Hey All,

Probably a silly question, but still a starting photographer so excuse me....

I was shooting some stills of the horizon, and realized that some photos the horizon seemed completely level, and other shots there seemed to be a tilt, as if the gimbal was off.

I'm curious if anyone else has seen this before, or if a calibration is needed. I always reset the compass before every flight (can never be too safe!)

Feedback is appreciated.

Happy flying!!

Dont worry, its not just you Many many many many people have this issue and I believe its being worked on by DJI.. The best "temporary fix" seems to be to do a full IMU calibration when the Phantom 3 is cool. Some have even gone to the extreme of putting it in a fridge but I dont recommend this.. Maybe leave the P3 in the coolest place you casn ( maybe have AC point at it ) with the batter charged but not in the P3. Then as quickly as you can, turn contoeller on, tablet on, Pilot App open, Phantom 3 on a LEVEL surface, battery in P3, P3 on, do an IMU calibration followed by a gimbal calibration.
Sounds long winded but its really not.. Trick seems to be getting it P3 cool enough ( easy for me as I live in the UK )

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two spare batteries to keep you flying

www.Phantom-Guide.co.uk - The Ultimate Phantom 3 Resource

sploodge Posted at 2015-6-5 22:55
Dont worry, its not just you  Many many many many people have this issue and I believe its being w ...

I will for sure try this. It is just weird to me that some pictures look fine, but then rotating the drone 90 degrees i see the difference.

Thx for the feedback!

lance.okonowski Posted at 2015-6-5 23:15
I will for sure try this. It is just weird to me that some pictures look fine, but then rotating t ...

You can always adjust the Gimble Roll on the fly to correct horizontal tilt.

BobbyB Posted at 2015-6-5 23:38
You can always adjust the Gimble Roll on the fly to correct horizontal tilt.

This is true.

There are two types of Horizon issue going on at the moment.

1: No matter what you do the horizon is always a little off ALWAYS - This is a rare issue and if an IMU/Gimbal calibration does not fix it, consider giving DJI a call.

2: Yaw Drift Horizon issue - This is when the Horizon drifts mid flight during a YAW. This is by all accounts a software issue that will likely be fixed.

YAW Drift

sploodge Posted at 2015-6-5 23:48
This is true.

There are two types of Horizon issue going on at the moment.

I only had a slight horizon tilt that was easily fixed with the gimble roll.  In still photo mode its not even necessary because it can be fixed in post with one click.

BobbyB Posted at 2015-6-6 00:09
I only had a slight horizon tilt that was easily fixed with the gimble roll.  In still photo mode  ...

Same issue here...my horizon gets tilted when I rotate the Phantom clockwise and gets better when I rotate it counter clockwise. This seems to be a patterm , I'll try the cold callibration at night, because I did that yesterday during one of the hottest days of the year...

Did your tilting also change during the flight (like in the above video) before you did the gimbal roll adjustment? Or was it fixed at a certain tilt?
Because I can image that the 'gimbal roll' is just a kind of offset correction to the left or right?

Marcel

info.marcelvoss Posted at 2015-6-7 06:22
Same issue here...my horizon gets tilted when I rotate the Phantom clockwise and gets better when  ...

So maybe I'm a lucky one...but something I did was rotate the entire drone 360 degrees, while I had the grid on (the 3x3 for shooting stills using the two thirds rule).

Anyway...I came to the conclusion that where I happened to be at, the horizon isn't flat. ( I feel dumb saying that...ahha).

I need to look at a topographical map, but in certain locations of where I am, it's a hill with trees.

So maybe some help for everyone, if it seems you're not staight, it could be a hilly area near your location.

Happy Flying!

BobbyB Posted at 2015-6-6 00:09
I only had a slight horizon tilt that was easily fixed with the gimble roll.  In still photo mode  ...

I was thinking that my camera had simply reached it's gimble limit due to wind direction--at least the angled horizon is consistent with wind direction--most noticeable when facing perpendicular to wind direction, and at higher altitudes where the wind is stronger...  The angle would also change the other direction when yawing 180 degrees; but interesting to see it might be a firmware / calibration issue.

skyeboysteve Posted at 2015-6-7 08:32
I was thinking that my camera had simply reached it's gimble limit due to wind direction--at least ...

I'm really unsure of the cause at this point.  What I do you know is it can be fixed quickly on the fly.  A few clicks of the gamble roll and good as new.  I find this adjustment much easier than agonizing over IMU calibration, chilling the aircraft, and raging over DJI's lack of response to complaints.  I guess I'm a pragmatist...{:2_30:}

lance.okonowski Posted at 2015-6-7 08:08
So maybe I'm a lucky one...but something I did was rotate the entire drone 360 degrees, while I had ...

Hi Lance,

I see what you mean,  sometimes its not possible to actually see the horizon because its blocked by hills or buildings, but even then you can tell by looking at the details, as a trained photographer I can't miss it in most shots.

But if you take a look at the video above in this thread, it is 100% clear to me that its the gimbal changing horizon all the time.

