1. Legal Requirements For Drones

It is crucial that you understand the guidelines and rules to ensure you remain within the law. Where operators may decide to take their drone abroad, you must ensure you are compliant in those countries too. This may involve registering your drone with the aviation authority, taking relevant drone tests and confirming that your insurance covers operation in the relevant location.

According to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as of 2 April 2025, the basic guidelines are as follows:

If your drone has a camera (unless it is a toy) or weighs 250g or more then you need to register with the CAA. You need to renew this registration every year. This is a registration of you as the operator rather than the drone itself. Anyone flying a drone weighing 250g or more needs to pass a test and get a flyer ID from the CAA. This is free and online. Regardless of whether you legally need a flyer ID we strongly recommend that you do the learning and test as it gives you valuable information on flying your drone safely. If you already have a flyer ID that is still valid, you don’t need to re-do the test until it expires, although you are required to keep up to date with the new regulations. You can register, get your flyer ID and find more information at register-drones.caa.co.uk

There are however some other rules you must follow should you decide to purchase and fly a drone for business or pleasure:

• Airspace & Permissions: Ensure that you do not fly into restricted areas and no-fly zones (e.g., airports, urban areas, military zones etc). A useful website highlighting restricted airspace for drones within the UK can be found on the NATS website.
• Insurance: Public liability insurance is mandatory for commercial operations (providers like Coverdrone or FPV are examples of popular insurers). According to the CAA’s drone code

There is no distinction between flying commercially and flying for pleasure or recreation. This means that an approval just to operate commercially is not required. However, all commercial drone flights require valid insurance cover.

2. Developing A Business Strategy

• Target Audience: Identify sectors with potential to generate revenue, including real estate, construction, surveying, weddings, events or tourism for example. Each sector poses unique challenges for a drone operator.
• Pricing Strategy: As with any other business model, consider pricing based on hourly rates, project-based pricing or larger packages. Any cost analysis shouldl include travel, recording and editing of the video. Remember that you need to cover the costs of setting up your business in the first place – the drone, insurance and CAA fees.
• Competitive Analysis: Research competitors and determine how to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Creating a showreel of your best work including your own signature video movement and composition combined with striking photography will ensure you stand out.

3. Equipment And Technical Considerations

• Drone Selection: Choose drones that meet your business needs and legal requirements. For example, drones in the sub-250g category, while compromising on quality to a degree, have significantly less restrictions than those over 250g.
• Camera Capabilities: There are a variety of drones available, each with their own capabilities in terms of camera quality, automation (such as Point Of Interest and Precision Landing) and battery life. Ensure that you check out examples of video footage and photography via reviews from reputable sources on video platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo to gauge camera quality and ease of use.
• Accessories: You will likely need accessories for your drone so invest in extra batteries, ND filters, SD cards, a landing pad, and a controller with a bright screen for use in direct sunlight where necessary.

4. Footage Post-Production

• Editing Software: Software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro are suitable for video; Lightroom or Photoshop are common editing tools for photographs. Some drones, such as the DJI Mini 4 Pro for example, are capable of creating High Dynamic Range images.
• Stabilisation and Grading: High-end drone footage may require colour correction LUTs and stabilisation software prior to delivering the final product.

5. Scalability Of Drone Services

• Additional Services: Drones are also capable of mapping, 3D modeling (photogrammetry), thermal imaging and cinematography for film/TV. You are likely to require an upgrade to your existing hardware and software to cater for these highly specialised services.

Useful Links

• See the Simcoemedia aerial video and photography page for more details about the service offered.
• For legal requirements and rules on drone use within the UK see the CAA Drone Code.
• Register your drone with the Civil Aviation Authority.
• Check where you can fly your drone with this regularly updated map – NoFlyDrones.
• Follow the The Drone Creative on YouTube for information about drones including hints and tips on operating DJI products.

Simcoemedia Aerial Drone Footage

Final Comments

As mentioned in the first paragraph, this article is designed to provide an overview of the general rules and guidelines associated with owning a drone and operating it commercially. If you are considering adding aerial video and photography to your business then please ensure you follow the drone code.

Applying Styles to 360 Photography Using Midjourney and Magnific

This tutorial examines how AI can transform 360-degree images by applying image styles using Midjourney and Magnific AI. If you are looking to enhance architectural shots, landscapes, or abstract environments, this guide can assist you step by step through the process, enabling you to enhancce immersive photography using AI-driven tools.

Introduction to Creating AI-Generated Music Videos

AI is revolutionising the way music videos are produced, enabling artists and filmmakers to bring visual storytelling to life without the need for expensive production crews or complex computer graphics. This free tutorial provides a brief history of music videos, explores the potential of AI-generated visuals, and provides practical examples of how Runway Gen 3, Kaiber, and other AI platforms can be used to create unique and engaging music videos.

Creating 360 Images Using Midjourney and Magnific AI

For those interested in creating immersive 360-degree images, this tutorial provides a complete workflow using AI tools. From generating high-quality panoramic scenes to ensuring seamless stitching for a flawless 360 experience, this tutorial guides you through the techniques required to create visually stunning, AI-enhanced environments.

