Litchi Waypoint Tutorial Part 1

[@eddu4361]

Hands down this video after 7 years is still one of the all time best for an intro in litchi waypoints. And I have seen a lot! Thanks!

[@dennisclark8766]

I have watched hundreds of teaching videos on youtube and yours sir is by far the best.

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for your comment. I try to be sure what I present is clear, by reviewing a lot before posting. I ask myself, "Have I made it easier to learn the things I had difficulty understanding from watching the video?" If I can't answer, "Yes," then I keep revising. I have redone two that I had published, after I found something that I felt wasn't clear. I do improve my knowledge of my topics by making the videos. It is really hard to make it clear to others if I don't have a pretty good grasp of the topic myself. Thank you for viewing.

[@cvig1939]

You not only know how to organize and fly the mission, but you know how to explain WELL; and that is rare, Thanks much.

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for your comments and for viewing. I try to keep editing my videos before publishing until I feel they might be valuable to others. I know they will not be perfect. I would never get any done it I tried to make them perfect. I have gotten much from others who have posted things on KZbin and I try to repay.

[@garywalker5669]

Thats the easiest demonstration of waypoints I've seen. So easy to understand. Thank you for taking the time to make the video.

[@sgrams3578]

Thank for the clear explanations of the Litchi software. I bought the Litchi program yesterday to use with my Air 2S, this program really opens up much more uses than what I previously found especially for waypoints.

[@aloeisthestuff9622]

Simple but effective entry Tutorial. Thanks.

[@CDNRCFlyer]

This is the best Litchi tutorial I have seen. I have bookmarked it for quick review when setting up a mission Thanks

[@wendywagoner4924]

That was excellent my friend! Just got the Litchi app yesterday and I've been watching various videos on KZbin on how to use it today. Then your video popped up. You were clear and to the point without a lot of needless chatter. Can't wait for Part 2!

[@MontanaMonk]

+Wendy Wagoner Thanks for the comment. Hopefully I'll get Part 2 out soon. The weather here just turned bad; lots of rain forecast for the next week. Might get the video laid out for a final flight while I'm stuck inside. Thank you for viewing.

[@MontanaMonk]

Can't remember if I let you know that Part 2 is available, "Litchi Waypoint Tutorial Part 2" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpjGfZ2Hr7eiiKc Hope you're having fun with the Litchi app. I've got missions set up to fly all holes on a golf course. Each mission starts at about 150 feet altitude, behind the T-box, using the T-box as a POI, just to set the gimbal angle. The POI is then erased. The Phantom then makes a smooth altitude and gimbal angle change to 42 feet and -4 degrees until it gets to near the green where it makes a smooth transition to altitude 150-160 feet (depending on green size) and gimbal angle of about -85 degrees to get a good view of the entire green and surrounding bunkers. When the mission is complete, I stop recording, shoot a still of the green for maintenance and I'm off to the next hole. I flew the front nine a few days ago and it worked fine but early morning shadows were too prominent. We're trying to set aside some time in the day where shadows won't be so much of a problem and we won't have to deal with lots of golfers. I flew the missions at about 6 mph, but render them at 4x, so they are very smooth and don't take so long to view. Entire 9 holes took about an hour to fly. I just take off, fly up to about 50 feet, start the mission and follow in my golf cart. Fun!!!

[@rickf4401]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you. I've watched it a few times now. Really appreciate the thoughtful, clear approach.

[@giotto4321]

A very clear and informative tutorial, many thanks. 👍

[@pavlusa]

Great video ,thank you very much for cool explaining !!!!

[@Paul_anderson_creative]

Excellent work.. many thanks... Thorough, clear well explained.. kudos....👍

[@skytechuas]

Excelent tutorial. I'm learning to use Litchi and your explanations are very usefull.

[@acgkplh]

Great tutorial, I've watched many and yours is one of the best. I'm unsure of what interpolate does in the waypoint settings but hopefully I'll nail that question when I'm out flying later.

[@MontanaMonk]

Sorry about my slow response. You may have already answered your question by now, just by flying. I've been working on Part 2 and thought I would get it out sooner but weather has been bad so I haven't been able to fly the missions for the video. Interpolate for the waypoint settings means that the software controls the gimbal pitch to make a smooth transition between the pitches that have been set for two successive waypoints. If you had 0 degrees pitch at W1 and -20 degrees at W2, when the aircraft was halfway between W1 and W2, the gimbal pitch would be -10 degrees. A similar thing happens when flying Focus POI. In Focus POI, there is a smooth transition of the gimbal as the aircraft changes positions, but the reference is always to the POI. When gimbal pitch is Disabled, it means the pilot controls the gimbal from the controller. Making a smooth transition manually can be a bit challenging, especially if you are changing altitude and heading, all at the same time. Thanks for viewing and for comments.

[@robertgowling191]

Out of all the Video's i have seen up to now, your's is the best by far I thank you for your tuition. As I am an instructor and course writer/creator you have done a bloody good job mate.

[@thevideoark]

The very first good tutorial I have seen for Litchi. Thanks it was a great help.

[@LuckyChai]

very good tutorial .. enjoyed to watch and share

[@favershamtv4109]

Used Litchi first time today after watching this tutorial. All went well thank you

[@pinchnerhouse3624]

Excellent tutorial. I just got Litchi today for my Phantom 4 and this helped me out a lot.

[@BobHarvey.]

This is a really good tutorial. Thanks for your time and talent!

[@thomasrayborn3177]

Very helpful, clear instruction. Thank you for making this video and sharing it!

[@chrislee371]

I never see the tutorial footage explained so detail and so easy to understand, great job~

[@MrKrakum1967]

Thank you, this really helps, boy my DJI drones are WAAAY cooler now, thanks for the help. Looking forward to a first mission soon.

[@donaldnorman6350]

Your instructional video was very informative and thought through. Thanks

[@giovannibalsa]

If all the tutorial would be explained like yours it would be great, I really appreciate your time.

[@coincarver]

Very well done. I've been flying the Phantoms since the first day they come out. Finally someone who explains step by step so not to confuse you. Best tutorial yet. I have the Autopilot app and even though they have many tutorials how to use it, After 2 months I still can't figure it out. I just got the Litchi app today and played with it a little. Looking forward to more of your tutorials.

[@iDadD4]

Great instructional video. Thank you for taking your time to do this tutorial. happy Flying

[@Trading_Academy_Ilan]

Great tutorial. Thanks very much for taking the time to put this together. It has helped me massively.

[@TangovagabondTV]

ran a waypoint mission this morning, got home & found nothing recorded - I've watched a few other videos on this specific type of Litchi mission, but I think yours is the first one to mention the need to specify Start/ Stop recording!

[@tonyfitz6338]

Best vid I have seen on setting up waypoints......Thanks

[@larryjohns3730]

Thanks kindly, was simple and very helpful to someone with only a few months experience . Cheers

[@MrMeDos]

very very good tutuorial my friend.. best one I have seen thus far, simple and clear to understand. Can you do a tutorial on using the pen tool to draw your waypoint route?

[@MontanaMonk]

I will try to incorporate the pen tool more in the next Litchi video. I want to do one using some of the other flight methods. Hope to have it out soon. Thanks for viewing and for comments.

