Repeatability of Litchi Waypoint Missions

[DJ Wes]

On my way to work one day I noticed a water tower being built alongside the highway. Since the construction site was not too far from where I live I thought it would be interesting to design a drone mission using Litchi and fly that same mission every day or so as the water tower was being built. This movie is the result of video captured from eight flights over the 100 days of construction of the water tower.

What I didn’t realize when I started this project was how difficult it was going to be to blend the segments taken on different days together. Even though I was flying the same mission and taking off from the same location every flight, the resulting video segments all differed so that I could not simply find the same position in two video segments and the overlay one segment top of the other. Instead, after identifying the same position in two clips captured on different days, I had to offset the X/Y position of one video relative to the one that came before it. This had to be done with each segment I added. Once all of the individual video segments were aligned, it was necessary to increase the scale of the entire montage so that the final video frame was completely filled by the individual segments. The vertical difference of the very last video segment was so great that I had to add a black border at the bottom to fill in the gap resulting from the positioning of that clip. Has anyone else experienced this when trying to do something similar?

I am still happy with the end result. However, if I had to do it over again I would have:

• Used the drone to precisely identify the center of the water tower prior to the very first flight. I could not identify the center using a map because the tower was not yet shown on any map (obviously).
• Used Google Earth Pro to create a “perfectly” circular mission revolving around the tower. Litchi does not provide a way to do this in their Mission Hub.
• Use custom-written software to convert the Google Earth circle into a “perfect” spiral before importing into Litchi. That would have given me a more consistent view of the water tower.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The overall effect is fantastic, im not sure that the changes would have made it all that better as the way it now functions well with the intent.
However a true circle would be fantastic for shoots like these , well done and inspiring .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the rain !
Designer of the Lunar Landing Pad

 

[webvan]

Well done !
To get something perfectly circular in Litchi you could have chosen the Orbit mode maybe ?
Was it done with a Spark ? I get the same slight "jerkiness" with mine, the MP doesn't do that and I'm guessing the MA either.

 

[pmshop]

On my way to work one day I noticed a water tower being built alongside the highway. Since the construction site was not too far from where I live I thought it would be interesting to design a drone mission using Litchi and fly that same mission every day or so as the water tower was being built. This movie is the result of video captured from eight flights over the 100 days of construction of the water tower.

I am still happy with the end result. However, if I had to do it over again I would have:

• Used the drone to precisely identify the center of the water tower prior to the very first flight. I could not identify the center using a map because the tower was not yet shown on any map (obviously).
• Used Google Earth Pro to create a “perfectly” circular mission revolving around the tower. Litchi does not provide a way to do this in their Mission Hub.
• Use custom-written software to convert the Google Earth circle into a “perfect” spiral before importing into Litchi. That would have given me a more consistent view of the water tower.

Don't knock yourself - outstanding job.

To your points, Personally, I have not seen Litchi "lock in" on a specific point of interest.
My Sparks always seem to hold the POI 20° to the left of center.
My Mavic Airs, same but 10° to the right of center.

Both of my Mavic Airs follow the path perfectly until the last two waypoints where they can be off by 100 ft or more but perfectly parallel with the original flight plan.

There is a program called Virtual Litchi Mission and I have put in for product improvement to add that circle feature to planning over 18 months ago.
If more people write???

 

[JAW]

Wow!
That's a 107 ticket holders dream vid

 

[DJ Wes]

Well done !
To get something perfectly circular in Litchi you could have chosen the Orbit mode maybe ?
Was it done with a Spark ? I get the same slight "jerkiness" with mine, the MP doesn't do that and I'm guessing the MA either.

You are correct. Orbit mode will create a perfect circle. However, unlike Waypoints, Litchi does not allow one to save a defined orbit so that it can recalled and flown later.

For this video I used my P3S.

 

[webvan]

Actually I remember saving a few, has that feature been removed maybe ? Can't see why it would have though.

 

[DJ Wes]

Actually I remember saving a few, has that feature been removed maybe ? Can't see why it would have though.

You are correct. My mistake. You can save and recall orbit missions. Still, I really needed a spiral in this instance.

 

[johnmeyer]

If you orbit using a POI, and the POI is different each flight (because the POI is being built and is therefore a different shape/size each time), you will end up with a different mission each time, I think.

As for matching, I believe there is some software designed for time lapse that will automatically adjust each segment so that they perfectly overlap. Look for something like "time lapse video stabilization". I realize that this isn't a time lapse (i.e., a series of still photos), but the software might be useful.

As for getting perfect overlap, this is a place where 4K really helps. What you do is take the video in 4K, but deliver in 1920x1080 HD. Take your video from a slightly more distant vantage point than you want in the final cut. In your NLE, zoom into all your clips so that you are looking at approximately 1920x1080 out of the 4K video. Finally, at the edit points, move each clip around until it perfectly overlaps the previous clip. This will involve X & Y adjustments as well as a slight zoom.

I use Vegas Pro, and it lets me set each of these transition points as a keyframe and will automatically and subtly change the X/Y and zoom factors for all the in between points so that you won't even notice the slight shift that takes place in order to be in the perfect position to dissolve into the next segment.

 

[MaviCam]

Another problem with getting identical paths is the differences in wind speed and direction. If you are flying into or away from the wind, the speeds make it difficult to join different flight videos based on time. Crosswinds tend to make the camera angles different on different flights along the same path.

