Going Fast... Yet Staying Smooth

[Barboots]

Hi all, I am a beginner who is too lazy to search. I have a Spark question regarding my attempts to record boat based water-sports, like slalom skiing, wakeboarding and other towables.

To get the speed I need out of the drone, I have put it in Sport. I'm not sure if there is an alternative to get the forward speed??? Putting that aside for commentary, my problem is then that in Sport the stick is super-hectic for all other motion... so much so that the footage is unpleasant to watch. I've tried dialling the "speed" back in the (Android) app and am still not happy with the results. I also think I've lost forward speed, though haven't actually made note of the reported velocity.

Any suggestions on how to achieve smooth turning and camera tilt, whilst getting max speed out of the little fella would be much appreciated.

I live near an airport, so playing around requires me to go for a decent drive. Go easy on me [emoji6]

Cheers, Steve

 

[nilanjan118]

Try switching off the obstacle avoidance sensors. It will give you about twice the speed of P-mode.
There is also a "Cinematic Mode" which gives you stable video at maximum speed but for that you need to download and install a moded app.

 

[SPark_South_Oz]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum.

Practice and more practice is about it.
In sports mode things are a lot more difficult to get smooth and flowing.

One thing you could try, if you normally fly with thumbs on top of sticks . . . pinch them and see if that helps.

Gimbal, not sure if slowing it down in settings works in sports mode too.
If so, that's at least one movement you can slow up a lot and concentrate on flying more so.

 

[Barboots]

Try switching off the obstacle avoidance sensors. It will give you about twice the speed of P-mode.
There is also a "Cinematic Mode" which gives you stable video at maximum speed but for that you need to download and install a moded app.

Thanks for the reply mate, I appreciate it. I did read about the speed boost from turning off OA in P-mode, however I'm sometimes struggling to keep up with the boat in Sport. We ski pretty fast. I'll give it a go with the kids knee-boarding though, as it's a fair bit slower.

Can you provide any direction towards the modded app... the name to search... or is it against the group rules? I'd certainly do some research before moving to it, particularly as I'm operating over water!
[emoji23]...

[emoji848]...

[emoji22].

Cheers, Steve

 

[Barboots]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum.

Practice and more practice is about it.
In sports mode things are a lot more difficult to get smooth and flowing.

One thing you could try, if you normally fly with thumbs on top of sticks . . . pinch them and see if that helps.

Gimbal, not sure if slowing it down in settings works in sports mode too.
If so, that's at least one movement you can slow up a lot and concentrate on flying more so.

Thanks for the welcome and tips [emoji4]

Yes, I quickly realised that thumbs on the stick wasn't the most precise approach, so I've been pinching... ahem... squeezing the hell out of the sticks. It's the biggest single improvement so far. I really wish I could further dampen the stick response, as even small input causes the little guy to twitch. There's very little graticule.

I'll have a play with gimbal, however until I get the turns smoothed out I'm not really using it yet. That would commence when I can make a reasonable 180, as that's would be great to view downwards for the time the boat and/or riders is passing underneath.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Barboots]

... but for that you need to download and install a moded app.

OK I've found the name of what I'm looking for, and an initial read leaves me thinking that I would give it a try...

... if I could find it. [emoji53]

I welcome PM's from anyone who may have a link for me. I appreciate public ones get hammered, and potentially lead to unwanted attention.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Barboots]

Here's a fairly awful attempt...

Knee-Boarding.mp4

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[twickers14]

Hope all this helps. After 3 years of flying my Spark I wasn’t aware that the pinch technique helps stick control. Will be trying it out when I get down to Devon soon and the place has very few people around so should be safe! Thanks for the help.

 

[Barboots]

Hope all this helps. After 3 years of flying my Spark I wasn’t aware that the pinch technique helps stick control. Will be trying it out when I get down to Devon soon and the place has very few people around so should be safe! Thanks for the help.

The biggest risk is dropping the controller with your mobile phone hanging off it.

The bread always falls with the jam side downwards [emoji23]

 

[twickers14]

I’m usually in white knuckle mode when flying so I’m more likely to crush the RC than drop it!

 

[Roland]

In sports mode, spark flies fpv . That means the gimbal is locked and goes only up and down.
as long there is no wind one can have a stable flight as is seen on the video. Max spark speed is about 50 km/h while skiers tends to go 60 km/h.
I tried it last year with both my spark and mavic pro . The pro goes 60 km/h and is more stable . for following a boat while turning or braking you have to be verry skilled.
I don’t know if the modded app which is no more available for download unlocks fpv in sports mode

 

[Barboots]

In sports mode, spark flies fpv . That means the gimbal is locked and goes only up and down.
as long there is no wind one can have a stable flight as is seen on the video. Max spark speed is about 50 km/h while skiers tends to go 60 km/h.
I tried it last year with both my spark and mavic pro . The pro goes 60 km/h and is more stable . for following a boat while turning or braking you have to be verry skilled.
I don’t know if the modded app which is no more available for download unlocks fpv in sports mode

We're skiing at 50km/h or so for the majority of runs. Some hit 60 when we're having a red-hot go at it. I certainly appreciate the skill required to do a "forward intercept, turn and pursue"... I currently can't even manage it at knee boarding-speed [emoji23]

Thanks for the clue regarding the gimbal lock. I'm currently researching Mod 2.0, Super Patcher, etc.

Cheers, Steve

 

[nilanjan118]

We're skiing at 50km/h or so for the majority of runs. Some hit 60 when we're having a red-hot go at it. I certainly appreciate the skill required to do a "forward intercept, turn and pursue"... I currently can't even manage it at knee boarding-speed [emoji23]

Thanks for the clue regarding the gimbal lock. I'm currently researching Mod 2.0, Super Patcher, etc.

Cheers, Steve

With the Cinematic mode, you easily fly at ~50km/h and still do smooth turns. This video I shot using cinematic mode will give you an idea of how fast you can go and how smooth the video still looks.
NOTE: The telemetry overlay (speedometer, altimeter, distance from home etc.) is added in the video using another software called Dashware.

 

[Barboots]

With the Cinematic mode, you easily fly at ~50km/h and still do smooth turns. This video I shot using cinematic mode will give you an idea of how fast you can go and how smooth the video still looks.
NOTE: The telemetry overlay (speedometer, altimeter, distance from home etc.) is added in the video using another software called Dashware.

Yes it was this video which got me totally motivated to do this. That smooth turn at 50 clicks... oh yeah.

I've had a good read about Mod 2.0 and am now getting into the Super Patcher info stream. Whilst still having lots to research, I'm leaning towards Super Patcher at the moment.

The building (cloning?) of an APK is something I don't really want to learn, and I'm a bit cautious about sideloading APKs sourced from the internet. With sourced APKs there also appears to be the issue of more mods than I really need. I don't intend to select every mod just because I can, and in fact I would prefer to keep the changes minimal.

From what I've read so far, Super Patcher also seems to have a more dependable RTH and less potential for fly-away. You don't get any crash damage over water... you have a total loss.

Comments on Mod 2.0 vs Super Patcher particularly welcome. I appreciate all the input I'm receiving here. [emoji106]

Cheers, Steve