Pros and Cons of using Litchi!

randyjoubs · May 19, 2018

What are the pros and cons of using Litchi!

ksmusa · May 19, 2018

These videos will help you better understand the features of Litchi. I strongly suggest that you view previous posts on this forum.

Good luck

daisy-girl · May 19, 2018

randyjoubs said:
What are the pros and cons of using Litchi!

If you have DJI Care/Refresh and you crash, DJI may not honor any repair/replacement.

Regarding an ordinary repair under the warranty, I'm not sure.

modbuilder · May 21, 2018

The main downside of LItchi is also one of its major strengths -- off-line Waypoint mission programming. The Phantom/Mavic Film School makes a remarkable Litchi manual. It's $20 or so, but absolutely worth it. Litchi is way more fully featured than the GO4 app for Waypoints, but you need to understand it to stay out of trouble. Along with the more powerful features comes more ways to create pilot error.

ksmusa · May 21, 2018

modbuilder said:
The main downside of LItchi is also one of its major strengths -- off-line Waypoint mission programming. The Phantom/Mavic Film School makes a remarkable Litchi manual. It's $20 or so, but absolutely worth it. Litchi is way more fully featured than the GO4 app for Waypoints, but you need to understand it to stay out of trouble. Along with the more powerful features comes more ways to create pilot error.

Agreed.

marklyn · May 24, 2018

The main pro for me is the missions you can set up via online. Much easier than using a phone or tablet and with Virtual Litchi (free side app), you can very easily port the missions to Google Earth to give you a very good idea of how the flight will look. Agree with assessments above but to stay out of trouble, set your missions up very conservatively at first until you become confident.

modbuilder · May 24, 2018

marklyn said:
Agree with assessments above but to stay out of trouble, set your missions up very conservatively at first until you become confident.

A little more detail on the " set up conservatively at first" thing:
1) -- Make you first circuit around a new Waypoint path looking forward to the next waypoint. That way you'll see approaching hazards that you might not see if you're looking at a POI, and your forward OA cameras are available to help keep you out of trouble.
2) -- to protect yourself from Google Earth errors regarding elevation changes, even when flying in terrain following mode from G.E., set your initial altitudes higher than you think you need, maybe by as much as 75 feet if the terrain physically looks relatively level. More if it looks hilly. Not everybody agrees, but I've found the G.E. elevations can be wrong by a bunch when it's looking at forest land. If it's looking at paved areas, it's pretty accurate.
3) -- walk the mission altitudes down in steps after you've initially validated the path as safe in the above steps.
4) -- only after you've qualified the mission parameters as safe to fly should you set up camera headings and pitch to get your shots. At this point you can safely look at POI's on the screen, fly sideways, etc while flying the path.
5) -- if your camera compositions need for you to move the path to get the right shot, treat it as a new path to be validated as safe restarting from the first step above. Note that if you adjust the path from a Google Earth view, depending on the zoom in/out scale that you're using, a small movement on the screen may be a large movement on the ground.

If you don't want to do the above, make sure that your early flights adjusting path and waypoint locations are made with you actually watching the craft throughout the flight, not the screen. If I'd done these steps, I'd be two Mavic's ahead of the game at this point.

Best of luck. LItchi and Virtual Litchi are remarkable. Hope you enjoy the journey................ R

coullit · May 26, 2018

I bought it something for VR .
missions don't interest me I like to have full control in bright sunlight and goggles is the best way, had no problems or fly always I certainly had more app crashes with goapp

Dave A · May 26, 2018

For me I don't see any pros using Litchi as long as the drone is still under warranty. Once the warranty has expired then it seems like a good alternative at times.

EASTA · May 26, 2018

modbuilder said:
The main downside of LItchi is also one of its major strengths -- off-line Waypoint mission programming. The Phantom/Mavic Film School makes a remarkable Litchi manual. It's $20 or so, but absolutely worth it. Litchi is way more fully featured than the GO4 app for Waypoints, but you need to understand it to stay out of trouble. Along with the more powerful features comes more ways to create pilot error.

It seems very interesting. Do you have the link? My best

modbuilder · May 26, 2018

EASTA said:
It seems very interesting. Do you have the link? My best

The Litchi Handbook for iOS - 80 pg pdf download $20
The Litchi Handbook for Android - similar for android
The Litchi Handbook for Android & iOS -- combined, $30

EASTA · May 27, 2018

modbuilder said:
The Litchi Handbook for iOS - 80 pg pdf download $20
The Litchi Handbook for Android - similar for android
The Litchi Handbook for Android & iOS -- combined, $30

Thks!

JimPickett · May 27, 2018

The only con I can think of is lack of DJI warranty support (which could be a deal-killer for some). I started using Litchi with a P3S over a year ago, and I became more comfortable with, and dependant on Litchi vs Go. It's part comfort with layout, lack of failures, and versatility (waypoint missions) that keep me favorable to Litchi. I used Go with MA and the Spark because 1) they were new to me and I didn't want to be outside of warranty in usage until I felt comfortable, and 2) waypoints weren't available to the MA until recently. Since the waypoint function was introduced I've been using Litchi almost exclusively. I don't go crazy with waypoint missions and distance - which is what some find fascinating. My use of missions is for controlled flight paths around the same subjects under different conditions (light of day, etc).

ambarcapoor · May 28, 2018

I didn't realize waypoints were available to the MA in go4. back to the research table for me!

JimPickett · May 28, 2018

ambarcapoor said:
I didn't realize waypoints were available to the MA in go4. back to the research table for me!

In Litchi.

ambarcapoor · May 29, 2018

JimPickett said:
In Litchi.

Sad Face. I'm loving flying the drone. I have been saving for 10 years and am so excited! I'm more comfortable flying it now and would love to dive into Litchi, though I would love to meet with someone who knows it well and have a demo session ...

modbuilder · May 29, 2018

ambarcapoor said:
Sad Face. I'm loving flying the drone. I have been saving for 10 years and am so excited! I'm more comfortable flying it now and would love to dive into Litchi, though I would love to meet with someone who knows it well and have a demo session ...

Where do you live?

Qoncussion · May 29, 2018

Here's (what I would consider to be) the best case for flying waypoints:

HassoBoxhead · May 29, 2018

Is there a documented case where DJI has refused warranty service due to the operator using Litchi? I see the issue thrown around a lot, but have yet to see proof that this is actually a problem to be reckoned with...

Mossiback · May 29, 2018

HassoBoxhead said:
Is there a documented case where DJI has refused warranty service due to the operator using Litchi? I see the issue thrown around a lot, but have yet to see proof that this is actually a problem to be reckoned with...

I had a crash using Litchi - pilot error in waypoint mission getting too close to trees - and used the replace option in Care Refresh. The replacement was sent the same day they received my wreck. There were no questions about how the crash happened.