Hi there.
I'm a phantom 3 advanced owner from two weeks now. I'm interested in waypoint and what I can do or not and I can't understand from the manual or video if I can change altitude in the track between two waypoints. Sure I can yaw and move the gimbal, but if I need to change altitude (maybe for creative reason or maybe for an obstacle not seen). What I have to do?

Also, can I change altitude of the waypoint itself? So I can start at 20mt and go to 2nd waypoint at 30mt and than back to 3rd waypoint at 25mt?

Thanks a lot in advance please I'm sorry for my bad grammar.

Yes this is possible with the DJI Go app/waypoint (F-mode). You can change waypoint altitude from each waypoint. Be careful that the drone is flying straight lines form waypoint to waypoint.
For the camera you can choose manual using  or following the way you record,

For example FPV camera (3th party app) is more smoothly in filming. (Following a target including change the pitch of the camera)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0lx7y ... llage%204K.mp4?dl=0

This is made with FPV camera

Thank you very much for answering. During the fly from/to each waypoint, can I control yaw with DJI GO? Or it isn't smooth as FPV?

I saw also Autopilot but at the moment I'm not interested in third party app.  Although I've seen that I can set a focus point for following the target etc.

Yes you can control the yaw during the flight. Smoothy in depending your fingers ;-) but for sure possible.

Yes autopilot is also one. (If you are a expert ;-))

Happy filming

SHamers is correct about the altitude, but I want to make sure of what you are asking.

When you create the waypoint mission, you fly to each waypoint and set them. Each point records the position of the P3, including altitude. Waypoint 1 could be 20m, waypoint 2 at 40m, waypoint 3 at 30m, etc.  I actaully have one mission where one waypoint is lower to the ground and the next waypoint only moves vertically - higher up over the same spot. Note that there is a minimum distance between waypoint - GO will not let you set them too close together.

When flying the mission, the P3 will fly to the position and altitude originally set for each waypoint. It flies in basically a straight line between points.  In the above example, it would have an altitude of 30m halfway between point 1 and point 2. When setting up your mission you need to account for that.

Once the mission is set, you cannot change altitude or position. The waypoints are set and cannot be edited. Techinically speaking you cannot "change" altitide once the mission is created, but you can "set" altitude when creating the mission.

Also stored with waypoints is the orientation (Yaw) of the P3. This, however, CAN be changed while flying the mission.

When you run the mission you are given a choice for camera direction. One choice has the camera follow the flight path. Another choice has the camera point where it was when the waypoint was recorded.

The final option - FREE - gives you control over yaw when flying the mission. I am 99% sure you cannot change the choice one the mission is started. Of course, you can re-fly the mission with a different choice.

Speed is also a variable. You pick speed of the P3 at the start of the mission via a slider. You can change speed with the slider while the mission is running.

Note that there is a minimum distance between waypoint - GO will not let you set them too close together.

Thank you! So I can't have two waypoint at different altitude but on the same longitude and latitude?

For the other thing thank you very much for explanation very very clear.

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-4 02:24
Thank you! So I can't have two waypoint at different altitude but on the same longitude and latitu ...

Do a search on litchi, I use this for waypoints

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-3 21:24
Thank you! So I can't have two waypoint at different altitude but on the same longitude and latitu ...

Aloha CC8877,

     Yes, you can have multiple waypoints at the same latitude and longitude.  Just today, I ran a waypoints mission straight up to test an auto PAN device.  Next chance, I plan to try an oscillation with waypoints a repeat of previous waypoints.  The key is to keep the waypoints 5 meters away from each other.  When I did my test today, my mission had 10 or 12 waypoints stacked on top of each other but separated by 20 feet.  I went up to 400 feet in a spiral.  

     jrm11 has it right.  Be careful when you read his post.  He has a lot of information in it.  In the forum here is where you get the real interesting stuff learned from experience.

Aloha and Drone On!

Thanks a lot to you all.

Maybe how much experience do I need to use autopilot for waypoint (say curved path) instead of DJI GO? (although I think DJI GO can do very nice with waypoint at my level).

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-3 21:24
Thank you! So I can't have two waypoint at different altitude but on the same longitude and latitu ...

Aloha CC8877,

     Here is a video of my P3Pro doing vertical waypoints straight up to 400 feet at 20 foot intervals.



Kind of like Jack climbing the beanstalk!

Aloha and Drone On!

Aloha Cetaman. Very nice video!!!

Are you using yaw in the meantime or not?

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-4 22:45
Aloha Cetaman. Very nice video!!!

Are you using yaw in the meantime or not?

Aloha CC8877,

     Yes, I am using a Yaw stick.  This Pan Device can stabilize the Yaw Stick of the Phantom 3 Advanced and Professional remote controller. It is made up of an ice cream wooden "spoon" 1/16th inch thick and cut so it does not interfere with the directional stick on the right. A small hole just large enough for the Yaw Stick stem (5/32") is drilled to reduce slack in the Yaw Stick. The whole wooden "spoon" is covered in painter's tape (masking tape) to improve friction. Screwing the spindle of the Yaw Stick (just below the "crown") allows you to increase or reduce tension due to the curvature of the controller body.



Aloha and Drone On!

I did some waypoint testing myself. You can learn from my mistakes on setting the first couple waypoints. Also, you'll notice that during one of the turns around the pond, because I set the next point with the yaw turned left some.... during flight to it, the copter automatically panned itself during flight.

Thanks a lot Cetaman and MSGNitro. Very kind.

@MSGNitro I will have a look at your video late in the afternoon looks very interesting. Saturday and sunday I have done some test too. Maybe one day I will buy autopilot for waypoint settings.

@Cetaman: maybe sharing size and dimension we can draw a standard one and print it in 3D. Very very useful.

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-7 21:45
Thanks a lot Cetaman and MSGNitro. Very kind.

@MSGNitro I will have a look at your video late in th ...

Aloha CC8877,

     If you like ice cream, you probably know about the ice cream "spoon" that I used.  It occurs to me that I am not a new era 3D printed kind of innovator.  So sad since I thought of that concept years ago!  If you would like to create this design and print it, feel free to do so.  I have no claim to this idea (other than i designed it).  If it helps you and others to create good work - that is all I am interested in.  If you think you can make money off the idea, go for it and teach me a lesson.  These ideas are a dime a dozen.  If this works out, I have a dozen other ideas for you!

Aloha and Drone On!

MSGNitro Posted at 2016-2-5 11:24
I did some waypoint testing myself. You can learn from my mistakes on setting the first couple waypo ...

Aloha Nitro,

     This is the best video I have seen in a while.  I have been there!  Not the site but the learning experience.  Your display of the whole screen really brought it to home.  Mahalo!

     There is an important lesson there that I hope you caught.  Be sure that whenever you are going into a tight turn to have the camera facing into the turn.  This keeps the PAN issue manageable.  When the camera faces to the outside of a turn, the speed of the turn creates a blurred experience.  Lesson learned.

Aloha and Drone On!

I don't want to make money. I just want to make it 'standard' and simply replicable.

CC8877 Posted at 2016-2-7 23:59
I don't want to make money. I just want to make it 'standard' and simply replicable.

Aloha CC8877,

     Good point.  But, the pan issue will always be there to learn from.  Slow, steady pans contain more information than faster pans and you made a good choice on that tight rotation on the end.

Aloha and Drone On!