DroneCam is an FPV Drone Simulator Addon for Blender that let you fly using a gamepad/controller. You control the drone directly in the viewport, in real time (and you can render the results too!).
Why? It’s fun, it’s fast, and it makes realistic camera movements. Add the drone, Fly around the scene, and Render.
Or just use it as a Drone Simulator to train your flying skills! DroneCam relies on a realistic flying simulation, with real-world formulas for drag, gravity, and thrust. It’s very close to flying a drone in real life.
Compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, and any controller or gamepad.
To be clear: This is NOT like the Blender native Fly mode, or using a spacemouse. DroneCam relies on a custom simulation with gravity forces, air drag, velocity, etc. All these things add “weight” to the flying and makes it way more realistic, you wouldn’t be able to achieve this results with common techniques.
How To Use
- Plug the controller and launch Blender 4.3+
- Install the zip file as you would with any addon
- In the Viewport, press N to open the right panel, click on DroneCam tab
- Click Add DroneCam to add the drone to the scene
- Click Start (Your inputs are automatically keyframed as you fly)
- Click Stop to stop the recording
- Play the timeline to see the results and cache the simulation. And then render!Video Tutorial(slightly older version):
Controls
DroneCam supports almost almost all gamepads and RC controllers. All you need is a controller/gamepad with 2 Joysticks (4 axis in total) to fly DroneCam.
The controls can be mapped to any joystick axis or triggers. DroneCam’s default mapping might not work for your controller so make sure to change the axis for each control if needed. The standard FPV drone mapping (and the one I recommend) is:
Left Joystick Y -> Throttle
Left Joystick X -> Yaw
Right Joystick Y -> Pitch
Right Joystick X -> Roll
There are 4 flying modes to choose from: Acro, 3D, Horizon, and Angle.
“Actual Rates” are implemented and allow you to change your inputs from linear to an exponential curve thanks to the 3 inputs (Center Sensitivity, Max Rate, Expo).
DroneCam UI:
There is also simulation parameters to modify. With them you can really tailor the simulation behavior to your need. From slow and steady cinematic shots to fast acrobatic flying.
Detailed documentation is available as a .txt file when you download the addon.
