Anafi Follow Me - Dynamic Track

justDee · Jun 22, 2019

We were out at the ranch today and my daughter, who's not into this whole filming and drone stuff, indulged me long enough to get this footage. I was experimenting with the Follow Me modes and about the first 2/3rds of this video was shot in Dynamic Track mode. I was impressed at how the Anafi kept up, at times I was pushing 15 MPH on the straight aways. It did lose me a few times if a tree came between us, but a lot of the times it did not, continuing to track as I appeared on the other side. Then when we were unloading at the truck, I just put it in hover mode and had it filming wide angle towards us, it was not locked on to anything.
Again, impressed with my Anafi, no regrets on the purchase. This type of filming is why I wanted a drone.

Rocky the FS · Jun 22, 2019

I'm surprised it didn't lose you in the trees! Or maybe you edited a bit there. My experience is that once lost it won't re-acquire the subject.

dashSolo · Jun 23, 2019

Great effort, really liked the music. Who is the music? Great representation showing the versatility of the Anafi. Well done!

justDee · Jun 23, 2019

Rocky the FS said:
I'm surprised it didn't lose you in the trees! Or maybe you edited a bit there. My experience is that once lost it won't re-acquire the subject.

It lost me several times, but not all the time. That long sequence with the curves, no editing on that, it kept up with us and kept the track. I think it may have depended on our speed as well? Let me tell you, it's nerve wracking to film that while riding an ATV, which really requires both hands to be on the handle bars. I'm right handed and the throttle is on the right side of the handle bars. About the only function I could do with my left hand was try to adjust altitude on the fly. I tried to zoom in and out a couple of times, that was awkward. . But that seemed to be locked? I need reading glasses to see the smaller fonts on my iPhone XS, plus the glare from the screen, and not being able to watch the drone as it flies, very nerve wracking. I kept wanting to search for it. Has it crashed? Where'd it go? What's it doing? etc. I figured on this type of filming, altitude was my friend, as well as the zoom, but again, on a ATV, tough to utilize the zoom too much.

Rocky the FS · Jun 23, 2019

Heh. I know EXACTLY what you feel like!!! Try doing it on a motorcycle!

The only time (so far) I crashed the Anafi was in a follow me down a gully. (Hint: NEVER do a follow me down any restricted space on a road!) In this case, losing me was not the problem, following me too closely was! I'm still not sure why it got so low, but in hilly country I will be a LOT more careful. It has occurred to me that if I had the Anafi in front of me this may not have happened. I was able to see it occasionally in the mirrors, and I should have stopped the program when I saw it a foot over the grass.

justDee · Jun 23, 2019

dashSolo said:
Great effort, really liked the music. Who is the music? Great representation showing the versatility of the Anafi. Well done!

Thanks. The music is called Stuck In The Air by The Tower Of Light. It's a royalty free song provided by YouTube. I have software that includes some royalty free tracks, but YouTube also provides a large selection.

justDee · Jun 23, 2019

Rocky the FS said:
Heh. I know EXACTLY what you feel like!!! Try doing it on a motorcycle! The only time (so far) I crashed the Anafi was in a follow me down a gully. (Hint: NEVER do a follow me down any restricted space on a road!) In this case, losing me was not the problem, following me too closely was! I'm still not sure why it got so low, but in hilly country I will be a LOT more careful. It has occurred to me that if I had the Anafi in front of me this may not have happened. I was able to see it occasionally in the mirrors, and I should have stopped the program when I saw it a foot over the grass.

WOW, I was cringing when it started skimming the road. YIKES! I'm a believer now, when you are filming as you and I did, altitude is our friend. I do love the love low altitude footage of yours, great shots and angles. The follow me mode is great, but it has it's limitations. When I'm in Africa, my guide will be driving and I'll be able to film/fly the Anafi from inside the truck. I will probably rely on Camerman a lot of that footage. I'll let the Anafi keep the camera on the truck, I'll control the Anafi. But I think the follow me will still be something I'll use also.