djiuser_CLAKxzWQsqwf Posted at 9-23 18:04
Hi there. Decided to revive this topic because I bought Mavic Air 2 and this is kind of important to me. Previously I was using Parrot Anafi for a couple of months just for the follow me option and it worked perfectly from every possible angle. It had a third option called locked, so whatever angle you chosen at the beginning  it would follow constantly. Moreover I was able to navigate  Anafi  by using controller, changing the angle, high etc and it stayed where I wanted while following me. I sold it and bought Air 2 because it is more advanced drone but follow me/active track is kind of disappointing.  My biggest complain is that you cant control the drone in track mode. It doesnt react to joystick movement but rather pick its own way when active track is enabled. So it is almost impossible to fly it in front of you  because it doesn't react to your commends, putting itself always at the back of you. That is really disappointing behavior because we users don't want to see only our back on videos but rather front, face etc, just like photo. You dont take photos setting your back to the camera, that makes no sense. The same apply to the track/ follow me mode.  I wish DjI team could fix this to be more professional , like some of the competitions, or at least add locked position so the drone could follow in front .

"...you cant control the drone in track mode."

No, you can control the drone in active parallel tracking mode. I do it all the time to keep it beside the target. It is true that the standard tracking will not stay beside the target at higher speeds by itself well.

djiuser_CLAKxzWQsqwf Posted at 9-23 18:04
Hi there. Decided to revive this topic because I bought Mavic Air 2 and this is kind of important to me. Previously I was using Parrot Anafi for a couple of months just for the follow me option and it worked perfectly from every possible angle. It had a third option called locked, so whatever angle you chosen at the beginning  it would follow constantly. Moreover I was able to navigate  Anafi  by using controller, changing the angle, high etc and it stayed where I wanted while following me. I sold it and bought Air 2 because it is more advanced drone but follow me/active track is kind of disappointing.  My biggest complain is that you cant control the drone in track mode. It doesnt react to joystick movement but rather pick its own way when active track is enabled. So it is almost impossible to fly it in front of you  because it doesn't react to your commends, putting itself always at the back of you. That is really disappointing behavior because we users don't want to see only our back on videos but rather front, face etc, just like photo. You dont take photos setting your back to the camera, that makes no sense. The same apply to the track/ follow me mode.  I wish DjI team could fix this to be more professional , like some of the competitions, or at least add locked position so the drone could follow in front .

Sorry for disappointment. My drone sits in a locker, i don't even want to fly her anymore.

I am also wondered why DJI wouldnt step in to at least give us some explanation. Or to resolve the problem with parallel tracking, so it would behave as expected, as written in the manual.

Other users are happy with the tracking of the drone, but i guess most of them aren't using the drone to actually follow them in a sport or on a quest, only one time for testing.

I will say it again: mavic air 1 did a much better job! I hope DJI will hear us in the end and will correct the firmware!

GaryDoug Posted at 9-23 19:12
"...you cant control the drone in track mode."

No, you can control the drone in active parallel tracking mode. I do it all the time to keep it beside the target. It is true that the standard tracking will not stay beside the target at higher speeds by itself well.

By controlling the drone I mean it could take a full circle around you while in track mode.  This is what Anafi could do. I had not problem pointing it to the left or right or front or back. Mavic 2 seems unable to follow my directions in track mode, it doesnt respond to joystick movements. I mean, for recreational users it may seem normal but for those of you who used some  other advanced drones it could be troublesome since it is somehow like going backwards in development. For me personally it is a big deal because I bought it mostly for having fun in track mode...

djiuser_CLAKxzWQsqwf Posted at 9-24 06:16
By controlling the drone I mean it could take a full circle around you while in track mode.  This is what Anafi could do. I had not problem pointing it to the left or right or front or back. Mavic 2 seems unable to follow my directions in track mode, it doesnt respond to joystick movements. I mean, for recreational users it may seem normal but for those of you who used some  other advanced drones it could be troublesome since it is somehow like going backwards in development. For me personally it is a big deal because I bought it mostly for having fun in track mode...

