Litchi Waypoint Tutorial Part 2

[@gthmcty111]

I just started flying, and what an honor to post a video awhile back that is STILL one of the most informative and concise explanations of the waypoint section thank you thank you thank you!!!

[@Larr2010]

Thank You for taking the time to put this together. My first flight got no actions just because I had curved lines on while planned in straight lines. Keep up the great work....just should have watches this one first.

[@Ludlowdroneguy]

Thank you for the great videos on Litchi waypoints. Very well done!!!

[@filmalaska]

Excellent tutorial- best I've seen for Litchi- thank you

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for the comment. I try to make the tutorials clear and informative. I also have fun making them. I try to view them from someone else's point of view. I usually find places that I missed a point that would make it unclear, so I fix it. I probably still miss some things, but when I feel good about it, I publish. Thanks for viewing.

[@tomtomdawson]

Yes, right on !! I've been begging for more Litchi tutorials done after the Mavic Air and Spark updates and you are the first to respond. Keep them coming and get increasingly creative . We are getting great footage already, smooth and buttery, Thanks

[@pll66]

Great video - out for first go tomorrow and feel much more comfortable having watched this and Tutorial Part 1

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for your kind comments and thank you for viewing. Have a great day flying.

[@DroneWolfMedia]

Thank you for providing such an informative tutorial! I just finished watching parts 1 & 2 and look forward to utilizing your guide tomorrow when I go out flying.

[@bobpatterson5935]

Just getting into programmed waypoints and I am enjoying your videos very much.

[@welzoliver6639]

thank you so much you did an awesome job explaining how to work this app to this point !!! A friend had just talked me into getting this app said it would help with my New aerial photography company and I can see how it will make things faster on site as I can set up flights night b4 !!! Thanks Again and can not wait for more of your videos of this app

[@imrankw]

Very useful again. I am buying Litchi because of it.

[@johnkabasakalis77]

Thank you very much. I disabled the Gimbal Pitch Angle and your advice was spot on!

[@sonoferin54]

I learned a lot from your videos and was a pleasure to watch thank you.

[@georgesambataro3337]

Thank you for doing this. It has really helped me understand the settings before I put the bird in the air !

[@welzoliver6639]

PLEASE More tutorial's of this app !! Looking forward to video 3

[@peterfraser5704]

Thanks once again for a great, clear, tutorial.

[@clementgauthier3119]

Great job. Thanks for your ongoing help.

[@scdronemedia]

Another excellent tutorial. Thank you.

[@Grumps76]

Just seen your video on litchi waypoints a lot of info that will help me as i have just got the litchi app to fly my Phantom 4 thanks for the info

[@hansdenbode]

Thanks for a great tutorial!!! I learn a lot from this tutorial

[@4patcarp]

Great video and simple to follow. Thank you!

[@thurmansanders3072]

Excellent video for a beginning Litchi user like myself...thanks moocho

[@fergnjude]

Thank you I am learning more all the time, I enjoy the clear way that you inform. Well done.

[@MontanaMonk]

The Litchi App has been a great tool for me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thank you for your kind comments.

[@stuartmccloud307]

Brilliant videos, thanks for taking the time to show the features, I learned so much.

[@ToddJayPhotography]

Most helpful tutorial yet

[@YellowstoneBrew]

Well done! Thanks much. I'm looking forward to Part 3!

[@eltonlui5349]

Thank you of you explanation.I learn a lot of the setting. Great !

[@koconnor1963]

Thank you for these really useful videos

[@shdw_co]

Great and very intuitive videos thanks for making.

[@rafaelmdiaz11]

YAY ! so informative. Thanks.

[@artcass1707]

Thanks for the great informataive video I just add the app to my ipad. you where and this is a big help thanks again

[@wwitsel]

Thank you for an excellent video

[@Fisherkingnigel]

Just awesome, it really helped me out. Just did my first waypoint flight after watching yours and man it was sweet. Sadly at WP 1 it did not recode due to the curved lines but that's ok I'm heading out there again. Still was great to see my bird cover all the things I wanted her to do.

[@MontanaMonk]

Sometimes I forget to start recording, too. You might try the Auto Record setting in Program Settings. It starts automatically on takeoff. However, it doesn't seem to respond to stop recording by an action, so it records until you stop it or until the aircraft is shut down after landing. Thanks for your comment and for viewing.

[@Fisherkingnigel]

+MontanaMonk I'm not worried because in post production I can cut stuff out really easily.

[@waynegreene6405]

Brilliant mate, thank you.

[@amandabowens9365]

Very useful, thank you, please make more!

[@MontanaMonk]

I have at least one more in the planning stages using the Phantom 3 Advanced and the Litchi software. Thank you for viewing and for your comments.

[@iMediadvd]

Thank you will be trying a waypoint flight shortly.

[@GreatYarmouthbeach]

Great video you should wok for litchi first thing after this video is to purchase litchi you make every min of video so easy to follow. keep up the good work. & thanks again dji normal app in the bin well still keep just for normal boring flights.

