Mavic Pro: why DJI doesn't fix this huge flickering/compression problem?

Buzzik · Feb 27, 2018

Lamplighter55 said:
Only with the paid-for version of DaVinci Resolve can you use the temporal and spacial noise filter(s). I bit the bullet and bought a Neat Video license and with a pre-set noise profile from Film-Poets get good results within acceptable parameters of the originally shot material. In other words there's a lower limit for filming low contrast monochromatic surfaces under low light - where the 8 frame GOP issue becomes too obvious to be filtered out.

I went ahead and bought Neat Video as well. It does remove a good percentage of flickering, but then when I zoom in 150 -200% I see those blurry smoothed out shapes changing every frame - it looks so bad when zoomed in, I wonder how it would look like on an actual 4k screen. One thought I have is that it's because my output bit rate was too low to deal with tree branches and grass, will do another test with 100 CBR

sebastian.bilbao · Feb 27, 2018

Buzzik said:
I went ahead and bought Neat Video as well. It does remove a good percentage of flickering, but then when I zoom in 150 -200% I see those blurry smoothed out shapes changing every frame - it looks so bad when zoomed in, I wonder how it would look like on an actual 4k screen. One thought I have is that it's because my output bit rate was too low to deal with tree branches and grass, will do another test with 100 CBR

I'm testing now, denoiser 3, and it is really good, even better than neat video..

Prismatic · Feb 28, 2018

I don't want to hijack the thread, so could someone point me to a similar thread for the Mavic Air? If this thread touched on the Air, I missed it.

joefilmmaker · Mar 1, 2018

Pathogen said:
I've recently gone through a triple A Hollywood film, that was nearly perfectly immersive, and happen to notice scenes that were brutally over exposed, others with badly blurred details, and other artifacts. Getting that top drawer cinematic effect is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a paradox!

To me the answer to the riddle is simple - though not easy: SOUND. Turn off the hollywood sound and it's amazing how much of the immersive goes away.

klemen dovzan · Mar 9, 2018

sebastian.bilbao said:
I'm testing now, denoiser 3, and it is really good, even better than neat video..

hi i have got denoiser 3 do you have some settings for it ! some suggestions tnx

klemen dovzan · Mar 9, 2018

Oglo said:
Long and well contributed to topic from a lot of wonderful international members.

Love reading everyone's take on how to fix this annoying defect, but basically as I postulated at the beginning of the posts, it's a hardware/software limitation of the video processing chip. This in my mind isn't a fault, just an annoying limitation we have to accept for a product at this price/point.
Most editing that we all do usually involves some form of having to do a final recompress of the footage, which only adds to and compounds this artifact, plus as most people are making a Youtube/Vimeo etc end product, this adds another recompress (artifact enhancing) stage. This could mean 3x compression processes added to the original "off-sensor" image.
We have what we have....... hope really is that DJI read our posts and respond with a Mavic 2 with a good video processing chip - without moving us into the Phantom/Inspire price bracket. The Mavic Air, whilst brilliant, doesn't really address our issue satisfactorily.
This subject topic has been a pleasure to follow, reading the various opinions and subjective conclusions, sometime's at odds, but always expressed with good nature and sincerety (unlike many of the other topics on this forum).

Cheers to all around our connected world.What a fascinating age we live in.

best answer i think footage is just like it this i tried so many things and i didn get any mirricles now for me the best setting is d cine like 2.7k -1-1-1 30 fps and its watchable for things i need i didnt notice much difference using neat video denoiser 3 or some cheap denoisers denoising just slows down my workflow so much and its not so much better anyways !

Gastone360 · Mar 12, 2018

i have some problems with D-cinelike, not in terms of color grading but I see the image "pixellated" and not very natural in some areas such as trees....I found a much better detail in True color mode
I'm afraid of this because I like colors and sharpness from Dcinelike....

gustofusion · Mar 13, 2018

GOP Correction Scripts

Gastone360 · Mar 13, 2018

What are these scripts? Could you explain please? Thank you

gustofusion · Mar 14, 2018

gustofusion said:
View attachment 33490 GOP Correction Scripts

They are extra scripts for the Mavic Encoder thet fix various GOP parameters based on the rate the footage was shot.

Buzzik · Mar 14, 2018

gustofusion said:
They are extra scripts for the Mavic Encoder thet fix various GOP parameters based on the rate the footage was shot.

How do we use it?

trriley5 · Mar 16, 2018

Dlog +1,0,0 ND32 1/60 EV 0.3 Cloudy - this is unedited...

valdi99 · Apr 26, 2018

gustofusion said:
They are extra scripts for the Mavic Encoder thet fix various GOP parameters based on the rate the footage was shot.

Please reply where to find these scripts, gustofusion?

Pawel_PL · Apr 28, 2018

gustofusion said:
They are extra scripts for the Mavic Encoder thet fix various GOP parameters based on the rate the footage was shot.

Any chances to share those scripts?

mdw · May 1, 2018

Kilrah said:
The Mavic Air does not use an Ambarella chip.

