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Beautiful ‘dronelapse’ shows another kind of video your flying machine can make

Minsk 2016. DroneLapse
If you’ve been having a blast shooting aerial footage with your newly acquired drone but are already looking to take your content to the next level, how about trying a so-called “dronelapse” for something a bit different?

Find the right location, as well as the right conditions, and you could really create something rather special, similar to this effort (above) by Artem Pryadko.

The Belarus-based artist used two drones, a DJI Phantom 4 and Phantom 4 Pro, to shoot the stunning sequence at various locations across the Belarusian capital city of Minsk.

Describing his work as “a new direction in shooting time-lapses,” the footage was captured during summer, autumn, and winter last year before being edited and uploaded to the web in recent days.

With his thoughtful captures focusing on the pretty nightscapes and passing clouds, and a carefully selected soundtrack to enhance the viewing experience, Pryadko has created a striking sequence that’s beautiful and mesmerizing in equal measure.

A quick search on YouTube reveals that more and more quadcopter owners are trying their hand at dronelapses.

However, getting above the clouds for really breathtaking footage can be a challenge as you’re not supposed to take your flying machine higher than 400 feet. With that in mind, several online tutorials, like this one from Rob and Jonas’ Filmmaking Tips, suggest getting out early in the morning when you’re more likely to find patches of low-lying fog.

Another tip is to shoot in as high a resolution as possible so that, for clips where there’s a lot happening, you can crop the frame to focus on two different parts of the picture during the edit, enabling you to create two separate sequences for your final piece.

For more handy tips on how to set about creating your first dronelapse, take a moment to check out this useful tutorial on YouTube.

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Trevor Mogg
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