Any drone pilots with UAS license?

[ladrones]

I’m reaching out to see if there are any fellow TBH’ers that might have an UAS license. Or operate a drone as part of a career. I have a few questions about equipment needs to support drone operations and any certification that would be helpful in a possible UAS career. If you are available I would like to reach out.

Thanks.

[wes122984]

I’m licensed, haven’t done much with it though.

[Hookem2255]

I’m licensed, but in LE as part of my departments team.

Couldn’t help much on the business side. Holler at me if you think I could help!

[tvc184]

I have had a license for six years but only missions have been law enforcement.

I have been hired by a law firm to photo a major scene but it was extremely short notice (like a couple of hours) where they were allowed to investigate an incident and I was not able to get FAA clearance near an airport.

I have been to a couple of drone photo and business schools for setting up a commercial business but have not followed through yet. I also an registered with a nationwide drone company and have been offered missions but those available didn’t fit into my availability. I was actually going to fly a mission a couple of weeks ago commercially but when I was notified by the company and I responded, another pilot have taken the job.

[ladrones]

I have been working on a plan with vocational rehab on developing some skills to get back to working again.

My rehab consular is wanting me to consider working on some skill sets involving some GIS mapping, UAS certs and some digital media. She said it would work well with my 25 year “Trade” career that I disqualified myself from due to chronic respiratory failure. She thinks it won’t be hard to place me into a career if I do a few things.

I have to research various software and hardware I might need to start my education. Some resources could possibly be available through SSDI to cover some expenses.

The mapping training involves some more advanced math which I will struggle with. I need to find some brush up math to practice so I can improve my chances at success.

My thoughts on vocational rehab is someone that places you in a career like stuffing pillows at the local goodwill. I will be skeptical with the process. I would very much like to be able to return to work that has the Air Quality Index I can work in. I am very able. She said not many want to go back to work. I am itching to work.

I’m going to need a new computer to start with. I would like to purchase a computer that can handle mapping and digital media. My former trade always supplied laptops so I’m behind on latest tech trends involving that. I would like to make a good decision on which computer to choose.

I really appreciate y’all responding.

[tvc184]

I have been working on a plan with vocational rehab on developing some skills to get back to working again…..

There are obviously thousands of channels on YouTube including tons of drone how to videos. You might try Jeven Dovey on his channel. His seem to have fairly easily explained videos and in to everything from Drone moves, how to set up shots, best drone camera settings (since a drone is nothing but a camera with wings), how to photo edit to how to add music, etc.

Here are a couple of his videos from around 10 minutes with a lot of information to over an hour. These are very good tutorials and there are others out there. If nothing else videos like the three below will at least let you know what you might be getting into, which can be awesome.

https://youtu.be/gZpPlSWyieo

https://youtu.be/EI19np8sGvs

https://youtu.be/YQFEgNRXXDU

[ladrones]

The UAS cert involves 27 credit hours it does have a few courses for a digital media as well as GIS. I’m leaning more toward the digital media side for the AA course work.

[ladrones]

There are obviously thousands of channels on YouTube including tons of drone how to videos. You might try Jeven Dovey on his channel. His seem to have fairly easily explained videos and in to everything from Drone moves, how to set up shots, best drone camera settings (since a drone is nothing but a camera with wings), how to photo edit to how to add music, etc.

Here are a couple of his videos from around 10 minutes with a lot of information to over an hour. These are very good tutorials and there are others out there. If nothing else videos like the three below will at least let you know what you might be getting into, which can be awesome.

https://youtu.be/gZpPlSWyieo

https://youtu.be/EI19np8sGvs

https://youtu.be/YQFEgNRXXDU

Thank you!

In your opinion would the information on these hardware recommendations would be a good rabbit hole to start research?

https://tisch.nyu.edu/grad-film/admissions/recommended---required-software-equipment

[huntmaster]

Pilot Institute has info and courses

[ladrones]

I think me and the wife will take the basic UAS course as a hobby. We will get drones to play with. A hobby that has given me a lot of peace is checking on rivers, streams, springs, lakes etc.
I have not been able to find anything more peaceful than sitting next to a established water source that several miles off the beaten path in the middle of the desert. It is gods work it is life. With the droughts I believe there might be some opportunities to copyright some content pieces. And it’s just plain fun researching water sources on a map and planing routes to reach those locations and actually getting boots on the ground.

This is just my opinion because I really have not looked into the actual data.
I believe that there are a lot of gen x’er men that have to tap out of trades, law enforcement and military.

The whole SSDI system is set up for failure from the very moment you are forced into the program.
It leads to very serious mental, physical, spiritual damage. It leaves me in the position of wanting to give up. The goal is to wear you down until you die in poverty.

I want to do my best to dig myself out by learning to navigate the system that is designed for failure and being limited to earning 974.00 dollars a month on top of my SSDI check. If a laborer shows up on time, leaves his phone at the house and is willing to work hard they can make that in half a week in the oilfield. It’s shameful.

