Jittery Time Lapse: What would cause this?

[Paul Harvey]

I took this time lapse with my Air 3 last night around 5pm. There was no wind to speak of and I was only about 10 feet in the air, yet the video turned out unusable. I've taken other time lapses with this drone and did not have this problem. Any ideas?

 

[jedpause]

Yes I've seen the same..in bright light also.. I'm going to try again with some advice I saw to track an object first then record.. Even though your drone is still

 

[SkyeHigh]

Low altitude can also be your enemy in cases like this where even light breezes interact with the ground/vegetation and ‘disturb’ the air. Make sure also that the ground facing sensors aren’t causing this. I’ve had cases at similar heights where my M2P has gone wild over a field of kale that was moving in a very light breeze with sunlight reflecting off the leafs.

 

[Paul Harvey]

Low altitude can also be your enemy in cases like this where even light breezes interact with the ground/vegetation and ‘disturb’ the air. Make sure also that the ground facing sensors aren’t causing this. I’ve had cases at similar heights where my M2P has gone wild over a field of kale that was moving in a very light breeze with sunlight reflecting off the leafs.

Ok, thanks!

 

[dmiles119]

Low altitude can also be your enemy in cases like this where even light breezes interact with the ground/vegetation and ‘disturb’ the air. Make sure also that the ground facing sensors aren’t causing this. I’ve had cases at similar heights where my M2P has gone wild over a field of kale that was moving in a very light breeze with sunlight reflecting off the leafs.

I wonder if turning off the sensors using sport mode would help this, if that is the cause. I have the same situation with my M3 Pro, so definitely following this thread.

 

[wcmead]

I took this time lapse with my Air 3 last night around 5pm. There was no wind to speak of and I was only about 10 feet in the air, yet the video turned out unusable. I've taken other time lapses with this drone and did not have this problem. Any ideas?

Holding "still" for a photo is much more demanding than the positioning signals for the drone. Tiny adjustments are constantly being made, and this will show up as jitter in a time lapse.

 

[Paul Harvey]

Holding "still" for a photo is much more demanding than the positioning signals for the drone. Tiny adjustments are constantly being made, and this will show up as jitter in a time lapse.

I took this with an Air 2s. Note from the trees how windy it is yet the bird stays rock steady. I usually get the same results from my Air 3.

 

[wcmead]

Interesting. That certainly looks great. Is there any difference in frame rate or shutter speed? Does the jitter depend on the camera angle? This looks straight down. Is the perspective the same in your jittery videos.

Here are a couple other ideas (no definite basis in fact) to consider.

Is it possible that the drone has image stabilization via gimbal movement that uses image features to compensate for drone motion? If so, the success of stabilization could depend on contrast and sharp features. You might be able to detect this with hand-held tests.

Does the problem persist? Is it possible that the gimbal has been damaged? Or is defective?

Can you get help from DJI support?

If you figure this out, the answer would be of interest to other drone photographers. Good luck.

 

[Paul Harvey]

Interesting. That certainly looks great. Is there any difference in frame rate or shutter speed? Does the jitter depend on the camera angle? This looks straight down. Is the perspective the same in your jittery videos.

Not sure about the frame rate & shutter speed. Both cameras were set to 'Auto.' Yes, this vid is from straight up looking down. I've only had one; the one I posted above.

Here are a couple other ideas (no definite basis in fact) to consider.

Is it possible that the drone has image stabilization via gimbal movement that uses image features to compensate for drone motion? If so, the success of stabilization could depend on contrast and sharp features. You might be able to detect this with hand-held tests.

Does the problem persist? Is it possible that the gimbal has been damaged? Or is defective?

Can you get help from DJI support?

If you figure this out, the answer would be of interest to other drone photographers. Good luck.

Thanks for your helpful advice. However, luckily, the problem went away on its own

 

[conchman]

Hyperlapses just dont work properly at low altitude, you need to be at least 150 to 200 feet high, IMO.

 

[Paul Harvey]

Hyperlapses just dont work properly at low altitude, you need to be at least 150 to 200 feet high, IMO.

Thanks. Is that just for drones? I shoot hyperlapses from the ground using my phone, Osmo Pocket 3, and mirrorless Nikon with great results.

 

[jephoto]

I took this with an Air 2s. Note from the trees how windy it is yet the bird stays rock steady. I usually get the same results from my Air 3.

Hey Paul. Curious about your settings for the time lapse here.
What was your shutter, speed, frame, rate, and interval?
Wonder if using an ND filter and slower shutter speeds would make the movement of the cars a bit smoother?

 

[Kilrah]

Thanks. Is that just for drones? I shoot hyperlapses from the ground using my phone, Osmo Pocket 3, and mirrorless Nikon with great results.

Well things that are tied to the ground aren't being moved around by the wind...

 

[Paul Harvey]

Hey Paul. Curious about your settings for the time lapse here.
What was your shutter, speed, frame, rate, and interval?
Wonder if using an ND filter and slower shutter speeds would make the movement of the cars a bit smoother?

Not sure about the frame rate & shutter speed. Both cameras were set to 'Auto.' Interval was probably 3 or 4. Slower shutter speed would blur the cars. Didn't want that.