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

[nomnomnom]

Is anyone else on still on this thread? I just did some sharpness test, and switched between 2k and 4k. Nothing seems to matter, there's a lot of noise flicker in both 4k and 2k. You would have to go down to -1 sharpness to get rid of them, and at that point basically there are no details at all. Take a look at my comparison video:

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I'd love to get some raw footage from you guys to compare.

 

[Oglo]

Still watching these posts....

Your tests basically align with my conclusions, hence I still shoot with +1 in both 2k & 4k otherwise the mushy images in foliage. Exposure(darker areas) seems to have a large impact on the GOP flicker. Others seem to prefer the softer look with less flicker.... it's a subjective decision what sharpening to use, as there is no perfect setting.

I'm not able to send raw footage (away at moment). Thanks for posting the tests.

Is anyone else on still on this thread? I just did some sharpness test, and switched between 2k and 4k. Nothing seems to matter, there's a lot of noise flicker in both 4k and 2k. You would have to go down to -1 sharpness to get rid of them, and at that point basically there are no details at all. Take a look at my comparison video:

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I'd love to get some raw footage from you guys to compare.

 

[blacksheep]

Hi everyone.

I think maybe I have found a solution to the flickering issue. I use Davinci Resolve as an editor and using it's Temporal Noise Reduction feature I was able to completely erase the flickering from a 4K clip I tried it with, seemingly without affecting the look of the clip. I need to do more tests and also I'm going to read the manual so I can understand what all the different settings do but it was quite astonishing to render it out and see no flickering at all.

 

[nomnomnom]

Hi everyone.

I think maybe I have found a solution to the flickering issue. I use Davinci Resolve as an editor and using it's Temporal Noise Reduction feature I was able to completely erase the flickering from a 4K clip I tried it with, seemingly without affecting the look of the clip. I need to do more tests and also I'm going to read the manual so I can understand what all the different settings do but it was quite astonishing to render it out and see no flickering at all.

I don't have DVR, do you mind testing it for me if I send you a small clip to test? I'm just not sure if everyone here is talking about the same flickering problem so I want to make sure we are talking about the same problem. For me, it's a flickering of noise dots. Not really so much flickering in the sense of pulses of light. If that makes sense. See my youtube link above that I shared.

 

[blacksheep]

I don't have DVR, do you mind testing it for me if I send you a small clip to test? I'm just not sure if everyone here is talking about the same flickering problem so I want to make sure we are talking about the same problem. For me, it's a flickering of noise dots. Not really so much flickering in the sense of pulses of light. If that makes sense. See my youtube link above that I shared.

Sure, send me your file to [email protected] and I'll have a look later today or tomorrow

 

[Oglo]

Hey Blacksheep, will really be interested in your further tests with DVR. If you feel you get good results would you mind sharing your DVR settings, as well as some before/after clips?
To me DVR is a really powerful editor/colour-corrector but involves such a steep learning curve that any help is greatly appreciated.
nomnomnom: I've been on this post since early days and the "flickering" is to do with the GOP "pulsing" that happens a few times a second between the key frames of the mpeg compression. Look at the early posts to see explanations.

 

[blacksheep]

Hey Blacksheep, will really be interested in your further tests with DVR. If you feel you get good results would you mind sharing your DVR settings, as well as some before/after clips?
To me DVR is a really powerful editor/colour-corrector but involves such a steep learning curve that any help is greatly appreciated.
nomnomnom: I've been on this post since early days and the "flickering" is to do with the GOP "pulsing" that happens a few times a second between the key frames of the mpeg compression. Look at the early posts to see explanations.

Yep I am happy to do that once I've done some more tests. I fully understand the reason for the flickering, I've read every thread on here about it. I've heard it also described to me as 'keyframe pumping' which seems apt. I use Resolve for my motorbike vids, feel happy it's of use here too

 

[nomnomnom]

Hey Blacksheep, will really be interested in your further tests with DVR. If you feel you get good results would you mind sharing your DVR settings, as well as some before/after clips?
To me DVR is a really powerful editor/colour-corrector but involves such a steep learning curve that any help is greatly appreciated.
nomnomnom: I've been on this post since early days and the "flickering" is to do with the GOP "pulsing" that happens a few times a second between the key frames of the mpeg compression. Look at the early posts to see explanations.

I know the explanation. I already read the whole thread and watched all the possible youtube videos explaining this. I'm just trying to find a fix. Or more accurately, a fix that is bearable (because I can actually fix this, most of the time, with neat video. But the rendering takes 10-15min each clip).

