Phantom 3 Vegas Shots

mvigs · May 20, 2015

That was very nicely done.

Adam Kontras · May 20, 2015

davemex said:
Yeah I think I have about 30 flights in so far and I still get crazy nervous when the P3 flies off to become a barely visible spec in the sky. It's even more nerve racking when you start to draw the attention of people and possibly security guards. A quick pack-up and evacuate post-shoot caused me to abandon my gimbal lock at a site in Mexico. At least it was only a $5 part...

Even with more experience I still get super nervous that for whatever reason, the drone is just going to fall out of the sky and be lost forever, or that I'm going to clip something while going backwards/sideways. But then you keep pushing it further because, like you said, you see the incredible aerials coming in over the monitor. Maybe once spare parts are readily available and DJI isn't so backlogged I'll feel more at ease taking risks.

Anyways, great shots! What did you edit in?

Premiere Pro CS 5.5 - Nothing really fancy, the drone did all the work. I wrote the song in garage band on my phone. Ahhhhhhh the future.

RandyTX · May 20, 2015

dmcgrew said:
They just recently banned drones from the valley of fire

Figures

DrChris · May 20, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
Premiere Pro CS 5.5 - Nothing really fancy, the drone did all the work. I wrote the song in garage band on my phone. Ahhhhhhh the future.

Nice job on the sound track too! You did great work here. I completely understand your nervousness! The editing and production are excellent!

Chris

pqdbr · May 20, 2015

Great video and, specially, great editing !!

P3P or P3A ? Which resolution did you shoot it in, 1080p or 4k ?

Deadlift · May 20, 2015

Beautiful footage! Well done man.

skyhighdiver · May 20, 2015

Kman said:
How did you take off with McCarren International so close to down town? The DJI software shouldn't have let you take off.

I know was just there this last week and left bird at home figured would not be able to fly p3 anywhere good Maybe hes flying p2+ with 1.08 no limits then

skyhighdiver · May 20, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
The strip isn't within the McCarren airport ring. Just outside of it... obviously, or I wouldn't have been able to take off.

It is well within the 5 mile no fly zone though

Adam Kontras · May 20, 2015

skyhighdiver said:
It is well within the 5 mile no fly zone though

OK, I'm lying. I didn't really fly my Phantom 3 in Vegas at all. I didn't look at the red circle on my map and make sure the strip was outside of that circle before I brought it and then proceed to shoot this footage. Why don't you just look at the no-fly map DJI provides? You honestly think I somehow gimped my GPS and then tried to pull off those kind of maneuvers blind?!?!?

Adam Kontras · May 20, 2015

pqdbr said:
Great video and, specially, great editing !!

P3P or P3A ? Which resolution did you shoot it in, 1080p or 4k ?

P3P in 4k. It allows you more options in post. I never sped up any of the footage, but I was able to make some fly-ins smoother and a bit more exact by using the space of a 4k image. Wonderful tool to have.

Kman · May 21, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
OK, I'm lying. I didn't really fly my Phantom 3 in Vegas at all. I didn't look at the red circle on my map and make sure the strip was outside of that circle before I brought it and then proceed to shoot this footage. Why don't you just look at the no-fly map DJI provides? You honestly think I somehow gimped my GPS and then tried to pull off those kind of maneuvers blind?!?!?

Looking at the map, the strip is within the Cat A no fly zone provided by DJI that's why I was wondering how you were able to take off.

http://www.dji.com/fly-safe/category-mc

Adam Kontras · May 21, 2015

Only the red circle comes up on the map on your controller. When I took off it would tell me "approaching a no-fly zone" if facing the circle, but that orange circle is NOT on the map on the controller. In fact my house is within 5 miles of Burbank airport in LA, but is hardly a "no-fly zone"...

Can anyone from DJI clear this up?

DrChris · May 21, 2015

Watch the video on the DJI site for more information. http://www.dji.com/fly-safe/category-mc

The red circles are the areas closest to airports and you cannot take off in those zones. Flight is restricted by height (to less that 400 feet) in the orange areas. The amount of restriction depends on the distance from the airport. Essentially there is a cone of restriction that starts at the ground at the edge of the red circle and extends vertically to the 400 feet at the edge of the orange circle.

Note, I'm describing the DJI no fly zones. There are many different opinions on the law, "restrictions" and "guidelines" that may be more restrictive than what is in the DJI app itself.

Chris

Adam Kontras · May 21, 2015

But the orange circles DON'T show up on your controller, only the red circles. And in fact, I remember looking at the DJI maps BEFORE I left for Vegas and there was NO orange circle whatsoever. Just the red circle which I was outside of. I assume in a future firmware update they will include the orange circles...

Fourblade · May 21, 2015

A really excellent job - I bet your heart rate was bordering on ludicrous...

Fplvert · May 21, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
But the orange circles DON'T show up on your controller, only the red circles. And in fact, I remember looking at the DJI maps BEFORE I left for Vegas and there was NO orange circle whatsoever. Just the red circle which I was outside of. I assume in a future firmware update they will include the orange circles...

Excellent video Adam!

I'm curious if you noticed any different light pattern on rear LEDs?

DrChris · May 21, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
But the orange circles DON'T show up on your controller, only the red circles. And in fact, I remember looking at the DJI maps BEFORE I left for Vegas and there was NO orange circle whatsoever. Just the red circle which I was outside of. I assume in a future firmware update they will include the orange circles...

I'm not sure that they will include the Orange circles. It seems that they consider the red areas no fly zones and only restrict the altitude in the orange areas. I agree that it would be helpful to have both.

Hovtech · May 21, 2015

God I know that feeling. When I flew in Rocky Mountain National
Park, same stomach tied in a knot feeling. Your video is up there with the Golden Gate Bridge video on this forum, the 2 best ever vids!

Adam Kontras · May 21, 2015

Fplvert said:
Excellent video Adam!

I'm curious if you noticed any different light pattern on rear LEDs?

I saw no difference in what was presumably an orange zone...

rmfa · May 21, 2015

Adam Kontras said:
It's honestly the hardest part man... I spoke with a security guard (well, he spoke with me) and he said you can't do it from PRIVATE Casino property. But you can do it on the strip...

...except of course you can't. There's people everywhere and you might as well put a treasure chest on the ground. Also, strangely - you can't do it on bridges or some parking structures because the metal screws up the compass. So you have to find parking lots off the strip and get a line of sight that will work... and man, it's just so stressful. I almost backed into the Eiffel tower with the drone while getting the Bellagio because your heart is racing so fast at the footage you're getting. All I can say is, practice doing night stuff at home - A BUNCH. I'm basically stuck here in Vegas for a few days and was able to drive around and scope out places - but I'm sure I could've been stopped by a security guard had I not been as fast as I was. Seriously, 5-10 minutes MAX, load-up and move out. Hands shaking the whole time.

This is exactly why I ordered a hard case where I can keep my props on ready to fly! You never know what shot you might encounter...