[@Arlo360-Official]

First off, I really appreciate your videos. As I follow along on Mission Hub web site, I noticed my Mission Settings screen has far fewer options than yours. I realize now that the the tuning needs to happen in the ap

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for viewing and for your comments. Yes, the Hub has fewer mission options than the Ap. However, it shows one thing that the Ap doesn't show, the actual ground elevation for a waypoint. This can be very important if you are flying relatively low and the ground elevation changes much. While you can't see ground elevation directly with the Ap, you can reference it by using the Mission Editing Tool. With it, you can change waypoints to an altitude referenced to Ground rather than Home.

[@Arlo360-Official]

Yes, very good to know if ever want to fly in and around hilly terrain.

[@alwaysatwork247]

Great tutorials. Just got my new P3 Pro and learning all kinds of things to do with it. Time to put my Yuneec Q500 4K on the shelf.... Keep them coming. BTW where are you located?

[@MontanaMonk]

I am in Missoula, Montana. You're going to love the P3. With Litchi, it just keeps getting better. Thanks for viewing and for comments.

[@HI-PSI]

I believe setting POI's first then drawing out the waypoints makes it easier to plot out and makes for a much better finished product. Smooth turns look a lot better than sharp. So set POI's and their altitude first, next draw out the flight path with the pencil, make sure batch waypoints are set to focus POI (waypoints will focus on the nearest POI, you can always change the POI of focus if you like), set last waypoint action (I usually set to return to first waypoint if it's a round trip, do nothing or RTH on a segmented path, flip from F mode back to GPS and land), ALWAYS remember to verify your waypoint altitudes before running your mission.

[@MontanaMonk]

I agree that your technique is great for general missions. I agree that curved turns usually look better than sharp turns. However, if you want to perform a waypoint action, curved turns don't allow it. Sometimes in my instruction videos I do things that one would not normally do so that I can show interactions among the capabilities of the tool that may not be obvious to the less experienced pilot. I am doing a golf course video and use curved turns to smoothly follow the fairways. However, I want to shoot still images at the greens so have to do that manually rather than with the mission program because curved turns is the mode for the mission and actions can't be executed. I sometimes use a temporary POI to just get a gimbal angle when I don't want to have to reset other waypoints that might want to point at the POI. Fortunately the Litchi software is flexible enough to let us do a variety of things quite easily. Thanks for viewing and for you comments.

[@HI-PSI]

+MontanaMonk Right.. my thing on still shots is I like to do that 100% manually (unless it's a 360 pano) so I know for a fact I'm getting the shot I want. If it's not necessary to line it up 100% I wouldn't mind using the waypoint actions to snap it. That's good to know about how the curves affect the actions though.

[@andyleclerc200]

nice tutorial thanks for sharing

[@jmrstrong]

Great tutorial. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. If you want to use curved transitions is there a way to use actions at way points? It seems the only option would beto define separate segments.

[@MontanaMonk]

While you can't do actions with a mission that uses curved turns, you can pause the mission and do the action manually, like shooting a photo. Then continue the mission. The play icon that starts the mission becomes a pause icon while the mission is running. Clicking the icon will toggle the mission to pause/play. The pause will usually be visible in the recorded video while the video is paused for an action, but it can be minimized with an edit transition, if desired. If the desired action is just to stay at a point for a longer period, it is easiest to set the Cruising Speed of the mission to zero and the Max Flight Speed to the highest speed you want to travel. Then just use the stick to go forward at the speed you want. Moving the stick to neutral will stop the travel for a longer look at that location. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@blue280485]

Very nice video, well explained how Litchi app works for DJI Drones. Quick question, when you fly Waypoints mission with Litchi app, does the telemetry data / flight data show on the live video feed from the drone? If yes then is there a way to get rid of it? Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work!

[@rand49er]

This video is the best one I've seen yet out of a dozen or so. I downloaded Litchi two days ago, and it's different than the one shown here. Is that because mine is an Android version? Just one example of the differences is I cannot drag wave points using my Litchi. I have a P3P, btw. Thanks for an excellent tutorial.

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for your kind comments. I suspect the Android and iPad versions are a little different, although I don't think the dragging waypoints is different. Just be sure you do a long press on the waypoint before you start to drag. Also, the version in that video is an older version. Most things haven't changed too much and I think everything I showed still works very much the same. Thanks for viewing.

[@jonnstewart6257]

Thanks heaps for both editions of this tutorial. Very very helpful. Its slow and clear and easy to follow. If I could ask a quick question - I set my way points up, they werw all pretty simular, but for some reason my mavic just stopped on W3. I check to see if there was a speed set and there was. What do you think caused this? Thanks for you time and the video once again.

[@MontanaMonk]

If you did any editing of the waypoint, it would be easy to accidentally tap the + on the Speed, which would set it at .2 mph. While the aircraft would still move, it would be so slow that it would appear to stop. The slow speed would be maintained until the mission finished or until a new speed was set at the next waypoint, which might take a long time at the slow speed. This is only a guess, but I can't think of another reason for the change. Thank your for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@johnkabasakalis77]

Thanks for the effort. Excellent work. Question. Can a Curved Mission with POI's be flown with the addition of Gimbal Pitch Angles?

[@wlacalle]

Best Litchi tutorials on the web, hope you can do a tutorial on the other modes. Thank you

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you. I have some others on my list of topics. Winter here, so might slow my flying down a bit.