 

[Oglo]

We're all on the same page

Away from my MP for quite awhile now so can't do tests, but wondering if anyone out there has re-looked at this flickering problem after doing the latest firmware upgrade to .1000.
One can't but hope......
I suspect that there is nothing DJI can do about it, it's hardwired into the video encoder chip they use.

 

[nomnomnom]

We're all on the same page

Away from my MP for quite awhile now so can't do tests, but wondering if anyone out there has re-looked at this flickering problem after doing the latest firmware upgrade to .1000.
One can't but hope......
I suspect that there is nothing DJI can do about it, it's hardwired into the video encoder chip they use.

Tested with latest firmware same thing. Noisy as f

 

[Gastone360]

I can say that with the new firmware, the image is sharper by default and with sharpness at ZERO I can see the same detail with previous sharpness at +1. The whole image is clearly sharper than before and white balance is vastly improved in my opinion.
If I'm correct, we could now set 2.7k at 24fps with sharpness at -1 and avoid flickering.....but I didn't make tests to prove that.....

 

[Tommmy]

I can say that with the new firmware, the image is sharper by default and with sharpness at ZERO I can see the same detail with previous sharpness at +1. The whole image is clearly sharper than before and white balance is vastly improved in my opinion.
If I'm correct, we could now set 2.7k at 24fps with sharpness at -1 and avoid flickering.....but I didn't make tests to prove that.....

good news! do you have a footage with 0 sharpness?

 

[philip100]

good news! do you have a footage with 0 sharpness?

looks the same to me
New Mavic Pro Firmware Released (22/08/2017)

 

[Tommmy]

looks the same to me
New Mavic Pro Firmware Released (22/08/2017)

yep, same cr@p
flickering or the blurry image? nice choices
it seems i have to start saving for an inspire

 

[blacksheep]

yep, same cr@p
flickering or the blurry image? nice choices
it seems i have to start saving for an inspire

Or you could shoot with flickering and use Resolve to remove it

 

[Tommmy]

Or you could shoot with flickering and use Resolve to remove it

thank you for your advice, i tried but didnt worked. i'll try again tonight then. maybe i didnt found the correct settings

 

[blacksheep]

thank you for your advice, i tried but didnt worked. i'll try again tonight then. maybe i didnt found the correct settings

Here's what I tried:

Bring your clip in and put it in a timeline.
Go into the Color tab. Go into the Motion Effects tab (the one with the little star on the left of the screen)
Under Temporal NR, choose 5 frames from the dropdown menu. The two options below that you need to set based on how much motion is in the scene and how good quality you want (better = slower)
Under Temporal Threshold use say 20, I don't think cranking that right up is a good idea. Not sure about the motion field below that but I'd have a play round with it.

 

[Tommmy]

Here's what I tried:

Bring your clip in and put it in a timeline.
Go into the Color tab. Go into the Motion Effects tab (the one with the little star on the left of the screen)
Under Temporal NR, choose 5 frames from the dropdown menu. The two options below that you need to set based on how much motion is in the scene and how good quality you want (better = slower)
Under Temporal Threshold use say 20, I don't think cranking that right up is a good idea. Not sure about the motion field below that but I'd have a play round with it.

made a quick render on a few seconds of a previously graded clip and with all the values setted to 20, it seems the flickering is less noticeable, ill fine tune it later today
great advice, thank you for your help, it seems it will work, you are a life saver

 

[blacksheep]

made a quick render on a few seconds of a previously graded clip and with all the values setted to 20, it seems the flickering is less noticeable, ill fine tune it later today
great advice, thank you for your help, it seems it will work, you are a life saver

No problem. As I mentioned I've not tried this on many clips yet but I got so excited when it worked I had to come on here and share lol

I just figured out how to use Power Bins in Resolve, that lets you share bins between projects, I can see it being fantastic for my drone footage library

 

[Tommmy]

No problem. As I mentioned I've not tried this on many clips yet but I got so excited when it worked I had to come on here and share lol

I just figured out how to use Power Bins in Resolve, that lets you share bins between projects, I can see it being fantastic for my drone footage library

its very nice of you, because as i see, lots of us are really frustrated by this problem because besides this flickering issue that small mavic sensor is absolutely not that bad, im a first timer of drones but still managed to make some really pretty results, and with your workaround i can finally upload some footage and not cause epileptic seizures to viewers haha
so that power bins basically inter-project presets? are you making everything in da vinci? im working in fcpx right now, i think ill only using dvr to deflicker because the preview quality is not good, my mac (2012) is not able to handle that in good quality like is fcpx