DJI MasterShots: How it actually works!

DJI Air 2S In-Depth Review: dcra.in/DJIAir2S
DJI Air 2S on Amazon: amzn.to/3uSUNgb (link helps support the channel, thanks!!!)
MasterShots is a new feature on the Air 2S and new to DJI in general. Essentially, you point it at an object, and it creates a short video showcasing said object. For example, a castle or a windmill. In my below example, I show how it works on both static objects - like a windmill, and then moving objects - like a boat.
With MasterShots you give it a few parameters on whether you want low/medium/high for height and distance, as well as duration. Then it goes off for about 2-3 minutes and collects a boatload of shots. Essentially it’s doing a ‘greatest hits’ album of QuickShots, one after another. At first this might seem kinda silly, as nobody wants to watch 3-minutes of b-roll of the same object. But once it’s done it’ll compile a 15-second highlight reel timed to music. During this entire time period, you do nothing but ensure it doesn’t hit anything (which, it will, in my experience - even in normal mode).
0:00 Intro
0:19 Important settings to configure
1:58 Changing resolutions to 4K
2:27 MasterShot Options
3:31 Demo of MasterShot moves
5:24 Completed 15s video
5:40 Template options
6:50 The 4K B-Roll Export
7:47 The Best Farm Tree Ever
8:29 A Failboat of Sorts
9:37 Wrap-up
---
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#DJIAir2 #Mastershots #Air2S

[@sheppo]

Mate! That farm tree is lit! 🔥🔥🔥

[@Dcrainmaker]

It really is!

[@MicheleBloodphd]

I want a front row seat when the "Mother of All Trees" movie comes out!

[@KarlRock]

Thanks Ray! Gonna try this feature out. It looks like it’ll help.

[@OzzySafa]

You’re so right about the end of the master shot manoeuvre being the best shot! We need to get this to be an extra shot to the mastershots!

[@Dcrainmaker]

I know, and it does that same shot almost every time! Unfortunately, you can't even press the record button manually yet, till it gets back to home. Shame!

[@OzzySafa]

@@Dcrainmaker if many people request it maybe it’ll happen in an update. Until then I guess we better start practicing that final manoeuvre 🤞🏼

[@TheKaluNaama]

@@Dcrainmaker you could grab it with the Smartcontroller clean HDMI out in 1080p though..

[@alexandrecruz1109]

Ray, you are simply the best reviewer. I started with the bike stuff many years ago and didn't even knew that you could do what you did today: helped me to find where to get those 10 perfect raw shots in a drone review. It seems that the rest of the internet just don't bother. THANK YOU all the way from São Paulo, Brazil.

[@denisdion6847]

Great video and insights. So glad to hear that all the original footage is saved. Thanks.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Thanks! Indeed, the original footage is where it's at!!!

[@meteoroz]

Another superb video. Thank you.

[@davem1966]

Your videos are so entertaining, I’m watching one for a product I don’t even have. Good work.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Hahaha...thanks - appreciate it!

[@anhonestreviewer7015]

Useful and amusing video that answers a lot of questions I had about master shots. Thank you for your efforts.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@anhonestreviewer7015]

@@Dcrainmaker I definitely did. I think you're the only KZbinr who thoroughly tests the features of DJI drones (as well as their limitations in the real world) - which for me is a major factor in deciding what's worth investing in. The wind resistance tests are particularly useful as I sometimes take off from around 400m to 800m above sea level where the wind is occasionally strong with some turbulence. Thank you and have a great weekend!

[@Kdub233]

thank you for this great tutorial

[@darinallen8313]

Good information in this video. Well explained. Thanks!

[@Dcrainmaker]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@stevemac1956]

Great analysis and ideas on how to use... thank you

[@Dcrainmaker]

No problem!

[@DigitalicaEG]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Subbed

[@livus360visuals6]

Great, I just discoved that Mastershots can be made in 4K, thank you

[@JadenFeddock]

First! :D Also, DJI should just have you market their stuff so people can know what MasterShots are *actually* used for haha

[@Dcrainmaker]

Hahaha...thanks! I think it's super cool, mainly for the b-roll bits. It's insane, no pilot, no matter how good a drone pilot they are, could ever get 10 perfectly centered, perfectly aligned, and perfectly smooth shots in exactly 2-3 minutes total. And all from mostly different perspectives/angles. It's got limitations that I wish weren't there, but for a V1 variant, it's nifty.

