3D Robotics calls this Season Two. Announced at CES 2016, the Multipoint Cable Cam and Free Look features to enhance the way the Solo captures aerial images take 3DR’s drone even higher.
Colin Guinn. 3DR’s CRO, says that “we designed Solo so the drone you buy today will just get better. This latest software release is a big one, and it does what we want all of our releases to do: It makes every Solo out there a better Solo.”
The new Smart Shot functionality announced at CES 2016 — Multipoint Cable Cam and Follow with Freelook — enhances the platform’s existing Smart Shots (for the uninitiated, Smart Shots are 3DR’s breakthrough computer-assisted cinema technology that enables even beginners to capture Hollywood-quality aerial video from day one). The software will be released next Spring to all Solo users, in a free update.
Multipoint Cable Cam is one off the new features. It extends cable cam’s original design: now you can create cable shots that run between an unlimited number of keyframes. Set keyframes from multiple points in space, looking in any direction you want. Solo automatically adds spline curves to each keyframe for a smooth approach and exit, so your video will feel professional and polished.
The new Free Look feature, states 3DR, turns Follow into an interactive filming experience. In Follow, Solo follows a subject and keeps the camera trained on it wherever it goes. When you enter Free Look the copter keeps following the subject, but you have full control of the camera. Pan and tilt the camera to look around freely while remaining completely confident in the copter’s position and directional heading. It’s like the Hollywood motion control of a camera boom on the back of a truck: Virtually leash Solo to one subject, then swivel and tilt the camera manually to track even the most spontaneous movements of another subject.
According to 3DR, the new software will also include air safety zone information integrated with the Solo app. 3DR was the first drone company to announce a collaboration with an airspace information company — AirMap.io — which will enable the Solo app to pull flight zone information in real time. This helps users make safe and informed decisions about where they fly.
3DR is also launching another educational software tool, the Solo flight simulator app. The app connects to your controller so that the “sim Solo” you see on your screen responds to your control stick movements just like the copter would in flight. Get a good feel for both flight and camera control without putting your Solo in the air. Plus, you don’t need to connect to Solo to use the simulator; all you need is the app and the controller. Practice flying anywhere.
The Solo platform will also expand on the hardware side to include an official line of new accessories developed through 3DR’s Made for Solo partnership program. The open gimbal and accessory bays, together with the processing power of Solo, enable any company or individual to develop new hardware for the platform, efforts that 3DR encourages and supports with Made for Solo. New Solo hardware accessories in development include a Kodak 360-degree virtual reality camera; aerial lighting from Fiilex with lights that users can tailor in the Solo app; new Ribcage modified GoPro cameras and camera kits from Backbone with custom weight kits to work with the Solo Gimbal, and more.