Litchi app...u

[Rogerdodger]

So,..are there some Phantom 3 pilots who can comment or "sell" me on using Litchi app?? Whats your experience, and why would I want to spend $19.99?
Thanks

 

[Zigs]

I use both Litchi and Autopilot. Get either or both (if you're on ios) and expand your experience and have fun flying and shooting. In the overall scheme the money will be a non factor by the end of flying season and you'll be more excited than ever for the next one.

-- zigs

 

[Rogerdodger]

I use both Litchi and Autopilot. Get either or both (if you're on ios) and expand your experience and have fun flying and shooting. In the overall scheme the money will be a non factor by the end of flying season and you'll be more excited than ever for the next one.

-- zigs

Zigs,..thanks. I am on Android. Which one can I use? Can I sideload Lichi if neccesary?

 

[tcope]

I'm not really sure why _you_ would want to spend $20 on Litchi... I know nothing about you or what you want to do with your Phantom.

Litchi adds a _LOT_ of features to the Phantom. You can easily look them over on their website and determine if they might be worth $20.

 

[Zigs]

Zigs,..thanks. I am on Android. Which one can I use? Can I sideload Lichi if neccesary?

If you're on Android Litchi is the way to go. You won't need to side load anything. Have fun.

-- zigs

 

[Tim Pearson]

So,..are there some Phantom 3 pilots who can comment or "sell" me on using Litchi app?? Whats your experience, and why would I want to spend $19.99?
Thanks

Is a flight automation app worth the investment?
I have both Litchi and AutoPilot like many folks here. Here's my take: If you've got hundreds of hours of manual flying under your belt and the controller feels like an extension of your body, then you can probably outperform either Litchi or Autopilot... especially when reacting to events that happen while your filming is underway - or when performing complex maneuvers. For me (whose skill level is nowhere near this level), I find that both of these apps produce much, much more professional-looking video than I could do alone. Given that I spent well over a grand for my drone, another 20 bucks to make the video it produces look that much better is sure worth it to me.

As for which one to choose...
If AutoPilot had the ability to design missions on the web - like Litchi does - I'd give it the nod. However, many flights that can be designed in AutoPilot with less effort and clutter can also be done in Litchi if you throw in enough waypoints and learn to use the "Interpolate" feature in Litchi. For me, the fact that I have to design the mission on the tablet with AutoPilot slows me down enough that the total time I spend would often be less with Litchi - even though I may have to "do more stuff" in Litchi to get the same results. This is simply because designing the mission on the Litchi Hub is just so much faster for me. "Litchi Hub" is a free to use web application on the flylitchi.com web site ( www.flylitchi.com/hub ) where you can design missions using your mouse (pointing and clicking on a Google-based map). You get to do this on a large computer monitor using your full-sized computer keyboard and mouse. When you save a mission it shows up on your tablet/phone automagically, provided you created a free Litchi account and logged into it before designing your mission. Some settings have to be tweaked (camera related mostly) after loading the mission on the tablet, but that only takes a sec and you're ready to fly your mission. This process is, for me, sooooo much faster than making my large fingers touch the right spot on my iPad Air 2 consistently when designing a mission in AutoPilot. I got Litchi first and I think their Mission Hub web-based mission design application spoiled me.

Complexity and Ease of Use
Some have said the learning curve for Litchi is less steep, and I think that's true. However, if you're an "out and proud" computer geek like me who really enjoys learning this kind of stuff - you'll be able to use AutoPilot after an afternoon's manual reading and tutorial video watching. In less than 3 days after getting AutoPilot, I was designing some pretty complex missions and tweaking "advanced mode" settings in AutoPilot with no trouble - other than the fat-fingered-frustration of working on the comparatively tiny tablet rather than on the nice, large-screen, mouse and keyboard equipped computer.

Summing Up
If you want a less steep learning curve and don't expect to want to do highly complex missions, then Litchi is a good choice. If you want to come as close as possible to filming as if you were an expert pilot without being one - then I'd go for AutoPilot. For me, with either one of these apps, I found myself creating a lot more usable footage requiring a lot lest post-production editing than I ever got flying manually. I was also able to focus my attention a lot more on safety (for the aircraft and for the bystanders) when using either of these apps to automate my flights.