[@DaveStern2]

@@Dcrainmaker did you say variant 🤣 I bet they will enhance it and hopefully due to your comments will add that last shot into the recorded reel.

[@TheFlyFishingFilmmaker]

Thanks for the video. What would be cool is if you could select which shots you wanted it to perform and then it could go off and do it's thing.

[@agremlin77]

Amazing footage, Liked & Subscribed

[@Dcrainmaker]

Thanks - appreciate it!

[@ringkong]

The farm tree..... I laughed...I cried..... epic.

[@Dcrainmaker]

:)

[@aaronb5147]

Thanks for this! Do any of the mastershots cause the Drone fly lower than it's original starting point, or if you start it above the tallest nearby object are you good to let it run?

[@liquidalloy]

Kind of reminds me of the Samsung Single Take feature. I'm really liking this drone.

[@ivanromeroJ]

muy bueno los shot para algo rapido o para redes sociales muy bueno te saca de apuros si tienes poca bateria

[@CheeseOnEverything]

Wow, that'd save me so much time on production alone.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Yup! I can't even think up 10 shots, let alone 10 shots in 2 minutes.

[@phontaineband]

So can u do then without auto exposure and in dlog ? Are the files on sd 10bit?

[@JeremyToh]

That is a terrific Farm tree.

[@dfwald4657]

Great video explaining mastershots! If you have two buildings pretty close together, can you highlight and select the tops of both of them for it to orbit, etc both of them for the mastershots instead of having to select only one of them? If it orbits one, it might hit the other one. I guess my question is does the selection box only allowable for a square or can it be a rectangle.

[@TractorCambodia]

Awesome 👍

[@gavinoconsuelo4930]

I dont know man.. but i cried when they mastershot yhe motherfreaking tree. So much going on. Best ever.

[@Dcrainmaker]

That's the spirit!

[@flipmacyt]

Hi ! Great info thanks ! Is it posible to have such mastershot done but much closer to the tree ? not so high above around ?

[@MarkiMotoYT]

That farm tree was the real MVP

[@striperseeker]

Great video. Do you know if the pilot has to choose the entire building? For example, if I want to mastershot my house, do I need to drag the square around the entire house or just the roof?

[@paulaquipel7472]

great video thank you. I cant seem to even get 1080p on the master shots it keeps downloading them in 568x320. How can I change this??? Thank you

[@cwahl6007]

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY FARM TREE!!! KING OF KINGS!

[@alanabley525]

Thank you for this, I really enjoy your channel. I just tried Mastershots on my Mini 3 pro and the color keeps changing; Does Manual Whit Balance work in this mode?

[@DaveStern2]

Ray, thanks for doing this. Do you have a recommendation on how to determine best starting point for the drone vs. the object for master shots? How far away and how high above? Does the drone do it's own starting point regardless or does it start where you put it? Is the small / med / large related to starting point vs. subject? THANKS!

[@Dcrainmaker]

I've found that using a starting point that you think is ideal and composed well for a single-photo shot tends to product the best overall starting point. The drone will use your initial location as the jumping-off point for it's first shot. It'll also start off with centering the shot on the tracked object. After that point, it meanders all over the place. The small/med/large is related to the overall acreage (if you will) that the drone will go, in relation to the object (since one of the shots is almost always flying directly over the top of the object and pointing down). Cheers!

[@rlfisher]

This is a helpful tutorial, but I still have an issue. I am using the Air 2S with the RC controller (not the RC Pro, not the RC-N1). I do not see how/where to extract the hi-res version of the generated mastershots video. The lo-res cache version is on the controller.

[@martyfliesdrones]

It's interesting that you can't set any of the camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, exposure,) for the Mastershots, I keep seeing the exposure change the greens as the camera pans up on the lighthouse and it would be great to keep that from happening. I kinda get why they do that though as they can't guarantee okay exposure for everything if they let you set it.

