EPIC 360 CAMERA MOUNTED ON MAVIC PRO

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

Hey guys!

I mounted a 360fly camera on my mavic pro.

The footage is very shaky, and I urgently need help/advice on how to make the footage smoother.

If anyone wants to work on this together with me, I've already stared.

Thanks,
RickyMavic

BD0G · Feb 2, 2018

It is very shaky. You would need to construct a stabilized gimbal for the camera to mount in.
Not an easy task.

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

BD0G said:
It is very shaky. You would need to construct a stabilized gimbal for the camera to mount in.
Not an easy task.

And the worst part is that the Mavic is nearly at the maximum weight limit.

So even if I do construct something, it has to be extremely light so that the Mavic can still fly

BD0G · Feb 2, 2018

A 3 D printed design that snaps on might be an option.

These are not gimbal stabilized though. The guy who flew with this mount indicates one must fly very steady without un-necessary yawing and lots of turns.

DJi Mavic Pro Camera mount for GoPro, Gear 360, Ricoh Theta & LG 360 Cam by jeanmariecannie

tcope · Feb 2, 2018

I'm using Cyberlink PowerDirector 16. With this release you can easily stabilize 360 video which is a _must have_ to make any video presentable. It also allows you to change the starting view in any clip. You can also easily enhance 360 video. It's really a big step for 360 video.

LivinLarge · Feb 2, 2018

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

360 CAMERA UNDERNEATH DRONE METHODS:

This is my preferred method for having the 360 camera underneath the Drone. It wobbles and shakes a lot but at least the actual Drone is not in the shots

There is this method too, but for me it has been just as wobbly and the Drone gets in the shot.

360 OVER DRONE METHODS:

In this option, there was an overwhelming amount of mag interf and the Drone in some occasions would start ascending uncontrollably. I had to press the landing feature on the DJI app to force the descent. Fortunately I was only flying over my yard. Even still the Drone used 35% of its battery descending because it was coming down extremely slowly. Has this happened to anyone else?

This is my preferred method because there was no mag interf and the GPS locked in almost immediately. It was just as wobbly as all the other ones, but less of the Drone was in the video. However, it still freaked out like the other one and started going up, not as fast and I was able to control it a little better. Drone is still in the shots, so this is not my Final Draft.

I need some help with this for sure haha

thanks,
RickyMavic

LivinLarge · Feb 2, 2018

I think the Insta 360 One has good image stabilization built in.

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

tcope said:
I'm using Cyberlink PowerDirector 16. With this release you can easily stabilize 360 video which is a _must have_ to make any video presentable. It also allows you to change the starting view in any clip. You can also easily enhance 360 video. It's really a big step for 360 video.

Do you have any examples to show?

Maybe a youtube link with stable 360 flight footage?

tcope · Feb 2, 2018

RickyMavic said:
Do you have any examples to show?

Maybe a youtube link with stable 360 flight footage?

I have a short (not that great) test video up. Make sure you bump the resolution all the way up:

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

tcope said:
I have a short (not that great) test video up. Make sure you bump the resolution all the way up:

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It's pretty good. I think it still doesn't have the smooth footage I am looking for.

I haven't been able to find that footage anywhere on youtube though.

Nobody has smooth 360 footage from a Drone?

tcope · Feb 2, 2018

RickyMavic said:
It's pretty good. I think it still doesn't have the smooth footage I am looking for.

I haven't been able to find that footage anywhere on youtube though.

Nobody has smooth 360 footage from a Drone?

This was my first test. I don't recall the amount of stabilization I added but it was somewhat less then 100%. Probably around 65%.

The biggest drawback I see to 360 is the resolution. I don't think it's really practical until they get to 8k.

RickyMavic · Feb 2, 2018

tcope said:
This was my first test. I don't recall the amount of stabilization I added but it was somewhat less then 100%. Probably around 65%.

The biggest drawback I see to 360 is the resolution. I don't think it's really practical until they get to 8k.

do you have any gimbal related solutions:

what gimbal like mount can we add on top?

or do you think it would be easier to find a gimbal like mount to put underneath?

tcope · Feb 3, 2018

RickyMavic said:
do you have any gimbal related solutions:

what gimbal like mount can we add on top?

or do you think it would be easier to find a gimbal like mount to put underneath?

I use on that mounts on the bottom of the Mavic. I 3D printed it myself. However, the big issue with the one I use is that it does block the lower sensors. This means that they _HAVE_ to be turned off before flight. I found this out the hard way when I launched and my Mavic just kept going up and up and up. I think I pee'ed in my pants a little. There is the same design now that does not block the sensors but the templet has not been uploaded for use, it needs to be bought. So a top mount might be better? I don't know. However, the issue with top mount is that, I think, most of your subject is going to be under the Mavic.. right?

Right now I consider 360 video still in the testing phase. Personally, I don't think it's ready for prime time use and is just "interesting". The resolution is simply not high enough. Until they get to 8k, video is not going to look very good. To go along with that, it can't be combined with regular video. It's all 360 or nothing. Right now its much better for photos and photos look _great_ and are easy to take. However (again), the Mavic's now to pano shots automatically. So there is that.

RickyMavic · Feb 3, 2018

tcope said:
I use on that mounts on the bottom of the Mavic. I 3D printed it myself. However, the big issue with the one I use is that it does block the lower sensors. This means that they _HAVE_ to be turned off before flight. I found this out the hard way when I launched and my Mavic just kept going up and up and up. I think I pee'ed in my pants a little. There is the same design now that does not block the sensors but the templet has not been uploaded for use, it needs to be bought. So a top mount might be better? I don't know. However, the issue with top mount is that, I think, most of your subject is going to be under the Mavic.. right?

