I suck at this: Video settings help, please!

thebigbaddan · Apr 29, 2018

I'm looking for some basic help here getting good video from the Mavic Air. I know some of you are photographers who take this type of thing for granted, but I've only played a photographer on television (I do have a Sony NEX which is semi-legit, but no real skills with it). Or perhaps there is a "Mavic Air video settings for NEWBS" post that you can direct me to...

I shot the following using auto exposure. I haven't been having the greatest of luck with setting up the right exposure/speed, etc., so I decided to just use auto. I'm thinking I should just use manual though. Everything looks pretty gray to me in this. Any advice?

I'm using no filters here on auto... I do have an ND 32 and ND 64, but didn't use them for this. I'm flying in cinematic mode in 4k. Slight wind, around 6:30pm, it's a little overcast so not the BEST day for the shot but I wanted to get a practice run in, and I still think there could be a bit more color in it.

Here's the video:

My settings are attached... it seems the only thing you can change in auto mode is EV. What is EV, BTW?

(And tomorrow is another snowboarding day, so looking forward to getting some good footage in the mountains with your advice as well!)

Thanks!

Simmo · Apr 30, 2018

ND filter will definately help you here.
Note your EV value was +2, rotate your right thumbwheel and bring that down to around 0, that will also help.

FL1H1 · Apr 30, 2018

thebigbaddan said:
I'm looking for some basic help here getting good video from the Mavic Air. I know some of you are photographers who take this type of thing for granted, but I've only played a photographer on television (I do have a Sony NEX which is semi-legit, but no real skills with it). Or perhaps there is a "Mavic Air video settings for NEWBS" post that you can direct me to...

I shot the following using auto exposure. I haven't been having the greatest of luck with setting up the right exposure/speed, etc., so I decided to just use auto. I'm thinking I should just use manual though. Everything looks pretty gray to me in this. Any advice?

I'm using no filters here on auto... I do have an ND 32 and ND 64, but didn't use them for this. I'm flying in cinematic mode in 4k. Slight wind, around 6:30pm, it's a little overcast so not the BEST day for the shot but I wanted to get a practice run in, and I still think there could be a bit more color in it.

Here's the video:

My settings are attached... it seems the only thing you can change in auto mode is EV. What is EV, BTW?

(And tomorrow is another snowboarding day, so looking forward to getting some good footage in the mountains with your advice as well!)

Thanks!

My advice is to just search you tube. Search best camera settings for Mavic, stuff like that. Search How I lost my Mavic platinum by Tom's tech time, he's very very good. Also filters for Mavic Pro and how to use them. Best camera techniques for Mavic Pro, stuff like that. There's a wealth of info to be had there

InvisibleName · Apr 30, 2018

Simmo said:
ND filter will definately help you here.
Note your EV value was +2, rotate your right thumbwheel and bring that down to around 0, that will also help.

Don't have a right thumbwheel on a Mavic AIR controller

Simmo · Apr 30, 2018

InvisibleName said:
Don't have a right thumbwheel on a Mavic AIR controller

Geesh..inferior products.... ok, use that little screen thing to turn it down....

Kevjones777 · Apr 30, 2018

InvisibleName said:
Don't have a right thumbwheel on a Mavic AIR controller

You guys had me worried for a second as well, went rushing to find my controller to see if I missed a wheel

donmvt · Apr 30, 2018

Do you have a polarized filter?
Mine seems to make the color pop pretty good.

FL1H1 · May 1, 2018

donmvt said:
Do you have a polarized filter?
Mine seems to make the color pop pretty good.

That's what they do, used one all the time in traditional photography. A good app to get is Polar Pro. This makes putting THE RIGHT filter on a breeze. Terrific app.

thebigbaddan · May 1, 2018

Thanks guys and gals.

My last "shoot" I dropped the EV down to 0 and used an ND 64. Much better! (See this: Chooo-choo!!! (Mavic Air train impression)) -- I'm still using Auto, I think the next step is going back to manual.

Am still going to go back and get that footage for my church when the sky is blue, when I do we can see a before and after comparison.

I don't have a polarized filter, although I did order one (from China, so the shipping is slow AF), but I do have an ND 32 and ND 64 filter. I usually just leave the ND 32 on there.

