's" at.

 

[clearimagemedia]

Thanks for the welcomes!
LAK-USA, Imdo have military experience, video experience, but noooooo drone experience, so will sit back and soak up the knowledge from the experienced drone pilots and hope with my and theirs I can put something together and come out on top...lol

Maddog, I sorta sensed that when a company that I do "regular video and photo for" extended and invite and paid my ticket $40.00 to hear a briefing on drones in the work place....was a great briefing, but was about 2 month back and I explained to them that being that I was not a pilot, had no exemption...lol...had no drone for commercial, do have a Parrot 2.0 for fun, that I would wait and see where this all went. Been paying close attention to forums, news, and was jumping for joy a few days back...so, now I have a great drone ready to work, seems there are reasonable capture programs, other camera etc...but seems the get you at the "cloud level"...the big bucks, $300-400 a month that my business cannot afford. So, I am still researching every avenue, since I do not want the companies I will be contacted by to just say, if they have to cover the cost they will get their own drone and well...does me no good....researching continues...any cheaper service that you might know would be awesome...Thanks again!!

 

[Acroduster]

Two items:

1. Congrats on your steal of a deal and welcome to the fold and forum.
2. Learn to fly in manual mode! Please practice, practice, practice in manual. Read the FAQ for more info.

 

[Maddog]

I'm not familiar with any of the mapping services but I bet @franknitty69 is. Hopefully he will chime in.

Sounds like you are in a perfect position to get into survey/ mapping and make some $$$!

As you probably already know, when asked questions, you are the expert they need. Then you sneak away and Google it..

 

[franknitty69]

welcome. i think price wise the most bang for buck when it comes to mapping is DroneDeploy and DDMS.

DroneDeploy Pro is only $99 per month, 1000 max images per survey and has unlimited surveys per month. DroneDeploy Explorer is free, but you can't export.

DDMS Pro is $50 per month, 400 max images per survey and has a limit of 10 surveys per month. DDMS starter is free, lets you export ortho and 3d, but its slow, has less resolution, 200 max images per survey and you can only process 2 surveys per month.

DroneDeploy is extremely faster (hours) than DDMS.

 

[clearimagemedia]

welcome. i think price wise the most bang for buck when it comes to mapping is DroneDeploy and DDMS.

DroneDeploy Pro is only $99 per month, 1000 max images per survey and has unlimited surveys per month. DroneDeploy Explorer is free, but you can't export.

DDMS Pro is $50 per month, 400 max images per survey and has a limit of 10 surveys per month. DDMS starter is free, lets you export ortho and 3d, but its slow, has less resolution, 200 max images per survey and you can only process 2 surveys per month.

DroneDeploy is extremely faster (hours) than DDMS.

Thanks Frank, I have been looking at the "MAPIR CAMERA" for their cameras, and "Event 38 Unmanned Systems | Drone Data Management System™" for their cloud an processing...I am truly very new to that areana...I mean like tops 2 weeks researching and trying to learn. Please correct me if I am wrong...but from a newbie what I see for the process is...
1. Flying a mission using the capture software and camera for the desired output...uploading pictures to some cloud, using a software to for no better terms, stitch, render an output product. Delivering product, map, survey, study to client....that is a just the work flow I have in my head...I will research the the companies you mentioned and eventually be able to rock this.

The general contractor that I have already been doing work for really likes the idea of Lidar surveying, as well as thermal. I will look at mtheods to meet his needs. Washington state is soooo full of farms. I know that a lot of pilots have small planes, don't know how they survey their crops now, but think there has to be a cheaper solution that will exceed their needs.

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[franknitty69]

Thanks Frank, I have been looking at the "MAPIR CAMERA" for their cameras, and "Event 38 Unmanned Systems | Drone Data Management System™" for their cloud an processing...I am truly very new to that areana...I mean like tops 2 weeks researching and trying to learn. Please correct me if I am wrong...but from a newbie what I see for the process is...
1. Flying a mission using the capture software and camera for the desired output...uploading pictures to some cloud, using a software to for no better terms, stitch, render an output product. Delivering product, map, survey, study to client....that is a just the work flow I have in my head...I will research the the companies you mentioned and eventually be able to rock this.

The general contractor that I have already been doing work for really likes the idea of Lidar surveying, as well as thermal. I will look at mtheods to meet his needs. Washington state is soooo full of farms. I know that a lot of pilots have small planes, don't know how they survey their crops now, but think there has to be a cheaper solution that will exceed their needs.

Thanks for sharing!!

yep, that is the workflow. also, if the images aren't geotagged, then you will need to geotag them first before uploading. this is the one of the weak links with the solo + gopro. and if you are using cloud based software such as DDMS, it will generate the outputs (orthos, 3d, dem, etc). you would then simply share them or download them and get them to your client.

 

[clearimagemedia]

yep, that is the workflow. also, if the images aren't geotagged, then you will need to geotag them first before uploading. this is the one of the weak links with the solo + gopro. and if you are using cloud based software such as DDMS, it will generate the outputs (orthos, 3d, dem, etc). you would then simply share them or download them and get them to your client.

Thanks Frank...II may have others questions....no, will I am sure have other questions and will share my workflow and products/software as I figure out and test what I eventually use.