Dronebase- is it worth it

How many DB missions do you guys have now?

I was interviewing with another company and we were talking about DB and missions completed. The gent was very surprised when I told him I had over 125 completed. I think I'm at 130 now and I have done ten more for another company all since late November. He was telling me most guys that he talked to were doing 5-10 a month....
 
Could you post a screen shot of a '10 rating pano mission' if you have time so I can see what I'm looking for on the DB map?
I'm sure it's no longer listed, it's been a bit since I've done a mission for DB, just look for commercial pano that has the entire bars colored in, if that makes sense
 
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Could you post a screen shot of a '10 rating pano mission' if you have time so I can see what I'm looking for on the DB map?
Found one here you go
 
I went out and shot a few yesterday. I left a few for today which was closer to my work. They are all gone now:/. They must have updated last night because more than 1/2 the listings for the Portland metro area are now gone, compared to yesterday. Funny thing is the 2 that are at each end of the PDX runways are now back lol.

Anyone else notice an update?
 
I went out and shot a few yesterday. I left a few for today which was closer to my work. They are all gone now:/. They must have updated last night because more than 1/2 the listings for the Portland metro area are now gone, compared to yesterday. Funny thing is the 2 that are at each end of the PDX runways are now back lol.

Anyone else notice an update?

I've noticed a big drop in the number of Dronebase jobs in my area recently as well. Also, I tried working with Betterview, did the test flights and filled out all the forms. Exchanged about 3 voicemails with their guy, then never heard from them again. Anyone know if they are still active?
 
I've noticed a big drop in the number of Dronebase jobs in my area recently as well. Also, I tried working with Betterview, did the test flights and filled out all the forms. Exchanged about 3 voicemails with their guy, then never heard from them again. Anyone know if they are still active?

i gave up on Betterview. Sent my demo in and a follow up email. Never heard anything.
 
Ya having a better look, there might be 50 or so listings around Portland, compared to over 2k not too long ago....

Wonder what's going on.
 
They did a huge cleanup in my area a couple months back, much clearer. But I noticed listings disappearing including some I marked. Figured they were keeping on top of sales, but of course it is another pilot. I talked to his mom - she was proud that her HS senior has earned enough to pay for the drone he bought!
 
Anyone else notice that most all the listings are now commercial? At least in my area. I checked an area I'll be visiting this summer in SoCal and it's all commercial. I could not find one home listing in that area.
 
I just want to throw my 2 cents in here about the whole Drone Base deal. IMO it is damaging our industry by reducing the value of what we do. I'm sure that longtime professional aerial photographers are livid about the pricing offered. I highly encourage ALL certified pilots to get out and find your own jobs and charge a fair price for your work. Drone Base is a great scheme to make a few people a lot of money and a lot of people very little money. Don't do it. Boycott them and encourage everyone you know to. Call realtors and encourage them to boycott the service also. PTGui has a nice stitching program that also creates an HTML page for interactive pano's. I'm going to assume that Drone Base is a paying advertiser on this forum and my post will be removed, but I had to say something. Drone Base are the ambulance chasers of the industry. If nobody is willing to pilot for them they will dry up and go away. Do your part...for someone else.
 
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I just want to throw my 2 cents in here about the whole Drone Base deal. It is damaging our industry by reducing the value of what we do. I'm sure that longtime professional aerial photographers are livid about the pricing offered. I highly encourage ALL certified pilots to get out and find your own jobs and charge a fair price for your work. Drone Base is a great scheme to make a few people a lot of money and a lot of people very little money. Don't do it. Boycott them and encourage everyone you know to. Call realtors and encourage them to boycott the service also. PTGui has a nice stitching program that also creates an HTML page for interactive pano's. I'm going to assume that Drone Base is a paying advertiser on this forum and my post will be removed, but I had to say something. Drone Base are the ambulance chasers of the industry. If nobody is willing to pilot for them they will dry up and go away. Do your part...for someone else.

Off in many different ways. We've covered this before and even before that.

If you were contracted with DB, you would know exactly how much each job is being sold for.

If you were an aerial photographer, you would know how much work is involved with clientele.

If you were a photographer, you would know how much work is involved in editing.

DB is doing about 90% of the work, and paying the pilot 1/2 of the sale price, not 1/2 of the profits.
 
Most of what they do (stitching and creating an interactive pano) is automated, and the fact that they generously pay 1/2 the sale price does not change the fact that the product is grossly undervalued. Volume is how they make money. Also they don't exactly screen their pilots for compliance with part 107, and they do fill their maps with lots of bogus addresses. I have experienced this myself so I know it's true. Addresses that do not exist, are not "on the market", or are located in gated (read "PRIVATE") communities are common. I ran into a number of these in ONE DAY trying to shoot properties for these guys. It is a legitimate business (just like ambulance chasing). Great for the high-schooler trying to pay for his new toy, terrible for the rest of us trying to build a business.
 
Most of what they do (stitching and creating an interactive pano) is automated, and the fact that they generously pay 1/2 the sale price does not change the fact that the product is grossly undervalued. Volume is how they make money. Also they don't exactly screen their pilots for compliance with part 107, and they do fill their maps with lots of bogus addresses. I have experienced this myself so I know it's true. Addresses that do not exist, are not "on the market", or are located in gated (read "PRIVATE") communities are common. I ran into a number of these in ONE DAY trying to shoot properties for these guys. It is a legitimate business (just like ambulance chasing). Great for the high-schooler trying to pay for his new toy, terrible for the rest of us trying to build a business.

Gotta disagree.

You jumped ship. Let's go back to the first one which, to you, DB is hurting the market. A lot of these do not sell, and sales are based on price. Nick has openly stated how he will make a package deal for someone. So, the problem is not DB, it's the customer. So instead of promoting to stop flying for this company, you should start asking realtors to pay more for they're pictures because that are driving the market down. If all the realitors would pay 200 for a pano, we'd be sitting pretty good. It's just like your not going to pay a labor 50/hr to dig a ditch. Real estate photography is the ditch digging of photography.

Now on to your other delimia. I'll relate it to growing pains because with every update, it's getting better. I mean the app has only been out for 5-6 months. Give it some time to be perfect.
 
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I just checked db app and the area around me is rather empty and the majority of missions are now commercial pano missions. Wondering if they are moving away from homes which doesn't make sense
 
I just checked db app and the area around me is rather empty and the majority of missions are now commercial pano missions. Wondering if they are moving away from homes which doesn't make sense
I'm kind of thinking the same. Someone want to email Nick. If I get a chance at lunch I will.
 
So true. I find myself telling my wife the same thing over and over. It's all I've been saying for the last ten years, "All I want to do is fly!" I'm not the best editor, and I'm too honest to be a good salesman......
 
Today seems to be back to normal. Several home listings back on the map. Now, if it would only stop raining! :)
 
Just completed a client mission boy was that exciting. The homeowner came out had a nice conversation. Couple seconds later three squad cars come pulling up asking me what the heck I'm doing. I just explained what was happening and everything was cool... Took off at 11 AM by 1120 police officers make contact
 

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