Drone company offers coordinated, captivating drone shows instead of fireworks

TAMPA, Fla. - Carefully and methodically, a crew from Sky Elements Drone Shows lined up drones on the basketball court of Chamberlain High School in Tampa for a demonstration.

All 100 drones were slowly placed out and calibrated, so they know where they are in 3D space, according to Kyle Pivnick, who is helming the show from a computer. 

"All we're doing is making sure we're evenly spaced out because every single drone is basically set up like a grid," said Pivnick. "Typically we show up the day before the event or day of the event, set up about four hours before show time. That gives us plenty of time to test, calibrate, make sure everything is running smoothly and address any issues as they come up."

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Pivnick said his job looks a lot more complicated than it actually is. He's the one who presses "Go" on the computer, making the 3D animation come to life, putting it to every single drone, so they know their path. He said his finger is on the trigger so that if something feels off, he can call them back home. 

"We fly about 30 drone shows per month. We've flown in every city of America," said Pivnick. "Our biggest challenge is animating a show because every show takes about 100, 200 hours of animating. You're moving every single drone in a specific path in order to make these creative shapes and designs. What you're seeing might look like 10 minutes, but really it took us 100 hours to produce. It just feels like CGI it feels like just a video movie in front of your face."

He said the show can still go on even if the weather isn't perfect. They can fly in medium to light rain without a problem as well as in 30 mile an hour winds. Pivnick said drone shows are a great replacement for fireworks, especially with fire bans and environmental concerns. 

Sky Elements Drone Shows puts on private and public shows. For more information, click here.