Mossiback · May 1, 2018

Learn to use the histogram. Sometimes it is hard to tell lighting on your display but the histogram will show whether a shot is more over or under exposed.

toddellis · May 5, 2018

+1 on histogram ... it's pretty blown out but it can be 80% fixed in post.

RaYiTa · May 5, 2018

I see:

- Framerate: 30 fps
- Shutterspeed: 1/30
- ISO: 3200
- Color profile looks like to me D-log or D-Cinelog (flat profiles with less saturation, like your footage)
- WB: 4700 K

What to do:

- Shoot in Manual
- If you are shooting with 30 fps, set your shutterspeed to 1/60 (2 x fps)
- If you don't manage 1/60, use a proper ND filter to lower your shutterspeed to get the 1/60 sec.
- Drop your ISO to 100 (or as low as possible).
- WB: between 5600 - 6000 K (if you want to use a custom setting at daylight))
- If you're using D-log or D-Cinelog, footage needs to be color corrected and evt. color graded in post processing.

It seems to me that you want to take video's without to know the right settings.
Learn how to do this, Youtube is your friend.

RaYiTa · May 5, 2018

donmvt said:
Do you have a polarized filter?
Mine seems to make the color pop pretty good.

I would say: start with the correct settings!

FMR · May 5, 2018

thebigbaddan said:
I'm looking for some basic help here getting good video from the Mavic Air. I know some of you are photographers who take this type of thing for granted, but I've only played a photographer on television (I do have a Sony NEX which is semi-legit, but no real skills with it). Or perhaps there is a "Mavic Air video settings for NEWBS" post that you can direct me to...

I shot the following using auto exposure. I haven't been having the greatest of luck with setting up the right exposure/speed, etc., so I decided to just use auto. I'm thinking I should just use manual though. Everything looks pretty gray to me in this. Any advice?

I'm using no filters here on auto... I do have an ND 32 and ND 64, but didn't use them for this. I'm flying in cinematic mode in 4k. Slight wind, around 6:30pm, it's a little overcast so not the BEST day for the shot but I wanted to get a practice run in, and I still think there could be a bit more color in it.

Here's the video:

My settings are attached... it seems the only thing you can change in auto mode is EV. What is EV, BTW?

(And tomorrow is another snowboarding day, so looking forward to getting some good footage in the mountains with your advice as well!)

Thanks!

For starters not sure which part of the World you live in however would say your local laws governing UAV flight include zero flight over roads and populated areas.
Be sure of your restrictions don't get in trouble **

modbuilder · May 5, 2018

+1 on RaYiTa's recommendations. A few other suggestions based on my Mavic experience:

With regard to focus -- I prefer to fly with AFC (auto focus continuous) turned off. After I take off, I'll use the screen touch in Focus mode to focus out to infinity and let it ride. Occasionally I'll need to focus up close but not often.

Auto exposure seems to do pretty well. I'll show it what part of the image I want it to expose to when needed. If you compose your landscape videos with lot of sky showing when the ground is your target, and vice versa, you'll have exposure troubles. Keep the camera pointed so that you have mostly sky or mostly ground, and the auto exposure will give you happier results.

Regarding the polarized flter -- I also keep a polarized filter on almost all the time, but on the Mavic, they're so hard to get on and off, that I don't go through the process of rotating it find where it works properly. I'm also constantly changing angles while flying, so it probably doesn't have a single correct rotation anyway. Mostly it makes me feel better to know I have a polarized filter on it.

Note that using the ND filters to slow down shutter speed for smoother play back with the chosen video frame rate, is useful in video, but not so much in photos. In photos, if you shoot the picture while still moving, faster shutter speeds (no ND filtering) will give you sharper results. Better yet -- stop moving while shooting photos.

If you're not sure what temperature to pick in White Balance, the presets are pretty good -- "Sunny", "Cloudy" etc. If you get a video that's all bluish or yellowish, you got the white balance wrong. It can be fixed in post editing.

Better to stay away from color profiles that need post production processing until you have lot more experience, like RaYiTa said

Something I still have a hard time getting right, is panning from side to side in video -- needs to be done r**e**a**l**l**y slowly, or you'll just have a smear. It seems that if I record the pans slowly enough to keep it looking good, I can actually speed it up in post and still have a decent playback. S L O W Pans are the deal.