[@kevingardam]

Fantastic clear explanantion...can you ramp the speed into and out of a waypoint? So you arrive smoothly at an endpoint for example?

[@MontanaMonk]

The easiest way to ramp the speed is: Open Mission Settings and set Cruising Speed to 0 and Max Flight Speed to the highest speed you want on the mission. Then start the mission and control the speed manually with the stick. You must use the stick to even get to the starting waypoint but just ease the speed on and off as necessary to make approaches and departures from waypoints smooth. You can use the same technique to vary the speed when using Curved Turns. Check my video "Modified Curved Turns Missions with Litchi" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIHInIKGbdpsbLM for more discussion on this. You can also change the speed by setting the speed for a waypoint, but the speed changes are not interpolated, so they are not smooth. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@kevingardam]

Thanks Montana, heres another one for you, please.... apologies if this has already been answered. Can you you jump between waypoints, ie from 1-4 or 4 to 2, do you always have to fly in sequence. I'm thinking this for setting camera positions and moving quickly between them. Any thoughts? Again, thankyou.

[@MontanaMonk]

No, you can't change the order of waypoints. They will be flown in the numbered order, 1,2,3...n. However, you can create the mission so the waypoints jump around where you want, rather than following some "natural" route, so you could have waypoints 1,2,3,4 and waypoint 4 can be physically located between 1 and 2, although this probably is not what you really want. My approach would be to just add more waypoints and execute any actions needed. When all was done, I would create the video by assembling the clips in the desired order. Keep in mind that you don't have to re-create the entire mission to add an extra waypoint, just click on the waypoint before the location you want an additional waypoint and insert an additional waypoint (+ on tablet or insert on Hub) and re-save the mission. Hope this helps.

[@kevingardam]

Thanks Montana for your quick response, would this same technique work also with the DJI Go4 app too? or should I just jump to Litchi

[@MontanaMonk]

I don't have the DJI Go4 app, but the DJI GS Pro app works similarly. Adding a new waypoint between two others is done with a long press on the + between waypoints. I like that the DJI apps are free, but I have had Litchi for a long time and it does about everything I want with my aircraft (Phantom 3 Advanced). The user interface seems easier to use than the DJI apps. The DJI GS Pro app has similar features to Liitchi and some additional features. However, I haven't found a need for any of the features that DJI has that Litchi lacks.

[@Garymayo]

Thank you for your help!

[@okoboji]

Nice job.

[@MontanaMonk]

Thanks for viewing and for comments. You may be interested in the new video I posted in response to another viewer's question. The video shows the interaction between Waypoints and Points of Interest. The video: "Waypoint Gimbal point to POI with Litchi" is at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZTIdWWZpKZgY9k

[@h2odivemaster]

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. You have done a great job explaining things in detail. Quick question regarding the mission planner screen, How did you make the dialogue box semi transparent ? I have trouble in that every time I make a way point the dialogue box pops up and blocks the screen, especially when I am trying to change the heading.

[@MontanaMonk]

The dialog box comes up semi transparent on both my iPad and iPhone. I haven't found any setting to change it. It might be different on other devices. Thanks for viewing and thank you for comments and questions.

[@marianolouge3806]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Question: can one, in the same mission, have the aircraft nose point towards the next waypoint in some sections of the mission and point towards a poi in others? For the former I believe that the setting has to be in "auto" mode and for the latter in "custom" mode so the answer may be no, but I'd appreciate any comments. Regards.

[@MontanaMonk]

You are correct that you have to select Auto get the aircraft to point at succeeding waypoints, and in mission Auto mode, waypoint Focus POI will have no effect. However, if you select Custom, it is easy to edit the waypoints and use the slider for Heading and rotate the aircraft to point to the next waypoint. If you want one or more waypoints to use the POI, set those waypoints to Focus POI and leave the others with POI set to None. For those set to None, set Gimbal Pitch Mode to Interpolate. Some of the interactions among these settings are confusing, especially since the Heading shown for the waypoint doesn't always reflect the direction the aircraft is pointing, especially if modes have been changed after entering waypoints or POIs. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@paulgolden8183]

thanks for a helpful video thumbs up and a sub

[@reyst1268]

Thanks so much for your answer to my earlier question.... I have another... so I clipped a tree on one my waypoint flights. Stupid forget to check altitude.... two questions. One , how do I abort a mission.? And two, everything seems to be working except when I try to run a mission, it loads, then without anything else happening it says mission completed , but no mission actually happened?.. thanks again, the tutorials are great!

[@MontanaMonk]

Sorry about your flight accident. I had one recently, too, but no apparent damage. To abort a mission, just flip the RC switch from "F" to "P" or on the Phantom 4, from "P" to "S". I have seen the same thing happen, after starting a mission, it immediately showed completed. This was a mission that was lower than 20 feet much of the way. I found that increasing the starting altitude solved the problem for me. Try to have the aircraft higher than 30 feet when starting the mission, even if the first waypoint is lower than that. Let the aircraft fly down to the lower altitude. Hope this helps.

[@reyst1268]

Thanks again!

