Using Skills within the Skydio R1 app
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Like your own personal camera crew, Skydio R1 knows what to film and intelligently flies itself during your activity to get the best shot. Using the Skydio app, you do have a wide range of control over the type of shot you’d like to capture with R1, via an ever-growing library of unique skills (formerly cinematic modes).
Anytime you want to get creative while flying R1, just select a different skill in the app. With most skills, you can even adjust the relative height and direction of your R1, as well as zoom in or out to get the right shot. There are even one-shot skills that allow for even greater creative decisions on the fly. The onscreen controls in the Skydio app work in harmony with each skill to give you intuitive control over your R1’s point-of-view:
Here are the current skills available and how the Skydio app controls are used for each. This list will continue to grow and evolve with updates to the Skydio app.
| Mode | Description | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Boomerang | Pull back and reveal the landscape in front of the subject. | |
| Cable Cam | Move smoothly between two points along a virtual cable. Optionally look at or follow a subject while staying on the cable. | |
| Car Follow | Track and follow a car. |
|
| Car Tripod | Stay in place and track a car. |
|
| Compass | Maintain a fixed compass heading while following. |
|
| Dronie | Fly up and away while looking at the subject. | |
| Follow | Follows the subject for fast action. |
|
| Joysticks | Standard joysticks/manual flight, with obstacle avoidance. |
|
| Lead | Stays in front of the subject based on motion. |
|
| Orbit | Orbits around the subject. |
|
| Quarter Follow | Stay between the side and back of the subject. |
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| Quarter Lead | Stay between the side and front of the subject. |
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| Rocket | Fly straight up while looking down at the subject. | |
| Side | Stays to the side of the subject based on motion. |
|
| Smooth | Smoothly follows for cinematic video. Allows the subject to move more in the frame without R1 adjusting as frequently. |
|
| Stadium | Stays high above the action, for field sports or similar activities. |
|
| Tripod |
Stays fixed in one place, but the camera moves to point at the subject. Tip: Use this mode when you want R1 to be really high above the subject. |
|
| Vortex |
Revolve up and away from the subject. |
Check out our related articles for more information.
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