[@lifewithoutborders1348]

Filters

[@mwrob]

I have a Mavic Air 2 and the MasterShots make it tempting to upgrade. You mention that they really don’t work with a moving subject. Is that at any speed? I gather that it would not work with a person on a mountain bike. Would it work with somebody hiking/walking? Would it work with somebody in a rowboat at 5 miles an hour?

[@szbert]

You've laid down the gauntlet to find a better farm tree. Challenge accepted.

[@zhendongfu6871]

I’m going to buy this air2s. Cool review man. Btw what is the track name on 5:30 thanks man

[@Landlordsplace]

ok a couple of things: the firmware is different than mine. couldn't really get to what you was doing i get a sd card to slow error and i am using a 10 rated sd card. what sd cards should i use? thanks for your input and good video i enjoyed it

[@ireland_from_air]

@DC Rainmaker hi, at 2:01 I see you change the resolution to 4k for the mastershot, on my drone when i click the resolution icon in the app there is only one option there = 1080p and I cannot change it to 4k; I am using Android phone, any ideas what the reason for this might be? Thanks

[@TheFrog767]

It does a lot thanks 🍻🍿🎯👏👏

[@electronicstech1174]

hi there. please tell me why my air 2s on mastershots and on quick shots gives me only 1080p video? the menu is giving only 1080p video but on normal video it gives me all the resolutions

[@mlegrand]

So I can see a little seaweed and water damage in the video here. The video also kind of smells like the canal. Did you fish this out of the water recently or buy another one?

[@Dcrainmaker]

People pay good money for seaweed salads! I'm sure a Dutch canal variant could fetch top-dollar!

[@hlz657]

Has the App resolved the 1080p downloading issue? If so, how to get 4K videos?

[@Roman.Visuals]

Great explanation. Quick question, this feature uses always the same movements, in the same order and same duration?

[@Dcrainmaker]

The duration for each movement appears tied to the specific settings you selected on the width/height/length. The exact ordering seems similar for similar objects, but different for different objects. Meaning, when I shot the windmill on two different days, the shots it selected were almost identical. Yet, when I shot the boat, it had different boat attempts. I've seen other videos out there with entirely different sequences too. Now, it's plausible that's also firmware related, or something else. My guess is that if I did 20+ of these I'd probably start to figure out the pattern for raw shots. For the outputted 20-30s thing, then it's variable on the template you/it chooses.

[@wolfontheroad00]

Hi , why can't i download it at full resolution on my mobile? do i have to do this operation with the drone on or off? thank you

[@ziceman]

You mentioned it will not avoid obstacles, is this because FPS is above 48 and disables APAS, if this correct is there a setting to lower FPS in mastershots?

[@marksmits1911]

Looks like the river gein. Beautiful place too bike

[@Tronzie]

One of the best features of this drone, and not clearly documented as clearly as you did...👍🏼

[@Dcrainmaker]

Indeed - thanks, appreciate it!!!

[@dondupuis5524]

What app lets you select which program you want to rendering in

[@Visualsthatgohard]

Can you set up master shot do a video in D-log?

[@thomashorstmann3020]

I was about to order the 2S, until watching your Mastershots video. Was I was hoping to use it for slow moving train video's, ships/boats, eta. Any suggestions how best to lock on them and film them in video mode on either the MA2 or the 2S?

[@Dcrainmaker]

So you can definitely still lock onto them with the MA2 or 2S, just not in Mastershot mode. But ActiveTrack will work well. In fact, it actually works really well for slow-moving boats (I was trying large canal boats like you see in the video, as well as some harbour boats you see towards the end of my crazy wind video on the Air 2S). In that case, you can choose either ActiveTrack to simply have it lock on and follow it (changing the orientation/height as you wish), or, you can still use Spotlight, which means it'll lock the camera, and you fly the drone wherever you want and it'll keep locked on the target for the video side.

[@thomashorstmann3020]

@@Dcrainmaker Fantastic... thanks for the quick response.