[@quadcopter9993]

Thanks for a great tutorial. I have been using Litchi for Phantom 2 V+ and this is so much more comprehensive, but not necessarily intuitive. I will find your advice here very useful indeed. However, if in curved mode where the waypoints are in a straight line, will the waypoint actions be activated because the aircraft goes through the waypoint. E.g. if I was flying down hill and wanted to change height at three consecutive waypoints in a staight line? Also, can waypoints in batch have individual allocations i.e. Curved for some but not all? Many thanks, Paul

[@MontanaMonk]

You can set the altitude at the waypoints at any level you choose and there will be a smooth transition between those altitudes, whether the Path Mode is set to Curved or Straight lines. If you really wanted to make a sharp change in altitude at a point, it would require two waypoints at the same (or nearly the same) location, the first at the altitude of the previous waypoint and the second at the new altitude. The other thing (in addition to smoothing turns) that is affected when Curved Turns is turned on is Actions are disabled. Even though you may have set your waypoints in a straight line, Actions are not executed. The key, here, is that a change in altitude is not an Action (at least not in the mission sense), so there is no dependence on the Path Mode setting. For a mission, the Path Mode is either Straight Lines or Curved Turns. These settings apply to the whole mission and there is no way to set these for individual waypoints. This probably makes more sense if you understand that each curve is dependent on three waypoints. Hope this helps. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@alberttychy]

nice video and very helpful tutorial, only one question? what version app you use, cos my looks different (3.6.8) and I'm a little bit confused. Like&Sub greetings from UK.

[@MontanaMonk]

You are on the Android version. I am on the iOS version (1.10.2). They are a little different, although most features are similar. If there is something specific that needs clarification, let me know and I'll try to figure it out. Thanks for comments and for viewing.

[@alberttychy]

I will thank you.

[@regmac54]

These tutorials are a very helpful for me as a starting pilot. But i still have a question. I made a mission. Saved it (not as private). Still i can't see the mission on the discover map when clicking on the globe in the mission hub. Can you please help me with this.

[@MontanaMonk]

Be sure that you login on the Litchi app on your mobile device and on the Mission Hub as the same user. The logins must match for you to see missions created on the app at the Hub and missions created on the Hub at the app. If the logins are different, you won't see the missions in both places. Hope this helps. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@troiano2759]

Thank you for making both of these. Is there a way to make it so the drone doesn't pause at waypoints? Would this be the function of the curved path? Also to branch off a previous question. If I'm using curved waypoints and lets say w1 and W3 are programmed to look at poi 1. But at W2 is suppose to look a poi 2. If I'm using curved, will it miss poi 2? Or will it leave w1 looking at poi 1, slowly along its path move the camera and gimbal to poi 2, and then back to poi 1, as it travels to w3? If I need to use straight lines for this, how do I get a smooth flight path, with out the craft making hard turns and pauses at the waypoints?

[@MontanaMonk]

Using Curved Turns for the Path will make smooth turns and will not pause at the waypoint. You loose the capability to use Actions, but often that is not important for your video creation. You are correct that the flight with W1, W2 and W3 will have W1 pointing to POI 1, W2 pointing to POI 2 and W3 pointing to POI 1 and the changes will be smooth with Curve Turns and if you use Straight Lines and Heading Custom, you will get smooth changes but with a little pause at each waypoint. You can minimize how the pause looks by manually varying your speed through the mission. I discuss it in my video "Vary Speed with Waypoint POI Missions" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGnap6hprKuqq6c Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@360milehightours8]

I watched this a long time ago and have been using Litchi 100% but I had no idea how much I forgot and have not applied to my flights. Where is your next video? This I consider the bible of Litchi. thanks again. p.s. Have you tested how high up or away the drone can be and still load the mission and does it depend on the size of the mission? I imagine it does.

[@MontanaMonk]

I have put all my Litchi videos in the Litchi playlist to make them easier to find. I haven't tested the maximum distance for uploading a mission, but you should be able to upload anytime you still can control the aircraft manually, so it will depend more on the terrain and obstacles than altitude.

[@360milehightours8]

I find it is not necessarily true depending on device. For example: Asus ZenPad3s is 40M. My friend says Nvidea is similar. Ipad seems to be the best but have not tested over 100 Meters. I'm talking almost straight up. I asked Litchi and they said something similar and that the missions can exert a lot of "load" on the system (packets, etc.)

[@MontanaMonk]

I'll see if I can run some tests tomorrow. We have a bunch of forest fires going, so flying is not for sure. Lots of smoke. I have tests planned for 300 meters and 500 meters using an iPad Air 2. Each plan involves two missions, the first to fly to the test location and finish; the second is uploaded at the test location and flies back to the start. So, there will be an upload attempted at 300 meters and at 500 meters. I'll see what happens and let you know. I don't know the details of the Litchi software, and while I can understand that there might be more load on the system when the mission is running, uploading the mission shouldn't be a big load. Communication for uploading, I believe, is between the controller and the aircraft rather than the mobile device and the aircraft. Communication with the mobile device is through the cable attachment, so distance shouldn't matter and shouldn't be affected by the type of mobile device. I suspect as distance increases, the probability of having a packet transmission error would increase and if the entire mission must be transmitted completely, without re-transmission of failed packets, mission upload could fail. As mission size increases, the probability of a failed packet increases, too, so larger missions might be more likely to fail upload.

