• Free Tool – No Sign-Up Required
Free Drone Shot Planner —
Cinematic Flight Calculator
Getting the shot right on the first battery means knowing your numbers before you arm the motors. Enter your drone model, choose your shot type, and adjust your parameters — the planner calculates your required flight speed, total path distance, shutter speed, and ND filter in real time. Covers Orbit, Reveal, Fly-Through, and Dronie shots. No spreadsheet, no guesswork, no wasted batteries in the field.
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180° Rule
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Planning a cinematic drone shot takes more than pressing record. This tool calculates your exact flight speed, shutter speed, and ND filter for Orbit, Reveal, Fly-Through, and Dronie shots — in real time.
The Fundamentals
What Does the Drone Shot Planner Calculate?
The Drone Shot Planner is a free browser-based tool that calculates the required flight speed, total path distance, yaw rate, gimbal angles, and camera settings for four core cinematic drone shots — Orbit, Reveal, Fly-Through, and Dronie. It applies the 180° Rule automatically to recommend your shutter speed, calculates how many stops of ND filtration you need for your current lighting condition, and warns you when your settings would push the drone beyond its rated top speed or drain more than 15% of a single battery.
Why Storage Planning Is a Pre-Flight Skill, Not a Post-Flight Fix
Most failed drone shots share a single cause: the pilot knew what they wanted but not what the camera needed. An orbit shot at 30-metre radius in an 8-second clip requires the drone to fly at 23.6 km/h — that is Sport Mode territory, not the default Cine Mode speed. A reveal shot descending from 50 metres to 8 metres over 60 metres of horizontal distance requires a flight path of 73 metres and a starting gimbal angle of 38 degrees downward from the horizon. Without these numbers, you are adjusting by feel in the field and hoping the clip holds together in the edit.
The 180° Rule compounds the problem. At 24 fps, your cinematic shutter speed is 1/48s. In bright sunlight, the unfiltered correct exposure sits at around 1/500s. That gap — roughly 3.3 stops — requires an ND8 filter. Without it, you either overexpose the shot or compensate by raising the shutter speed, which removes the motion blur that makes drone footage look cinematic rather than video-like.
The Drone Shot Planner solves both problems before you leave the house.
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Step-by-Step Guide
How to Use the Drone Shot Planner
From zero to flight-ready settings in under two minutes.
Select your drone model
Choose your drone from the dropdown at the top of the tool. The planner auto-fills the sensor size, field of view, maximum speed, and rated flight time for that model. These values feed directly into the speed warnings and battery usage calculations — if you select Other / Manual, enter your drone's specifications manually. The drone's maximum speed is the single most important constraint in the tool. Every shot type checks your required speed against this value and warns you before you fly if the combination is physically impossible.
Choose your shot type
Click one of the four shot cards — Orbit, Reveal, Fly-Through, or Dronie. Each shot type loads its own parameter inputs and updates the animated flight path diagram on the right instantly. The diagram is not decorative: it scales to your actual inputs in real time so you can see how the drone path changes as you adjust radius, altitude, or distance. Use it to sense-check your setup before you go near the field.
Set your universal parameters
Three inputs apply to every shot type. Clip Duration controls how many seconds the final clip runs — this directly determines the required speed for every shot. Output FPS and Lighting Condition control the camera settings outputs. At 24 fps in sunny conditions, the tool recommends 1/50s shutter and an ND16 filter. Change the lighting to Golden Hour and the ND recommendation drops to ND4. These outputs update live as you move the slider.
Adjust the shot-specific parameters
Each shot type has its own set of sliders. For Orbit, set the radius, altitude above the subject, arc coverage (90°, 180°, 270°, or 360°), and direction. For Reveal, set the start distance, start altitude, and end altitude — the tool calculates the diagonal path length and your starting gimbal tilt angle automatically. For Fly-Through, set the scene depth, altitude, and camera tilt angle, and the tool calculates the motion blur ratio as a percentage of the visible scene width — 2–8% is the cinematic sweet spot. For Dronie, set the horizontal retreat distance and end altitude — the start altitude is calculated automatically from the subject scale you selected.
