I lost my Mavic and need help finding out what happened - FOUND BY STARZ!

[LawFlyer]

OK, don't want to derail this thread too much, but regarding the "jerky video" issue -- I think it's possible that somehow my video settings changed so it was recording in 4K, and that's why the video looks awful on my PC? (Because my hardware just can't handle 4K?)

Here's an example of a video that was super-jerky and hard to watch on my PC. But when I uploaded it to YouTube, the video is now smooth....presumably because YouTube has down-sampled it to lower resolutions that my PC can handle?

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[Palliz]

OK, don't want to derail this thread too much, but regarding the "jerky video" issue -- I think it's possible that somehow my video settings changed so it was recording in 4K, and that's why the video looks awful on my PC? (Because my hardware just can't handle 4K?)

Here's an example of a video that was super-jerky and hard to watch on my PC. But when I uploaded it to YouTube, the video is now smooth....presumably because YouTube has down-sampled it to lower resolutions that my PC can handle?

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Yep - That's it! My hardware is just fine with 1080P 30fps - could go higher but my clients don't require it & to be honest I see NO reason to shoot so high only to then post process it back down to lower resolution for presentation ( makes NO sense to me either ) Believe mavic default is set to 4K so good thing you re-set it.
Happy flying my friend.
Paul

 

[LawFlyer]

Yep - That's it! My hardware is just fine with 1080P 30fps - could go higher but my clients don't require it & to be honest I see NO reason to shoot so high only to then post process it back down to lower resolution for presentation ( makes NO sense to me either ) Believe mavic default is set to 4K so good thing you re-set it.
Happy flying my friend.
Paul

So FYI -- I confirmed the issue was with my video settings -- I was recording in 4K. Oops!

Did a quick flight today and I dialed down the video to 1080p/60. Much smoother, but I can see why some people claim that 1080p/60 looks terrible on the Mavic; lots of anti-aliasing issues.

Also, after years of thinking that HD-quality video (meaning 1080p) was nearly perfect, I can tell you that there was a big, big, big difference between 1080p and 2.7K on my PC screen. Maybe it's worth upgrading my whole system so I can actually view 4K?

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[Starz]

I did the recharge on the battery that I was blessed with. It certainly took several minutes to go from one flashing green light to the next stage. Seems to still be useable. It has two steady and one flashing. Can't remember where I saw the chart that shows charge rates per light.

 

[J-Dub]

2.7K on my PC screen. Maybe it's worth upgrading my whole system so I can actually view 4K?

I'm trying 2.7K 30Fps (when the weather permits), I'm in the same boat, my hobby is filming land speed racing and the 4K footage is drastically better than my old 1080p vids, but my editing PC needs an upgrade to handle it better.

 

[J-Dub]

I did the recharge on the battery that I was blessed with. It certainly took several minutes to go from one flashing green light to the next stage. Seems to still be useable. It has two steady and one flashing. Can't remember where I saw the chart that shows charge rates per light.

Found this
4. How long does it take to charge a Mavic's Intelligent Flight Battery?
It takes about 80 minutes to charge a battery with the original charger.

5. What is the charging temperature range for the Mavic's Intelligent Flight Battery?
5ºC to 40ºC.

6. What is the voltage and wattage of the Mavic's charger?
The voltage is 13.05V and the wattage is 50W.

7. How do I upgrade the firmware for the Mavic's Intelligent Flight Battery?
The battery will upgrade when the aircraft is updated. A prompt will be displayed in the app. Slide the slider to update the battery.

8. How often should the Mavic's Intelligent Flight Battery be charged and discharged?
The Mavic's battery has a more advanced chip than earlier DJI intelligent batteries, so it does not need to be fully charged or discharged manually.

From the manual:

Battery Level Indicators

LED1 Solid (flashing is less power): 12.5-25%

LED2: Solid 37.5-50%

LED3: Solid 62.5-75%

LED4: Solid 87.5-100%

 

[Starz]

Thanks!!

 

[Starz]

Hoping the weather will break for Pablo so we can see how the wayward mp does with some new props. Still reading and searching info videos on mine. This controller is not at all like a dx-9 that I'm used to. Once I get a little more comfortable with knowing I have everything set right, I'll be UP! Bumped into a 500 meter distance limit that clued me into how much attention needs to be utilized in all this. Thanks everyone for all the thumbs up and time spent watching all this adventure unfold.

