DJI's New Flight Simulator Is UNREAL

While the Mavic 2 Enterprise got most of the attention at AirWorks this month, DJI also announced its new Flight Simulator! The Demo Version is available now and I highly recommend that you download it if your computer has the graphics card to handle it.
This is not the old flight sim that was available in the DJI Go App, this is a full-featured, high-quality simulator for PC.
Take a look at our quick review of the FreeFlight Modes and check out droneacademy.com/dji-flight-s... for more details about the system requirements our thoughts!
Download it now: www.dji.com/simulator
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[@droneranger2041]

Great review thanks.

[@quim2040]

Hello! Do you know if this simulator works for the DJI developer kit? Thanks in advance!

[@JonzoGonzo]

How do I setup my DJI smart remote for the Flight simulator?

[@169494]

I just installed the free-version, works with my Phantom 3SE remote. And there's a Racing mode in the software to practice drone skills. Any gaming compt should have no issues running the software.

[@andreasoberg2021]

When i connect our Cendence controller it begins to vibrate all the time. Anyone else had this happen?

[@lorageproductions]

We use MACs and the PC although new doesn't handle this simulator. Anyone know which computer package is best please? I know its a GTX1060 or 1070 card but which computer handles it best without costing an arm and leg

[@futuremontagedsgn]

I got the Simulator launcher but it's saying I should download Flight location. Did that happen to anyone else?

[@va_photos]

Great demo - thanks!

[@thewestpost]

So what controller do I use for the simulator?

[@rocheuro]

does it have acro mode ?

[@SirRelith]

Wow great flight sim! I just spent a while flying around, feels pretty realistic actually. Are there plans to update it to be able to use the new controller? I just got a Mini 2 and it doesn't work with my controller. probly not updated yet.

[@DroneAcademycom]

It doesn't seem that DJI is putting that much work into it for non-Enterprise uses so I don't expect them to update it for the Mavic Mini 2 controller.

[@prateepdee9373]

@@DroneAcademycom The fact that Enterprise cost around 1300$ isn't helping....

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@prateepdee9373 You're not wrong there. Most hobbyists I know use the free version or end up paying for something like RealFlight9.5

[@bonaccca]

What about dji air 2? Does enybody knows? What to do? Any other simulator for this drone?

[@lindanasifoglu9180]

hi does trial version expire or its good for all tthe time Thanks

[@DroneAcademycom]

The trial version never expires.

[@willyearwood9819]

whats is the sim cald and will it support xbox gamepad

[@robertschroeck]

i totally agree it does give a sense of being better, i have flown my drone for over a year and it has a response time much faster than the simulator, pricey toy and it does not reappear as the simulator makes that happen, i hope they get it up to real drone time and keep the purchase price down, as there seems never a trial period, but never the less DJI make a great product.

[@almaclang]

Thanks for sharing this video. Like 👍 and Subscribed.

[@jonr3757]

I can't sign in to get this.i have signed up.but it asks for password then name.but I can't put in please let me know what to do please DJI mini 2

[@shivacaballero]

Is mini 2 comtroller compatible?

[@jerrydelacruz5119]

It's unreal alright, the company that makes the best drone can't make a simulation program that error free.

[@luismolinares2912]

do you know where can i download that free version?

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@luismolinares2912 www.dji.com/simulator

[@SteveMartinUSA]

My Mavic Air 2 controller doesn't seem to work. When I plug it in and turn it on it says something like "setting up unknown usb device".

[@wilsonfreire259]

You have to Google how to let 3rd party usb drivers be downloaded since the driver needed is chinese and not Microsoft. So thats why it dont let u

[@SteveMartinUSA]

@@wilsonfreire259 Do you have any references? I'd love for it to work!

[@kylehill3643]

@@SteveMartinUSA Your not allowed to.

[@genericgamer8007]

Really great simulator… wish they had support for more drones

[@neira.francisco]

Does the current free version works with the Mavic 2 Pro remote?

[@neira.francisco]

@@misterChillyWilly 👍👍 Thx!

[@MrGif]

nice intro drone

[@coff24]

Is there a plan to bring this to Apple Mac desktop computer

[@DroneAcademycom]

I don't believe there are any plans to port this to MacOS (due to Macs having historically underpowered GPUs.) However, if you have a sufficiently powerful GPU in your Mac, you could run this on a Windows VM or BootCamp.

[@richardcrouch356]

got it installed on my pc but screen keeps on flickering and its very slow

[@DroneAcademycom]

What are the specs on your PC? This simulator has some pretty high hardware requirements. If you're not rocking a gaming PC (or at least something with a significant GPU), you're going to have a rough time.

