Method for specific flight path

[twjroe]

Hi,

I'm quite new to drones but i've had a request for a video where I need to start low, fly towards a tall building in a curved plane, gently rising to 17m (a few metres short of the building) and then pan round 90 degrees towards a view of the city. Can anyone suggest the best way to do this? I was planning to use tripod mode but then I thought waypoints might be good? Can I use both at the same time? Any help appreciated!

Thanks

Tom

 

[tevek]

Depending on your level of experience and not withstanding any flying restrictions in the flying area you could do either. If you are close enough to the subject to check for any obstacles, you could plan a WP mission with POIs to create a mission to do what you are planning. Alternatively if you are close enough you could also just free fly in tripod and run a couple of flights to see how the video turns out. If you haven't used Litchi (as opposed to pre flying the mission with the Go app) before, maybe just use tripod and play it safe.

 

[wa5tef]

Use Litchi and the waypoint feature. Easy to do if you’re familiar with Litchi.
Good luck
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[F3honda4me]

I'd say just do it manually in tripod, or use litchi.

 

[twjroe]

Thanks for you replies, I'll look into litchi. Do you know if there is a way in tripod mode to set a path towards a certain point and then pan the camera whilst continuing to travel along that path? (Without the drone just moving the way the camera faces). It works well in course lock mode but I lose the nice steady smoothness of tripod mode.

 

[BigAl07]

Do you know if there is a way in tripod mode to set a path towards a certain point and then pan the camera whilst continuing to travel along that path? (Without the drone just moving the way the camera faces). It works well in course lock mode but I lose the nice steady smoothness of tripod mode.

Practice makes perfect. You'd be amazed at the things you can do once you get familiar with the aircraft and how to fly it smoothly.

 

[ftttu]

I pretty much only fly Litchi waypoint missions now, but I use DJI Go4 just for regular flying. What I like about Litchi is that you can plan your waypoint missions on your PC instead of having to just do it on smartphones or tablets.

I got Litchi on sale, but I would have purchased it at full price. DJI has a free app called "DJI GS Pro", which was free when I got it. I've only used it a few times, but even if it is better than Litchi, I will still use Litchi for the ability of planning missions on my PC.

 

[twjroe]

I pretty much only fly Litchi waypoint missions now, but I use DJI Go4 just for regular flying. What I like about Litchi is that you can plan your waypoint missions on your PC instead of having to just do it on smartphones or tablets.

I got Litchi on sale, but I would have purchased it at full price. DJI has a free app called "DJI GS Pro", which was free when I got it. I've only used it a few times, but even if it is better than Litchi, I will still use Litchi for the ability of planning missions on my PC.

Thanks for this ftttu. With Litchi waypoints can you dial in heights? for example I need to start the video at 2m, then fly up/forwards to height of 20m and then forwards another 100m. Is this possible or do waypoints not work with height?

 

[ftttu]

Thanks for this ftttu. With Litchi waypoints can you dial in heights? for example I need to start the video at 2m, then fly up/forwards to height of 20m and then forwards another 100m. Is this possible or do waypoints not work with height?

Watch Litchi waypoint mission videos on Youtube to show you. Quickly, lets say you have the map of the area you want to shoot on your screen. You click on the screen where you want the waypoints and points of interest. Each waypoint and point of interest can be modified to what you want - which way the bird is facing, speed, height above/below first waypoint, etc... I could go into some detail, but youtube videos will get you going pretty fast.

 

[tevek]

Thanks for this ftttu. With Litchi waypoints can you dial in heights? for example I need to start the video at 2m, then fly up/forwards to height of 20m and then forwards another 100m. Is this possible or do waypoints not work with height?

With Litchi, that mission is a piece of cake and you can add POIs to have the camera focus on or pan as you move through the mission. You can also adjust your gimbal settings in the DJI app (advanced section) to create a smooth panning effect whilst moving between the Points of interest.

 

[twjroe]

Thanks guys, very useful, that's just what I'm after!

 

[Rudder Bug]

Be careful when planning a Litchi mission. I had my first crash yesterday. Aircraft flew the whole mission wonderfully but I had set a wrong altitude for my last point, so into the trees it went. Since I was wearing gloves, I couldn't hit the Sport mode switch fast enough. The outcome ain't bad as I got away with 3 broken props and one mounting plate, which I just ordered. Good lesson learned!

 

[F3honda4me]

Yea the one bad thing about litchi waypoint missions is that there is no object avoidance so if you don't plan it right, the drone will fly right into whatever is there.

 

[ftttu]

I haven't been keeping up on what's going on with Litchi and drones in general like I used to, but I seem to remember there is object avoidance on waypoint missions. I remember a video posted in this forum a while back where the flyer set his waypoints too low, and his bird missed numerous objects on its crazy journey back home. I can't remember the details, but I think it avoided a barbed wire fence, bushes and house if not more.

 

[BigAl07]

I haven't been keeping up on what's going on with Litchi and drones in general like I used to, but I seem to remember there is object avoidance on waypoint missions. I remember a video posted in this forum a while back where the flyer set his waypoints too low, and his bird missed numerous objects on its crazy journey back home. I can't remember the details, but I think it avoided a barbed wire fence, bushes and house if not more.

I saw that same video. The UAS was able to "meander' it's way around brush/Cacti and all kinds of objects albeit very slowly.

 

[dwallersv]

Yea the one bad thing about litchi waypoint missions is that there is no object avoidance so if you don't plan it right, the drone will fly right into whatever is there.

Untrue. OA is fully functional.

The problem is that with Litchi missions the heading is quite often different than the course the aircraft is flying, so the OA cameras aren't pointed in the direction of flight, resulting in crashes.

 

[dwallersv]

I haven't been keeping up on what's going on with Litchi and drones in general like I used to, but I seem to remember there is object avoidance on waypoint missions. I remember a video posted in this forum a while back where the flyer set his waypoints too low, and his bird missed numerous objects on its crazy journey back home. I can't remember the details, but I think it avoided a barbed wire fence, bushes and house if not more.

Here ya go... I watched the whole thing again!

 

[F3honda4me]

Untrue. OA is fully functional.

The problem is that with Litchi missions the heading is quite often different than the course the aircraft is flying, so the OA cameras aren't pointed in the direction of flight, resulting in crashes.

I stand corrected! My apologies

 

[F3honda4me]

Here ya go... I watched the whole thing again!

That was a pretty awesome video.

 

[Rudder Bug]

Untrue. OA is fully functional.

The problem is that with Litchi missions the heading is quite often different than the course the aircraft is flying, so the OA cameras aren't pointed in the direction of flight, resulting in crashes.

Exactly; the poor P4 was just going sideways and blindly hit the trees. Good lesson learned and it will fly again tomorrow.