Read the Flight Parameters and Camera Settings
The results panel shows two groups of outputs. Flight Parameters gives you required speed in m/s and km/h, total path distance, and a shot-specific metric — yaw rate for Orbit, gimbal start angle for Reveal, motion blur ratio for Fly-Through, and climb rate for Dronie. Camera Settings gives you shutter speed, ND filter, ISO range, and colour profile recommendation. Any combination that exceeds the drone's maximum speed or triggers a motion blur warning appears as an amber warning below the results.
Copy or share your plan
Use the Copy Results button to copy a formatted text summary of your shot plan to the clipboard — useful for pasting into a shot list or a client brief. Use Share Link to generate a URL encoding all your current settings. Send it to a co-pilot, save it for a repeat location, or compare two versions of the same shot by opening both links side by side.
FAQ - Drone Shot Planner
What is the Drone Shot Planner?
The Drone Shot Planner is a free browser-based calculator for drone filmmakers. It calculates the required flight speed, total path distance, shutter speed, and ND filter for four cinematic shot types — Orbit, Reveal, Fly-Through, and Dronie — based on your drone model, clip duration, and lighting condition. No account or sign-up required.
How do I calculate the speed needed for a drone orbit shot?
The required speed for an orbit is the arc length divided by the clip duration. Arc length equals 2 × π × radius × (arc degrees ÷ 360). A 30-metre radius full orbit in a 10-second clip requires a speed of approximately 18.8 m/s — which exceeds the maximum speed of most consumer DJI drones. The Drone Shot Planner calculates this instantly and warns you if the combination is not achievable.
What ND filter do I need for drone video?
The correct ND filter depends on your frame rate and lighting condition. At 24 fps, the 180° Rule sets your cinematic shutter at 1/48s. In bright sunlight, the natural exposure sits around 1/500s — a difference of roughly 3.3 stops, requiring an ND8 filter. In overcast conditions the gap narrows to around 2 stops, requiring an ND4. The Drone Shot Planner calculates this automatically from your FPS and lighting selection.
What is the 180° Rule in drone filmmaking?
The 180° Rule states that your shutter speed should equal double your frame rate. At 24 fps, set the shutter to 1/48s (typically rounded to 1/50s). This creates the degree of motion blur that matches how human vision perceives natural movement, making footage look cinematic rather than sharp and video-like. In bright outdoor conditions, you need an ND filter to achieve this shutter speed without overexposing.
What is a dronie shot and how do I plan it?
A dronie is a shot where the drone flies backward and ascends while keeping the subject centred in frame — the reverse of a selfie on a stick. The start altitude is calculated automatically from your subject scale (the tool sets it at 1.2× the subject height to begin just above eye level). Set your horizontal retreat distance and end altitude, and the tool calculates the diagonal flight path, required speed, and climb rate. Keep the climb rate below 5 m/s for a smooth ascent.
Why does the tool show a speed warning for my orbit settings?
The warning appears when the required speed exceeds your selected drone’s rated maximum. This combination is not physically achievable — the drone will either not reach the target speed or will not complete the arc in the specified time. Fix it by increasing the clip duration, reducing the orbit radius, or reducing the arc coverage from 360° to 180° or 90°.
What is motion blur ratio in a fly-through shot?
Motion blur ratio is the per-frame movement of the drone expressed as a percentage of the visible scene width at the current altitude and FOV. A ratio between 2% and 8% produces natural, cinematic motion blur. Below 1% the footage appears unnaturally sharp and robotic. Above 10% it becomes excessively blurry. The tool calculates this automatically and flags it if your settings fall outside the cinematic range.
Can I use this tool for manual flight or only for automated modes?
Both. The calculated speed, yaw rate, and gimbal angle values are equally useful for manual flying — set the yaw rate output as your reference for a consistent manual orbit in Tripod mode, or use the gimbal start angle to pre-position the gimbal before triggering the reveal. The Share Link feature lets you save the exact parameters for a location and reload them on the day.
Also From AeroTimelapse
Complete Your Pre-Flight Workflow
The Drone Shot Planner handles your cinematic shot geometry and camera settings. These AeroTimelapse tools complete the rest of your planning:
Know Your Numbers Before You Fly
Two minutes with the Drone Shot Planner before every shoot. The right speed, the right shutter, the right filter — every time.
Need help capturing professional drone footage for your next project but not ready to invest in the gear yet? Check out our Drone Videography service to see how Aero Timelapse Studio can help elevate your production.