PROFESSIONAL IMMERSIVE DRONE SHOTS
HIGH RESOLUTION AERIAL SHOTS IN 360 OR 180-DEGREES
Are you in need of immersive aerial footage? Kiwi Aerial Shots is a professional and certified Dutch drone company and we can deliver high-end VR content as we are an Aerial specialist working with the latest 360 VR cameras. We can make the aerial footage underneath our certified drones but we can also mount our 360 camera underneath a helicopter. The immersive footage we make can be used for 3D implementation for the Apple Vision pro, a 360-degree social media/ corporate video, for Giant Screen theaters, and massive dome projection in an amusement park! We have our own workshop in which we build custom drones and VR camera setups so we can handle the most complex spatial aerial requests!
HIGH RESOLUTION AERIAL SHOTS FOR THE META QUEST, VISION PRO AND DOME PROJECTIONS
WE MAKE 360 VR around the world
HIGH RESOLUTION 310-degrees CAMERA RIG
360 VR underneath a helicopter
360-DEGREES DRONE PORTFOLIO
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WITH IMMERSIVE DRONE AND HELICOPTER PRODUCTIONS
Of the 13 years as a certified professional drone company we had 7 making 360-degrees aerial shots. We filmed VR corporate videos, nature documentaries, and educational videos for all sorts of end users. In all these years we gained lots of experience regarding the 360 cameras, VR post-production, and what users like and don’t like when experiencing VR video content. Most of the 360-degree video content we made is used for corporate events where visitors can experience the factory or harbor while flying over and through the facilities. But we also have experience in making drone shots for Giant Screen theaters. In the Netherlands, this is the Omniversum and on a much bigger scale you now have the Sphere in Las Vegas. For Giant screen drones like this we worked on the feature film ‘Cities of the Future’ from MacGillivray Freeman Film Productions.
Next to the drones we use for our 180 and 360-degree aerial content we also fly our VR cameras from underneath a helicopter. This way of filming comes with its own skills and gives tons of new possibilities compared to using a drone. For example, using a helicopter has no limits regarding the height of the shoot and we can make shots of several kilometers if needed. Something that is impossible or illegal to do with a drone. Our 360-degree helicopter shots ar used for example at the Floriade in 2022 in the Netherlands. Visitors of this event could stand in a basket of a hot air balloon, wearing a Quest 2 VR headset, and experience a flight over the Netherlands. We used the same helicopter technique for a big dome projection at the island of Pampus where people experience a hot air balloon ride but without a headset. Al together we had the opportunity to work on some great 360 VR productions not to forget about our Insaine 360 productions in the rainforest in Guyana. We know how to make these productions work and can get you some of the best 180 and 360-degree aerial shots possible!
"WE WORKED WITH MacGillivray FREEMAN ON CITIES OF THE FUTURE"
VR drone technics
CUSTOM BUILD DRONES AND CAMERA RIGS FOR THE BEST POSSIBLE RESULT
A 360-degree camera films with multiple cameras in all directions at the same time. By hanging the camera underneath one of our drones we can offer a Virtual reality experience from a bird’s eye view! To put a professional 360-degree camera underneath our drone we built a special drone rig. This rig is long enough to get enough distance between the VR camera and the drone so the drone can be easily eliminated in post-production. Because of this long 360 rig, we have to catch the drone when landing. This is done by the camera operator of the drone team that works closely with our certified pilot.
When making 360-degree or 180-degree video recordings, you can often choose between monoscopic or stereoscopic. In stereoscopic recordings, you use the camera lenses in the same way that human eyes work, filming from a left and right eye perspective. This effect creates depth in the footage and provides the spatial experience that people want in a VR headset, such as the Quest or Oculus. However, in drone recordings, stereoscopy is often unnecessary because the subject is typically much farther from the camera. The difference between your left and right eye in relation to the subject becomes negligible. Still, we believe that eventually, for spatial drone recordings in 180-degree footage, we will move towards stereoscopic drone camera setups, such as the Canon RF Fisheye lens. However, this type of spatial filming requires a completely different drone technique than mounting the camera on a long pole underneath the drone. For spatial drone recordings, the camera films in a 180-degree dome and therefore cannot be positioned directly beneath the drone’s propellers. For this, we are now going to build a special camera rig so that the camera is positioned in front of the drone, keeping the drone itself completely out of the frame.
