Tips for panning smoothly?

[wco81]

Still new to this (under 20 flights).

I try to smoothly turn or go forward or slow down but the videos still show abrup movements.

I try to also swivel up and down in little steps by flicking the dial but those movements are also herky jerky.

So what are the best ways to get smooth movements not just of the drone but also the camera/gimble?

Or do you guys also make hard turns and pans but just use editing to smooth things out?

 

[Drone Master]

Still new to this (under 20 flights).

I try to smoothly turn or go forward or slow down but the videos still show abrup movements.

I try to also swivel up and down in little steps by flicking the dial but those movements are also herky jerky.

So what are the best ways to get smooth movements not just of the drone but also the camera/gimble?

Or do you guys also make hard turns and pans but just use editing to smooth things out?

You can go into your gimbal settings and set smoothness parameters as needed to your liking.
You can also go into your exp settings and set your yaw rate to about 20.

 

[Lon Denard]

You can go into your gimbal settings and set smoothness parameters as needed to your liking.
You can also go into your exp settings and set your yaw rate to about 20.

Beat me to it.

 

[Jet skier]

Get the longer sticks 1 1/4''and practice practice practice. I also noticed that wearing a strap to hold the controller helps.

 

[Former Member]

OP, maybe you can post a video and we can help you more with the adjustments. Doesnt have to be anything fancy.

 

[GDadd]

A few things I do when I find that I can't get the smoothness I'm seeking:

1) some of the intelligent flight modes can be useful, such as POI

2) Tripod mode slows the Mavic way down, which can be useful for flight-based panning.

3) If you press and hold down on the screen, you can pan the gimbal. I use this in combination with RTH to only have to focus on camera movements vs flying, and same with waypoints - fly between two points and press/hold the camera to pan. You can get some very nice footage by flying past an object, with the waypoint handling speed, direction, and elevation change allowing all you to fully focus on the camera motion.

 

[wco81]

A few things I do when I find that I can't get the smoothness I'm seeking:

1) some of the intelligent flight modes can be useful, such as POI

2) Tripod mode slows the Mavic way down, which can be useful for flight-based panning.

3) If you press and hold down on the screen, you can pan the gimbal. I use this in combination with RTH to only have to focus on camera movements vs flying, and same with waypoints - fly between two points and press/hold the camera to pan. You can get some very nice footage by flying past an object, with the waypoint handling speed, direction, and elevation change allowing all you to fully focus on the camera motion.

Press and hold down on the screen of the iPhone or the controller?

Force touch is a feature of some iOS devices so is that what you mean?

 

[GDadd]

Press and hold down on the screen of the iPhone or the controller?

Force touch is a feature of some iOS devices so is that what you mean?

On the iPhone. I have done this with iOS and the Smart Controller, but not sure whether it works on all devices. I'm referring to what is described in the New Panning Feature section of this article:

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom have a secret camera trick up their sleeve

Here’s something I bet you don’t know: the gimbal on the Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro can pan from left to right when you swipe your finger on your phone's screen.

dronedj.com

 

[wco81]

Thanks, can't wait to try that out.

Surprised they wouldn't give you tap to focus as well.

 

[GDadd]

Thanks, can't wait to try that out.

Surprised they wouldn't give you tap to focus as well.

There is a tap auto focus feature when you are in video or camera mode - comes up with green square brackets.

I'm not aware that you can do anything else focus-wise, but if you are close enough to an object to create a shallow depth of field with an open aperture, then you can use auto focus to pinpoint whichever part of the frame you want in focus. Otherwise, it acts as a way to get mostly in focus when depth of field becomes infinity.

 

[TheRock]

On the iPhone. I have done this with iOS and the Smart Controller, but not sure whether it works on all devices. I'm referring to what is described in the New Panning Feature section of this article:

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom have a secret camera trick up their sleeve

Here’s something I bet you don’t know: the gimbal on the Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro can pan from left to right when you swipe your finger on your phone's screen.

dronedj.com

This is great!! Thanks!!

 

[Dakrisht]

1) Practice
2) Try the longer sticks
3) Adjust gimbal settings for more cinematic control (mine are on 15/20) but this won’t effect your pan.
4) Practice

 

[wco81]

On the iPhone. I have done this with iOS and the Smart Controller, but not sure whether it works on all devices. I'm referring to what is described in the New Panning Feature section of this article:

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom have a secret camera trick up their sleeve

Here’s something I bet you don’t know: the gimbal on the Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro can pan from left to right when you swipe your finger on your phone's screen.

dronedj.com

I didn't have too much luck. I could pan once to the right but then it went too far and I could see one of the propellers.

When I tried to pan back left, it kept bringing up the black sheet to reset Home and other options.

Couldn't make it swivel up and down either.

Also kept going full screen.

Maybe they need to refine it with gestures like two or three fingers to control the swivel because it seems to get confused with other swipe gestures.

 

[GDadd]

I didn't have too much luck. I could pan once to the right but then it went too far and I could see one of the propellers.

When I tried to pan back left, it kept bringing up the black sheet to reset Home and other options.

Couldn't make it swivel up and down either.

Also kept going full screen.

Maybe they need to refine it with gestures like two or three fingers to control the swivel because it seems to get confused with other swipe gestures.

Yes, too far to the right or left and you will see the propellers, but odd that it would not go up/down or to the left. It takes constant screen pressure while controlling and you only need to move it slightly off center for it to move and continue to move in any direction. Further off center and it moves faster. Kind of like the joystick.

I use this feature every flight - could just be getting the hang of it, but I've only worked with an iPhoneX and the Smart Controller.

It took some practice to get it down. I finally sat it on the floor at home and worked out the combo of screen pressure and gesture.

 

[Martin Kuhn]

Select „Cinematic Mode“ within the intelligent flight modes within the DJI Go4 App

 

[Lon Denard]

Not the world's greatest pans but a couple decent ones. Video is really SSLLLOOOOWWWW! I was working on being "cinematic".... All flying is manual.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Still new to this (under 20 flights).

I try to smoothly turn or go forward or slow down but the videos still show abrup movements.

I try to also swivel up and down in little steps by flicking the dial but those movements are also herky jerky.

So what are the best ways to get smooth movements not just of the drone but also the camera/gimble?

Or do you guys also make hard turns and pans but just use editing to smooth things out?

One of the mistakes I have made countless times is trying to hard to keep the camera on target and thus end up with jerky turns.
Rather than working on keeping the Focus on the camera perfectly in place such as flying down a river , we now just keep the flight as smooth as possible and avoid all the editing post as that takes a lot of time and really not that much fun.

I have seen hundreds of other videos also keep the camera on track but end up with jerky video and it stands out more than if you just flew nice and smooth making the turn easy and getting back on track to the focus at hand.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in and out of the storm.
coal

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Not the world's greatest pans but a couple decent ones. Video is really SSLLLOOOOWWWW! I was working on being "cinematic".... All flying is manual.

You dont have to work on being cinematic that was good, noticed how you did not try to follow the path and just kept the motion smooth as silk, the only shot you might have added was that train with the camera maybe zooming down with a fly over , so incredible job. much to be learned from this video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ff22]

Check out this video:

 

[Lon Denard]

You dont have to work on being cinematic that was good, noticed how you did not try to follow the path and just kept the motion smooth as silk, the only shot you might have added was that train with the camera maybe zooming down with a fly over , so incredible job. much to be learned from this video. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. I really need to work on varying my shots. I tend to get static and typical. The path and bridge shots were done the way they were on purpose to try and introduce something different.