Tonight we finally had great weather and the stars aligned to get to try light painting. Definitely some refinements coming, but overall happy with the first run.
Hardware
Mavic 3 Pro
Lume Cube v2
Canon 5D Mk IV
24-70mm 1-2.8
Software
Google Earth Pro
Litchi Hub
Litchi Utilities
Litchi Mission Planning
Thanks @wesbarris for your great utilities and tutorial instructions. Now I need to refine my designs and practice!
I’d never have thought that Litchi’s features could be used in such an innovative and artistic way.
The concepts applied here will no doubt inspire other equally unexpected applications of Litchi’s versatile components, of which most of us only use a fraction to augment and optimize our drone flying.
Great job, AggieDan97! It is always inspiring to see how others utilize the tools to think creatively. And yes, wesbarris provides excellent resources for those tools. With tools, drones, and imagination, the possibilities are endless.
I spent many years painting the night skies, but I took a slightly different approach. Using my Phantom P3 Pro drone, LED Christmas lights, and Litchi WP as my creative tools, I choreographed a series of light paintings set to music. Here is a sample of some of that effort:
Well done @AggieDan97. Great 1st try. Your LumeCube probably came with colour filters so you can experiment with changing the colours of your paintings once you feel more comfortable with your paintings.
Chris
My Lume Cube did not come with gels or filters. I searched for those kits, but they no longer offer them. I’m going to attempt to find a 3D printed option to hold gels on, but no luck so far. The Lume Cubes are held on my Mavic 3 Pro with braces from Aerial-Pixel.
However, I ordered Firehouse Technology Arc “V” Strobe multi-color LEDs with remote and holders for my Matric 4E to give me some more options even though my original thought was to color-grade in post to alter the white light. I’m going to see if they also fit on the Mavic 3 Pro as well.
I’m hoping to achieve a wider band of lighting by flying slower and making some patterns that are a little smaller. My first attempt went from 20’ AGL to 295’ AGL. That required a pretty far setback placing the camera as the point-of-interest having the drone heading flying towards the POI.
I have lots to learn and many plans, but one thing I noticed - on some of these larger designs (with a couple hundred waypoints) Litchi Hub slows down and is very difficult to use. I have a lot of RAM and very good internet. The website is very sluggish and slow to respond with missions with larger waypoints.
@chrislaf @wesbarris I would really appreciate any thoughts you can share that will help with the site responsiveness.
What? That’s amazing! You just had LED’s hanging down? Wow! I’m trying to wrap my brain around all of that still. Very cool and vibrant. I have so many questions. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see more clips if you have them.
@Russ_Cleroux is also very experienced with Light Painting as well, even more so than I with his Mavic 3 Pro so he will also be a good person to help with any light painting questions too. I have used a variety of drones for light painting from my Phantom 3 Pro (which I still use), Mini 3 Pro, Mini 4 Pro, and my Mavic 3 Pro. My main light kit has been my Ulanzi cube lights that are Lume Cube clones but they came with around 20 coloured filters which allow me to change the colour of the light which has allowed some creative potential to create multi-coloured light paintings. My Mini 4 Pro struggles with the weight of the Ulanzi cube light so I use RovyVon Pen lights but cannot change the colour. I am going to experiment by using a piece of balloon and an elastic to change the colour when I can next get out.
Here’s the light mount I have for my Mavic 3 Pro. I also have a similar one for my Mini 4 Pro.
When you say ‘Litchi Hub slows down and is very difficult to use’ are you referring to DJI Fly on your controller? One thing to note is that if you are using the RC 2 controller your mission will be limited due to the processing power of the controller. I have found that missions with under 300 waypoints generally work fine but once you start running missions with more waypoints you are pushing the limits of the controller. If you are using the RC Pro controller you can fly missions with much more waypoints. I have run missions with over 900 waypoints but those missions start to push the limits of that controller as well. If you are using a tablet, then the mission size will be dependent on the amount of RAM in your tablet. The number of waypoints that DJI Fly can handle is dependent on the processing power of the controller or the device you are using.
Hope this helps.
Chris
I mean designing the mission on the website on my PC is slow, not the controller which has it’s own limitations.
Please share a link to a flight you find slow along with steps to reproduce what feels slow, then we may be able to make improvements. [GUIDE] How to Share a Flight or Folder
Dan, it is truly magical to create outside the box using Litchi and a few basic camera tricks. I became completely immersed in this process and devoted almost three years to it without doing much else. There are a few others out there who practice light painting, but they are rare. There’s no right or wrong way to create these mystical sky canvas pieces of art. I’ve taught myself so much that I couldn’t find it documented anywhere.
There is so much you can do to make it your own, but to truly succeed, you MUST have a passion for it. I remember rushing home after each night of experimentation, eager to insert the SD card into my computer and open each new image. It felt like unearthing a box of treasures I created by simply tweaking the settings or adjusting the exposure time.
Creating isn’t as simple as deciding, “Well, let’s see, I think I will make images of sandcastles against a fiery red sky.” At least not for me. I had a basic idea of how things might look if I hung a strand of LED lights instead of using a continuous-gradient light strand. Also, am I painting a night sky with a vibrant harvest moon glowing in the background, rich in orange and red hues, or is it a new moon in total darkness over a lake, resulting in an asymmetrical mirror reflection? These variables are what make night light painting so addictive for me.
A few years ago, I wrote a book on the subject. I will try to find a copy and will send it to you for free. I support anyone with an interest in this type of creativity.
You asked to see additional samples of my work. Here you go. Enjoy!
For those who have (or can have) access to a 3D printer: HERE you will find a bracket for the Mini 5 Pro:
@Gary_E_Hilton This is truly awesome! I would love to see your book. Thanks for sharing!
