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

[blacksheep]

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

The flickering was driving me insane too, sooo happy i can potentially fix it so I can go shoot whatever the best settings are for sharpness and detail and not worry about it

I am doing everything in Resolve, mostly motovlogs as drone stuff is only a small part of my video work. I just finished building a PC with a monster graphics card and it runs nicely. Previously using FCPX on a 12" MacBook which was ok but Resolve barely runs on it

 

[Shawn3D]

Here's a video with the settings to work with. Philip Bloom the famous filmmaker approves this film. Watch it on YouTube app to get the full quality playback

D-log +1/-3/0 2.7k 25P(upscaled to 4k)

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[Gastone360]

very interesting.....considering that on 2.7k flickering is much more under control
thank you, I'll try....but I have a simple Surface pro 4 and I think I should wait hours and hours to render 1 minute footage....right?

 

[Tommmy]

The flickering was driving me insane too, sooo happy i can potentially fix it so I can go shoot whatever the best settings are for sharpness and detail and not worry about it

I am doing everything in Resolve, mostly motovlogs as drone stuff is only a small part of my video work. I just finished building a PC with a monster graphics card and it runs nicely. Previously using FCPX on a 12" MacBook which was ok but Resolve barely runs on it

cool man, i'm glad you helped us overcome on this issue, tonight i'll make some test, if i find a sweetspot in settings, ill share. so far it seems it will eliminate the flickering problem, you made my day man. big ups.

 

[Gastone360]

Something new????

 

[nomnomnom]

Something new????

Yep, it's fixed! The solution is PHANTOM PRO

 

[Gastone360]

phantom pro is too big and fat, useless for me and flickering is present on it, just better and less intrusive.
No, the solution is 2.7k with verticali little flickering and resolution seems on par with 4k.
I agree with deadwings, 4k on mavic pro seems a 2.7k just more sharpened!!

 

[NorthernWild]

Has anyone been using Neat to help eliminate the flicker?

 

[Fixaldo]

Has anyone been using Neat to help eliminate the flicker?

Neat works great, but takes a lot of time to render. The integrated noise reduction software in davinci resolve is much faster to render and setup. Both programs cost almost the same. Just be aware that Davinci resolve is a GPU related program oppose to Neat that use more CPU power. I have a laptop with a GPU GTX1060 and can render realtime with noise reduction (davinci resolve). Removes flicker completely if I shot 2.7k +1sharpnes.

 

[NorthernWild]

Thanks for the insight but unfortunately I have to acquire 4K only. I also contacted DJI to enquire about solutions. However, as always, they take no responsibility for any issues with any of the short coming, defects and poor engineering in their products. Although FreeFly is more expensive, I have complete respect for their customer service and support.

 

[Fixaldo]

Thanks for the insight but unfortunately I have to acquire 4K only. I also contacted DJI to enquire about solutions. However, as always, they take no responsibility for any issues with any of the short coming, defects and poor engineering in their products. Although FreeFly is more expensive, I have complete respect for their customer service and support.

Most edit programs today have quite smart upscale algorithms. Most people will not see any difference between a proper upscale 2.7kto4k vs native 4k mavic footage. Yes, It is possible if you do some sort of pixel peeping on a dead still resolution chart or 5 inches from a tv going back and forth 2.7k and 4k in a rapid manner. But who would do that with a client . Most clients will not tell the difference from an actual shot, nor have any interest as long as it looks good.

Bad framing, Shaky footage, out of focus, underexposed/overexposed image, compression artefacts, flickery image… All that will most likely be a subject. That said. IMO there is less pronounced flicker(GOP artefacts) with the 2.7k setting compare to the 4k when it comes to the mavic. That is why I recommend 2.7k/24fps (50-100 shutter) for any professional use.

 

[Supercaliber]

I just tried 4k 30fps -2 and its horrendous. it ruined a very good morning..Didn't Deadwing suggest 4k -2?..There is still more detail in 4K OVER 2.7k..The camera really sucks on the Mavic anyway so trying to make it look good is fruitless.

 

[Gastone360]

Deadwings suggests 2.7k - 1 at the end. I feel very well with 2.7 kids and zero sharpness with polarpro filters attached... Very good image and on par with 4k and I see my footage on a 4k oled TV...

 

[Steve7sisters]

Hello everyone


I got my Mavic since a few days, and being an experienced photographer and good experience with video as well, I'm really disappointed.

