As the title suggests this is a project i have undertaken to see if i really need to upgrade to a better Drone. I'd love a phantom 4 or Typhoon H! but is it really going to improve me video?
With that in mind I have attempted to get the best from the XK Dectect X380 to answer the question for myself.
The XK Detect is a great little quad and really stable so it's an ideal platform to record good video. The trouble is very few video's actually show what is possible, just because it's high up doesn't mean it's actually good footage and what's with the feet in the picture all the time!
Looking into it the problem seems to be they are aimed at different markets, so someone with a DJI is more likely to be a film-maker or photographer so is willing to perfect the imagery than someone who just wants to hammer a quad around for a bit of fun.
So i thought I'd give it a go put a real GoPro on see what i could produce.
This is just sample footage from the project, not the smoothest and a little noisy due to a number of factors which will be covered in my final project.
The project will cover whats worked for me and what's not!
As promised a short video explaining what i have done to improve my Filmcity MB-600 matte box which came with my Filmcity FC-03 Rig.
Not the easiest DIY mod but for me defiantly worth doing as it is now rock solid and no longer has the fitment issues with the Canon 24-105L lens.
Basic requirements are:
A Filmcity MB-600 Matte box (obviously)
3mm Aluminium plate approx 150x150mm (6" x 6")
Some counter sunk bolts with nuts and washers to match
A jig saw with a metal cutting blade
Some Velcro to tidy the thing up
And a bit of time :)
Like i say its a bit fiddly but it was worth doing for me.
Hope you like this video and if you do click the like button and if you want to see more tips and mods like this press subscribe.
Part of an up and coming project requires some aerial filming to be done. As it's not needed for a while I've got some time to learn and practice my skills at flying!
I had some very important requirements for my first quad namely GPS Fly home! and be able to carry a Genuine GoPro.
There were a few contenders namely the Cheerson CX-20, Phantom 2, Walkera QR X350, Flying X8 3D and the XK Detect X380.
I would have loved a DJI phantom or ever Inpire but in all honesty i'm not sure if i could warrant that kind of investment.
Narrowing it down and seeing/reading countless horror stories of quads flying off into the distance for no reason i opted for the XK Detect X380.
First impressions are VERY good with the construction being solid and GPS lock being great.
The XK Detect X380 quad seems to be ideal as it almost fly's itself even in some wind!
In this video yo can see it holding position very well even with 20 kph winds.
Attaching my GoPro Hero 3 Black and filming at 2.7K (1440p) the footage although very jerky is super sharp and once a gimbal is in place will be perfect for what's needed.
A quick test flight in the wind, recorded at 2.7K 30fps, part two shows the footage stabilized with Adobe Warp Stabilizer at 15%.
More to come from this little beauty in the future for sure.
This DIY build is ideal for anyone into a low budget film making, documentary, passion projects or simply making your youtube channel look better i'm sure you will find this useful.
In this video i show you how you can achieve smooth complex pan and tilt camera movements without the need of a cameraman or expensive electronic system, in fact you don't need anyone but yourself and you can be the talent too!
I'm using a Ravelli AVTP cheap amazon tripod in this example but you could use pretty much any tripod as long as its smooth.
Let me know what you think and please as always if you like this content press the like button or/or subscribe.
BUT in real terms what does that mean for your actual user experience.
Here i give me honest opinions of the 256GB (MZVPV256) version installed in my i7 5820K @4.5GHz GA-X99-SLI system running Windows 10 for content creation.
Allot of reviews have said it's a product the manufacturers are drip feeding into the market and mostly in OEM builds so they don't want the mass market to get hold of them just yet... nothing like a bit of stealth marketing to build the hype!
I've used this drive as a boot drive in both Windows 7 and Windows 10, a dedicated scratch disk for Adobe CC Aftereffects, Premiere caching, project disk for Devinci Resolve 12 all coming to the same conclusion.
As a side note.
Windows 7 does not support NVMe without a hotfix applied which on the surface isn't a problem just install it! however... if you want to create a bootable NVMe drive using Windows 7 fresh install this is where the problems arise!, there are ways to do it but its far easier to fresh install on anther AHCI drive, apply the hotfix then clone onto the SM951 NVMe drive.
(Window 7 Hotfix for NVMe support):
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/2990941
At long last we have been SuperFast broadband enabled. After much tooing and froing with different ISP's we have finally been successfully connected to PlusNet's Unlimited Fibre Extra service. What a difference it has made!!
The download speed is great but to be honest it's the upload speed which has had most impact.
From 0.6Mb/s to 18.26 Mb/s is around 30 times faster upload! and it's a figure my tests seem to confirm.
Look at it another way for every hour an upload used to take it's now 2 minutes! literally!
1Gb video uploads now take no time at all, in fact they are uploaded by the time you finish writing the title and added a description!
