GO4 app is deliberately crippled, waypoint removed...

digiteye · Oct 9, 2018

I haven't found much of anything on YouTube about waypoint function of the Mavic2, except for the hyperlapse waypoint mode, which is not the same.

However, I stumbled on this German language video where the guy demonstrates waypoint in his mavic2 pro.
The waypoint icon is clearly visible in his menu and from 2:33 in the video.

Curiously we, average folks, don't have the feature. Obviously because DJI has removed it from the app, even though it existed!
By asking how this was possible, the guy answered that he's got the app (and I guess the drone also for promotion) directly from DJI. He didn't know when the feature would be made public if ever...

I think this is outrageous. A very important feature has been removed from paying customers. Waypoint is one of the best technique to achieve cinematic footage, for the speed, curves, gimbal angle etc. could be set before the mission.

We should demand the feature to be reinstalled.

See for yourself.

Meta4 · Oct 9, 2018

digiteye said:
I think this is outrageous. A very important feature has been removed from paying customers. Waypoint is one of the best technique to achieve cinematic footage, for the speed, curves, gimbal angle etc. could be set before the mission.
We should demand the feature to be reinstalled.

DJI have never implemented waypoint flying very well.
If you need waypoints, simply use Litchi and do it properly.

digiteye · Oct 9, 2018

Meta4 said:
DJI have never implemented waypoint flying very well.
If you need waypoints, simply use Litchi and do it properly.

I have Litchi, however I am worried about using it. I've lost my Air in a litchi waypoint mission and I still don't know what has really happened.

Meta4 · Oct 9, 2018

digiteye said:
I have Litchi, however I am worried about using it. I've lost my Air in a litchi waypoint mission and I still don't know what has really happened.

Litchi is extremely reliable.
The biggest problem with Litchi is that it puts the drone exactly where you program it - and some users don't program it correctly.
It may be possible to work out what happened to your Air from the recorded flight data and the Litchi flight info.

Mikero · Oct 9, 2018

The Mavic 2 manual states that waypoints are "coming soon".
Owners should read the manual.

digiteye · Oct 9, 2018

Mikero said:
The Mavic 2 manual states that waypoints are "coming soon".
Owners should read the manual.

Hell, I have to do it then [emoji6] Quite strange though that a manual tells about a missing or upcoming feature, it has another purpose, mainly explaining the existing features. Anyway, knowing now that the feature exists, not sure why they removed it.

gnirtS · Oct 9, 2018

If you bothered to read the manual its got a big "COMING SOON" for waypoints.

So like a lot of features it was buggy and not finished in time for release. Don't see how you can argue its crippled for commercial reasons given that.

digiteye · Oct 9, 2018

gnirtS said:
If you bothered to read the manual its got a big "COMING SOON" for waypoints.

So like a lot of features it was buggy and not finished in time for release. Don't see how you can argue its crippled for commercial reasons given that.

I've watched the video where it worked fine, yet it's not included in the app. That's how.

gnirtS · Oct 9, 2018

Because most likely of a fairly severe bug that meant its not safe for public release. And withdrawn at the last minute until fixed hence why the manual still has it and "COMING SOON".
It may amaze you but when devices are rushed to a specific release date vs when finished not all features work as intended for all users.

A sample size of 1 is worthless.

parkgt · Oct 9, 2018

Meta4 said:
DJI have never implemented waypoint flying very well.
If you need waypoints, simply use Litchi and do it properly.

The Waypoint results with Litchi are pretty pathetic right now. They admit they have a problem with the M2 and say they are working to fix it. Very jerky trough the turns and the framing is very sloppy.

Robert Granata · Oct 9, 2018

parkgt said:
The Waypoint results with Litchi are pretty pathetic right now. They admit they have a problem with the M2 and say they are working to fix it. Very jerky trough the turns and the framing is very sloppy.

During the beta testing of Litchi I reported this jerky panning to them and their response was that it was a problem that DJI would have to solve with a firmware update. It may have something to do with the "pan follow" function of the gimbal and maybe why DJI hasn't released their waypoint mode yet, IMHO.

kilomikebravo · Oct 9, 2018

That’s too bad Robert, after reading many Litchi posts, I thought it did a pretty good job and was about to give it a try. Guess I’ll wait for the next update, thanks for the tip.

Robert Granata · Oct 9, 2018

kilomikebravo said:
That’s too bad Robert, after reading many Litchi posts, I thought it did a pretty good job and was about to give it a try. Guess I’ll wait for the next update, thanks for the tip.

I don't mean to put you off of it. It's still the best waypoint app out there. For me most of the problem seems to be in panning left (ccw) at cruising speeds. It sometimes shows up panning right while cruising, but I still get tons of cinematic shots at lower speeds with slower pans and no one has anything like the Mission Hub for pre-planning and editing your missions on your PC.

parkgt · Oct 9, 2018

Robert Granata said:
I don't mean to put you off of it. It's still the best waypoint app out there. For me most of the problem seems to be in panning left (ccw) at cruising speeds. It sometimes shows up panning right while cruising, but I still get tons of cinematic shots at lower speeds with slower pans and no one has anything like the Mission Hub for pre-planning and editing your missions on your PC.

How do you deal with the sloppy framing? The point I aim for is all over the frame during any transitions in pitch or yaw.

NyJosh · Oct 9, 2018

Ease up on the conspiracies. I work in a software engineering environment and can 100% confirm that what usually happens is we’re locked into an immovable release date and things are going swell and a week or two out we discover a bug that absolutely can’t be released because it’s just that bad.

Since we can’t push back the release, we just nix the feature and announce it’ll be out in a future release.

You get the comfort of knowing the feature is in the works and we get time to make sure it doesn’t destroy your machine in a worst case scenario.

Robert Granata · Oct 9, 2018

parkgt said:
How do you deal with the sloppy framing? The point I aim for is all over the frame during any transitions in pitch or yaw.

I have re-run missions I ran with the Mavic Pro on the M2P and I haven't noticed any difference in the framing, except not as wide a FOV.

Mr. Salty · Oct 9, 2018

digiteye said:
We should demand the feature to be reinstalled.

So it's in a beta version of the app. If it's buggy and not ready for public release and it caused you to lose your Mavic 2 you'd be bellyaching that DJI was using us as beta testers for their software.

parkgt · Oct 9, 2018

Robert Granata said:
I have re-run missions I ran with the Mavic Pro on the M2P and I haven't noticed any difference in the framing, except not as wide a FOV.

So are you saying that your framing is precise or that it is just as bad as on the MP?

Robert Granata · Oct 10, 2018

parkgt said:
So are you saying that your framing is precise or that it is just as bad as on the MP?

I'm saying that it is precisely the same as the MP. What app are you using that has this "precise" framing you speak of?

yycguy · Oct 10, 2018

digiteye said:
I haven't found much of anything on YouTube about waypoint function of the Mavic2, except for the hyperlapse waypoint mode, which is not the same.

However, I stumbled on this German language video where the guy demonstrates waypoint in his mavic2 pro.
The waypoint icon is clearly visible in his menu and from 2:33 in the video.

Curiously we, average folks, don't have the feature. Obviously because DJI has removed it from the app, even though it existed!
By asking how this was possible, the guy answered that he's got the app (and I guess the drone also for promotion) directly from DJI. He didn't know when the feature would be made public if ever...

I think this is outrageous. A very important feature has been removed from paying customers. Waypoint is one of the best technique to achieve cinematic footage, for the speed, curves, gimbal angle etc. could be set before the mission.

We should demand the feature to be reinstalled.

See for yourself.

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