Hiring a drone video company comes down to five steps: write a short brief that says what the footage has to do, decide whether you need aerial only or aerial plus ground footage, shortlist three companies whose finished work looks like your project, compare written proposals, and agree on deliverables and rights before you book. Every company you consider should fly under FAA Part 107 with a certificated remote pilot and carry insurance. That is the floor. The differences that matter are planning, editing and what you receive at the end.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and airspace change, so confirm the details for your location with whoever you hire.
Start with what the footage has to do
Most disappointing drone videos were never given a job. Before you contact a vendor, write one paragraph that answers four questions:
- Where will it run? A website header loop, a 60 second brand film, paid social ads, a sales presentation and a broadcast spot are five different products.
- Who is watching? A prospective tenant, a wedding planner, an investor and a hotel guest each care about different things.
- What should they do next? Book a tour, request a proposal, reserve a room, approve a draw.
- How long does it need to stay current? A finished hotel can use footage for years. A construction site looks different in six weeks.
The answers set the length, the aspect ratios, the shot list and the crew. They also stop you from paying for a film when you needed twelve strong stills and a vertical clip.
One flight can often serve two purposes if you plan it. In an Associated Builders and Contractors survey reported by DroneLife in August 2026, 36% of responding contractors said they use drones. Of those, 80.8% use them for site progress monitoring and 77.5% for marketing and media. If your operations team already wants progress images, tell the vendor so the marketing shots come from the same visit.
Decide between aerial only and aerial plus ground
A drone shows scale, location and how a property sits in its surroundings. It cannot show a face, a plated dish, a lobby finish or a customer talking. Be honest about which of those your video needs.
| Your goal | Aerial only is usually enough | Add ground footage or FPV |
|---|---|---|
| Land, lots and site context | Yes | Rarely |
| Construction progress updates | Yes | For milestone films and interviews |
| Real estate listing | For large lots and exteriors | For interiors and lifestyle |
| Hotel, resort or venue marketing | No | Rooms, amenities, people, food |
| Brand film or commercial | No | Story, product and people carry it |
| Event recap | For the overview | For everything at eye level |
An FPV fly-through sits between the two. A small FPV drone flies one continuous route from outside a building through its interior, which suits venues, gyms, showrooms and hotels. It needs a different aircraft and skill set and, outdoors, a visual observer, because Part 107 requires someone to keep the aircraft in unaided sight and a pilot in goggles cannot. Our guide to standard drones versus FPV explains the trade-offs.
If you need both, try to buy aerial and ground video production from one team. Two vendors means two schedules, two contracts and two camera systems that an editor has to match in color and motion. It can work, but decide who owns the final edit before the first shoot day.
Build a shortlist of three
Three companies is enough to compare. Find them through regional search results, the venue or general contractor you already work with, and the credits on local work you admire. If another property’s video impressed you, ask who shot it.
A remote pilot certificate does not narrow the field much. The FAA counted 481,760 certificated remote pilots as of November 2025. Filter on these instead:
- Finished work in your category. A hotel reel does not prove construction experience, and the reverse is also true.
- Who actually flies. Some companies employ their pilots. Others take the booking and dispatch a local subcontractor. Either can work, but you should know whose work is on the reel and who will be on your site.
- Flight, ground and edit under one roof, if your project needs all three.
- Price transparency. Published starting prices, or a willingness to give a range on the first call.
- The questions they ask you. A company that asks about your address, audience and deadline before talking price is planning. One that only sends a rate sheet is selling flight time.
Then confirm the compliance basics for each: Part 107 certificate, current training, insurance and Remote ID. Our checklist for vetting a drone pilot was written for Michigan, but the federal checks in it apply in every state.
How to read a reel
A reel is an advertisement. Read it like one.
- Ask for full pieces. A montage of best shots hides whether the company can hold attention for 90 seconds.
- Watch once with the sound off. Music hides weak pacing.
- Look for movement with a purpose. Good aerial shots reveal something: the river behind the building, the size of the site. A string of slow push-ins is filler.
- Check the basics. Level horizons, no propellers or drone shadow in frame, no wobble, and exposure that holds when the camera tilts from ground to sky.
- Notice the light. Flat midday sun in every shot means shoots were scheduled for convenience. Early and late light takes planning.
- Compare aerial and ground shots. Color and motion should match. A visible jump suggests separate teams or a rushed edit.
- Ask for a vertical sample. Vertical video framed on the day looks different from a horizontal shot cropped afterward.
Then ask three questions. Which of these shots did your own team fly and edit? What was the client’s brief? Where did the client use the finished video?
What a good proposal contains
A proposal should include:
- Your goal, in their words. Proof they listened.
- Scope. Aerial video, stills, ground footage, FPV, interviews, and how many shoot days and locations.
- An airspace and permit check for your address. Under Part 107, flying in controlled airspace near airports needs prior FAA authorization (§107.41). Most of it is granted in near real time through LAANC, but the FAA says requests to fly above the pre-approved altitude for a location are coordinated manually and can be filed up to 90 days ahead. Parks, waterfronts and city property often have their own film permits.
