Camera Control - Flight Modes

Citizen Flier · Jul 3, 2020

I'm looking at some of the flight modes and how the camera is controlled in flight.

In Waypoints mode the camera pitch can be adjusted, and points of interest added, etc. So it seems like the camera can't be controlled by the user in flight? Also, I see that Arc Mode does not permit any camera controls, leaving only point to point mode if you wish to add points of interest, gimbal pitch etc. Looks like you even have to pre set camera on/off at the specified waypoints. Doesn't leave much room for spontaneous camera commands once in flight? Any work-around for that?

What are the best modes to fly a preset course & be able to control camera in flight as a solo operator (as in no separate camera operator)? Thanks

Camino Ken · Jul 3, 2020

I have only used waypoints once and I think you can do it if you don’t specify a camera action. Mostly, I use Litchi which I know can do what you want. I think it only costs around $25 USD.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · Jul 4, 2020

Litchi is well worth it. They've been doing waypoint missions for years now, very mature features with refined functionality.

DJI is still kind of new to it, still getting the kinks worked out. Ironic, that, since the Litchi folk use the DJI SDK to create it.

Citizen Flier · Jul 5, 2020

Is it possible to import waypoints to Go4 App? I have a 30" apple monitor that displays Google Earth images in great detail. It would be helpful to create a series of waypoints from a highly detailed satellite view in GE, then export to Go4, but I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, & I suspect it just ain't possible. thnx

Not A Speck Of Cereal · Jul 5, 2020

Not into Go 4, as far as I know.

But Litchi does that very thing, using Google Earth Pro for mission planning on your desktop.

I haven't done it a lot and certainly not very recently, so verify this is the case before pulling the credit card out. Hopefully someone here will confirm.

Edit: I see now that this is in a thread where I already mentioned Litchi, so let me add this: I am in no way affiliated with them. I am only recommending them as a user.

Chris

Citizen Flier · Jul 5, 2020

Thanks. Litchi sounds impressive. But the reason I got the Smart Controller was to have all my gear be a matching proprietary brand. Drone, controller & software all made, tested and (hopefully) compatible by a single maker. As on my computer, I want to be sure that a third party app doesn't crash, or misbehave because it was not updated with the OS etc.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · Jul 5, 2020

Okay. But note (if I didn't say already) that Litchi makes their controller app using DJI's own SDK, which DJI offered to developers for this very reason: to be as compatible with their hardware as possible.

This is akin to Microsoft offering SDKs for Windows developers. It behooves the manufacturer for 3rd parties to develop for their platform (though in this example case, Windows isn't hardware).

You might want to get consensus from other Litchi users (I think there's a controller app section of these boards), but some of us believe that the Litchi folk are better at developing and testing their app against the hardware than DJI is.

Being the manufacture of the hardware is no guarantee that you're the best controller developer for it.

However, you do have the problem of 3rd party apps on the SC — I hear that it's not a smooth experience (Edit: which is a DJI problem, not a 3rd parties issue.)

Chris