Daniella3d Posted at 6-24 18:13
From the video, the drone seem to be turning on the other side as to keep the same orientation from the person. The person turn around, so does the drone. In a way it keeps the same angle, but seem to want to keep tracking the same side of the person, rather than keep following him from the same angle. It seem to be able to recognize which orientation the person is and keep at it, that's why it,s turning around, to follow the same ''view'' of the person.  they should have said that it keep the same orientation rather than the same angle. Very weird! I am deciding between Mavic air 2 and Mavic zoom, not sure I will get the air 2. very weird.

Daniella!

Don't get me wrong: the drone itself is badass. Flies well, good range for battery and occusync, good camera quality, etc.

Some are saying that in Active Track "trace" is way more better than Mavic 2. MA2s seem to find their way through the trees of the forest, witch it seems mavic 2 pro would not do (as it does not has Active Track 3.0).

But I don't like my drone in my back. What photographer would take shots with your back and only your back? I would like her to follow me flying backwards with camera facing me, or from a little angle but in front of me, to see at least a little profile of my face. And Mavic Air 1 (witch I replaced with mavic air 2) did that in an almost great manner. This one does not!

As of what you stated of keeping the same side of the person, i should disagree with your assumption. Why? Because it's not always doing it! Some times it does not switch lanes. And if you pay very close attention to my movies, you'll see that the MA2 will Yaw (spin) more than effectively follow! It will eventyally follow you but from a different angle and this is my problem! Little movements of the subject makes MA2 to Yaw instead of actually follow! That's changing angle!

As of Mavic 2 zoom, it has lateral sensors, witch are great if you are using Active Track in parallel mode. If you are not using Active Track that much, MA2 is a great drone at a good price.

My opinion is that if you don't use so much the Active Track function, MA2 would do it. Maybe in the future, DJI will correct the MA2 software and will also do a good job at parallel tracking

him7403 Posted at 6-24 19:49
I completely disagree with your argument - "Air 2 is below Air 1 at tracking subjects"
Air 2 is far more superior at tracking subjects than Air 1 IMO.
But the behavior is changed now, the drone tends to stay behind to track you properly. Even in the parallel mode, it follows the subject a little bit behind.

Yes, Air 2 is superior when tracing. I agree with you.

But as i explained, i don't like it tracing me. If you like that, you are a happy person, the drone does the job.

Parallel means exactly what they are saying in the manual "tracks the subject at a constant angle and distance from the side". The drone doesnt do any of the two! So it doesnt work. That's my opinion. And Mavic Air 1 did it properly, that's why i stated that air 2 is below. Maybe I exagerated with the statement, and not being put into context is a little harsh. But it's the true for Active Track in PARALLEL mode.

Thanx for joining the conversation!

GaryDoug Posted at 6-24 20:24
I was going to post this yesterday but "forgot". I have also tried the parallel tracking on myself walking about. It does try to switch sides when I reversed direction. I wonder if that is an attempt to keep the same view. I have no prior MA drone with which to compare but it seems like it is actually a smarter method, if not always successful.

See 2 posts above.

Gary thanx for joining the conversation.

I am happy to see that other's MA2 are doing the same movement as mine does. That proves that my drone is not "defective". It just needs a new firmware

I thought at this myself, about changing sides for the attempt to keep the same view. But I don't think it's the case here. Why? Because it's not always doing it. Some times it does not switch lanes. Some times it manages to stay on the same side of the road. That depends, as I see it, with the angle that you are starting from the subject.

Anyhow, the manual says "tracks the subject at a constant angle and distance from the side". It doesnt And let's not forget that it should do exactly that. Simple. With no Yaw!

Why is it Yaw-ing?

twilight Posted at 6-24 13:44
https://youtu.be/1DKxF1bssu4

This is the behavior! It’s a crap.

Hi, I don't mind if you use it (original video creator here) but you can just link the vid with timecode which might be easier than downloading, editing and re-uploading

Also in this sample you've chosen I was using Trace mode, not Parallel.

