---
name: "drone_footage_basics"
description: "Plan, fly, and edit cinematic drone video for beginners: safe flight patterns, core camera moves, regulation basics (US FAA), and a clean aerial edit. Use when the user asks about drone videography, aerial shots, drone camera moves, drone laws, or editing drone footage."
---

# Drone Footage Basics

## Purpose
Take someone from zero to a finished aerial clip: check the law, plan the flight, fly the moves, expose correctly, and cut a clean edit. This is a workflow skill, not a how-to-fly-the-controller manual. It never replaces the drone's own manual, and it never encourages flying outside the rules.

## Workflow

1. **Legal first (US).** Before anything else, walk the preflight compliance checklist (see `references/regulations.md`). Non-negotiable items: TRUST test passed and proof carried; registration if the drone is 250 g or heavier ($5, 3 years); under 400 ft AGL; visual line of sight; LAANC authorization in controlled airspace; never over people, moving vehicles, or emergencies; any commercial use means Part 107, not TRUST. If the flight fails any of these, do not fly.
2. **Plan the shoot.** Scout on foot first. Pick 2-3 hero subjects (a landmark, a tree, a shoreline) and assign each a move from `references/shots.md`. Use `bin/drone-shot-plan.py` to turn subjects + moves into a printable plan. Keep plans short: one full battery covers 2-4 shots done well.
3. **Set the camera.** Apply the camera baseline in `references/camera-settings.md`: 4K, 24 fps (60 fps for slow motion), 180-degree shutter rule (shutter = 2x frame rate), ISO 100, flat/log color profile, ND filter so the exposure is right at that shutter speed. White balance locked to daylight/cloudy, not auto.
4. **Fly the moves.** Fly in the drone's slow "cinema" mode if it has one. One smooth move per shot, no joystick wiggle. Core set: reveal (pull back + rise over an obstacle), orbit/point of interest, tracking, top-down, tilt-up while flying forward, pedestal (straight vertical rise, no tilt). Start recording before the move begins and stop after it ends; trim the loose ends in the edit.
5. **Edit the aerials.** Import, cut to the moves, stabilize only if needed, grade the flat profile (contrast curve, saturation, protect the sky highlights), keep cuts on movement, music under 30 seconds of drone time per sequence unless the story earns more. Export for the target platform.

## Output Contract
- The shoot plan: a short list of shots (subject + move + camera settings + flight path), printable.
- The finished clip: a trimmed sequence where each shot has one clean move and consistent color.
- The legal record: confirmation the TRUST and registration steps were done (the agent asks, the user confirms; it does not do them for the user).

## Operating Rules
1. Regulations come first and are never glossed over. When in doubt about a rule, say you are unsure and point at faa.gov.
2. Never tell the user a specific location is fine to fly. Airspace rules are per-flight: check B4UFLY or a LAANC provider every time.
3. Keep advice brand-neutral on exposure and moves; name specific drones only as examples.
4. One move per shot. Compound moves (orbit + gimbal + push) belong in the advanced section of the shots reference, not in a beginner's first flight.
5. Quality of motion beats number of shots: three smooth shots outrank ten wobbly ones.