I know what Course Lock (CL) is, and how it works.  But I can't seem to wrap my head around when I would actually use it.

Can someone give me some examples of when you would shoot video using it.  For example, POI, when it is available, could be used to circle around and video a church steeple, or a statue, or a wedding couple standing in front of a beautiful waterfall, etc.  So, is it like POI but in a straight line, except that the camera isn't locked on a target?

Please finish this sentence, "I would use CL when I wanted to film ..... "

Thanks!

Hi,

It's my understanding that you'd use CL for 'fly-by' type shots.

For instance you plot the straight line the P3 will fly along, then if you've got something interesting on say the RHS ( building, person etc ) then you'd pan the phantom to view it as it passes by. It'll continue on a straight path but you'll be spinning it so you include your subject in frame.

Haven't tried it myself yet but intend to shortly.

Cheers,

Nick

Nice tutorial!

Please finish this sentence, "I would use CL when I wanted to film ..... "

"....something off to the side, fly past it and keep the camera pointed in the direction of my subject."

Go out into a big, wide-open area to practice! Using Course Lock (you'll also have to have "multiple Flight Modes" checked in the IOC menu) you can see that the direction your Phantom will fly can be somewhat "fixed" while you can rotate the camera to keep objects/subjects in view.

You can change the orientation by rotating your Phantom and engaging the "reset" option to re-orient your Phantom. (There's a brief mention in the manual about IOC - look in the appendix of the manual. Also peruse the menus involving IOC. You don't want to be trying to read menus for the first time when you're occupied trying to fly your bird - do your homework at home before you get into the field!!!)

Again, if you want to practice this, get into a wide open area. if you're not an expert, you'll likely find your Phantom acting "funny" because it may do things you've never experienced before.

At the moment, this Course Lock option provides us with half of a POI capability. It's a bit of a pain to use Course Lock to circle an object because you'll have to do a half circle, reset the Course Lock and then do another half circle!

I usually land on a huge boulder with quad facing me and video recording on - much more interesting footage than looking out over empt field of grass ... I've been a heli pilot for years and have no problem hovering nose in, but landing quad nose in on boulder under gusty conditions I feel more comfortable when left means left and I don't have to translate that left means right stick.

Rhino.

So when will course lock be available for Phantom 3?

Of the three working modes of IOC, Course Lock (CL), Home Lock (HL), and Point of Interest (POI) under the F-Mode Flight Mode, Course Lock is available today. HL and POI are future enhancements.

aburkefl@gmail. Posted at 2015-6-16 22:02
Please finish this sentence, "I would use CL when I wanted to film ..... "

"....something off to th ...

Ahh, okay, makes sense now.

I've been practicing my manual POI flying for months in an empty parking lot on a PH2 without a FPV system.  The link below is my first manual POI video I tried with the PH3.

It's not perfect as you can see from the flight log screen shot - I started to drift inward a little.  But I was also a little nervous cause hikers were up at the top of the hill, and I didn't want to bother them by buzzing to closely.  Besides, it was super gusty and the PH3 was just under a 1/2 mile away, and 465 ft up.

I only kept the ending there so you could see how far away I was.  I'm looking forward to trying the CL this week.

http://youtu.be/ZLFFK6X7xBc

terrylewis Posted at 2015-6-16 23:55
Of the three working modes of IOC, Course Lock (CL), Home Lock (HL), and Point of Interest (POI) und ...

Thanks. just tried it out in the simulator

I was using IOC the other day, and it doesn't work like I thought it would.... I was hoping it would fly a straight line when I just held forward, but it just holds heading, not course. It drifts with the wind, so if one goes straight forward, don't expect to come back on that same line by holding straight back. I like the idea of IOC, but in practice, it could still use improvement. I want to be able to do a fly by and concentrate on yaw, however even in IOC, I have to be very aware of my course over ground.

How can you activate IOC on the android app?  The P A F switch has no effect in the pilot app.  If you try and select MODE in the camera page it does nothing, its stuck on the default GPS thing you cannot get into Multi Flight Mode from that page.

Is there a way to use Course Lock with the Android App currently?  it seems permanently locked to P mode with no way to get out.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-17 02:04
Let me get this straight......Home Lock is idiot proof while with Course Lock, it's almost the same  ...

If you set CL before taking off, and don't change that course in flight, pulling back on the right stick will bring it back to you.

Just to clarify.
Home lock flight mode is NOT available in the P3. Only Course lock is available.
To enable, Pilot app > Settings > Quad icon > advance > enable IOC.
Then with the remote physically select F on the PAF switch. The warning will appear and an option to reset the FWD direction.
I an open field, point the nose of the phantom to the direction you will nominate as fwd and click RESET IOC (there is another simpler way by tapping something on the main screen - I forgot). This will now set this as fwd independent on which way the phantom nose is facing.

