ShotKit User Guide

🚁 What is ShotKit?

ShotKit translates plain English shot descriptions into complete DJI waypoint missions (.KMZ files). Describe what you want to film, set the location on the map, and the AI calculates every waypoint, altitude, speed, and camera angle automatically.

ShotKit supports all major DJI drones and exports standard DJI WPML KMZ files compatible with DJI Fly and DJI Pilot 2.

🖥 Interface Layout

The app is divided into two main areas — the sidebar on the left for planning, and the map on the right as your visual workspace.

Collapsible sidebar sections

Click any section header to expand or collapse it. ShotKit remembers your preferences between sessions. Some sections expand automatically — for example, Draw Tools expands when you activate a draw mode, and Flight Planning expands when weather data loads for your location.

Header bar

The top bar contains the ShotKit logo, your drone selector dropdown, and your account avatar (top-right). Click the avatar to access account settings, change your password, open this guide, or sign out.

📍 Setting Your Location

Every mission needs a subject location — the point the drone will focus on or fly around. Set it before generating.

Location height

The Location height field sets how high your subject is above the drone's takeoff point. If your subject is on a rooftop or hillside, enter that height so AGL (above ground level) altitude calculations stay accurate. Clicking terrain in 3D view fills this automatically.

Setting the launch site (home point)

Click ◈ Set launch site then click the map to place the takeoff marker. This affects battery estimates and Return-to-Home behaviour. If not set, ShotKit uses the subject location as a reference.

Save favourite locations

Click 📌 once a location is set to save it as a named favourite. Click any saved location chip to jump back instantly — useful for regular shooting spots.

✏ Generating a Mission

Type a description of the shot you want, then click Generate Mission. ShotKit sends your description to Claude AI, which selects the right flight template and calculates all parameters.

Writing good prompts

Direction chips

The chips below the template chips (↓ N, ← E, ↑ S, → W, 🎞 slow, 🌅 golden) append phrases to whatever is already in the prompt. Use them to refine without rewriting.

Cinematic autocomplete

As you type in the prompt textarea, an inline 3-chip suggestion row appears above it. Suggestions are drawn from ~35 common cinematic phrases (golden hour, slow orbit, helix rising, gimbal nadir, dreamlike…), your recent prompts, and tokenised vocabulary. Tab accepts the first; click any chip to accept it; Esc dismisses. Zero AI calls - all deterministic.

🎬 Mission templates gallery

Tap the 🎬 Templates button beside Generate to browse all 8 templates as a grid of animated cards. Each card shows the trajectory shape as an animated SVG trace, the name + 1-line description, and an estimated duration. Tap any card to load a tested sample prompt into the textarea and focus Generate.

Sequenced skeleton trail

While Claude works, the prompt area shows a 4-row progress trail (✨ Interpreting → 🎯 Mapping → 🛰 Calculating → 🌤 Checking) instead of a static spinner. The active row pulses; on success all rows tick green and the result card slides in. Failures turn the active row red with the reason.

🌟 AI Shot Suggestions (Inspire)

Not sure what to shoot? Click "What should I shoot here?" after setting your location. Claude analyses your surroundings and returns tailored shot ideas.

Each suggestion card shows the template type, a creative title, and a short description. Click any card to load the prompt and generate the mission immediately. Click ↺ to get fresh ideas for the same location.

🎬 Shot Gallery

The Shot Gallery (click "Show ▾" to expand) is a curated library of proven shot types grouped by style — Cinematic, Action, and Landscape. Click any card to load its prompt into the description field at your current location. Hover over a card to see its full prompt text as a tooltip.

✏ Draw Tools — Custom Paths

When you want to fly a specific route rather than an AI-generated template, use the draw tools to place waypoints directly on the map.

✏ Draw Route (Terrain Path)

1. Click ✏ Draw route — the terrain panel appears
2. Click map points to place numbered orange waypoints
3. Each point queries the Google Elevation API for the exact terrain height
4. Set the Safety buffer (default 20m) — the minimum height above terrain the drone will fly at each point
5. Click Generate path — or just the main Generate Mission button — to create the mission

⬡ Lasso (Freehand)

Click ⬡ Lasso, then hold and drag on the map to draw a freehand curved path. Release to commit — the shape converts into terrain path waypoints automatically.

▭ Rect / ⬜ Square

Click and drag to define a rectangular or square flight boundary. Useful for systematic survey coverage of a field or site.

⬡ Patrol (Perimeter)

Flies a loop around a defined boundary — perfect for security inspection, property surveys, or building facades.

