Keyframing position of drone and gimbal

[Zackyd]

Hello, I am looking for a solution to program a cinematic path on a Mavic 2 pro and cant seem to find anything that works for my needs, external app or otherwise.
Basically looking for the functionality of what the hyperlapse appears to do but, with video.

I have no interest in preprogramming a flight via a map, but need to be able to fly the drone and frame my first shot and then keyframe/waypoint the current drone/gimbal position and the move the the next framed shot and repeat. One all the keyframes have been made, hit play and have the drone/controller/app interpolate the values between shots. This is how we program simple camera moves in 3D software, and having trouble understand how this is not a more desired feature for the cinematic drones.
Hoping there is some solution out there that I am unfamiliar/unaware of but I think I am out of luck. Looks like Autopilot does this but does not support the M2P...

Thanks for your input!

Z

 

[drone_video]

Have you tried litchi ? You didn’t mention it.

 

[Zackyd]

Have you tried litchi ? You didn’t mention it.

I do own Litchi, but to my knowledge it does not have this capability. I hope im wrong though! In Litchi you are working in a map view and zooming all the way in and selecting as best you can where the drone apears on the map and making sure the settings are all the same for alititude and gimbal.


Edit** I just saw that i can click the C1 button on the DJI waypoint and it looks like it makes the current position and gimbal so i think im nearly there. Looking forward to trying it out! Didnt seem like litchi has that functionality, but i hope im missing something.

 

[drone_video]

Im pretty sure it does what you want but some thought has to go into how your going to implement it.

At some point you may want to edit the flight plan and tweak the POI and flight curve sizes etc.

What you describe is possible but eventually editing the flight plan to make it a perfect flight may be required.

As a side note. Keep in mind your altitude in litchi and for that matter native GO4 waypoints and autopilot are altitudes above take off point. So keep that mind, basically keep the same take off point when changing batteries or if you save the flight plan and come back at a later time.

Litchi can do tons of stuff. I would study the software more on how to set POI . The main reason is you may want to keep the same POI when flying to multiple waypoints. Hard to do that by simply recording the camera & aircraft position. Give it a try and see how it works for you. Just wanted you to know that to get the results you might be expecting my not be possible with how you want to capture the waypoints. At least not on more complex fight plans or where the distance between the waypoints is large enough that the calculated movements take your POI out of the camera frame along some part of the flight plan.

I hope that helps. I hope I’m clear in what I’m in trying to get across.

 

[Zackyd]

I did a few tests today the DJI waypoints and was pretty disappointed. It did not produce anything remotely smooth, lots of jerking and without POI was very far off from the framed start and stop points.

As in 3D, having a targeted camera/POI is a large part of making a successful camera motion so I understand it takes effort and editing the path to get something usable with the drone and these apps.
But even for a small move between 2 keyframes and a target It was quite jerky. I will try out Litchi more as it seems to be far more mature and hopefully will lead to some usable cinematic footage that doesn't require major levels of stabilization. But looks like ill be sticking with flying it by hand

 

[wsalopek]

The 3DR Solo does this perfectly/beautifully.

 

[zappy54]

The 3DR Solo does this perfectly/beautifully.

Does 3DR Solo support Mavic 2 thanks

 

[FASTFJR]

Hello, I am looking for a solution to program a cinematic path on a Mavic 2 pro and cant seem to find anything that works for my needs, external app or otherwise.
Basically looking for the functionality of what the hyperlapse appears to do but, with video.

I have no interest in preprogramming a flight via a map, but need to be able to fly the drone and frame my first shot and then keyframe/waypoint the current drone/gimbal position and the move the the next framed shot and repeat. One all the keyframes have been made, hit play and have the drone/controller/app interpolate the values between shots. This is how we program simple camera moves in 3D software, and having trouble understand how this is not a more desired feature for the cinematic drones.
Hoping there is some solution out there that I am unfamiliar/unaware of but I think I am out of luck. Looks like Autopilot does this but does not support the M2P...

Thanks for your input!

Z

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't understand how you would do this without preprogramming

 

[parkgt]

Litchi does exactly what you desire. It may still not be as smooth as you want.

Look at Litchi help under Waypoints; towards the bottom it lists Cable Cam and how to do it.

 

[Thomas B]

Why not just use one of the hyperlapse modes and manually fly the mission?

 

[wsalopek]

Does 3DR Solo support Mavic 2 thanks

The 3DR Solo is a drone...not an app (not sure what you meant by "support Mavic 2")...it was popular a few years ago, then 3DR stopped making them for personal use (they continue to make them for commercial use). You can find them used for pretty cheap...a couple hundred dollars or less. They are FANTASTIC for doing what you want to do, which they call a "muilt-point cable cam."

3D Robotics Drone Forum

3D Robotics Solo Drone Information, Forum, Help and Community

www.3drpilots.com

 

[wsalopek]

There's a rumor that "Red Waypoint" can do it...there's a free version and a paid ($11) version.

RedWaypoint PRO for DJI drones - Apps on Google Play

Plan your flight, fly autonomously, focus on recording your videos

play.google.com

And I think someone else said that Autopilot (for iOS only...bummer) can do it:

Autopilot - Hangar

autoflight.hangar.com

That said, the Solo had an onboard linux "companion computer", which made the super smooth "smart shots" possible, and maybe that smoothness just can't quite be recreated with apps on a phone/tablet.

The "Multi Point Cable Cam" is what you are looking for:

Multipoint Cable cam: How-to + Tips and Tricks | 3DR

The Smart Shot to rule all shots: Multipoint Cable cam gives you even more confidence and creative control over your shots — control you simply can’t get with any other drone. Read on to learn the basics of using Multipoint Cable cam, then how to crack it open and set up jawbreaking shots and...

3dr.com

 

[wsalopek]

Just thought I'd bump this to see if anyone came across a solution. Hopefully, Zack the OP has been on the case and will report back.

--

Thanks...

 

[vindibona1]

I did a few tests today the DJI waypoints and was pretty disappointed. It did not produce anything remotely smooth, lots of jerking and without POI was very far off from the framed start and stop points.

As in 3D, having a targeted camera/POI is a large part of making a successful camera motion so I understand it takes effort and editing the path to get something usable with the drone and these apps.
But even for a small move between 2 keyframes and a target It was quite jerky. I will try out Litchi more as it seems to be far more mature and hopefully will lead to some usable cinematic footage that doesn't require major levels of stabilization. But looks like ill be sticking with flying it by hand

If Litchi doesn't work try Dronelink. It is more sophisticated than Litchi in terms of what it can do in flight.... but way harder to learn as there are so many nuances that you have to learn to do in the proper sequence. Also, it is ONLY programmed via computer/map.

 

[BigAl07]

No idea if this will help but it's worth a look:

Planning Drone Missions in Google Earth

Hi all, I posted last week about a free and open-source chrome extension that I made called the DroneHub Flight Planner. I made a tutorial video on how to use it and wanted to share with the community. Here is a link: The Flight Planner lets you create missions from Google Earth, then upload...

mavicpilots.com