Help please - video stutter / jerking

alexb77 · Apr 3, 2017

Hi - I'm into my second week with the Mavic and loving it. However, i'm struggling to capture any footage that does not have stutter and jerking whenever i slow pan. I've tried multiple resolutions and its the same in all of them. I'm using PAL as am in the UK, and i also tried using 60hz instead of 50hz and no difference. I've not gone much deeper into the settings as i'm not sure what to do. I've posted an example video below, you will see the stutter in particular on the white windows and door. Please can someone help me sort this out? I'm hoping its not a hardware issue.

Thanks

Rabid Machina · Apr 3, 2017

are you in cinematic or tripod mode? or are you just slowly gauging the input yourself? not that its a bad thing its just those settings help with that particular issue. Also there are a few videos out there that go over setting to help smooth out micro-movements and what not. But they are mainly for vertical axis movements on the gimbal.

alexb77 · Apr 3, 2017

Thanks Rabid, i'm using normal settings, so not tripod mode or cinematic. I had a steady slow joystick input so i don't think its that. I did read that NTSC has more framerate options than PAL at only 24/25 fps, so i'm going to give NTSC a go and see what that does. Hoping to get sorted soon as going on honeymoon in 6weeks and want it all setup perfectly

Robbyg · Apr 3, 2017

The good news is that this is normal. I have seen it in many of my videos. The solution might not be what you want to hear but try filming at 1080P 60FPS and that will probably smooth it out. What I have done is to shoot 4k@30fps and then pan at half the rate you are going at and then speed it up 2x in post.
Also as you observed it's more pronounced if your in a tight area where small details are visible. It is not a big issue if your flying out in an open field 90ft up.

With the Mavic I find it's all about planning and using the best settings and technique for a particular shot or lighting situation and then filming other parts with different settings. If it's a simple community sharing video the finer details wont matter very much but if it's something you want the best video of then you really have to work hard and take lot of footage within the cameras limitations and then edit it together in post.
I am still learning but I have gotten some good stuff when I spend a few battery packs trying to film something.

Rob

alexb77 · Apr 4, 2017

Thanks for the reassurance Rob. I'll have a go in the setting you suggested. I'm also getting the trial of Final Cut Pro so will see if i can post edit videos to help. I see so many ultra smooth Mavic videos online in 4k, is the smooth frame rate achieved in post video editing?

tmoerel · Apr 4, 2017

Try to do slower pans. If needed speed it then up in post.

Rabid Machina · Apr 4, 2017

I would recommend 4k @ 24 FPS and just work on you stick input while in cinematic mode. You will get it down with practice. I'm still compiling footage for my first video, over 3 hrs of footage that I am slowly editing to get the video I am satisfied with. I may make a progression video with some of the footage, to gauge interest on what I need improvement on.
I am sure I am making it arduous on myself but I'm finicky like that.

its2loud · Apr 4, 2017

What is your shutter speed?

Rabid Machina · Apr 5, 2017

SoapyGolem · Apr 5, 2017

This Normal

Rabid Machina · Apr 5, 2017

It is not, you have to go into settings and change it.

I will transcribe my settings onto a PDF document and post it.

Maybe we can get a settings sticky for reference. That way people can try different settings to see what they like. The only issue I can see with that is people get lazy and don't try or experiment with the settings to get different results.

There really isn't a set in stone way to these settings. They are merely recommendations that work well. So I am NOT saying not to use them, what I do recommend is to using them as a starting point to get you going, but practice and modification of those settings out there are what is going to get your desired results.

The way I look at is, I can only emulate what I have seen I.e. : movies, YouTube, etc. So make the video the way you want it to turn out, and if you feel like you have hit a stone wall ask for input.

Adjust accordingly and use it as a learning experience.

Hope it makes sense the way I typed it out and that it will help you with your future flights.

Again, I am by no means an expert nor claim to be. I'm just methodical and apply common sense.

Happy flying!!

its2loud · Apr 5, 2017

24fps is not the best frame rate for shooting sweeping pans. Try shooting in 30fps and lower the sharpness setting -1. This will help smooth out the video during sweeping pans. Go slow. Nobody wants to throw up while watching fast pans of landscapes. Play with your Yaw settings. Find one that works for your fingers and dexterity. It is a know fact that DJI cameras do not handle scenery with lots of details. Such as trees, shrubs, different grass grains, etc. it's just too much info for these sensors to handle in 4K. I also read somewhere that the optimal resolution for the Mavic sensor is actually 2k. So if you don't need 4K, notch it down to 2k and compare your results.

alexb77 · Apr 5, 2017

OK so great news, I seem to have sorted this! Thank you to everyone for your tips and advice

What I've done is change the video mode to NTSC and 4k at 30fps. I've also turned the camera into manual and set the ISO as low as I can and the shutter speed as high as I can, and level out the white balance manually. All of that sounded daunting to me at first, but actually with some basic experimenting, its all come good!

So now, my footage is really smooth, with a manual slow pan, I've put in Art mode as well and am doing some basic colour grading is post editing with Final Cut Pro. Feeling confident for the honeymoon album now

Hopefully my experience will help others too.

Robbyg · Apr 5, 2017

alexb77 said:
Thanks for the reassurance Rob. I'll have a go in the setting you suggested. I'm also getting the trial of Final Cut Pro so will see if i can post edit videos to help. I see so many ultra smooth Mavic videos online in 4k, is the smooth frame rate achieved in post video editing?

Sorry for the late reply. I see you got some good help by fellow pilots and figured it out.

Yes I do most fixes in post but as you can see it can be done with out working in post if you pan really slowly and let the camera grab more frames per degree of turn.

Rob

John Suhr · Apr 13, 2019

I'm learning how to fix the pump issue like every 8 frames in Final Cut and I was wondering about aperture. Everyone says 2x fps so I use 100 iso, 2.7K 30fps with the filters and get it to 1/60 but..... sometimes I think it looks smoother with no or less filtering and adjusting in the aperture but it goes against conventional wisdom. What improves when you try and double and is there a downside? I also wonder about the necessity of shooting outside of 1080p when I'd probably only reach youtube as my hard drives fill up. I've watched so many tutorials, but Im open to more.