DJI Mini 3 Pro video stutter?

[linas2569]

Hello everyone,
I was looking forward to order the Mini 3 Pro, but as some of the review videos are being released I noticed some kind of a video stutter. Is it just me, or could it be a video editing issue? Or is it a downside of the Mini 3 Pro? Is there any hope that will be fixed?

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Please don't specifiy what video that was ...
I couldn't see that in the clips of DM Productions or 51 Drones so far.

 

[test2000Anafi]

The issue is the camera being too good in capturing light, you really need ND filters to add some blur

 

[linas2569]

For example this one

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Time 0:32 - 0:37, this shot is stuttering
Some of the shots are brilliant, but some gives a feeling of a laggy video
I have checked on different devices, stuttering remains

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I see, what you mean.

We don't know, how he captured it, might be also a problem with converting other frame rate. With 30 fps and fast pan shots, that might happen but technically be just fine from the drone side.

Best is to ask in the comments, why this specific section doesn't show fluently.

 

[boldblue737]

Hello everyone,
I was looking forward to order the Mini 3 Pro, but as some of the review videos are being released I noticed some kind of a video stutter. Is it just me, or could it be a video editing issue? Or is it a downside of the Mini 3 Pro? Is there any hope that will be fixed?

same issue on every drone if you aren't getting the proper shutter speed, which on all but the Mavic 2 Pro / Mavic 3 series of drones requires ND filters. My guess is DJI didn't send them with review kits and so you get these results in bright sun.

 

[Deleted member 154956]

For example this one

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Time 0:32 - 0:37, this shot is stuttering
Some of the shots are brilliant, but some gives a feeling of a laggy video
I have checked on different devices, stuttering remains

Smooth as butter, saw no stutter.

 

[mroek]

Smooth as butter, saw no stutter.

That's odd. It is stuttering very visibly for me.

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What do you see if you look at the above video from 43:06 to 43:35? That kind of shooting clearly brings out the worst conditions for stuttering, and for me it stutters like crazy. I wonder how much better it would have been at 4k60, but in that resolution ActiveTrack isn't available, so he couldn't have done that test anyways.

I guess ND filters will be a necessity, but it will perhaps take some time untl they become available.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I was thinking the same when watching the the wind test DCrainmaker did where at 2:45 it's flying towards the lighthouse it didn't look smooth to me but I wondered if there's some transcoding issue as I've seen a similar effect recently when I uploaded a 5.7K60 video from a Virb 360 to YT.

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[peros550]

I was thinking also the same when watching the wind test. Especially at 07:10. I have though watched other videos which are very smooth.
I am no expert, but I can only assume two things:
a) Stuttering when panning happens due to how the encoding algorithm works. It only happens when panning (moving sideways).
b) It may be related to high shutter speed which didn't allow for motion blur.

 

[scro]

The stuttering I saw in the video that post #8 references kind of looks like framerate conversion, keyframe issues or possibly issues with frame buffers filling up. Its not really the stuttering that is typical of too high a shutter speed (ie no motion blur to smooth faster moving objects). Panning puts a heavy demand on the available bitrate as everything in the frame is moving a fair bit.

 

[EpicFlight]

It's a fool's errand to judge video smoothness via a stream. The only way is to download the original media and play it locally.

 

[mroek]

It's a fool's errand to judge video smoothness via a stream. The only way is to download the original media and play it locally.

Yes and no. I agree that the source media is of course the best way to judge, but at the same time I don't believe that Youtube is to blame for the stutter that is apparent on most videos with panning action from the Mini 3 Pro.

I came across this sample footage today:

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...and that is much smoother than most other videos. There seems to be more motion blur instead of stutter, so I have asked the author whether he applied additional post processing, to which he hasn't answered yet.

However, he did reply to my question about video codec used, and he had used H264 as opposed to H265 (in the drone). I would wager a guess that most of the other videos on YT are H265 (because it saves space), but I don't know if that could also affect how stuttery a video appears.

 

[MaximusCZ]

That's why I facepalm every time there's some debate whether to go 24, 25 or 30 fps, and everyone is talking about motion blur only. Heck, its clear as day. In the Lighthouse video you can see the guy is recording at 4k 30 fps, but if you right click the video and check "stats for nerds", you see YouTube is actually serving 25 fps video. PLUS its playing on your 60 Hertz screen, so 60 fps. You record 30 fps, throw 5 frames away each second to get 25 fps and then play it back on 60 "fps" monitor. Of course you are gonna see stuttering, you have 25 frames to display and 60 windows to display in. You paint most frames twice, but that gets you only to 50 fps. You also have to paint some frames three times. To fill the whole second.

That's why some videos are smooth. You record at 30 fps, edit at 30 fps timeline and then serve 30 fps video to 60 fps screen - every frame is painted exactly twice. Its consistent and stutter free.

If you record at anything other than 30 or 60 (or another value that you can divide 60 with without remainder), edit your video timeline at other than 30 or 60 fps, on 60 Hz screen (vaaaaast majority) you will always see stuttering.

People are arguing about the 24 vs 25 vs 30 fps while thinking about how much motion blur it allows them to capture, while completely ignoring the question "And what medium will I be watching the final output on?". Sure, if you are filming for a cinema, and you know the projector will run at 24 fps, feel free to record in 24 fps and enjoy stutter free motion blur. But if your goal is to view the video on a PC screen (or TV), make yourself a favour and record at 30 fps, and edit on 30 fps timeline.

 

[mroek]

@MaximusCZ Thanks for the reminder about the nifty little "Stats for nerds" on YT. I had completely forgotten about that. You certainly make some very valid points in your post.

 

[EpicFlight]

Yes and no. I agree that the source media is of course the best way to judge, but at the same time I don't believe that Youtube is to blame for the stutter that is apparent on most videos with panning action from the Mini 3 Pro.

Okay, you don't believe it.

I'm not interested in spending time and effort discussing your beliefs.

 

[Kilrah]

Time 0:32 - 0:37, this shot is stuttering

That's an editing issue, frame rate mismatch.

 

[mroek]

@EpicFlight Maybe a little bit harsh there? Not really sure what you mean, to be honest. Did I say something completely wrong?

That's an editing issue, frame rate mismatch.

How do you know that? The video is 4K30 on YT, so are you suggesting that this section of the video was edited in a different frame rate, producing this stutter?

 

[Kilrah]

How do you know that? The video is 4K30 on YT, so are you suggesting that this section of the video was edited in a different frame rate, producing this stutter?

It was shot in a different frame rate and dropped in with the rest of the 30fps edit, the editing program has no choice but to skip frames to make it work. It's exactly what that looks like.
Probably by mistake, or the guy was trying the various modes and decided it was worth including this shot even if it was mismatched to the rest...

 

[EpicFlight]

@EpicFlight Maybe a little bit harsh there? Not really sure what you mean, to be honest. Did I say something completely wrong?

Sorry, you're right. Frustration and exhaustion explaining why YT streams can not be used to judge pretty much anything about the quality of a video, for at least a dozen technical reasons. @MaximusCZ covered a good few of them. He clearly has not gone around and around on this one for years.

I was gonna keep my mouth shut, and should have