[@jash2681]

Very Helpful tutorial. Thank you.

[@TheFlyboy602]

Excellent job, answered a lot of questions!! Thank You.

[@wtpantaleo]

Thanks for taking the time and making this. Great info

[@ajcarey1639]

Great informative video. Loved it. Thanks for making it.

[@wlacalle]

Great Video's on Litchi !! Best I've seen. I have two question, when adding an "Action" for "Take Photo" do I need to use "Stay For" option are will it just stop? Also, when using the "Rotate" option can rotate speed be adjusted are is it slow to take good video? Thank you

[@MontanaMonk]

If you have video running and you want to stop and take a photo, I've found that you need to Stay For at least 4 seconds before you shoot the photo to get the mode switched from video to photo. I tried 3 seconds and sometimes the photo failed. I'm even more comfortable with 5 seconds. I also put a similar wait in when switching back to video recording after the photo. If you are constantly in photo mode, you probably don't need a wait before or after, although a short pause to be sure the aircraft is not moving might make for better photos. To keep video smooth, I use the DJI Go app to decrease the sensitivity of the controls and to slow braking speed. Check the Main Controller Settings--Advanced Settings and adjust EXP, Sensitivity and Gain to what you are comfortable with. I keep mine near the low end. Also, on Gimgal Settings--Advanced Settings, I set gimbal speed to around 30 or less to slow the tilt speed of the camera. Unless needed, I turn off the Upward Gimbal Tilt, and I turn off the Enable Synchronized Gimbal Pan Follow. I don't think you can set these from the Litchi app but the settings are retained. You must have your mobile device connected to the controller and the aircraft turned on to set all of these things. I have been considering a foam ring on the control sticks that would limit the maximum travel in conjunction with the decreased sensitivity. Still in the "think" stage. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@MontanaMonk]

I guess I should have also said that you do need the Stop Rrecording action before the Stay For action before shooting the photo.

[@tenbears6557]

No, thank YOU, MontanaMonk!! Great video. I'm sold on having Litchi in my toolbox !!

[@louiswelshwalkabouts2290]

What a clear, and smooth way of demonstrating this APP. Thank you sir. Could you tell me or show us how, when you have made the "Mission" on a PC/MAC to get it onto the LITCHI app for the Quad? I can build missions on my MAC but don't see them the field to select and execute. Thank you!

[@MontanaMonk]

When setting up missions on the computer at flylitchi.com/hub, you must be logged into the hub and on the Litchi App on the tablet. To login on the Litchi App on the tablet, click on the icon in the upper left corner of the screen and selet the Login option. Then, login with the same method you used to access the flylitchi.com/hub site. You don't need the aircraft connected to the tablet for all the mission setup but the tablet must be connected to the internet. You may want to look at my video, "Litchi Mission Hub Tutorial" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGXPnZx9qc6GsNU This video provides pretty good detail on the connection between the tablet missions and the hub missions. If everything is setup properly, the missions you create on the computer will appear on the tablet. And the missions you create on the tablet will appear on the Hub. Then, with the tablet, controller and aircraft ready to fly, just upload and press the play icon to start. I usually manually fly to near the start of the mission before pressing the play button. Thank you for comments and questions and thank you for viewing. Happy flying!

[@rogersgjuk2]

Thank you sir.. that is so helpful... I am really grateful.. I will look at all your videos over the coming week! Have a great new week ahead!

[@ericwright8498]

Good video - one question. Are the waypoints stored on the drone or the controller? Would a further route be affected by a patchy radio signal with the controller?

[@johnkayaker9146]

Great tutorial really well done, Thank you just purchased litchi.

[@johnflowers4092]

Hoping Litchi will work for the new Mavic Air 2 coming out! Thanks, great info!

[@bodywise007]

Very well presented. How can you program your flight plan include (or switch) to an orbit view then switch back to way points? The stopping video to take a photo is a really key point!

[@MontanaMonk]

While you can't nest different flight modes, you could just program a mission to fly around a point of interest using multiple waypoints. Set the mission for curved turns and the flight around the POI will look like an orbit. Start video recording before starting the mission. Then, when you want a photo, press the Pause, stop video, change to photo, shoot the photo, change back to video and start recording and continue the flight. Sounds more complicated than it is. You need smooth turns to make it a smooth flight, but with smooth turns, you can't have actions executed. So, by pressing Pause, you can do manual actions without stopping the mission. If all you want is a photo during an orbit, you can probably use pause for that, too, although I haven't tested that. Thanks for viewing and for comments. Hope this helps.

[@jeffcoats724]

AMAZING! Just did a video of the city I live in and without this video it would have took a lot of trial and error. You did a great job here and thanks for all the replies!

[@jeffcoats724]

This is a GREAT teaching video! Thank you for being so clear and to the point! My question is how can I set how fast the drone flys on a mission? Mines seems to be flying too fast. Thank you.

[@MontanaMonk]

To reduce the flight speed, just open the Mission Settings (gear icon on left side of screen) and set cruising speed to the speed you want and max flight speed to the upper limit you might want to use with the joystick. Then plan your waypoint mission. Your waypoint speeds will default to "Use Cruising Speed", so if you don't change the speed with the joystick, the mission will be flown at the cruising speed you set in Mission Settings. If you want segments flown faster, just use the joystick to increase (or even decrease) the speed. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@jeffcoats724]

@@MontanaMonkThe one thing I didn't understand in the video was the Point of Interest Altitude VS. the waypoint Altitude... When it gets to a p1 for instance does it change altitude then to 3 ft? Thank you for all the information.

[@MontanaMonk]

When using Focus POI, the waypoint altitude, POI altitude and distance from POI are connected as a triangle. Let's say the waypoint altitude is 100 feet and the POI altitude is 50 feet and the aircraft is 100 feet from the POI. These distances are what set the gimbal angle for the camera to be centered on the POI. If the POI altitude is raised without changes in the other two distances, the gimbal angle will change so the camera will be pointed to the center of the POI. Similarly, changing any of the settings will cause the gimbal angle to be set differently so it points to the POI. Also, noticed you had a question about metric or imperial measurements. You may have found it already on the Settings menu (gear in upper right of screen), first option, Units.

[@guglielmodicarlo4139]

Im a beginner in this App with Litchi, and I have watched 3 tutorials including yours, which I think was very good, however I was having lots of trouble finding your icons that you start with , showing the way point tool , etc on your home screen. Not one tutorial, including yours, mentioned the fact that you have to FIRST click on the "eyeball " icon that says FPV, when you first start the Litchi app, to choose the way point feature , setting to begin doing your way point planning or flight,,,, would have been nice to know that. lol. I thought I had the wrong App, or thought I was out of my mind.

[@MontanaMonk]

Sorry, I overlooked the selection of the type of mission, since. Waypoints was the default and that was the type mission covered. Still, I should have pointed it out to be thorough. Thanks for comments and for viewing. And thanks for patience with my oversight.

[@guglielmodicarlo4139]

not at all,, was absolutely not criticizing , just wanted to share that with someone who knows ,,,lol

[@DTB2.0]

Awesome job explaining!