In general, for happy video results, I've needed to deaden down the sticks a lot to get smooth video results. Sticks set up for good video are not the best settings for general flying around for grins.

Mostly try some of these suggestions, one at a time if you like, and get lots of experience. You'll be surprised how quickly you start to like your results. BTW -- the autonomous mission programs will give you much smoother and more consistent results than you're likely to get by hand flying. It's worth the trouble to learn to use them.

Hope you find something useful in here. Lots to chew on............... R

modbuilder · May 5, 2018

More BTW -- you can get some great results on overcast days. If you're shooting architectural stuff, like construction projects, overcast days are the best because you won't have shadows covering up one side of a building. If you're shooting artistic stuff (real estate, landscapes, etc), long shadows (earlier morning, later afternoons) will give you some nice shots if you can move around to take advantage of them

Prmath · May 5, 2018

thebigbaddan said:
I'm looking for some basic help here getting good video from the Mavic Air. I know some of you are photographers who take this type of thing for granted, but I've only played a photographer on television (I do have a Sony NEX which is semi-legit, but no real skills with it). Or perhaps there is a "Mavic Air video settings for NEWBS" post that you can direct me to...

I shot the following using auto exposure. I haven't been having the greatest of luck with setting up the right exposure/speed, etc., so I decided to just use auto. I'm thinking I should just use manual though. Everything looks pretty gray to me in this. Any advice?

I'm using no filters here on auto... I do have an ND 32 and ND 64, but didn't use them for this. I'm flying in cinematic mode in 4k. Slight wind, around 6:30pm, it's a little overcast so not the BEST day for the shot but I wanted to get a practice run in, and I still think there could be a bit more color in it.

Here's the video:

My settings are attached... it seems the only thing you can change in auto mode is EV. What is EV, BTW?

(And tomorrow is another snowboarding day, so looking forward to getting some good footage in the mountains with your advice as well!)

Thanks!

NO....... you do Not. You are in the learning mode. That’s all
Enjoy the R&D

thebigbaddan · May 5, 2018

Wow, thanks all... Some great tips to point me in the right direction.

RaYiTa · May 5, 2018

thebigbaddan said:
Thanks guys and gals.

My last "shoot" I dropped the EV down to 0 and used an ND 64. Much better! (See this: Chooo-choo!!! (Mavic Air train impression)) -- I'm still using Auto, I think the next step is going back to manual.

Am still going to go back and get that footage for my church when the sky is blue, when I do we can see a before and after comparison.

I don't have a polarized filter, although I did order one (from China, so the shipping is slow AF), but I do have an ND 32 and ND 64 filter. I usually just leave the ND 32 on there.

Why are you using an ND64 filter in Auto mode??
It seems to me that you don't have any idea of how and in particular when to use an ND filter.
There are no moving objects in your footage, so no need for an ND filter and no need for a shutterspeed of 1/60.

Brojon · May 6, 2018

thebigbaddan said:
Thanks guys and gals.

My last "shoot" I dropped the EV down to 0 and used an ND 64. Much better! (See this: Chooo-choo!!! (Mavic Air train impression)) -- I'm still using Auto, I think the next step is going back to manual.

Am still going to go back and get that footage for my church when the sky is blue, when I do we can see a before and after comparison.

I don't have a polarized filter, although I did order one (from China, so the shipping is slow AF), but I do have an ND 32 and ND 64 filter. I usually just leave the ND 32 on there.

ND 32 is the best choice on a bright day to keep the shutter speed under 100 fps. I use ND32 on sunny days no clouds, ND16 with clouds.
ND64 is useful with the Phantom 4 Pro since you want to keep the aperture at f5.6 or lower for best detail.
Cheap filters aren't your friend - fit and finish plus niceties like anti-glare coatings are things that will likely be missing on them.
Polarpro is a group of enthusiasts that know photography and have excellent products. Pretty much the gold standard and they also support forums such as this.
I have a cheapo ND32 I bought to check out. When I can get it on all the way I feel like I'm going to tear the cameras in half getting it off. Plus I can tell it's heavier as it causes the gimbal cal to flail about.
Needless to say I bought a Polarpro that is a much better product. Plus they stand behind their products - I had one the inner grip web came out and they had a replacement to me posthaste. That's the kind of service you should expect - good luck when it's slow boat from China - literally.
Just an FYI.