The Future of AI in Creative Media

The fusion of AI and creative media opens up a new world, offering new tools for artists and designers looking to streamline the production of creative work. As AI tools continue to evolve, they provide new methods for expression, allowing creatives to push the boundaries of storytelling, photography, and digital artistry. Check out the full range of tutorials at the Simcoemedia Shop.

360 Video

360 video can be viewed in a Virtual Reality headset such as Meta Quest 3 and, when uploaded to platforms such as YouTube, is also available on a desktop or mobile device. The viewer interacts with the content within a VR headset by moving their head or on a desktop by ‘clicking and dragging’ to change the point of view using an input device such as a mouse. It is also possible to achieve similar interactions using the gyro technology on a mobile phone or a screen with touch capability. YouTube can display interactive 360 video in VR, on desktop and mobile.

Video is recorded with a camera utilising a series of wide angle lenses designed to capture the surrounding environment. It is stitched together using compatible software which may be provided by the manufacturer such as Insta360 Studio or by a third party such as Mistika VR.

360 video is usually recorded in the same equirectangular format as 360 photography. Current cameras record video of at least 6 – 8K which results in Gigabytes of data per minute with the Insta360 Titan recording 11K (10K in 3D). The challenges posed in producing 360 video, such as hiding microphones, lights and other equipment, has led to a decline in use during recent years in favour of 3D VR180 video. However the format remains popular in real estate, tourism and journalism where a view of the entire environment is important.

VR180 Video

VR180 uses half the horizontal viewing angle of 360 video with just the front facing 180 degrees available. It is designed to be consumed within a VR headset, viewed on a screen with active glasses or converted to anaglyph for viewing with red / cyan glasses. Whilst there are only 180 degrees of recorded content, most VR headsets have a viewing angle of around 90 degrees which provides a realistic sense of immersion.

Content is typically recorded using 2 wide angle lenses covering a 180 degree viewing angle. Both of these lenses face the same direction with the centre of each lens placed at approximately the same distance as human eyes. When converted for use within a VR headset, the video provides realistic depth. HumanEyes Technologies released the Vuze XR in 2018 which had two 4K cameras which could be used in VR180 mode or 360 capture mode. A recent addition to the VR180 camera market is the CALF 3D VR180.

This format is used in vlogging and entertainment such as storytelling. However, as mentioned in the previous section, 360 video is still used when it is useful to see an environment in its entirety.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality experiences are designed to facilitate interaction where location, physicality and changes to the environment have meaningful consequences. They are usually viewed within a VR headset such as Vive XR Elite or Meta Quest 3 using controllers or hand tracking. However, platforms such as Spatial and Horizon Workrooms allow users access via a desktop environment as a ‘window’ to the virtual world. The user is able to shape the narrative and environment by their choices which may involve changing the state or position of physical objects within a space. Many VR applications are created with software such as Unity or Unreal Engine.

Examples of immersive VR applications range from as simple as the simulation of fairground games within Nvidia’s VR Funhouse, production of 3D art using Google Tilt Brush or involve the complexity associated with piloting an aircraft in Flight Simulator. Other examples may be found on Meta’s App Store.

The term ‘Virtual Reality‘ was first used by American academic Jaron Lanier in the 1980’s as a title for his research project. He is considered to be the ‘father of VR’ because of his groundbreaking work in the field.

Ambisonic Audio

Ambisonics is an audio technology that uses hardware and software capable of rendering spatial audio in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. As few as 4 audio channels can be used to represent sound within a virtual space. As the viewer’s head changes direction or objects emitting sound move within a space the audio is adjusted in a realistic manner to reflect the effect of these movements on the perceived sound. It is also possible to experience ambisonic audio in a limited manner when viewing 360 video on a desktop PC or mobile device by moving the point of view. The use of 4 audio channels to simulate spatial sound is referred to as First Order. However, it is possible to use more than 4 channels to enhance the effect in a similar way to improvements of 7.1 surround sound over 5.1.

For more information on ambisonics, see this excellent summary of ambisonic audio from Waves.com

Olfactory

Olfaction or olfactory sense is the sense of smell. There are devices capable of stimulating the olfactory sense as part of an immersive experience. One example is the Smell Engine described as “a system for artificial odour synthesis in virtual environments”

Gustatory

Gustatory perception refers to the taste sense. It is possible to trick the human brain to into thinking that food is being consumed using stimulation by computer controlled plates placed upon the tongue. In 2013 digital lollipop was created by researchers at the University of Singapore that stimulated sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes.

Summary

Immersive digital media has the potential to elevate and enhance the process of storytelling, communicating research ideas, developing products and in the provision of training. The last 10 years has seen rapid growth of hardware and software technologies at both professional and consumer levels increasing the number of creators and immersive content. Despite these advances, many challenges remain including the size, weight, cost and uptake of VR headsets, the cost and quality issues associated with 360 and VR180 cameras and the technical complexities of generating spatial audio. There are also positive signs too – the release of the Apple Vision Pro, camera releases from manufacturers such as Insta360 and continued support for immersive content in Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

Google kindly gave me access to their Google Earth Studio platform a few months back. I recently used it to create a variety of videos including a 2D 360 interactive video tour of my home city of Chester in England amongst other tours including London and Snowdonia National Park.