[@FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA]

This is a very clear presentation. At a good pace, which is rare. But can we do all this without a computer, just on the Android screen? If not, is there another footage that can help us to get the same results? I have a DJI MINI SE.

[@MontanaMonk]

You should be able to do all the things I showed on your Android. I rarely use the computer when setting up routes. I just use my iPad or iPhone and save the mission there. The computer becomes more important when producing a video. A friend who I fly with is using Litchi on an Android controller with Mavic 2 Pro and Mini 2 and it works very well. Thank you for questions and comments and thank your for viewing.

[@FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA]

@@MontanaMonk Thanks. To get the flat map / flat photo, instead of the landscape as seen by the camera, do we tap on the small image in the lower left corner and then just use our fingers to chose where our waypoints are? An Android Samsung screen is small! Until now, I was only using DJI Fly without any planning on my MINI SE. Happy enough, but what you explain is great and offers so much scope.

[@MontanaMonk]

@@FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA Yes, just tap with your finger to bring up the map and then tap where you want waypoints. To set a point of interest, just tap the + icon to change from adding waypoints to adding points-of-interest. Tap the same icon to toggle back to waypoints. Tapping on a waypoint brings up editing capability so you can change settings.

[@FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA]

Very clear again. Thank you so much from Poland where it is still permitted to use a recreationnal drone in a small town (up to 20,000 people according to last year rules!).@@MontanaMonk

[@jerryspiteri68]

Ive done the poi then the wp... i cant seem to find where to move the blue arrow to point to the poi

[@rogerpowell3542]

Montanamonk: Very well explained. nice job. I had trouble getting Litchi to fire up last night, but, I could be starting out wrong. On the ground, do you start up in F mode? I tried but my Phantom wouldn't fire up, moving to P mode she did, but then I couldn't get back into Litchi, I;m thinking, after take off, switch to F mode, & search for just that particular Litchi mission?Thanks for any suggestions

[@MontanaMonk]

Normally, I calibrate the compass with the DJI Go App before trying anything with Litchi. I usually have Litchi open at the same time. Then shut down the Go App and run only Litchi. Shouldn't matter whether you have P or F selected, I have started in both. I think you need to be about 10 meters altitude before starting a mission. I use an iPad Air 2 for running the Litchi App. Slower tablets or phones may have some difficulty. I tried an inexpensive tablet and it didn't work at all with the DJI Go App. I think there have been times when the App didn't connect properly but I just restarted the App and everything was fine. Never have had any real problems with the software. Seems like a great product. Hope this helps you get flying. It is a really fine App. Thanks for viewing and for comments.

[@fc1133]

Outstanding job! I really like how you take your time explaining everything and how you use a software to emphasizes the mouse pointer! Makes it way easier to understand what is going on... That said, how do you start your mission? Do you have to be in the air already, or can you program a take-off and landing for any given WP? Thanks!

[@MontanaMonk]

You have to take off manually. Must be above 10 meters to start mission. Then just switch to F mode on the controller and press the start mission icon on the screen. The software will remind you if you forget something. Thanks for viewing and for your comments.

[@fc1133]

Thanks for the reply... I have tried a mission but I cannot get the P3P to do what I ask it to do. Not sure what the problem is... I am going to check everything again and see what happens. Thanks.

[@MontanaMonk]

One thing to be sure of: If you are using Actions at waypoints, the Path Mode must be Straight Line. If Curved Turns is selected, Actions are disabled. So, for example, if you set Start Record action and had Curved Turns selected, recording would not start. Another thing I noticed, if you have Auto Record turned on, actions don't stop and start recording and therefore, you can't have an action to Take Photo. Seem to be several settings that interact in what I would think are unusual ways. However when I think more about them, they seem to make sense. Have fun flying.

[@markyounger319]

Well done! Thank you for posting such an informative video - well thought out, and easy to understand. Cheers!

[@happyaussie7418]

Thanks for the lesson on waypoints. I have a couple questions regarding this that you maybe be able to help with is i haven't done waypoints just yet.. 1= After the drone has completed the waypoints does it just hover at the last point until you take control? and 2= When the mission is completed do you need to clear the mission from the drone? and if so how? or is it once the mission is completed its automatically deleted.?

[@MontanaMonk]

1 After the mission is complete, the default is to hover at the last waypoint. You can change the mission settings to do other things: Return to waypoint 1; Land; Reverse course. 2 The mission will remain on the screen when the mission is complete. If you have saved it, you can clear it or reload another mission or the same mission. To clear the currently loaded mission, there is an icon on screen to clear it. Hope this helps. Thank you for questions and comment. Thank you for viewing.

[@flyme-z7b]

Many thanks for your explanation. I had considered the Litchi Hub but read some comments where users blamed their "fly-aways" and other unfortunate issues on the Hub. Have you used it and do you feel it is as safe as flight planning within the Litchi App?

[@MontanaMonk]

I think the Hub is a good planning tool. I have set up missions on the Hub, but usually use my iPad, since I normally want the map cached for the flights. However, the Hub doesn't have all the features of the mobile app. For example, you can't set what you want the aircraft to do when you finish a mission, although if no option is given, the aircraft will just hover at the last waypoint. If you're within FAA rules (line of sight), that means you can see the aircraft hovering and either land it or bring it back. The more important thing would be careless entry of a waypoint and not doing a thorough check before flying. It is easy to move long distances with the Hub and if you happen to accidentally drop a waypoint in South America and are flying from Australia, you might lose the aircraft, if you don't check carefully. This kind of mistake could be a big problem if it happend after you had checked intended waypoints and just before saving the mission. I suspect many "fly aways" are the result of improper prep of the aircraft before flying, like ignoring messages that indicate things are not calibrated correctly or flying out of sight or out of control range of the aircraft (which is much further than line of sight). Then, the probability of losing the aircraft goes up. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@AerialLensVideo]

GREAT VIDEO! This is what taught me all I needed to know about waypoints, etc. You are a GREAT instructor. I do have a question about camera settings though, because you really seem to know Litchi. I have seen where the still camera menu is accessed by the little icon with lines just under the shutter button in the app. Where do I find the little menu that actually allows you to ADJUST shutter speed and ISO; it has its own small window with plus (+) and minus (-) buttons and sliders. I have Litch and saw that once (only once!), but have never been able to figure out where it is after that, even after clicking everything on the screen searching for it. I think there is also Tabs for Auto and Manual too, which I also cannot find. Please reply if you remember how to do this, which I appreciate. By the way, there appears to be no actual Litchi user guide, or I'd just look it up - Ha. Nothing about this on KZbin either it seems. Thanks for your video, Sir - very good!

[@MontanaMonk]

First, the system must be all connected and the aircraft turned on. Then tap the slider icon under the camera icon. That will bring up the Camera Settings menu. Tap the Exposure Settings. Then you can select Manual and change shutter speed and ISO. If the aircraft and controller are not connected and turned on, you won't have access to camera settings. Hope this helps. There used to be a PDF manual online for Litchi. I did a search for it tonight but didn't find any reference.

[@hughpickering758]

Great videos, Just been given a DJI Inspire 1 drone and I'm on a fast learning curve. I'm using an mini iPad 4 and PC desktop windows 10. Not being a computer buff, I have downloaded AirServer on my PC, but I can't send commands to the iPad. Any ideas please.

