I'm looking for a drone to film horse racing and the Phantom 4 appears to the the closest consumer drone to my requirements, but I don't think the features I am looking for are yet available. So I thought I'd check whether the features can be combined or not from actual users of the device, as searching online and in this forum, has not yielded the answer.
Basically I am looking for a drone that can fly inside a racecourse at racing speeds, approx 35mph, alongside a horserace to live stream it via Periscope. So, my research tells me:
- I can use the waypoints feature to map out a course that is 50 meters from the inside of the track itself (The UK's CAA regulations are not to fly within 50m of a vehicle or person, or within 150m of a crowd of 1000+), that flies over the hedges on the fairly level track in the example. [I would need CAA approval as they probably consider this work, even though its unpaid and its within 400m of the nearest powerlines]
- I can use Litchi to set out a waypoint course with curved turns to better match the corners of the racecourse and make it easier to keep the camera focused on the horses
- I can use Active Track to track a horse whilst racing
- I can use sport mode to allow the phantom 4 to travel at the required speed
- The flight time is sufficient to allow for a 6 minute race, plus 5 minutes or more circling at the start prior to racing.
Note: I might not be able to do this anyway, as in some cases drone operators have been advised only to flight above or behind horses to avoid spooking them, which could increase the risk to the horse, jockey and potentially by-standers [getting public liability insurance cover will be interesting enough anyway without additional risks].
My question is can I use those features in combination? so I would effectively use the waypoints as a GPS perimeter which the drone can't venture outside, whilst using active track to keep up with the racing to allow me to control the gimbal/camera during the race?
- I don't think active track allows the subject that is being tracked to be switched does it? e.g. the horse I'm tracking pulls up and I need to switch to another one to continue tracking the race. From what I've read I'd have to exit active tracking and restart with a new subject.
- I'm not sure the sport mode is available with active tracking and way points enabled, every search I tried found explanation or demonstration of individual features rather than how they can work in combination.
In terms of angle of shot/distance to cover the racing - a horse is approx 9 feet in length and a field might be spread out over 30 lengths, so 270ft and allowing a third of the image for the horses to run into that would be approx 400ft. By my calculations the DJI's upto 20mm focal length lens would allow me to achieve 297ft (84 degrees) at 20mm and 424ft (105 degrees) at 14mm. If the horses are racing closer than that they might appear small in the frame though - hopefully not too small for active track though.
Other questions like, if the subject horse is in the middle the pack, how long will active track keep trying to acquire the subject before it gives up? I guess I would need to try out to get the answers.
Here are some examples of where pro drones have been used to film racing.
Aerial drone photography for horse racing and other sports events
(this is the very similar to the kind of racing that I would intend to filming
The British Broadcaster Channel 4 has also used a Batcam drone to film racing from the Royal Ascot meeting.
Basically I am looking for a drone that can fly inside a racecourse at racing speeds, approx 35mph, alongside a horserace to live stream it via Periscope. So, my research tells me:
- I can use the waypoints feature to map out a course that is 50 meters from the inside of the track itself (The UK's CAA regulations are not to fly within 50m of a vehicle or person, or within 150m of a crowd of 1000+), that flies over the hedges on the fairly level track in the example. [I would need CAA approval as they probably consider this work, even though its unpaid and its within 400m of the nearest powerlines]
- I can use Litchi to set out a waypoint course with curved turns to better match the corners of the racecourse and make it easier to keep the camera focused on the horses
- I can use Active Track to track a horse whilst racing
- I can use sport mode to allow the phantom 4 to travel at the required speed
- The flight time is sufficient to allow for a 6 minute race, plus 5 minutes or more circling at the start prior to racing.
Note: I might not be able to do this anyway, as in some cases drone operators have been advised only to flight above or behind horses to avoid spooking them, which could increase the risk to the horse, jockey and potentially by-standers [getting public liability insurance cover will be interesting enough anyway without additional risks].
My question is can I use those features in combination? so I would effectively use the waypoints as a GPS perimeter which the drone can't venture outside, whilst using active track to keep up with the racing to allow me to control the gimbal/camera during the race?
- I don't think active track allows the subject that is being tracked to be switched does it? e.g. the horse I'm tracking pulls up and I need to switch to another one to continue tracking the race. From what I've read I'd have to exit active tracking and restart with a new subject.
- I'm not sure the sport mode is available with active tracking and way points enabled, every search I tried found explanation or demonstration of individual features rather than how they can work in combination.
In terms of angle of shot/distance to cover the racing - a horse is approx 9 feet in length and a field might be spread out over 30 lengths, so 270ft and allowing a third of the image for the horses to run into that would be approx 400ft. By my calculations the DJI's upto 20mm focal length lens would allow me to achieve 297ft (84 degrees) at 20mm and 424ft (105 degrees) at 14mm. If the horses are racing closer than that they might appear small in the frame though - hopefully not too small for active track though.
Other questions like, if the subject horse is in the middle the pack, how long will active track keep trying to acquire the subject before it gives up? I guess I would need to try out to get the answers.
Here are some examples of where pro drones have been used to film racing.
Aerial drone photography for horse racing and other sports events
(this is the very similar to the kind of racing that I would intend to filming
The British Broadcaster Channel 4 has also used a Batcam drone to film racing from the Royal Ascot meeting.
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