This is an attempt to compare two flights with the same mission. I had to do a LOT of editing to keep the two videos in sync. I had to speed up some parts and slow down others so it didn't get too far off.

 

[LenSavage]

I fly this project every week or two - a major portion of it - a low pass across the front and a high orbit is all Litchi - plus I then do some random b-roll and stills - which I often beef up with zooms and pans in post - relative to the progress:

 

[Facherty]

Thank you for posting this. Excellent work on the tower - very impressive.

Similar careful editing and dedicated work has resulted in this from Marius Arnesen in Norway:

It is also excellent.

 

[tesohn]

On my way to work one day I noticed a water tower being built alongside the highway. Since the construction site was not too far from where I live I thought it would be interesting to design a drone mission using Litchi and fly that same mission every day or so as the water tower was being built. This movie is the result of video captured from eight flights over the 100 days of construction of the water tower.

What I didn’t realize when I started this project was how difficult it was going to be to blend the segments taken on different days together. Even though I was flying the same mission and taking off from the same location every flight, the resulting video segments all differed so that I could not simply find the same position in two video segments and the overlay one segment top of the other. Instead, after identifying the same position in two clips captured on different days, I had to offset the X/Y position of one video relative to the one that came before it. This had to be done with each segment I added. Once all of the individual video segments were aligned, it was necessary to increase the scale of the entire montage so that the final video frame was completely filled by the individual segments. The vertical difference of the very last video segment was so great that I had to add a black border at the bottom to fill in the gap resulting from the positioning of that clip. Has anyone else experienced this when trying to do something similar?

I am still happy with the end result. However, if I had to do it over again I would have:

• Used the drone to precisely identify the center of the water tower prior to the very first flight. I could not identify the center using a map because the tower was not yet shown on any map (obviously).
• Used Google Earth Pro to create a “perfectly” circular mission revolving around the tower. Litchi does not provide a way to do this in their Mission Hub.
• Use custom-written software to convert the Google Earth circle into a “perfect” spiral before importing into Litchi. That would have given me a more consistent view of the water tower.

Nice job,sounds like you worked harder then the construction company. Very professional video

 

[AMann]

On my way to work one day I noticed a water tower being built alongside the highway. Since the construction site was not too far from where I live I thought it would be interesting to design a drone mission using Litchi and fly that same mission every day or so as the water tower was being built. This movie is the result of video captured from eight flights over the 100 days of construction of the water tower.

What I didn’t realize when I started this project was how difficult it was going to be to blend the segments taken on different days together. Even though I was flying the same mission and taking off from the same location every flight, the resulting video segments all differed so that I could not simply find the same position in two video segments and the overlay one segment top of the other. Instead, after identifying the same position in two clips captured on different days, I had to offset the X/Y position of one video relative to the one that came before it. This had to be done with each segment I added. Once all of the individual video segments were aligned, it was necessary to increase the scale of the entire montage so that the final video frame was completely filled by the individual segments. The vertical difference of the very last video segment was so great that I had to add a black border at the bottom to fill in the gap resulting from the positioning of that clip. Has anyone else experienced this when trying to do something similar?

I am still happy with the end result. However, if I had to do it over again I would have:

• Used the drone to precisely identify the center of the water tower prior to the very first flight. I could not identify the center using a map because the tower was not yet shown on any map (obviously).
• Used Google Earth Pro to create a “perfectly” circular mission revolving around the tower. Litchi does not provide a way to do this in their Mission Hub.
• Use custom-written software to convert the Google Earth circle into a “perfect” spiral before importing into Litchi. That would have given me a more consistent view of the water tower.

Nice job! Was it possible to get the coordinates of The tower before hand? You could have used that on Google Earth to pinpoint the tower center. The other option would’ve been to use an early photo of the site with the foundation and georeference that and put it in GoogleEarth as well. I’m impressed with how well your temporal sequence and popup editing is, it looks nice -good job.

 

[DJ Wes]

Nice job! Was it possible to get the coordinates of The tower before hand? You could have used that on Google Earth to pinpoint the tower center. The other option would’ve been to use an early photo of the site with the foundation and georeference that and put it in GoogleEarth as well. I’m impressed with how well your temporal sequence and popup editing is, it looks nice -good job.

Thanks.

At the time it was being built, the area was undeveloped, and the precise location could not be seen in Google Maps. I was able to design a Litchi mission anyway which I knew would be roughly correct. After flying a couple missions, I flew directly over the water tower with the camera pointed down. That allowed me to see the exact center on the map.

If I had the opportunity to do the entire thing over again I would have flown over it to get the exact center position first and then use my Spiral Mission Maker for Litchi to generate a perfectly circular path around it (while increasing in altitude). Now I just have to wait until I see another water tower being built.

 

[webvan]

Spiral mission maker?

 

[DJ Wes]

Spiral mission maker?

Spiral Mission Maker for Litchi is a web application I wrote to assist in creating perfect spirals. Please have a look here:

Spiral Maker for Litchi Waypoint Missions

Attention Litchi and Google Earth Pro users: A type of mission that I like to fly when capturing video is a "spiral reveal". This is where the drone revolves around a point of interest (POI) while gaining in altitude. Geometrically, this is probably better described as a "coil" or "helix". Even...

mavicpilots.com

 

[webvan]

Thanks, I missed that feature from an old third party app for the BeBop Drone !