Waypoints
Also known as: waypoint mission, waypoint flight
A drone flight mode that flies a route you plan in advance, point by point, repeating the same path, altitude, speed and camera angle every time you run it.
Updated
What it means
A waypoint is a saved position in the sky: latitude, longitude and altitude, often with a heading, gimbal angle and speed attached. String several together and the drone flies the route by itself, with the camera doing exactly what you set at each point. DJI added waypoint missions to the DJI Fly app on models such as the Mini 4 Pro, Air 3 and Mavic 3 series, and third-party apps like Litchi offer it on other supported drones.
The real value is repeatability. A saved path can be flown again tomorrow, next month or next season, which makes waypoints the tool for day-to-night transitions, a building site filmed every week for a Time-lapse, or a long Hyperlapse that would be impossible to fly smoothly by hand.
How it works in practice
Most pilots set waypoints either by flying the drone to each position and saving it, or by tapping points on the map and adjusting height afterwards. Saving positions in the air is more reliable, because you see the actual framing at every stop. Curved paths between points, a constant speed and gentle gimbal changes give the most cinematic result.
For a sunset sequence, fly the same route in daylight, golden hour and blue hour, then cut or blend between the passes. Because the drone handles the sticks, you can watch the screen instead, which helps with timing-critical moves like reveal shots. Battery life sets the upper limit on how long a single mission can run.
What to watch out for
Altitude in a mission is usually measured from the takeoff point, not from the ground beneath the drone. Plan a route over rising terrain from a valley floor and the drone can fly straight into the hillside. Obstacle sensing may also behave differently or be unavailable during automated missions on some models, so never assume it will rescue a bad plan.
Trees grow, cranes move, and a route saved last summer may not be clear this winter, so fly the path manually before rerunning an old mission. Decide what the drone should do if it loses signal, and check local rules about automated and long-distance flights. In the edit, waypoint passes tend to be long and slow, so they work best trimmed down as B-roll.
How RawClip handles it
Waypoint missions often produce long, slow clips with plenty of near-identical framing. Upload them as MP4 or MOV next to the rest of your footage, and RawClip keeps the best stretch of each pass, removes duplicate and dull passages and paces the cuts to the music, so a long route becomes a few strong moments in your highlight.