SDK & improved imaging

[Storyline]

Does anyone know whether the SDK release will enable improvements in either still or video captures?

I am largely ignorant of the technology involved in video but I seem to recall that DJI had it in their power to have the camera take footage that could be processed in post using colour profiles. When it comes to still images it would be good to be able to alter the settings of the AEB bracketing, both by changing the number of shots and also varying the stops between them.

I understand that DJI are probably wary of unleashing the full capability of what even the current lens and sensor can produce for fear of treading on the toes of the models above and taking sales from them. IMO, the M2 already has a huge advantage over them because of it's form factor as it can legally fly with so much freedom. If I think just of my own city centre, anyone wanting to take aerial footage around many of the more iconic buildings and landmarks would be limited if flying anything bigger.

 

[slup]

Does anyone know whether the SDK release will enable improvements in either still or video captures?...

A SDK or devkit provides a set of tools, libraries, relevant documentation, code samples, processes, and or guides that allow developers to create software applications on a specific platform... nothing more.

So, no ... no new not already existing functionality comes with a SDK release. If you're lucky some 3:rd party software might make a functionality already existing on the platform active ... even though DJI have decided not to include it in their own software for certain models.

One example of that is for instance Course lock & Home lock for Mavic Air 1... it exists in Litchi for the model but not in DJI GO4.

 

[Storyline]

Thanks for the reply slup

I wasn't expecting that DJI themselves would enhance the camera performance but wondering if the kit enabled third parties to do so. Taking bracketing as an example, the number of individual exposures in the group is presumably set in the software of the app rather than the firmware of the aircraft so I was hoping (maybe naively) that it could be changed .....

 

[Dave Maine]

The need for bracketing comes from the dynamic range of the image(s) you are trying to capture. I haven’t seen any situations which require more than what DJI provided, in fact normal scenes require no bracketing.

 

[surfbird]

Thanks for the reply slup

I wasn't expecting that DJI themselves would enhance the camera performance but wondering if the kit enabled third parties to do so. Taking bracketing as an example, the number of individual exposures in the group is presumably set in the software of the app rather than the firmware of the aircraft so I was hoping (maybe naively) that it could be changed .....

Not naiv.

But sadly, it doesn't give much more functionality. The SDK is quit transparent, and works like 'ask me what I got' which comes directly from firmware in the drone (in most cases), and you can only use what the drones support.

There is a few hacks that can be made though (of course) but then you have to bypass SDK all together.
Examples is gimbal free mode, no speed limit in virtualsticks, full control of all dji parameters

But when it comes to camera settings I've been out of luck. Tried lowering sharpness on the mini2, didn't work.
There seems to be parameters in the camera module (like the flightcontroller), but I never managed to read/write anything.

 

[Storyline]

The need for bracketing comes from the dynamic range of the image(s) you are trying to capture. I haven’t seen any situations which require more than what DJI provided, in fact normal scenes require no bracketing.

My use of the camera is probably a bit unusual in that it is 90% still images and 10% video and I use bracketing almost always. The main reason is that I do a lot of flying over coastal areas where you usually have three distinct elements in the shot each ideally requiring different exposure levels (sea, land & sky). I find the default AEB configuration a bit crude quite often and could pull more from a tighter group I suspect.

FWIW, I'm being a bit of a moaner as I am amazed by what can be produced using such a diminutive camera and nearly all the time it is me that is the weak link in the system and not the hardware.

 

[GadgetGuy]

My use of the camera is probably a bit unusual in that it is 90% still images and 10% video and I use bracketing almost always. The main reason is that I do a lot of flying over coastal areas where you usually have three distinct elements in the shot each ideally requiring different exposure levels (sea, land & sky). I find the default AEB configuration a bit crude quite often and could pull more from a tighter group I suspect.

FWIW, I'm being a bit of a moaner as I am amazed by what can be produced using such a diminutive camera and nearly all the time it is me that is the weak link in the system and not the hardware.