Spielberg mode: beautiful mountain in front with tunnel. bridge and train on the right heading into tunnel. You reset IOC to look at the mountain making sure you are parallel to bridge. You yaw the phantom 90 to the right and push fwd to follow train over the bridge. As the train is speeding off, you yaw to follow the train whilst still flying parallel the bridge..

DaGunn Posted at 2015-7-6 07:51
If you set CL before taking off, and don't change that course in flight, pulling back on the right ...

I know I'm kind of late but I get what he's saying.I was confused at first as to what CL was/is as I've only had a P2 Vision+ for a few months and was barely able to fly it because of weather. I got the P3 because of the ability to fly in doors. I really suck at orientation right now btw.

With Course lock, YOU HAVE to be where you started physically. If you try moving around (physically) after take off, I believe the orientation will get messed up somehow?

I'm not sure what exactly I was doing in the Simulator (of course you can't physically move around) but there were a few times where I'd lose the Phantom although Course lock was Enabled.

Does anyone know when Home lock will become available? I sorta feel safer with that and you'd think they'd implement that first since its idiot proof.

Also, is my theory correct that you have to STAY where you took of? Because I'm a newb I have a habit of moving around while flying... could someone clarify please?

anthony_c@me.co Posted at 2015-7-23 11:34
I know I'm kind of late but I get what he's saying.I was confused at first as to what CL was/is as ...

Rth equals home lock. Hold home and wait. It will lock in on homepoint and make a "b" line for it. All the while you enjoy a cold beverage. ;}

jimcloud74@yaho Posted at 2015-7-24 03:27
Rth equals home lock. Hold home and wait. It will lock in on homepoint and make a "b" line for it. ...

RTH means the drone comes home... what if I'd like to film worry free and simple pull back on my controller and have the drone come back to me no matter which direction/angle its in???
In other words, I manually bring it back home not where it shoots up altitude and comes back to me... are you not that interested in this feature? I don't see how they embed Course lock and not home lock???

anthony_c@me.co Posted at 2015-7-24 13:46
RTH means the drone comes home... what if I'd like to film worry free and simple pull back on my co ...

Oh yes. I am too. I see it coming in the future hopefully. For now you just have to set altitude, let her come home, and control yaw for happy filming. That's what I have been doing. I am hoping for a great deal of software tweaks that will make filming easier and more professional even before post editing.

Well, if you are in a straight line... why not use course lock? Its a nifty feature... give it a shot

I actually had an issue with CL on my P4 today. I was flying next to a bridge and wanted to fly past it parallel approx. 20-30m away so i pointed the drone parallel (i have the centre point option twitched on to see the pointer on my device) tot he bridge and set the angle and began to fly. After 30m or so i noticed the P4 flying towards the bridge and not parallel. There was no wind at all so i ruled that out and gave it another try. This time i pointed the P4 beyond parallel to ensure i don't end up next to the bridge by the time i get to the end however it happened again as i was mid-span so i called it back and gave it one last shot tis time increasing the angle away from the bridge. By the time i got to the end of the bridge the P4 was very close to the bridge.

Basically i set an orientation and the P4 doesn't follow it and tends to go to the right (I was on the left of the bridge).

I checked my propellors and they are perfectly fine with no chips and i cant see why the P4 doesn't follow the angle prescribed.

The P4 flies straight in P-Mode and other modes it is only when using CL feature where i get this problem.

It could be you weren't pushing the right stick perfectly straight up.  A slight deviation to the right would pull the AC to the right.

Another possibility is you needed to do a compass calibration.

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-2-1 03:17
It could be you weren't pushing the right stick perfectly straight up.  A slight deviation to the right would pull the AC to the right.

Another possibility is you needed to do a compass calibration.

I plan to try it again and i will focus on pushing the right needle straight however i don't think its that because i can fly straight as soon as i turn it off.

Thank you for your reply though and i do calibrate the compass before every flight.

The IMU is also in the 'excellent' range.

I would bet, it was caused by being around all that steel, increase your distance, I have read posts about when flying around a lot of steel it acts like a magnet a draws you in.  Screws with the compass.

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-2-1 03:17
It could be you weren't pushing the right stick perfectly straight up.  A slight deviation to the right would pull the AC to the right.

Another possibility is you needed to do a compass calibration.

If you are using "Course-Lock" your right stick should not be able to cause the phantom to fly right or left. That is the sole purpose of the CL. Forward or backward movements should be the only thing you could do.

Thermographer Posted at 2017-2-1 04:24
I would bet, it was caused by being around all that steel, increase your distance, I have read posts about when flying around a lot of steel it acts like a magnet a draws you in.  Screws with the compass.

