Drone, Multirotor, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle?

The debate over the correct terminology has been ongoing for quite some time. While ‘drone’ or ‘UAV’ (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), which refers to a militarily used unmanned aerial vehicle conducting reconnaissance flights either remotely or autonomously, is the correct term, it has now become a widely accepted synonym for civilian multirotors (quadcopters, hexacopters, octocopters) as well. The accurate umbrella term for aircraft used primarily for filming, television, and cinema productions is either a manned helicopter with, for example, a Cineflex, or a remote-controlled ‘multirotor.’ However, the correct term ‘multirotor’ is hardly understood by any official in the relevant authorities. If you use the erroneous term ‘drone,’ ‘videodrone,’ ‘filmdrone,’ or ‘photodrone,’ your counterpart will understand much faster what is meant with a ‘multirotor,’ ‘videocopter,’ ‘filmcopter,’ ‘quadcopter,’ ‘hexacopter,’ or ‘octocopter.’ But no matter how you want to name these flying cameras, whether for aerial shots, aerial photos, aerial videos, copter shots, drone shots, or ‘aerials’ in English, we, at Aerolution.tv, are in any case the right partner on your set, be it for scenic, documentary, advertising, or even when you want to use them for inspections or construction site documentation. With the DJI Inspire 3 and the RTK reference station, very precise drone flights are possible. We can also provide very high-resolution photos from the air for orthophotos, surveys, or photogrammetry. With the Inspire 3, we can generate high-resolution aerial photos up to 48MP. But we can also fly even higher resolution cameras like the Fuji GFX 100 with 100MP or the Phase One with 150MP with our heavy-lifter drone setup.

Are you shooting your film with an Arri Alexa Mini LF, a RED V-Raptor, or the RED Epic 8K, RED Komodo, and want to use the same camera for aerial shots? No problem! With our heavy-lifter drones (Freefly Alta X), we can fly camera setups up to 14kg! To have the right quality of aerial shots for every camera system and budget, we have a whole fleet of drone systems in our warehouse in Munich. We have the latest flagship from DJI, the Inspire 3 with the X9 Air camera, in duplicate to always have a 100% backup on set. With the DJI Inspire 3, we shoot up to 8K DNG RAW, ProRes 422, or ProRes RAW. In addition, with the Inspire 3, we can also create slow-motion shots up to 4k and 120p. We also have a setup of the DJI Inspire 2 drone with X7 and X5s camera for aerial shots up to 6K DNG RAW or ProRes 444. For smaller productions, we have a fleet of small RTF drones that our experienced drone pilot can fly alone. Here we have, among others, the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Pro for shots up to 169mm in ProRes 422, several FPV drones for spectacular shots of the highest quality. We are experts at combining the thrill of flying with the art of visual storytelling.

With Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) technology, our drone fleet revolutionizes the accuracy of aerial photography (DJI Inspire 3 drone). Our RTK-equipped drones set new standards in the field of feature film production and surveying technology. Thanks to RTK, we can execute camera movements with impressive accuracy. Whether it’s spectacular chase scenes, impressive camera movements, or complex aerial shots – our RTK drones always deliver perfect results. The combination of RTK with high-resolution cameras opens up new creative possibilities in the field of feature films. Every shot is positioned centimeter-accurate, enabling precise integration into post-production. But we also set new standards in surveying technology with RTK. With our technology, we realize centimeter-accurate terrain models, surveys of construction projects, and the creation of precise maps, orthophotos, and photogrammetry 3D terrain models. Our RTK drones are the ideal choice for film projects that require the highest precision and repeatability, as well as for surveying applications that demand the highest accuracy. Whether it’s action-packed chase scenes, breathtaking landscape shots, or precise terrain surveys – RTK in conjunction with drones enables impressive scenes of the highest quality.

Helicopter vs. Multirotor, Quadcopter, Hexacopter, Octocopter, or Drone for aerial photography: While in a helicopter for drone Munich, almost any desired camera can be installed with a Cineflex, the options for a quadcopter, hexacopter, octocopter, quadrocopter, hexacopter, octocopter, copter, are limited due to weight restrictions. However, a helicopter with Cineflex cannot fly as low as, for example, a multirotor, specifically a quadrocopter, copter with Alexa Mini or RED Epic-W Helium 8K, Inspire 3 with X9 Air camera. Here lie the clear advantages of a camera drone, camera copter, film copter. Last but not least, the use of a helicopter with Cineflex is much more complex and costly than the use of a drone for aerial photography. In addition, with our camera drone and multirotor, we can not only create outdoor aerial shots in 4k, 6k, or 8K RAW, but also shoot film footage from the air indoors, for example, in a film studio, film set, or industrial plant. The use of the drone indoors for aerial shots allows for exciting perspectives that would not be easily possible otherwise. For maximum dynamics, our pilot flies with FPV goggles through your production halls. Because here too, shots with long focal lengths can be taken. With the DJI Innovations Inspire 3 and X9 Air, we can shoot footage up to 50mm. On the Inspire 3, we use all the lenses available on the market: Laowa 9mm, DJI DL 18mm, DJI DL 24mm, DJI DL 35mm, DJI DL 50mm, for dynamic aerial shots, aerial photos, or bird’s eye view shots with a drone. We started with the DJI S800 and the Sony A7, later switched to the DJI Inspire X3 X5 X5R, and also added the little brother, the DJI Phantom 3 Professional. Since 2018, we have also added the DJI Inspire 2 with X7 or Zenmuse X5s to our fleet. Here we can shoot up to 6k DNG RAW. From 2023, we also have a redundant setup of the Inspire 3 with RTK unit available. For high-quality film productions, one of the most modern film drone setups was finally put together. With the Matrice 600 Pro, we can carry cameras up to 3.8 kg, such as the Alexa Mini or the RED Epic Helium 8k. We also gained experience with the Microdrones md4-1000 and the Cinestar 8 from FreeFly. We offer our service, professional high-quality aerial shots, aerial footage, aerials, with our camera drones, multirotors, hexacopters, octocopters, quadrocopters, multicopters, octocopters, quadcopters, from the heart of the state capital Munich. Whether you need aerial shots for your film in Munich, whether the aerial shots are to be taken in Bavaria or in Baden-Württemberg, in Saarland, in Rhineland-Palatinate, or whether you need aerial shots in Thuringia or Saxony, Brandenburg, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, or Lower Saxony, we offer aerial shots and aerial footage even in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in Schleswig-Holstein. Of course, Bremen and Hamburg, as well as Saxony-Anhalt and Hesse, must not be missing from the list, and here too, we fly our multirotor for aerial shots. We offer aerial shots in Germany and all over the world. Our pilot Lukas Maurer also has the Part 107 certificate to be able to fly drones in the USA. The EU remote pilot certificate A1 / A2 / A3 is of course also available to be able to fly drones throughout the EU. With a professional 2-person drone team, an experienced drone pilot safely flies the drone while a cameraman takes care of the shot composition.