FPV Drones in Professional Use: Cinelifters, Cinema Cameras and Post-Stabilization (Part III)

In Part II we focused on FPV for social media, with an introduction to the different drones, action cameras and GoPro settings. Part III goes a step further: FPV drones in professional use, for commercial and cinema work.

‍

Good reasons for FPV

Let me start with a line I like to use in client meetings: “Standard stabilized drones observe the action. FPV racing drones are inside the action, if not the action itself.” These drones are powerful. They turn on every axis and do loops and flips, with a camera on board.

They capture perspectives nobody has seen before. We fly them through company buildings and real estate, show landscapes, or chase a motorbike through the city at night. The possibilities are almost unlimited.

Now you’re probably thinking: “Cool, but what’s in it for me?” In a world where attention has to be earned, the first moment counts. So why not with action shots that impress your audience and leave them wondering how it was filmed? FPV isn’t mainstream yet. That lifts the engagement rate and the watch time.

‍

FPV drones for professional use

FPV drones started out in racing. Filmmakers saw their potential early and fitted them with action cameras. For social media that was ideal; for professional production it hit limits. To meet industry standards, FPV drones had to carry heavy cinema cameras and fly longer distances.

We test our drones under all kinds of conditions before they go on a client project. We don’t like it when our birds drop out of the sky, and even less in front of a client. One drone we trust 100 percent: our loyal friend, the X8 Cinelifter.

‍

Our loyal friend, the X8 Cinelifter

The X8 Cinelifter is popular among media professionals. We pair ours with our favorite cinema camera, the RED Komodo. One of our most important Cinelifters in this category is the QSL Thicc. It has eight motors, four on top and four on the bottom. If one fails, the remaining seven bring the drone home safely. And the best part: the QSL Thicc flies almost as easily as a 5" Cinequad.

Indoors we work with big Cinewhoops instead of Cinelifters. Cinewhoops are currently the fastest-developing FPV technology on the market, driven by growing demand from professional media production.

‍

Cinema cameras and FPV drones

Almost any camera works for FPV clips – except cameras with IBIS (Internal Body Image Stabilization), because their sensor “floats.” On FPV cameras the sensor has to be fixed firmly in the body.

In the FPV community the Blackmagic Pocket 4K is popular for its price-to-performance ratio. If you want to go wild, the RED Komodo 6K is a beast. Its R3D raw profile is a gift for editors. That’s why the RED Komodo is our number-one cinema camera for prestige projects.

‍

Post-stabilization

Post-stabilization is probably the most time-consuming step with FPV clips. Before a clip can be edited, the drone movements have to be analyzed and synced with professional software. Depending on the codec, that can take up to an hour for a three-minute clip.

To keep our FPV videos smooth, we mount a SteadXP component on the cinema cameras during the shoot. SteadXP is a combined hardware-and-software solution that records gyro data externally and syncs it with the video afterwards. Comparable tools like the warp stabilizer in Adobe Premiere Pro don’t deliver optimal results. For action cameras like the GoPro, we use ReelSteady.

‍

Where to next

Part I covers simulators and equipment, Part II FPV for content creation. In Part IV we look at how the automotive industry uses FPV in its advertising.

‍

Any questions about FPV or your next project? Reach out to our team without any obligation – we’re happy to help with advice and hands-on support.

‍

So long,
Nikolay Keller