[@MontanaMonk]

AirServer really isn't for sending commands to the PC, it is used to mirror the iPad screen on the PC. I used it that way to use my PC to capture video of the things I did on the iPad. If you really need to run the PC from an iPad the VNC app would work. It allows controlling most computers when VNC is installed on both. I use it frequently to run my laptop from my desktop, since the laptop has all my old software (including AirServer). That way I'm always using the same keyboard and mouse. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@Bangkokpacsmile]

excellent, thank you. QUESTION: in desktop hub you can move the entire plan - cant find how to do this in the mobile device. we set a plan / mission on desktop and go on site to test and want to move the entire plan as the map position on tall buildings 100mtrs + is not accurate

[@MontanaMonk]

There is no option to move all waypoints with the mobile device. You can only edit the characteristics of all waypoints in the edit mode, but not positions. On really tall buildings, the problem is likely caused by parallax from the position of the satellite shooting the photos of the ground, rather than GPS positional errors. Setting waypoints with respect only to ground position, rather than apparent distance from the structure, and adjusting gimbal angle or POI altitude might get the waypoints and camera closer to what is needed. You may still have to modify individual waypoints if you want to be very precise, but that will probably require test flights. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@WASRT001]

Best tutorial ever! Question: What mode does the controller have to be in for waypoints? P, A or F? If you need to take over control for any reason, do you have to switch this setting? For example, it's going to hit a tree because you miscalculated the altitude. Thanks in advance.

[@MontanaMonk]

The switch has to be in F mode for the mission to fly. If you have the switch in the wrong mode, the software will tell you when you try to start the mission. If something goes wrong or you just want to cancel the mission, just switch back to P mode and the aircraft will stop and stay where it is until you move it manually. This is for the Phantom 3 and Inspire aircraft. The Phantom 4 uses P mode to fly and S mode to terminate. Thanks you for viewing and for your comments.

[@WASRT001]

Thanks for the quick response.

[@JustMeZero988]

Hi Again MontanaMonk. I have actually just flown my first flight and it went better than I expected. Now I'm getting into it and finding questions that you might be able to answer?? 1, If I set up waypoints at home (like I did today), when I got there, I noticed a tree in the way of the first two waypoints. I tried adding another waypoint in between one and two but it just put a number 10 from the end waypoint. can you add another waypoint in between two waypoints so it would shuffle the rest of the numbers up, or would you have to redo the full list of waypoints again?? 2, I looked at the videos when I got home and there is no sound from the aircraft? how do I get it to record sound whilst flying? 3, Already answered below about having to stop video when taking a photo. Hope this is not to much to ask. Thanks. Colin. UK

[@MontanaMonk]

1. To insert a waypoint between two existing waypoints, open the lower numbered waypoint for editing and you will see the - and + icons in the upper left of the editing box. Tap the + icon and it will add a waypoint between the current and next waypoint. 2. The aircraft doesn't record any sound. The only audio recording capability is from the mobile device.

[@lespeters182]

Colin Parry i

[@blue280485]

Very nice video, well explained how Waypoints work with Litchi app 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!

[@MontanaMonk]

You can choose wheather to show latitude and longitude, but altitude, distance, speed and time are always shown. To turn on/off lat-lon display, select the gears in the upper right of the display (Setup menu). Move the "Show GPS Coordinates" slider on or off. Thank you for questions and comments and thank your for viewing.

[@flyme-z7b]

If I was at my home but wanted to create a waypoint/POI flight for a DIFFERENT location (maybe 50 miles away) how can I get my map to go to that location to create the flight path? Is there a way to search, like with Google Earth? I would like to take my time creating these flights and not have to always do it on location. Thank you so much for the great video and for sharing your experience.

[@MontanaMonk]

You can't search from the Litichi app but you can just pinch the map to zoom out until you get a larger view. Then, drag the map to the desired location and zoom in and set up and save your mission. You can search and set up missions at the Hub (flylitchi.com/hub). While there are a few things different on the hub than on the app, you can set up and save missions. When your mobile device is logged into the hub, the missions you create will be on your mobile device so you can modify them, if necessary. Check out my video "Litchi Mission Hub Tutorial" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGXPnZx9qc6GsNU. While changes have been made to the hub, it still covers what you need to know about using the hub. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@limitless1969]

At end of 'pause at W9', what created the shadow that moves across the ground, perpendicular to train tracks, from left to right? Thanks for pointers!!! Great video!!!

[@MontanaMonk]

I can't see a shadow that moves perpendicular to the tracks at that point. If you can tell me an exact time in the video and maybe an estimate of the distance and direction from center screen, I'll look again. The only shadows I see are from either telephone poles or the signal lights and switch mechanism near the tracks. Those shadows do change position a little as the aircraft moves. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@flyme-z7b]

I think I'll stick with app only and pass on the Hub. Can I assume that the Litchi app will allow me to create and then Save my flight plans so that i can use them again in the future... so as to capture the same perspective but during different seasons or progress on a job sight?

[@MontanaMonk]

Yes, you can save them and use them in the future. Keeping them for seasonal photo/video is a great use.

[@rafaelmejia5988]

Excellent video. I had noticed that the waypoint actions of taking photos and then re-start video don't work with the Mavic Pro. With the Mavic it simply stops recording and then continues the mission without recording. It never takes the photo.

[@MontanaMonk]

There is a little lag between the time the Stop Recording action happens and before the Take Photo action can happen. Try putting a Stay For 4 seconds after the Stop Recording and then Take Photo and another Stay For 4 seconds before Start Recording. The 4 second wait gives the system enough time to change between recording video and shooting photos. I have tried shorter times but have found anything less than 4 seconds to be unreliable. I fly the Phantom 3 Advance, so I can't say for sure that this will work with the Mavic, but it is worth a try. I suspect the time lag is for the system to clean up buffers and switch modes. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@nmfireman]

I have 8 way points going around an acre with my house in the center. All way points are at 98'. Leaving the POI on the set at 3' causes the camera gimbal shoot to shallow. So do I raise the feet on the POI to make the gimbal look more downward. I should say I'm using the Lichi web hub to create this mission.

[@MontanaMonk]

If the gimbal angle is too shallow, you would lower the POI elevation to get the camera pointed more downward. The POI can have negative elevation, if that is necessary to get the angle you want. Remember, the elevation is referenced to the takeoff location, so it isn't the same kind of altitude reference used by larger aircraft, AGL, MSL or FL, or by topo maps. In areas, like mine, where terrain changes a lot, you have to be careful to compensate with changes in mission altitude, since 98' above the take off point might be 20' below the next hill. That kind of miscalculation is hard on the aircraft.

[@Ponudium]

great tutorial, easy to understand. Thank you very much.

[@hatembitar81]

Your video is awesome. I have a question, can you set Litchi to auto take off and autoland back at home point automatically in waypoint mode? anther question, if you put take a photo action without stopping video, what will happen?

