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Mini 4 Pro Practicing circles with my new Mavic Mini 4 Pro

Dale D

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I've sold my Mini 2 and bought the Mini 4 Pro. I went out yesterday morning to practice doing perfect circles around an object on the ground. (local church with nice architectural steeple). Practice flying the drone helps with repetition. Here is a very short (2 min) clip. I'm preparing for upcoming travels to Poland (Krakow,Warsaw, Gdansk) where there are so many old classic structures. Settings on auto, 4K, 60 fps, log DJI LUT processed with Premiere Pro. Click on full screen for better viewing.

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Dale
 
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A trick that I have started implementing is using waypoints to do orbits. Most of my work requires stills and video. So, I'll start at point A take an image, set a waypoint, go to the next point, take an image, set a waypoint until I have completed the orbit. Then I go into settings and select "start rec" on waypoint 1 and then "stop rec" on the last waypoint. Then I fly the orbit. This method allows me do get the stills then a smooth orbit of the property/subject.
 
Dear GFields

I thank you for that great idea. I have done numerous way points with my M3, but have not yet done it with my new Mini 4 Pro. The use of the POI seemed to work very well for me. The main difficult I am having is adjusting my distance from the drone to the POI. In a congested environment, as shown in this mid-city location, I am always frightened by the arc of my circle hitting an unseen object. I must admit that I am spending so much time trying to adjust this distance using the RC screen, that I lose sight of the drone behind the object and have to return to home without seeing where it is until it is right overhead of me.

I understand most of your flying is residential/real estate which makes the subject much smaller and easier to keep track of the drone.

I am practicing for views of large, tall structures in large squares in the cities of Krakow and Warsaw (trip planned in April). You don't have to watch this entire video but just to give you the idea of what I am aspiring to achieve.If this post should have been posted on private conversation, let me know.(obviously this is not my video)
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I don’t do a lot of this kind of thing but when I need to I sometimes use cruise control to set the speed and then I can concentrate on the stick control and not have to worry about trying to keep speed steady.

Chris
 
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A trick that I have started implementing is using waypoints to do orbits. Most of my work requires stills and video. So, I'll start at point A take an image, set a waypoint, go to the next point, take an image, set a waypoint until I have completed the orbit. Then I go into settings and select "start rec" on waypoint 1 and then "stop rec" on the last waypoint. Then I fly the orbit. This method allows me do get the stills then a smooth orbit of the property/subject.
That is awesome information. I'll have to try that tomorrow.
 
I don’t do a lot of this kind of thing but when I need to I sometimes use cruise control to set the speed and then I can concentrate on the stick control and not have to worry about trying to keep speed steady.

Chris
Thanks Chris. This one turned out easier than I thought- Just hit the POI after adjusting for distance.
 
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Thanks Chris. This one turned out easier than I thought- Just hit the POI after adjusting for distance.
That would work too, especially if you just want the rotation part of the video.

Chris
 
Dale:
First off, have a great trip!
If you decide to use a POI circle, don’t forget you can still control the drone, pushing it in and out, up and down while it rotates around the POI. I used this frequently on a couple jobs to avoid obstacles and create more interest.
Have fun.
 
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Dale:
First off, have a great trip!
If you decide to use a POI circle, don’t forget you can still control the drone, pushing it in and out, up and down while it rotates around the POI. I used this frequently on a couple jobs to avoid obstacles and create more interest.
Have fun.
PHZ:
Thanks for the tip. I did not realize I could alter it like that without losing the POPI program. The trip is not until April but I like to practice things early.
Dale
 
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One of the best ways to do this is by using Spotlight on a fixed point, and then using the sticks or locked sticks using Cruise Control to control the orbit, after getting it started manually, which can also include increasing or decreasing the elevation of the orbit for an even more cinematic effect around the spire. Cruise Control can be fine tuned during the orbit, as well, by making a minor stick adjustment in any direction, and resetting Cruise Control again to include the change. Gimbal stays locked on the fixed point. Cruise control maintains the current stick positions in all directions. Use with or without Spotlight, depending upon what framing you want on the gimbal.
 
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A few helpful tutorials:

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