No, what I said was that I could maneuver the drone in addition to its own tracking. I am able to go faster forward or to either side but cannot turn the drone on its vertical axis because the tracking overrides that of course. Ortherwise what would be the use of tracking if you were just going to control it in every direction?
It DOES respond to controller stick actions.

GaryDoug Posted at 9-24 18:54
No, what I said was that I could maneuver the drone in addition to its own tracking. I am able to go faster forward or to either side but cannot turn the drone on its vertical axis because the tracking overrides that of course. Ortherwise what would be the use of tracking if you were just going to control it in every direction?
It DOES respond to controller stick actions.

yes, you can control your MA2 while using active track.
you just select the object, then maneuver MA2 according what you need.
but off course can not fly over the selected object.

Hello there fellow TarguMuresean ma2 owner

GaryDoug Posted at 9-24 18:54
No, what I said was that I could maneuver the drone in addition to its own tracking. I am able to go faster forward or to either side but cannot turn the drone on its vertical axis because the tracking overrides that of course. Ortherwise what would be the use of tracking if you were just going to control it in every direction?
It DOES respond to controller stick actions.

That is the problem. Last time I flew it like 2 weeks ago I was able to controll it in Active Track maybe for 1 or 2 minutes, it even flew in front of me for couple of seconds but after some short time it stopped responding and returned to the parell/back position. Since then it just flew behind me without any response to the controller.  Why so big deal? Because while Im bicycling or whatever activity I do with the drone  I want it to film me from different angles and not only from the back!!!! This makes a huge difference !!!  You take a walk with your girlfriend on the beach and you want your drone to film this moment from different angles and not just from the back or parallel/back.  That is why we need "locked" position in the active tracking system, so the drone stays where you place it without this automatic returning to the back. It can be easilly addressed  by the programers because the drone has abilities to perform such a feat.  Just look how ppl fly Skydio 2, they buy it mostly for the active track where the drone flies around thmem!

djiuser_IjXv95FU0Kkp Posted at 9-25 02:51
Hello there fellow TarguMuresean ma2 owner

;) hello there. You are from Targu Mures also?

SalsaDura Posted at 9-25 08:10
That is the problem. Last time I flew it like 2 weeks ago I was able to controll it in Active Track maybe for 1 or 2 minutes, it even flew in front of me for couple of seconds but after some short time it stopped responding and returned to the parell/back position. Since then it just flew behind me without any response to the controller.  Why so big deal? Because while Im bicycling or whatever activity I do with the drone  I want it to film me from different angles and not only from the back!!!! This makes a huge difference !!!  You take a walk with your girlfriend on the beach and you want your drone to film this moment from different angles and not just from the back or parallel/back.  That is why we need "locked" position in the active tracking system, so the drone stays where you place it without this automatic returning to the back. It can be easilly addressed  by the programers because the drone has abilities to perform such a feat.  Just look how ppl fly Skydio 2, they buy it mostly for the active track where the drone flies around thmem!

You have explained exactly my problem, SalsaDura! You don't need to look into other makers of drones. Even Mavic Air 1 did this job properly.

There is something with the MA2 that just does not do what we need in parallel tracking. I wrote it from the begining, and as I stated before, the best feature that the drone would have, is useless.

twilight Posted at 6-24 10:48
No one? Everybody's happy with the parallel active track of air 2?

I had similar experiences when I tried to use parallel active track.  It was pretty buggy in my opinion.  My M2P does a lot better job.  

M Stuart K Posted at 10-5 03:52
I had similar experiences when I tried to use parallel active track.  It was pretty buggy in my opinion.  My M2P does a lot better job.

If M2P is doing the job as MA1, it sure does a better job than MA2!

I kept saying it is buggy and it goes from behind... I never understood people who are happy with it's parallel mode. I guess they 1. don't use it or 2. don't know how it should behave.

Hopefully dji will resolve issues after all.

I think this has to do something with the latest firmware updates. I have had my drone since launch and the parallel tracking was on point in the start. Tried again yesterday with same issues as you describe. By the looks of it, they do the same. like they are coded to behave the same in a way. Could not get it to fly on the side, it went back behind me just like tracking....hmmm. interesting!