[@360milehightours8]

I completely understand the dilemma. why the difference when the same wp mission is loaded with different mobile devices?

[@MontanaMonk]

Smoke cleared a little today, so got out to fly the test uploads. Winds light about 11 kph with light gusts to maybe 16 kph. Had audio feedback turned on for altitude and distance and attached my floats to the aircraft to make it more visible. Area was easy line of sight with no obstacles nor large power lines. Probably some potential for radio interference at hospital helipad about 500 meters from most distant flight waypoint, although I had finished when a helicopter landed. Flew altitude 33 meters. Flew out to 300 meters and uploaded and flew mission successfully. Flew out to 500 meters and uploaded and flew mission successfully. Repeated the 500 meter flight, just to be sure and it uploaded and flew successfully. All missions flown with the iPad Air 2 and speed for missions was varied manually to decrease the time and verify communication. All flights done with single battery, so lower power doesn't appear to be a problem, since the last flight was to 500 meters and uploaded and flew successfully with battery less than 60%. While this test doesn't provide answers for all questions releated to uploads at distances, it suggests that as long as you have communication with the aircraft, you can probably still upload missions. While Apple devices and Android devices are both running "Litchi", the two software are not identical and might have variations in communication speed with the controller. I'm sure there are other variables that I can't investigate without looking at the source code for the software and without knowing more about all the hardware on which it runs. All I can say for sure is that with these conditions and my hardware, the upload capability is probably possible at a distance greater than 500 meters.

[@aerialvideosandphotography1240]

As a part of my previous post/question . . . what should I set in the missed Way Point that would allow my mission/video to be clean? Do I set any kind of Point of Interest info for the missed?

[@MontanaMonk]

As long as you are using only Points of Interest, the mission will fly smoothly. If you start recording video before the mission starts, your video will be smooth and continue for the entire mission. You don't need extra waypoints. The actions which are disabled with Curved Turns are the entries you make in the Actions section of the settings for each waypoint. Action settings are not required and are only used for changes that you might want to make that are not automatic as part of your mission. The heading and gimbal angle changes are automatically created and are executed as part of the mission by using POIs and Waypoints whether you select Straight Lines or Curve Turns. However, do not use a Mission Setting of Auto with POIs. This will be explained in my next video.

[@eduardoasta]

By! Thks for sharing with us. Watching your footage I can see the flight is smooth between waypoints, but when the drone approaches the next waypoint, it slows downs, almost stops, changes gimbal pit abruptly and then speeds up again. Can it be solved with curved lines?

[@MontanaMonk]

Using Mission Settings - Curved Turns will make the flight smooth, without the pauses at waypoints. Setting all gimbal angles to Interpolate or Focus POI smooths any gimbal pitch changes. Using Curved Turns works well as long as you don't need to use Actions at any waypoint, because Actions are diabled if Curved Turns are used. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@eduardoasta]

MontanaMonk thks a lot. I’ve tried it and it worked fine. Best luck w/ your channel

[@frankvet1]

So when there are two waypoints set to different elevations, does the drone CLIMB/DECEND DURING the flight to the next waypoint, OR fly at the last altitude UNTIL it reaches the next waypoint, THEN change elevation? Big difference in helping planning and avoid crashes. Thank you!

[@MontanaMonk]

Climb or descent is done smoothly between waypoints. Yes it could be hazardous if there are obstacles along the path of a gradual altitude change. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@frankvet1]

Excellent work. Thanks again for your replies. Keep up the great work Sir. Cheers.

[@DMCProduction68]

Having just got my P3 Advanced and being a bit of a noob, is it possible to sit at home and set up waypoints etc then go to that location and fly or do I need to do it at location?, Great informative videos by the way

[@MontanaMonk]

Yes, you can set up the missions at home and then go fly at the location. Save the mission and load it when on location. Just calibrate the compass at the flight location and you're good to fly. Zoom to the location when planning your mission and the map will be cached so you can view it when you fly. Almost all my missions are planned at home. Sometimes I make minor changes at the site from the cached map. If necessary, I use my cell phone as a hot spot to get maps on the fly for my iPad, which doesn't have its own cellular capability. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@DMCProduction68]

Great answer, I've also subscribed.

