Mavic 2 Pro - Is this video normal or Juddery?

[kpundit]

I downloaded the video and put it into Mediainfo. The video is 3840x2160 23.976 (24 fps) progressive, 8-bit depth with a chroma subsampling of 4:2:0. It is AVC (h.264).

The juddery look is entirely due to the video being 24 fps progressive. This frame rate is simply not high enough to fool your eye into thinking it is seeing smooth motion. Your "persistence of vision" requires rates of double that in order to avoid judder because you can actually perceive the individual frames at this low frame rate.

Hollywood movies are shot at this rate, but you seldom are aware of the judder because the DP is trained to not pan the camera horizontally at a fast speed, and not to let large objects move horizontally through the frame while too near the camera.

30 fps is a little better, but you'll still have problems. If smooth video is a priority, then you must give up on 4K and instead use the HD (1920x1080) 60 fps setting.

This makes sense. I finally got around playing with the drone today and even with 30fps and 1/60 or even higher I still see the judder.. although it seems better than 24 fps. When I switched to 2.7K 60 fps, there is no judder even though I panned the camera slightly faster than at 4k.

I guess without any postproduction involved, the drone is optimized for 2.7K if using footage as is from the MP2.

Thank you.

 

[kpundit]

For those with about 15 minutes to spare who want to know more about the frame rate development, I found the following video by Filmmaker IQ very informative.

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Thank you, this is good video.

 

[Mordor]

I feel a complete idiot here.....
I use 1080P at 60 and Auto. Or 2.7 at 60, Auto.

What im doing wrong? Photos i know the basis...but video.....what a pain.

 

[Thomas B]

I feel a complete idiot here.....
I use 1080P at 60 and Auto. Or 2.7 at 60, Auto.

What im doing wrong? Photos i know the basis...but video.....what a pain.

Go to manual settings. Keep ISO at 100. Experiment a bit.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This makes sense. I finally got around playing with the drone today and even with 30fps and 1/60 or even higher I still see the judder.. although it seems better than 24 fps. When I switched to 2.7K 60 fps, there is no judder even though I panned the camera slightly faster than at 4k.

I guess without any postproduction involved, the drone is optimized for 2.7K if using footage as is from the MP2.

Thank you.

It's not so much that the M2 is optimized for 2.7K at 60fps, but that 2.7K is the best video resolution quality that still supports 60fps. The key is 60fps, which minimizes judder when panning at any video quality, . Unfortunately, the M2 cameras are not capable of 4K 60fps because of heat issues, and the 4K frame rate had to be reduced to 30fps, which requires paying more attention to slowing down panning speeds to minimize judder. Essentially, the M2 is optimized to fully support 4K at 30fps.

 

[johnmeyer]

It's not so much that the M2 is optimized for 2.7K at 60fps, but that 2.7K is the best video resolution quality that still supports 60fps. The key is 60fps, which minimizes judder when panning at any video quality, . Unfortunately, the M2 cameras are not capable of 4K 60fps because of heat issues, and the 4K frame rate had to be reduced to 30fps, which requires paying more attention to slowing down panning speeds to minimize judder. Essentially, the M2 is optimized to fully support 4K at 30fps.

One note: you can take good-looking, judder-free 24 fps video, but you have to adhere to the rules that Hollywood has followed for almost a century.

Here is a good blog post that can guide you:

Cinematography Tip: Capture Smooth Panning Shots at 24fps

 

[GadgetGuy]

Exactly!

One note: you can take good-looking, judder-free 24 fps video, but you have to adhere to the rules that Hollywood has followed for almost a century.

Here is a good blog post that can guide you:

Cinematography Tip: Capture Smooth Panning Shots at 24fps

Exactly! It's more about technique, than an inherent problem! To replace the 4K 60fps of the P4P, which was very forgiving of bad technique, I've since learned to handle 4K 30fps at 4K FOV on the M2P with minimal judder.

 

[Mordor]

Go to manual settings. Keep ISO at 100. Experiment a bit.

And if the scene changes? doesnt it get bad image? One thing is a static photo, but video is not static....