I had the day off today. I mean really off. Robin (my better half) is away on business in Oakland, and my 12 year old son and I are "baching it". He went to hang out at a friends house, and so it was a rare occasion that I had the place to myself. What did I do? Fly of course 
It was really windy (about 15 mph) coming off the lake, but I decided to fly anyway. Where I live (North of Seattle) fall has fell and starting in about mid October you can count on a lot of rain until about the end of May, so I want to fly while I can.
I set up several crazy missions in Tower where I was running around panning the Solo, and tilting the gimbal as part of the mission, both by using "Point of Interest" (POI) and also manual tilt angle just to get the feel for how it works, the timing, etc. Amazing...I can really see how I can use this...
After I felt comfortable with that, I started thinking about Orbit, and the discussion on here the other day. At that time I proposed doing it in Tower as a way to make it very accurate, but mentioned that I hadn't used "Orbit" in the Solo app much. So.. I decided to test the theory. In the end, I confirmed my thoughts, and thought I would share the results. There is a fairly quick, and very accurate way to perform orbits in Tower. I think this is about as accurate as it gets, given commercial GPS technology, and after trying it several times, it works very well and is highly repeatable.
I should have just taken some screenshots, but didn't think of it at the time. I think I can explain how to do it however. At least to those that know Tower a bit. Most of this is set up in Tower, but ist also uses the Solo app (running simultaneously on the same tablet). It sounds more complicated than it really is, and after I did it a few times, I know I could set it up almost anywhere in a few minutes. Try it. You will see...
First either sit or fly the Solo at the spot you want to orbit. If it is low you can start at the ground or home point. if it is high or wide (such as a building) fly directly above it. Point the camera straight down, and fly up (pan out) to get the Solo at the absolute center. You can see the spot Solo thinks it is at (and that is what matters) on the map in Tower. In the editor, place a "circle" waypoint there right on top of the live (orange) Solo pin on the map. Zoom all the way in on the map in Tower if you want high accuracy.
Next fly the Solo out horizontally to the radius you want to orbit from. If you want to orbit higher or lower, take it up or down at this point also, and get it out horizontally and vertically on a 1 foot increment (i.e exactly 97 feet altitude and 47 feet out). Make note of the altitude. You will use it later.
In the Tower editor, edit the circle waypoint to change the radius of the "circle" (by tapping on the green square in the lower left that represents that waypoint) so that the live pin of the Solo on the map intersects with the radius of the circle. The circle will grow or shrink on the map as you edit it. Also set the altitude of the circle waypoint to the altitude you put your Solo at (97 feet in the example) The altitude and radius can be changed in 1 foot increments, so if you want to be very accurate, set the waypoint to the nearest foot, and then nudge the Solo forward or back, and up or down (with the sticks) so that it intersects exactly with the radius circle in Tower and is at the altitude set in the waypoint. Again, zoom in on the map if you want high accuracy. While you are editing the waypoint, you can also set how many times you want to orbit. I set it to a high number, as you can always just hit Fly to stop it after you get your shot.
With those two points set, go to the Solo app, and looking at the live camera view, rotate the Solo right or left so that the item being orbited is centered exactly horizontally in the camera, and tilt the gimbal up or down so that point is also centered exactly vertically.
You are now ready. Go back to Tower, upload the mission, and set it to auto. If you have done everything correctly, it should start orbiting from the spot it is hovering, keeping the camera exactly centered. You can go back to the Solo app to see the live video, start/stop recording, and verify your work.
I have attached a short clip of the results. I was up 97 feet, and out 47 and it was pretty windy. I was using a 4.55mm (rectilinear) lens, and so the FOV is much more narrow than the stock lens.
Hope it helps all the precise orbiters...
Cheers
It was really windy (about 15 mph) coming off the lake, but I decided to fly anyway. Where I live (North of Seattle) fall has fell and starting in about mid October you can count on a lot of rain until about the end of May, so I want to fly while I can.
I set up several crazy missions in Tower where I was running around panning the Solo, and tilting the gimbal as part of the mission, both by using "Point of Interest" (POI) and also manual tilt angle just to get the feel for how it works, the timing, etc. Amazing...I can really see how I can use this...
After I felt comfortable with that, I started thinking about Orbit, and the discussion on here the other day. At that time I proposed doing it in Tower as a way to make it very accurate, but mentioned that I hadn't used "Orbit" in the Solo app much. So.. I decided to test the theory. In the end, I confirmed my thoughts, and thought I would share the results. There is a fairly quick, and very accurate way to perform orbits in Tower. I think this is about as accurate as it gets, given commercial GPS technology, and after trying it several times, it works very well and is highly repeatable.
I should have just taken some screenshots, but didn't think of it at the time. I think I can explain how to do it however. At least to those that know Tower a bit. Most of this is set up in Tower, but ist also uses the Solo app (running simultaneously on the same tablet). It sounds more complicated than it really is, and after I did it a few times, I know I could set it up almost anywhere in a few minutes. Try it. You will see...
First either sit or fly the Solo at the spot you want to orbit. If it is low you can start at the ground or home point. if it is high or wide (such as a building) fly directly above it. Point the camera straight down, and fly up (pan out) to get the Solo at the absolute center. You can see the spot Solo thinks it is at (and that is what matters) on the map in Tower. In the editor, place a "circle" waypoint there right on top of the live (orange) Solo pin on the map. Zoom all the way in on the map in Tower if you want high accuracy.
Next fly the Solo out horizontally to the radius you want to orbit from. If you want to orbit higher or lower, take it up or down at this point also, and get it out horizontally and vertically on a 1 foot increment (i.e exactly 97 feet altitude and 47 feet out). Make note of the altitude. You will use it later.
In the Tower editor, edit the circle waypoint to change the radius of the "circle" (by tapping on the green square in the lower left that represents that waypoint) so that the live pin of the Solo on the map intersects with the radius of the circle. The circle will grow or shrink on the map as you edit it. Also set the altitude of the circle waypoint to the altitude you put your Solo at (97 feet in the example) The altitude and radius can be changed in 1 foot increments, so if you want to be very accurate, set the waypoint to the nearest foot, and then nudge the Solo forward or back, and up or down (with the sticks) so that it intersects exactly with the radius circle in Tower and is at the altitude set in the waypoint. Again, zoom in on the map if you want high accuracy. While you are editing the waypoint, you can also set how many times you want to orbit. I set it to a high number, as you can always just hit Fly to stop it after you get your shot.
With those two points set, go to the Solo app, and looking at the live camera view, rotate the Solo right or left so that the item being orbited is centered exactly horizontally in the camera, and tilt the gimbal up or down so that point is also centered exactly vertically.
You are now ready. Go back to Tower, upload the mission, and set it to auto. If you have done everything correctly, it should start orbiting from the spot it is hovering, keeping the camera exactly centered. You can go back to the Solo app to see the live video, start/stop recording, and verify your work.
I have attached a short clip of the results. I was up 97 feet, and out 47 and it was pretty windy. I was using a 4.55mm (rectilinear) lens, and so the FOV is much more narrow than the stock lens.
Hope it helps all the precise orbiters...
Cheers
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