Hey, I just wondered if DJI ever ask for input from normal drone pilots when it comes to the capability and functionality of new drones.

I notice that little things that normal drone pilots would use are rarely implemented at launch. Things like d-cine for master shots and quick shots or because the mini 3 can go up to 60 degrees, 360 photos can be true 360 rather than that artificial fill.

I just feel like the drone is a new bit of kit but the software is always being made to play catch-up.

No, they do not ask for input. You can suggest things, but you just get a canned reply and most likely nothing will come of it.

Geebax Posted at 7-2 14:50
No, they do not ask for input. You can suggest things, but you just get a canned reply and most likely nothing will come of it.

Thanks. I meant when they are developing a new drone. Surely they don’t all sit in a meeting room and say. “Right everyone, lovely new drone we just made. Now for the software. We will keep all the old features and not expand on them and bring in one of the features from one of our other drones.”
I would like to think they consider asking the Mods here for details on things like the most requested features etc.

Oh you mean very simpler things such as Auto record on take off, yeah, right, that has been asked for for many a year,  and its something that most certainly can be done as its been in the SDK package for many a year, so for more complex asks such as what you're referring to, HA, gods only knows.......

Bashy Posted at 7-2 15:18
Oh you mean very simpler things such as Auto record on take off, yeah, right, that has been asked for for many a year,  and its something that most certainly can be done as its been in the SDK package for many a year, so for more complex asks such as what you're referring to, HA, gods only knows.......

the dji fpv has auto-record on take off.  so does the skydio and the autel drones.

reply to the o.p. those type of "features" don't need a mod to ask a public forum for input.  the dji team can figure that out on their own if they want to do it or not.  pretty sure a lot of input goes into the sw and the hw, from many many different areas.  not everything will make it (in time...or ever) and sometimes it is necessary to just move on.  the dji has thousands of cool features and hundreds of them have been dream up by the dji team and the rest by everyone else.  while it would be lovely to hear from everybody and get input from dozens of channels, ultimately it's just a drone and only so much can/will be done (i.e. costs).

this is a public forum so ymmv on the official interaction with dji on some levels.

The Saint Posted at 7-2 15:45
the dji fpv has auto-record on take off.  so does the skydio and the autel drones.

reply to the o.p. those type of "features" don't need a mod to ask a public forum for input.  the dji team can figure that out on their own if they want to do it or not.  pretty sure a lot of input goes into the sw and the hw, from many many different areas.  not everything will make it (in time...or ever) and sometimes it is necessary to just move on.  the dji has thousands of cool features and hundreds of them have been dream up by the dji team and the rest by everyone else.  while it would be lovely to hear from everybody and get input from dozens of channels, ultimately it's just a drone and only so much can/will be done (i.e. costs).

So theyve added it to one drone but ignored all the rest over the years, crazy, last flight i did i forgot to hit record and id done a lovely manual orbit. Also been many a time when I've done great reveal shots from the ground up and only to realise i forgot record :/

Bashy Posted at 7-2 16:11
So theyve added it to one drone but ignored all the rest over the years, crazy, last flight i did i forgot to hit record and id done a lovely manual orbit. Also been many a time when I've done great reveal shots from the ground up and only to realise i forgot record :/

personally, i would add it.  have a switch defaulted to off that the pilot can turn on and leave it on so that every time they take off and land, recording starts and stops automatically.  the big size microsd cards today will allow this without a problem but i can see in the past where you had 4k files and smaller microsd cards....the pilot might find themselves with a full card without knowing.  i clear my microsd card after each and every set of flight but i bet the vast majority of pilots do not.  and today, people still believe in 32gb and 64gb cards so it still might not yet be the right time.  who knows why dji hasn't implemented.  there are times when you competitor does something and you do the opposite or refuse to do it...just because.

Bashy Posted at 7-2 16:11
So theyve added it to one drone but ignored all the rest over the years, crazy, last flight i did i forgot to hit record and id done a lovely manual orbit. Also been many a time when I've done great reveal shots from the ground up and only to realise i forgot record :/

Another reason for using Litchi (autorecord on takeoff, and auto switchoff on landing)

The Saint Posted at 7-2 17:29
personally, i would add it.  have a switch defaulted to off that the pilot can turn on and leave it on so that every time they take off and land, recording starts and stops automatically.  the big size microsd cards today will allow this without a problem but i can see in the past where you had 4k files and smaller microsd cards....the pilot might find themselves with a full card without knowing.  i clear my microsd card after each and every set of flight but i bet the vast majority of pilots do not.  and today, people still believe in 32gb and 64gb cards so it still might not yet be the right time.  who knows why dji hasn't implemented.  there are times when you competitor does something and you do the opposite or refuse to do it...just because.

Yep, certainly a choice at the very least, for me it would be on all the time, only cause most of what i record gets binned anyway lol

Blériot53 Posted at 7-2 22:36
Another reason for using Litchi (autorecord on takeoff, and auto switchoff on landing)

Yeah, but i dont know, I seem to prefer DJI's apps for some reason, I would switch to Litchi for modes such as waypoint etc but that's a rarity in itself lol

Bashy Posted at 7-2 22:59
Yeah, but i dont know, I seem to prefer DJI's apps for some reason, I would switch to Litchi for modes such as waypoint etc but that's a rarity in itself lol

I admit I haven't done a Litchi waypoints mission for a while, but Litchi does allow me to takre great 360panos with the Mini One - which the DJI App doesn't

This is one of the reasons I use a 3rd party App called Litchi.  I don't think it is customary in Chinese business culture for information to flow upwards to management, seems to only be from top down.  

They don't.
I assume they have test groups, but the usual answer here is : I will forward this to our engineering team.