[@mrjweate]

My computer specs are not good enough for DJI Flight Simulator. I can’t afford to upgrade. Is there any way to cheat (downgrade settings)? Or is there an alternative flight simulator that is compatible with my DJI Mavic Air controller?

[@DroneAcademycom]

You can turn down the video settings in the sim to help but you'll still need at least a GTX1050 GPU (or comperable) to support the sim. We tested it on a laptop with an i7 CPU and GTX950m GPU and was unable to get it running smoothly. Sadly, it takes quite a bit of compute power to push all those polygons. Realflight is a pretty good drone sim but it doesnt work with the Mavic controller.

[@SergeyGlushakov]

Does it work with Mavic Mini remote? Has anyone tried?

[@elyrojas01]

Yes, the Mavic Mini's remote works with the simulator.

[@savithaev4872]

@@elyrojas01 Can i use my Android phone as the controller

[@luismolinares2912]

where can i download that free version or which is his name?

[@DroneAcademycom]

check out www.dji.com/simulator

[@pelegsiegel6711]

Great video, I have a problem with my remote, I can't seem to connect it to my pc, I have a "default" mavic pro 2 remote controller Edit: do you need to install drivers?

[@DroneAcademycom]

That sounds like a driver issue. If you have the sim installed, go to C://ProgramFiles (x86)/DJI Flight Simulator/ and run the application "dji_usb_5512_64_108" this should install the usb drivers for the controller.

[@pelegsiegel6711]

@@DroneAcademycom ok thanks

[@savithaev4872]

@@DroneAcademycom Can i use my Android phone as the controller

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@savithaev4872 I'm almost certain that you must use the keyboard or an actual DJI controller to use the simulator.

[@JaeSambo]

Do your controller connect to your computer?

[@DroneAcademycom]

It does connect to your computer via USB.

[@gerardw86]

Can it record video of the flights?

[@SirRelith]

it lets you 'record' and it looks like it's recording, but I don't think it actually records a video. :( please someone tell me I'm wrong, but I can't find any video files.

[@nicknolanmarketing]

I'm running Windows 10 on a 2019 Macbook Pro 16. Does anyone know why if "full screen" the app only takes up the top left quarter of the screen and the rest is black?

[@DroneAcademycom]

I think the native resolution for that MBP is 3072×1920. Are you running Windows as a VM or through Bootcamp? It's possible that the simulator is only running in 1080p, which would display in a small section of a 3072x1920 screen.

[@bluewaterbusiness]

@@DroneAcademycom Bootcamp, VM graphics performance is not good enough. I was able to "fix" the issue by changing the desktop scaling percentage.

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@bluewaterbusiness Yeah, I can imagine that the MPB probably doesn't have enough VRAM to dedicate the required amount to the VM. Either way, glad you were able to get it sorted!

[@nicknolanmarketing]

@@DroneAcademycom Mine has 1536 MB of VRAM and 32 Gigs of of DRAM. I play some fairly graphic intense games without an issue.

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@nicknolanmarketing What is the maximum amount you can send to a VM? Does the MBP have the capability to use discrete graphics cards in VMs? I'm glad to see you have it working though, especially on 1.5GB of VRAM. DJI says that you must have a GTX1050ti or greater (with 4GB of VRAM) but it sounds like you can actually run it with less :-)

[@paulypyro]

I must admit to not having seen it live but the interface looks very "gamey" rather than realistic ?? Is it better when actually using it ??

[@robertschroeck]

not really

[@DroneAcademycom]

Well, it is based on a video game engine (Unreal) so it's bound to look a little 'gamey.' That being said, it is a good opportunity to get a feel for the controls if you've never flown before. We did a test with one of our recent classes, and gave half of the students an hour of simulator time before the flight phase of the course. Those who had spent time on the simulator were more comfortable, confident, and competent on the controls then those who had not been on the simulator.

[@SimopsAus]

Hope they make it compatible with Mini 2.........

[@rajgill7576]

Can I use this with a spark controller?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Sadly, the Spark controller is not supported. The currently supported controllers are: Mavic Air, Mavic 2, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Advanced, Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Matrice 100, Matrice 600, Matrice 600 Pro, Inspire 1 Series, and Lightbridge 2.

[@rajgill7576]

@@DroneAcademycom aww, thanks

[@liltesla]

@@DroneAcademycomMavic Pro Platinum is supported.. I was using last night...

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@liltesla Awesome, thanks for letting us know! What do you think of the simulator so far?

[@169494]

It works with my phantom 3SE remote, so give the free trial a try. All you need is to usb connect to compt, then power on the remote.

[@ntacreator3103]

Work for phantom 3 pro ?