- Known date conflicts. The FAA prohibits drone flights within three nautical miles of a stadium from one hour before to one hour after MLB, NFL and NCAA Division I football games and major motor races. A downtown date has to work around the home schedule.
- A plan for people. Part 107 bars flight over people unless the operation fits one of the rule’s categories (§107.39), so shots of a busy patio, pool deck or crowd need a stated approach.
- Deliverables. Each video with its length and aspect ratio, the number of stills, and the file formats.
- Revisions, music and rights. How many rounds of changes, who licenses the music, where you may use the footage and for how long, and whether raw footage is included.
- Weather terms. Part 107 requires at least three statute miles of visibility (§107.51), and wind and rain ground flights too. The proposal should say who makes the call and whether a backup date is held.
- Insurance. A certificate of insurance before the shoot, at the limit your property or venue requires.
- A fixed price and payment schedule, with anything that would change the price listed.
Compare scope, not totals. Put the three proposals side by side and line up shoot days, crew, deliverables, revisions and rights. The cheapest total often leaves out the vertical versions, the permit or the second round of changes.
What it costs and why quotes differ
Published benchmarks give you a sanity check. These national ranges come from UAV Coach’s drone services pricing guide, published in April 2026:
| Type of job | Typical price per project |
|---|---|
| Real estate photography | $300 to $500 |
| Real estate video | $1,000 to $2,500 |
| Event coverage | $500 to $1,500 |
| Construction monitoring | $500 to $2,000 per visit |
| Commercial or brand video | $2,000 to $5,000 |
Marketplace rates look lower because they measure something else. Thumbtack’s cost guide puts aerial photographers at $102 to $367 an hour, with most people paying about $125. That is a solo operator’s time on site. A project price also covers planning, authorizations, insurance, editing, music licensing and revisions.
The main cost drivers are shoot days, crew size, ground footage, edited versions, permit fees and travel. For more, see our drone photography and video cost guide.
Timeline from inquiry to delivery
These are typical ranges for planning purposes. Ask each vendor for theirs.
| Stage | What happens | Plan on |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry and discovery call | Goals, address, deadline, budget range | 1 to 3 days |
| Proposal | Airspace and permit check, scope, fixed quote | 2 to 5 business days |
| Booking | Contract, deposit, shoot date and backup date | About a week |
| Pre-production | Authorizations, permits, insurance certificate, shot list, site walk | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Shoot | Flight and ground days, weather permitting | 1 to 2 days |
| First cut | Edit, color, music | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Revisions and delivery | Your feedback, final files in every format | About a week |
Added up, an aerial plus ground project usually takes four to eight weeks. An aerial-only stills job in simple airspace can be done in under two weeks.
Three things stretch the schedule: permits and manual airspace requests, seasonal needs such as full foliage, and slow feedback. The last is yours to control. Name one person who collects every stakeholder’s comments and returns them in a single round.
What you hand over to the vendor
The more of this you send at the start, the more accurate the quote:
- The exact address, a site plan or parcel boundaries, and any areas that are off limits.
- Written permission from the property owner if that is not you.
- A site contact with authority, plus access details for gates, roofs and locked areas.
- Your venue’s or landlord’s insurance requirements, including exact certificate wording.
- Brand guidelines, logo files and fonts.
- Two or three videos you like and one you do not, with a sentence on why.
- Must-have shots and features, in priority order.
- Schedule constraints: events, deliveries, check-in times, crane days, landscaping.
- The names of everyone who approves the edit.
Tell tenants, guests and neighbors that a drone will be flying. Our guide to preparing a property for a drone shoot covers the site itself.
What you should receive
Before the shoot, expect a certificate of insurance, confirmation that authorizations and permits are in hand, and a schedule with the backup date.
After it, expect:
- Final videos in every agreed length and aspect ratio, typically 16:9 horizontal for web and presentations and 9:16 vertical for social.
- Edited high-resolution stills.
- Clean versions without titles or music, if you plan to re-edit later.
- A written license stating where and how long you may use the footage, plus music license details.
- Raw footage, if the contract includes it.
- A clear answer on how long the company archives your project.
Check the files against the proposal line by line before you approve the final invoice.
When you do not need a production company
If all you need is aerial stills for one listing, or monthly progress photos from fixed positions, a solo licensed pilot is usually the right hire and costs less. A production company earns its price when the project includes editing, ground footage, brand standards, several approvers or permits.
How we handle this at RAW Digital Group
Our drone unit is in-house. Our pilots hold FAA Part 107 certificates, and the same crew flies the aircraft, shoots the ground footage and edits the final piece, so the look stays consistent and one team is accountable. We check airspace and permits for your address before we quote a date, and we send a certificate of insurance before the shoot.
Every project delivers 4K video and high-resolution stills in both horizontal and vertical formats. Our starting prices are published: aerial photo from $450, aerial video from $1,500 and FPV fly-throughs from $2,500. You get a fixed quote before you book.
We are based in Detroit, fly across Michigan and travel for projects out of state. Our aerial reel includes Caesars Windsor, the Detroit Opera House, Einstein Bros. Bagels, The Residences at Water Square and the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
See the details on our drone photography and video page, or contact us with your address and deadline.