MC Tech Solutions

Tag: dji spark

  • Litchi: the app that makes older DJI drones better

    I recently bought Litchi, and it’s one of the best upgrades you can give an older DJI drone. It’s a third-party flight app that replaces DJI GO 4 and adds proper waypoint missions plus a set of autonomous flight modes, and it works with both my DJI Spark and Mavic Pro.

    What it does

    • Waypoint missions: Litchi’s headline feature. Plot a route of waypoints, set the height, speed and camera angle at each one, add points of interest for the camera to track, and add actions like taking a photo or starting video. The drone then flies the route smoothly, as many times as you like.
    • Orbit: circles a subject at a set radius and speed, for the classic reveal shot.
    • Focus: Litchi handles the yaw and gimbal to keep a subject in frame, so you only steer the drone’s position.
    • Track and Follow: keep a moving subject in shot, using computer vision or your phone’s GPS.
    • Panorama: automatically shoots the set of photos needed for a panorama.
    • VR mode: a split-screen view for phone VR goggles.
    • Flight logs: readable logs that can be uploaded to Airdata UAV to review flights and battery health.

    Plan missions on a big screen

    The best part is the Litchi Hub mission planner, which runs in a web browser on your PC or Mac. Plan the whole route at your desk with a satellite map, preview it, and save it to your Litchi account. Then open the app in the field and the mission is already there. You can also browse missions other pilots have shared.

    Diagram: plan a waypoint mission in Litchi Hub on a PC or Mac, sync it through your Litchi account, open it in the Litchi app on your phone with the DJI controller, then fly and film while keeping the drone in sight.
    Plan at your desk, fly in the field.

    Before your first mission

    • Check how heights are measured. Waypoint heights are relative to where you take off unless you set them to follow the ground. Over hills or valleys, that can put the drone far closer to the terrain, or far higher, than you expect.
    • Set what happens if the signal drops. Set missions to return home if the controller signal is lost, rather than carrying on without you.
    • The rules still apply. An autonomous mission is still your flight: stay under 120 m, keep the drone in sight the whole time, and keep away from people and restricted areas. See my post on the IAA’s rules for drone operators.
    • Start small. Fly a short, simple mission over open ground first, with your thumbs ready on the sticks to take over.

    Compatibility and price

    Litchi for DJI Drones is on Android and iOS and supports most of DJI’s older range, including the Spark, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air and many Phantoms. It does not support DJI’s newest drones, such as the Mini 3, Mini 4 and Mavic 3 Enterprise, so check the compatibility list before buying. It’s a one-off purchase with no subscription: around $25 on the App Store at the time of writing, with prices varying by region.

    Verdict

    For anyone flying an older DJI drone, Litchi is one of the best value upgrades going. It gives the Spark and Mavic Pro repeatable cinematic shots, and planning on a computer makes missions far easier to get right.

  • DJI Super-Patcher: what it does, and why to be careful

    My DJI Spark and original Mavic Pro are getting on a bit, and DJI stopped updating their firmware years ago. That’s opened the door to community tools that modify it. The best known is DJI Super-Patcher. Here’s what it does, which features are genuinely useful, and why some of them are illegal to use here in Ireland and across the EU.

    What is DJI Super-Patcher?

    Super-Patcher is a Windows script that patches the flight controller module of older DJI drones. Under the hood it uses the community DJI_FC_Patcher project and the DUMLdore flashing tool. It wraps them in a menu-driven script, so you don’t have to edit firmware by hand.

    It only works on one specific stock firmware version per aircraft, and it leaves the rest of that firmware untouched. For my two drones, those versions are:

    • DJI Spark: V01.00.0900
    • Mavic Pro / Platinum / Alpine White: V01.04.0300

    It also supports several Phantom 4 models and the Inspire 2. Newer drones like the Mavic 2 and later aren’t supported.

    Diagram: the drone must be on the exact stock firmware; the Super-Patcher Windows script applies the chosen mods; the patched flight controller is flashed with DUMLdore; then the drone is tested in the simulator before any real flight. Re-flashing stock firmware undoes it.
    Super-Patcher only touches the flight controller module.