[@MontanaMonk]

You can have the aircraft take-off automatically by starting the mission while the aircraft is still on the ground. You can have the aircraft Return To Home when the mission is done, but that doesn't cause the aircraft to land. You can have the aircraft Land when the mission is done, but that will be at the last waypoint. There is no option to Return To Home and Land. I suppose you could set the first waypoint at an altitude of 0 and use the Finish Action option Back to 1, which causes the aircraft to return to the first waypoint. This might be a bit hazardous, since the aircraft would really would still be flying, just on or near the ground (hopefully, not below the ground). I don't recommend this! You must stop the video before taking a photo. If you try to take a photo while video is recording, no photo will be taken. Also, to reliably get a photo during a mission when video is running, you must Stop Recording, Stay For (at least 4 or 5 seconds), Take Photo; then, if you want to continue recording, Stay For (4 seconds is probably enough), Start Recording. If you do the Stay For with shorter times, it periodically fails. I haven't had any failures with Stay For with 4 second times, but I still use 5 seconds most of the time. No sense missing a photo for a few extra seconds of flight time. Also remember, if the mission is set to Path Mode: Curved Lines, no actions will be done. Thank you for viewing and for your questions and comments.

[@hatembitar81]

Thank you so much for your kindness.. Your answer is very clear and informative.. you actually clarified several doubts which I had for quite a while.. All the best with your future videos :)

[@MontanaMonk]

After I posted the first comment, I thought an easier way to have the mission automated from take-off to landing is just put a final waypoint back at the starting waypoint. Then your Finish Action can be Land. Since you can start a mission from the ground, this should automate the whole mission. I guess I was thinking too much about using Return To Home rather than just having the aircraft land back at home automatically. This method takes RTH out of the mission but accomplishes the same thing.

[@pierstaylor7780]

Best video by far, thank you

[@MontanaMonk]

Thank you for your comments and thank you for viewing.

[@McFly_FPV]

Thank you sir, I was looking for something like that to start missions on my P3P. Great instructional video . Thumps up !

[@mykonosdrone6049]

hi there, cool video. 1 question though, do i need to set e POI's together with the waypoints? is that necessary ? and if yes why? I just want to take off, hit record and set 3 waypoints for the drone to follow and therefore achieve a smoothless recording from point to point Thanks

[@MontanaMonk]

You do not need to set the POIs together with the waypoints. POIs can be set before or after entering waypoints. You can edit any or all of the waypoints, after entry, to point at the POI that you desire. To make smooth transistions between waypoints, set the Mission Settings - Heading - Auto. If you want a waypoint to set the Gimbal angle, select Gimbal Pitch Mode - Focus POI for the waypoint and the Point of Interest to the desired POI. You can manually enter the Gimbal angle and set Gimbal Pitch Mode - Interpolate to get smooth transitions for the camera. Or, you can manually adjust the camera while flying using Gimbal Pitch Mode - Disabled. While it is possible to set waypoints after taking off and hitting record, I prefer to set up the mission while on the ground, so I can review things without the distraction of flying. It would be too easy to add a waypoint at place that might lead the aircraft into trouble. I set up missions so the Actions do all the camera work and the waypoints and POIs fly the aircraft. Then, I just have to watch to see that there are no obstacles I have overlooked so I can cancel the mission, if necessary. Thank you for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@mykonosdrone6049]

Awesome, thanks a million

[@ayeRIGHTyaBE]

Brilliant video, great detail,

[@jackdaniniproductions]

In the opening shot over the Tipi, you tilt down towards the Tipi. Did you do that manually? I'm struggling to figure out how to do a smooth tilt down when flying over an object and then tilt back up. So imagine flying towards the Tipi with the gimbal at -10, then as it flies over the tipi it goes to -90 and then back up to -10. Thanks in advance for your reply.

[@MontanaMonk]

All of the scenes in both Litchi tutorials are flown with the waypoint settings. The easiest way to get the camera (gimbal) tilted down is to set a point-of-interest at the point that you want the camera pointing to. Turn on Focus POI for that waypoint and set it for that POI. The gimabal will tilt down at that point. If other gimbal setting is Interpolate and heading is set to Custom, you will get smooth transitions between points for both the heading and the gimbal. Be sure that your headings are set properly when you are setting this up. I start with auto and fine tune headings in Custom. If using POI for this, you can also use Smooth Turns; however, if you want actions at waypoints, you can't use Smooth Turns because actions are disabled in that mode. Check out Part 2 and you will see some of this in action. Thanks for the comments and for viewing.

[@jackdaniniproductions]

Thank you for your reply. I'll test it out and see how it goes.

[@tedblank9420]

A very simple question...I hope. Aircraft is a DJI Mini 2. I have created W1 and P1. W1 is at about 300 ft height, and about 300 ft from P1. P1 elevation is default 3 ft. I want to take a picture of P1 from location W1. If I edit W1 and select its POI as P1, when I run the mission the aircraft does in fact point at the heading of P1 for the picture, but the camera does not automatically gimbal down to take the picture of P1 on the ground. Rather it takes a picture of the horizon in the direction of P1. Do I have to manually set a "gimbal down angle" in W1 to get the camera to point down at P1, or is there a way to tell Litchi to calculate and apply the correct camera gimbal angle for the picture at W1?

[@MontanaMonk]

Sometimes, the order in which you add waypoints or points of interest the association between the two may get confused. Just tap on your W1 and be sure that the Point of Interest field has a 1 in it and the Gimbal Pitch Mode field shows Focus POI selected. If those two things are true, the aircraft and camera should point to the proper place on your POI. With the numbers you have provided, the Gimbal Pitch Angle for W1 should be about -57°. I usually have my mission setting for Default Gimbal Pitch Mode set to Focus POI, since that is usually what I want. You should still verify when you set up your mission that at each waypoint you have the proper POI indicated for the waypoint, since when waypoints are added they will point to the nearest POI if the mission setting is set to Default Gimbal Pitch Mode. Adding another POI that is nearer to that new waypoint will not automatically change it to point to the closer POI. Hope this helps. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@tedblank9420]

@@MontanaMonk Thanks for your videos, and your answer! I will try that. I did have P1 specified for W1, and "Focus POI" selected, but maybe they got confused. In the future I'd like to define a curved flight path taking video of the same spot on the ground, similar to the segments of this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6Ctlp2CZc-joZo We are building a 23,000 sq ft Discovery Center like the one in the video, and I'd like to build a library of video segments to document the construction as they did. Is a curved path easy to define?

[@tedblank9420]

I got everything figured out thanks to your videos. W1: start recording. W2: do nothing W3: stop recording. Settings: Curved flight. All waypoints use Focus POI to P1. Works like a charm. Thanks! The only issue seems to be that the curving action is a little sluggish, then catches up. Could have been the wind, but is this something you have seen? DJI Mini 2.

[@MontanaMonk]

I haven’t noticed any sluggish motion in recordings. However, variations in GPS reception could be a factor. While signals are quite reliable, quality can vary enough that it might be noticed. We’ve noticed that significant amounts of metal can cause less accurate positioning, which might show up more in curved flight.

[@sidarris]

Well explained as usual :) Any good with The Fender Champ? There's a chap sounds similar to you who's fantastic with explaining electronics. Many thanks :)

[@matthewparker1984]

When you change the altitude from waypoint to waypoint... for example waypoint one is 30 feet and waypoint 2 is 120 feet. When does the Phantom start to go up? Is is gradually from waypoint to waypoint... or all at once at some point?

