My first aerial tour / draganfly x6

[northStudio]

to bad the area sucks so bad... i promise the next ones to come will be in better locations.. and better rez
http://virtualtours.northstudio.com/stanleypark/

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Not the nicest area, but some people call it "home"... so I don't worry too much about that

The interesting thing is indeed your equipment ... (no, not talking about the ever-interesting FFC ) ... the Draganfly.

1. What is the apprx price for it?
2. How high/far can it go and still be under control?
3. What is the price?
4. How long do the batteries last?
5. What's the max cargo-weight?
6. Which camera did you use?
7. How many pictures do you need for a full sphere?
8. How long time does it take to shoot all the needed pictures?
9. Is the stitching a bitch afterwards?[/list]

[northStudio]

Hi trausti
My name is ryan and i work with northstudio in canada(vancouver location), recently we have purchased a draganfly x6 to do aerial photography and 360 tours. We think its an addition that will set us apart from the rest of our competition and give us that edge. This tour was done above the draganfly workshop as a demo for us to see if we could make it work.

To answer your questions:
1-price varies depending on what bells and whistles you want but its base is 20g canadian funds

2-it can go to 8000 feet and if it does lose rc control it has a auto land feature which will guide the chopper down safely

3-20g for the x6 but they just released the x4 for 8g,,,, but it doesn't have the gps hold that the x6 does(which is important for keeping the chopper hovering in a spot) as well once you have the gps location, all you have to do is enter it into the hand set and the x6 will fly automatically to that same location and hold. That will come in handy for many different applications.

4-the batteries will last in between 10-15min with camera payload

5-x6 can carry 500grams weight ... the x8 is coming out and will carry 1000 grams

6-the camera was a Panasonic Lumix

7-we took 30 some photos around

8-probably took us 5min tops to shoot all the photos

9-yes the stitching was a bit of a pain in the butt, i think it would have been a bit easier if we would have taken more time and care taking the shots... the draganfly guys were in a bit of a hurry that day and i didn't want to keep them, we got enough to show us that we could use this for what we want to do.

It is technically a UAV and not at all a toy rc........ until now it has been used for covert military applications around the world. We are working with them about getting a camera mount on the top, so its easier to get the sky (or what ever is over head, seeing that these can be flown indoors). Draganfly is close to having a digial SLR that will work with there system. Right now the camera options are limited to a few different models.
The camera view gets wirelessly transmitted to video sun glasses, so you can frame your shot..(how ridiculously cool is that)
Anyway trausti thx for all the help in this forum, it has been very helpful, im very impressed with how fast you respond with solutions.
I hope these type of tours really take off ......budumpump... haha bad joke

[bjornkn]

What is 20g Canadian? Surely that can't be 20.000$? I know they used to be pricey...
And how much is the X8 gonna cost?

And what is included? Videolink, camera, tilt/pan rig?, video glasses, RC Tx/Rx, gyros, batteries, charger and everything else needed?

I'm surprised that these Draganfliers still can't carry more weight. They've been available for many years (and the Roswell flyers before them), even before the lightweight LiPo batteries were available, and they still can't carry more than 0.5kg. Strange, and disappointing. It really limits its usefulness for 360 panos IMO, vs an eChopper.

I actually have a box full of carbon tubes, carbon mats and epoxy, lots of electronics, mixers, gyros, servos, motors, ESCs, batteries (NiCd/NiMH:( ), video glasses, videolink, Rx/Txs etc, to build my own version of a 4-motor flyer (to carry 2kg+), but I never got around to do it for real. There's always something else to do first...

Interesting to see your project with Dragan

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

20K Canadian = 19K USD

= too damn much!

[northStudio]

I guess its expensive if your a enthusiast, but at 1200 per aerial 360 and a few hundred for stills this thing will pay for its self off in no time. It wasn't a hard decision. Is there other factors i haven't considered?
You can get all the info at http://www.draganfly.com

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Ok, that makes perfect sense. Only appears expensive when a poor bastard like myself takes a look at the initial price, without having the money to purchase one, and doesn't know the price range for such services.

There is a lot of potential clients for aerial panos and normal photos... that I know, but I have never thought beyond the limited prices I operate with for panoramas on ground level.

I would love to have one of those in my service. Preferably one of the next generation that can carry 1kg ... that should be enough to carry a EP1+Zuiko 8mm fisheye... producing spherical panos with only 5-6 images.

Thanks for the info... now I only have to make some money.... and probably create some good arguments that can be used if the money is there... to convince my wife of it being a good idea.