NOTE: On mobile devices, these 360 videos can not be seen in full 360. Only the teaser ‘Cities of the future’ is a “normal” trailer.
360 experience Pampus
"ABOVE BIG CITIES, An OFFSHORE WIND FARM, AND DEEP IN THE AMAZONE"
Professional 360-VR cameras
ALL KINDS OF VR CAMERA OF SELF BUILD CAMERA ARRAY
The world of 360-degree cameras is a complicated one. A world that is still searching to the main use of 360-degree footage for the consumer and business world. In the last couple of years this changed a lot with the rise of more and more VR goggles and rise of Augmented reality but most of the 360 cameras today are still made for consumers and not for professional film predictions. One company that came with a professional Vr camera was Insta360. Around 6 years ago they came with the Insta360 pro and Insta 360 TITAN. We immediately jumped on those cameras and have tons of experience flying them. Unfortunately, the TITAN which had the best resolution of 11K had lots of software issues and wasn’t a trustworthy piece of equipment to work with. The Insta 360 pro 2 on the other hand was quite good and most of the VR experiences we filmed was using this professional Vr camera for 8K footage. And still, even after 6 years the Insta pro 2 is unfortunately one of the only professional cameras that also provides a doable workflow. In our VR blog here we explain more about all the other professional VR cameras that are often real pricy (€65.000) and still come with flaws so not worth it to buy. On the consumer side though more and more 360 VR cameras come out like the Insta360 X4 which gives reasonable footage in 8K but we can increase this in post-production to get even better performance for the small camera it is.
To provide the bigger production companies with high-resolution 180-degree and or 360-degree footage, we build our own camera rigs. In our Kiwi Aerial Shots workshop in Amsterdam, we have been building custom drones and camera setups for years. In 2019, we built a camera setup for underneath a helicopter to get 310-degree footage in 22K resolution with 3 RED MONSTROS. These days we are thinking about building a smaller rig for 3 RED Komodo-X cameras. We are always checking out the latest developments like the eAchtel 9×7 camera, The Big Sky camera, Apples own immersive camera or flying the Black Magic URSA with 17K sensor using the Canon RF Dual fisheye lens. We are always testing new equipment and taking to our immersive contacts around the world to make groundbreaking aerial footage as soon as it is possible!
360 VR IN THE AMAZON
FOR APPLE VISION PRO, QUEST AND XR HEADSET
360 VR RIDE IN MADURODAM
360-degrees drone photography
360-degrees photography for a online virtual tour
With different drones and cameras, we can also provide in high-resolution 360-degrees photography. These 360 pictures can be used for all kinds of purposes and one of them is a 360 VR drone tour like the one above from the Dutch city of Delft. The 360 VR photos can be made with our DJI Inspire drones but to get the maximum result we can also do this with a DSLR camera underneath one of our bigger heavy-lift drones. These 360-degrees VR photographs are a great way to show people around in a City, amusement park, or another interesting area!
"TECHNICAL AND CERTIFIED DUTCH DRONE COMPANY WITH YEARS OF VR EXPERIENCE"
IMMERSIVE CONTENT FROM A HELICOPTER OR USING OUR RC-BUGGY
FLYING ABOVE CITIES, OFFSHORE OR FOR MOVING SLOWLY IN A FACTORY OR MUSEUM
At Kiwi Aerial Shots we can make you 360 degrees aerial footage from underneath a helicopter. A helicopter gives us the possibility to fly higher and faster than a drone and fly in airspaces it’s hard to get permission for our drones. Examples of these are the city center of big cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam or even above civilian airports. 360 Vr from underneath a helicopter is an exclusive services only Kiwi Aerial Shots can offer!
Some locations are just not suitable for a big heavy-lift drone to make 360 VR footage. Next to that, indoors it’s harder to use sky-replacement as a lot of things are happening on the ceiling and way less on the ground. That’s why we also offer a 360 VR RC Buggy. This setup is perfect for these situations! We used it many for example in the Samsung factory in Germany and for a 360 tours for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam where it was an absolute NoGo to fly our drone next to the most expensive artwork in the world.