That said, I have noticed it much prefers to stay behind the subject in Trace mode, and with Parallel is not exactly parallel as you've noticed, sort of half way between parallel and behind. I would definitely like to see some optimisations for Trace mode, when starting in front of the subject it would try and stay in position more aggressively. My feeling is that it defaults to the rear as the sensors on the front are better at avoiding obstacles, and have a wider area of influence.

I have had some success with using the POI and orbit to kinda "trick" it into staying in front, but it's not ideal to be fair. Look forward to what else you discover in your testing!

twilight Posted at 6-24 13:54
He almost got hit by the drone!!! He should be very happy indeed, maybe dji is sponsoring him and that’s why

lol no sponsors or conspiracy theories here, I am happy with the overall performance of the tracks I've got from the drone, especially Trace. Would I like to see improvements? Sure I would. (pretty sure I've commented as much as well). Thanks for watching!

Joe Foreman Posted at 6-24 22:47
Hi, I don't mind if you use it (original video creator here) but you can just link the vid with timecode which might be easier than downloading, editing and re-uploading

Also in this sample you've chosen I was using Trace mode, not Parallel.

Joe welcome to the thread!

I see now that you wrote in the movie that it's trace, not parallel. Phew! That was my bad!

In the manual: "Trace: The aircraft tracks the subject at a constant distance." I don't know what "tracks" would like to mean. But your MA2 tracked your head, she wanted it chopped down That's a joke. And not a very good behaviour.

AJ stated here, a few posts above, that if I want my MA2 to stay in front it should be in "trace". I wantedto  try that out but your video (being in trace after all) demonstrates that he was not right. The drone want your back.

My Mavic Air 1, if i wanted it to follow me from front, it would be in "profile" mode. And it would do the job quite well.



Feel free to watch the video and see how the MA1 does not change the angle at all. My opinion is that in parallel the drone should not YAW more than 10-15 degrees.

Or feel free to do this kind of tracking with MAVIC Air 2:



Well, you wont be able do this shot with Mavic Air 2, but Mavic Air 1 could do it 2 years ago!

Here is another person that states in the end he is very happy with the tracking capabilities of MA2. I don't think that his mavic Air 2 did a great job in Parallel tracking. DJI should see this and correct it in firmware update.
LE: i tried to copy the video from youtube "at current time" but it seems it plays from the begining anyway. The part we are watching is from 6:20 on.

2:40 in the movie, it starts testing Active Track - parallel mode. The first move that the drone does after starting moving around is to switch sides. Why?

The mavic air 2 tracking system seems pretty chaotic. It seems like you cannot predict anything of what she's doing.

The main problem here is that if you have surroundings like this one:



... and the drone switch sides, it will crash That's why, combined with my experience with MA1, i say parallel tracking does not do what it should on Mavic Air 2. DJI, step in please!

Let me revive this thread with a post.

So the majority of you think that Active Track is ok.

But please, for those who have the Mavic Air 2, make some test on the "Parallel" setting and see if it keeps constant "distance and angle" from the subject! Try making U turns and 90 degree turns, see how the MA2 is getting all over the place!

Thanx again!

twilight Posted at 6-26 00:06
Let me revive this thread with a post.

So the majority of you think that Active Track is ok.

here is an attempt for parallel tracking. Shot a month ago with previous firmware. as you can see MA2 is always behind .

twilight Posted at 6-26 00:06
Let me revive this thread with a post.

So the majority of you think that Active Track is ok.

and here is parallel tracking of Mavic Air 1. drone keeps angle and I control just height

vitaly258 Posted at 6-26 02:34
and here is parallel tracking of Mavic Air 1. drone keeps angle and I control just height

https://youtu.be/FWAIM4GUvZs

Edit: i see now that the parallel is taken with mavic air 1 Yes yes it’s perfect

My biggest sorry about MA2 is that it cant trace from front. And my concern is that the drone is not being consistent. It’s all over the place once in a while!