The "Mavic problem with bitrate" is not even a bitrate problem, just artifacts from poor processing.

This needs to be pointed out. My GoPro Hero 4 has the same bitrate at 4K resolution and has none of the problems of Mavic.

Shawn3D · May 7, 2018

A working fix that I have used and works extremely well is the SpectrumGrades noise profiles that eliminate the flicker brilliantly. I use them all the time and makes my footage look absolutely crisp and clean. Get them here...

Download Neat Video DJi Mavic Pro Powerful Profiles Pack

modbuilder · May 7, 2018

Just now stumbled onto this thread and plan to enjoy a slow read all the way through for the knowledge building. A quick sampling of posts looks like most of the emphasis is on artistic pretty stuff as opposed to engineering or construction detail in videos of commercial projects.

I'm doing videos of construction projects for project management clients, and they're mostly interested in crystal clear imagery -- well focused, smooth full screen playback on a laptop (no social networks involved), good reaction to moving from light to shadow and back again as I move around a structure/building, great detail. In other words, they want it to look as close as possible to what the eye can see. Cinematic look is not important, color grading just needs to mimic the real thing. Flicker, aliasing, and moire to be avoided at all costs.

If this description triggers any thoughts about a likely best set up in the Mavic, I'd really enjoy hearing about it. It could help a bunch to reduce experimentation.

Shawn3D · May 9, 2018

modbuilder said:
Just now stumbled onto this thread and plan to enjoy a slow read all the way through for the knowledge building. A quick sampling of posts looks like most of the emphasis is on artistic pretty stuff as opposed to engineering or construction detail in videos of commercial projects.

I'm doing videos of construction projects for project management clients, and they're mostly interested in crystal clear imagery -- well focused, smooth full screen playback on a laptop (no social networks involved), good reaction to moving from light to shadow and back again as I move around a structure/building, great detail. In other words, they want it to look as close as possible to what the eye can see. Cinematic look is not important, color grading just needs to mimic the real thing. Flicker, aliasing, and moire to be avoided at all costs.

If this description triggers any thoughts about a likely best set up in the Mavic, I'd really enjoy hearing about it. It could help a bunch to reduce experimentation.

Yeah the true to life look is great too.
Here is something that can help you out to get what you are looking for.
Essentially you want to follow the SpectrumGrades suggested workflow steps, de-noise and then use the true color LUT from HERE

Let me know if it works for you...

Click on the above SpectrumGrades PURE preset LUTs samples

Anterialis · Jan 23, 2019

Wonderful read!
I see that the latest post was from May 2018, has there been any changes by now? Any firmware updates I am unaware of that changes what I've learned by reading this thread?

I totally get that there is no perfect setting, it all depends on what you are shooting (high up few details or lower down high details etc.). If I´ve understood correctly most people here suggest using -1 sharpness (-1, -1, -1) for less noise/sharpening. I have read elsewhere that a +1 setting is suggested for sharpness as this supposedly deactivates the "denoise algorythm" within the Mavic Pro (platinum in my case). But in my case I get terrible moire issues (both 2,7K and 4K, but worse with the latter) in certain settings as well as terrible "blinking" noise in darker detailed areas like trees.

I will test -1, -1, -1 today and stay with 2,7K (usually I output 1080p anyways, and I like saving space on the memory card).

Also, as I don't mind post processing, should I stay with D-log? I am reading conflicting opinions out there. "Stay with D-log as it maximises the dynamic range" and "Might as well use Cinelike as the sensor is so bad anyways that the minute increases in dynamic range does not defend the increase in work in post". Any inputs?

I guess I should summarize:

Q1: Has there been any changes in firmware the past 9 monhts, or do the information in this thread still apply (e.g. sharpness -1, 2,7K "better" than or at least as good as 4K, 2,7K still is limited to 45 Mbit/s)?

Q2: Is it possible to state what the avarage "best" option for the Mavic Pro is? 2,7K, -1, -1, -1, D-log/Cinelike?

Q3: If I don't mind the extra work in post, should I stay with D-log or use Art or Cinelike (if they ease work load without markedly reducing the quality)

Q4: Bonus question

p): I am somewhat familiar with the 180 dgr. rule and thus using twice the shutter as fps (e.g. 25 fps, shutter 1/50.). This creates a look similar to Hollywood movies and dates back to when circular shutters were used, if I've understood correctly. BUT, besides the "cinematic look"/blur, are there other benefits of using this "cinematic shutter" in terms of video quality, noise, moire, etc.?

Thank you all for this wonderful thread, especially to those of you who have spent hours in the fields testing different settings making it easier for folks like myself to maximize quality from this drone =) It sure does have it's limitations, but I will always strive towards best possible results.

deadwing · Jan 23, 2019

Q1) not that I'm aware...I suppose sadly as usual they're more interested in selling more/new products that make the previous ones at least decent..

Q2) I think that is the best overall for less artifacts

Q3) DLOG, no comparison on the quality you can achieve with post processing out of the drone and the cheap processing (any!) from the drone itself

Q4) less frames you use, more quality you have 'per frame' because the max bandwidth is always the same