DJI Phantom 4 Active Tracking While Skiing
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- Here's an end-to-end look at how well DJI's new Active Track mode works while skiing. More details on trip here: www.dcrainmaker...
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Hi All! Looking for a detailed video on Active Tracking in the DJI Mavic? Check out mine here: ruclips.net/video/ss0J0dAI1DM/видео.html
DC Rainmaker i
That's pretty poor. It's hardly dramatic video when the subject is a tiny ant and being filmed from 100m up in the clouds.
Criminey I've been looking for a couple of hours for a video that would effectively demonstrate how good (or how bad) active track is. This is the best demo I've seen so far
anyone else think that was a lady holding the drone for the first couple of minutes
Kyle Gardner yeah i really did.
yep
that's why i'm confused heard another man's voice lol
I thought that the whole minutes.
That’s he mis
The latest firmware allow the phantom 4 to descend and ascend its altitude to follow the target～～
Way cool
Really? They haven't even mentioned that the Mavic will do DOWNHILL tracking (follow a drop in altitude). Are you really sure about that? I'd like to see some demo vids to confirm.
These kind of features is likely a constant war between vendors. None will sit idle but they constantly strive to stay on top of the art. Features such as obstacle avoidance is there, so if there is a way to sense elevation in enough detail the ski slope tracking should be a feasible endeavor.
i think this is a case of user error and/or unfamiliarity. i've seen active track follow a target a lot closer than this. maybe it's the environment. another failure is having the camera facing the opposite direction than that of a fast moving target, that's why it lost focus at the beginning, the subject went out of frame too quickly for the drone to react
+altern8ive My bet is your other demos were on flat-land. See, the Phantom (both P3 & P4 actually) won't let you descend below the start elevation in autonomous modes (Active Track and Follow Me). So in this case, since I descended near-instantly below the starting elevation, it can't follow me. Additionally, the unit will always maintain the initial altitude (in all scenarios, flat or otherwise).
There's no real difference in starting facing front or back, the unit will actually flip around by default to follow, it's why you do the 360* loop around the subject. On our 2nd attempt it actually did that semi-gracefully (despite nearly hitting a tree from behind), but then it lost the subject a bit further down.
I'll be showing more flat-land demos soon. Either way, sports-action is called 'action' for a reason - it's quick - so the drone must be able to keep up with that, otherwise it's kinda useless for this use-case.
thanks ray, had a read through the manual. it makes sense now i understand the drone can't continuosly calculate what the altitude of the target is. i had assumed during setup the target area (green box) detected the size and shape of what to follow and tried to maintain those dimensions during flight.
+altern8ive Yeah, it's really too bad you can't use your phone for altitude (the 3rd party AutoPilot app can though).
+DC Rainmaker try starting from Behind time, works way better and dosnt look so shaky when spinning
Great video! Would you be so kind as to tell me what you are using to screen-capture the DJI Go App? Is your monitor Android or Mac? Thanks!
+Ken Heron In this case it was using an Android phone, with the AZ Recorder app to record the screen. I typically use an iPhone, but without jail breaking it, getting screen recording is far trickier. I had tried using an iOS App called Reflector 2 to mirror it to a laptop (either Mac or PC) nearby. But that required setting up a hotspot and all sorts of other stuff that was just a mess to do on a ski hill (not as horrible if somewhere more stable). So Android it was, quick and easy.
Very useful information before to buy. I was planing to buy one for MTB, now i know how it calcs it own elevation level. Thanks
good video guys. we are taking the p4 to mayrhofen next month
Really cool feature. I have the phantom 3 pro and I would love to have this feature. Great video!
Super awesome coverage, really appreciate it. Well done.
Mate, Great Video. Just wanted to say that in order for active track to work the drone has to face the direction that your going, this makes it easier for it to follow you because the gamble holding the camera can only get to a serration degree, as soon as you go on the screen active track stops working. so basically what I'm saying is to set it facing the direction that you are going to go in:)
A very good demonstration of why active track is mostly pointless. Even on flat ground, the way it pans excessively to keep the subject centered, would be annoying.
AT isn't pointless. It just isn't good for this application.
it is good for this application. The people doing this are just not very good (very very piss poor) at it yet.
These are just amateurs who fly worst video ever
Have you tried launching the Phantom from the bottom of the mountain up to where you launch from? That way it would desend with you.
Thank you guys for the helpful info. Maybe DJI will see this and take the altitude adjustment into perspective. It would be great if this thing flew right above you down the mountain.
I'm in red, it's in green (hand gestures to tree), I liked the video thank you! I plan on getting the phantom 4 soon so any knowledge on it before hand is a plus.
