Methodology
Platform selection
A platform is included only if it has genuinely public documentation — a docs site, help center, or developer page anyone can read without a login. Platforms whose documentation is paywalled or account-gated are left out rather than sourced from secondhand descriptions. The current set: Verge Aero (Design Studio), SPH Engineering (Drone Show Software / Drone Show Creator for UgCS), Skybrush (Studio for Blender / Live / Viewer), Drotek (Lightshow Creator), and Vimdrones (Drone Light Show Designer). Additional platforms are considered as their documentation becomes available.
What counts as a documented fact
- Every cell traces to a specific public doc page, linked with an access date.
- No inference from general industry knowledge. If a platform's docs don't state a fact (a native format name, a coordinate convention, a previz feature), the matrix says so explicitly rather than filling the cell.
- Cross-referenced facts are labeled as such. Where a fact about one platform appears only in another platform's docs (for example, SPH Engineering's PATH format is confirmed only via Skybrush's own export-panel documentation), the notes column says so.
- No capability judgments or "best for" language. This is a facts-only reference.
Known gaps
Drotek's native show-file format name for its own drone platform was not stated in the documentation pages checked — the matrix records this as a gap rather than guessing. Version-specific features (for example, SPH Engineering's KML export, added in DSS 4.3) are noted with the version that introduced them.
Refresh
Reviewed quarterly: doc links re-verified, facts re-checked against current documentation, new platforms considered. See About for the correction process.