 

[Pablo]

Hoping the weather will break for Pablo so we can see how the wayward mp does with some new props. Still reading and searching info videos on mine. This controller is not at all like a dx-9 that I'm used to. Once I get a little more comfortable with knowing I have everything set right, I'll be UP! Bumped into a 500 meter distance limit that clued me into how much attention needs to be utilized in all this. Thanks everyone for all the thumbs up and time spent watching all this adventure unfold.

Still not had a chance to fly yet. It's pretty gloomy here this time of year and it's pitch black by the time I get home from work each day anyway. I'm hoping to fly over the weekend though!

In the mean time I've been putting together some of the Mavic footage I took while I was away. It's a beautiful country and it's a stark contrast from the type of footage I usually get in green England. Some extra Mavic Mountain footage at the end for you Starz:

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Take your time getting familiar with all of the controls and settings. I feel like I rushed and it contributed to my crash. I was over-confident having had a Phantom 3 for so long, but these are different crafts, with different characteristics, and I should have taken longer to familiarise myself with it.

 

[Pablo]

Yeah, so I didn't really explain this part, but I'm a PC user (hate Apple stuff), so the first thing I did was make sure my videos are .MP4, not .MOV.

Also, I don't shoot in 4K since I don't have any need for such high resolution. I have a 4K TV, but I don't have any computers that are capable of playing back 4K video so for me, 4K is overkill. My desktop monitor is basically 2.7K, but not exactly (it shows I'm at 2560 x 1440), so that's what my Mavic videos are set to record at.....and so far, they were smooth and perfect until our last trip out to the desert...and ALL the videos I shot are the same -- completely jerky and unwatchable. Sucks!

I just re-formatted my memory card and I'll take a quick flight today and see if that helped.

P.S. @Pablo -- I literally had a dream last night that I was flying my Mavic over a pond and it went crazy, crashed into the water and sank. I DO have DJI care refresh, but of course that requires being able to recover the drone, and in my dream I was scrambling around trying to find a boat so I could get out to the crash site to look for my Mavic. It was not a good feeling. So everyone please be careful out there (and yes, I have seen people creating floats/life jackets for their Mavics....probably on my to-do list soon).

Oh no, I've actually caused you nightmares! I can honestly say watching it disappear behind that "mountain" was one of the most sickening feelings I've ever had in my entire life!

 

[Wacker2611]

So FYI -- I confirmed the issue was with my video settings -- I was recording in 4K. Oops!

Did a quick flight today and I dialed down the video to 1080p/60. Much smoother, but I can see why some people claim that 1080p/60 looks terrible on the Mavic; lots of anti-aliasing issues.

Also, after years of thinking that HD-quality video (meaning 1080p) was nearly perfect, I can tell you that there was a big, big, big difference between 1080p and 2.7K on my PC screen. Maybe it's worth upgrading my whole system so I can actually view 4K?

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You sound just like me. I'd got so used to using 1080p 60fps, always thinking that this was the pinnacle of iq. After I'd ordered my Mavic, I was initially mortified when I found out that 1080p 60 was useless, but now I'm 100% happy using 2.7k 30. So I'm kind of glad that the Mavic has 'forced' me to use this setting. Like you, I don't have equipment in the house which would allow any real benefit from 4K.


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[maikm]

I suggest to always shoot 4k anyway for the following reasons.

1. It's the native output from the Mavic's sensor, while everything else is either scaled in software or uses pixel binning. You can still get high quality 1080p for editing if you let your computer scale down the original 4k footage first.

2. In two years you may have a better computer with a 4k screen. Do you think you will want to look at your 1080p footage from 2017 with that?

3. My 2013 Macbook Pro handles 4k just fine, but only with adequate software. iMovie and FCP are fine while other editors seem to expect much beefier hardware. Maybe try other editors?


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[Starz]

Fun video! The now famous Mavic Mountain rises again! At the 4:00 mark, if you look at the mountain range in the very far background, those are called the "Catalina's" mountain range . My house would be about in the middle left to right,at the
base. Very close to 100 miles as the crow flies. The sand dunes that you visited are a popular place for us desert dwellers in the winter time. That spot where you were is on the south side of the highway and is called "Buttercup". We always camp on the other side of the highway at "Gordon's Well". At New Years weekend, that place is packed with motor homes and off road vehicles.I missed that trip this year as I was in San Francisco visiting a brother. My son was a little bummed that it worked out that way.Still working on getting all my settings worked into the system.