Since there is not much information to access for middle age men that are forced to tap. I think I can document some of my navigation journey, develop content, copyright content and try to see if that is if I can market the content. All from the very first day of school.

It’s gonna be a 5-7 year program. I will comply completely with all the rules of the program.
I think I’m going to try to set up my path with a film program. I asked the program director and he told me what sets his program apart is the ability to check out state of the art film equipment from day one. He believes his students get a better education with to ability to be hands on from day one.

I think since this is Tamalewood and so much state money is thrown at the industry I will be able to get a quality training. I will be able to network to contract editing and stuff that will take me awhile to learn.

I can only take it day by day.

I appreciate you all and the feedback. I want to try and use the vast TBH knowledge pool through my process. So I might have tons of questions.

[tvc184]

Thank you!

In your opinion would the information on these hardware recommendations would be a good rabbit hole to start research?
https://tisch.nyu.edu/grad-film/admi...ware-equipment

I got a lot out of this website just in the first bits of information.

Realizing this is a university website with degrees up to a PhD…. it immediately lays out the need for hard drives. It kind of cuts to the chase if you read between the lines. Obviously this is intended for students but notice it starts out by talking about the need for extra hard drives. The main thing I took from it was, some people don’t need the extra expense.

It says that visiting students or non-TV and film makers don’t need it. The between the lines information is (in my opinion), if you are not seriously into the professional aspect of video editing, it was not quite the need to back up your work.

Obviously no one wants to lose their digital images or videos and that could be anything from as simple as using an iPhone to take a picture of a cool looking car that drove by your house. Yeah, you could get an oh crap moment because you lost it but would it be life altering? This would be unlike another thread right now about losing thousands of personal pictures because they were not backed up.

I think the point is, what is your intentions at this moment? Is it going to be a hobby or from the very beginning is it intended to start a business into serious money making? I would guess that many businesses, including large successful ones, might have started out as a hobby and slowly developed. Others from the first moment had intent on becoming a large money maker. That is probably the definition of an entrepreneur.

So here are two scenarios to examine.

You’re kicked back on the porch, taking videos of those streams and lakes you talked about. You took some free online basic drone operations, camera operations and techniques (such as the rule of thirds or leading lines), flight characteristics, etc., and have shot some footage. Even with relatively inexpensive drones of today, you can shoot stunning videos and photographs. So you shot this footage and spend a couple of hours editing, putting it to music and have your final product. Most people might think it Yes somebody most beautiful images they have ever seen. would it necessarily be professional grade? Probably not but to the average person it would be extremely hard to tell. You could show the video for the next 20 years and people would think you’re a genius.

But…. if you somehow lost it, you would be upset and you would lose about 2 to 3 hours of your life you spent editing. That is it however. If you shot the exact same video with a $15,000 drone, had a few thousand dollars in a powerful editing computer and spent a couple of days doing the editing getting it perfect because a client was going to pay you $20,000 to use as an advertisement to a new chain of high-end hotels…… you would lose quite a bit more than two hours of your life in a hobby. It is not only the money but also reputation, experience and so on.

It does not exactly state that but that is what I get from the opening of that NYU recommendation page. As it says, if you’re just a visiting student, maybe someone wanting to learn the skills but not doing it professionally, there is really no need to buy a back up hard drive but certainly you can if you wish. It follows up by saying, if this is your career then the second hard drive and later it talks about the more expensive computers, is a necessity.

You can do a lot with a drone and put out some stunning video and photographs without needing a huge cash investment. There are some free videos which going to great detail and there are some online or in person schools that are relatively speaking cheap. I went to a drone photography school sanctioned by DJI in Houston and I think it cost me about $95. Since Covid, the school is now online. There are people that use such information and have YouTube video channels as a means of making money, sometimes lots of money if you can get a following.

I was visiting with a local professional photographer Who also used drones in his work. He was showing me the DJI Inspired 2 from which I think base price was about $3500. OK, that’s a bit more than my then Mavic Platinum which was about $1000. I think the Inspire can lift about 13 pounds and fly at about 60 miles an hour. BUT….. it doesn’t come with a built-in camera like the Mavic. You have to add a camera to hang on the bottom of the drawing. So while I was talking with this Drone professional, he handed me a camera that weighed about 4 pounds and he was reeling off the specs which was stunning including thermal imaging with a resolution of a professional camera. Oooookay…. Then he said, you’re holding a $16,000 camera. Yikes!!!! Here, take this back!

So, what is your intent at this particular moment? The story I just told was from about five years ago. As you might imagine, the technology advances in drones like other electronics, has been almost stunning.

It is kind of like fly fishing. You can spend about $150 on a pretty nice fly outfit and catch everything from panfish to speckle trout and redfish in salt water. You could also spend $3500 on a similar but higher end outfit and purchase a $5000 river and stream fishing trip to South Dakota.

Just some thoughts to ponder. And there is no right or wrong. It comes down to what you were looking to get out of it.