I've done three days of intense tests, pictures quality is really good, videos quality (compression algorithm) is appalling. Below raw footage in DLOG, all manual, 2.7k 30fps (same thing in 4k 30fps, just worse), 240 shutter, but this problem is the same at 60 or 1000...the problem is the 8 frames GOP compression, it makes any change of exposure/details horribly flickering most of all when there's none to small movement.

This is raw footage...clouds rolling, so light changing, loads of details on the bottom and a more static/detailed in the upper half..result is disastrous. But even on more static or less detailed subjects, shadows suffer terribly of this problem, as well as any detail.

I've seen and tried Flicker Free plugin, but it doesn't solve really always the problem, and cannot be a solution to a problem that is obvious in Mavic firmware/compression settings!

Any suggestion/feedback?

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[Steve7sisters]

That is a terrible video what was it shot in?

 

[Fixaldo]

I just tried 4k 30fps -2 and its horrendous. it ruined a very good morning..Didn't Deadwing suggest 4k -2?..There is still more detail in 4K OVER 2.7k..The camera really sucks on the Mavic anyway so trying to make it look good is fruitless.

I would guess that -2 sharpens is the main problem in your case. Most detail will be lost if you shoot bellow 0 sharpness in low light. Be sure to expose with the histogram graph to the right side.

 

[Gastone360]

ok, I've just tried the temporal denoise in Resolve and...it works! It does not eliminate the problem but it certainly reduce it ...
The problem is that, in my case, for 1 minute you have to wait 1h for the rendering...... : ): ): )

With sharpness at Zero, flickering is almost gone in 2.7k and quite acceptable in 4k.
The best setting remains sharpness at +1 with all the settings but I found my goal with 4k at zero or 2.7k at +1
Maybe 2.7k remains the best compromise between quality, compression and file size (but 4k is simply better on 4k screens)

p.s. readind FIXALDO I should try to upscale the 2.7k footage.....maybe is close to the native 4k

 

[deadwing]

ok, I've just tried the temporal denoise in Resolve and...it works! It does not eliminate the problem but it certainly reduce it ...
The problem is that, in my case, for 1 minute you have to wait 1h for the rendering...... : ): ): )

With sharpness at Zero, flickering is almost gone in 2.7k and quite acceptable in 4k.
The best setting remains sharpness at +1 with all the settings but I found my goal with 4k at zero or 2.7k at +1
Maybe 2.7k remains the best compromise between quality, compression and file size (but 4k is simply better on 4k screens)

p.s. readind FIXALDO I should try to upscale the 2.7k footage.....maybe is close to the native 4k

Yes I think that if 4k is your target, then upscaling from 2.7k will produce less 'artifacts' then 4k with any sharpness higher than -1, in particular for the most demanding (details and lots of contrast) scenes.

I keep shooting pro footage with the Mavic and using 2.7K NTSC 60hz - 24fps with sharpness -1 and up to 400 iso (always in DLOG) produces the most 'cinema like' footage (that is the most natural looking and ready for grading).

Would be good to have a better camera on it, but still an amazingly cheap device for the quality you can get out of it

 

[Fixaldo]

Hi Gastone360,


I did some test with moving foliage (moving trees and grass) 4k vs 2.7k. My findings was that 4k presented more flicker noise and actually less real detail in some cases. It did look sharper, but when compared side by side, there was some loss in detail in places with a lot of movement. I’m guessing that the 4k codec gets more stressed in high texture scenes compare to 2.7k. +1 shp seem to do quite good job, but needs noise reduction to get rid of the mosquito noise and flicker. To me this gives a more stable look. Davinci resolve does a good job upscaling from 2.7k to 4k. Most people will not tell.

PS. You need a decent GPU to render fast in davinci resolve. I use a laptop with a 1060gtx (6gig ram) and can render 1min scenes in a couple of minutes with noise reduction and 4-5 extra colour correction nods.

 

[Gastone360]

thank you, I'll try a 2.7k with sharpness +1 and the same scene at 4k zero and than compare the 2.7k upscaled in Davinci with this native 4k. If the difference in minimal or non existent, I'll shoot in 2.7k and than upscale in 4k if I need 4k....

I'm an amateur but flickering bother me a lot and the fact is that on my tv (OLED 4k) I can see the 4k footage at zero better than the 2.7k with +1. The 4k is clearly sharper....maybe i loss some real detail but I didn't make a real, fine comparison side by side to confirm this.