Space Monkey Films made history in 2021 by being the first FPV drone company to utilize the FPV feed from the drone for a live event’s visual effects display with Viiia Events in San Francisco. When we went up for our first flight and saw the reaction of the audience when they saw themselves on the big screen from the drone’s POV, we knew that we were really on to something big. On New Year’s Day 2022, we partnered with The Great Northern to help produce the live visuals for a block party with over 5,000 people, our largest show to date!
The setup for our live streaming drone: In order to display our live FPV feed to the big screen on the main stage, we send the video that our pilot sees in their DJI FPV Goggles through HDMI and into the AxisFlying Streaming Box. This device allows us to show spectators the same exact feed that the pilot sees, giving them a first-person-view experience as they enjoy the musical performances. We worked alongside the visual effects artist for the event to coordinate some amazing visuals combining our live feed with traditional visuals.
The result: Micro FPV drones can get a really unique POV due to their size and ability to fly around in 3D space with ease. The drones we use for live events are under 250 grams (about a half pound), which makes them safe to fly in and around the crowd and artists. As an extra safety measure, we have guards around each propeller to keep them fully encased. Our live feed outputs HD video, which looks great when combined with graphical overlays. We are able to showoff venues and artists with never before seen angles, live and in the moment. This really brings the shows to life and gets the audience involved in the performance.
We’ve received great feedback from event organizers and concert-goers alike. This new POV adds a new and exciting element to live shows that only these drones can capture. We are looking forward to adding to this service for 2022 and making live events more immersive for our industry partners!