Cable cam like 3dr Solo?

[pogopilot]

I have the original 3dr Solo and it has a great feature that I want to know if it can be "replicated" on the MP called "cable cam". Essentially I want to be able to set up say 2 or three waypoints that are at different height and angles from each other. I then want to be able to go back and forth from the first way point to the last BUT not on an autonomous mission. This way I can follow say a snowboard trail asong a designated route at the speed that I want but focus my efforst on the camera . This is similar to "course lock" in DGI go but course lock only goes in one direction (albeit back and forth) and does not allow for changes in altitude. Any suggestions ?

 

[cobra46]

Course lock does allow for changes in altitude or distance from the subject but only manually.

 

[twitchyzero]

why i kept my Solos...some of those smart shots simply cannot be recreated in other platforms.

Mavic is more of my travel/hiking hawk eyes...if i want something cinematic I still rely on the black bird.

I'm sure litchi may help.

 

[quick_dry]

Did you find a solution? I'm another "I wish my Solo's brains were in my Mavic".

 

[Big Fil]

Would be nice and there is no technical reason they can't implement this. Like you said I think closest you'd be able to get is Course lock or setting up a series of waypoints up and down the same path and setting it to free mode. Not quite the same though.

 

[Kilrah]

Autopilot had that mode back in the Inspire days already so most likely has it for the Mavic too.
Autopilot - Hangar

 

[Lohmatij]

I use autopilot and here is the closest thing to cablecam I could get out of it:
1. Set mode to Waypoint.
2. Fly to the point A and click C1 button on controller. Autopilot remembers this point and gimbal tilt/yaw.
3. Fly to point B and click C1 again to remember it.
4. You can set up more points if you want to (I tried up to 7, but you can do much more than that).
5. Set control mode to Advanced. Mission type to Joystick.
6. After Engaging the sequence mavic moves to point A and then you can use your left RC joystick to fly along the recorded route.

While it all works on paper, I'm not getting decent results yet. I feel that Mavic doesn't follow the points precisely and all experience is kinda "wobbly". I should probably tune the app settings to make it stick to the route.

 

[dwallersv]

I'm new to this, so forgive me if I'm missing part of the concept here.

I read all this as the following: Simulate a camera running along a cable between two points in 3D, specified as location and altitude, at a set speed. You then concentrate on the filming, aiming the camera at will as it runs along this "cable", with the ability to adjust speed if necessary.

Is that right, or was there some other piece of functionality I'm not getting?

You can do this in Litchi with two waypoints, set mission parameters with cruising speed 0, manual control or rotations and gimbal.

You can then run the mission, and go back and forth between the two waypoints controlling speed with pitch control (as usual), full camera control through yaw and gimbal tilt.

You guys all know this stuff better than me, so I must be missing a key feature here that a cable cam needs.

 

[wsalopek]

Thought I'd revive this thread for those of us who would like our DJI drone to replicate the 3DR Solo's "Smart Shots".

Has there been any more progress?

Thanks...

--

Bill

 

[Lohmatij]

Thought I'd revive this thread for those of us who would like our DJI drone to replicate the 3DR Solo's "Smart Shots".

Has there been any more progress?

Thanks...

--

Bill

I bought Autopilot and studied it in&out. Unfortunately, I can't get any good results, which are even close to what 3dr was doing with its stock software. The main reason is lack of 360-degree gimbal — where Solo could simply pan the camera, my Mavic has to turn around and drift.

All at all camera responsiveness is really slow. I wanted to perform even the most simple moves, but most of them fail. For example, the other day I was shooting a concert and I tried to program the simplest move I could imagine. The drone was starting with a stage level (like 2-3 meters high), and manually accending to 100 meters. I programmed autopilot to tilt camera down, to keep stage in frame at all times. There was no panning and no flying involved, just tilting the camera while I was increasing the height. No matter what settings I tried, it failed —it could never keep the subject in focus. The whole system is just too slow and cumbersome, it can't catch up when the drone is going up, and it couldn't catch up when the drone was going down, it always felt like a student camera operator on his first class assignment, always missing the subject: really frustrating.

I also tried to program more complex moves (like the drone is going on a straight line and keeping something in focus), and it never worked – there is always this high degree of sluggishness which prevents you to achieve a really good cinematic move.

The thing is that for good beautiful cinematic moves you need to fly close to the subject, you need to be able to pan/tilt fluidly, but I'm afraid you can't that with Mavic.