Right now I consider 360 video still in the testing phase. Personally, I don't think it's ready for prime time use and is just "interesting". The resolution is simply not high enough. Until they get to 8k, video is not going to look very good. To go along with that, it can't be combined with regular video. It's all 360 or nothing. Right now its much better for photos and photos look _great_ and are easy to take. However (again), the Mavic's now to pano shots automatically. So there is that.

I usually always fly with the sensors off, on all my drones, and they're all still fully functional and alive haha so I really didn't have any idea why the Drone kept going up.

THIS happened with the two forms of top mounts and not nearly as bad with the bottom mounts.

By "the resolution is simply not high enough" do you mean for flying the 360 camera high up in the air with the Drone, trying to capture landscape scenes?

Because I would agree in that case, but my intentions with the 360 camera is to be flying it around not too high up.

Let's say a stadium hires me to do a full 360 virtual tour with the Drone. I would fly maybe 5 meters off the ground with the 360 camera mounted on top, so that it can capture everything horizontally, 25 degrees beneath that horizontal line, and everything above. Since I'm filming a much more closed in area, the definition might be good enough because the area I'm filming isn't going for miles. Then I would fly the Drone with the 360 camera mounted underneath at an altitude of roughly 30meters where it is parallel to the top of the stadium, nothing above would be captured, but it would get some awesome footage of the stadium below, hopefully in high enough resolution for it to be presentable. The change in orientation would force it to be 2 videos, but companies don't mind having to promote 2 videos on the website, as long as it is smooth and HQ.

This is more so my intentions with flying around 360 cameras. You could apply it to a college campus too.

What are your thoughts?

tcope · Feb 3, 2018

RickyMavic said:
By "the resolution is simply not high enough" do you mean for flying the 360 camera high up in the air with the Drone, trying to capture landscape scenes?

Because I would agree in that case, but my intentions with the 360 camera is to be flying it around not too high up.

Really, in general. Consider that it's "4k" but those pixiels are spread out 360 degrees. So it's really like 720, especially for landscapes as you mentioned. I'd say indoors it looks better as things are much closer.

RickyMavic said:
Let's say a stadium hires me to do a full 360 virtual tour with the Drone. I would fly maybe 5 meters off the ground with the 360 camera mounted on top, so that it can capture everything horizontally, 25 degrees beneath that horizontal line, and everything above. Since I'm filming a much more closed in area, the definition might be good enough because the area I'm filming isn't going for miles. Then I would fly the Drone with the 360 camera mounted underneath at an altitude of roughly 30meters where it is parallel to the top of the stadium, nothing above would be captured, but it would get some awesome footage of the stadium below, hopefully in high enough resolution for it to be presentable. The change in orientation would force it to be 2 videos, but companies don't mind having to promote 2 videos on the website, as long as it is smooth and HQ.

This is more so my intentions with flying around 360 cameras. You could apply it to a college campus too.

What are your thoughts?

I don't think the video will look that good. The resolution won't be very good and it will be only semi stabilized. I used PowerDirector 16 and it now allows post stabilization but it's not the best. Don't get me wrong, it's a _huge_ step forward but it does not really lend itself to production quality. If you are going to sell your work or present it as a product, I'd say you are walking a fine line. You can create some great shots and edit them very well but the quality of the video itself is going to kick you in the butt.

RickyMavic · Feb 3, 2018

tcope said:
Really, in general. Consider that it's "4k" but those pixiels are spread out 360 degrees. So it's really like 720, especially for landscapes as you mentioned. I'd say indoors it looks better as things are much closer.

I don't think the video will look that good. The resolution won't be very good and it will be only semi stabilized. I used PowerDirector 16 and it now allows post stabilization but it's not the best. Don't get me wrong, it's a _huge_ step forward but it does not really lend itself to production quality. If you are going to sell your work or present it as a product, I'd say you are walking a fine line. You can create some great shots and edit them very well but the quality of the video itself is going to kick you in the butt.

I agree, it is going to kick me in the butt, that is why I want to make some sort of gimbal attached to the Drone that I can mount the 360 camera on top of.

Do you think trying all this on a Mavic is the biggest issue? What if I tried it with a phantom or inspire? I don't think those two are as easy to play around with as the Mavic

Capediver · Feb 3, 2018

RickyMavic · Feb 3, 2018

Capediver said:
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Great video pal!

However, can you add some comments on how you mounted it or what difficulties you had and all with the process? maybe a moment of epiphany?

Some contribution to the matter please because for now, it looks like you're just wanting it to get some publicity

Thanks,
RickyMavic

Capediver · Feb 3, 2018

RickyMavic said:
Great video pal!

However, can you add some comments on how you mounted it or what difficulties you had and all with the process? maybe a moment of epiphany?

Some contribution to the matter please because for now, it looks like you're just wanting it to get some publicity

Thanks,
RickyMavic

Errr..... not really looking for publicity, don't know how you deduced that....but anyhoo...very simple, no epiphany:
Theta V on GoPro mount stuck onto top of Mavic Pro with standard GoPro double sided tape...no post stabilisation....
Easy take-off and land, no issues with weight (Theta V weighs next to nothing)