so i picked up a mini 3 pro last week mostly on impulse because it was on sale and ive always wanted one. i dont really know anyone else who flies so i have no one to ask. i watched a few youtube videos but they all seem to assume you already know stuff. like whats the first thing i should actually do before flying? do i need to register it somewhere? i live in the US. also should i even bother with the ND filters it came with or is that more of an advanced thing

sorry if these are dumb questions, genuinely starting from zero here

not dumb at all, everyone starts somewhere. first thing ? yes you need to register with the FAA if it weighs over 250g, the mini 3 pro does so go do that before you fly, its like $5 and takes 10 minutes on the FAA drone zone website. you'll get a registration number you put on the drone.

for the ND filters just leave them in the box for now honestly. learn to fly first, get comfortable with the sticks, understand how the drone behaves. the filters are for when you start caring about video quality and stuff like shutter speed and motion blur. thats a whole other rabbit hole and you dont need it on day one. just fly in beginner mode for a while and keep it low and close until it feels natural

also find a big empty field for your first few flights, away from people and trees. sounds obvious but i learned the hard way that "looks open enough" is not the same as actually open enough when you panic and lose orientation lol. the mini 3 pro is pretty forgiving but still