Weddings
Weddings
David & Chris
Mona & Shabab
Tara & Davis
Vishali & Niket
Meena & Michael
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/662164a0639d0da9f26d3dc6/665656a95810b06b81460c95_MONA.webp)
Mona Manning
Bride
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about our drone filmmaking services.
Absolutely, DRONESURF prides itself on being one of the most experienced drone service providers.
You can visit our www.vimeo.com/dronesurf web to see all of our previous work.
You can also look at the portfolio in our website.
We do not recommend to fly in harsh wind contions, snow or rain. However, if the production requires these types of shoots, it is possible to use a weather-resistant drone and equipment. This needs to be planned in advanced and will entail additional fees.
DRONESURF will allow at least 1 weather re-schedule if terms and conditions apply.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration or FAA, has a rulebook on drones. This set of laws are complied in what is known as the Part 107 regulations.
Since 2018, if you operate a drone commercially that weighs between 0.55 lbs and 55 lbs, you must register it through them and obtain a Part 107 Certification. The registration number will last for 3 years. The part 107 license has to be renewed every two years.
Aside from the registration and license requirement, the FAA also has basic rules in place for commercial and non-commercial users:
- Don’t fly near manned aircraft
- Fly below 400 feet AGL or “above ground level”
- Keep the drone in line-of-sight (LOS)
- You cannot fly a drone that weighs over 55lbs without additional certification
- You cannot fly your drone for commercial purposes (unless you have a part 107 license)
- Don’t fly within 5 miles of an airport without a Certificate of Authorization (COA)
- You cannot fly your drone over stadiums, prisons or critical infrastructure
- Don’t fly your drone over people or crowds of people without an FAA Exemption.
These regulations are put in place to ensure safety to yourself, to others, and to manned aircrafts in the sky.
DRONESURF is a full production house.
We have several editing rigs and editors on staff ready to tackle your story. We typically ask for at least 2 days of editing for every day of shooting. This time allows the editor to review each shot, meticulously select the best angles/shots, and re-arrange a story to exalt the film.
The post production also include: color correction, color grading, music, sound design, graphics, and animation.
YES. DRONESURF is a full production house that can handle complicated permits for both airspace and localities.
We have a 5 million dollar liability insurance that covers most permitting agencies requirements. We are also certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to legally fly drones.
We have submitted and received hundreds of Certificates of Authorizations (COAs). In addition, our staff has multiple years of experiences with aviation regulation and equipment certifications.
Our rates depend on the requirements of the production. The rates are typically based on three major components:
1. Pilot Day Rate
2. Equiment Selected
3. Permits and Other.
For example, a production may want to have a dual-operator team for a Film ( one operator solely in-charge of the drone camera or drone "DP" while the other is Pilot in Command PIC). This mode of operation allows the enables production to get better shots than a single operator because the camera DP can focus on camera movement and not flying the drone. In this case, there are 2 "pilot rates".
Another example is the Heavy-Lift drones set-up. The heavy-lift drone requires at least three (3) operators:
1. Pilot in Command
2. Gymbal Operator
3. Drone Tech/Visual Observer (VO).
Contact us for an exact quote
DRONESURF's company value is to ensure safety first.
We have a SAFETY MANUAL that all of our pilots are trained and re-trained on an annual basis. Part of the manual requires to brief the set, actors and anyone that is participating in the production about Drone Safety.
The procedure can be share with the producers and assistant directors to help with compliance across the set.
The drone will have a designated "SAFE ZONE" to land and take-off. There will be a person designated to keep Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) at all times with the drone. This person is the Visual Observer, who will make sure we are not flying into dangerous territory.
Short answer is YES, but it depends on the location.
Keep in mind that it does take time to prepare for any production, or what we like to call "pre-production". During this time we make sure all our equipment is up to date with firmwares, calibrations, cleaning cameras and lenses and charging all the batteries necessary for the shoot day. After that, we pack everything safely for traveling on location and making sure that when we get there, we have enough time to set-up quickly for the shoot.
In addition, all locations require to check we will be flying in a safe airspace. Our part 107 pilots will verify that the location has no airspace restrictions, Notices from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), predicted bad weather, and/or possible city/local restrictions.
For example, some cities like Los Angeles, California require additional permitting with FilmLA that require at least 30 days in advanced to process and have additional fees. Other airspaces may be restricted, and can require a few months of notice to the FAA to obtain a permit to legally fly in them.
In conclusion, we can be the fastest company to get on set legally and safely if production is proactive with submitting locations, certificates of insurance and any information in advanced. We can process these items quicker than competitors because we have done this in the most restricted, most cumbersome and most difficults sets.
We have a fleet of hundreds of drone types and sizes. If you can think of it, we probably have it!
Primarly our drone categories are based on the specific mission the drone is designed for. Also, within those mission designs there are weight categories in lbs of payload.
For example, for aerial cinematography some drones we have like the Alta-X, or M600 are considered heavy-lifters capable of flying payloads (cameras, lights, transmission, etc) over 25 pounds. On the medium side we have the Inspire 3 that is a medium size drone with a gymbaled 8K camera.
Small drones we offer like the Mavic 3 Cine and tiny drone like the mavic mini 4 pro can also record in 4K and can be more appropiate for smaller productions.
We also offer custom made drones for FPV of different sizes and payloads.
In conclusion, if your mission is mapping, videography, inspections, search and rescue, defense or deliveries we can select the right drone for you.
Yes, we all have FAA Part 107 certifications and 5 Million Liability Insurance.
We also have FAA excemptions granted for several localities.
Ready to elevate your productions?
Get in touch, and find out if we are a good match for each other
![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/662164a0639d0da9f26d3dc6/6626f1f188c2ee7279f86d2c_DJI_0987.jpg)