The dynamic range of a DNG is much greater than that of a JPG file, and the limited DJI AEB range of -1.34 to +1.34 using 5 shots at .7 EV apart leaves a lot to be desired. Therefore, manually bracketing with 5 DNG's at 2 stop intervals will cover the full spectrum of almost any scene for the best results.

 

[Storyline]

The beta version of Litchi does offer the choice of the number of exposures in the group and I think you are supposed to be able to vary the difference between them but in my installation it doesn't. To make matters worse I am unable to select DNG just jpegs. I'm using a tablet and a long USB cable to connect it to the controller. It's a good quality cable that is rated for power & data so maybe it is the tablet that is not completely compatible. I'm going to try to resolve these issues because I found way point flying extremely useful when I used it with my Mavic Pro.

 

[GadgetGuy]

The beta version of Litchi does offer the choice of the number of exposures in the group and I think you are supposed to be able to vary the difference between them but in my installation it doesn't. To make matters worse I am unable to select DNG just jpegs. I'm using a tablet and a long USB cable to connect it to the controller. It's a good quality cable that is rated for power & data so maybe it is the tablet that is not completely compatible. I'm going to try to resolve these issues because I found way point flying extremely useful when I used it with my Mavic Pro.

Good luck, and let us know if your are successful. Litchi has much more flexibility than the native DJI apps. Try the iOS beta version of Litchi, too, if it is available.

 

[Torovolt]

I hope Litchi manage to expose the Sharpening, Contrast and Saturation settings, like it did with the Spark.
The Mini 2 4K video is plagued with sharpening haloes artifacts and it can be too contrasty for bright scenes.

 

[surfbird]

I hope Litchi manage to expose the Sharpening, Contrast and Saturation settings, like it did with the Spark.
The Mini 2 4K video is plagued with sharpening haloes artifacts and it can be too contrasty for bright scenes.

It won't. It's a firmware limitation.

 

[Torovolt]

It won't. It's a firmware limitation.

It depends on what DJI arbitrarily decided to expose in the SDK.
For the Spark, those settings were unavailable in the official DJI app but are available in third party apps.

 

[surfbird]

It depends on what DJI arbitrarily decided to expose in the SDK.
For the Spark, those settings were unavailable in the official DJI app but are available in third party apps.

I've checked without the sdk. You can't change sharpness.

 

[Torovolt]

I've checked without the sdk. You can't change sharpness.

Do you mean in the Litchi Beta version for the Mini 2 ?
It would be under Style.

 

[surfbird]

Neither. I used dumldore msg.
I never seen that sdk don't expose camera setting and I have reversed them quite a lot.
There are quite a few other things though that is hidden, like free gimbal, speed limit, parameters and a lot of other stuff I havnt understood yet.

If you want to check yourself it's quite well documented here:

dji-firmware-tools/comm_dissector/wireshark/dji-dumlv1-camera.lua at master · o-gs/dji-firmware-tools

Tools for handling firmwares of DJI products, with focus on quadcopters. - o-gs/dji-firmware-tools

github.com

 

[RogerDH]

Neither. I used dumldore msg.
I never seen that sdk don't expose camera setting and I have reversed them quite a lot.
There are quite a few other things though that is hidden, like free gimbal, speed limit, parameters and a lot of other stuff I havnt understood yet.

If you want to check yourself it's quite well documented here:

dji-firmware-tools/comm_dissector/wireshark/dji-dumlv1-camera.lua at master · o-gs/dji-firmware-tools

Tools for handling firmwares of DJI products, with focus on quadcopters. - o-gs/dji-firmware-tools

github.com

What is this?

56 [0x38] = 'Sharpeness Set',
57 [0x39] = 'Sharpeness Get',
58 [0x3A] = 'Contrast Set',
59 [0x3B] = 'Contrast Get',
60 [0x3C] = 'Saturation Set',
61 [0x3D] = 'Saturation Get',