Virtual Litchi Mission

[Facherty]

I have taken a look at your mission and I really can't see much wrong with it. When I open it in VLM I see the following:
<SNIP>.
The mission 'flies' OK - I cannot duplicate the problem you describe.
***************
EDIT !!!

I have just looked at your original post and see that you are not using VLM at all! I didn't notice that!

You are using a similar utility written by @bazuchan which works as a chrome extension. You should ask him to look into the problem - he quite likely has the same problem with his Google account as I did with mine!.
Thanks
N

Firstly, my apologies for confusing you with @bazuchan - I use MacOS, and just before you replied, I had posted a message in his original thread (Yet another Virtual Litchi Mission (Chrome/Firefox Extension)). (At the outset of this thread @bazuchan is quick to acknowledge the debt owed to you for the Linux/MacOS compatible version of your extension)

Secondly, thank you for the work you did, and apologies for wasting your time.

SInce the recent problems with VLM and YAVLM (aka Chrome Litchi Virtual Mission) happened at about the same time, it does seem likely that @bazuchan experienced the same problems you did with the Google account. Is there any way that we free users of your data allowance can create our own free Google elevation data accounts and use that data instead? (I have a feeling this has been suggested somewhere, but I could not find it.)

 

[namirda]

Firstly, my apologies for confusing you with @bazuchan - I use MacOS, and just before you replied, I had posted a message in his original thread (Yet another Virtual Litchi Mission (Chrome/Firefox Extension)). (At the outset of this thread @bazuchan is quick to acknowledge the debt owed to you for the Linux/MacOS compatible version of your extension)

Secondly, thank you for the work you did, and apologies for wasting your time.

SInce the recent problems with VLM and YAVLM (aka Chrome Litchi Virtual Mission) happened at about the same time, it does seem likely that @bazuchan experienced the same problems you did with the Google account. Is there any way that we free users of your data allowance can create our own free Google elevation data accounts and use that data instead? (I have a feeling this has been suggested somewhere, but I could not find it.)

Within VLM there is a place in "Settings" to enter your own private API key - I really don't know if YAVLM has the same option available.

To get your own API key, you need to create a billing account at console.cloud.google.com - you will have to provide your credit card details and jump through a few security hoops.

First you should create a new billing project and then go to the "API and Services" tab and create an API Key for the "Maps Elevation API"

Hope this helps

N

 

[Facherty]

Within VLM there is a place in "Settings" to enter your own private API key - I really don't know if YAVLM has the same option available.

To get your own API key, you need to create a billing account at console.cloud.google.com - you will have to provide your credit card details and jump through a few security hoops.

First you should create a new billing project and then go to the "API and Services" tab and create an API Key for the "Maps Elevation API"

Hope this helps

N

Many thanks.

 

[D2M2P]

Many thanks.

Hi.... trying to piece this thread together and be able to run VLM's on Google Earth WITH elevation ...

SO, I got this far... what's next... this Google Cloud thing and API's are all greek to me

 

[namirda]

Hi.... trying to piece this thread together and be able to run VLM's on Google Earth WITH elevation ...

SO, I got this far... what's next... this Google Cloud thing and API's are all greek to me

Agreed - it's all very confusing....

Remember, you only need your own API key in case the daily quota of the default key is exceeded.

If you think you need your own key then go to the "Credentials" tab (console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials) and click on "Create Credentials".

Then copy the newly generated key and paste it into the relevant field in the Google tab of VLM Settings.

N

 

[D2M2P]

Agreed - it's all very confusing....

Remember, you only need your own API key in case the daily quota of the default key is exceeded.

If you think you need your own key then go to the "Credentials" tab (console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials) and click on "Create Credentials".

Then copy the newly generated key and paste it into the relevant field in the Google tab of VLM Settings.

N

Yes I thought I picked up about volume....maybe I ran too many previous experiments...and I tried at all times...so maybe I’ll just get my own key.
This is helpful.,,,but I I’m afraid it may not be the last of it. ?
I’ll try and set it up tomorrow.

 

[D2M2P]

Just a follow up...I got VM working again. Chrome was plugged up. Cleared a month’s history and it’s running fine again. (I haven’t used Chrome for ages...always Safari)...but now I know to clear its’ data.

 

[D2M2P]

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Dynochrome]

OK - Problem seems to be solved.

I have "upgraded" my account with Google Cloud Services from a free account to a normal paid account - so the old API key should now work.

I have set a quota on this key of 1000 hits per day which should keep the bills at zero - at least I hope so!

For your info, there are now more than 6000 VLM users and the number of daily hits on the API runs at between 600 and 1000. So at current usage levels, we should not hit the daily limit very often.

View attachment 103727

If you get an error message in the VLM Activity Log saying that the daily limit has been exceeded then you will either have to wait until the next day or else provide your own API key.

Thanks

N

Thank you so much for maintaining this vital app!

 

[Dynochrome]

The issue appears to be that my initial 12 month free trial period on Google Cloud has now expired. Google did not give me any warning of this and have abruptly stopped access to their elevation data using the VLM default API key.

In the Google tab of the VLM setup options there is a place where you can input your own Google API Key. If you do not do so, then VLM will use my private key which has daily usage limits to ensure I do not get huge bills from Google. However now that my 12 month free trial period has expired, the key no longer works at all!!

I will try to find out if there is some way that we can continue to use this API key without me being at risk of receiving unwanted charges on my credit card - but in the meantime you will have to create your own billing account with Google Cloud Services (use the link provided in the error message) and use your own API Key in VLM.

Sorry for the hassle

Thanks

N

Please don't apologize. You've done what Litchie & DJI SHOULD have done. Great work and much appreciated! This makes flying my mavic 300% more fun! I love to see missions fly then compare them when I actually get there. Then be able to tweak them comfortably on the computer. It's what I always wanted to do with a quadcopter! (I don't like to say DRONE as there is such a stigma attached) If you say quadcopter it confuses people that may believe that a drones purpose is to spy on them. But a quadcopter sounds more like a 4wheeler to the uninformed!

 

[Jeff A]

Agreed - it's all very confusing....

Remember, you only need your own API key in case the daily quota of the default key is exceeded.

If you think you need your own key then go to the "Credentials" tab (console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials) and click on "Create Credentials".

Then copy the newly generated key and paste it into the relevant field in the Google tab of VLM Settings.

N

Sir, for those people like me, who does not have a clue what an API Key is. what is it and how do you get one? Amazon? (Just kidding). Seriously, I was without the Virtual Mission capability while I was planning a big, complicated mission. Such a great tool. Does an API key cost money? If so, how much? I told you I didn't know anything.

 

[namirda]

Sir, for those people like me, who does not have a clue what an API Key is. what is it and how do you get one? Amazon? (Just kidding). Seriously, I was without the Virtual Mission capability while I was planning a big, complicated mission. Such a great tool. Does an API key cost money? If so, how much? I told you I didn't know anything.

I'll try to explain...

The issue is that VLM, Litchi and other mapping software generally require elevation data in order to work properly. Google is the main source for this data and they provide a comprehensive API for software developers to use. When you use this API, you need to provide a unique key string (the API key) which is linked to a Google billing account. Google then charge the billing account for use of the API depending on how much you use it.

This works well for commercial software such as Litchi because they sell their software to you and therefore have the cashflow to pay something to Google.

It's a bit different for VLM which is free software. I don't mind providing the software - it's good to be useful! However, I don't really want open ended charges on my credit card. Fortunately, Google only start charging the linked billing account when usage goes above a certain limit - small players get a free ride.

So internally, VLM uses an API key which is linked to my billing account - but I have hopefully put limits there such that I do not get nasty surprises from Google on my credit card!!

This seems to work most of the time - but there may be times when we hit the limit and you will see an error message saying something about quota being exceeded. You can then either wait until the next day and try again - or, if the problem becomes too annoying, you might want to open your own billing account at console.cloud.google.com, get your own API key and provide that key to VLM.

It costs nothing to open an account and get an API key although you will have to provide a credit card number. They will only charge your card if your usage goes above a certain level.

Hope that explains the issue.

N

 

[Jeff A]

Thank you for taking the time for a well thought out reply.

 

[Revere]

Found an issue. While planning a mission on a mountainside I noticed that anything at more than -200 meters AGL (ie: -250 meters) is treated as -200. this is true of both waypoints and points of interest.

 

[Peio64270]

Found an issue. While planning a mission on a mountainside I noticed that anything at more than -200 meters AGL (ie: -250 meters) is treated as -200. this is true of both waypoints and points of interest.

This has nothing to do with VLM but all with DJI and thus with Litchi.
I wrote Litchi about this problem and they answered they could do nothing for fixing it.
The only solution is to plan AGL waypoints, that I don't like very much.

 

[peejay]

How would I go about doing a "reveal" where the drone is stationary with the camera pointing down. The camera then slowly rises up to the poi and then the drone starts to fly the mission, is that possible?
Thanks.

 

[Dougcjohn]

How would I go about doing a "reveal" where the drone is stationary with the camera pointing down. The camera then slowly rises up to the poi and then the drone starts to fly the mission, is that possible?
Thanks.

I'd suggest as you indicate... pre-mission and mission initiated. I'd position the drone and manually bring the camera up to position... then initiate the flight of mission. I routinely get craft in air and at a "above tree" altitude prior to starting a Litchi mission... likewise I always take manual control on return after mission completes... I don't do automated take-offs or landings.

Fly your initial, get the hover gimble tilt desired, then select to fly mission. You'll probably have a little footage you'll need to splice out at mission begin & end anyway.

 

[peejay]

Thanks for the suggestions, appreciated.

 

[modbuilder]

One of the nice features of Litchi is the ability to get to altitude before launching the mission. Some other autonomous flight apps load the mission before launch and do the take off for you. I can fly in tighter environments by doing that manually. Of course do the descent manually during RHT also to maneuver with control.

Litchi is a fantastic app with a lot of capability, but you'll need to do most of the artistic stuff , like your reveal, manually. It's not that hard once you get your stick settings toned down to facilitate slow movement. Note that you can set Litchi to fly waypoints while letting you have pitch and yaw control from the RC. If you're shooting stills, you can program in a 4-5 second wait before triggering the shot and you can use that time to fine tune the composition. If shooting video with fine control of the composition, just continually use yaw and pitch as it flys the way points.

The reveal shot responds well to practice. Good luck.............. bob r

 

[Dougcjohn]

Thanks for the suggestions, appreciated.

Litchi's features are great... you can select various actions at a waypoint, including multiple missions on 1 flight. One Waypoint action is simply stop & pause/end. At this stage you can do a few manual actions, and start a 2nd mission or continue the 1st. You'll end up with several clips: primary or B-roll to obtain your desired results.

On the subject of creative video... I recently discovered LumaFusion video editor on the iPad. That's a great tool, very capable, powerful editor and actually runs great on an iPad Pro. It's not Davinci Resolve or FinalCutPro, but shares the majority of the common tools for normal editing.

Not to throw in other options, but another to examine that provides a lot of features and options is DroneLink, they offer a free version with full features. Different learning curve than Litchi, but more tools in your creative toolbox is beneficial. Home | Dronelink