Advanced Transition

Staggered Transition

A staggered formation is a formation where the drones go one after the other to their target.

Frame step

Frame step is the parameter that specifies the number of frames between two

It is the value that defines the number of frames between the start of the transition between each drone.

By default, the value is at 0. This means that there is no stagger between the drones. Hence, all related functionalities to staggered formation are hidden.

Set direction

The order of the drone transitions is determined automatically by taking the average direction of the drones toward their targets.

Another direction can be set with Set direction.

Clicking on the button Set direction create an arrow named Direction Arrow.

The direction of Direction Arrow will then determine the order of the drones.

Delete Direction Arrow to go back to determine automatically the direction.

Swaps

These tools have been created to edit a formation easily for example to avoid collisions.

Swap target

Swap target swaps the targets between two drones.

Swap order

Swap order swaps the transition order between two drones.

Auto swap

Auto swap will automatically apply Swap target on every collision of the selected drones.

You may need to use it several times.

If the number of collisions, stop reducing after several tries. You should try another direction or scale up the formation.

Collision Reduction Strategies

If the swap tools do not resolve all collisions, the following strategies can be used to reduce the number of collisions:

1. Increase the Min distance between anchors

2. If you use staggered transition, increasing Frame step should reduce the number of collisions

3. Try using the swap tools again after each of these strategies.