APEX UAVPilot appFor Apex network pilots
Pilot resources
Free tools, quick how-tos and the settings that make editing easy. Everything you need to get the job done right and on time.
How delivery works
- Check what the customer picked. Editing is included unless the customer opted out for the raw files. Each job says "edited," "unedited" or "both," plus any extras they paid for. Roof, storm, inspection, thermal, solar and mapping jobs are records and are never edited. Only edit what the customer asked for.
- Upload your photos in the job. Use the JPGs straight from the drone and keep your RAW files. If the customer wants unedited files, the app uploads them exactly as shot. Put RAW (DNG) files and unedited video in the job as share links.
- If the customer paid for editing, the app edits each photo for you. It's Apex's one-click touch-up: it fixes color, light and contrast and levels a tilted horizon. It never changes the sky and never adds or removes anything. Construction progress jobs only get brightness and color balance, because they're records. Roof, storm, inspection, thermal and solar jobs are never edited. Sky or removal extras are done by Apex after you upload.
- Nothing to tap. Each photo is touched up as it uploads. Apex checks every delivery before the customer gets it.
- Video: when editing is on (most jobs), edit it yourself with the free tools below (you keep 98% of the video editing money), watch it all the way through, then paste the share links in the job. Music, titles and extra vertical cuts only when the customer paid for them. If they opted out of editing, share the clips unedited.
- Finish the flight log and send. Photos are due within 48 hours of the flight. Customers are told they usually come within 24.
Free photo editors
Apex Photo Touch-Up
Our own one-click touch-up, the same one the app uses. Fixes color, light and contrast, levels a tilted horizon, keeps the photo's date and GPS info, and lets you nudge it before you save. Best on a laptop for full-size photos.
Open the Photo Touch-UpSnapseed
Free, made by Google. Simple sliders for brightness, warmth, highlights and shadows, plus straightening. Opens DNG RAW files.
iPhone · AndroidAdobe Lightroom (free version)
The free version covers the basic edits you need: light, color, crop and straighten. Paid features aren't needed for Apex jobs.
Get Lightroomdarktable
Free and open source RAW editor. Lens correction, exposure, white balance and batch editing a whole job at once.
darktable.orgRawTherapee
Another free RAW editor with strong color and noise tools. Good for night and low-light shots.
rawtherapee.comPhotopea
Free photo editor that runs in your browser, no install. Handy for a quick fix on a borrowed computer.
photopea.comFree video editors
DaVinci Resolve (free version)
The best free choice for drone video and color. Exports up to 4K at up to 60 fps. On some Windows computers the free version won't open 10-bit H.265 files. If yours won't open, record in H.264 or the normal color profile.
Get DaVinci ResolveDJI LightCut
Free app from DJI, made for drone footage. Quick edits, trims and vertical cuts right from your phone.
DJI LightCutCapCut
Free and easy, no watermark on exports. Great for vertical cuts. Its color tools are basic, so use it with footage shot in the normal color profile, not D-Log.
capcut.comiMovie
Free on Apple devices. Fine for simple cuts from normal-color footage.
apple.com/imovieApex Video Tool
Our own free tool. Trim a clip, check the color and make a vertical cut, right in your browser. Best on a laptop.
Open the Apex Video ToolDJI color LUTs (free)
Shooting D-Log M? Download the official LUT for your drone model from DJI's download center and apply it first, then adjust.
DJI downloadsQuick how-tos
Fix a photo in Snapseed (about 2 minutes)
- Open the photo, tap Tools, then Tune Image.
- Swipe up and down to pick Brightness, Highlights, Shadows and Warmth. Swipe left and right to adjust. Small moves.
- Tap Tools, then Rotate, and level the horizon.
- Tap Export and save a copy at full size. (Handy for your own photos. Customer photos are edited by the app as they upload.)
Make the 60-second video in DaVinci Resolve
- Make a new project at 3840 × 2160, matching the frame rate you shot (24, 30 or 60).
- Drag your clips in. If they're D-Log M, add DJI's LUT on the Color page first.
- Keep the best 3 to 6 seconds of each move. Start with the strongest shot. Cut out any jerky moves.
- Add licensed music and trim the video to the length the package says.
- Export H.264 at 3840 × 2160, then again at 1920 × 1080. Watch the export all the way through.
- For the vertical cut, make a 1080 × 1920 timeline, reframe each clip, and keep it to 30 seconds.
Share the finished video
- Upload the files to Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive.
- Set sharing to "Anyone with the link can view."
- Paste each link in the job under "Video for the customer," tick the box, and save.
Camera settings that save editing time
- Photos: RAW (DNG) plus JPG at full resolution. The app edits the JPG, and you keep the RAW for anything that needs a manual fix.
- Property jobs: turn on bracketing (AEB) so you have a darker and brighter frame to fall back on.
- New to color grading? Shoot video in the normal color profile, not D-Log. It looks good straight out of the drone.
- Video: 4K at 24 or 30 fps (60 for action), the same settings for the whole job.
- Upload from a laptop for full size. On a phone, the app's touch-up saves photos at up to 16 megapixels. On a laptop or desktop it keeps up to 100 megapixels, the full size of a Mavic 4 Pro photo. Unedited jobs always upload the original file at full size.
Music that's safe to use
- Only add music when the customer paid for it. Licensed music is an extra ($49). Apex licenses the track and sends it to you with the job. Otherwise the video has no music.
- Never use popular songs. Customers post these videos on listings and social media, and a copyright claim can take them down.
- Pixabay Music is free to use, with no credit required. Use it for your own practice reels. Customer videos with music use the licensed track Apex sends you. Download the license text for each track and keep it, in case a video ever gets a claim. pixabay.com/music
- The YouTube Audio Library is meant for YouTube videos. Don't use it for client work.
Export settings
| File | Settings |
|---|---|
| Full-size photo | JPG, quality 90 or higher, sRGB, full resolution |
| Web-size photo | Made for you by the app (2048 px on the long side) |
| Main video | MP4 (H.264), 3840 × 2160, 24 or 30 fps |
| Video web copy | MP4 (H.264), 1920 × 1080 |
| Vertical cut | MP4 (H.264), 1080 × 1920, 30 seconds unless the package says otherwise |
| Raw footage (film jobs) | Original camera files, untouched |
The Apex look
- Clean, bright and true to life. It should look like a nice day, not a filter.
- No sky swaps or removals unless the customer paid for them at booking, and then only exactly what they described. Apex does these. Never on roof, storm, insurance, inspection, construction, thermal, solar or mapping photos.
- Never remove anything permanent, even if asked: no power lines, cracks, damage, fences or a neighbor's house. Temporary things only, like cars, trash cans, hoses or signs.
- Unedited means untouched. When the customer opts out of editing, or it's an insurance records job, don't edit, crop or rename the files beyond the job name.
- Horizons level, nothing blurry, no propellers or drone shadow in the frame.
- No bystanders. Storm photos never show people or readable addresses.
- Deliver exactly the package count. Pick the best keepers. Never fewer than the package says.
These tools are made by other companies. They're free today, but their features and prices can change. If one stops working for you, tell us and we'll point you to another.