How DJI managed to destroy that almost perfect profile mode of Air 1?

They did the trace mode good, but have damaged the profile mode.

Vitaly, what is even more mesmerizing is that almost all think that ma2 is tracing perfectly I dont want to hurt anyone’s feelings but i do not understand how people try to take dji’s side only for the sake of it.

And how no one here tries to see if parallel is working or no.

It’s weekend now, i beg all of you who have Air 2 to try to test parallel mode and post videos here with the subject making U turns and 90 degree turns. Let’s see if your drones do what the manual says “keep angle and distance constant”. It’s the only thing i am asking!

Fly your drone safe and let’s see your videos!

Isn't the drone switching to the other side the desired behaviour, if you've told it to hang off your right hand side, and you turn 180, then the drone has to cross the road to still be on your right hand side when going back the other way.

AndyDane Posted at 6-26 07:34
Isn't the drone switching to the other side the desired behaviour, if you've told it to hang off your right hand side, and you turn 180, then the drone has to cross the road to still be on your right hand side when going back the other way.

No it shouldnt.

“Keep angle” as the manual says it is that simple. It should keep the angle!

And more of this is that the drone does not switch side all the time. It sometimes does that. Sometimes doesnt do it

For me I have to say its the very same. Active track feature is not great in comparison to older DJI drones I have tried. Mavic air 2 does it poor in comparison to an Air 1.  Maybe cause Air 1 had dual IMU and they were working better in getting their bearings around, I don't know. But I also found that Air 2 is very twitchy, it keeps changing directions and can fly a bit lost. I dont have much confidence in active tracking unless im in the obstacle free zone

B737ng Posted at 6-26 15:18
For me I have to say its the very same. Active track feature is not great in comparison to older DJI drones I have tried. Mavic air 2 does it poor in comparison to an Air 1.  Maybe cause Air 1 had dual IMU and they were working better in getting their bearings around, I don't know. But I also found that Air 2 is very twitchy, it keeps changing directions and can fly a bit lost. I dont have much confidence in active tracking unless im in the obstacle free zone

B737, exactly this is what I am trying to point out. 10x for joining the conversation.

It’s clear now that for owners of the (old) mavic air, the mavic air 2 does not perform as it should.

My MA2 like to stay behind all the time, think its a soft issue

twilight Posted at 6-24 13:52
“Parallel: the aircraft tracks the subject at constant angle and distance from the side”

Is there in my movies a constant angle??? No. Is there constant distance? No!

Looks to me.....the AC expected to follow/track from the right side.

Therefore when you turned around and went the other way, it tried to adjust to be travelling to the right from YOUR rightside.  Somewhat logical.

However when you put trees, powerlines in the path of your drone you are being unsafe.  These consumer drones are not and NEVER perfect.  Patience and proper planning are your friend.

Randy
Aerial Traffic

I just found out something interesting to me yesterday while playing with tracking boats in my river. Sometimes when I selected a boat, it was noted with a small icon of a sailboat in the corner of the selection window. I had never noticed that before. I wonder if there are other icons depending on the perceived object being tracked (person, vehicle, or boat). I was successful in tracking boats from pretty much any angle including 90 degrees to the side. Many of them were going at least 30 mph and the MA2 had no problem keeping up while flying sideways. I will say that it was tricky getting the tracking to start from the side at that speed.

rwynant V1 Posted at 6-27 18:35
Looks to me.....the AC expected to follow/track from the right side.

Therefore when you turned around and went the other way, it tried to adjust to be travelling to the right from YOUR rightside.  Somewhat logical.

Hello. This ideea had been already discussed. But as is not always changing sides, it’s seems it’s not the case. Or, if does, it should be in the manual, and it’s doing a poor job at it!