[@accurateexteriorsco]

im new and i tried this today and i kept getting an error saying something like "drone will reach max altitude, please adjust in settings..." i changed my rth, the height ceiling from 78-100'...and it still wouldnt let me do the master shot. what did i do wrong? i was flying at 80'

[@09591000]

Thanks! Mr. submariner ) Have a good Day!

[@Dcrainmaker]

Hahaha...thanks!

[@lancealbon46]

I can’t believe that DJI have not added an automatic “dolly zoom” feature to the Air 2 and 2S drones like the Parrot Anafi has. It’s not easy doing it manually, to fly backwards while smoothly zooming inwards. The Parrot Anafi does that well. The only problems with the Parrot Anafi are how fragile it is and how unreliable the batteries are with it simply dropping out of the sky. The waypoints feature that the Anafi has is also really cool. I own both the DJI Mavic Air 2 and the Parrot Anafi. My Anafi has already been replaced for free by Parrot after it fell into the ocean never to be recovered. I gave them all the flight data and information I had and they gave me a complete new drone, remote and 16GB SD card included - although I lost a top quality 128GB card in my Anafi.

[@Dcrainmaker]

Indeed, especially since it does automatic zooms during the Mastershot.!

[@ninjageezer6802]

i see a few props in shot in the boat mastershot ,did you not change the settings ?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Correct not changed there, also, that one is in sport mode (as seen in the upper left).

[@JoshHuntnm]

What is that little wobble at the very beginning?

[@stevenb4561]

Where about was this video shot, looking at the bike path along canel, would love to ride it. Thanks

[@Dcrainmaker]

Just a bit outside of Amsterdam, about a 30min pedal.

[@solera2008]

That is one dramatic shot of a tree. 😂

[@Dcrainmaker]

That tree has lived its best life now!

[@justinbraathen3077]

Interesting feature! Does anyone know if "Master Shot" is made possible by hardware, software (firmware) or both? Wondering if the feature can be back ported to the MA2?

[@Dcrainmaker]

It's a blend. It requires a bit more processing power, which uses the new processing pipeline. If DJI really wanted to, they could probably make this work on an MA2, but historically speaking they never do it. :(

[@Gregcrammond]

Hi RAY , I have spent the last 9 hours trying to sort out this now seen this , i have a question , when i choose one of the premade templates its only 1080p not 4k , I have the mavic 3 and not sure if i am doing anything wrong , Do you know if its meant to be in 4k now since i see this video is a few months old or is it still only 1080p? Thanks Greg

[@Dcrainmaker]

The Mavic 3 is an entirely different beast unfortunately. And worse yet, a very unbaked beast. I haven't tried Mastershots with it yet - since it was added only a few weeks ago, probably will do so next week when the weather clears.

[@marcinkarpinski9163]

Any idea why this feature wasn't added to Mavic Air 2 with recent update? I guess more generally my question is: now that MA2S is out can we expect that DJI will stop releasing any updates for MA2?

[@Dcrainmaker]

My guess is it's tied to processing power, since we know that the MA2 and A2s are both limited there, albeit in different ways. Unfortunately, I don't expect any meaningful updates for the MA2 at this point, at least based on DJI's historical patterns.

[@ea4att]

con Iphone o Android, con Android no deja mas de 1080 en MasterHots

[@GlennboiPhotography]

Ray, I am using Android phone, I am not getting some of the options under camera settings, ie. Shooting Mode (Obstacle Avoidance or Composition) is not in my selections, Coding format is fixed with H.265, Anti-Flicker options is not in my selections... is this how in Android OS? or I need to do something in the apps to enable this features?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Did you switch to MasterShots menu first (you have to be in the air to do that)? Then it'll show those.

[@bearthathyper]

DJI send you a new Air 2s, fished it out the canal or buy a new one?

[@Dcrainmaker]

They sent a new one over, departing slightly before I hit publish on the video on the last one...

[@gregklugiewicz5037]

Quite good, At around 10:35 however, while discussing rendering, you start talking very fast. So fast that I cannot understand that part.

[@ashdul]

what do you do if there are trees around the subject of your mastershot? Will it be safe to press start at a height above the trees?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Essentially you'll have to keep an eye on it. In general, it won't fly lower than the starting height.