[@169494]

It works with my phantom 3SE remote

[@fadlya.rahman4113]

Try to install this software. It failed with network error. Then it started to randomly turned off my firewall.

[@DroneAcademycom]

I haven't experienced that, but I do know that it requires connectivity to DJI servers to authenticate. If your firewall is blocking that traffic, you could run into issues.

[@nikko8684]

@@DroneAcademycom Ive disabled my firewall and still have the same issue. Network error. So annoying.

[@offgridgaminguk]

Can't get my mavic 2 zoom controller to work with it :(

[@DroneAcademycom]

If you're having trouble getting your controller to work, try reinstalling the driver. (C:>Program Files (x86)> DJI Flight Simulator > dji_usb_5512_64_108) Just run that application and then try to connect your controller again. Let us know if that works for you!

[@Keitan97]

DroneAcademy.com does not work for me unfortunately, did just that

[@KROSKI_y]

@@Keitan97 how did u fix it?

[@KROSKI_y]

@@DroneAcademycom wait do u need bluetooth on to make this work?

[@DroneAcademycom]

No, you should not need Bluetooth, just connect the controller to the computer via USB.

[@TheKayaker1]

I'm new to drones and would love to train on this. Has Dji made this available on my IMac ?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Sadly, it's Windows only for now. I haven't heard if they plan on developing a Mac version.

[@UdaosLife]

How much does it cost??

[@DroneAcademycom]

This review covers the free version but the Enterprise version costs ~$1,000.

[@declanmurphy1006]

My YAW is way too fast. Trying to figure out what settings to help that. FML

[@DroneAcademycom]

Are you talking about the simulator or real life?

[@declanmurphy1006]

@@DroneAcademycom The simulator. I've messed with the settings and gotten a longer stick but dang, trying to do the racing trials, it's so hard to be subtle with the yaw

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@declanmurphy1006 Yeah, you can adjust EXP and Gain in the Settings but it can be tricky to tune properly.

[@declanmurphy1006]

@@DroneAcademycom It turns out when doing the time trials in the simulator, you have no choice but to use Sport mode, whatever that's about

[@SarveshParakh]

This sim doesn't mimic air flow effect of the aircraft's own flying. In indoor narrow environments, the drone gets all twisty because of its own airflow from the coptors. Also I notice the drone is much faster in real life compared to the sim. Is there a more true to life simulator that focuses on realism and not graphics?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Yeah, it does a pretty good job of rendering the environmental factors but the physics engine is not 100% accurate for all things. That being said, RealFlight 8 is a really popular simulator and one that I use pretty frequently.

[@SarveshParakh]

@@DroneAcademycom Thanks. will try that.

[@carlstunna1182]

can I use this on a Mac I don't have a PC?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Unfortunately, this simulator is PC only for now. Some have reported success running it on a Mac using Windows (via Boot Camp or a VM). Unfortunately, most Mac computers (aside from Mac pro and iMac Pro) don't have a powerful enough GPU to support the software at any useful resolution or frame rate.

[@carlstunna1182]

@@DroneAcademycom ok thanks for the info 🙏🏾

[@DroneAcademycom]

Always happy to help!

[@nemesis851_]

Controller drivers still not fixed

[@DroneAcademycom]

They will work, but you have to manually install them from the DJI Simulator folder.

[@gormwaagerasmussen5995]

Does this work With a DJI Mavic Mini?

[@iolcomposer3043]

Good question!!! I think it doesn't... whatever the reason is... maybe someone knows more

[@gormwaagerasmussen5995]

@@iolcomposer3043 Yeah, just wish it did work on it. Mabye DJI already started working on it, who knows?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Are you asking if the simulator works with the Mavic Mini controller or are you asking if you can fly a Mavic Mini in the simulator?

[@gormwaagerasmussen5995]

@@DroneAcademycom Im asking if it works with the mavic mini controller

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@gormwaagerasmussen5995 The Simulator has not been updated since March 2019 (well before the Mavic Mini was announced) so it is quite possible the controller will not be integrated yet.

[@brandonthevisionary485]

its worth every nickel

[@JamesGoldenboy]

Is it still Pc only?

[@DroneAcademycom]

It is. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the sim has been updated since 3/14/19, so it looks like DJI isn't putting too much energy into it.

[@JamesGoldenboy]

Thanks for the reply. Nice video btw!

[@DroneAcademycom]

Thanks! We need to make some more 😁

[@nemesis851_]

To unlock the Tutorial, purchase is required. WAAAAAY TOO EXPENSIVE !!

[@DroneAcademycom]

It IS way too expensive for the average individual pilot, but you can get a lot of value from the free version by just flying around and creating your own training 'scenarios.'

