The 3D Planner opens a 3D Preview showing a Virtual Drones field of view and the flight path. Move the drone around to explore a mission plan or use it to set framing when building new missions using the 3D Planner Add button.
3D Preview now supports Google 3D for enhanced pre-visualization and mission planning.
Open the 3D Planner / 3D Preview
Select the 3D button in the Mission Planner
On a desktop a Virtual Drone will show on the map, along with its field of view.
Select 3D Preview for a Mission Plan in the mobile app
The above 3D preview and some of the following screenshots show the older non-Google 3D view.
3D Planner - Flying the Virtual Drone
Move the Virtual Drone in a variety of ways, either directly on the map when on a desktop, or dragging, rotating, zooming, changing altitudes in the 3D Preview on desktop and mobile.
Changing Altitude
Select the drone data strip on the bottom of the 3D Preview.
This displays the current Virtual Drone altitude, heading and gimbal pitch.
Selecting this opens a menu where the drone altitude and other parameters can be set.
On Mobile
Move the Virtual Drone by:
- 1 finger press and drag to Move
- 2 finger rotation or zoom to rotate or fly in or away from focus point
- Same workflow for changing altitude
Note: Dragging, Moving, and Zooming all can change the altitude of the drone, and it can easily climb to heights not-legal in your country. Always check altitudes before flight.
Changing Virtual Drone Camera
Selecting the correct drone camera for the 3D Planner is important when mission planning using the 3D Planner Add Menu. The field of view changes between different drone cameras.
Select the data strip in 3D Preview to open Virtual Drone settings.
Select the Camera. The field of view will update.
Enable or Disable Google 3D View
Enable or disable the higher quality Google 3D view, by opening the virtual drone settings.
Mission Planning Using 3D Planner - Waypoints
In the 3D Planner, select the Add "+" button in the 3D Preview window to add Waypoints to a Waypoints Mission Component (if included in your Mission Plan) or add a Photo or Pano Mission Component.
The Virtual Drone altitude, heading, and gimbal pitch will be used to add either a Waypoint, Photo or Pano with those same parameters.
Let's plan a waypoint mission using the Virtual Drone to frame the different waypoints.
Step 1 - Open 3D Planner with Simple Waypoint Mission
Starting from a simple waypoint mission, open the 3D Planner.
Step 2 - Frame Using the 3D Preview and Add Waypoints
Navigate the drone to your desired altitude, and framing and select Add > Waypoint to add a new waypoint.
Continue adding waypoints.
Preview using Mission Preview