I do have some clips from it, but not edited them... ned to scrub trough and see if it shows what i'm talking about. With that said, i'm riding a motorcycle, and it tracked me just fine, i could just not adjust the angle. Cheers

tshansen Posted at 10-6 00:07
I think this has to do something with the latest firmware updates. I have had my drone since launch and the parallel tracking was on point in the start. Tried again yesterday with same issues as you describe. By the looks of it, they do the same. like they are coded to behave the same in a way. Could not get it to fly on the side, it went back behind me just like tracking....hmmm. interesting!

I do have some clips from it, but not edited them... ned to scrub trough and see if it shows what i'm talking about. With that said, i'm riding a motorcycle, and it tracked me just fine, i could just not adjust the angle. Cheers

hopefully next firmware will be better for parallel tracking

I found a stretch of road that was blocked off to cars to do some Active Track testing. I finally wanted to see the different behaviors and looks. I generally like the Active Track but you are spot on with your assessment. Doing a head on track, which I too would dearly love is incredibly hard. Doing a true parallel tracking doesn't work very well either, not to mention all safeties are disabled! Here is a small compilation of my tests.

twilight Posted at 10-5 00:00
You have explained exactly my problem, SalsaDura! You don't need to look into other makers of drones. Even Mavic Air 1 did this job properly.

There is something with the MA2 that just does not do what we need in parallel tracking. I wrote it from the begining, and as I stated before, the best feature that the drone would have, is useless.

  I found this video on Youtube. The guy has been trying for couple of minutes to fly Air 2 in front of him, but he cant!!! This Video shows exactly what has to be addressed by DJI to make this drone useful for buyers. I need a drone that can fly in front of me and not only at the back!   
                                                                                                                                             

Great movie for my topic! Exactly my problem described from the 7th minute forward! Why does DJI won't correct this?? Why do so many people on this thread told me that i have a bad MA2 or that i don't know what i was talking? Parallel mode is crap on Mavic Air 2 and needs to be fixed!

twilight Posted at 10-6 22:15
Great movie for my topic! Exactly my problem described from the 7th minute forward! Why does DJI won't correct this?? Why do so many people on this thread told me that i have a bad MA2 or that i don't know what i was talking? Parallel mode is crap on Mavic Air 2 and needs to be fixed!

Exactly. This video is a proof of how bad Active Track really is. For me it is completely useless now and I'm really disappointed since I spent almost 1000 usd for the product that doesn't really work the way it should.  The whole joy of having this drone was to taking videos while being in motion ,running ,walking, bicycling etc. It doesn't work so now, I guess I have to sell it with loss and wait for Skydio to arrive at the end of the year. ...

This is a huge issue. I was about to buy the drone, then I found some vids and read your post and now I am not buying it. I am wondering if DJI is going to do smth. about this!? I mean, it is a nightmare when you set up the drone for front filming and it flyes around you and films you from behind.

I agree with your opinion, and I will not buy any more dji products, unless the same tracking mode on mavic air, mavic 2 is returned. i hate active track mode on mavic air 2, it  so bad

SalsaDura Posted at 2020-10-7 13:39
Exactly. This video is a proof of how bad Active Track really is. For me it is completely useless now and I'm really disappointed since I spent almost 1000 usd for the product that doesn't really work the way it should.  The whole joy of having this drone was to taking videos while being in motion ,running ,walking, bicycling etc. It doesn't work so now, I guess I have to sell it with loss and wait for Skydio to arrive at the end of the year. ...

yes, so bad on active track parallel mode, and i put my drone sleep over year, im not thinking buy dji product again

maybe MA2s can better handle this tracking issue?

kiminx Posted at 4-18 07:26
maybe MA2s can better handle this tracking issue?

same problem on parallel mode

Any news? Some improvements over the time?

I got out my MA2 after a while... doing it's updates and hoping for a better parallel tracking. But it's the same alghoritm that makes the drone taking shots from behind all the time

I tried the parallel tracking mode today, but it works hard. He notices very slowly that the object is moving and lags behind. Then it works that the drone starts ahead of the object. I would rather buy a Zoom, tracking would be the most important thing for me.