[@MrChris6143]

Nicely done! I do have a question and can't seem to find a solid answer maybe you can help? How far (distance) can you fly using automated waypoints? If I try and fly any further away from the homepoint than approximately 3700 feet Litchi gives the following warning message in pre-flight. "Warning, one or more waypoints are far away". Any idea? Thanks

[@MontanaMonk]

I can't provide a definite answer. However, the author of the software may be hinting at limitations due to FAA rules which require the aircraft be visible by the pilot at all times during the flight (not aided by things like binoculars). At a distance of 3700 feet, the aircraft wouldn't be visible. There may also be some combination of the speed you have set and the total time for the mission that would exceed the battery time, although I would expect a more specific warning for that. Sorry I can't provide a better answer. If I discover something, I'll post another reply. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@MrChris6143]

Thanks Montana for the response. I've been testing this all day and this is what I've found in my situation. When using Litch automation /waypoints I can't fly any farther out in a straight line beyond approx 2014 Feet 0r 0.3 miles the warning appears on the pre-flight check. Looking back on some previous auto flights I found a few where I flew much father away. I think I may have noticed the small yellow "Warning" written in yellow in the bright sunlight. The mission went perfectly. But now that I'm looking for the warning I'm concerned flying out any further. I'm thinnk as you said the software may be "suggesting" we stay with this limit but it's not going to prohibit one going father. So I'm out of ideas. if this is the case I can stand staying in a radius or 2014 feet. If we are supposed to fly LOS then this is about right,

[@ErnestPJay]

What's the ideal aircraft speed for a waypoint mission?

[@MontanaMonk]

I believe that a lot depends on the type of mission and your goal for the video. Missions with long distances between waypoints can be flown faster. Missions with Curved Turns active can be flown faster, since the turns will be smooth, whereas if Straight Lines are active, there will be a hesitation at each waypoint. I would suggest about 8 mph for missions with waypoints close together and 15 mph for waypoints further apart. The best results might be to set the Cruising Speed to 1 mph and Max flight speed to 15 mph. Then use the joystick to control the actual speed manually. This works with both Curved Turns and Straight Lines. I am working on a video that does this with Curved Turns and also allows mixing video and still photos. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@thomasrayborn3177]

On the first mission, why is there a hesitation at each WP? Can that be changed to a smooth movement? Thanks!

[@MontanaMonk]

Missions for which you might want to use actions for starting/stopping recording or for shooting images require that the Mission Setting for Path Mode is set to straight lines. There will be a slight hesitation at each waypoint, even if no actions are included. However, for really smooth movement, set Path Mode to Curved Turns and the flight will be smooth all the way. While you can't have an Action with that setting, if you start recording before the mission starts, recording will run for the entire mission. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@johnkabasakalis77]

Sorry... I think my question needs clarification. Can I manually adjust my Gimbal Ptch Angles with a Curved POI mission. I want to move my POI either higher up or lower down in the frame versus in the middle of screen. Thanks

[@MontanaMonk]

You can manually change the Gimbal angle during a Curved Turns mission. The "Curved" refers to the Path Mode in Mission Settings rather than POI. You can't change the POI altitude while flying a mission, but you can set the POI altitude manually as part of the mission setup. It sounds like what you want to do is change the Gimbal Angle while flying the mission. To do this, you just have to set the Gimbal Pitch Angle to Disabled and you will be able to control the camera angle manually from the controller. You can also set the Gimbal Pitch Angle to Interpolate and manually program the angle when setting up the mission. If you do this for all waypoints, there will be a smooth transition of the camera angle between the gimbal pitches at successive waypoints. Another way of adjusting the camera angle to your POI (if in Focus POI mode) is by adjusting the elevation of the POI. If you lower the altitude of the POI, the camera will point lower which effectively moves the framing upward. I discuss the interaction between waypoints, POIs and gimbal pitch angle more in my video "Waypoint Gimbal point to POI with Litchi" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZTIdWWZpKZgY9k Hope this helps. If not, feel free to ask more and I'll try to refine my answers. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@diegofneira]

Hello… greetings from Bali… I have a question… how can I lock exposure using litchi? I know using the Dji app I just need to press twice on the screen and it will lock it but I haven’t been able to do it with litchi … I did find the exposure menu (Sunny, cloudy, auto, etc) but not a way to lock it … please help … thanks in advance 🙏🏻

[@MontanaMonk]

With Litchi, just tap the Camera Settings icon and scroll the window up. AE Lock is in the window. Just tap to lock exposure. Not quite as easy as with the DJI app, but not bad. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing. Sorry I took so long to answer, I was working on a technique to put a zenith cap on a drone panorama using Davinci Resolve Fusion and PTGui and time kind of got away from me.

[@ICThruU]

I can hardly think of a time I wouldn't use curved lines... it looks so much better.. but then I can't take pictures.. which is very disappointing. Is there any way to square this circle? Can you mix curved and straight for segments where you want a picture? Can you suspend the flight take a picture, and resume?

[@MontanaMonk]

Curved turns do make a smooth video. However, as you indicate, you can't program actions when curved turns are used. I believe you can pause the mission by tapping the pause button on your mobile device. Then, stop video and shoot photos and restart video and continue the mission by pressing play, again, but you might break the smoothness desired in using curved turns. While you can't mix straight lines and curved turns, you can get quite smooth turns by setting the mission to use "Heading - Custom" in conjunction with straight lines. While there is a slight pause as the aircraft passes a waypoint, the heading changes are interpolated and are quite smooth. This is shown in the "Litchi Waypoint Tutorial Part 2" in flight P2M2 at about 8 minutes and 35 seconds into the video. I saw another comment you made about guessing the gimbal angle rather than just using the POI to set the gimbal angle (you may have deleted this). In many cases, you can do just that. This is especially true if you are at quite a distance from your subject compared to the height of your subject. However, if you want to try to get a full frame of the subject, setting the POI or even guessing the gimbal angle is not the best. To fill the frame you need to get the POI and aircraft altitudes to work with the field of view for the camera and the distance from aircraft to subject. I am currently working on a video that discusses this and it should be done early next week. This project was triggered by questions about reducing the amount of sky in video but in the video I discuss factors which influence the choice of altitudes for aircraft and POI and for distance from the subject.

