Please critique...

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

Used to be a professional photographer (Past Tense), getting back into the swing of things in regards to Videography and B Roll clips... let me get your honest opinion so that I may get better at this new world that I’m in...Please enjoy...

UAVNV · Nov 28, 2017

nice video cool music, can yo

UAVNV · Nov 28, 2017

UAVNV said:
nice video cool music, can yo

u post your video settings? footage looks a but mushy

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

That’s what I’m trying to get dialed in at this point. I think I may have to go back into YouTube and get in some more learning...

That is unless you have the correct export settings available. Thanks...

Simmo · Nov 28, 2017

Are you tapping the screen to focus it mate?
Also look at You tube how to slow down and smooth the yaw.
Have you checked out cinemagraphic modes or tripod modes?
Have you invested in filters?
Otherwise some nice footage bud!!!

Mavic Ray · Nov 28, 2017

You need to post to youtube with 1080p resolution. It will look a lot better.

wesleyelder · Nov 28, 2017

Hi,

Max res i can get on YouTube is 480p did you upload a small version of the file?

Seems to be a little overexposed in some locations or did you record in a flat profile? ( D-Cinelike or Dlog ) looks like it needs some colour grading too.

Thanks,
Wes

snoopdrone · Nov 28, 2017

i am new to this world, cool video just need to control the focus and use the focus to infinity

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

Simmo said:
Are you tapping the screen to focus it mate?
Also look at You tube how to slow down and smooth the yaw.
Have you checked out cinemagraphic modes or tripod modes?
Have you invested in filters?
Otherwise some nice footage bud!!!

Thanks Buddy! I do have 6 ND filters that I use pretty much every time I fly. I also need to get in the habit of in the different modes such as Tripod and Cinema. I also have it on Autofocus and the controller (C2) programmed to Center Focus as well. Still dialing things in as my still shots are super clear and on point.

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

wesleyelder said:
Hi,

Max res i can get on YouTube is 480p did you upload a small version of the file?

Seems to be a little overexposed in some locations or did you record in a flat profile? ( D-Cinelike or Dlog ) looks like it needs some colour grading too.

Thanks,
Wes

Thanks Wes for the feedback...

I upload/export from Premier Pro CC in QuickTime and H.264 and set my MP to shoot in DLOG. Premier Pro CC is where my learning curve is the greatest. Color grading, layers, adjustment layers, all of it is pretty overwhelming but I’ll get the hang of it...

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

Mavic Ray said:
You need to post to youtube with 1080p resolution. It will look a lot better.

I have my MP shooting in 4K and post process in Premier Pro CC in 4K as well. Should I bump it down to 1080p in Premier Pro before I export?

Ren57 · Nov 28, 2017

GooterFly68 said:
Used to be a professional photographer (Past Tense), getting back into the swing of things in regards to Videography and B Roll clips... let me get your honest opinion so that I may get better at this new world that I’m in...Please enjoy...

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First, like most people have already said, make sure you tap the screen to focus as soon as you start recording. As for settings, it's really down to each individual user, what works for one person will probably be different than the next person. But this is what works for me. Firstly, always shoot in 2.7K or 4K, both are good, on the firmware that I use you can't use the zoom option with 4K, so I use 2.7K a lot just because I can use the Zoom function. Use manual camera settings. These can be subjective but at the very least make sure the sharpening setting is set to +1. If you have the sharpening set at 0 or below, you will get fuzzy patches in your video, especially in areas of the video that have a lot of contrast. ND filters are also good, they do nothing for the overall quality of the video but they let you use lower ISO settings that are known for better video. Set the ISO to 100 set the frame rate to24 or 25fps set white balance between 6500 - 6900. If you don't use ND filters, your ISO will need to be between 800 -1200 on sunny days to get anything like good video. This can make the video look jerky and sometimes have a strange flickering effect on it. Using ND filters stops all that. These settings work for me, others will prefer different settings but it's a good place to start... Then use trial and error until you find the settings that work for you.

Safe flying!

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

Ren57 said:
First, like most people have already said, make sure you tap the screen to focus as soon as you start recording. As for settings, it's really down to each individual user, what works for one person will probably be different than the next person. But this is what works for me. Firstly, always shoot in 2.7K or 4K, both are good, on the firmware that I use you can't use the zoom option with 4K, so I use 2.7K a lot just because I can use the Zoom function. Use manual camera settings. These can be subjective but at the very least make sure the sharpening setting is set to +1. If you have the sharpening set at 0 or below, you will get fuzzy patches in your video, especially in areas of the video that have a lot of contrast. ND filters are also good, they do nothing for the overall quality of the video but they let you use lower ISO settings that are known for better video. Set the ISO to 100 set the frame rate to24 or 25fps set white balance between 6500 - 6900. If you don't use ND filters, your ISO will need to be between 800 -1200 on sunny days to get anything like good video. This can make the video look jerky and sometimes have a strange flickering effect on it. Using ND filters stops all that. These settings work for me, others will prefer different settings but it's a good place to start... Then use trial and error until you find the settings that work for you.

Safe flying!

Thanks Ren57...Super helpful.

GooterFly68 · Nov 28, 2017

GooterFly68 said:
Thanks Ren57...Super helpful.

I also learned that I have the settings on my MP correctly setup. However, posting processing, color grading, and exporting the finished project was all wrong...really wrong! So now, going forward, my projects should look a whole lot better. Fingers crossed...

Thanks again for your guidance Mi Amigo...

