Introducing dexDRONES: Open, film-quality aerial assets for creators and partners
Dex launches dexDRONES, a new aerial wing delivering film-quality CC-BY 4.0 video, stills, and ambient sound for public reuse, with founding support from Kolari Vision.
Official Press Release (March 9, 2026) - VerbatimFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDEX LAUNCHES dexDRONES WITH FOUNDING SPONSOR KOLARI VISION, EXPANDING ACCESS TO FILM-QUALITY CC-BY 4.0 AERIAL ASSETS
New semi-permanent wing begins with upcoming Mojave Desert production as Alaska applications move under review and dex builds an equal pillar of its public library for film-quality aerial video, stills, and ambient sound.
Los Angeles, CA - March 9, 2026
Dex Digital Sample Library ("dex"), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building an always-free, CC-BY 4.0 library of video and audio for free reuse with attribution, announces dexDRONES, a new semi-permanent wing of the institution supported by founding sponsor Kolari Vision. Created to address one of the most persistent gaps in open media infrastructure - the scarcity of film-quality CC-BY 4.0 aerial assets - dexDRONES expands dex's public library into aerial capture and related field materials, with an initial focus on video, stills, and ambient sound.
The new wing launches from a position of demonstrated public use and institutional momentum. dex's catalog now includes more than 30 hours of material, has logged approximately 12,000 download events to date, serves roughly 500 monthly active users, and makes about 3.5 TB of media available for open reuse. With dexDRONES, dex is extending that same public-access model into an area where high-end materials are typically difficult to access openly and rarely released at film quality under Creative Commons terms.
Initial coverage begins with a confirmed upcoming Mojave Desert production on April 2; dex has also submitted applications now under review for Alaska-based capture in Juneau, Valdez, Anchorage, and Worthington Alaska State Park, while actively scouting additional East Coast mountain and forest locations through conversations with destination marketing organizations, state parks, and private ranches. Together, these efforts mark the beginning of a longer institutional buildout over the course of several regular seasons of library programming.
"Film-quality aerial footage is among the hardest material to access openly, and that gap limits what the public sphere of moving-image making can become," says Sebastian Suarez-Solis, Artistic Director of dex. "dexDRONES is our effort to build a durable public pathway into that space; with dex as its home, this program can become a permanent collection that can stand beside our regular collection and help move us toward a barrierless world where creators using open access material can find a pathway to the silver screen."
Kolari Vision's support made dexDRONES possible at its point of origin. As founding sponsor, Kolari donated work on a full-spectrum conversion for one camera body, provided filter support, and helped establish the full-spectrum imaging and cinematic imaging workflow underlying the wing's launch. That support gives dex expanded visual flexibility in the field while strengthening the technical foundation needed to publish film-quality CC-BY 4.0 aerial assets for public reuse: beyond visible light cinematography, dexDRONES originates as a professional film repository of full-spectrum aerial imagery.
"We believe in innovating in all areas of photography and videography - from infrared to beyond. We are proud to support dexDRONES in their mission of publishing film-quality aerial assets under CC-BY 4.0 to the general public through the use of multispectral imaging, furthering creative experimentation, innovation, and accessibility to high quality infrared footage in the cinematography space."
dex intends for dexDRONES to become an equal pillar alongside its regular collection of artist-led open-access files, extending the library's long-term capacity to publish open, reusable field materials at a level more often associated with closed licensing pipelines. As the wing grows, additional underwriting in travel, permitting, and imaging will expand the number of locations dex can responsibly access and deepen the amount of material it can publish from each field production. Over time, dex sees dexDRONES as part of a larger effort to make "mainstream motion-picture in a box" increasingly possible within the commons.
Organizations interested in supporting future dexDRONES fieldwork or in exploring site access, institutional partnership, or underwriting in travel, permitting, and imaging are invited to contact dex. Donations in support of the library's public mission may also be made at dexdsl.org/donate.
MEDIA CONTACT
Cameron Church, Director of Communications - cameron@dexdsl.org
Sebastian Suarez-Solis, Artistic Director - seb@dexdsl.org
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ABOUT DEX
Dex Digital Sample Library ("dex") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building an always-free, CC-BY 4.0 library of artist-made video and audio for reuse and remix with attribution. dex treats its initiatives as capture events for public cultural infrastructure, publishing cinematic sessions, reusable media, and field materials so artists, filmmakers, educators, and developers can build without paywalls or permission barriers. Current dex activity includes its core collection, the new dexDRONES wing for film-quality aerial assets, residencies and festival captures, and broader efforts to expand what open moving-image and sound libraries can make possible. dex is based in Florida, with hubs in Los Angeles and DC/Baltimore, and operates free, forever by design. Learn more at dexdsl.org.