[@MontanaMonk]

The change in altitude is a smooth transition between altitudes for the waypoints. In "Litchi Waypoint Tutorial Part 2" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpjGfZ2Hr7eiiKc you can see the screen recording of part of a mission where smooth altitude changes are made. At minute 9:40, the altitude is 49 feet. Watch the status in the lower left corner and you will see smooth altitude changes through the next two waypoints. Altitude goes from 49 feet through 90 feet and finally to 133 feet and you can see as the status changes along the path that the change in altitude is smooth. Also notice in the video of the flight in the lower right corner that the camera makes a smooth change as the aircraft passes through WP4 and as it turns through WP5 and points down. Thank you for questions and comments and for viewing.

[@N9MXTHAM]

I haven't watched the whole tutorial yet but can you setup the whole route with waypoints and points of interested while disconnected from the drone?

[@MontanaMonk]

Yes, you can set up the entire mission with your mobile device and it does not have to be connected to the controller or the aircraft. Once the mission is setup, you can save it and then recall it to fly. The mission is uploaded to the contrller/aircraft when you start the mission. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@bruceogletree7592]

Very enlightening. Thanks!

[@chiprobertson3094]

Well done video

[@agentred8732]

So clear and concise. Thanks!

[@JC-tx1pd]

Please can you inform / explain what is for the "Auto (TNW)", Initial (ID), Manual (UC), Custom (WD)? Thanks.

[@MontanaMonk]

In Mission Settings - Heading Mode: Auto - points the heading To Next Waypoint (TNW). Initial - maintains the heading pointed at the Initial Direction when the mission started (ID). Manual - the direction of the heading is User Controlled (UC) control. Custom - the aircraft heading will point at the direction determined by settings for each Waypoint Direction (WD). Custom is probably the most useful for flying smooth video missions. Using Waypoints and Points-of-Interest with Custom will allow the aircraft to fly smooth transitions between waypoints and points-of-interest. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@JC-tx1pd]

@@MontanaMonk Thanks. Many thanks.

[@StudioDaVeed]

Forgive me if asked before. What is the relevance of the altitude/height setting of the POI? In experimentation I see no change or difference when the mission is flown. Thank you! Dave

[@MontanaMonk]

The altitude of the POI will be the center of the frame for the camera for the Focus POI of the Waypoint. For small changes in the altitude of the POI, you won't see much difference, especially if the aircraft is not close to the POI. For example, if I set a POI altitude at 3 feet for a Waypoint altitude of 98 feet that is about 200 feet away, the Gimbal Pitch Angle is -21 degrees. If I change the altitude of the POI to 20 feet, the Gimbal angle becomes -18 degrees. That would probably not be noticed in an image or video. However, If I move the Waypoint to 50 feet from the POI, the Gimbal angle for the 20 feet POI altitude becomes -45 degrees and the Gimbal angle for the 3 feet altitude becomes -51 degrees. This difference would probably be noticed, especially if the POI was for a building that is 200 feet tall. If I keep the aircraft Waypoint at 98 feet and set the altitude of the POI at 98 feet, the gimbal angle is 0 degrees, no matter how far away I am from the POI. So, the middle of the 200 foot tall building would be centered in the image or video. Most of the time we are shooting things that aren't very tall and we are relatively distant from them and frequently much higher than they are, so the altitude of the POI won't matter too much. When we are close to a POI and the POI is tall and the aircraft is lower than the top of the subject, the altitude of the POI is very important.

[@StudioDaVeed]

Thank you. I'm shooting a wind turbine (about 300' tall) WP height is 250' The turbine is a quarter mile off. I see roughly half sky half ground even when the POI height is zero or 250' Next test (to have less sky) set to negative value? I see I can interpolate and set gimbal manually; but wish to get a better grasp on the POI height.

[@MontanaMonk]

For the camera in the Phantom 3, a good generalization for shooting would be to set the POI altitude to about 1/2 the height of the subject and have the aircraft altitude 1/3 higher than the height of the subject. The distance from the subject to the aircraft should be about 1/3 more than the height of the subject. This should get the subject about in the center of the frame and the entire subject should be in the frame. So for your wind turbine, you should have the POI altitude at 150', the aircraft altitude should be about 400' (max legal in the US) and the aircraft should be about 400' feet away. The distance from this subject may seem a little close and might be dangerous, unless the turbine is not moving. Keeping the aircraft a little above the subject and having the camera pointed down will decrease the amount of sky in the image.

[@StudioDaVeed]

10-4, got it. Turns out the turbine is over a half mile away; it is a monster and may be well over 500' in height. I got the shot I wanted by setting POI height to Negative 656' (max) and adjusting the actual POI pin (brought it a bit closer) until I was satisfied. I am noting your formula, good base to start with. Thank you so much for your assistance. PS: I'm flying the Mavic Pro...had it about a week now. Wonderful bird!

[@pinchnerhouse3624]

Do you know if the altitude is always based on the homepoint? It seems that if your waypoints are higher than your homepoint, you might need to increase the altitude so you wouldn't run into trees. Or, does the litchi app or phantom adjust for changes in ground elevation based on gps data?

[@MontanaMonk]

Altitude is based on the take-off location. The altitude will be the height above the take-off location. You are correct that you must consider the altitude at each waypoint and be sure you are above obstacles. This is one of the reasons that the DJI Go app only allows recording waypoints to fly rather than entering them from the map. It would be pretty difficult to record a waypoint that would cause a crash, since the crash will have already happened. While that makes the Litichi app less safe, it also makes it much more versatile...as long as you take some care. More care is needed in areas where the geography changes altitude a lot. Typically, if you are flying within the FAA limits, you won't run into many altitude problems with a mission. Thanks for viewing and for comments.

[@emerisemacneill2857]

I use litchi all the time and this was a good review. Question what altitude would you have to have your poi set to in order to achieve the rule of thirds is the sky at 1/3 ground at 2/3.

[@MontanaMonk]

You can't use the POI to determine the 1/3 - 2/3 ratio without knowing how far away the aircraft is from subject containing the POI. However, setting the gimbal angle to about -14 degrees should produce that ratio, assuming fairly flat terrain or very distant mountains. You can also adjust height the POI to which a waypoint is pointing until the gimbal angle is about -13 degrees. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@N9MXTHAM]

OK here is a question.. can I setup all the waypoints and points of interest on my iPad using Litchi since its a larger screen but when done and saved send it over to my Litchi app on my iphone since that is what I use for my Drone.

[@MontanaMonk]

Probably the easiest way to do that is through the Litchi Mission Hub (flylitchi.com/hub). You can set up your mission on the iPad, login to the Hub and the mission will be saved at the Hub. Then use you iPhone to login and the mission will be download to the iPhone. Take a look at my video "Litchi Mission Hub Tutorial" at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGXPnZx9qc6GsNU The video covers what you want to do. I don't show the iPhone activity, but you connect it just like the iPad and the missions should sync. I have done it with my iPhone and it worked fine. You just need to be sure to login to the Hub the same on both devices. Hope this helps. Thanks for viewing and for comments and questions.

