M2P Question about POI mode

[buckeye6]

I'm looking for an intelligent flight mode that's much like POI except I want to be able to fly freely and not be constrained to a circle. I know I can alter the POI's radius and altitude but that doesn't really meet my criteria. Ideally, I'd like to fly past the POI in a straight line and have the camera always looking at the POI regardless of where the drone is at any particular moment.

Perhaps a better way to describe this is being able to fly using Tap Fly to establish the course and altitude but then be able to identify the POI and have the camera always looking at that regardless of where I'm at on the flight path. I've tried this using Tap Fly Free mode but I'm not skilled enough to manually move the camera smoothly. My results are somewhat ok but I wish I could do better.

Maybe I just need to use tripod mode but that could be too slow. I don't think I can enable cinematic mode AND tap fly at the same time.

I'm open to any ideas...

TIA

 

[brett8883]

I'm looking for an intelligent flight mode that's much like POI except I want to be able to fly freely and not be constrained to a circle. I know I can alter the POI's radius and altitude but that doesn't really meet my criteria. Ideally, I'd like to fly past the POI in a straight line and have the camera always looking at the POI regardless of where the drone is at any particular moment.

Perhaps a better way to describe this is being able to fly using Tap Fly to establish the course and altitude but then be able to identify the POI and have the camera always looking at that regardless of where I'm at on the flight path. I've tried this using Tap Fly Free mode but I'm not skilled enough to manually move the camera smoothly. My results are somewhat ok but I wish I could do better.

Maybe I just need to use tripod mode but that could be too slow. I don't think I can enable cinematic mode AND tap fly at the same time.

I'm open to any ideas...

TIA

Multiple ways to do this but all with third party apps.

Litchi-Focus

The most direct way is with a mode in Litchi called “focus.” In focus mode the app will control the gimbal and the aircraft rotation to keep the camera fixed on the location of your choosing but you control everything else manually. You control the height, speed, and location manually while the app keeps the subject in the frame. This is the easiest and fastest method to set up. Focus keeps the angle of the aircraft to the subject based on GPS location data. It doesn’t work as well if your subject is very close as GPS isn’t perfectly accurate.

In focus mode you can disable the automatic aircraft rotation so that you control aircraft rotation but the app controls gimbal pitch. This allows you more creativity latitude if you don’t want the subject in the center of the frame the whole time.

Litchi-Track

Litchi track mode uses active track like computer vision to keep the subject in the center of the frame. Unlike active track you still have full control of the aircraft. Track mode works well very close to a subject but poorly when far away, best for use when you are too close to the subject for focus mode to work.

AutoPilot-Zipline

The autopilot app has a number of modes that would fulfill your needs that are similar to the Litchi modes above, however, it has a unique mode called Zip-Line.

In Zipline mode you basically set two points in space and the drone will fly from point A to point B at the rate you input in the settings. You can go back and forth continuously.

Setting a focus parameter in the ZipLine settings allows to to choose between using GPS data, computer vision, or manually to keep the Subject in focus.

Waypoints
Several apps including DJI Go 4 will allow you to set a focus subject and waypoint route. I assume you wanted a degree of manual control which this wouldn’t offer but if you plan out your mission before hand you can get any shot you want using waypoints.

 

[sonof40]

Would spotlight work (does M2 have spotlight)?

 

[buckeye6]

Multiple ways to do this but all with third party apps.

Litchi-Focus

The most direct way is with a mode in Litchi called “focus.” In focus mode the app will control the gimbal and the aircraft rotation to keep the camera fixed on the location of your choosing but you control everything else manually. You control the height, speed, and location manually while the app keeps the subject in the frame. This is the easiest and fastest method to set up. Focus keeps the angle of the aircraft to the subject based on GPS location data. It doesn’t work as well if your subject is very close as GPS isn’t perfectly accurate.

