2 Pro A different use of Litchi

[RadioFlyerMan]

I used Litchi to create 2d and 3d objects and displayed the flight paths in their real world settings.

 

[BigAl07]

LOVE that you did. That's excellent work and so interesting to watch it "come to life" like that.

Thanks for sharing

 

[MavRik]

I used Litchi to create 2d and 3d objects and displayed the flight paths in their real world settings.

So cool...so original.....so BadA**! Excellent flight!

 

[GFields]

Awesome!

 

[MS Coast]

Well, I think I might understand some of the process and the math, but what I do not understand is how you orchestrated the appearance of that hummingbird at about 1:40 in just right location.

That's very impressive work and a wonderful video.

 

[Mescom]

I like it. Nice job.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

Thanks, everyone. At my age of 76, I did have trouble with the trig functions and coordinate rotation. And the humming bird was simply an unexpected bonus.

 

[HeliRon69]

Great video! First time I've seen anything like that!

 

[umanbean]

Wow... I am completely. And totally. WOWed!!! Amazing. Awesome. Heck I'm running out of superlatives. Great job by you and your crew.

 

[scro]

I'm sure something fun could be done with hyperlapse, lighting, time exposures at dusk. I'm thinking footage of the drone, with light trails or something like that. Maybe an orbiting shot taken from a second drone with synthesized light trails superimposed on the video? Could start to get technical!

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I'm sure something fun could be done with hyperlapse, lighting, time exposures at dusk. I'm thinking footage of the drone, with light trails or something like that. Maybe an orbiting shot taken from a second drone with synthesized light trails superimposed on the video? Could start to get technical!

I had an idea to do a similar thing. The problem is the animation of the light trails. I want to see a progressive light path developing in a video…kinda like a prolonged exposure while shooting a video, not a picture. I didn’t pursue it yet.
I did try a Timelapse, but all I got was a series of light pulses as short segments. To put together an animated path would be a lot of work making combined clips of many pictures. So I put the project aside for now to spend time finishing my Sky Art project.
Because you brought it up, I’ll take another look at it.

 

[scro]

Yes, thats the bit I can't quite work out yet, euther. How to get light trails as if it was a time exposure of the whole flight, but then show that in a video with the drone progressively "painting" the 3d image!? One way might be to shoot a standard video and then progressively stack the video frames together. If they are dark then you should just get the drone lights persisting across frames, but then that would lack any background scenery which would "make" the shot. Maybe a dusk shot with a little bit of ambient light still and no drone, and then another with the drone/lights and a black background and blend the 2 video clips

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

Yes, thats the bit I can't quite work out yet, euther. How to get light trails as if it was a time exposure of the whole flight, but then show that in a video with the drone progressively "painting" the 3d image!? One way might be to shoot a standard video and then progressively stack the video frames together. If they are dark then you should just get the drone lights persisting across frames, but then that would lack any background scenery which would "make" the shot. Maybe a dusk shot with a little bit of ambient light still and no drone, and then another with the drone/lights and a black background and blend the 2 video clips

Yes, stacking might work to preserve the path as it progresses. May use freeze frames… dunno.

I’ve never done this but a simple test would be to park my my M2P at 300 feet, camera pointing straight down with a slow shutter speed. When the sun is low the ground should provide a dark background. Then have my wife fly her MPP, with the Arc V on, at 100 feet through the field of view. Then see what happens. And see if stacking would work.

If it works, then move on to more elaborate flight paths.

 

[Sam36401]

I used Litchi to create 2d and 3d objects and displayed the flight paths in their real world settings.

I understand the first part. Litchi is a fabulous app!
I dont understand how you capture the flight of the 1st drone using the 2nd.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I understand the first part. Litchi is a fabulous app!
I dont understand how you capture the flight of the 1st drone using the 2nd.

The process of displaying a flight path from GO4 into its real world setting is a convoluted process. But it all centers around using Google Earth Pro (GEP).

1. The first thing is to convert the TXT file to a CSV along with a gpx file using TXTlogToCSVtool.
2. I load the gpx file into GEP after some modifications I perform using an Excel macro to bring the path down to ground level. For some reason, the Home point is never at ground level, so I force it by modifying the data in the gpx file.
3. Once the flight path is displayed in GEP, I design an animated view of the path, for example a POI. GEP works on the principle of view points with range, direction and view angle. I set the GEP view point at the flight’s Home point and then play with the range and camera angle to give me the view of the path that I want. For a POI, I use two points located at the Home point, but with 90 degrees difference in their direction.
4. I then “animate” and record the flight path in GEP by navigating between the two points, thus simulating a POI and capturing it using GEP's Movie tool. I call this the “object clip”. Since I just want the image of the path, I first overlay a background image that is black, leaving only the white lines of the flight path.
5. Then I take the parameters for the view I created in GEP in step 4 and derive drone flight parameters for radius (distance), altitude, camera angle, etc. Then I fly the POI, recording a video that I call the “viewing clip”.
6. Finally in post production, I join the two clips together and adjust for speed. The object clip is modified with a luma mask to preserve the flight path as an overlay of the viewing clip. The resulting combined clip animates the flight path in it’s original location.

I use other path animations such as a sideways flyby, Spotlight pointed at the home point, flying straight forward or backward with zero camera angle. Each technique requires designing the appropriate views in GEP and then translating those views into actual flight parameters for the viewing flight.

Simple!

Regarding using the flight record from GO4 even though the flight is controlled by Litchi... I have failed to retrieve and use flight records generated by Litchi. The software I use to manage my flight records just does not work with it. So I rely on only the flight records of GO4.
To fly a Litchi mission and record it in GO4 requires that I use two controllers, master and slave. A slave will never record a flight record, just the master will do that. With that in mind, I use the slave controller to run Litchi and execute the mission. I use the master running GO4 simply to record the flight record, not to control the flight. Strangely enough, when a Litchi mission is executed by the slave, the Waypoint mission is immediately instantiated in GO4. That's the only way I know how to get the flight path.

I use two drones because my MPP has two controllers, and my M2P simply because it records in HLG which I prefer for my videos.

 

[lilewis]

WOWOWOW!

 

[RobH2]

Fasinating...truly! Nice work...

 

[jmaganaski]

Very impressive work. Well done!