[bjornkn]

I guess its expensive if your a enthusiast, but at 1200 per aerial 360 and a few hundred for stills this thing will pay for its self off in no time. It wasn't a hard decision. Is there other factors i haven't considered?

I guess you didn't consider the low carrying ability a drawback then? A normal electrical RC chopper like a Maxi Joker would be much cheaper, and at the same time be able to carry a camera with a fisheye lens, which also should allow you to shoot more than one panorama in each flight.
There are now a lot of small companies offering RC chopper photo services, and one of them is just a few kms from where I live. He charges less than US$ 400 for a flight with 15-30 photos included on a CD/DVD, or a 5min HD video. But by all means, if you can get $1200 for each pano I can understand why you think the Draganfly price tag is acceptable.

You can get all the info at http://www.draganfly.com

Except the prices

[northStudio]

We did consider the low weight, and with the dragan weight doesn't matter anyway because it has been made to only carry that specific model of camera, you cant just go and get a camera that weight s the same and put it on there. They have to mod the camera to be triggered and controlled by the hand set, maybe you could make those modifications but i sure couldn't. And thats why this thing is so appealing. It comes as a ready to go package and i don't need a degree or experience to get this thing up and running. But for what were doing, which is getting content for a clients websites to show case there facility, we only need to be just on top of the subject matter, we will never send this thing 8000 feet, this things daily routine will be, go up 30-50 feet and coming right back down. Be aware that we are within city limits, i know there is no way we could put up a chopper like the maxi joker, there big and there loud and they need a large learning curve for people who haven't flown a rc before, and from what i know getting a chopper to hover is the hardest part of flying one, and it is a important part when trying to make a 360. So thats where that gps hold comes in play with the auto leveller. With a chopper like maxi joker in canada we have way more hoops to jump through with permites and certification and liability issues, its a pain in the butt. With this dragan i can give this to a employee who has little to no experience and away they go, off and running. I just have to fire off a email to transport canada letting them know where i will be that day. And because its small and quite we can get to areas (virtually unnoticed) that the bigger rcs cant get to, example is we have a big hotel to do and there forya is big and goes up for stories, they want a tour in the middle to show off some artwork, with my x6 flying indoors isn't a problem either, and with all the safety features this thing has i feel safe doing that. It is a solid investment "if you can put it to work". I know there lots of people doing this all over the world but in vancouver, or canada for that matter, there isn't alot of competition. I know of only one guy in vancouver that does this, and theres more then enough room for both of us in this large market.
I have lived in vancouver for 11 years now but i grew up in saskatoon sk, home to draganfly innovations, and my uncle actually knew zenon dragan from when he was a kid and introduced us, so i had a connection to get a bit better of a deal then most people.
They are very well respected in the industry and have been around since 97 or something like that, so i know they will take good care of all my needs, and so far they have been great with customer service, even sent me a lower end model rc to play with so as i can get to know the controls better for when my order arrives. But you watch ill probably crash it into a building the day i get it. My own mini version of 911.haha
So it fits for the applications we want to use it for, but your right i do want to get a heavier pay load so i can put our d3, or ex1 or even a red cam on there, so a maxi joker type of rc is defiantly in our future as well. Do you know of any other model brands that are in that same category as the maxi joker.

I appreciate your input, thx

[mareintorno]

When I took these photos ... Spartan with my system ... I met a very nice friend of mine and I offered a coffee we talked of the future and then I went to take pictures ...
My equipment was there to 3kg of 120mt waiting for my order to work.
http://www.a3e60.com/panosky.php

[adolfo_360vista]

Wow Mareintorno !!! ... I have no words .... I have a lot of questions ... equipment, pano-head (motor??), radio-control, the movement of the camera to take the shots ... can you make me a little explanation, a couple of phrases only pease !!!.

Since several years I´m considering to make aerial panos, and still photography, I´d see a lot of aerial kits ... the mini-zeppelins and globes is the best choice for me. Can you tell me your expirience making this amazing and faboulous work, not only for the location, the light choice, the levels and color post-procesing ... really is a great job, congratullations.

Warm regards !, ciao !
Adolfo

[bjornkn]

So it fits for the applications we want to use it for, but your right i do want to get a heavier pay load so i can put our d3, or ex1 or even a red cam on there, so a maxi joker type of rc is defiantly in our future as well. Do you know of any other model brands that are in that same category as the maxi joker.