Familiar Tools And Techniques

Google Earth studio is relatively easy to work with if you are familiar with video editing or animation software. Camera controls including field of view, location, tilt and roll all have similarity to the type of keyframing you would find in Adobe software such as After Effects, Premier Pro and Character Animator. It’s fairly easy to create animated sequences and produce some interesting videos using areas of the map where 3D data is available. Google have only recently released 3D data for Chester…as its a beautiful city and familiar territory, this made a great focal point for some further exploration of the tool. In addition, I added some ‘tilt shift’ effects to Birmingham and Barcelona sequences to create a ‘miniature’ effect.

Exporting Videos

Once you have established the camera path for your sequence using the keyframing tools, it is possible to export traditional video or equirectangular video suitable for upload to YouTube – this process is either completed in the cloud (via Google servers) or by export as individual jpeg frames (which at 50fps is time consuming). Note that the limit per day for processing frames is around 15000. Having uploaded, YouTube then translates the data into a 360 video capable of being controlled with a mouse or TV remote.

Render Quality

Having uploaded 360 videos to YouTube the first things you notice are clarity, resolution and aliasing issues. Essentially, the 3D render contains moire patterns and flicker on buildings with lack of definition on hard edges. This reduced the quality of the viewing experience considerably. However, using Topaz’s video enhancement software it was possible to upscale the rendered video to 8K. When re-uploaded to YouTube the conversion was much sharper with improvements in antialiasing and fine detail.

Notes

• Not all of Google’s coverage features 3D photogrammetry data. The major cities of the world and sites of interest are covered, but there are still many locations with 2D imagery only
• If you’re interested in alternativeS then maybe try Geolayers, a plugin for After Effects. It allows more advanced visual techniques for animating maps with After Effects suite of effects and camera attributes such as depth of field.
• See my previous Google Earth Studio experiments

Stockholm Sea Padel is located around 500m from City Hall in Stockholm. It is a floating padel court combined with a bisto and bar to create a great recreational facility on the harbour front.

Granitkorset is a focal point in the form of a cross located within Skogskyrkogården in the southern area of Stockholm. Skogskyrkogården was created in 1920 and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

Ulriksdal Palace is located north of Stockholm and was built by architect Hans Jacob Kristler in 1638–1645 as a country retreat.

Bryggor Norr Mälarstrand is translated as Pier (on) Norr Mälarstrand. One of a series of small piers along this central Stockholm road.

Skinnarviksberget is a popular viewpoint in central Stockholm on the island of Södermalm. It provides a clear view across central Stockholm including City Hall and Riddarholmen Church.

Uppståndelsemonumentet can be found within Skogskyrkogården close to Granitkorset and is a sculpture in front of the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Riddarholmen Church is where many Swedish monarchs have been laid to rest and is also the home of the medieval Greyfriars Monastery in on Riddarholmen island in Stockholm.

Other 360 Photo Examples

See more information about 360 photography by Simcoemedia in blog articles from this site including Google Trusted Photographer article and 360 photography from Liverpool. Check out my complete photography collection on Google Maps including tradition and 360 degree photography. 360 photographs provide a sense of immersion by providing a 2D or even 3D (where technology allows) sense of the entire space from a single viewpoint, even on a desktop or phone, whilst allowing the viewer to select the relevant areas of interest.

The second of the 2D 360 tours focuses on Snowdonia in North Wales. Fly down to the UK from space and take a trip across the mountain range for spectacular views generated by photogrammetry included with Google Earth. There are only a select few locations in each country with photogrammetry / 3D data – usually these are key cities such as London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and other major cities. There are also many national parks and points of interest for tourists that use 3D data. For other areas 2D photography is the only available option for the moment but it is possible to switch on a guide within Google Earth Studio to indicate where 3D data is available.

There are a variety of features not used in the experiments above that are available within Google Earth Studio including the ability to roll the camera, export of 3D camera data for purposes such as overlaying text in After Effects, control over the field of view and the influence of a focal point. I tried many of these options and the video below demonstrates use of the field of view (FOV) adjustment as well as leaving the labels for locations and businesses switched on. At the time of writing this article I could not get Googles cloud computing to render an 8 minute video at 60fps with labels (the labels did not even appear on shorter videos) – to enable the labels as seen in the 4K River Thames Tour below I had to enable a screen capture then stabilise the video in Premier Pro and this stabilisation process is why the Google Earth logo is a little jittery Its best to view this in 4K quality on a large 4K screen.

The final experiment involves recording motion over the city of Barcelona at the same angle of approx 60 degrees. The animation was export as a 4K video and then imported into Adobe Premier Pro. Gradient blur was added to the top and bottom of the image to simulate a camera lens with a small depth of field which in turn gives the impression that the subject matter is a small scale model. See below for the results of this experiment:

Many thanks to the Google Earth team for providing me with early access. You can find out more information about Google Earth Studio on their website and see other examples of experimental 360 video created by Peter Simcoe on the Google Tilt Brush blog post.