Autonomous Follow-Cam Drone for Skiers: Next Level Aerial Filming (2014)

In spring 2014, a small French start-up showed a video of a drone that could film a skier on its own: no pilot, just a smartphone telling the aircraft where to frame the shot. It was called Next Level Aerial Filming, and it became one of the first autonomous follow-cam drones aimed at action-sports athletes.

Next Level Aerial Filming and Squadrone System

The software came from Squadrone System, a French company led by CEO Antoine Level. DroneLife reported in April 2014 that the idea had first been pitched at Startup Weekend Grenoble in 2013 and was then backed by the French accelerator Startup Maker. The company planned three packages: software only, a ready-to-fly drone, and a professional solution, with the first release targeted for summer 2014.

How the autonomous follow-cam drone worked

The concept was simple to describe. The user sets up the shot on a phone: how far away the camera should be, how high, and from which angle. The drone then locks onto the subject and keeps that framing as the skier, rider or biker moves. The filmmaker chooses the composition; the software flies the aircraft.

Squadrone said it was combining image recognition with GPS and on-board sensors, so the drone would depend less on the quality of any single signal. That mattered in the mountains, where trees, cliffs and changing light make tracking harder.

Watch the original demonstration video: Next Level Aerial Filming: the world's first autonomous drone system.

From prototype to HEXO+

By June 2014 the project had a product name. HEXO+, from Squadrone System, was presented as an autonomous drone that films and follows its user based on preset parameters. A smartphone app calculated angle, height and distance, and the company launched a Kickstarter campaign to move from working prototype to industrial production.

HEXO+ was part of a wave of follow-me drones in 2014, alongside projects such as AirDog, all chasing the same goal: cinematic aerial footage without a second person on the controls.

Drone filming on the ski hill today

Automatic subject tracking is now a standard feature on consumer drones, but the rules have grown alongside the technology. Many ski resorts ban or restrict drone flights over their slopes and lifts, and national aviation authorities set their own registration and distance requirements. Check the resort’s policy and local drone regulations before you fly.

For more creative camera work in the mountains, see a different perspective from a wildlife camera and a custom rig for panoramic time-lapse.

Related reading

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• Valentin Delluc’s Cable Speed-Riding Film: Reading the Moving View
• Chris Benchetler and Kimmy Fasani: British Columbia Through a GoPro
• Dub Roots: Dubsatch Collective’s Alta Ski Film
• The Falling GoPro and the Pig: A Viral Video Account

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