I appreciate your input, thx

I had a Logo 20, which was stolen from my car the night before it was to have its first flight
Very good heli, but I never had money to replace it at that time. Made by Mikado in Germany, who no longer produce that model. But I guess their 600 should work fine? Smaller than the Maxi Joker though. BTW, I still have my autoleveller (called CoPilot) for that heli, so there's a lot of aids for helis too. Probably GPS too? http://www.mikado-heli.de/
I'm sure it's much easier to fly a Draganfly, but a heli isn't that difficult either. And you get a much more flexible system.
I always wondered why they use such small propellers on Draganfly, instead of geared and larger ones. It's like with cars, small motor with high rpm means lots of hp and speed, but little thrust - and thrust is what you want when you hover on a spot with a payload - which is what you get when you gear down.
I'm surprised that you are allowed to fly a Draganfly in places where a RC heli is not allowed.
Is that really so in Canada?
Is it classified differently because it's not considered a toy?
And why is it more quiet than an electric heli like the Joker? They should both be a lot quieter than glow/gas anyway?

[mareintorno]

Wow Mareintorno !!! ... I have no words .... I have a lot of questions ... equipment, pano-head (motor??), radio-control, the movement of the camera to take the shots ... can you make me a little explanation, a couple of phrases only pease !!!.

Since several years I´m considering to make aerial panos, and still photography, I´d see a lot of aerial kits ... the mini-zeppelins and globes is the best choice for me. Can you tell me your expirience making this amazing and faboulous work, not only for the location, the light choice, the levels and color post-procesing ... really is a great job, congratullations.

Warm regards !, ciao !
Adolfo

from the bottom:
Canon 350D
Sigma 8mm
Nodal Ninja R10
Engine
Radio control 500m
Battery

The system has 2 commands that operate the rotation procedure and step
1) 12 stop + step = 360 °
2) 4 stop +step = 360 °

Meanwhile he is working you can have a coffee with a friend

[adolfo_360vista]

Thank you for you replay Mareintorno !,
I apreciate the information ... I´m still dreaming with aerial panos and photography ... who knows, maybe one day !

Regards !
Adolfo.

[mareintorno]

If you believe I can send you the PanoSKY ready to realize your dream ...
We are giving him an elegant dress to make it a pleasant object to handle, and extremely

[terrycm]

Love the concept, and I agree that a spectacular view will really sell the idea. The music is definitely not my cup of tea... and I would have loved to see some tool tip usage on the buttons/icons. The draganfly in the top right is in button mode but does not have a function attached to it. A little tweaking on this and I think you could generate some good business with this equipment. Good luck and thanks for posting.

-Terry

[northStudio]

Hey Boys
I am going up in a real helicopter, into the rocky mountains and i am going to attempt a few aerial tours. Now i have never done this before and i was wondering if anyone has any advice for a newbie, its 850 a hour and im lookn to not waist any time. Any obvious do's or don'ts would be appreciated.

thx for all the help
u dirty little panographers

[bgroulx]

When I lived in Vancouver, I purchased a previous incarnation of the Draganfly from RCToys in Saskatoon in an attempt to offer it as a service to realtors and developers.

It was a fucking nightmare.

But that was my experience.


1. Trying to learn to fly that thing was torturous.

2. If you crashed that thing you had to dick with it all day long to reassemble the repair parts.

3. You had to charge a premium to make it work while to bring out the rig, shoot it all and go back and deal with all the images.


My problem is I was a shitty pilot. That is my fault. In the RCToys demos they make it look very easy. They are very good RC pilots and I admire them or anyone else who can keep those contraptions under control.

The other issue is finding people (clients) willing to pay on a regular basis that made buying any incarnation of the Draganfly feasible as a business model.

The demo posted in this thread is very nice. But I hated doing it. Anyone who has their stuff together to produce these should be congratulated, because yes, it sets apart from other VR producers, but it is a bloody hassle to streamline profit-wise. I speak from experience. I WISH YOU ALL SUCCESS WHERE I FAILED!!!!

[etegration]

20K Canadian = 19K USD

= too damn much!

any cheaper alternative you might know of?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

.... unfortunately not.

... unless you'd be willing to test a kite with a powerful ventilator for indoor shots, and a kite with a VERY powerful ventilator for outdoor shots.... but on serious terms: Nothing I am aware of. If it's too expensive, we just have to make more money... I think that is the primary solution to the problem. How?... that is the next problem to be solved.

[bjornkn]

An electric RC helicopter, like Maxi Joker, would be a much cheaper alternative.

Using kites is actually so common that it even has a name : KAP (kite aerial photography).
There's also several shops, like http://www.kapshop.com/ , selling equipment for KAP as well as aerials with helis, blimps, planes and other fliers, as well as pole/mast shooting.
The Dunecam looks like nice ready-to-go solution?

