Litchi vs Autopilot

[J_WaH]

Can I get some input into the pro's and con's of Litchi and Autopilot please?

I see a fair bit of talk on the forums about Litchi and not much about Autopilot.


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[HRTrulz]

Litchi is a similar app to the DJI app just with ability to set waypoints before you fly. It also available on iOS and Android.

AutoPilot uses a completely different to DJI Go but is very powerful due to the custom fly controller it uses. You can do very advanced stuff with it, just take a look at their videos. AutoPilot is only available on iOS


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[BudWalker]

The DJO Go App is the best if you're interested in analyzing and determining the cause of an incident. Autopilot is second best in this regard. Litchi records very little useful data when it comes to post incident analysis.

 

[MavicMo]

I was looking at both and decided on the Litchi. This is not to say I won't pick up AutoPilot later. BUT just starting out I read that Litchi was easier to use and more intuitive. AutoPilot while it had a steeper learning curve was much more "customizable" and in the end was a better tool.

I've not used Litchi with Mavic.. yet. But have been with my P4. It is an amazing tool. What I find it does really well is the Waypoint feature. It allows creation of some really nice, smooth videos with excellent/smooth transitions between POIs. To do manually what it does will take lots of practice. I've found that I spend less time editing videos I've shot with Litchi...

The thing is with Litchi and its Waypoints is that its great for doing a route you are familiar with. I'd recommend scouting the area you plan to fly first and ensure you are well aware of obstacles and varying heights/altitudes of objects before programming it in. You don't want to sit at home and plan it all out only to find they've put up a cell tower that wasn't on the map...

I still use the DJI GO app. It all depends what I'm doing. Even on the same outing I'll switch between the two apps...

 

[ElGuapo]

I am an advanced Autopilot user, AP is much more powerful than Litchi but it is a bit more complex to learn. Litchi is more user friendly very easy to learn. I like AP's waypoints better than Litchi's, in Litchi if you have an action at a waypoint and have a curve the action may not work if the aircraft has curve.

AP is also a comprehensive ground control station. It uses a "reference point" when you create missions. That means you can run the exact same mission in different locations by simply moving its reference point. You can even set the reference point to be an iPhone for following. That allows you do things like fly figure 8s or other complex patterns while following a car down the road. In this mode the aircraft adjusts its altitude based on terrain changes altitudes, providing the device you are using has a barometer. In another words if there is a 30ft incline on the road, the aircraft goes up when going up hill and down when going down hill.

AP also has "path inspector", means that you can fly the mission before you even go out there to see what the aircraft is going to do while runing the mission.

IMO Litchi is also a very good app but not as powerful as AP.

 

[sixxus]

Autopilot is simply incredible. If you do not have the need or want to run a complex mission (ie planning a waypoint mission around a golf course or for a real estate flyover) then you don't need it.
However, if you want to create truly professional videos and be able to control every nuance about how it flies and operates the camera, autopilot is it.
Litchi is good enough for most folks, but autopilot is the most fully featured suite on the market and is worth the dough. Additionally, as has been pointed out: Litchi doesn't log like Autopilot does, so in the event of an incident you may be partially hung out to dry unless you can recover the aircraft.

 

[BradBuskey]

Do your research and take small steps. Watch all the videos for both pieces of software. Hearsay is fine, but it doesnt give you stick time. Also, before stepping out into any 3rd party app, know the default one (DJI Go 4) inside and out.

I have both of the others listed, though I have not had a chance to try out Autopilot. I am still going through the documentation and "flight school" for it.

The one thing I use in Litchi is it's Pano function. It is a fire and forget function. Set up the rows and columns, and hit go. Waypoints are nice, and I need to dig further into them. I used DJI Go's Waypoints to fly the same route 3 times to get a good comparison between D-Cinelike, None and True Color. It worked out well, and gave me a flight path that was 99% the same all the way around. Litchi kept going off course towards the end, leaving me with too much stray footage. Have to look into that.

For Autopilot, Zipline looks like something I will use more than anything else.

 

[IcySparks]

FWIW Litchie is ~$25 US dollars for Andriod.

 

[ElGuapo]

FWIW Litchie is ~$25 US dollars for Andriod.

Was on sale ($11.99) When I bought it last month.
I already had AP and was not sure if I wanted to spend the money on Litchi.


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[ElGuapo]

For Autopilot, Zipline looks like something I will use more than anything else.

Zipline and Waypoint are the features are use the most in AP.
Follow is nice if it involves terrain altitude changes.


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[sdharris]

I have used Autopilot from the early P3 beta days and ordered then returned Litchi twice due to its limitations mainly in relation to how it handles focus points (in terms of the direction you want the camera pointed, not camera focus). I recently purchased Litchi for the third time and have decided to keep it as its 360 spherical mode is very good. Autopilot has an incredibly capable and customisable 360 spherical mode but Litchi is just that bit easier.

Autopilot is not a great free flight alternative to DJI GO though, the interface is a bit complicated and all words and numbers rather than graphical.

If you want to create really cinematic videos with plenty of customisation and you have an iOS device I would go with Autopilot, if you have Android and want a good alternative to DJI GO that can also produce nice results go with Litchi.