 

[wsalopek]

Well thanks for that thoughtful reply. (Just FYI, the Solo doesn't have a 360 gimbal...the Solo must yaw to keep the subject in frame, just like the Mavic/Phantom's/Spark)

It's truly astonishing that no other drone or software has come along to at least try to emulate the Smart Shots of the 3DR Solo.

I keep wanting to simplify my "drone garage" and eliminate the Solo...but it just works SO well compared to the alternatives, I just can't do it.

The Smart Shots capability is really all about software, right? Yes, the Solo has a second 1ghz Linux computer on board, but we are talking about (apparently) simple camera moves, etc...just doesn't seem like it should be that hard for another drone to do the same thing.

 

[Kilrah]

Which is why as menitoned there are already apps doing it. Autopilot calls that "zip line".

 

[wsalopek]

Kilrah...thanks...it's just that there haven't been any positive reports from the DJI world...or, experiences from Solo pilots favorably comparing Autopilot to Solo.

The other problem is Autopilot is iOS only. But that said, I'd be willing to buy an iOS device should Autopilot provide goo-to-excellent "Smart Shot" functionality.

After reading this page...yeesh...the learning curve looks steep:

Flight School - Hangar

Plus it's only TWO points. Solo has "multi point cable cam" which can do curves and such...more capable than a 2-point cable cam...and it's so simple. Fly to a point/altitude...point the gimbal at your subject...record the point...fly to the next point and to the same, etc. Then just let Solo fly it while recording video (or the user can control the gimbal/yaw if they like).

 

[wsalopek]

Zace,

Yeah, that's interesting.

Can you also record waypoints (including height and direction the aircraft points) along with gimbal tilt at each point, while you fly, using Litchi? (I realize being able to plan the mission beforehand has advantages, but sometimes you need to be in the field before realizing just what kind of framing you want.)

Thanks...

--

Bill

 

[Vegasrobbi]

Solo runs multiple processers in the gimbal and vehicle to get cinematic shots. It's unlikely anything DJI currently has will get near Solo's abilities.

The acceleration/deceleration of Solo and the gimbal tilt, the smoothness waypoints are flown and ability to stay on subject is still unmatched IMO.

I tried GO, Litchi and Autopilot and could not get good results with my Phantoms. Here's an old video comparing Solo and DJI.

 

[Staplehawk]

Hey crew, New to DJI and this forum. Thanks for having me. I'm an old skool Solo guy that was drawn away by the Haseblad cam. I really miss cable cam in the Solo, which is why I kept it. The biggest drawback for me in creating waypoints beforehand is you really can't get the shots framed perfectly unless you are in the field. I'm not seeing great results in waypoints doing that 3DR smooth spline curve travel AND the camera spline curve into the next framed shot. There would be no way to get all that setup from a mapdown view.The other setback is, trying to plan 18 holes on a golf course without even knowing the elevations and how that ultimately looks in my shot, is just impossible to do beforehand. I'm filming an exclusive golf course and all 18 holes next week and I'm seriously considering bringing my Solo to the shoot. This sucks because this Mavic 2 Pro is otherwise great!. 3DR created their cable cam built off the foundation of Waypoints. it just has a different interface to it. I'm really looking forward to someone creating this.

 

[Kilrah]

As mentioned higher there are 3rd party apps that do it for the DJI birds. The M2 is probably too new for most to support it yet though.

 

[Staplehawk]

Did I miss something other than Litchi, mentioned? I'm currently on their Beta team.

 

[Lohmatij]

Hey crew, New to DJI and this forum. Thanks for having me. I'm an old skool Solo guy that was drawn away by the Haseblad cam. I really miss cable cam in the Solo, which is why I kept it. The biggest drawback for me in creating waypoints beforehand is you really can't get the shots framed perfectly unless you are in the field. I'm not seeing great results in waypoints doing that 3DR smooth spline curve travel AND the camera spline curve into the next framed shot. There would be no way to get all that setup from a mapdown view.The other setback is, trying to plan 18 holes on a golf course without even knowing the elevations and how that ultimately looks in my shot, is just impossible to do beforehand. I'm filming an exclusive golf course and all 18 holes next week and I'm seriously considering bringing my Solo to the shoot. This sucks because this Mavic 2 Pro is otherwise great!. 3DR created their cable cam built off the foundation of Waypoints. it just has a different interface to it. I'm really looking forward to someone creating this.

I tried to achieve what you need with Autopilot app, it lets you to record a route on the fly.

The thing I didn’t like is how slow it is. The drone pans and tilts so “waxy” you can’t use it for anything.

 

[Bhally]

Old Solo guy here to and was amazed that the Mavic Pro did not control gimbal pitch, I have never seen anything else out there that comes close to the Solo's cablecam!