Hey guys. The footage I took today was horrible. Straight edges were wobbly and had a jello effect. I was shooting in 1080/60 as I normally do, have the latest firmware and you can see I tapped to focus to infinity before flying forward. Any idea what's causing this?

WATCH IN FULL SCREEN FOR DETAIL

Glad mine is delayed so they can fix this crap be4 I get mine!

I've seen that moire/aliasing effect on lots of Phantom footage as well, so it's definitely not unique to the Mavic.

To combat it, I think lower frame rates and softer images through ND filters help. But not always desireable to some.

Please try 4K.  I think that you will be pleased.  You can down sample to 1080 if you decide to do so.

This is why we cant have nice things. People like you flying over a city.

steven.flanagan Posted at 2016-10-26 20:49
This is why we cant have nice things. People like you flying over a city.

Thats a great point !

Seriously ED?? That's your advice??  
DJI 4K is a joke at 60 Mbps. Way to much compression to get any detail in 4K and down sampling is not a viable solution when you want to record at 60 fps.  
I too only shoot 1080/60 on my Phantom Professional and it has never looked this bad.
Some moire? Sure. Its a tiny camera.  You expect that.
But this footage is 100% unusable.  

I really hope there is a firmware fix coming down the pike if this isn't a isolated problem.

GlacierShark Posted at 2016-10-26 17:54
Seriously ED?? That's your advice??  
DJI 4K is a joke at 60 Mbps. Way to much compression to get an ...

ditto... something definitely not working properly.

ED, Where is my Mavic???  I gave DJI a lot of money and they don't even reply to my emails asking when to expect to receive what I ordered.

Please make sure your gimbal is not seated improperly on the craft.

DJI LA Support Posted at 2016-10-27 09:01
Please make sure your gimbal is not seated improperly on the craft.

DJI "Support", Where is my Mavic???  I gave DJI a lot of money and they don't even reply to my emails asking when to expect to receive what I ordered.

DJI LA Support Posted at 2016-10-27 12:01
Please make sure your gimbal is not seated improperly on the craft.

Please make sure your gimbal is seated properly on the craft.
And drop the sharpness to minimise the moire.

rocco12475 Posted at 2016-10-27 09:00
ED, Where is my Mavic???  I gave DJI a lot of money and they don't even reply to my emails asking wh ...

I don't know.  Have you contacted onlinesales@dji.com.  They can assist you further.

quanthonytrang Posted at 2016-10-27 09:06
Please make sure your gimbal is seated properly on the craft.

Good Call, my head was starting to hurt

GlacierShark Posted at 2016-10-27 08:54
Seriously ED?? That's your advice??  
DJI 4K is a joke at 60 Mbps. Way to much compression to get an ...

I checked with R&D.  There is a limitation in the algorithm and how it processes antialiasing at 1080p 60 and 96.  All other resolutions are fine.  It is a limitation of the sensor.  They are working to optimize those resolutions.  I wanted to provide you with the proper response.

steven.flanagan Posted at 2016-10-27 12:09
Good Call, my head was starting to hurt

I wrote the Mavic Manual.

Please rotate the Mavic unvertically in an Anti-Anticlockwise direction. Then re-rotate and unrepeat on the non-horizontal axisis. =)

"Me fail English? That's unpossible"
Ralph Wiggum - 1990 something..

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-10-26 18:12
I checked with R&D.  There is a limitation in the algorithm and how it processes antialiasing at 10 ...

Hi Ed,

We've heard rumors that the P4 and Mavic share the same sensor...  Is this true?

Schwavic Posted at 2016-10-27 12:17
Hi Ed,

We've heard rumors that the P4 and Mavic share the same sensor...  Is this true?

Same sensor.
Different lens.

Schwavic Posted at 2016-10-27 09:17
Hi Ed,

We've heard rumors that the P4 and Mavic share the same sensor...  Is this true?

I do not know.  I know that they are similar.  The form factor of the Mavic is so much smaller I cannot comment.  The specs of the sensor are the same.  That is all I know.

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-10-26 18:19
I do not know.  I know that they are similar.  The form factor of the Mavic is so much smaller I c ...

The reason I ask is because if it's the same sensor, I would think they would both be affected...  But, it sounds like that's not the case.  Also, if they're the same specs, why do they not have identical video recording modes?

DJI LA Support Posted at 2016-10-26 21:01
Please make sure your gimbal is not seated improperly on the craft.

Everything SEEMS to be seated in there properly. What do I need to look for?

quanthonytrang Posted at 2016-10-26 18:19
Same sensor.
Different lens.

Do you have a source for that, or are you just repeating the same thing we've heard from people other than DJI?

Regarding the OP video:  What were the video settings?  ISO, shutter speed, EV, White Balance.  I see it was 1080P/60.

I SUSPECT THE SHUTTER SPEED IS WAYYYY TOO HIGH!!!

