FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a drone light show? A drone light show is essentially an aerial animation made up of small LED drones. Each drone acts as a pixel, so the more drones you have in your display, the more detailed and complex the aerial animation.

2. How do drone shows work? The drones are preprogrammed with drone specific animation files called path files. The drones are not controlled in real-time but are programmed before they are launched into the sky in which they execute a predetermined aerial animation.

3. How much does a drone light show cost? The cost of a drone light show varies depending on several factors including complexity, length of the show, number of drones, choreography, etc. Drone shows typically start at around $20,000 for a basic show with 100 drones. Please contact us directly for pricing.

4. Are drone shows safe? Drone shows are extremely safe when executed by professional teams following proper safety guidelines and regulations. Key safety measures include maintaining a safe distance between drones and the audience, using high quality drones, including redundancy in drone communication systems, ensuring flight path safety and not flying the drones directly above people or traffic.

5. How long is a drone light show? Our shows are typically between 10-12 minutes in duration.

6. What is the process for putting on a drone show? Once a show is booked, we will provide a site inspection either onsite or via Google Earth. We require a flat unobstructed area in which the drones can be placed 1 meter apart in a grid. For the design process, we can help to develop a storyboard for the show, or the client can provide us with a storyboard. Once the storyboard is approved, it goes to our animation team. The animation process can vary from a few days to a month depending on the season and expediting the design for a show is an option but may include a fee. Once the animation is complete, we can provide stills and a real-time video simulation of the show. If choreography is required, then we need the sound track before we start the animation process so it can be synchronized. The next step may include a rehearsal of the show or in some cases no rehearsal is necessary.

7. How much space is needed for a drone show? Our drones are spaced out 1 meter apart on the ground for takeoff and landings. For a show with 100 drones, we require a flat unobstructed 35x35 foot surface which can be cut grass, gravel, concrete, dirt or sand. For 200 drones, we require double the surface area, which would be 45x45 feet. The drone staging area doesn’t have to be a square shaped, it can be rectangular as well.

8. What is the range of a drone show? The drones have a range of 900 feet from the location of takeoff and landing.

9. What is the lead time for creating a drone show? This can depend on the season and how busy we are. We prefer to have a month to prepare, however in some cases we can create a drone show in a week but would require an expediting fee.

10. How high can the drone show be? Our drone shows can be as high as 400ft AGL, however in some places airspace restrictions may apply. Shows look great as low as just 100 feet AGL in some cases.

11. How does weather effect drone shows? Our drones can handle wind speeds up to 18mph and operating temperatures between 23°F to 95°F. The drones are not water resistant, so we cannot fly in light rain.

12. Do you offer video services? Yes, we offer a complimentary video of each of our drone shows for clients as seen on our website. This includes ground camera operator, drone video and editing of the video.

13. What does 100 drones look like? Most of our shows consist of 100 and 200 drones and can be viewed on the content throughout our website, but we have the ability and experience to produce shows up to 900 drones. Here’s an example of the Del Taco logo created with 100 drones:

14. What does 200 drones look like? Most of our shows consist of 100 or 200 drones and can be viewed on the content throughout our website, but we have the ability and experience to produce shows up to 900 drones. Here’s a few examples of images we created with 200 drones: