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Litchi Advice

Airmapper

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Location
Kentucky, USA
I've seen several here mention Litchi and decided to try it myself. Made some missions, bought the app, fired it up and first flight with it was awesome. Linked up beautifully, and the Mavic flew it like a rail. I'm stuck at home anyway and am fortunate to live in a rural area, so it's been a nice distraction if nothing else.

I am having one issue I figure is due to my ignorance, but I can't get my Mavic to follow the action items at waypoints. And I did see where you need to disable the curvature around corners so it will actually go to the waypoint itself and trigger them. I wrote off my first issues to that and made a second flight today attempting to remedy that.

Last 2 flights I tried to combine a video run that comes to a waypoint, stops video, then takes a few photos at the next few waypoints. The last one I had 3 video segments and 2 photos, and my end result was one long video from takeoff to the last waypoint. It was nice that I got to confirm it flew the path well, but I also seen it blow past all the actions I asked for.

I'm also aware it cannot film and take images at the same time, so I'm stacking my actions in the order of stop video, then take photo.

I have a feeling I'm doing something wrong, probably something simple. I wonder why the app or Litchi instructions are not more clear on this if some setting goof is likely to cause issues (I mean how hard is it to force the software to disable corner curve if you add an incompatible action.) But I had to find the waypoint corner cutting advice on forums. At this point for simplicity, it looks like making multiple missions might be the better plan, end it in a hover somewhere safe, then load the next mission and let it go do that. But it seems a shame when it appears designed to do a rather complex mission takeoff to landing in one go. I got to admit it's pretty sweet to only have to stand there and watch the drone.

A run down of my setup:

DJI Mavic 2 Pro
Android tablet (10" Tab A)
I build the missions on the desktop and sync to the app before flying.
 
It sounds to me like you are asking Litchi and your Mavic to edit video in real time. I rarely use LItchi for still photos. If I need them I take them from the video footage usually, and if they are of sufficient quality. I've never actually tried the start recording, stop recording actions from waypoint to waypoint. I'll settle that score in post production .... The recording activity of a camera uses so very little resources in-flight that turning it off and on seems somewhat odd.

What are your objectives exactly?
 
It sounds to me like you are asking Litchi and your Mavic to edit video in real time. I rarely use LItchi for still photos. If I need them I take them from the video footage usually, and if they are of sufficient quality. I've never actually tried the start recording, stop recording actions from waypoint to waypoint. I'll settle that score in post production .... The recording activity of a camera uses so very little resources in-flight that turning it off and on seems somewhat odd.

It sounds like you don't utilize the software in this regard either because you don't need it or see value in it, which is fine for you and your purposes, but that's not really useful in regards to my question. However I do appreciate the input on your use of the app.

What are your objectives exactly?

To see how it works.

It has the features, so my expectation is that they work. If I play with them now when it doesn't matter, at some time I may find a use for it, maybe I won't, but either way I know what it does and what it can't do and I either won't ask it to do things it's not good at or figure out how to make it work in my favor.

I set up a flight plan that put it through it's paces and incorporated several different features and actions it can perform. An aptly named test flight, intentionally complex. It did not do what it was programmed to, and that is somewhat concerning. If it failed in this regard, what else can I expect? Maybe it was me, if so it would be nice to know what not to do. Fortunately, it seems to have the flight path down pat so no panicked takeover of the controls. (And that is something else I have been playing with, taking back over manual control during a flight.)

At the moment, this is goof off in my yard stuff. If I go out for something serious, get to a site and run that plan to find out it didn't do half of what I asked, then have to fart around with it, cross my fingers and fly it again, that's not really a flight plan is it. I'm sure that scenario might very well play out for me sooner or later, but here over my yard it's not a big deal.
 
It sounds like you don't utilize the software in this regard either because you don't need it or see value in it, which is fine for you and your purposes, but that's not really useful in regards to my question. However I do appreciate the input on your use of the app.



To see how it works.

It has the features, so my expectation is that they work. If I play with them now when it doesn't matter, at some time I may find a use for it, maybe I won't, but either way I know what it does and what it can't do and I either won't ask it to do things it's not good at or figure out how to make it work in my favor.

I set up a flight plan that put it through it's paces and incorporated several different features and actions it can perform. An aptly named test flight, intentionally complex. It did not do what it was programmed to, and that is somewhat concerning. If it failed in this regard, what else can I expect? Maybe it was me, if so it would be nice to know what not to do. Fortunately, it seems to have the flight path down pat so no panicked takeover of the controls. (And that is something else I have been playing with, taking back over manual control during a flight.)

At the moment, this is goof off in my yard stuff. If I go out for something serious, get to a site and run that plan to find out it didn't do half of what I asked, then have to fart around with it, cross my fingers and fly it again, that's not really a flight plan is it. I'm sure that scenario might very well play out for me sooner or later, but here over my yard it's not a big deal.

Phantom Filmschool

It's all about Litchi. Forget the Phantom part. Good self-enrichment.
 
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Posting a link to your mission would allow those so inclined to actually see what your issues might be rather than just offering guesses.
 
Phantom Filmschool

It's all about Litchi. Forget the Phantom part. Good self-enrichment.

Interesting. I'd like to look into that in depth later. I'd kind of like to get a drone based income going at some level before I spend much more on continuing educational materials, my goal is to try to balance out the expenses at some point so it's not all outflow. At the moment I'm attempting to be sparing with my expenses so I can hope to actually turn a profit short term. But it is something I see value in and that course looks like a good option for me to invest in myself a bit on. They seem relatively inexpensive so maybe it won't be too long.

Posting a link to your mission would allow those so inclined to actually see what your issues might be rather than just offering guesses.

I agree but it's my home and I don't really want strangers on the internet having precision data on me. I know privacy is a bit of a sham these days, but I do try to make it at least somewhat challenging to find details. If I continue to have issues when I get to another site I'll be happy to post full data. Given current events and the fact I'm not officially in business yet with paying gigs to venture out for, I've been following my states recommendation to stay home unless it's necessary. I probably could venture out, no strict lock down here saying you can't leave home to go be outdoors by yourself, but frankly I'm more worried about the goof offs that think this is a vacation. I've been hearing a lot of public outdoor spaces if anything are more crowded than normal.
 
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I agree but it's my home and I don't really want strangers on the internet having precision data on me.

You can use the Move function to place the mission in another location away from your house, rename it and post a link for the moved mission.
 
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I've used Litchi for years, but I must admit to never using actions. I always let the app control the flight path and sometimes camera direction and I've always controlled the camera function itself.

If I wanted to understand how actions work, I think it might be better to start simple and get that to work first and then start stacking. Rather than stacking at the beginning making it very complex without first understanding how each individual action reacts making it difficult to understand where it is breaking down for you.
 
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I have found that putting the video action up front does make the autonomous actions to get a little inconsistent. Putting it at the end is usually best. I take standstill photo all the time. I have three develops that specifically want construction progress photos and it takes me about 15 minutes to fly the site with the perfect vantage points every time. Of course I had to make a couple of dry runs to get it dialed in...
 
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I have found that putting the video action up front does make the autonomous actions to get a little inconsistent. Putting it at the end is usually best. I take standstill photo all the time. I have three develops that specifically want construction progress photos and it takes me about 15 minutes to fly the site with the perfect vantage points every time. Of course I had to make a couple of dry runs to get it dialed in...

Is there a reason you didn't use the Cable Cam function to set up your mission rather than having to fly and adjust several times.
 
The last time I had puzzling behavior from my P4P on LItchi, the problem turned out to be different revision levels between the mobile device that I fly with and the Mission Hub that I plan with. Try updating your version of LItchi on the mobile device. If that doesn't resolve the problem, drop back to simple-step missions and add complexity as success is demonstrated.
 
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You can use the Move function to place the mission in another location away from your house, rename it and post a link for the moved mission.

So simple I feel silly for not thinking of it. I dropped it in the middle of Kentucky Lake.


I think the advice on building up on it may be spot on. I may do a photo only mission next and work from there.
 
So simple I feel silly for not thinking of it. I dropped it in the middle of Kentucky Lake.


I think the advice on building up on it may be spot on. I may do a photo only mission next and work from there.
After looking at this mission, 90% of it has the camera rolling. I remain a bit confused. Why stop recording at all? Do you plan on doing any editing? Or are you saying you're merely testing the Litchi interfaces?
 
Or are you saying you're merely testing the Litchi interfaces?

Yes. I gave it several things to do and sent it out to some places I fly around from my yard just to see how it handled it. The video doesn't matter to me, it's just part of the instructions I gave it. The fact it ignored the action items does matter.
 
You have two waypoints set up with non curved and the remainder curved. Problem is I don't believe you can get it to perform other actions at the non curved waypoints because you have set the initial setting to curve, and just eliminated the curve at the way-point setting.
Now I have never tried that and if it wasn't pouring rain right now I'd go try it to confirm.
If you set you initial setting to non curved you will be able to start and stop your video at any waypoint you choose. I always control the camera myself, but that is just me. I also don't use POI because I have had nothing but problems with it.
 
You have two waypoints set up with non curved and the remainder curved. Problem is I don't believe you can get it to perform other actions at the non curved waypoints because you have set the initial setting to curve, and just eliminated the curve at the way-point setting.
Now I have never tried that and if it wasn't pouring rain right now I'd go try it to confirm.
If you set you initial setting to non curved you will be able to start and stop your video at any waypoint you choose. I always control the camera myself, but that is just me. I also don't use POI because I have had nothing but problems with it.
I have never NOT used POI.
 
You have two waypoints set up with non curved and the remainder curved. Problem is I don't believe you can get it to perform other actions at the non curved waypoints because you have set the initial setting to curve, and just eliminated the curve at the way-point setting.
Now I have never tried that and if it wasn't pouring rain right now I'd go try it to confirm.
If you set you initial setting to non curved you will be able to start and stop your video at any waypoint you choose. I always control the camera myself, but that is just me. I also don't use POI because I have had nothing but problems with it.

I bet you are correct, I've made note of that setting now. I did just run the slider to 0 not seeing a way to turn off curve individually for waypoints. I'm making a new mission with curved off by default and will give that a go soon.

POI has worked great for me my few attempts. The camera locked on to the intended subject and tracked wonderfully. I did notice issues with slow flight, seems like it works smoother if you keep it above 10mph or so, at slower speeds I could see it hunting on the yaw axis, lagging a bit then panning quickly to get back on target.

I do want to play with doing the camera manually using Litchi.

Thanks all for the input, I'll keep posing on my experiences. Would be more fun on some more interesting places, then I could add video and such.
 
It sounds like there are different use-cases here that explains some of the different methods. All the methods have their scenario that they work well in. Our typical scenario for standard images and video are to fly for construction progress where the client desires the exact same shot every time over the course of 12-24 months on a biweekly or monthly basis. These images can easily be turned into a time-lapse that looks seamless so manual control is not an option. Some of the patterns can get pretty intricate and keeping your eye on the drone is the regulation you don't want to break. I can't fly in many of my environments looking at the screen that much.
 
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