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Smooth Shots: Litchi vs. Autopilot vs. ???

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Curious to know who has used either of these (or others) for shooting smooth shots. Do any of these apps know how to pan smoothly? Can they pan the gimbal independently (and smoothly)?

I think Autopilot allows you to fly a "cable cam" kind of course and then use the sticks to control the gimbal independently but I haven't tried it.

Looking for suggestions in how to use these tools to for filming. Emphasis on really really smooth shots. No herky jerky. No "just stabilize it in post".
 
I have been experimenting with Autopilot. I am very pleased so far with this app. Below is a video taken in "orbit" mode where everything is automated. I sped up the video to about 150% to get it to fit in a 30 second time and it is still very smooth. There are several other modes with varying degrees of camera or bird control. Autopilot has a YouTube channel that demonstrates several of the different modes. If you are flying the pro/x5, you will need version 3.1 which is currently in beta, but just got sent in for acceptance to the App Store. So the non-beta full release will be available soon. You can ask to be a beta tester at their website

 
I have FPV Camera, Autopilot and Litchi. FPV does not have the same ability to control yor video shots during flight as Autopilot and Litchi. I normally use Litchi as its is easy to use and gives great control on how you want to take your video shots.
 
I have FPV Camera, Autopilot and Litchi. FPV does not have the same ability to control yor video shots during flight as Autopilot and Litchi. I normally use Litchi as its is easy to use and gives great control on how you want to take your video shots.

I have Litchi on my Android tablet and Autopilot on my iPad but have not used either yet. I am, however, curious to know how you rate these three apps and when and why you'd chose one over the others.


Brian
 
Yeah I use litchi also and got amazing shots so smooth .. Love the POI feature as you can set the ground height so that the camera can look up on high structures and works out the angle for you to which you fly your bird at ..
Working on a video ATM
 
As I said I have both Litchi and Autopilot but have not used either yet, but looking over the manuals and videos the Autopilot app looks like they have gone out of there way to make it as complicated as possible -- like they're actually trying to make it difficult. Litchi looks much easier to get going with it but maybe not as full featured. The guy from NJ doing the Autopilot videos is horrible and at the end of the video I'm more confused that before the beginning of it.


Brian
 
As I said I have both Litchi and Autopilot but have not used either yet, but looking over the manuals and videos the Autopilot app looks like they have gone out of there way to make it as complicated as possible -- like they're actually trying to make it difficult. Litchi looks much easier to get going with it but maybe not as full featured. The guy from NJ doing the Autopilot videos is horrible and at the end of the video I'm more confused that before the beginning of it.


Brian

autopilot is an app you have to sit down and go through the manual and think through how, what and in which way out of which direction you would like to take the frames. it is difficult at times but the guys have revolutionized the market in that area being one of the first if not the first to provide one of the most asked features from us and they listen to us and implement with the speed of light. - haven't seen any other app developer be this responsive -
you have to take your time and battery and learn the app.
litchi is ok as far as i can tell although i was unable to login on either systems resulting in an app crash therefore not being able to fly down my planned route.
if you have autipilot and start using it you will see the huge amount of benefits put into it. it is packed with features no one else has put into one app yet -as far as i know at the moment -
the erffort put into the video has to be taken positive at it is i think voluntier what the guy does or did - not ip to date here either and also non of my business- but in any case they do try to go step by step and as clear as possible. don't expect to understand everything after watching a video, you have to play around with the app and settings on a wide open space and test to understand.
try to stay positive and get more into it.
the guys at AP and litchi are doing a great job making useful apps for us and work hard to make them easy and reliable.

cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Phatzo and I realize I'll need to take my time to properly learn to use Autopilot. I have some grand ambitions to use it but I'll need to crawl before I can walk or run. Hopefully the weather breaks soon and we get more livable weather more of the time.


Brian
 
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Two features that stood out to me when watching the Autopilot videos:

Autopilot uses barometric pressure of the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air 2 to help it decide more rapidly/accurately when there has been an altitude change when the bird is focused on your device. (More accurate than using GPS to determine altitude). So if you are being followed while you are going up a hill, the bird will go up the hill keeping its relative distance rather than crashing into the side of the hill.

Also autopilot programmers wrote their own focus/follow algorithms so that it does a more professional job of keeping your target in the center of the frame, even when the target is moving pretty fast.

At least that's what their videos depict. I've never compared.
 
I have to admit, I looked at autopilot closely and was confounded by all the settings. I am glad the flexibility is there but it's not for the faint of heart!

I agree! It could use some GUI work. I decided to focus on one mode first. After I got the hang of it, then I played with the next mode, etc. seems that there would be a more intuitive way to have basic,intermediate, and advanced settings arranged.
 
The guy from NJ doing the Autopilot videos is horrible and at the end of the video I'm more confused that before the beginning of it.


Brian

On behalf of the guy from NJ doing the videos, I'm sorry you find them and Autopilot confusing. ;)

It's a tough balance. Autopilot rocks BECAUSE it does many things. I've used every product out there - I own all of them. Autopilot definitely takes longer to get running with - there's simply more to it. When I want to to just quickly fly and get a shot, I sometimes just use the DJI GO app. Options are good.

To learn Autopilot, I recommend watching the videos, reading Flight School, and TRYING the software. As I did the videos, I always ended up with questions as I was scripting and planning out the video and the shoot. It's tough to say that you hate the software when you say you haven't tried it yet. In my experience, things start to fit together better as you use the various modes.

As far as the flow of the videos, almost all of the feedback I get on them is positive. The one suggestion I get is to slow down or do thing at a slower pace. Bluntly, each video has got longer as the newer features have come out and are increasingly complex (e.g. Waypoints). I've got a new video done on Airspace that will probably make your head explode.

If I did things step by step by step, the videos would be 5 hours long.

And honestly, can you point me to a single video for almost any third party product out there that walks someone through their software with voice over? Even DJI doesn't have it - relies on videos of varying quality from people out there.

I'm open to suggestions - I want the videos to help people use the software and like it as much as I do.

But, my #1 suggestion is - get out and try it.
 

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