the opposite

JJK, because drones are our new masters. j

@JJKizak......Similar to face tracking technology, it will lock onto a predominate object like a runner, bicycle, dirt bike, boat, car (has to be going slow enough for the drone to keep pace) and will use the object for it's navigation keeping the object center in the field following at the speed of the object. I don't favor drones, but this seems like great technology for drone videographers.

But, maybe you are just kidding with your remark!


Best Regards....George

OK. I wonder also how it tracks---Radar, optically, ?
JJK

It uses the image from the main camera, combined with object recognition software in the drone to work out where the object is in space, then navigates to follow it when it moves.

So then I assume as the object is smaller it goes forward to make it larger again. Like to have that in Vegas.
JJK

Doesn't the Phantom use the position of the Remote Control unit for "Follow Me" - I've seen it following skiiers downhill, but understood that the Remote Controller needed to be in their backpack?

Couple of thoughts from one who has not (yet) bought something like this:

(1) Cool technology. But I would think one could get much more reliable results with the puck-carrying tracking concept.

(2) The video in the second link appears geared to 13-year-old boys. "Oooh, look at the shiny white shapes! Is this cool or what?!?" As a mature adult, I can remember the days of automotive ads touting "Look! We have more chrome on our cars! And our tail fins are taller!"

(3) I would not want to be a professional helicopter pilot these days. I would imagine the film jobs have dried up to a major extent.

"(3) I would not want to be a professional helicopter pilot these days. I would imagine the film jobs have dried up to a major extent."

Good point, but on the other hand I don't see big (Hollywood) budget production houses using anything less than an Arri Alexa (Sony F65 or a real film camera) for their aerial shoots, for the reasons mentioned @ 0:54 & @1:43 in the video below.

A camera like that would be almost impossible for an UAV to carry for a prolonged time, let alone two cameras as shown in the second video, it could get so pricey that one could better hire a helicopter to do the job.





VMP

"Doesn't the Phantom use the position of the Remote Control unit for "Follow Me" - I've seen it following skiiers downhill, but understood that the Remote Controller needed to be in their backpack?"

The Phantom 3 uses the device you attached to the remote control unit, phone or tablet, to supply GPS co-ordinates to the remote control, thence to the aircraft to perform Follow Me. The new Phantom 4 does not, it use optical recognition to identify the target object in the frame and follows that object.

"(1) Cool technology. But I would think one could get much more reliable results with the puck-carrying tracking concept."

Actually not, unless it is quite a large device. Firstly, those puck things usually do not have very good GPS receivers in them, and they do not afford you much control over the drone. Much of the 'tasty' promotional material showing these devices comes from faked footage, notably that of the Lily Drone.

The optical recognition idea is a much better concept, as the object being tracked does not have to carry the equipment, nor does that person have to maintain control over the drone, leaving it instead to the normal pilot.

"Good point, but on the other hand I don't see big (Hollywood) budget production houses using anything less than an Arri Alexa (Sony F65 or a real film camera) for their aerial shoots, for the reasons mentioned @ 0:54 & @1:43 in the video below."

Those clips appear to be made by the camera rig renters to convince film makers to use their equipment. In my opinion, these are the death throes of the 'big' rig companies, as each day their market is being eroded by smaller drones.

In the UK, there are companies now specialising in drone work for the current rash of 'walkabout Britain' docos being made, whereas that was previously a lucrative business for the helicopter companies.

But importantly, it is now being realised that aerial footage is not all that demanding, and apart from good platform stabilisation, which already exists, it is not hard to shoot good material. And You do not even need expensive glass to do it, simple good quality wide angle lenses are all that is needed. The emerging compact cameras with good wide angles lenses, shooting RAW, can do just as good a job as an Arri Alexa, without the heavy gear to lift it.