This post will describe and demo some of the DJI Drone Active Tracking modes. Special shout outs to 
The DJI Mavic series (not sure about the others) have special "smart" modes of flying. One of these is called "Active Track". It's not as intuitive as you would think. I initially kept trying to use "Follow" mode, but what that does is actually follow the signal from the controller, not track live or moving subject by sight. It took me hours/days to figure out why the "follow" wasn't working, seems it was SUE's fault (Stupid User Error), lol.
Blooper reel (ahhh! Old guys don't fly!):
The three Active Tracking modes are:
Trace - This mode follows the subject, and can optionally circle the subject at varied speeds and distances (user configurable). Notice how in the video, at :16 the drone automatically stops when I realize the drone is about to crash into an empty flag pole when flying backwards. I do an emergency stop (jump) off the skateboard (try not to laugh too hard at my panic stop!) Notice how the drone also stops, still keeps on me, then follows me back up the hill.
This drone was the early Mavic Pro and did not have sideways or rear sensors for crash detection. Some of the newer drones do. Still always good to be very careful when using these auto-pilot modes and ensure your area is clear!
Spotlight - In this mode the drone hovers in place, and follows subject with camera/gimbal movements. You can see me use this mode at :48 while crossing the bridge. This was a VERY rough wooden bridge. The Evolve skateboard off-road tires made it barely even noticeable. This is a good mode to use when flying near light poles, trees, telephone wires. In both of those videos, I put the drone in hover mode, set the active track, and then set the controller on the ground while I was skating and filming. The same in the third video in parking lot, 1:18, in this one, you can tell the camera would turn and gimbal would tilt to follow me, but the drone would hover in place between the trees and light poles while the controller was left in the car.
Profile - This is a very cool mode as well. In this mode, the camera follows along from front, behind, or even from the side, keeping with the subject and flying sideways. This one at 2:15 Notice the drone and skateboard have about the same max speed of 30 mph. I almost start to outrun it, then it catches up. Also see the drone start to spin in front a little as I slow down, then come back into place. The drone can also be positioned a ahead of or behind a subject and will stay near that same perspective during flight, even during speed changes or starts/stops.
How to enable Active Track?
This varies depending on drone model. For the older Mavic's there is a "smart mode" icon on the left side of the controller screen.
Simply tap that, and then choose your desired mode. In this model, the Active Track is at the top right.
(Images courtesy of DJI.com Tutorial site).
Then just tap the screen to select object to track, or draw a box around it. Most times people are auto-identified.
The new Mavic 3 has an updated version called ActiveTrack 5.0 that gives even more control.
(Images courtesy of DJI.com Mavic 3 tutorial site)
This model has additional sensors on the side, front, back, top, and bottom, that supposedly allow it to track even complex and fast moving targets while avoiding obstacles, with choices to either brake or to avoid them and keep flying. I've seen other videos that look pretty impressive, but sorry, not risking my drone tracking bikes in the woods just yet. I'll leave that up to
If you want to see the Official DJI video, it's linked here in their first "Intro" video (Active Tracking about 75% thru, 2:40 mark):
https://www.dji.com/mavic-3/video?msclkid=f8033475b80c11ecb706364da10d33f8
You will then see other available options for distance, position, etc. Hit record and off you go! If you're tracking a different subject you can adjust the distance, position angle etc. during the flight and it will adapt. Kind of hard if you're tracking yourself though.
That's it, Happy Tracking!
For you 
btw, this post not eligible for the weekly Drone Pic of the Week contest.
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