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Full Service Basic On-Site Gear/Workflow/Scheduling Questions13018

kaplan private msg quote post Address this user
Some basic gear and workflow/scheduling questions for those that offer full service - stills, video, aerial, matterport, and Zillow 3D. Thinking about starting a side business on a budget and trying to look at all possible angles before jumping in.

1) This is my proposed gear setup:

✓ Sony A6400 for photo and video w/ a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 & a Sigma 16mm f/1.4 for low light situations
✓ Ronin SC gimbal
✓ ipad mini for reviewing footage/stills/flying drone
✓ DJI Mavic 2
✓ Ricoh Theta Z1 w/ Cobra 2 180cm monopod -
✓ maxed out iPad Pro 11'' exclusively for matterport
✓ Manfrotto 3 way pan/tilt aluminum tripod.

Any glaring problems here?

2) I've heard that a good way to minimize time shooting stills and video is to visit every room only once. Take the stills then immediately do the video for each room.

Wondering the best way to do this with a gimbal setup?

Thinking it would be best to keep the camera on the gimbal the whole time?

Can you think of any possible issues with shooting stills while the camera is on the gimbal?

Would be too time consuming to remove the camera from gimbal, mount on tripod, take stills, put back on gimbal, re-balance the gimbal... for every room?


3) Any tips for general on-site workflow for a medium sized full service gig.

As a side hustle, I'll only have time to do a few gigs a week, and it will mostly have to be in the afternoon. Would 6 hours on-site be a fair estimate for a super efficient shoot?

Say... 2pm-8pm (sunset around 7pm)

Example schedule for an average 3,000 SF house. Start 1 hour earlier for every extra 1,500 SF?

2pm
Walk through house and make sure lights are on where appropriate, styling looks good, etc

2:15pm
Daylight exterior stills/video/aerials

3pm
Daylight interior stills/video

4:15pm
Scan for 3D Zillow Home Tour

5pm
Scan for matterport

6:45pm
Twilight exterior stills/video/aerials
Post 1 IP   flag post
JonJ private msg quote post Address this user
Hi @kaplan,

I really appreciate your motivation and tenacity, but I would caution you to slow down before you speed up. I do not know what your background is, or if you already have some experience with real estate photography, but I would advise you to become proficient at one skill at a time. If you are just starting out, you should strive for proficiency, not efficiency.

If you are looking for a of what I think the easiest skills to learn are this is the order that I would take. 3D tours, aerial photos, traditional twilight photos, walk-through video, aerial video.

From a business standpoint, I would develop my skills in this order: traditional/twilight photos, walk-through video, aerial photos, 3D tours, aerial video.

To answer your questions above,
1) I am not a Sony guy so I cannot speak to the camera choice. However, I would look at a lens with some zoom capability. The rest of the equipment is sound, but for the drone, I would recommend the Mavic 2 Pro over the Mavic 2 Zoom. I have also been looking at the Mavic 2 Air. What do others think?

2) I do not shoot video and photos at the same time for each room. There is too much time lost changing camera settings and most of my videos are walk-through style. So it doesn't make sense to stop from room to room. I also shoot with a tripod and not hand held so, that would be an issue too.

3) Like I said before, once you are proficient in all of the above areas, you could complete everything above in about 2 hours with exception of the twilights. That will require a second trip and your window for that is about 20-30 minutes depending on cloud cover and location. For all of the services named, I would add about 30-45 minutes for every 1500 sqft.

What do others think?
Post 2 IP   flag post
kaplan private msg quote post Address this user
@JonJ Thanks for the thoughtful response. To clarify, I do have experience and working knowledge of photography and video production. Went to school for it but have been working in other capacities for past 10 years or so. Need lots of practice but most of these ideas were informed with at least a little practical knowledge of how photo and video works. Virtual Tour creation is totally new to me but hopefully I can pick up nuances of the Matterport app pretty quick.
Post 3 IP   flag post
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Greenville, South Carolina
8643d private msg quote post Address this user
Having started this adventure myself recently. My suggestion is to start with still photography and be able to capture and edit quality photos first. Use the other services as add ons or packages after that. I started with a Matterport camera and nothing else, thinking I was going to be able to just sell 3D Tours. The 3D tour service was the easiest to master, the others take time and practice.

As @JonJ stated, you should plan on around 2 - 3 hours for a property. Homeowners will not the idea of you being around for 6 hours. Neither will the Realtor if they have to be present. If you have a vacant house or do not have someone waiting on you, take the time then to try new techniques.

Best of luck to you.
Post 4 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
Yes, I see some problems.

I was wondering about the bracketing choices with the A6400. You really need at least 5 consecutive bracket option WITH a 2 second timer in my experience for a smooth ambient workflow.
Looks like the A6400 does that.

Also- get the Sony 10-18 lens instead of 2 non-native primes. You don't need a 1.8 "for low light conditions", since you're working on a tripod. Right? You're going to be shooting interiors at 7.1 to 9.0 like 99% of the time anyway. And you will have excellent auto-focus, a great time saver.

Ronin-SC is great.

Why get 2 ipads? Just get a compromise one, and it doesn't need to be a maxed out Pro 11".

Manfrotto is a good choice.

Mavic should be fine.


Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplan
Some basic gear and workflow/scheduling questions for those that offer full service - stills, video, aerial, matterport, and Zillow 3D. Thinking about starting a side business on a budget and trying to look at all possible angles before jumping in.



1) This is my proposed gear setup:

✓ Sony A6400 for photo and video w/ a Laowa 9mm f/2.8 & a Sigma 16mm f/1.4 for low light situations
✓ Ronin SC gimbal
✓ ipad mini for reviewing footage/stills/flying drone
✓ DJI Mavic 2
✓ Ricoh Theta Z1 w/ Cobra 2 180cm monopod -
✓ maxed out iPad Pro 11'' exclusively for matterport
✓ Manfrotto 3 way pan/tilt aluminum tripod.

Any glaring problems here?
Post 5 IP   flag post
kaplan private msg quote post Address this user
@Expertise - I'll be doing video as well, so faster lens will be helpful for that. If I was just doing stills the 10-18 would be great, I agree.

As for 2 iPads - I'll be with agents sometimes for on site proofing and don't want them to be handling a big expensive iPad pro. Would rather break a smaller, less expensive ipad.
Post 6 IP   flag post
PickChuck private msg quote post Address this user
@kaplan - I don't know if I would show anything to an agent prior to blending and editing it. That might be more confusing than it's worth. It will also slow you down.

I actually use a microphone stand for my Z1 and it was about $38. I find it perfect. I had to get an adapter to get to 1/4 20.

I would get good at stills, add Zillow 360's, add Asteroom, add drone and if someone put my arm behind my back I would add video. (and they would have to be pretty strong)...

First and foremost this is a SALES job. Did I mention this was a SALES job? Call on realtors, go to open houses, get to know builders. It's all about networking. No website in the world is going to get you as much milage as calling on someone and finding out what their needs are.

Without clients nothing happens. Try not to get hung up on gear, little details that don't matter and doing such a perfect job that you run out of time and money.

Lastly, price you work well. You are a single person business. You can not compete in volume or price. You can compete on relationships, good quality and fantastic service.

Have a good time and don't take yourself too seriously.

Cheers,
Chuck
Post 7 IP   flag post
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