 

[Wacker2611]

I suggest to always shoot 4k anyway for the following reasons.

1. It's the native output from the Mavic's sensor, while everything else is either scaled in software or uses pixel binning. You can still get high quality 1080p for editing if you let your computer scale down the original 4k footage first.

2. In two years you may have a better computer with a 4k screen. Do you think you will want to look at your 1080p footage from 2017 with that?

3. My 2013 Macbook Pro handles 4k just fine, but only with adequate software. iMovie and FCP are fine while other editors seem to expect much beefier hardware. Maybe try other editors?


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I agree with points 2 and 3, however my 2.7k footage on a friends big old 4 k tv looks superb. Can't agree with you on point 1 though, there is no 'binning' on any of the 30fps modes, just 60fps. And, due to the compression routines, 2.7k actually looks better on a sub 4K screen. Possibly not on a 4K screen though, haven't tried that.


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[J-Dub]

and I should have taken longer to familiarise myself with it.

At least you were out in the middle of Nature. I've lost count to how many posts about people losing it on their first flight because it went behind a 50-story high rise! Or they immediately test the limits and FPV out to 2miles and 350feet up (LOS, what's that?), and then wonder why something goes wrong...

 

[Pablo]

Fun video! The now famous Mavic Mountain rises again! At the 4:00 mark, if you look at the mountain range in the very far background, those are called the "Catalina's" mountain range . My house would be about in the middle left to right,at the
base. Very close to 100 miles as the crow flies. The sand dunes that you visited are a popular place for us desert dwellers in the winter time. That spot where you were is on the south side of the highway and is called "Buttercup". We always camp on the other side of the highway at "Gordon's Well". At New Years weekend, that place is packed with motor homes and off road vehicles.I missed that trip this year as I was in San Francisco visiting a brother. My son was a little bummed that it worked out that way.Still working on getting all my settings worked into the system.

That's really interesting. Buttercup was pretty windy when I was there. I didn't notice it on the way up the dunes, but when I reached the top the Mavic could only do 2mph on the way back unless in sport mode

Is Mt Lemmon visible in my video? I badly wanted to film up there, but we just couldn't find the time. Although I guess it gets pretty windy up there too!

It's such a beautiful part of the world, which explains my slight over-eagerness to get some good footage there

 

[Pablo]

At least you were out in the middle of Nature. I've lost count to how many posts about people losing it on their first flight because it went behind a 50-story high rise! Or they immediately test the limits and FPV out to 2miles and 350feet up (LOS, what's that?), and then wonder why something goes wrong...

Yes virtually ever other "lost Mavic" thread seems to be in residential/city areas. A common theme for a reason I think.

 

[J-Dub]

"I saw it on YouTube! He took it outa the box, charged it up, flew it inside his residence, then went out to the Hudson Bay and cruised around the Statue Of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline, then Whoops! Into the Hudson, gone!" Of course the Vlogger received the gift from DJI to help sell this thing. And the hits he gets from his video will pay for his child's college career....sorry to vent.

 

[spiderpig]

"I saw it on YouTube! He took it outa the box, charged it up, flew it inside his residence, then went out to the Hudson Bay and cruised around the Statue Of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline, then Whoops! Into the Hudson, gone!" Of course the Vlogger received the gift from DJI to help sell this thing. And the hits he gets from his video will pay for his child's college career....sorry to vent.

That's got Casey Neistat written all over it. I'm surprised he's not under investigation by the FAA for all the drone rules he breaks when he flies.

 

[Robbyg]

I
2. In two years you may have a better computer with a 4k screen. Do you think you will want to look at your 1080p footage from 2017 with that?s

Three week ago I setup a complete $8K Home Theater system for a friend. He bought a $5K TV an LG 65" OLED TV along with a sound system, HDR Blu-ray player etc.

Long story short was that after a full professional calibration the TV looked really good with 4K source material that had very high Bit Rates but it was almost impossible to tell Netflix 4K from Netflix 1080p we actually had to monitor the routers data usage to be sure it was 4K.

The one big disappointment was that even 4K HDR Blu-rays looked almost the same as a 1080P blu-ray when you sat back 10ft from the TV. Yes there was ever so slight of a difference but the only time it became noticeable was when you stood 2 feet from the TV.

I agree that 4K is the way to shoot for future proofing but don't expect the image from the Mavic's camera to give you any huge improvement over 1080P.