[@ashdul]

@@Dcrainmaker thanks for the prompt reply.

[@bozman1990]

That's what I was wondering....has it still never went below the starting point?

[@Dennis51728]

Hey, Is it possible in the finished master shot to remove the writing such as the „lets drone“?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Definitely. Or, at least it used to be.

[@producttestinus532]

Hello, do you want to test sports cameras?

[@danieldavis9414]

Do you know if this will come to the air 2

[@Dcrainmaker]

Sadly, I don't think so.

[@Droviation]

8:48 is the same location I run at :)

[@Dcrainmaker]

It's a great route!

[@shaheryarkhan2513]

9:21 lmaoooo i feel you bro hahaha.

[@HabibiGermany]

which edit program was it in the middle of the video ?

[@Dcrainmaker]

That's the DJI Fly app.

[@marcterryjadal6520]

👌👍

[@AndrewVanBeekOttawa]

I feel much more connected to farm trees now.

[@Dcrainmaker]

🤣

[@zacharyblanden3489]

Is the 2-3 minute broll clip in 4K ?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Yes.

[@lol-qs5ib]

Is circle (close) zooming?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Yeah, it is.

[@AtortAerials]

But what I don’t get is you get this b-roll that’s 1080 which is a deal breaker for me for most things I do needing 4K minimum for work. Great little video though. And the couple times I tried master shots with a building in the city it failed miserably and lost the building.

[@Dcrainmaker]

No, the saved b-roll is 4K on both the aircraft, and downloadable to your controller after as 4K (the short 15-30s clips are exported 1080p). I showed that mid-way through the video. Check about around the 50-60% marker.

[@AtortAerials]

@@Dcrainmaker I watched another video saying that too....that you couldn’t export to 4K even if set to 4K before you start the master shot or something. So you do have the actual footage in 4K to work with then? That’s great if yes I’ve been skimming videos while sick so will watch your again this time in it’s entirely thanks. 🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@AtortAerials]

@@Dcrainmaker now I remember where I stopped watching! 😂 Right at that point you said repeatedly about only can be exported as 1080....but minutes later I just saw u said it does save out the one continuous clip in full 4K so back in business!!!! Thumbs up always enjoy your vids. 🤙🏾

[@Dcrainmaker]

@@AtortAerials Definitely, 100%. Start at about 6:30 in the video, at 6:34 I show the properties of the video in the DJI app, and then at 7:10ish I show the full 4K raw footage, with at 7:31 showing the outputted 4K file info on my Mac. Enjoy!

[@AtortAerials]

@@Dcrainmaker I just uploaded little Chicago edit comparison video between Air 2 and 2S if you want to see. Both great little drones Air 2S shines at night for sure.

[@DonEvans1]

Every time I try Mastershots, as soon as I hit "Start", I get an error stating words to the effect of "the aircraft will reach it's maximum altitude (or distance), please lower the aircraft or change settings"..... No matter what I try (lower the aircraft, increase max altitude, increase max distance, etc...), it WILL NOT START.... I actually worked twice since I've owned the DJI Air2S. After it finished, I tried to do a second mastershots, and I got the error... No idea why it worked the first time, and again no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to work a 2nd time... ANY ideas from ANYONE???? How do I get this to work? What needs to be changed?

[@Dcrainmaker]

Any chance you’ve got the max distance/height limits set oddly low? Or, is there a chance you’re in some restricted airspace?

[@DonEvans1]

@@Dcrainmaker Nope. 400ft height, and like 2,000 distance... I've researched everywhere, and I occasionally see mentions of this issue on other forums, but I have yet to see a solution to it... i've seen there might be a possibility of being in or near a restricted fly zone, and that's the only thing I have not yet checked.... and the error does nothing to point you to a solution... "Change settings"... well, thank you very much... there are like 50 different settings... mind telling me which one? lol

[@Dcrainmaker]

For fun, did you try setting those two values to something else (not default), just in case it’s on some weird value behind the scenes? Beyond that, I’m not aware of anything except the home point being somehow off, which really only happens if you’re moving (like on a boat). Sorry! Might be worth delaying the DJI app and re-installing?