+Johnathon Palomarez Thanks, glad you enjoyed!
Wow! thanks for putting this video out. Feel they really sold this as the best action sport drone on the market. Was going to buy Phantom 4 for snowboarding in park. Not now! See how far it was away. Didn't stay with you at all.
ANyone know of a drone that tracks 5'-10' away during sport action?
+Portland,OR Mexican To be fair, you don't want something 5-10' away (yet). You may want to consider the Airdog, or my videos on it. I'll have a full in-depth review posted on either Wednesday or Thursday on it.
+DC Rainmaker thanks for quick response! I'm subscribing to your channel now. And will be watching for this Airdog drone video of yours too
Phantom 4 says it does not track well in undulating landscape as it was designed to operate on horizontal plains. Sounds like a bit of a handicap. Well, how else can they make Phantom 5, 6 and 7 and still sell them?
An evolution will likely be to allow tracking ground elevation and go downhill along with the skier for fabulous scenery.
Yes, the latest firmware released in late May does allow some elevation correction.
What is the best drone in your opinion for skiing? Don’t mind carrying a transponder
Thanks for sharing. Greetings from WW2HistoryHunter
If you launched the drone from the bottom of the hill and then flew it up to where you were starting down, would it then track you down the hill?
Yes, since that sets the 'floor' correctly as the bottom. But of course, that's not really practical in terms of the goal of seeing if you can use it to track yourself.
Ya gotta do what you gotta do, there are 2 of you anyway, might as well have him holding it from the bottom!
thank you very much for explaining that neutrally. I mean, clearly he talks about things so as they are
True, i filmed a bikerider but you are correct, i was actually standing at the end of the slope when doing that and flew up first...
you can take the remote with you and you can manually descend as you go, it's very easy to manage you just need more practice
Glad I waited and pre ordered Tyhoon H.
So, when you operate in this mode. It navigates by its own or you have to, and the camera just follows you? Thanks!
My brother in law has a farm & I've been capturing his harvests this summer. I have yet to be able to get follow to work correctly - I target a tractor moving and the camera stays on it but won't move then says lost object, any thoughts?
I'm just curious how you're recording audio? I understand you could record it separate from the drone footage but how do you keep it aligned with the video?
Plenty of software editing programs will do that. Syncs from the whole thing and than you do your cutting.
This is pretty cool, but a lot of third party apps (Vertical Studio and Litchi) are incorporating this feature in their apps that work for the Phantom 3. Not so sure if it's worth spending the extra money for the Phantom 4.
It loses because of elevation change. The Yuneec Typhoon H has the wizard remote that has gps built in. I would like to see a combination of active tracking and a gps module to send elevation info so it an follow up and down a mountian or hill.
they mentioned in the tutorial videos to avoid shooting over water and snow when using intelligent flight modes such as active track/follow me
Aqui no Brasil ainda nem chegou o PH4. Abraço meu amigo!
What Commercial drone would you recommend for tracking following closely?
which APP did you use for recording the phone's entire screen?
Seems like having the pilot at the bottom of the slope, then flying up to meet the subject would be the way to go.. would track down then and the home point would be somewhere useful. or yeah, manual.
Just use autopilot app and the airspace GPS phone tracker app because it uses a the phones barometer to track height and its GPS location as well...
is it using GPS to track or computer vision as I can't imagine GPS could have located him so accurately within that box?
Where is Lezark? I'm in France and never heard of it!!!?
If there is a 2nd person they can just manually fly after the skier. The tracking stuff is more of a sales gimick than a practical feature.
Would it not be easier to just have person, target turn around?
Very helpful guys thank you.
Great video!
May I ask how did you record the On-screen display of the DJI Go App?
I did it on Android, using the AZ Recorder app. There isn't really a good way to do it on iOS out in the middle of nowhere. You can do it somewhere with a laptop or some screen mirroring options on Mac, but it'd be super messy trying to do while skiing.
how you control the battery which is too cold for it and below -10 degree i assume?
is it possible to preset an altitude on this drone? or to preset a distance from the target selected for active track?
i have msj when i fly say sensor doesnt work? its first time i fly my phantom 4
why why is it so high ? Cant it just go down near you like 5 meters and following you ? Changing spot positions all around you while still tracking you very close, low altitude ??
WOuld you start the drone at a lower elevation and fly it UP to the subject? Then start AT when at the higher point on the hill and ski back down to starting point? Thanks
You could do that, but logistically it's a bit messy in this type of terrain. For example we didn't know exactly where we were going to end, and further, then you get into the challenges of communication that far away (especially since one phone is already being used as the controller). If you had a larger group it'd be easier of course.
