How to film interior FPV drone flythroughs.

A breakdown and behind the scenes of how we create our FPV flythroughts. From outside to inside around the building and through shelves, we can show off an entire building in one continuous shot.

What sort of drone did you use?

We use an FPV (First Person View) drone that put our pilots virtually in the cockpit, they see a real-time feed through a headset as they remotely fly the drone. This allows for a new level of creativity and control to a conventional drone.

It allows us fly from outside to inside, get close or fly through obstacles to make a shot more dramatic and create long takes. The drones’ propellers are also encapsulated which makes it very safe for interior projects like the Arbeta Video.

The drone is completely manual and doesn’t hold its position like a normal drone and you can flip it, it’s the same sort of tech that’s used in drone racing.

What’s more is the footage that comes out of the drone is completely unstabilised. We use a gyroscope to record the flight movement and use that data in post-production to produce a perfectly smooth stabilised shot.

How long did it take to shoot?

Planning was 1 day, and shooting was 1 day.

We initially went to look at the site and discussed what would be visually the most impressive route to showcase Arbeta and to tick all the boxes for the brief.

We walked the route several times and filmed it from the ground before creating a flight plan back in our office.

On the day of the shoot, we walked the route again to check everything was looking spot on and setup a station where we would fly from.

We began by making test flights and fine tuning the speed and timings. After around 5 short flights we were happy with the route. It was really a waiting game chasing the best light.

The large atrium in Arbeta is flooded with natural light and we wanted to capture an option with natural daylight and during golden hour. Manchester being Manchester provided us with in out cloud all day so made the timings tricky.

We ended up doing about 20 takes finding the best light. The take used in the film ended up being the flight we flew on the day!

Is it just one shot like it appears?

Absolutely, there’s no transitions or trickery, every twist and turn you see is real.

The only thing we did to make it more engaging was by adding time remapping – the original take was over 3 minutes, and we ramped the speed throughout the video to get to the more exiting parts quicker.

What else can you use the FPV drone for?

Our drones can be used for lots of other applications – TV, online, adverts, promos, film, events, and live streaming to name a few.

We tend to use the FPV drone mostly for real estate, events, and sport. We generally use conventional drones for the other applications.

Continue Reading .

Post Terms

Simba go – A VFX Breakdown

Previous
Next