So, ND filters!

Agreed there are ways users can minimize the situation.  i have done video at 1080 96.  It is perfect, no but I think with a proper ND filter and camera settings it could be better.  I don't have the ND filters yet so it is difficult to get the right shutter.

No, silly...  Should be no more than double.   : )

Ideally should be 100 ISO, 120 shutter, 0 or -0.3 EV, AUTO WB for 1080P/60.  Then ND filter that thing up to whatever is required with the lighting.  If shooting in snow, then shoot POSITIVE EV or snow will look gray.

Oops, reply was meant for sky

And a ND filter will keep you in the sweet spot of the sensor.  I always try to keep it under 400.  That is not always possible unless I have an ND filter.

THAT IS FOR SURE!  After seeing the results with and without the proper ND filter on ANY fixed aperture lens, you just can't go back to NO ND filter.  [pulls out hair]

The effect you're seeing has nothing to do with “jello”, shutter speeds or optimal ISO. This is a sensor limitation in capturing resolution at these settings and it's causing massive moire and aliasing issues. Even the human eye is prone to moire effects, but this is odd.

I'd try to reduce image sharpness and see if that mitigates the problem.

OK, so shooting at 4k would also help along with the above 'stuff.'  We are indeed limited with this camera rig.
But since we're using the H.264 codec, we lose 60fps.  

You could reduce sharpness down until the image is a mushy mess, but at least the moire is minimized!

FYI - I was shooting in Auto. So what I'm reading is that 1080-60 and 96 are not usable at this time and require a firmware update to fix. I hate shooting in 4K because of editing.

Does anyone else think that Mavic footage almost looks zoomed in with the FOV on them, comparing with the P3/4?

cocktail5555 Posted at 2016-10-26 21:31
FYI - I was shooting in Auto. So what I'm reading is that 1080-60 and 96 are not usable at this time ...

Yea if you were in AUTO, it selected a super high shutter. Manually lowering the shutter speed to double the frame rate is how it is done correctly.

You also want the lowest ISO possible to keep noise low.

So with these settings, you'll now notice you're EV is showing a high positive number like +1.7. THIS is when you put on a ND filter. In this case of +1.7, for example, you'd need a ND8 or ND16 depending on the angle to the sun. You're goal is to get it to either 0 or even better for editing later is -0.3. Whichever darker ND gets you to that.

This sounds difficult but it's easy. And the results are night & day difference AND you'll all but rid yourself of that jello & some of that moire from buildings.

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2016-10-27 12:50
Yea if you were in AUTO, it selected a super high shutter. Manually lowering the shutter speed to  ...

This is one of the best explanations for ND use I've seen in years.

Eeeeewww nasty. I threw up in my mouth

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-10-27 09:12
I checked with R&D.  There is a limitation in the algorithm and how it processes antialiasing at 10 ...

Then before dji R&D figures this out dji should not advertise 60/90 fps shooting......or at least say it in advance like apple did with their portrait function on iPhone 7 plus...

Just because the sensor is the SAME SIZE as whatever, doesn't mean it is the EXACT same sensor. Sony makes an exmor & Panasonic makes one, for example. Also, DJI may choose to unlock whatever features & framerates they desire on the same or different sensors. Or perhaps a custom spec'd sensor is used.

sshorty Posted at 2016-10-27 12:42
Does anyone else think that Mavic footage almost looks zoomed in with the FOV on them, comparing wit ...

It has a different lens.

Mavic: 28mm (35mm equiv) & 78.8deg FOV
Phantom 4: 20mm (35mm equiv) & 94deg FOV

Interestingly, the Mavic has a faster lens at f2.2 over the f2.8 which allows more light in. Max ISO is the same on both so in theory you'd expect the Mavic to peform better in questionable light conditions than the Phantom.

Well it's up to the end user to figure out the best use for their needs.

Just like how all these videos keep showing the same lame usage of the Intelligent Flight Modes... EXAMPLE:  You don't HAVE TO follow YOU in ActiveTrack. Follow a subject while YOU fine tune EV, ISO (because you can't immediately land & change ND filters), and alter altitude, angle, position to sun, etc...  So use the automatic flight stuff to LIGHTEN your workload, not completely surrender control.

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2016-10-27 13:30
Well it's up to the end user to figure out the best use for their needs.

Just like how all these v ...

That's the thing I think a whole lot of users are missing. There's more to these devices than simply pressing a button, flying a round and it taking awesome footage. You need to have an understanding of not only the flight controls but also the camera controls and how specific settings impact on image quality.

There's plenty of photography and video sites out there that will explain the impacts of various controls in a broad sense. These would be a good place to start. From there, it's a matter of putting that knowledge to the test in the field and experimenting with various settings under different lighting conditions.

Drones with Cameras aren't a magic bullet for budding Cinematographers. You can have the best equipment in the world and still come out with crap results if you don't understand how to use it.