You can have active track follow you with elevation using Autopilot or Litchi with devices using gps and a barometer.:)
Thanks, what type of tablet are you using?
Ray, does it not change altitude while following you? And what would have happened if you were solo and the drone lost you?
+Ted Timmons No, it doesn't. Neither in Follow-Me mode (P3/P4) or Active Track mode (P4). It stays at a static altitude unless the operator of the remote changes it manually.
+DC Rainmaker seems like it's a case of "too soon" for image-based tracking. Looking forward to the etap review, have it on preorder for a custom bike that I'm having built.
+Ted Timmons Yup, review is slowly uploading as we speak. Given the speed of upload, not sure if it'll finish before my plane lands in San Francisco. But either way, should be visible by morning (US times) at latest.
Thank You best video I've seen to explain the active track :-)
Flite Test did a much better one. I would suggest watching it.
+Joe Matthews Their video is definitely cool, but it was done in a wide open field chasing a gigantic cart. Hardly complex, nor that applicable to sport.
+DC Rainmaker yeah your right
Schade dass das Teil im Track-Modus immer noch stur die Höhe beibehält, statt dem Objekt auch hoch oder runter zu folgen. Ob das noch mit einem Software-Update gefixt wird?
So can another person during this kind of shooting do manual lower altitude in order to keep the distance while skiing down hill? If i start follow mode with circles around me and start skiing i would like the drone to follow me but i want it to drop the altitude as i go down so i remain the same size in the frame... that is the only reason i would buy this drone but i was not able to find is this possible or not?
He should have started to do the recognition part at the bottom of the run so he could follow him going down hill so he doesn't have the hight issue its a trick.
amigo to querendo compra um fanton 4 o que vc acha sera que o drone esta comportando bem esta tendo algum problema eu compro o fanton 3 pro ou o 4
I see a firmware update coming here, the hardware for pulling it off is there i think..
They really need to make it capable of descending while tracking.
Hi nice video, what app did you use to screen capture the GoApp?
+George Kyriakakis I used AzRecorder on Android.
much obliged thanks!
You need to start with it behind you so he doesn't go out of range straight away. Also need to lower your altitude as he goes down the hill
Does active track have to be in p-mode?
Is there an alternative to active tracking (a wearable beacon)? From
watching different reviews it seems like active track is nice on paper
but useless in reality compared to the drone following an actual GPS
signal instead of relying on weak image tracking that constantly loses
the followed object.
Yup, Airdog uses a wearable beacon - see here: www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/04/airdog-action-sports-drone-in-depth-review.html
Thanks DR Rainmaker, sorry I meant an alternative for the phantom 4. DJI should really offer this as an accessory..
Ahh, no, nothing for the P4 unfortunately directly from DJI.
However, if you use the Autopilot app, then you can do that (3rd party app). You can use your phone as a beacon, which a number of people have tried and note it works pretty well.
What problems did you encounter when getting permission to film with drones in the french alps?
+Richard Grebby As long as you stay away from folks/lifts, you won't have any issues (in fact, some resort staff actually chatted with us a few times in previous filming).
+DC Rainmaker ah I see. So not legit at all lol
+Richard Grebby Actually French drone rules are pretty straight forward on drone use. Simply fly within those rules and you're good to go.
Is there a mode where you stear the drone but the camera tracks the subject?
You can sorta do that in Active Tracking mode, as you've got control of distance to subject and rotation around subject.
I thought to buy it for tracking me, but after this video, I will wait for Lily to come out. :)
yeah the Phantom 4 is a piece of junk compared to the Lily in my opinion
Funny given that Lily yet again delayed last week and hasn't produced the video quality of a 1995 Webcam yet...
DC Rainmaker Lily sells an experience like Apple, not specs. You have to manually control the Phantom 4 which makes it suitable for geeks/nerds like me but not the general public.
Except you know...Lily doesn't exist. Their initial intro video was faked as we all know now. And everything they've shown to date is a fraction of that dream. I'm a backer as well, but I don't expect anything like what we've been promised, since none of their videos to date have shown that. Even the most recent video was heavily processed after the fact.
DC Rainmaker They tried but the engineering difficulty of the task at hand surprised them I think but at the end of the day that's their fault, it's true. They have a new Head of Eng so maybe he'll figure things out.
This is just how the machine is built. You should be able to use the elevation stick to control elevation and will continue to follow ...I have tested this theory and it works fine .
Right, but the entire point of the video was autonomous (which means, without human intervention). Thus, as built, it doesn't do as shown in their commercials.