[@DonEvans1]

@@Dcrainmaker i just tried it. the error message reads, "aircraft will exceed it's maximum altitude, please lower aircraft or adjust settings". I lower the aircraft until just an inch above where it will auto-land, adjust my max altitude to like 700 ft, and max distance to like 5,000.... still nothing. And, just to toy with me, I took it to the front of my house and tried it, and it worked... but I had to immediately stop it because i was surrounded by trees... take it back to the backyard again, and get the error message (I have tried it in several locations away from my house as well). it's possible it is somehow tied to restricted zones, but that doesn't explain how I got it to work one time early this morning, and 1 minute later got the error message using the exact same homepoint/starting point.... very frustrating.

[@daydreamfilms7171]

@@DonEvans1 I get the same problem, did you solve it?

[@studymaterial2949]

Did Air 2s can record HYPERLAPSE ??

[@VideoGuy9461]

Yep.

[@bmstyle]

Ahhhhh mannnn no 4k@60 in mastershot....that sucks

[@davideccleston2142]

Interesting vid, just wish you would talk a little slower so I could better follow what you are saying….

[@anthonybanaszak5759]

“This thing will find a tree and hit a tree everytime” 😂

[@sincosFly]

Missing Zoom in Zoom out effect.

[@schelpspitsen6331]

It looks like this dude is having a contest of talking as fast as possible. He forgot there are many people watching who do not speak english natively.

[@DigitalicaEG]

You’re clearly still very sour about DJI not replacing your submariner drone 😅

[@anthonybanaszak5759]

It’s unfortunate this guy is slamming the sensors and obstacle avoidance because he didn’t understand that flying it in parallel active track wouldn’t avoid trees lol. I own this drone and it’s by far the best obstacle avoiding drone from DJI. 33mph and it will avoid obstacles flawlessly. You simply need to understand the software and the sideways limitations.

[@Dcrainmaker]

It’s unfortunate this person didn’t watch the other videos I’ve done on this as I demonstrate it literally running straight into objects. And I explain exactly why it does that. There’s nothing flawless about that aspect about it.

[@anthonybanaszak5759]

@@Dcrainmaker I watched your videos. Like I said, you ran into everything in the universe because you were in parallel. You made using this drone look harder than I've ever seen anything look. Watch other videos, no one has issues at all. One guy has this drone follow him thru an impossible path of bushes and trees because it's in the proper mode to avoid obstacles. Yes I saw the one where it was flying slightly forward and you hit the twigs (again in parallel) and ended up swimming. It won't avoid things in that mode. What don't you understand? You're demonstrating something outside the scope of its capabilities and its brutal to watch.

[@Dcrainmaker]

@@anthonybanaszak5759 I show the drone twice fly straight into me - and obstacle, flying straight forward. I show twice more it fly straight forward into trees. This isn't about the parallel mode, it's about it ignoring obstacle avoidance sensors in certain situations. I've flown every DJI drone ever with obstacle avoidance sensors, and almost every competitive drone. This one has issues (on multiple units I have) - even DJI has admitted as such in some e-mails looking at some of the footage.

[@anthonybanaszak5759]

@@Dcrainmaker I’ve owned every DJI drone to date except the Air 2. You’re speculation is unfounded and irresponsible due to the number of followers and people listening to you. The drone avoided you in both circumstances and flew past you the second because it was clear above you and had nothing to avoid. After momentum carried it past you it moved backwards and centered you. I have endless footage of the air 2s drone flying under trees, around trees, over trees, thru wooded areas and I haven’t crashed 1 time. Why? TRACE MODE. My god man.

[@anthonybanaszak5759]

@@Dcrainmaker how about this. Post a video of the drone flying into a tree in trace mode and I’ll eat my words. I’ll shut my mouth and say you’re the captain. Show me. You won’t be able to.

[@kennethjonesphotography]

I'm sure you have some interesting information to disseminate. Unfortunately, my ears can't hear and comprehend what you're saying as fast as you're saying it.

[@SteveMartinUSA]

Thanks for crashing all your drones and letting us know what to expect.