[@luismolinares2912]

@@DroneAcademycom where can i get that free tutorial?

[@JosesGarage101]

On a Mac??? How?

[@DroneAcademycom]

Unfortunately, the DJI Flight Simulator only works on PC. You might be able to run it on a Mac via Bootcamp (assuming you have an iMac Pro or comparable system with a really good GPU.)

[@JosesGarage101]

@@DroneAcademycom mac Pro

[@DroneAcademycom]

​@@JosesGarage101 DJI lists the GTX1050Ti (with 4GB VRAM) as the minimum requirement. If you have the previous-gen (trash can) Mac Pro with the dual AMD Fire Pro GPUs, you might be able to run it since that should give you 6GB total VRAM. I'm not sure if it can run in a VM, so you might need to boot Windows via BootCamp. If you do try it, let me know if it works for you!

[@carol12645]

It comes with a ridiculous price for just a software

[@DroneAcademycom]

If you're thinking about it as an individual consumer, the cost is high. However, if you're thinking about it as a company looking to train new pilots on specific mission types before handing them a $20k+ drone, it's not that bad. Tools like MATLAB or Solidworks are thousands of dollars per license so, if you're thinking about this simulator as a business tool, it's not too far off from other, similar tools.

[@stranahan07]

Is this truly worth it? This will be for our 501c3 drone group where we educate the public on drones and drone safety. Just want to know if it will be truly worth it.

[@DroneAcademycom]

Depending on the platforms you are flying, you're probably better off with the free demo. It's enough to get people the feel of the sticks.

[@541beausham]

What's unreal is the fact that they have all this Technology but yet I still need a damn pc/laptop to use the damn flight simulator!!🤦🏻‍♂️

[@DroneAcademycom]

True, but rendering high-quality environments and physics engines (for wx and wind) requires a lot of processing power :-) Maybe one day they will port it to a mobile device!

[@tempelotraxanas]

nice room full of weed !!!!!

[@MoreKnowledgeShorts]

ghostlygr kir BAHA

[@nikko8684]

So stupid won't work with my air 2 controller or ps5 controller.

[@bobburnett8957]

With all the advanced technology employed by DJI, This Wont work with a Mac!

[@DroneAcademycom]

Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer but I think (most) Macs aren't built with a strong enough GPU to drive the graphics of this simulator. I've heard of some people getting it running on a VM running on a Mac Pro, not sure if that's something you would want to try.

[@MrGif]

sorry if I may take your drone intro , my not ?

[@muzikmon2267]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN ANYONE TELL YOU HOW MUCH IT COSTS. THEY'RE KEEPING IT SECRET BECAUSE IT'S TOO MUCH MONEY IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!!! I MEAN HOW DISINGENUOUS

[@DroneAcademycom]

The demo version (which offers most aircraft but no scenario-based training) is free but the Enterprise version (with all aircraft and scenarios) runs around $1300-$1400. It's certainly not cheap but it is cheaper than crashing a drone, especially a high-end unit like an M210. Still, most people can still get something out of the free version.

[@SexkeksProducts]

Don't worry, there is always a crack version. ;)

[@JaeSambo]

@@SexkeksProducts 😂😂

[@sethadam4266]

Silly

[@ronniedoorzon1576]

It's not a game but a simulator for people who never had any rc car or plane, and this way they can practice before they send up their real 1000/3000 dollar drone.

[@oliviergoggins]

Its not Unreal. The proffesional people all say you should use

[@DroneAcademycom]

They say you should use what?

[@oliviergoggins]

This simulator. Ken Heron a proffesional drone flyer recommends it too.

[@DroneAcademycom]

@@oliviergoggins Absolutely! We just said 'UNREAL' because it is based on the UNREAL gaming engine for PC :-)

[@slickman1953]

Too bad it cost soooo much money

[@paulwills7902]

Stupid price !!!

[@paulwills7902]

Chris Settree where from

[@DroneAcademycom]

The demo version is free, the full version is pricey.

[@paulwills7902]

@@DroneAcademycom Thank you

[@DroneAcademycom]

Always happy to help!

[@joshuahelton9000]

Wow imaginary places you can actually fly a drone! True DJI fashion and their fantasy land. Selling fantasies to suckers like me one day at a time.

[@DroneAcademycom]

The good news is they aren't selling this...it's free (at least this version is.)

[@joshuahelton9000]

@@DroneAcademycom that is amazing because everything DJI is overpriced and overrated. I wouldn't pay for this shit... FUCK DJI

[@yunkeacme]

LMAO, silly dji "pilots" they need a simulator to "fly" a fly itself drone.. epic fail.

[@ominous7856]

I had a stroke reading that