Road cycling is more popular than ever before. It’s a great way to stay fit and explore the open countryside.
With the ultra portable Mavic Pro – which folds down easily into a bag and will fly for miles – it’s now possible to capture your favourite routes from the air.
** Find out more about the DJI Mavic Pro here **
The first challenge is obviously following a rider on their bike. The Mavic features several Intelligent Flight Modes that make this super easy.
Some of these – like Active Track – have already been covered in our mountain bike episode, so for this video we’re going to take a look at Course Lock.
Course Lock fixes the direction that the drone is flying in, and lets you spin the camera around whilst keeping a straight line – a bit like a virtual cable cam.
When you’re shooting a straight section of tarmac, simply position the Mavic parallel to the road and point it in the direction the rider will be travelling. Then hit Course Lock, and use the right stick to move forwards.
Now use the left stick to turn the camera. With a little practice, you can get some awesome cinematic shots.
For faster sections, flick the Mavic into Sport Mode. This boosts the top speed to an impressive 40mph, enabling you to keep up with the rider in higher gears.
“Sport Mode boosts the top speed to an impressive 40mph, enabling you to keep up with the rider in higher gears”
Try overtaking the cyclist and then keep going to focus on the scenery. Or for a dramatic entrance, fly straight down the road at normal speed and wait for the rider to burst into frame. With drone shots, simple moves like this are often the most effective.
If you’re riding in hills or mountains, tight bends provide a great opportunity to capture that classic birds eye view. Simply hover over the corner and tilt the camera straight down using the gimbal wheel.
To add some movement to the shot, slowly ascend by pushing the left stick up, revealing more of the landscape as you go.
“With drone shots, simple moves are often the most effective”
That’s all for this tutorial. Next time, we’ll venture off road to show how the Mavic can bring some fun to the great outdoors.