As a good rule of thumb you can always be 100% certain that a horizon of water, like the sea or a lake will always be horizontal. And you can also be pretty sure that if you notice any large high building tilting over to one side, that is probably not the building but your Phantoms horizon, unless of course you are in Pisa, Italy ;)

BobbyB Posted at 2015-6-7 10:04
I'm really unsure of the cause at this point.  What I do you know is it can be fixed quickly on th ...

Last night I tried the cold calibration by doing it in the garden after the temperature dropped for the night. I havent been able to see if it works, but I noticed something that I didnt notice before doing the gimbal calibration, maybe that could be a problem if you dont know:

After you click on 'automatic gimbal calibration'  I remember that the first 2 times I did it, I got the impression that it takes only a second to finish and nothing is displayed on the screen. So I might have picked the Phantom up or shut it down, BEFORE the actual message 'calibration finished' is displayed in green '.

So maybe I was too fast before, we will see when I test it!  So please beware, the calibration takes a short while, the camera moves up & down etc and it ends with a message.

info.marcelvoss Posted at 2015-6-7 14:43
Last night I tried the cold calibration by doing it in the garden after the temperature dropped for ...

Good to know, thanks.

Hi guys,

Today I tested the Phantom again but unfortunately the horizon is still tilted all the time...
I tried the gimbal roll setting, but all it does is flip it into the correct horizon temporary, whatever setting you use it works for a moment but as soon as I rotate the phantom its back to tilted again.  

How is this 'gimbal roll' supposed to work then? I figure normally you'd have to be able to tilt the horizon to the left and to the right with this setting, the higher the value the more tilted?
What mine basically did was just toggle in a way between tilted and horizontal as I increased the values of the gimball roll ...

I'll upload a video of it and i will send it back to the shop, its within the 7 days of return time, so I guess they will have to help me with a new Phantom device at least....

Just to make sure, is there ANYONE reading this that has a Phantom 3 without this problem? Or who has one that works fine after you did some procedure?


Marcel

sploodge Posted at 2015-6-5 23:48
This is true.

There are two types of Horizon issue going on at the moment.

Hey Splooge,

Great post! How certain do you know this information if I may ask?
Esp. about the YAW drift issue, are you 100% sure its a software issue?

Mine definately has this YAW drift issue, and DJI basically says 'send it in to a service center'.

BUT....I see it in almost all of the videos online (including the MAIN Phantom 3 video on their own homepage!)  so I'm almost sure that sending it in for 'repair' as DJI says is not going to solve this, am I correct?

I do have only today to decide to send it back to the shop and get a new one, its within the first 7 days.. so I'm a bit confused right now.

Hope you can tell me how you know the YAW drift is a software issue, did anyone from DJI confirm this to you?

Because if it IS, then why on earth do they tell people at chat support to send it in for repair?

Marcel

"I always reset the compass before every flight (can never be too safe!)"
Did DJI recommend you do that? - If it was important they would have.
You are operating on the idea that if something is good, more of something is better.
This does not apply when calibrating your compass.
There's no need to calibrate every time and if you understood what it does, you wouldn't.
And counter to the suggestion that you can never be too safe - well you can.
By calibrating when it is unnecessary, you are introducing the potential to get a bad calibration.
If it aint broke don't try to fix it.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2015-6-8 15:12
"I always reset the compass before every flight (can never be too safe!)"
Did DJI recommend you do t ...

Hi there Labroides,

I read your post just now, and it made me think.
To be honest up to now I though the compass calibration had something to do with the GPS location but now I get the impression that it is for a different purpose?

Could the compass have anything to do with the tilted horizon problem?
Does it help to keep the gimbal leveled or is it more for positioning the craft itself?

Marcel

Hi all,

This is my test video , as you can see the Phantom 3 is hovering at a fixed position, not moving in any direction and the only thing I did was do a YAW with the left stick in a clockwise direction (sorry its a bit jerky, I was only testing it)



Hope this can help identify the problem...

info.marcelvoss Posted at 2015-6-8 16:26
Hi there Labroides,

I read your post just now, and it made me think.

The compass is not related to the GPS or the gimbal.
They are all independent systems.
GPS handles position, compass keeps the Phantom flying straight and the gimbal manages the camera angle.
These are really basic concepts that every Phantom owner should understand.
Misunderstanding and confusion contributes to poor flying and crashes.
Learn how your Phantom works and fly better and for longer.

Yea mine has the same problem.  The Horizon some times is level, well I least i think its level.  Then when I turn left or right it leans over.  It leans more over when I turn right.    One thing I do want to point.  This may or may not be a software problem.  Software problems tend to have anyone having the problem( like 90%)   Sounds like their trying to fix a hardware sensor issue with a software fix.  My friend got his and his is perfect

druiz100@hotmai Posted at 2015-6-8 19:47
Yea mine has the same problem.  The Horizon some times is level, well I least i think its level.  Th ...

Hi there

Did you check the one your friend has firsthand or does he just say its perfect? I'm starting to believe that all Phantom 3 drones have this and maybe its normal? Every single video I check online that has multiple shots in it (including the ones made by DJI) contains at least some shots that are not 100% horizontal...

Maybe we're just expecting too much?