Mavic Ray · Nov 30, 2017

GooterFly68 said:
I have my MP shooting in 4K and post process in Premier Pro CC in 4K as well. Should I bump it down to 1080p in Premier Pro before I export?

What I meant was when I went to play the video on YouTube, the mas resolution I could select was like 720p. Not sure if you uploaded in that resolution.

bump · Nov 30, 2017

Ren57 said:
ND filters are also good, they do nothing for the overall quality of the video but they let you use lower ISO settings that are known for better video. Set the ISO to 100 set the frame rate to24 or 25fps set white balance between 6500 - 6900. If you don't use ND filters, your ISO will need to be between 800 -1200 on sunny days to get anything like good video. This can make the video look jerky and sometimes have a strange flickering effect on it. Using ND filters stops all that. These settings work for me, others will prefer different settings but it's a good place to start... Then use trial and error until you find the settings that work for you.

You're confusing ISO with SHUTTER SPEED and the effect of ND filters on exposure. You always want to keep your your ISO as low as possible, 100 when shooting outdoors in the Sun. This is because digital cameras use amplification (gain) to increase ISO sensitivity, which also amplifies the noise that's picked-up from other circuits in the camera and drone. At even higher ISO's you not only have heavy noise but also loose detail and contrast. But outdoors on a sunny day you should never need to go higher than ISO 100.

The rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed 1/(2xFrame_Rate) for smooth video. So if you're shooting at 30 FPS your base shutter speed should be 1/60. (I always shoot at 30 FPS and then conform the clips to 24FPS in Premiere; I feel that the slight reduction in playback speed helps smooth-out the video.) This is a guideline though, not a hard and fast rule. You can increase your shutter speed to reduce motion bur and make motion in your video sharper, but the faster you go the "twitchier" your video will look. Sometimes you might want that kind of effect, but not generally with drone footage. See this article for more on shutter speed vs frame rate: How Shutter Speeds & Frame Rates Can Be Used to Change the Look & Feel of Your Film. Note that you can safely double or triple your shutter speed before jitteriness becomes apparent.

You also want to keep your shutter speed in the range of 1/60-1/200s to avoid "jittery video" (though there are exceptions). Because the Mavic has a fixed f/2.2 aperture, even at ISO 100 you might need shutter speeds as high as 1/4000, even 1/6000s. More info on the "exposure triangle:"
What an ND filter does is cut down on the amount of light reaching the lens, so you can reduce shutter speed without changing ISO or aperture. An ND4 filter will allow you to slow your shutter speed 2 stops (from 1/4000 to 1/1000), ND8 provides 3 stops (1/4000 to 1/500), ND16 provides 4 stops of light reduction (1/4000 to 1/250) and an ND32 provides 5 stops of light reduction (1/4000 to 1/125, which is in the right ballpark).

Its worth mentioning that some ND filters (Polar Pro Cinema Series) add circular polarization to the ND filter. When adjusted properly, these filters can darken the sky and cut down reflections off water, glass and other surfaces. You rotate the filter with respect to the Sun's location, so if you rotate the drone (yaw) you might need to land and re-adjust for best results. (see .

(I don't know how to enter a link without video getting embedded, sorry)

GooterFly68 · Dec 7, 2017

Thanks again for everyone’s feedback and coaching. Hopefully you’ll see a dramatic difference in these videos...

Siwyleeds · Dec 13, 2017

bump said:
You're confusing ISO with SHUTTER SPEED and the effect of ND filters on exposure. You always want to keep your your ISO as low as possible, 100 when shooting outdoors in the Sun. This is because digital cameras use amplification (gain) to increase ISO sensitivity, which also amplifies the noise that's picked-up from other circuits in the camera and drone. At even higher ISO's you not only have heavy noise but also loose detail and contrast. But outdoors on a sunny day you should never need to go higher than ISO 100.

The rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed 1/(2xFrame_Rate) for smooth video. So if you're shooting at 30 FPS your base shutter speed should be 1/60. (I always shoot at 30 FPS and then conform the clips to 24FPS in Premiere; I feel that the slight reduction in playback speed helps smooth-out the video.) This is a guideline though, not a hard and fast rule. You can increase your shutter speed to reduce motion bur and make motion in your video sharper, but the faster you go the "twitchier" your video will look. Sometimes you might want that kind of effect, but not generally with drone footage. See this article for more on shutter speed vs frame rate: How Shutter Speeds & Frame Rates Can Be Used to Change the Look & Feel of Your Film. Note that you can safely double or triple your shutter speed before jitteriness becomes apparent.

You also want to keep your shutter speed in the range of 1/60-1/200s to avoid "jittery video" (though there are exceptions). Because the Mavic has a fixed f/2.2 aperture, even at ISO 100 you might need shutter speeds as high as 1/4000, even 1/6000s. More info on the "exposure triangle:"

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What an ND filter does is cut down on the amount of light reaching the lens, so you can reduce shutter speed without changing ISO or aperture. An ND4 filter will allow you to slow your shutter speed 2 stops (from 1/4000 to 1/1000), ND8 provides 3 stops (1/4000 to 1/500), ND16 provides 4 stops of light reduction (1/4000 to 1/250) and an ND32 provides 5 stops of light reduction (1/4000 to 1/125, which is in the right ballpark).

Its worth mentioning that some ND filters (Polar Pro Cinema Series) add circular polarization to the ND filter. When adjusted properly, these filters can darken the sky and cut down reflections off water, glass and other surfaces. You rotate the filter with respect to the Sun's location, so if you rotate the drone (yaw) you might need to land and re-adjust for best results. (see

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.

(I don't know how to enter a link without video getting embedded, sorry)