If you'd be a decent pilot blah blah blah ;) :D
If the guy was a decent pilot he would have manually gone down so it kept tracking him
Which would defeat the entire point of doing a test to demonstrate autonomous flying. Now wouldn't it?
Fair enough, I wasn't being disrespectful or anything😝
If I ever get one I'll definitely be sure to take it out on the slopes with me as I wasn't sure how safe it would be to fly in the mountains. Are there any legal requirements about that?
honestly I was thinking these guys have no idea how to handle a phantom 4
so i guess you always need someone else to hold the controller while you do your skiing!
Great music what is it ?
can it fly lower?? with the follow object thing ??
you can adjust the altitude using the controller wilst tracking.
+Joe Matthews As has been discussed approximately 82 times now, you cannot descend below the starting altitude.
Flite test did it
+Joe Matthews No, they didn't. They started their flight on a flat field, thus that was the lowest elevation point in the flight. Whereas we started atop a mountain, thus creating a 'floor' that the autonomous mode won't go below.
Very educational
Does anyone know why a transponder gps based sensor can't just be placed on the SUBJECT and have gps coordinates communicated with the unit actively so the dji unit knows exactly where the subject is at all times relative to itself? seems obvious to me... one set of numbers x, y & z telling where the unit is and another set of x, y & z telling the unit where the subject is and voila! it should know where to point the camera at all times and where to position itself relative to the subject. Why is this such a challenge?
Yup, in fact, Airdog already does this. It's silly DJI won't just make a cheap one. That said, you can use the Autopilot app (3rd party) and do effectively the same thing with a phone.
DC Rainmaker Autopilot app takes the xyz from your cell phone you mean? so, the hand controller takes your xyz from the phone you've got attached to it and sends it to the drone which has onboard software which determines where to point the camera and where to fly? yeah, this seems crazy obvious to me and the complexity of software that "identifies" some object you define comparatively is like comparing 2+2 to differential equations... i'm very confused why this xyz1 and xyz2 matrix isn't fundamental and all these tracking, identifying and following based on images isn't treated as the experimental, barely functional, bleeding edge, useless garbage until 2025 it actually is. well, now i'll check out the autopilot app and maybe i'll get one of these after all... thanks man
Correct. Though, it handles it 'out of band' over LTE between devices. So Phone A is attached to controller, controlling it. While phone B (on rider) uses cellular/LTE to talk to phone A, and tell the drone where to be.
DC Rainmaker Okay, so phone A is on the controller while phone B is on the subject/rider (object being tracked) and phone B is talking to phone A and phone A is sending xyz data of the subject/rider to the drone that, then, calculates where to be and where to aim its camera? See, if this is true then why have phone A at all? Why not just have phone B on the controler with the subject/rider sitting in a bag sending xyz? The drone should have object avoidance and be told where to keep its altitude from ground prior to flight. Also, if there is, say, a tunnel or something shouldn't the phone on the controler be able to pull google map info and and smartly just tell the drone where the gps signal is likely to come back and go wait at that xyz point, say, 100' above the ground? maybe i'm not getting this at all or maybe it can be set up the way you are saying or the way i am saying. from what i'm seeing now this autopilot drone app is pretty complex and pretty flexible ... wonder if it's expensive.
oh, and i'm assuming the communication range between the controller (with attached cell phone) is 4 miles but what's the range between phones from phone to phone w/LTE? i guess that's really unlimited relative to cell towers?
So, Active track works best or only on level terrain?
+Pete Gertonson (Waha Pete) Basically, correct. Even casual terrain changes will cause issues (if going uphill).
+DC Rainmaker, looks like trouble both up or down hill. Your the first to point this out. From what I've seen the Yuneec Typhoon H doesn't appear to have the same problem & can fly closer to the tracking object. What do you think, I can't confirm?
+Pete Gertonson (Waha Pete) I haven't tried a Typhoon yet unfortunately. Sorry!
cool video
The pilot could have managed the altitude after AT was enabled and kept the P4 on you all the way down the mountain...
You obviously should've started with the drone behind you anyways. It will lose you 90% of the time if you go underneath it.
the first time you set it up, you do a 360 loop with the Phantom, then you take off under it and it loses you, not a good idea to take off under it...
but then the funny thing is, you get it to lock onto you again, but the second time, you don't do the 360 loop, is that because it remembers from the first time?
Correct, as long as it's still engaged (the feature), it remembers.
that's cool
The mavic should do a much better job, as it can adjust altitude as it follows. We will see though. But yes, you should always start to where you are moving away from the drone.(unless you're moving very slowly).
