SHINGO TADAKA
SHINGO TADAKA
代表取締役Founder and Representative Director
Two-Tech Inc.
Born in 1968, Shingo Tadaka grew up in Misawa City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. He is a professional videographer and has worked on a range of TV and video projects from documentary films to news programs, and from music videos to corporate promotional videos, and many more. He can operate various types of video equipment from a large camera crane to a professional Hi-Def video camera.
In 2014, He started setting up a new business—-a professional aerial photography & videography system, using a large radio-controlled (RC) multicopter which has become quite popular worldwide. In order to meet the growing demand for high-quality aerial photography and videography, Tadaka bought DJI S1000—-one of the world’s highest-class RC aerial vehicles/UAVs.
Tadaka first started dealing with professional aerial videography as a business 17 years ago. He and his business affiliate partner Toru Miura of Spice Co., Ltd. (a major TV commercial production company in Japan), chartered a large RC industrial helicopter together and planned to set up a new business with it to provide high-quality professional aerial footage for high-end clients in the Japanese film & TV commercial industries.
In 1999, Tadaka met Yasuhide Mitsuma who is an independent film director / producer and former graduate student in film at San Francisco State University in California. They made a short field trip together to Los Angeles to attend Showbiz Expo where the latest film / video products and technologies were being exhibited. Tadaka was especially interested in looking at the booth of a Hollywood video production company that specialized in professional aerial videography, using a large RC industrial helicopter.
After his trip to Los Angeles, Tadaka invested a few million yen (about $20,000-$30,000) over the next two years to make an original 3-axis gimbal stabilizer for an engine-based unmanned industrial helicopter. Then, he did commercial test flights several times with his newly developed gimbal. But Tadaka felt strongly that the unstable aerial footage he got left a lot to be desired. Disappointed with the poor results due to the limitations of analog unmanned flight control technology at that time, Tadaka gave up on an aerial videography service for the time being.
Meanwhile, Toru Miura’s Spice Co., Ltd. bought a 12 meter-class remote crane that was the world’s largest class at that time to get a steady 3D dolly shot. Working as a videographer as well as a sales manager, Tadaka participated in operating the crane camera for fashion shows, live music concerts, TV special live shows, and so on. Since Miura of Spice Co., Ltd. purchased a Panther dolly which is commonly used in the Japanese movie industry, Tadaka also used it for music live concert videos, a promotional museum exhibition video, etc.
In March 2014, DJI, a major Chinese manufacturer of RC multicopters, released the S1000 for professional use. It is a very popular large octocopter, using DJI’s cutting-edge digital flight-control technology. But with his memory of failing to get smooth aerial footage with a large RC helicopter, Tadaka was not sure in the beginning if the S1000 was good enough for professional use. However, after the test flights, he got really excited and satisfied with the fine results from its stable aerial footage. Tadaka was convinced that time has come, and that he should start aerial videography again using the unmanned high-tech multicopter.
Tadaka bought the S1000 in March 2014 and was determined to start his aerial videography business again, working with Kazuo Awata and Yoshiaki Masuo who are both veteran professional radio-controlled industrial helicopter pilots in Japan. Tadaka has been associated with them since he first tried aerial videography using a large engine-based RC industrial helicopter.
Tadaka always keeps the following words in his mind: “Little and often fills the purse.” “Try your absolute hardest at everything you work on.” Those are the sayings his late Tohoku-native father, a man of few words, would tell him in his youth.