    What it can change

    The patch is modular. Some mods are always applied, and others are optional:

    • Galileo GPS: adds Europe’s satellite system for more satellites and potentially steadier positioning.
    • Slower yaw speed (optional): panning as slow as 1°/s, which gives noticeably smoother cinematic shots.
    • Waypoint distance: removes the 5 km waypoint mission limit.
    • Stealth mode (optional): turns off the rear LEDs, mainly useful to stop light reflecting into night shots.
    • Battery behaviour (optional): changes forced auto-landing, return-to-home calculations and low-battery warnings.
    • Altitude and no-fly zones: removes the height limit, the geo-zone (NFZ) restrictions and the airport limits.
    • FCC “boost” mode (optional, Mavic Pro and some others): switches the radio to the higher transmit power allowed in the US.

    The legal side (read this before you patch)

    The project itself is clear: removing a limit “does not mean it is safe or legal to do so in your area without proper authorization.” Here in Ireland, as everywhere in the EU, that matters a lot:

    • Height: in the EU Open category you must stay below 120 m above the ground, whatever the drone is capable of.
    • Geo-zones: airports, prisons and other restricted areas are legally restricted airspace. DJI’s NFZ database was just a helpful (and imperfect) reminder of them. Removing it doesn’t give you permission to fly there. Check the Irish Aviation Authority’s drone guidance and geo-zone maps before every flight.
    • FCC mode: transmitting at US power levels breaks European (CE) radio rules. Using it in Ireland or anywhere in the EU is illegal, so I’d leave this option off.
    • Registration and category: both the Spark (about 300 g) and the Mavic Pro have cameras and weigh over 250 g, so you need to register as an operator with the IAA and complete the online training. Neither drone has an EU class marking, so under the current rules they fly in the A3 subcategory: well away from people, and at least 150 m from residential, commercial and recreational areas.

    Rules change, so treat this as a summary, not legal advice, and check the IAA’s current guidance yourself.

    The technical risks

    • Bricking: flashing firmware always carries some risk. The project’s advice if anything goes wrong is to re-flash the stock firmware and redo the whole process.
    • Safety features: the battery mods can stop the drone landing itself when the battery is critically low. That’s how drones end up falling out of the sky.
    • Unmaintained: the last update to the project was in October 2024, and there are over 100 open issues. Don’t expect support if something goes wrong.
    • Warranty: long gone on drones this age, but modified firmware rules out any repair help from DJI.

    How the process works

    The project README has the full instructions, and you should follow those rather than a summary. In outline:

    1. Use a Windows PC (Windows 10 works best), and download the whole repository, keeping the folder structure intact.
    2. Make sure the drone is on the exact stock firmware listed above. The script can download and install it for you.
    3. Run the script, choose your optional mods (leave FCC off in the EU), and connect the drone when prompted. It takes around five minutes.
    4. Check the result in DJI GO 4, and try the drone in the app’s simulator before flying it for real.

    My take

    Super-Patcher is a clever piece of community work, and it gives older DJI drones some genuinely nice extras: Galileo, smoother yaw for video, and no more stray LED glow at night. But its headline features, removing height limits, no-fly zones and the CE radio limits, are exactly the ones you can’t legally use here. If you do patch your drone, leave FCC mode off, keep the battery safety features on, and fly by the same rules as an unpatched drone: under 120 m, out of restricted zones, and away from people.

  • Editing drone footage with DaVinci Resolve

    Great drone footage is half flying and half editing. Here’s the workflow I’d recommend for turning raw clips from the DJI Spark and Mavic Pro into something worth watching, using free software.

    1. Shoot for the edit

    The editing starts before you take off:

    • Pick a frame rate and stick to it. 25 fps matches Irish and European TV standards. Higher frame rates give you smooth slow motion.
    • Use ND filters in bright light. The “180° rule” says your shutter speed should be about double your frame rate (1/50 s at 25 fps) for natural motion blur. On a sunny day, the only way to get there is an ND filter.
    • Use D-Log on the Mavic Pro. It records a flat, low-contrast image that keeps more detail in skies and shadows. The Spark doesn’t have D-Log, so lower the sharpness and contrast a little in its normal profile instead.
    • Fly slowly and smoothly. Gentle stick movements and long, steady passes edit far better than quick jerky ones. Litchi waypoint missions are brilliant for perfectly repeatable moves.
    • Record a few seconds before and after each move, so you have room to cut.