[northStudio]

lots of new x6 aerials to come

[northStudio]

I have wanted to get back to this post for a while now and report back on how the draganflyx6 is turning out in practical application. So going from zero experience flying rc helis the draganfly was remarkably easy to learn. I do wish it could go a bit higher, but ill probably always want that. Im a guy so a few extra inches is always wanted. I defiantly will never ever give this to a employee to use on there own like i had mentioned in previous posts. I was delusionaly optimistic. I switched over my site and realized everything i had posted here was not linking properly. So heres a new Draganflyx6 Tour full operational. I love flashificator but i now out source all my flash work so it frees me up. We have developed a post card system that allows the viewer to frame up a shot and send a still to a friend to share the experience. Trausti maybe we should talk about incorporating this plug-in into the next version of flashificator? Ill post a example of that once its 100% ready to go. Its super sweet.

Alot of people told me it couldn't be done..(well) with a draganfly.. I love a good challenge.. All the people i talked to on this form helped me shape this product and pointed me in the right direction when there was very little info i could find on the topic. Thx guys you were a BIG help.

Draganfly X6 Aerial 360
Be sure to view in full screen and once on the ground look up to see the dragan, flying over head. Click on it to return to the sky..

http://bit.ly/b4R6Dw

[rawtoast]

Wow - very cool ... that aerial really ties those holes together! Great stuff ...

You probably already wrote this ... but what camera/lens are sending up there? I'm pretty curious ... and how do you snap the shots?

Thanks for the inspiration!

[northStudio]

Hi Toast
I use a draganfly x6 to get the shots
http://www.draganfly.com/

[rawtoast]

Hey again

I'm more curious about what camera/lens you are sending to get the full 360 views ... can you share?

[northStudio]

of coarse np... lumix point and click... its the only model for the x6 it cant carry any more weight.. the x8 will carry a full size SLR.. im going to get my hands on one the second they become available

[rawtoast]

Does the lumix have a fisheye adapter? How many photos do you have to stitch?

Outstanding stuff!!!

[northStudio]

NO fish eye right now although they are working on it. 16- 26 photos to stitch

here's a few tutorials
http://www.photoshipone.com/tutorials/

[enridp]

Hi ryan!, how do you take the pictures of the zenith? I mean, is not the HC there?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

Normally the zenith shots for aerial panos is shot from ground level. Since the clouds are so far away, there is no problem with parallax doing it that way.

[enridp]

But what happens if there are buildings in the way? you can't shot the complete sky.
I've seen a tutorial where the sky was totally replaced, with a custom sky (it was a pano from a real HC). But I don't like that solution...
And what happens if we use the HC at low height? or inside a building, etc. How can we patch the zenith then?

[Trausti Hraunfjord]

I guess people just have to get creative in such situations. I would also like to know what people have done...

[northStudio]

You go out a area where it is really flat and do a normal pano. I always do my pano at 10000x5000. Save up a folder full of skies. Then when you shoot a aerial you make that 10000x5000 and just drop your sky in. You will allways need to be higher than your subject matter. In the case of indoor elevated tours or a building right in front of you. I go with my pole and grab a ladder. It gives a great perspective.
It would be cool if the next dragan could fly upside down.

I actually crashed my x6.. Thought it was my fault. I guess a blade stopped in flight and down she came.. But the light at the end of the tunnel was, draganfly repaired it free of cost, which is cool seeing that i didn't have insurance. They had it back to me in a week.. What a amazing company.. Dragans are pricy but they are a solid company.

Im doing a tour next week for forbes magazine at a adventure heli resort, going to take the dragan to a glacier. Cross my fingers it doesn't go down up there. Ill post it if it works out.

[LSmith]

lots of new x6 aerials to come

Good good! I am excited!

[realtyasis]

I'm new on the forum but in looking at this post on aerial pano's and the discussion I had found a site that may be the answer to an affordable way to get into it this as a DIY project for a lot less then 18k. The software for flight control looks the same. http://loudtwitter.com/go/?domain=aeroquad.com

[exd]

I'm new on the forum but in looking at this post on aerial pano's and the discussion I had found a site that may be the answer to an affordable way to get into it this as a DIY project for a lot less then 18k. The software for flight control looks the same. http://loudtwitter.com/go/?domain=aeroquad.com

I just bought an octocopter to shot aerial pano's. draganfly is way to expensive. mine was about $5500 and it can carry 7d with wifi adapter (about 1.5 kg). it has gps, compas... everything what you need.
you can look at http://www.mikrokopter.de/