All I've heard so far is the Mavic can follow you uphill, but not downhill, so following a downhill ski run like this video would still be no good.
Possibly someone could use the controller to manually control descending altitude, but I'm not sure it's possible to descend lower than the launch altitude while you're in the follow mode, or any other smart modes for that matter.
Hmm, interesting. I hadn't realized that it might not be able to descend in follow mode. Thanks for the info! After some looking around, you're right, there is no specific mention of this capability. I really can't see any reason why it wouldn't be able to perform this function, though. If DJI doesn't include it, hopefully litchi can figure it out.
i love your vids, i subbed
Vunier DJI Phantom
Nice Video
3:17 to 3:22 would soooo have been a vine a few years ago haha
Hey Kermmy, nice video ;)
why do you have your iso so high?
I thought this video was actually well produced and explained, so not sure why it's got so many dislikes...
Total case of user error. They didn’t use the secondary settings at all and you can keep the remote with you.
I think this is completely user error...there is a mode to keep the drone going down or up an incline and keep the same distance from what it's tracking
Nope, there's not. You're thinking of 'Terrain Follow', except that mode is incompatible with Active Track. You can't use both at the same time.
Hard to take someone's opinion seriously when they clearly don't understand the equipment they're using!
The Phantom does an excellent job of tracking without piloting so long as the subject stays at the same relative altitude. Otherwise pilot assistance, by lowering the drone closer to the subject, is needed as in this extreme case.
Secondly, if you immediately move outside the Phantoms field of vision, as happened in the first attempt, it obviously won't be able to track the skier. Had they simply been behind him,, rather than in front with little distance before moving outside the cameras view, it would have tracked him perfectly. So long as the rule regarding altitude as mentioned above is adhered to.
A little common sense goes a long way!
Hard to take someone's comments seriously when they clearly didn't understand the point of the video was to demonstrate how well it can autonomously track a person without the operator (you know, like DJI commercials).
+DC Rainmaker See all the comments previously. Apparently we're all mistaken then? Lol! You're obviously the one who doesn't understand. Admit your mistakes and then move on!
Actually, yes, most people are wrong here. Welcome to RUclips. Many people said to simply lower it down - which, if you've tried you know you can't do. DJI does NOT permit you to go below the initial altitude. So in this case, if you start at 600m in altitude, you simply cannot go below 600m, as that's considered the 'floor'. It's a hard block in autonomous modes.
Second, the point of this video was autonomous, just like DJI's announcement commercial showing the runner leaving it and having it track her with nobody controlling. Again, as noted here, that doesn't work well if there's any elevation changes.
You really did not get the point of the video. In live action camera filming (when filming yourself), you want to focus on your sports activity, and not on operating a remote control. The whole point of the video is to show how well the drone can autonomously track you skiing down the mountain, without the need for manual controls. If you need a separate pilot to steer the drone behind you, it kills the whole objective.
put it behind you...why does it have to be in front?
Aren't these drones armed?
good video, thank you!
keep the drone behind the skier then enable active track and ski away!
Maybe in 3 years , this function works!!!
it works best if you start behind the person you are trying to track...
That sweeping motion as you go back and forth is instantly annoying! I'll stick with my Q500 4k! it's a nice smooth video the entire time while tracking and it's a 1 man operation!
+Withered Perception ye i want see difefence betwen Q500 and this mainly in folow focus
+andre Schwarzkopf the q500 is extremely smooth and doesn't jolt from side to side. it also follows you consistently up to about 1800 feet in distance or altitude.
Is it possible for you to give me your Phantom 4? Please
I don't think skiing is a suitable subject matter for P4 tracking. You've only got to look at the hundreds of videos of where the P4 lost the subject when it was only a person walking. Unless you are someone that skis extremely slowly, the P4 will not be able to keep up and lock on.
whats the name of the song?
The controller should lower the Drone as you go down manually
+Rockawaylifestyle A) That defeats the purpose of being able to do solo recording. But ignoring that aspect, B) As discussed in the video, you can't go below the starting elevation (even manually). It's a standard DJI 'thing' that applies to any autonomous mode. So in hill scenarios, you'd have to start backwards (at bottom of hill).
Why does the movie lag so mutch? :/
Great. The drone is actually doing what you write in the description: it is in fact following you ... but only optically and not phisically - the drone remains on top of the mountain and keeps filming from there while you reach in a 10 km distance the valley and go to a restaurant for drinking a hot chocolate. On the video your size will be 1 pixel. haha
I will give 'like' to the review because you showed me not to buy this crap.