[@JustMeZero988]

Hi. What an excellent and well presented video/s. If I might ask a couple of questions? 1, how would you set this up (not that I want to do it yet, but somebody out there might) you fly to a waypoint at say 50 feet, you then want it to go straight up to say 300 feet so you get a better view of the area, then carry on to your next waypoint. 2, would it be possible to load up LITCHI, then move around the map to a place you want to fly, do all the waypoints and save it, then when you go to that place, rather than setting it up there, would you be able to just load it and fly the route? I could give this a try myself, but thought it might inspire your other watchers. Again, really excellent tutorial and I have subscribed straight away.

[@MontanaMonk]

1. To change altitudes at a location, just set two waypoints close together. At the lower altitude, you might want a Stay For a few seconds and then the next waypoint will be at the higher altitude. You can also set the two waypoints to point at different points of interest, or just pause the mission and fly a rotation manually and continue the mission. I do this with some video I flew for a golf course. I fly down the fairway at 40 feet, pause a little at the green and then fly to 150 feet to point down over the green; then stop recording and shoot a still. 2. You can program everything from home; save the mission; and then go to the location to fly. If you have set up the mission zooming in on the map, the map will usually be cached and will appear when you fly. All my tutorials were setup at home. The flight location is several miles from my home. I just go there to fly the mission. Sometimes I make changes on location and since the map is cached, I can still see to change waypoints or points of interest. Occasionally, I use my cell phone as a hot-spot if I need to refresh a map when I'm at a different location. Normally I fly with an iPad Air 2 which does not have cellular, so I need the phone to provide Internet service. I'm only connected to the phone with the iPad for a minute or two, just enough to refresh the map. Thanks for comments and questions. And thank you for viewing.

[@esuohdica]

Very clear explanation thanks!

[@rafaelmdiaz11]

Cool stuff Monk ! Thanks.

[@N9MXTHAM]

Once ready with mission I set my switch on the controller to "F" or was it "P"? I keep forgetting. Also do I have to start the mission right next to Waypoint 1 or once I take off it becomes Waypoint 1 and goes to Waypoint 2....and so on.

[@MontanaMonk]

On the Phantom 3, you switch to "F" to run the mission. The program will tell you if you the switch is not in the correct position. You will get the error message "Requirements not met". You may get the same message if you take off manually and then run the mission from a low altitude. When taking off manually, I try to fly to at least 30 feet before running the mission You don't have to be at Waypoint 1 to begin. When you run the mission, the aircraft will fly to the first waypoint and then start flying the mission. You do want to be sure that there are no obstacles that would cause a problem getting from the take-off point the the first waypoint. Normally, the aircraft will fly vertically before going to Waypoint 1. If there were obstacles in the way that would not be cleared during the initial climb to Waypoint 1, you might have a crash, since the Phantom 3 doesn't have obstacle avoidance like the Phantom 4. To be safe, make sure there are no obstacles on a line between the take-off point and the first waypoint, even obstacles that may be at a lower altitude than the first waypoint.

[@peterfraser5704]

Thank you sir. A model of clarity, A couple of questions. How do you cache the maps for when you don't have connectivity? When you took the photo there was a substantial discontinuity, Why is that? Also, is it possible to ease in and out of the pause?

[@MontanaMonk]

If you create the mission from your tablet or phone while connected to internet and zoom in to your mission location, the map is cached automatically. If I happen to be at a site and want to set up a mission, I just use my cell phone as a hot-spot for my tablet and the map is cached in a very short time. Taking the photo as part of a video mission causes a discontinuity because the video must stop to shoot the photo. Stopping the video and switching to still camera mode takes about 4 seconds and you must put a Stay For action before the still shot. Then switching back to video takes about the same. I normally put the Stay For 4 before and after the Take Photo action. If you don't put the Stay For action in, getting the photo is unreliable. For any waypoint there will be a slight pause unless you are in Curved Turns mode, which disables any actions at waypoints, so that wouldn't help the discontinuity. You can ease into and out of a pause by setting the Cruising Speed to zero and controlling the speed with the stick. Pushing the stick forward slowly will increase the speed to Max Flight Speed and releasing to neutral slowly will decrease speed. So, you can control how quickly the speed decreases as you approach a waypoint and increases as you leave by watching your display and controlling the speed accordingly. There will still be a pause, but it is much less visible when you use manual speed control with the mission. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@peterfraser5704]

Thanks a million.

[@richardPalmisano]

That was a great well explained video my question to you is if you want to stop at a waypoint for so many seconds do you also have to tell it to start up again or it will continue after the second you tell it to stop on its ownI hope I explained this question right LOL thanks for any info

[@MontanaMonk]

If you stopped at a Waypoint with the Action, Stay For: (some number of seconds), the mission will continue after the time has elapsed. If you are recording video and use Actions to Stop Recording and Take Photo, you would have to Start Recording to resume the recording of video, but the flight would continue anyway, after the Stay For time had elapsed. You can also pause a mission, manually, by pressing the Start/Pause icon on the mobile device display. Then you would press it again to continue the mission. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@richardPalmisano]

MontanaMonk thank you very much for the input it was well explained. You seem to know a lot about the litchi, so I sub to your channel. I don't use litchi that much I like to fly manually because I really don't know too much about the app I know how to get to point A to point B lol. But I want to start using the action button and take photos so thank you very much you really help me out

[@richardPalmisano]

MontanaMonk is the action Setting enabled in custom mode meaning can I take pictures in custom mode. I like using custom mode because you are able to use the smooth turns

[@MontanaMonk]

The Actions for waypoints are enabled when Mission Settings - Heading Mode is Custom and Mission Settings - Path Mode is set to Straight Lines.

[@richardPalmisano]

MontanaMonk so basically what you're saying is if I'm gathering you right you can only take photos when straight lines enable and not curves correct. The only problem I see with that is that the waypoints will not be smooth as it would be with curves

[@texasflyboy525]

Why does the drone stop at each waypoint? Is there a function to have smoother transitions? Also, Litchi seems to be a little wobbly in its ability to lock onto a subject, is there any way to improve this or is that the nature of the app? - Great video, your explanations are very helpful and detailed.

[@MontanaMonk]

The drone stops at the waypoint to change directions for the next waypoint. If you change the mission settings Path Mode to Curved Turns, it will make a smooth transition as it passes the waypoint. What appears to be wobbly action could be due to wind, drone settings, or just unstable GPS signals. There are many factors which affect the GPS signal and the drone just trusts what it receives. If the signal is unstable because of weather, especially significant cloud cover, or the surrounding environment, significant metal or buildings, the drone will adjust to the apparent movement of its position and the position of the point of interest (if that is what you are using to aim). We have flown around railroad tracks, bridges and even a gate which significantly affected positioning. I did a GPS test by setting my drone on a cinder block retaining wall (no metal rebar) and just recorded the position it "thought" it was in. That postion moved around and covered a circle about 20-30 feet in diameter. Hope this helps. Thank you for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@texasflyboy525]

@@MontanaMonk this makes total sense, thank you!