    2. Organise your clips

    Copy everything off the card straight away into folders by date and location, for example 2026-10-30 Coast. Back it up before you delete anything from the card.

    3. Edit in DaVinci Resolve

    DaVinci Resolve is free and professional-grade. My workflow:

    1. Create a project with the timeline set to your frame rate and resolution.
    2. Generate optimised media (proxies) if your PC struggles with the Mavic’s 4K clips. Resolve edits the lightweight copies and uses the originals for the final export.
    3. Rough cut: drop clips on the timeline, trim each to its best few seconds, and arrange them to tell a story: establish the location, move closer, then finish on a reveal.
    4. Stabilise sparingly. Both drones have mechanical gimbals, so footage is usually steady already. If you do stabilise a clip, keep it light, because heavy stabilisation warps the image.

    4. Colour

    • Correct first: fix exposure and white balance so every clip looks natural and they match each other.
    • D-Log footage needs a conversion. Apply DJI’s D-Log to Rec.709 LUT (or a colour space transform in Resolve) to bring back normal contrast and colour, then adjust from there.
    • Then grade: add a consistent look across the whole video, but go easy on saturation. Irish greens get radioactive very quickly.

    5. Music and export

    • Use music you’re allowed to use: royalty-free libraries, or YouTube’s audio library if you’re uploading there.
    • Cut on the beat. It makes even simple footage feel deliberate.
    • Export at the same resolution and frame rate you shot in. For YouTube, Resolve’s built-in YouTube preset is a good start.

    Keep it short

    The most common mistake with drone videos is length. Two minutes of your best shots beats ten minutes of everything. Be ruthless in the rough cut.

  • DJI Spark vs Mavic Pro: two classic drones compared

    I own two classic DJI drones: the tiny Spark and the original Mavic Pro. They came out within a year of each other, but they’re built for quite different jobs. Here’s how they compare, and when each one makes sense.

    The specs side by side

    DJI SparkDJI Mavic Pro
    Released20172016
    Weightabout 300 gabout 734 g
    Camera12 MP, 1/2.3″ sensor12 MP, 1/2.3″ sensor
    Max video1080p at 30 fps4K at up to 30 fps
    Gimbal2-axis mechanical3-axis mechanical
    Flight time (rated)up to about 16 minutesup to about 27 minutes
    Top speed (Sport mode)about 50 km/habout 65 km/h
    Video linkWi-FiOcuSync
    Folds upNo (fixed arms)Yes
    Party trickGesture controlLong range and stability

    DJI Spark: grab and go

    The Spark is small enough to throw in any bag. It can take off from your hand and be flown with gestures, and it’s quick to get in the air for a few shots. The trade-offs are the shorter flight time, a Wi-Fi video link with much less range than the Mavic’s, a 2-axis gimbal that’s less smooth on yaw, and video capped at 1080p. It also struggles more in wind, which matters on the Irish coast.

    Mavic Pro: the proper camera drone

    The original Mavic Pro was the drone that made foldable camera drones normal. It shoots 4K on a 3-axis gimbal, flies for nearly twice as long, and its OcuSync link is far more robust. It also offers D-Log, a flat colour profile that gives more room when grading footage (see editing drone footage). When the footage matters, this is the one to take.

    What they have in common

    • Both are “legacy” drones under EU rules. They were made before class markings, and both weigh over 250 g, so they fly in the A3 subcategory: well away from people and built-up areas. See what the IAA requires.
    • Both work with Litchi for waypoint missions, which makes them far more capable than DJI’s own app.
    • Both rely on DJI GO 4, and DJI stopped updating their firmware years ago.
    • Both need their batteries looked after. Old LiPo batteries swell and lose capacity, so check them before every flight, and never fly a swollen pack.

    Which would I recommend?

    If you’re buying one second-hand today, the Mavic Pro is the better all-rounder: better camera, longer flights and a more reliable link. The Spark is a fun, cheap way to start, but its batteries and Wi-Fi link show their age. And if you want a modern drone, a sub-250 g model with a class marking gives you far more freedom under the current rules than either of these.