GaryDoug Posted at 6-27 18:58
I just found out something interesting to me yesterday while playing with tracking boats in my river. Sometimes when I selected a boat, it was noted with a small icon of a sailboat in the corner of the selection window. I had never noticed that before. I wonder if there are other icons depending on the perceived object being tracked (person, vehicle, or boat). I was successful in tracking boats from pretty much any angle including 90 dergrees to the side. Many of them were going at least 30 mph and the MA2 had no problem keeping up while flying sideways. I will say that it was tricky getting the tracking to start from the side at that speed.

Yes Gary, i have seen a “car” icon and indeed it’s recognizing the meaning of the subject sometimes.

Have tried parallel tracking yesterday, and i am missing my old mavic air 1 when doing this

Well, when I tried to track me parallel, firstly it followed me from my left back side.
But I 'controlled the drone with controller' to move to parallel of me, using right stick. (In this case, I moved it to left to see me by side.)
Then it keeps the angle.
However I didn't turn to apposite direction, didn't test it.
I just shoot a shot of me walking along the deck by the pond or me and my wife walking along the road.

This is my latest video, check from 1:09 to 1:13.
After that (1:13 ~ 1:19), I maneuvered with the stick to make drone move around us, not followed me parallel.

Nice video!

Is it always tracking as this? I am speaking about longer tracking times when subject is moving.

In a five seconds video you might have the chance her to follow you correctly. The problem is ussualy when the drone tracks a changing direction subject and it seems more non consistent at higher speeds.

Thanx for input anyway!

Yes, well I don't remember how long exactly did it follow with same angle, of course it's more than 5 seconds.
On that video, I cut it to fit to bgm, but as I remember it's around 20 seconds long.
But as I said I haven't turn to opposite, I will test it when I get a chance. (And at higher speeds as well.)

Thanx for the update

I also managed a parallel (sort of) a little from behind with my elextric scooter and me as the subject for almost one minute. So in some cases it might work, when the subject is not changing direction at all. But the feeling of fear that I had because of some trees in the opposite side of the road made me not being able to enjoy the ride, always eye looking for the drone, trying to hear where it’s the position.

I know rules from DJI says that you should not have any obstacles in the way, but not all of us have rivers or lakes and boats to enjoy the free air space. And where I live there are electric wires with poles everywhere on the road. Taking the mavic air 2 at a higher altitude would give two problems: one is the bad looking shot and two is “subject too far” and drone not being able to recognize the subject. It should keep angle constant

I repeat: it’s all about consistency, witch mavic air 2 does not has   Mavic Air 1 was better, in comparision

GaryDoug Posted at 6-27 18:58
I just found out something interesting to me yesterday while playing with tracking boats in my river. Sometimes when I selected a boat, it was noted with a small icon of a sailboat in the corner of the selection window. I had never noticed that before. I wonder if there are other icons depending on the perceived object being tracked (person, vehicle, or boat). I was successful in tracking boats from pretty much any angle including 90 degrees to the side. Many of them were going at least 30 mph and the MA2 had no problem keeping up while flying sideways. I will say that it was tricky getting the tracking to start from the side at that speed.

waiting for your video

twilight Posted at 6-24 11:11
am i right??? Do you have some videos? MA2 just turns, and changes angle, it always likes it from behind... mavic air was better in this regard

Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused. With regards to this matter, I would recommend to please refresh the firmware using the DJI Assistant 2 and calibrate both the IMU and compass to isolate the issue. Please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

Hello DJI Paladin. I already did refresh the firmware, and calibrate all the sensors in DJI Assistant 2 for Mavic and IMU and compass in DJI FLY app. The drone has the same behaviour. Thanx for the input!

Hello everybody. I god a new update from a friend of mine who's also having Mavic Air 2 with the same setup as I do, with an iPhone11pro. Running the latest firmwares, as he says.



Here's the video he managed to make in parallel tracking.

