The Winning Videos from Skydio’s First Ever KeyFrame Challenge

BY Zacc Dukowitz

7 June 2022

Skydio recently announced the winning videos from its KeyFrame Challenge, a contest that offered drone pilots a total of $10,000 in prizes.

KeyFrame is a mode that you can use on the Skydio 2+ to capture high quality drone footage along a pre-selected path.

To use KeyFrame mode, you choose the key shots you want to get along the flight path and the speed at which you want to fly, then push a button and the drone flies the route, autonomously, collecting footage.

Introducing Skydio 2+ with KeyFrame

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In animation, and in visual storytelling in general, a keyframe is an important frame in the footage that defines the beginning or end of an action, telling you where the action is at a certain point in time.

Skydio has taken this concept and made software that allows drone pilots to easily implement it.

Here’s an overview of how KeyFrame mode works:

Select your keyframes. Fly to each location along your flight path that you want to see in your finished video and take a photograph of it, storyboarding the footage with the images you capture.
Choose your speed. Decide how fast you want the drone to fly along the flight path as it’s defined by the keyframes you’ve captured.
Hit play. Now that you’ve defined your keyframes and speed, you can hit play and the drone will autonomously plot a route that will capture all of your keyframes, filming the entire time.

Credit: Skydio