You know what’s really hard? Flying steadily in one direction while smoothly sweeping the camera around to focus on a subject and maybe climbing/descending and maybe tilting the camera? Yeah, just kidding: it’s nearly impossible.
But maybe now*, through the use of Course Lock mode & with this guidance from Drone Film Guide, I can pull it off.
In a nutshell:
- Pick a heading & speed
- Start flying back & forth along this fixed path while varying rotation/height/tilt
- Dial down the sensitivity of your yaw control
In a second installment, Stewart goes into more detail comparing Course Lock to Tap Fly:
*”Now” is relative: Yesterday my luck finally ran out as I flew the Mavic into some telephone wires. At least it’s not at the bottom of Bixby Canyon or Three-Mile Slough, where other power lines threatened to put it on previous (mis)adventures. (“God helps old folks & fools…”) The drone took a hard bounce off the pavement, necessitating a service trip to reset the gimbal (which moves but now doesn’t respond to control inputs), but overall it’s amazingly sturdy. 💪😑