[@ICThruU]

Thanks.. Yes. I deleted the comment because you answered it in the video! I am totally spoiled by my android phone that allows you to take still images while it videos. This would be exceptionally helpful for my mavic pro but, alas, it doesn't do that. It is a shame that the program won't allow pictures in curved mode. I get it that it is worried about aim, but cutting off the possibility completely seems silly. Clearly you could make so that the aim is fine...given that your manual workaround works (but seems somewhat cumbersome). Thanks for your great videos!!!

[@MontanaMonk]

The problem with shooting pictures in the curved mode is not so much about aiming the camera, rather it is about how to trigger the action. Since an action is associated with the aircraft arriving at a waypoint, the action can't be triggered because in curved mode the waypoint is never reached. The aircraft flies inside of the waypoint. I suppose it might be possible to initiate an action when the perpendicular to the tangent to of the curve passes through the waypoint, the action would still take out the smoothness of the flight. While I can't take a photo with my iPad while video is recording, my camera will do it. However, the resolution of the still image is at the resolution of the video, which is far less than the resolution of a still image shot while not recording video so I don't use that feature. I believe in most cases, the still image during recording is a single frame of the video that is saved separately. Since I can grab a frame from the video while editing, I have more control about which frame to grab than trying to capture a frame while recording. Still, I can see that having the capability provides flexibility.

[@ICThruU]

On the samsung s7, it is a real image, not a frame grab. I use it all the time. If I could do actions with waypoints, I might add an extra waypoint on a straight line before the curve of the next set of waypoints...

[@SCAR16s]

Do you have to create the mission in site or can you save for when you get out on site? How to you initiate mission when on site? Thanks. Get video.

[@MontanaMonk]

You can create the mission at home and save it. Just locate the area on the map that you want to fly and put in the waypoints and points of interest and all other factors. Save the mission by pressing the save icon (left side of screen down arrow). When you go to the site, just load the mission with the load icon (left side of screen up arrow). I normally take off manually, flying up to about 30 feet and clear of obstacles to waypoint 1, and then start the mission with the play icon (like play on a music player). Be sure you have the mode switch in the proper position: "F" mode for the Phantom 3 and Inspire; "P" mode for the Phantom 4. Hope this answers your questions. If not, please post aadditional questions. Thank you for questions and comments. Thank you for viewing.

[@SCAR16s]

MontanaMonk Thank you. Great video.

[@Montanan]

If I have a waypoint set to, say, 100 ft altitude and the next waypoint is set to 50 ft, does the bird gradually drop 50 ft on the way to the next waypoint, or does it fly to the second waypoint and then drop 50ft? Or does it drop 50 ft immediately when it leaves the first waypoint? Thanx.

[@MontanaMonk]

There will be a smooth transition for changes in altitude between waypoints. In the video starting at time 9:48, you can see in the lower left corner the altitude is 48.9 feet. As the aircraft moves to the next waypoint, you can see the altitude changing smoothly to 90 feet at time 9:56. The altitude continues to change smoothly to the next waypoint and shows 133 feet at time 10:11. There will be slight variations between the set altitude and the altitude shown, but they are close. The transition will always be smooth. The smooth transition between altitudes is not affected by gimbal pitch settings. However, if you have points-of-interest set and you have Focus POI selected, the gimbal pitch angle will change smoothly as the altitude changes. Hope this helps. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@Montanan]

Thanx MontanaMonk. That answers the question. Nigel Donald, I was actually speaking just about the waypoints without regard to POI's, but thanx. One more question, and I was unable to locate this in the manual: I'm not real clear (not clear at all, really) on how you know what gimbal pitch setting to use at a waypoint (again, without regard to any use of POI's). Thanx. Rick from Lakeside, MT, right up the street from MontanaMonk.

[@MontanaMonk]

Rick, it is a little difficult to decide an exact gimbal pitch to use without calculations. However, you can use reasonable estimates that will cover most situations. Clearly, if you are right above the object you are shooting, -90 degrees. For most landscape shots where you want to cover the most area on the ground without the props getting in the picture, I use -5 degrees. For most other shots, -45 degrees should work. The field of view for the camera is 94 degrees, so the width of the area covered in a shot will be about equal to the distance the aircraft is from the center of the shot. As you get further from the subject, the angle becomes a little less critical, since the area quickly becomes very large. If you need the framing more exact, it is easy to pause the mission and position the gimbal manually, shoot the shot and continue the mission. To make a mission completely autonomous, you can put in a temporary point-of-interest to get the gimbal angle and then erase the POI and set the gimbal angle manually. I lived in Lakeside for a while. I was working at Semitool (now Applied Materials). The new building on Reserve was being constructed, so we were working out of some buildings south of Kalispell. I moved into Kalispell when the building was complete to reduce drive time.

