Real estate drone shot list: front reveal, orbit, top-down and approach as one DJI Fly KMZ
Four moves cover most listings: a reveal from the front, an orbit, a top-down of the lot and an approach. Planned once as waypoints, they fly the same way at every house and fit one battery and one KMZ, well inside DJI Fly's 200 waypoints.
By Sander Helgesen · Last checked
In short
- Front reveal: start 15–20 m out just above the roof, then pull back and rise to 50–70 m out and 30–45 m up at 2–3 m/s, camera on the house.
- Orbit: a radius of at least half the house's diagonal plus 12 m, 8–15 m above the roof, about 5° a second, so 72 s for a full circle.
- Top-down lot: 40–60 m straight over the house, gimbal at -90°, heading along the long side.
- Approach: from 45–60 m out in to about 20 m, 8–15 m up, at 1–1.5 m/s.
- A standard set is 30–50 waypoints and 8–14 minutes: one battery, one KMZ, far under 200 waypoints. The KMZ guide shows how it goes into DJI Fly.
Why fly the shot list as waypoints
A listing shoot is the same job every time: the front, the corners, the lot from above and the neighbourhood. Flown by hand, each house gets slightly different heights, angles and speeds. Flown as a waypoint mission, the moves are the same at every address, and you can fly the same file again in spring when the agent wants new photos.
DJI Fly sets the gimbal angle on each waypoint and tilts it evenly along the leg to the next, so a reveal or an approach keeps the house in frame without touching the sticks. Every height is counted from the takeoff point, so take off from the same spot each time. A mission takes at most 200 waypoints and one battery.
Heights and gimbal angles per shot
Most real estate frames sit between -15° and -35°. For hero shots, keep the horizon in frame: with a 24 mm-equivalent lens in 4:3, that means shallower than about -28°. The top-down is the exception at -90°, and a plot overview works at -45° to -60°.
For a moving shot, the angle on each waypoint is -atan(height above the aim point / distance). 20 m out and 8 m above the aim point is -21.8°; 40 m out and 30 m above is -36.9°.
Heights above the takeoff point on a flat plot. "At the house" means the angle is set on every waypoint, aimed at the lower third of the house.
| Shot | Height | Distance | Gimbal | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front still | 10–16 m (roof + 2–6 m) | 30–45° off the front | -15° to -25° | Hover |
| Front reveal | just above the roof to 30–45 m | 15–20 m out to 50–70 m | At the house | 2–3 m/s |
| Orbit | roof + 8–15 m | half the diagonal + 12 m | At the house | about 5°/s |
| Top-down lot | 40–60 m | over the centre of the house | -90° | Hover |
| Approach | 8–15 m | 45–60 m in to 20 m | At the house | 1–1.5 m/s |
| Context | 40–60 m | 50–80 m out on the street side | -25° to -35° | Hover |
Plan and fly the shot list as one KMZ
Pick the takeoff spot
Choose an open spot on the client's side with a clear view of the house, one you can find again. Every height in the mission counts from there.
Read the house and what is around it
Note the roof height, the trees near the house and the neighbours on each side. The orbit radius is the framing distance or half the house's diagonal plus 12 m, whichever is larger.
Place the shots in order
Front stills, then the reveal, then the orbit starting on the street side so the first and last frames show the front, then the top-down, the approach and a context still. An orbit takes 12 waypoints up to a 30 m radius and 16 beyond.
Count waypoints and minutes
A quick set (front still, four corners, context and top-down) is about 15 waypoints and under 6 minutes; the standard set with the reveal and the orbit is 30–50 waypoints and 8–14 minutes. Stay within 70% of the battery: 23 minutes on a Mini 4 Pro, 31 on an Air 3S.
Put the KMZ into DJI Fly
Replace a placeholder mission with your file under the same name, as in the KMZ guide, and set Max Altitude at least as high as the highest waypoint.
Fly it from the same spot
Take off from the planned spot, check the route on the map and start the mission. Recording starts and stops on the first and last waypoint of each moving shot, so you trim about a second in editing.
Orbit speed and time
A full circle is often more than the listing needs. A 120–180° arc across the front shows the house and its depth in less time.