[@vinceyong2324]

I remember using litchi on my first Mavic Pro seven years ago. I have a mini 3 pro now and am bumped that it does support the use of litchi. Could not understand the fuss is to why a newer drone (mini 3 pro) doesn’t have the SDK to support it. Heard recently that it only supports android only in beta? What is holding up a feature that has not issues in the past models.🤦‍♂️😕

[@abagale8244]

I tried a straight lines Litchi Mission and did the Stop Recording, Take Photo, Start Recording actions like you showed, but my photo was not found on my microSD card like the video was. The photo appeared on my tablet in a screenshots folder. Where was your photo saved?

[@MontanaMonk]

Photos should be saved on the microSD card. Be sure you include an action Stay For 4 seconds after stopping the video before you shoot a photo and a Stay For 4 seconds before restarting the video recording. The Stay For times allow for switching the camera from video to still and back to video. I can't think of a reason that the photos would end up in the screenshots folder. Are you using an Android or Apple device? I don't think it should matter, just curious. Thanks for questions and comments and thank you for viewing.

[@abagale8244]

Thanks for the reply. I found out today that my major problem was that I had auto-record turned on. Once I turned it off, all was as expected with the sound of the photo clicking and being saved on microSD card.

[@Sub_Divisions]

Great video......what's the music in the video?

[@MontanaMonk]

The music is "Ice Crystals". It is one of many free songs available for creation of videos from KZbin. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@billwaters1373]

Excellent tutorial, thank you.

[@richardPalmisano]

Hello my friend how's it going I have a question for you about the Litchi app. If you do a custom setting and your path is curves can you intropolate to each waypoint if you wanted? What do you have to be in straight lines Path

[@MontanaMonk]

If you have set Mission Settings - Heading - Custom, you can set the heading for each waypoint and the aircraft will fly a smooth transition between waypoints (interpolated). This is true for both Curved Turns and Straight Lines. When Mission Settings - Heading is set to anything other than Custom, the setting of the heading in the waypoint is not used, even if it has been set while in Custom mode.

[@richardPalmisano]

MontanaMonk so even though you have to wait. Set for a curve if you wanted to intropolate it will right and then you could set it to clockwise or counterclockwise the next waypoint right? Thanks for the fast response

[@MontanaMonk]

If you want to control the direction of rotation during the interpolation, you must also have set Mission Settings - Rotations Direction -Manual.

[@richardPalmisano]

MontanaMonk ok thank you verry much you've been verry helpful. Now I need to set up a mission lol, I will let you know when I do one and post it so you can grade it lol thanks again my friend

[@normanziegelmeyer7693]

Can missions be created on your pc or ipad without the drone being involved ie; at home in your easy chair? Thanks

[@MontanaMonk]

Yes, you can create missions on the iPad or pc without the drone. I typically create the missions on the iPad or my iPhone and save them on the device. Then I just go to the site and fly. If the missions are created on the PC you must be logged in to flylitchi.com/hub to create the missions and to retrieve them when ready to fly or transfer them to the local device before flying. I think it is much easier to just create on the device you will be using to fly. Thank you for questions and thank you for viewing.

[@tomkositchek8776]

I just got Litchi. I was hoping you would tell me how to start the mission after you created it.

[@MontanaMonk]

After creating the mission (or opening it if I have saved it in advance), I make sure the area in which I'm flying is clear of obstacles and I manually take off and fly to about 10 meters altitude. Then press the Play icon on the screen and the mission will be uploaded to the aircraft and it will start flying the mission. If you have created the mission in advance, be sure to double check that the mission you load is actually for the area you are located. You don't want the aircraft flying to a distant location for the start of the mission. Hope this helps. Thank you for questions and thank you for viewing.

[@bineshbpt]

Thank you for the tutorial. I can see your video focusing more on ground. All my trials, I get a lot of sky. what is your advice on poi altitude to avoid sky. I see you setting approximately +10. I think I have been trying -30 or something assuming I will avoid focusing the sky. what is your advice on that please?

[@MontanaMonk]

For most ground based subjects that are not very tall, I frequently use +3 feet for the POI altitude. For buildings that are close to my flight path, I set the POI altitude a little higher, +10 feet works well. If I am not using Focus POI, I usually use a gimbal angle of about -6 degrees for general video at an aircraft altitude of 40 feet. That keeps most of the sky out of the video for subjects that are fairly near the aircraft. It also helps to keep the props out of the frame when starting and stopping. As you fly higher and further from your subjects, you will need to point the camera lower to minimize the sky. Your value of -30 for POI altitude should keep the sky out of most images. Another thing to do if you want to include some sky, but not have it overwhelm the exposure, is to use manual exposure and adjust for the ground subject. This will probably overexpose the sky but will properly expose your subject. Getting the proper framing when using Focus POI will be a combination of POI altitude and aircraft altitude. I am planning a video that deals with POI altitude and aircraft altitude and distance from the subject in more detail. I should have it done in a week or two. Thanks for viewing and for questions and comments.

[@bineshbpt]

MontanaMonk thank you so much for your advice. I am going to try exactly what you have adviced next time I fly and would feed back to you. Thanks again

[@bineshbpt]

Hi Montana, the video really came up nicely covering the good ground picture. Is there a way to get more ground focus and avoid sky in high altitude? unfortunately, the drone disconnects from the controller after the drone goes away for the mission

[@MontanaMonk]

When planning the mission, check to be sure the gimbal angle is between -33 and -90 for still images or -26 and -90 for video and you should have only the ground in your images. If you are very high, you may still have some sky in the image, but it shouldn't be much. If you use a POI as a reference, you may have to set it to an extreme negative altitude to get the gimbal angle low enough. I'm still working on the video that discusses all these angles. I intended to have it done this week, but the weather has been uncooperative and I have to re-shoot some clips.

[@bineshbpt]

MontanaMonk Thank you for your reply. Most of the gimbal angle I had was between -70 and -90. The altitude I was on was 100 metres (It is litttle high) and still i saw lots of sky. anything wrong i am doing. I didnt had focus POI Setting. I was on interpolate setting

[@dk99745]

Nice vid! You did not discuss the interpolate function. Can you explain that option? Thank you

[@MontanaMonk]

Interpolation works with your manual settings for Gimbal Pitch at waypoints. It causes a smooth transition between camera angles (Gimbal Pitch) when moving from one waypoint to the next. Some people misinterpret this to be a smooth transition in Heading, but heading changes are smoothed by using Curved Lines rather than Straight Lines. Heading is also smoothed by choosing Custom for Heading the Mission settings. Thanks for questions and comments. Thank you for viewing.

[@dk99745]

MontanaMonk appreciate the quick response! Thank you.

[@M_E_T_R_O__9]

Can i ask what happens if you plan a flight path that goes out of range of the controller? Does it fly its mission then come back into range or does it activate RTH mode? thanks

[@MontanaMonk]

If the aircraft is out of range of the controller, it will continue flying the mission until it is complete. At the end of the mission it will do what is indicated in the Mission Settings - Finish Action: None - Hover at last waypoint Go Home - Return to home Land - Land at final waypoint Reverse - Stop at last waypoint and wait for user to pull back stick to reverse route (this will not work if aircraft is out of range). You can set Signal Lost Behavior in Settings (not Mission Settings) to Return to Home if signal is lost.