In this tutorial we take a look at how to achieve cinematic aerial shots with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). We'll explore shot techniques, time of day, camera settings, and some post-processing in Adobe After Effects.
My first recommendation to anyone filming with a drone is togo slow. Slow is more cinematic, and it gives the viewer the impression you areshooting from a larger platform, such as a helicopter. This subconsciously increases the productionvalue and makes the shot appear more controlled and crafted.
Make sure you also go easy on the RC control sticks on theremote. Use gradual movements and remember to accelerate and decelerateslowly; otherwise you will shake the camera around with the quicker movements,increasing your odds of having distortions or ‘jello effects’ on your footage.
Pre-plan and visualize as many of your aerial shots as youcan. I recommend scouting your filming location before your shoot so you canfactor in limitations of the area. Knowing what you’ll need ahead of time willalso help you optimize your drone’s battery life, so you don’t run into asituation where you miss the shot you truly need because your batteries are outof power.
Imitate big-budget shots you see in movies,which are typically going to have two axes of movement at the same time. Anexample would be flying backwards and downwards at the same time, at a smooth, steady rate.
Strafing or sideways movements also work quite well forshowing landscapes from a different perspective. Since most landscapes areshown on aerial videos with the drone moving only forwards or backwards, astrafing shot can stand out. It can also be an effective way to reveal coolfeatures in the landscape.
Orbits can be achieved by having your drone strafe to theright or left, and also pulling the yaw stick in the opposing direction. (Theyaw control is typically the control stick on the left side of the controllerthat controls the drone’s rotation.) It is crucial to go easy on the yawcontrol, or you’ll end up spinning too quickly and spoiling the effect.
Fly-through shots can be quite cinematic, but they aregoing to be the most risky since you’ll likely be relying only on yourcontroller screen (FPV) in order to navigate your drone. I wouldn’t attemptthese unless you are confident in your piloting skills. I’m personally not the biggest fan of theseshots, because when I see them it is a tell-tale sign that the shot was filmedwith a drone; this may distract your audience, making them think more about the risk ofthe shot, instead of noticing the cinematography.
You can also try gimbal movements combined with dronemovements to add another dimension to your shots. Doing this can give you up to three axes of combined movement. One of myfavorites is flying forward and tilting the gimbal upwards to reveal thelandscape.
Add depth to your aerial scenesby taking advantage of extreme parallax effects, often with trees or structurescloser to the drone, which helps provide a visual aid to the viewer for howlarge the surrounding landscape actually is.
I don’t recommend justrotating on the yaw axis, or basically a 360 pan. This is because dronestypically have a hard time being precise with this movement, and it can give thefootage a whip-pan effect if you’re not careful.
When it comes to the weather,you are pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature. You’ll typically just wantto fly on clear or cloudy days, and you’ll want to avoid any rain, misting orheavy fog. This is particularly true on colder days, since condensation can develop on thedrone and the props, which can freeze at higher altitudes. (I’ve seen thishappen!)
The wind is the biggest enemy when it comes to the dreaded‘jello’ effect on footage. Avoid tryingto get any of your drone shots on a windy day; I typically don’t fly when thewinds are over 20 mph or if there are frequent heavy gusts. Most drones arerated to fly in up to 25–35 mph winds, but the footage you record at thesehigher wind speeds will likely not be worth your time.
I don’t recommendrelying too heavily on programs like After Effects to remove the jello effectfrom your footage either. Although After Effects can do a good job at reducingthese distortions, I’ve yet to see footage that has been completely restoredusing its Warp Stabilization setting.
Just like with ground-based cinematography, filming during the golden hours of the day—at sunrise and sunset—will really help yourfootage stand out. Shadows will be highly visible, which will help defineterrain features that aren’t as visible during the afternoon. Fewer people filmat these times, particularly sunrise, so by just doing this one step you arealready differentiating yourself from the surplus of aerial footage out there.
Camera settings will also play a big role in how cinematicyour shots appear. Make sure you film in the flattest camera profilepossible, which should give you the most dynamic range from your aerial camera.Filming this way helps to prevent the sky and clouds from blowing out, while alsoretaining detail in the darkest points of the ground.
Lower shutter speed if possible, especially on shots closeto the ground, to avoid the strobing effect. Anythingunder 100th to 250th of a second is my recommendation, anduse an ND filter if needed to keep your shutter speed down. Shooting at 500th or 100th of a second, which is common among drone cameras, will giveyou sharper frames, but it can give the footage some heavy strobing.
Let's go over some post-processingtechniques I use in After Effects to get better-looking results from my aerialshots.
Thefirst step is to remove any distortion from the footage, which is mainly goingto be done if you filmed with a GoPro camera. You’ll get much better results ifyou shoot in 4K and are outputting the footage at 1080p; this gives you morepixel density in a 1080p composition and will help preserve image quality.
Iadd my footage to a 1080p composition and then add the effect OpticsCompensation. Check the box that says Reverse Lens Distortion, and for a GoProI typically put the field of view between 70 and 80.
If you want an even widershot, you can check the box that says Optimize Pixels. This will widen up theshot back to the original width, but you’ll need to add black bars at thetop and bottom, essentially converting this shot to a 2:35 aspect ratio.
If you had to film at a higher shutter speed, or if you areusing a GoPro camera and don’t have control over shutter speed, you’ll probablywant to add a motion blur effect to your footage in After Effects to make it look more natural.
Use an effect like Pixel Motion Blur or thethird-party plug-in Reel Smart Motion Blur. This will help add naturalmotion blur to your shot and will counteract any heavy strobing (usually withtrees, cars driving, etc.)
Finally, the two best colorgrading plug-ins I recommend for aerial footage are Red Giant Colorista and Film Convert.
Colorista is by far the best color corrector in After Effects andcan also be used for color grading footage. It has a lot of options andversatility, especially in regards to tweaking the hue and saturation ofspecific colors in your scene.
Film Convert is a film emulation plug-in thatreally can help differentiate your footage and give it a cinematic feel byadding a true film aesthetic. You can select from different film stocks and dosome minor color correction. The film stocks help add cinematic value to yourfootage and help pull them away from the standard ‘drone video’ look.
We've built a complete guide to help you learn how to edit videos, whether you're just getting started with the basics or you want to master video editing and post-production.
And you can now download free drone footage to use in your next project simply by visiting Mixkit, a new site dedicated to bringing you a wide selection of high-quality stock video.
联系客服
