In Part II of this blog series, we strongly focused on FPV for social media. This included an introduction to the different drone types, action cameras and GoPro settings. The last Part looks at FPV-Racing-Drones in a more professional context – for commercial and cinema application.

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Good Reasons for FPV

Let me begin with a quote I like to say in client meetings: “Standard stabilized drones observe the action. FPV racing drones are within the action, if not even the action itself!”. These drones are powerful. They can turn on all axis and do loops and flips with a camera on top.

FPV drones allow never seen perspectives to be captured on video. We use them for virtual tours through showrooms or real estate, for diving down buildings or chasing motorbikes at night through the city. These are only a few examples. The possibilities are almost unlimited.

Now you think it’s cool, but what’s your benefit though? In a world of short attention spans it’s important to catch your audiences’ interest right away. Why not do it with action shots, which leave your target audience impressed, wondering how on earth was it done?

FPV drone videos have not become mainstream yet, which increases the engagement rate and results in a longer watch time. Hence, advertising with the right amount of FPV drone videos actually increases your overall ad performance.

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FPV Drones for Professional Use

Originally, FPV drones were used for drone racing. Content creators recognized their potential for filmmaking early on and equipped them with action cameras. This combination proved to be a great match for social media, but it had its limitations for professional media production.

To meet the industry standards, FPV drones needed to lift heavy cinema cameras and fly longer distances. It was a community of dedicated filmmakers and FPV fans who made FPV drones a reliable technology for commercial use. Even today, they’re constantly innovated and improved.

We’re testing our FPV drones under many different conditions before using them in client projects. We don’t like watching our birds drop out of sky and even less next to clients. There’s one FPV drone, which we trust to do a safe job – our loyal friend, the X8 Cinelifter.

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Our Loyal Friend, the X8 Cinelifter

Nowadays X8 Cinelifters are very popular to use among media professionals. We use them for carrying our cinema camera, the RED Komodo. One of our main Cinelifters from this category is the QSL Thicc. We chose it because of the high security and performance level.

The QSL Thicc has 8 motors, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom, which prevent accidents in case of FPV motor failure. When 1 motor fails, the remaining 7 are strong enough to return the FPV drone safely. When flying the QSL Thicc it almost feels like a 5” Cinequad.

For indoor drone filming, we work with big Cinewhoops instead of Cinelifters. Cinewhoops are currently the fasted developing FPV technology on the market. This is due to the fact, that they’re increasingly demanded by professionals for media production.

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Keller Creatives FPV Reel

Lean back and watch our FPV drones in action. We’ve created a FPV show reel for you with our favorite shots and perspectives. Coming soon.

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Cinema Cameras & FPV Drones

Potentially, every camera could be used for creating FPV drone videos, except for cameras with IBIS (Internal Body Image Stabilization) due to their ‘swimming’ sensor. Sensors need to be hard mounted within the camera. Otherwise, they would shake too much while flying.

In the FPV Community the Black Magic Pocket 4K is very popular, because of the good price performance ratio. If you want to go wild, the new RED Komodo 6K is a beast! The R3D Raw profile is a true blessing for editors. That’s why the RED Komodo is our cinema camera for premium projects.

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Post-Stabilization

Post-Stabilization is probably the most time-consuming activity when creating FPV drone videos. Before a FPV video can be edited, the movements need to be analyzed and synchronized using professional software. This process can take up to one hour for a 3 min FPV clip depending on your codec.

To make our FPV videos look smooth, we attach a SteadXP component to our cinema cameras when filming. SteadXP is a combined hardware and software solution for filmmakers, which externally collects gyro data and allows to sync the movements along with the video afterwards.

At the moment, SteadXP is the only well-working stabilization tool on the market. Others, like the warp-stabilizer in Adobe Premiere Pro, aren't producing optimal results. Action cameras as GoPros, uses ReelSteady for post stabilization.

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Final Words

In Part I of this blog, we discussed FPV simulators and equipment. In addition, we provided a complete item list for a first drone setup.

In Part II, we went a step further and introduced FPV for content creation. We talked about FPV on social media, different drones and action cameras.

In this one, Part III, we looked at FPV racing drones in a more professional context. We explored the different possibilities for FPV in commercial and cinema application.

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So long,

Nikolay Keller