Overview
In this issue of Hammer's success stories, we spoke to Shariff Moossun from Aerialview, an innovative commercial drone operator based in the UK, using Hammer for the past 1.5 years.
Aerialview provide specialist filming services, both on the ground, and in the air. They use state of the art drone systems and high tech camera stabilising equipment to ensure super smooth shots and unique footage when capturing imagery & data across all manner of location and environments.
Their services range from the creative to the technical – be it creating a promotional video comprising of stunning aerial footage and ground based filming techniques through to capturing ultra-high definition imagery or using the latest 3D photogrammetry techniques to process, visualise and analyse structural data, buildings and environments.
The Interview
Q. What made you enter the drone industry?
"Back in 2013 a friend bought a DJI Phantom 2 to inspect the roof of a property he was about to buy, that was the first time I seen a drone but I was hooked, the filming perspectives were insane. A few weeks later I had my own Phantom 2 and on my way to setting up Aerialview as a commercial operator."
Q. Could you describe the services you currently offer and to whom?
"Mix of creative and technical work using drones, ground and 360 cameras; Aerial drone filming for video production and film work; aerial filming & photography for construction, property marketing; survey and inspection work that ranges from vegetation mapping, roof inspections to 3D photogrammetry data collection."
Q. What drones and cameras do you currently operate?
"Various DJI drones, the Mavic 2 Pro and Inspire X5 are day to day goto tools, but we also use M600 if the payload or task requires a heavy lift solution. Oh, not forgetting a range of FPV drones cinematic indoor filming. In terms of cameras, it's a mix of standard DJI cameras such as the M2P internal, Inspire X5/X7 for filming. We also work with the Insta360 Pro 2 for aerial 360 VR footage."
Sway Tower, the tallest non-reenforced concrete structure in the world, as captured by AerialView using Hammer
Q. What's been your most challenging drone mission?
"There are a couple of recent projects we can't discuss due to NDAs that were incredibly challenging, we used Hammer to plan precision night flights for one of them :) In terms of most challenging, most likely capturing footage of the 2019 FastNet Yacht Race last summer; we operated from a RIB and were tasked by our clients (North Sails & Future Fibres) to capture shots of the 15-20 yachts in the race using their products. The race was incredible, very fast, like a scene from Mad Max, (but on water) at times, but we got the shots and came away with some fantastic footage"
Q. What made you switch to Hammer?
"Frustrations and limitations with the other platforms. Hammer is great due to the flexibility and common sense approach to planning tasks, it's not perfect but it does get a lot right. When we have found a bug or think something doesn't quite work as well as it should, it's encouraging that we can email the development team and they're keen to address usability issues asap."
Q. What missions do you typically fly with Hammer?
"Mainly the 2D/3D mapping missions. We also use the inspection missions to map space as they offer a great amount of control, particularly with the drone orientation and movement."
Q. What's the next big thing for your organisation?
"2020 has certainly been a challenging year, but we've been fortunate and kept busy mapping and surveying rural areas, during which, Hammer has been a great tool for data capture and planning our tasks. We've also made a significant investment in 360 cameras and now provide aerial, ground and live 360 filming, virtual tours and VR experiences."
Q. How do you see the drone industry evolving?
"Not sure to be honest, very interested to see how the next 18 months pans out in relation to all the new regulations & permissions planned, but also really curious to see what's next in terms of drone technology, AI and automation."
Closing Thoughts
We're grateful to Aerialview for sharing their story and look forward to supporting their operations into the future with adaptive flight automation. Together we believe that innovative drone operations combined with flight automation will shape the future of the commercial drone industry.
If you’d like to learn more about Hammer, please visit https://hammermissions.com or get in touch with us at team@hammermissions.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.
- The Hammer Team