In focus mode you can disable the automatic aircraft rotation so that you control aircraft rotation but the app controls gimbal pitch. This allows you more creativity latitude if you don’t want the subject in the center of the frame the whole time.

Litchi-Track

Litchi track mode uses active track like computer vision to keep the subject in the center of the frame. Unlike active track you still have full control of the aircraft. Track mode works well very close to a subject but poorly when far away, best for use when you are too close to the subject for focus mode to work.

AutoPilot-Zipline

The autopilot app has a number of modes that would fulfill your needs that are similar to the Litchi modes above, however, it has a unique mode called Zip-Line.

In Zipline mode you basically set two points in space and the drone will fly from point A to point B at the rate you input in the settings. You can go back and forth continuously.

Setting a focus parameter in the ZipLine settings allows to to choose between using GPS data, computer vision, or manually to keep the Subject in focus.

Waypoints
Several apps including DJI Go 4 will allow you to set a focus subject and waypoint route. I assume you wanted a degree of manual control which this wouldn’t offer but if you plan out your mission before hand you can get any shot you want using waypoints.

nice! i hadn't even considered litchi... litchi-track seems just what i'm looking for. i shoot videos of real estate for brokers so i'm always close to the target which, obviously, is always stationary. i'll check this out. thank you, sir!

 

[buckeye6]

Would spotlight work (does M2 have spotlight)?

the MP2 does have spotlight but as i understand it the drone is stationary while tracking a moving object. my requirement is just the opposite; moving drone tracking a stationary object. the litchi solution mentioned above seems just what i'm after.

 

[buckeye6]

@brett8883... i re-read this again this morning and that very last little tidbit you offered about waypoints... exactly what i'm looking for! i just upgraded to the M2P last month from a P3S. now paying attention to the little details the M2P has waypoints 2.0, which the P3S doesn't have. WP 2.0 offers a point of interest! i never considered this because hey, i know about waypoints from the P3S and there isn't any POI feature. serves me right for assuming waypoints works the same for the M2P. i'll try this out this afternoon.

thanks so much!

 

[Jet skier]

I'm looking for an intelligent flight mode that's much like POI except I want to be able to fly freely and not be constrained to a circle. I know I can alter the POI's radius and altitude but that doesn't really meet my criteria. Ideally, I'd like to fly past the POI in a straight line and have the camera always looking at the POI regardless of where the drone is at any particular moment.

Perhaps a better way to describe this is being able to fly using Tap Fly to establish the course and altitude but then be able to identify the POI and have the camera always looking at that regardless of where I'm at on the flight path. I've tried this using Tap Fly Free mode but I'm not skilled enough to manually move the camera smoothly. My results are somewhat ok but I wish I could do better.

Maybe I just need to use tripod mode but that could be too slow. I don't think I can enable cinematic mode AND tap fly at the same time.

I'm open to any ideas...

TIA that would be active track spotlight

 

[Made2Phly]

the MP2 does have spotlight but as i understand it the drone is stationary while tracking a moving object. my requirement is just the opposite; moving drone tracking a stationary object. the litchi solution mentioned above seems just what i'm after.

Try spot light. Pretty sure you can move the drone where you will and it remains pointed at the subject.

 

[buckeye6]

Try spot light. Pretty sure you can move the drone where you will and it remains pointed at the subject.

sounds good. i'll check that out. DJI should br a little more effort into their documentation for these things. thanks for the tip.

 

[Searat290]

You don’t need 3rd party app to focus on a target while freely flying the unit. As has been mentioned spotlight does just what you want. Just be aware of which avoidance functions work and which don’t work when using poi capabilities.

 

[buckeye6]

thanks to all who responded. i learned a lot. the biggest lesson was to not get hung up on the fact that the documentation doesn't always tell you the whole truth, just go experiment and try. for my case, waypoints 2.0 with point of interest is just what i need! and i gotta admit, spotlight has a lot of potential. this stuff is pretty awesome.