Tricks to flying straight?

slup · Mar 19, 2020

Photogad said:
...With the tap fly can you apply manual backwards/forward stick to speed it up without losing the directional lock?

Don't remember ... think the main way to change speed is with the slider on screen when you're in the tapfly mode.

Deleted member 94047 · Mar 19, 2020

slup said:
Don't remember ... think the main way to change speed is with the slider on screen when you're in the tapfly mode.

View attachment 96857

That is also my recollection. In forward and backward mode, the slider sets the speed and the distance of the tapped point from the horizon line dictates the climb/descent rate. In free mode, the speed slider still determines speed but you have additional control over yaw. In all three modes you have full control over the gimbal which is why I like TapFly. You can really do great reveal shots when you don't have to worry about controlling speed and direction and instead fully concentrate on the camera's pitch. Any way, these modes require a little practice before you actually can use them so all these details will become clearer when OP does a test run.

Thomas B · Mar 19, 2020

@Photogad ... maybe try stick extensions for finer control. ... or use the methods discussed above and modify the speed of your video in post. I do both routinely.

Not A Speck Of Cereal · Mar 19, 2020

Photogad said:
As mentioned, tripod/cinematic mode is too slow

In case nothing else works: you can speed video up in post with the right editor.

Chris

parkgt · Mar 19, 2020

Litchi and Dronelink can both be programmed onsite to do this using their "Cable Cam" modes.

Set a starting waypoint and fly to an ending waypoint with the framing you want at each. Then you can run the path forward or backwards with smooth interpolation between WPs.

This will be much smoother and predictable than most can do hand flying.

EricJT · Mar 19, 2020

Thomas B said:
@Photogad ... maybe try stick extensions for finer control. ... or use the methods discussed above and modify the speed of your video in post. I do both routinely.

I have found that if I want to move more smoothly on any of the 3 axes, I put pressure on the side of the stick, not move the stick with my thumb on top of it. SAR pointed out that this allows the secondary input direction springs to keep that secondary axis in a neutral position.

Not sure if I explained this accurately but it works great for me when I want smooth movement on a single axis, like yawing.

MAvic_South_Oz · Mar 19, 2020

Photogad said:
I might also think about making some kind of device with a channel in it to affix to the controller so that the stick can only be moved up or down and not sideways

Hmm, something like a printed V that you can attach to the controller under that left (and above right ? ^ ) stick(s), that the stick(s) can come down into, and not move sideways.
Would solve your problem for those shots.

EricJT · Mar 19, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
Hmm, something like a printed V that you can attach to the controller under that left (and above right ? ^ ) stick(s), that the stick(s) can come down into, and not move sideways.
Would solve your problem for those shots.

I made a simple mod to my Phantom 2 Vision to smooth out my yaw....large rubber bands around the left stick horizontally that offered more pressure when moving the stick left/right (yaw) but not up/down (throttle). Inelegant but it worked.

Thomas B · Mar 19, 2020

EricJT said:
I have found that if I want to move more smoothly on any of the 3 axes, I put pressure on the side of the stick, not move the stick with my thumb on top of it. SAR pointed out that this allows the secondary input direction springs to keep that secondary axis in a neutral position.

Not sure if I explained this accurately but it works great for me when I want smooth movement on a single axis, like yawing.

Agree wholeheartedly. That is my method also.

Checki · Mar 19, 2020

I still dont get the problem here.

Lowering the sensitivity should do the trick. And you are not doing any complex cinematic movements, it's just flying back and upwards...

Teck · Mar 19, 2020

What about waypoints 2.0.
Waypoint 1 in-front of your target at low height
Waypoint 2 in-front of your target at just above your target.
Waypoint 3 is your end point
Add POI your target to all waypoints.

brettbrandon · Mar 19, 2020

Personally, I would use waypoints as you can set the camera angle as well from start to finish.

EDIT:You beat me by a few seconds...

dsmith76 · Mar 21, 2020

I do a lot of real estate videos and agree the dronie is great for a closing shot. I like to use waypoints (either DJI or Litchi work well) for this type of dronie. 1: You can set waypoints to ensure you avoid trees. 2. You are free to adjust the gimbal. 3. You can do same maneuver over and over to get it perfect. 4. You can set speed to say 10 mph so speed is consistent and then you can speed it up as needed in post to time it to music or trim the video. It takes some practice setting waypoints but once you are skilled at it, it saves time.

parkgt · Mar 21, 2020

Another advantage of using waypoints over Tapfly is your path does not have to be a straight line. With three or more points you can get a nice curve.

I generally find that pulling back a ways with the drone gaining altitude slowly to begin with and then increasing more rapidly as the distance from the subject get greater creates a more cinematic reveal than a straight line.

OurAngryBadger · Mar 21, 2020

dsmith76 said:
I do a lot of real estate videos and agree the dronie is great for a closing shot. I like to use waypoints (either DJI or Litchi work well) for this type of dronie. 1: You can set waypoints to ensure you avoid trees. 2. You are free to adjust the gimbal. 3. You can do same maneuver over and over to get it perfect. 4. You can set speed to say 10 mph so speed is consistent and then you can speed it up as needed in post to time it to music or trim the video. It takes some practice setting waypoints but once you are skilled at it, it saves time.

I guess I'll have to try out the waypoints feature. Can you adjust speed with it?

I understand about speeding up the video in post, I do that, but it's not always feasible.

For example I did a commercial property shoot recently where the roadways were visible. I could speed it up about 150% or so but if I went any higher it made the cars zipping by look like they were going at lightspeed, very unrealistic. Unfortunately in tripod mode the drone moved so slow (and it was such a massive building) I would need to speed it up at least 600% in post to get the whole clip down to 10 seconds or less

dsmith76 · Mar 21, 2020

Photogad said:
I guess I'll have to try out the waypoints feature. Can you adjust speed with it?

I understand about speeding up the video in post, I do that, but it's not always feasible.

For example I did a commercial property shoot recently where the roadways were visible. I could speed it up about 150% or so but if I went any higher it made the cars zipping by look like they were going at lightspeed, very unrealistic. Unfortunately in tripod mode the drone moved so slow (and it was such a massive building) I would need to speed it up at least 600% in post to get the whole clip down to 10 seconds or less

Yes. There is a slider to set the speed. It will be the same speed for the duration. I normally fly to the furthest point and set Waypoint 1 and then fly down to the starting point to set Waypoint 2 to make sure it is a clear path. Then set the speed and a couple other settings you will see in the app and hit go. BTW, with Litchi, you can do these waypoints, on your computer, save the mission, and when you open the litchi app on your mobile device your “mission” will be ready to go. I want to emphasize this takes practice, but learning how to use the various autonomous modes is fun, and unless you are a highly skilled pilot, your videos will look much more professional. It is very hard to control gimbal and sticks simultaneously. Autonomous modes eliminate unwelcome yawing and inconsistent speeds so you can focus on framing the shot, as if you were the camera man on a DJI Inspire with two pilots.

parkgt · Mar 21, 2020

Litchi's Cable Cam function will let you frame your view at each waypoint (onsite) and then will interpolate the pitch (and/or yaw} smoothly between them for results that are hard to replicate by hand unless you are very good and steady.

Dronelink has even more flexibility than Litchi and is free for non-commercial use.