1. Click ⬡ Patrol and tap map points to draw the boundary polygon
2. Double-click or press Close to finish (needs ≥3 points)
3. Set Inset (how far inside the boundary the drone flies), Altitude, and Speed
4. Click Generate patrol

📋 Understanding Your Mission Result

After generation, the result card appears in the sidebar with everything you need to review, edit, and export your mission.

Result card tabs (Overview / Conditions / Tech)

A tab strip below the mission name organises the result into three views:

• Overview (default) - director's note, key metadata, flight estimate, action buttons. The headline view.
• Conditions - weather caption, "ShotKit detected" parser line, wind / airspace advisories, pre-flight safety banner, RTH recommendation.
• Tech - drone-fit hint, path-preview SVG, altitude / speed / terrain charts, safety overrides, Claude's raw mapping.

Action rows (Sim / Fit / WPs / Alt / Speed / Pitch / Export, plus Finish-Action settings) stay visible across all tabs - they're how you actually use the mission. The active tab persists in your browser so you'll see the same view next time.

"ShotKit detected" line (Conditions tab)

A small green-bordered line under the result lists what the parser picked up from your prompt:

• 🕐 the time-of-day (golden hour resolves to a specific timestamp)
• 🧭 the cardinal start direction
• 🎭 mood / cinematography vocabulary
• 🚫 number of negative constraints honoured

This is your feedback loop - if you wrote "golden hour" and it shows here, you know it landed.

Action buttons

Six action buttons are arranged in two rows of three below the flight estimate:

Safety warnings

📈 Altitude & Terrain Charts

Altitude profile chart

Drag the green line up or down to shift ALL waypoint altitudes simultaneously — the fastest way to raise or lower an entire mission. Use the −20m / −10m / +10m / +20m buttons for quick precise adjustments. Click Alt ↕ for per-waypoint control.

Terrain profile chart

Shows the actual terrain elevation (grey) versus the drone's planned altitude (green). The gap between them is your clearance. If the green line dips below or near the grey, you have a terrain conflict — raise the mission using the altitude chart or the auto-raise feature.

Speed profile chart

Shows cruise speed in m/s at each waypoint. Drag to bulk-adjust or click Spd ↕ for per-waypoint control.

🟢 Editing Waypoints

Drag on the map

Every waypoint is a green dot on the map. Click and drag any dot to reposition it — the path redraws live as you move it. The altitude chart updates automatically.

For orbit missions, dragging any waypoint scales the entire circle smoothly — all points move proportionally to maintain the circular shape, keeping the orbit centred on your subject.

Inline waypoint editor

Click any green waypoint dot to open the inline editor popup:

Apply to all: Check this box to apply the slider values to every waypoint simultaneously — great for setting uniform pitch or speed across a whole mission.

Insert after / Delete: Add a new waypoint after the current one, or remove this waypoint. Deletion is only available when the mission has more than 2 waypoints.

Undo every waypoint edit with Ctrl+Z or the ⟲ Undo button.

🎚 Profile Editors

For precise full-mission control, open the dedicated editors via the Alt ↕, Spd ↕, or Pitch buttons in the second row of result card actions.

Each editor shows an interactive chart where every waypoint is a draggable dot. Drag any dot up or down — the line updates live and changes reflect on the map in real time. Click Apply & save to commit, or Reset to revert.

⛰ Terrain Safety & Auto-Raise

ShotKit samples terrain elevation at 6× the waypoint count sample points along your path for high accuracy. If any point would be below terrain + 20m clearance, the entire mission is automatically raised by the minimum amount needed.

A toast notification confirms the raise: "⛰ Auto-raised 34m to clear terrain (20m buffer)".

You can manually adjust further using the altitude chart drag or the preset shift buttons.

⚙ Mission Finish Settings

These settings control end-of-mission behaviour, camera action, heading, and gimbal during flight.

Use Nadir gimbal override for mapping/survey flights. Use Mission to respect the per-waypoint angles Claude calculated for cinematic shots.

✨ Remix & Modify

Refine an existing mission without starting over using the remix field below the result card.

"Make it tighter and fly 20% slower" · "Start from the north instead" · "Raise altitude by 15 metres"

Click ✨ Modify or press Enter. Claude re-calculates the mission based on your instruction, keeping the same location and template.

Remix preset chips

Contextual filtering: chips that contradict the current mission state are hidden automatically. Faster disappears when the mission is at the drone's max cruise speed (within 0.5 m/s). Higher disappears when within 5 m of the regulatory ceiling (120 m default; 122 m Canada; 150 m Japan; pick your country in the Region selector beside the Finish-Action chips).

▶ Flight Simulation

Preview your mission as an animated flight before you fly for real. Click ▶ Simulate in the result card (or press S).

🌍 3D Earth View

Toggle 3D (bottom-right of map) to switch to Google Maps Photorealistic 3D terrain — real building geometry, elevation, and textures.