Hello there! Others with Mavic Air 2 could test this please?

i have no drone experience, MA2 is my first one. but i too, having problem with active track. i use mine for mountain biking and the drone kept losing me. sometimes it won't even activate. not sure if it's a drone issue or i'm flying the drone too high?  my drone ran straight and smack the tree. it was in normal mode, tracking me from behind. all the obstacle avoidance and APAS was on. i had to stop a lot cause the drone kept losing me     not sure if this is the best i can expect from tracking mode or not.  it kept switching from tracking mode to spotlight.

righton Posted at 7-26 07:08
i have no drone experience, MA2 is my first one. but i too, having problem with active track. i use mine for mountain biking and the drone kept losing me. sometimes it won't even activate. not sure if it's a drone issue or i'm flying the drone too high?  my drone ran straight and smack the tree. it was in normal mode, tracking me from behind. all the obstacle avoidance and APAS was on. i had to stop a lot cause the drone kept losing me     not sure if this is the best i can expect from tracking mode or not.  it kept switching from tracking mode to spotlight.

Flying too high will indeed cause the tracking to be impossible to activate.

Do you have a footage of the drone hitting the tree? I see a possibility of hitting a tree with MA2 flying forward when the tree branches are too thin and rare.

Switching from tracking to spotlight is another problem, indeed. I think the distance and height from the subject matters alot here.

Dirty Bird Posted at 7-26 13:27
First, there are no side sensors or obtacle avoidance on the Mavic Air 2, so parallel tracking modes are always going to be risky & up to the pilot to decide whether the environment is safe.  

Second, I think the drone switched sides because it was maintaining the same profile view when you turned around.  You had it tracking you from the right side.  When you turned around your right was now on the opposite side of the road.

Dirty Bird, thanx for joining the conversation.

Because the drone does not change sides consistently, i believe this is not the case for MA2. The rule should be written in the manual, if it's the case. In the manual they only say this:

"2. Parallel: The aircraft tracks the subject at a constant angle and distance from the side. In Normal and Tripod mode, the maximum flight speed is 12 m/s. In Sport mode, the maximum flight speed is 19 m/s. The aircraft cannot sense obstacles in Parallel."

So my opinion is that it shouldn't change sides. It shouldn't go in the back of the subject.
But it should keep constant angle and distance from the side. Constant angle = same side

Dirty Bird Posted at 7-26 23:07
With no side sensors, Parallel mode should only be used over open terrain, or at an altitude that will clear any obstacles in the vicinity.

I feel you may be expecting too much for the drone to maintain a constant distance & angle as you move about.  Even the Skydio 2, a drone designed specifically for automatic subject tracking, flutters all over the sky while following a target.

I previously owned a DJI Mavic Air 1.

I am comparing Mavic Air 2 with the previous version of it, witch made fantastic parallel shots and kept the angle and distance constant.

There are many videos in this thread that, if you have the time, i would like you to watch them. Thanx

Dirty Bird, you're somehow right, the tech for flying solo is not there yet. But I would never opened up this topic if i had never had Mavic Air 1. Why would DJI go downwards?

- i think if you check my videos on this topic you will find the Mavic Air 1 do a fantastic job at "parallel tracking". In DJI Go 4 app it was called "profile" and was working properly from lateral or from front. And more: it was consistent, flight after flight!
- i am speaking in this topic about the fact that mavic air 2 rotates (making a yaw turn) while Parallel Tracking. It should zero yaw!

I don't have yet any official response. I have some ideas (as yours) of people that understand that tracking is not perfect and try to find answers for the MA2 behaviour. And there are other people that may not have had the Mavic Air 1 or did not do specifically this type of follow (the parallel mode) and are happy with the way MA2 does it.

Personally i still hope that DJI will take the time and correct the software, in the drone or in the app ... It was perfect in MA1, it should be at least that good in MA2!

twilight Posted at 7-27 01:50
Dirty Bird, you're somehow right, the tech for flying solo is not there yet. But I would never opened up this topic if i had never had Mavic Air 1. Why would DJI go downwards?

- i think if you check my videos on this topic you will find the Mavic Air 1 do a fantastic job at "parallel tracking". In DJI Go 4 app it was called "profile" and was working properly from lateral or from front. And more: it was consistent, flight after flight!

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 .