A smooth orbit turns at about 5° a second. The speed follows the radius, and a full circle takes the same time at any size.
| Radius | Speed | Circumference | Full circle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 1.75 m/s | 126 m | 72 s |
| 30 m | 2.6 m/s | 188 m | 72 s |
| 40 m | 3.5 m/s | 251 m | 72 s |
| 50 m | 4.4 m/s | 314 m | 72 s |
Airspace and the rules
Check the rules where you fly before every job. The points below are what the regulators' own pages say; they are linked under Sources.
- EU (EASA): in the open category, stay below 120 m above the ground. Subcategory A1 may fly over uninvolved people but not assemblies of people, A2 flies close to people, and A3 far from people. Operators of class C1 to C4 drones register.
- Norway (Luftfartstilsynet): register as a drone operator at flydrone.no, take the competence test for A1 and A3, fly at most 120 m from the nearest point on the ground or water, and never over crowds. Check the zones on dronesoner.no before each flight.
- US (FAA): work flights with a drone under 55 pounds fall under Part 107. You need a Remote Pilot Certificate from the knowledge test, a registered drone ($5 for three years) that broadcasts Remote ID, and an airspace authorization such as LAANC in controlled airspace.
Neighbours and privacy
- Below 30 m, never fly over a neighbour's property. Skyplanr's planner flags any photo, hover or video below that height over other people's property.
- Keep at least 15 m sideways from neighbouring houses at any height below their roof plus 20 m.
- Point the camera at the client's house, never into a neighbour's windows or garden, and take context shots from 40 m up or higher.
- Tell the neighbours before you fly, avoid filming people who can be identified, and blur anyone who ends up in a frame before the photos are published.
Which drone
Any DJI Fly drone flies this list. With a Mini 4 Pro, the top-down from 40 m covers about 58 × 43 m, enough for most suburban lots. The Mini 4 Pro guide and the Air 3S guide have each drone's waypoint limits and flight time.
Where Skyplanr fits in
Describe the property and the shots you want, and Skyplanr places them from the address: heights from the terrain, roof and tree heights, the gimbal angle set on every waypoint, no photo, hover or video below 30 m over the neighbours, and the set split into flights if it passes 200 waypoints or 70% of the battery. You get the KMZ for DJI Fly.
See the technologyQuestions
What height should real estate drone photos be taken from?
Front stills from 10–16 m, about 2–6 m above the roof; corner shots from 12–20 m; the neighbourhood and the top-down from 40–60 m. Measure from the ground at the house, and on a slope plan the heights from the takeoff point.
What gimbal angle works for real estate drone photos?
Between -15° and -35° for most frames, shallower than about -28° when the horizon should stay in the picture. The top-down is -90° and a plot overview -45° to -60°.
Can I fly the same real estate shots again later?
Yes. Keep the KMZ, take off from the same spot and fly it again: the heights, angles and speeds are the same, so the new photos match the old ones.
How many waypoints does a real estate shot list need?
About 15 for a quick set of stills and 30–50 for the standard set with a reveal and an orbit. DJI Fly takes up to 200, so one KMZ is enough.
Sources
Skyplanr is not affiliated with the third-party guides linked here.
- DJI Developer: DJI WPML overview (the KMZ format DJI Fly reads) (developer.dji.com)
- DJI: Mini 4 Pro specifications (camera, flight time, weight) (dji.com)
- EASA: open category, low-risk civil drones (easa.europa.eu)
- Luftfartstilsynet: drone rules in Norway (droneregler) (luftfartstilsynet.no)
- Luftfartstilsynet: dronesoner.no, the map of drone geographical zones in Norway (dronesoner.no)
- FAA: certificated remote pilots including commercial operators (Part 107) (faa.gov)
This guide describes how DJI Fly behaved when it was last checked; DJI can change the app at any time. It is advice, not a permission: you are the pilot in command, and the site, the geo-zones and the rules are yours to check before take-off.
Let Skyplanr write the file.
Describe the job, and Skyplanr plans the waypoint mission, checks it and gives you the KMZ for DJI Fly.