The 3D camera syncs position with the 2D map when you toggle. Exit 3D with ← Plan (top-left of overlay) or by clicking the 3D button again — the 2D map re-centres on wherever the 3D camera was pointing.

⬇ Downloading & Flying

📤 Unified Export menu

Beside the green Download KMZ button is a 📤 Export ▾ dropdown that consolidates every export format into one popover:

Click outside the popover or press Esc to close. The KMZ row goes through the pre-flight checklist; other rows download or copy directly.

Download KMZ

Click Download KMZ (or press D) to open the pre-flight checklist. Review it, then click the download button inside. The file downloads immediately.

Import into DJI Fly

1. Transfer the .kmz file to your phone or tablet
2. Open DJI Fly → Fly → Waypoint
3. Tap the import icon and select your .kmz file
4. Review the mission on the DJI map
5. Set your drone's Return-to-Home altitude at least 10m above your mission's maximum altitude
6. Tap Start Mission

Import into DJI Pilot 2

1. Transfer the .kmz file to your RC or tablet
2. Open DJI Pilot 2 → Waypoint Mission → Import
3. Select the file, verify path, and fly

Mission Brief

Click 📋 Brief to open a printable HTML briefing in a new tab — parameters, waypoint table, sun/wind info, and checklist. Useful for professional shoots or client handover.

Airspace check

The 🛡 Zones button appears in the Shot Description section as soon as your location is set. Click it to load a live airspace tile overlay powered by OpenAIP — colour-coded zones covering controlled airspace, restricted areas, and danger zones worldwide. Toggle it off to hide the overlay. Always verify no NOTAMs or restricted zones affect your flight area before flying.

🔗 Sharing Missions

Click Share in the result card to generate a unique read-only link. It's copied to your clipboard automatically and displayed in the panel below. Links expire after 30 days.

Recipients can view the mission map, parameters, and flight path — but cannot edit or download the KMZ without an account.

🕐 Mission History

All missions are saved automatically. The Recent missions section at the bottom of the sidebar lists them all. Click the section header to expand or collapse it — your preference is saved between sessions.

• Search: Type in "Filter missions…" to search by name
• Filter by template: Click a tag button (orbit, crane, terrain, etc.)
• Starred: Click ★ starred to show only favourites
• Load: Click any row to load that mission — map flies to location, result card restores
• Star: Click ★ on a row to favourite/unfavourite
• Delete: Click × to remove permanently

📦 Mission Sequences

Plan a complete shoot across multiple battery packs by building a sequence.

1. Generate a mission, click + Seq to add it to the sequence
2. Generate more missions and add them — each appears in the sequence panel
3. Drag entries to reorder. Click × to remove. Battery swap points appear automatically when cumulative usage is high
4. Click Export KMZ to download a single multi-mission file

DJI Fly and DJI Pilot 2 can import and execute multi-mission KMZ files, prompting for battery swaps between flights.

📤 Import & Export

Every export format lives behind one 📤 Export ▾ popover beside the Download KMZ button. See Downloading & Flying for the full table.

⌨ Keyboard Shortcuts

Press ? anywhere outside an input to open the in-app cheat sheet. The modal renders shortcuts grouped by category (Generate / Editing / Sim / Presets / General / Map / Export) so you can scan to the section you need.

Mouse & touch gestures

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Getting the best AI results

• Be specific — "80m orbit from the south" beats "high orbit"
• Name the mood — "slow cinematic" vs "fast dynamic" produces very different speeds
• Use template chips as a starting point, then refine the details
• Use Inspire if you're unsure what to shoot — it analyses your exact location

Terrain safety

• Always review the terrain chart before flying mountainous terrain
• In valleys or gorges, the auto-raise may not catch every narrow gap — manually review the terrain chart
• Enable 3D Earth to visually verify the path against real terrain before flying

Editing efficiently

• Drag the altitude chart first for bulk adjustments — far faster than editing waypoints one by one
• Use Ctrl+Z liberally — every change is reversible
• Use Reverse to try both flight directions before committing
• Use Duplicate to create variants without losing the original

Before every flight

1. Check the 🛡 Zones button in the Shot Description section for airspace restriction zones at your location
2. Open 📋 Brief and review the full mission summary
3. Set drone RTH altitude to at least 10m above the mission's maximum altitude
4. Run the ▶ Simulate preview to verify the path visually
5. Start with a fresh battery — check the battery estimate in the result card

Multi-mission shoots

• Generate each mission separately and add to sequence with + Seq
• Export as a single KMZ — DJI handles battery swaps automatically
• Use 📋 Brief to generate a printed shoot plan for complex shoots