[@Montanan]

Thank you

[@adfadgaqgv]

I've recently tried the way points on litchi. but for some reason the camera doesn't seem to focus on the POI even after I select focus POI in all the way points. any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

[@MontanaMonk]

Be sure that you are also changing the Point of Interest for each waypoint to point to your desired POI. If the POIs are entered before the waypoints, each waypoint will select the nearest POI and when you turn on Focus POI for a waypoint, the gimbal pitch angle will be adjusted for that waypoint. If POIs are not entered before the waypoints, when POIs are entered, all waypoints will point to POI #1 and the POI will have to be manually changed for each waypoint to point to the desired POI. Hope this helps. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@adfadgaqgv]

MontanaMonk I've selected all way points to focus POI. but it still just seems to face foward

[@MontanaMonk]

My video "Waypoint Gimbal point to POI with Litchi" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZTIdWWZpKZgY9k might help with this. It goes through adding waypoints and shows the interaction of POIs and the waypoints. One thing to be sure of that I don't show in the video is that the setting in Mission Settings for Heading must be set to Custom for all this to work.

[@bassankensington6048]

very well done . I learned alot from the first and second parts if your video. one thing I want to know if you set a mission and maybe longer than the battery would last ? then what ? . they drone will land somewhere where the mission is or the drone will come home like the dji app . rth ? cheer Jack

[@MontanaMonk]

I believe the Litchi app uses the low and critical battery settings from the DJI Go app, so RTH if it has sufficient battery power or Land if battery is critical. I only encountered this recently, when I had a low battery when a mission started. The aircraft immediately tried to return to home. In my case, this would have been a problem, since I had run consecutive missions, loading them in the air after each mission finished, and we were a long way from the Home point where we took off. I always had the aircraft in site, since I was following it, but the original home was not an option for return with the remaining battery power. I stopped the mission and landed manually and everything was fine. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@laghomtallanziko1630]

Can't the litchi app take pictures while recording, like phone camera dose? I mean, why stop the recoding, to take a photo, and start the recording again.

[@MontanaMonk]

I don't know why the programmer made that decision. However, I believe that Litchi is developed around the DJI SDK (software development kit) and maybe that doesn't provide an option to shoot a still while recordng. There could be many reasons which could make it difficult to do. Speed of the CPU and redirecting the data stream to a different file for the still, while still controlling the aircraft, are among them. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@cornelpronk9830]

Don't you think the Actions on Waypoints should not be ignored in Curved Lines Mode?

[@MontanaMonk]

I guess it would be nice if the Curved Lines Mode would allow for Actions. However, since the actions are triggered when the path of flight intersects the waypoint, the action can't be triggered because the flight path never intersects the waypoint in Curved Lines Mode. To make the smooth turns with Curved Lines, it is necessary to curve inside of the waypoint. Also, the goal of the Curved Lines Mode is to make the flight smooth, without pauses. If actions were allowed, even if they could be triggered near the waypoint, all actions couldn't be executed simultaneously so the aircraft would be at some point more distant from the waypoint as execution of actions was taking place. Using Heading - Custom with Straight Lines Mode will be approximately what would be achieved with allowing Actions with Curved Lines. The curves won't be as smooth, but if you also vary speed manually while flying, slowing at the waypoints, the pauses won't be as noticable when the actions are executed. You might also fly in Curved Lines Mode and pause the mission near the waypoints and manually do the things you would have done with Actions. Then, continue the mission. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@RonnieMirands]

Still cant understand where my S1 key must be, in GPS , ATTi or MANUAL mode? Seens no one tells it and i bet a lot of people get confused

[@MontanaMonk]

To fly a Litchi mission, the switch must be in F position for the Phantom 3 and Inspire aircraft and in the P position for the Phantom 4. If you take-off manually, you may get a message "Requirements Not Met" if the aircraft is too low. Just climb to about 30 feet (10 meters) and try running the mission again. Hope this helps. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@NNNobrezaNobre]

Show!!

[@aerialvideosandphotography1240]

For the first time I heard something I have never heard before and I am commenting in the form of a question ? ? ? I seemed to hear that when using CURVED LINES that the drone will not respond to anything programmed to that Way Point because it never reaches that Way Point. Did I understand correctly? If the is correct and I want to change my POI Focus, the I need to have additional Way Point before and after my programmed curve (on the straight part of the course) to properly tell the drone what to do before and after it misses directions from a non-reached Way Point. I hope my question was somewhat understandable. Regards, Chuck

[@MontanaMonk]

The Curved Turns setting will not affect the POI setting that is programmed into your mission. The aircraft will still make the heading and gimbal changes necessary to point at the POI. The only things that are disabled are Actions that can be set at a waypoint. So, if you wanted to use an Action to change the aircraft heading or gimbal angle, the action would not be executed. Adding a waypoint at the "straight part" of the mission would only add another curve around that waypoint. You might not be able to see the curve, if the Curve Size was set small enough, even 0, however, any Actions at any waypoints are disabled with Curved Turns set in Mission Settings. I will have a new video out, hopefully this week, which goes into more detail on this. The new video will also discuss some confusing information shown at waypoints using some methods of creating a mission. Hope this helps. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.