For the benefit of anyone who is thinking of getting Litchi and who have found this thread and then gone to the end, here is my final report 3 weeks after buying the app.
My verdict is that it has become an essential part of my Mavic videography system just because of waypoint flying using MissionHub. I have got much more pleasing footage than I ever got by flying manually. To be fair though I never got used to the DJI intelligent flight modes and they would have helped me. To answer my first post, it is obviously therefore very good value for money, for me at least.
It is a pity that DJI do not include this functionality in the official app because although Litchi is inexpensive compared to the cost of the Mavic one should look at it the other way round and say because the Mavic is so expensive it should come with a comprehensive system of control - ie a great app. I do agree with the points that mikemoose55 made earlier in the thread when he said DJI are more focused on releasing new products than on ironing out bugs and wrinkles in existing ones. In some ways this was excusable when they were just starting out as they had to use all their resources to keep ahead of everyone and build their dominant position. However they are there now and I think they could still continue to innovate but at the same time expand existing product support. I bought one of the very first DJI drones in the UK and like many others thought they should release an aftermarket gimbal for it as we all quickly realised it was near useless without one. Instead they just released a new model with a gimbal and left us early adopters to our own devices. It was excusable in hindsight, as I said, they were having to expand as fast as possible then but they should do better now. It is the same with the app. As long as Go4 works then they have not seen the need to develop it. Fortunately we have Litchi, although by using it I am probably flying outside the terms of the DJI care package I purchased.
Given that I cannot see DJI changing their behaviour any time soon there is no choice but to use Litchi and become proficient in it. Litchi also has its wrinkles but it's one saving grace is that it seems to be consistent in it's operation so with quite a bit of trial end error you can get exactly what you want. Using Interpolate mode in Missions I have got really smooth and dare I say it, professional looking sequences.
I have done all my learning and experimentation in an area around my house and at the risk of being flamed by the drone police I have learned how to fine tune everything by sending the Mavic up, starting the mission and just letting it get on with it on its own. Dare I say I have flown nearly the same mission but for minor tweaks so many times that now I do not even look at the aircraft but just sit and wait for it to descend into my garden when I take control again and land it manually. I should say though that I can hear it at all times and am always alert to where it is on the mission. If anything went wrong I am confident I would realise and be able to take control within a few seconds. It is weird though just sitting at the garden table having a coffee and maybe reading my tablet while a little UAV buzzes around above
So to sum up, Litchi has taken my footage up to another level. The control systems of autonomous flying are at a very early stage but I look forward to a rapid rate of development especially when the tech becomes small and light enough to permit an AI based system to take control !
My verdict is that it has become an essential part of my Mavic videography system just because of waypoint flying using MissionHub. I have got much more pleasing footage than I ever got by flying manually. To be fair though I never got used to the DJI intelligent flight modes and they would have helped me. To answer my first post, it is obviously therefore very good value for money, for me at least.
It is a pity that DJI do not include this functionality in the official app because although Litchi is inexpensive compared to the cost of the Mavic one should look at it the other way round and say because the Mavic is so expensive it should come with a comprehensive system of control - ie a great app. I do agree with the points that mikemoose55 made earlier in the thread when he said DJI are more focused on releasing new products than on ironing out bugs and wrinkles in existing ones. In some ways this was excusable when they were just starting out as they had to use all their resources to keep ahead of everyone and build their dominant position. However they are there now and I think they could still continue to innovate but at the same time expand existing product support. I bought one of the very first DJI drones in the UK and like many others thought they should release an aftermarket gimbal for it as we all quickly realised it was near useless without one. Instead they just released a new model with a gimbal and left us early adopters to our own devices. It was excusable in hindsight, as I said, they were having to expand as fast as possible then but they should do better now. It is the same with the app. As long as Go4 works then they have not seen the need to develop it. Fortunately we have Litchi, although by using it I am probably flying outside the terms of the DJI care package I purchased.
Given that I cannot see DJI changing their behaviour any time soon there is no choice but to use Litchi and become proficient in it. Litchi also has its wrinkles but it's one saving grace is that it seems to be consistent in it's operation so with quite a bit of trial end error you can get exactly what you want. Using Interpolate mode in Missions I have got really smooth and dare I say it, professional looking sequences.
I have done all my learning and experimentation in an area around my house and at the risk of being flamed by the drone police I have learned how to fine tune everything by sending the Mavic up, starting the mission and just letting it get on with it on its own. Dare I say I have flown nearly the same mission but for minor tweaks so many times that now I do not even look at the aircraft but just sit and wait for it to descend into my garden when I take control again and land it manually. I should say though that I can hear it at all times and am always alert to where it is on the mission. If anything went wrong I am confident I would realise and be able to take control within a few seconds. It is weird though just sitting at the garden table having a coffee and maybe reading my tablet while a little UAV buzzes around above
So to sum up, Litchi has taken my footage up to another level. The control systems of autonomous flying are at a very early stage but I look forward to a rapid rate of development especially when the tech becomes small and light enough to permit an AI based system to take control !