Steel structures can mess with the phantom sometimes. Especially if you were really close. Like Thermoghraper mentions, give yourself a little more distance and try it again. I know I have personally tried taking off close to some railroad tracks one time, and the compass went nuts. Had to move father away and it was fine. I have flown parallel to some bridges also, but not quite as close as you were.

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-2-1 05:37
If you are using "Course-Lock" your right stick should not be able to cause the phantom to fly right or left. That is the sole purpose of the CL. Forward or backward movements should be the only thing you could do.

You're saying course lock disables the right and left function of the controller?  I've never heard of this and I don't think it's correct - because I practiced using course lock the first month I owned my phantom and I could race it up and back and straddle it to the left and right just fine.  You seem to be saying that once you are in course lock, the Phantom is stuck on whatever line it launched on and is helpless to move off that line without taking it out of course lock.  Unless they changed something, this isn't correct.  

The purpose of course lock is that you can rotate the AC freely while following the course.  There would be no advantage to disabling the left and right controls.  

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-2-1 05:37
If you are using "Course-Lock" your right stick should not be able to cause the phantom to fly right or left. That is the sole purpose of the CL. Forward or backward movements should be the only thing you could do.

During CL flying my P3S, moving right stick either right or left DOES change drone direction. Is something wrong?

The_Death_Angel Posted at 2017-2-1 03:59
I plan to try it again and i will focus on pushing the right needle straight however i don't think its that because i can fly straight as soon as i turn it off.

Thank you for your reply though and i do calibrate the compass before every flight.

That could also be the problem.  It's not a good idea to calibrate the compass before every flight.  In fact, it's a bad idea because you risk messing up a perfectly good compass calibration.  The exception is if you have traveled a large distance from your last calibration.  


In this case I would guess the steel bridge may have affected the calibration.  In other words, the large steel bridge will affect the compass' ability to find magnetic north.  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-2-1 05:58
You're saying course lock disables the right and left function of the controller?  I've never heard of this and I don't think it's correct - because I practiced using course lock the first month I owned my phantom and I could race it up and back and straddle it to the left and right just fine.  You seem to be saying that once you are in course lock, the Phantom is stuck on whatever line it launched on and is helpless to move off that line without taking it out of course lock.  Unless they changed something, this isn't correct.  

The purpose of course lock is that you can rotate the AC freely while following the course.  There would be no advantage to disabling the left and right controls.

You are correct in that your left stick can be used to rotate the aircraft in any direction, but it maintains a straight line course in the direction you started with. This allows you to do a "fly-by", rotating your phantom to focus on a particular POI. I could be wrong and I haven't used it for some time now, but I didn't think you could move from side to side with your right stick. Obviously, you use the right stick for forward and backward travel.

Edit:
I am not 100% on the fact about the aircraft being able to move to the left or right while in "CL" mode. I know that you point you phantom in
the direction you want to go and it should follow that straight line path. I'll let someone else chime in here to verify how it actually is supposed to work. I don't want to be giving out bad advise here, until I try it again and know for myself. It may very well be that you can side shift if you will while still going in the direction your pointed it in to start with.

A similar use of the left and right control in IOC is within the Home Lock function.  We all know that moving the right stick up will move the AC away from the home point.  Bringing the right stick in will bring the AC back to home directly regardless of where it's pointing.  That's basic stuff.  But most people don't know that you can use the right stick to move the AC to the left or right to make a perfect circle around the home point.  Again, the advantage is, you can rotate the AC freely while effortlessly making a perfect circle around the home point.   And carrying this further, one can reset the home point over a given place and then circle that given place perfectly and effortlessly with IOC home lock and the left/right controls.

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-2-1 06:18
A similar use of the left and right control in IOC is within the Home Lock function.  We all know that moving the right stick up will move the AC away from the home point.  Bringing the right stick in will bring the AC back to home directly regardless of where it's pointing.  That's basic stuff.  But most people don't know that you can use the right stick to move the AC to the left or right to make a perfect circle around the home point.  Again, the advantage is, you can rotate the AC freely while effortlessly making a perfect circle around the home point.   And carrying this further, one can reset the home point over a given place and then circle that given place perfectly and effortlessly with IOC home lock and the left/right controls.

I did not know this either about using the right stick to rotate around your home point. Thanks!

So, just asking, why would you not use the POI instead of resetting your home point? You know, if you were away from your actual home point.

I don't know of a reason.  But I think that's where the POI stems from - that kind of logic.  

Thank you for all your replies. I am planning to shoot some aerial photography of a unique structure today and ill give it another shot. Thanks again for you help.