5 Things to Try With Your New Black Friday Phantom 3

News2015-12-01

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Photo: DJI Phantom 3 Standard captured in mid-air by Leon Jansen.

We have just concluded our Black Friday Specials campaign where we offered you the best deals of the year on the Phantom 3 Series. We're happy to see that so many of you have taken advantage of our offers and become owners of your very own, and perhaps very first, Phantom 3 quadcopter. To invite you into the community of pilots and aerial photographers and give you an easy way of getting to know your aircraft, we have five tips for how to use your new drone!

1. Try out the simulator

Built into the new DJI GO app that you use to connect your mobile device with your Phantom is an easy to use flight simulator that lets you practice flying without actually taking off. We think it's a great way for new users to familiarize themselves with the functionality of our drones and learn how to fly. If you're not entirely sure how the remote controller works or if you're just really, really itching to fly right now but can't get to a proper location, just launch the GO app and the simulator and you'll get the closest experience to being in the sky without actually flying.

2. Take your first dronie

Selfies are now a mainstay in the arsenal of any self-respecting social media user. No longer just seen as a teenage fad, selfies are a great way of documenting our everyday and communicate our experience to friends and family.

Like with so many other things, drones and aerial photography take the selfie to the next level. It's so next level, in fact, that it's been given its own name: dronie. Dronies are taken by launching your Phantom, focusing the camera at yourself and your friends and pressing the shutter. No more difficult than a normal selfie, but so much more powerful. Especially good at capturing your immediate environment, and groups of people.

A big bonus is how easily the DJI GO app makes sharing your dronie to Facebook, Instagram or SkyPixel. Try it out and see for yourself!

3. Create a 3D map of your house

Wouldn't it be great if you could create your own 3d model of you own home? We thought so too, and with our DJI GO app and one of our brilliant partner companies, we've created a way for you to easily do so!

Our partner Drone Deploy creates an easy to use, cloud-based modeling software that creates beautiful 3d maps with the click of a button. Drone Deploy's app for Android automatically integrates with DJI drones and creates the models in real-time so that they're ready when you land. The service is free to use to create up to 5 models or maps per month.

See what is possible to create in this video, then go ahead and create your own!

4. Try out Follow Me

Follow Me is one of the new Intelligent Flight Modes in our DJI GO app. Both easy to use and extremely powerful, it lets you document the best moments of your life from the sky. By sensing the position of your connected mobile device, your Phantom follows you from a set distance as you move across the skatepark, surf the waves or what ever activity you want to record yourself doing. (Please note: For safety reasons, Follow Me should not be used in populated areas.)

Afterwards, try editing your video with Director, the awesome video editing feature built into DJI GO, and share it to your followers.

5. Check out the SkyPixel community and meet other aerial photographers 

SkyPixel is the largest community for aerial photographers and filmmakers in the world. You can easily upload your videos and photos to SkyPixel directly from the DJI GO app and have them seen by hundreds of thousands of people who share the same passion.

By joining SkyPixel, you get access to a global, creative community where you can exchange tips and tricks, flight locations and make new friends. The community is constantly growing and there are frequent photography contests — right now, there's the big 2015 SkyPixel Photo Contest that you can submit your best creations to.

Still haven't got your Phantom? Head over to the Official DJI Online Store and grab a Phantom 3 Standard for a great price if you're a beginner, or a Phantom 3 Professional if you're specifically interested in shooting 4K video. Enjoy!