Hi all,

A little while ago I posted a thread asking for some help with recorded video flickering or "pulsing". Here's the original video:



It was suggested that I turn off auto white-balance, which I did (I turned it to "sunny" mode - as far as I know, this is not an automatic mode either, but I could be wrong?). I thought it helped, but I discovered the same effect in later videos.

I also tried using advanced camera settings mode to try to override any automatic settings that might be jumping around. You can see me fiddling around with the advanced settings below, and yet the video still flickers in-between settings changes:


It's a little hard to see in the video above, but it's very obvious in the raw footage.

It really ruins the shots so I'm a little disheartened now that I might have to send the aircraft back

I've noticed something though: the EV value seems to jump around by itself depending on the lighting conditions in advanced mode. I thought the EV was based on the aperture (fixed in this camera) and the shutter speed, so why is it jumping around? Could that explain this effect?

Side note: how do I get longer exposure values? It seems I'm limited to fractions of a second rather than being able to go up to whole seconds.

Thank you for any help. I'm a total camera noob so please feel free to suggest things which might seem blindingly obvious to you. Please note that this effect happens in the raw footage too, so we can't blame YouTube.

Can you pls check the dampeners on the gimble to see if they had been damaged?  Or try to change another set.

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-6-10 15:30
Can you pls check the dampeners on the gimble to see if they had been damaged?  Or try to change ano ...

Thanks very much for your suggestion Autumn!

The gimble dampeners look fine to me, there doesn't seem to be a lot that can go wrong with them really. I can try replacing them if you feel that might help.
If that doesn't, do you have any other recommendations? Comparing to other people's footage, this doesn't really look normal to me.

I also noticed in 1080p at 50FPS, the flickering is either reduced or eliminated. I will check further into this though, and see if 1080p at some other framerates make a difference.

Thanks again for your help, you're the only person who has replied on this forum and others so far for this particular issue
P.S. ignore the "jello" effect, I'm only concerned about the flickering for now

Oliver Posted at 2015-6-10 15:39
Thanks very much for your suggestion Autumn!

The gimble dampeners look fine to me, there doesn't s ...

I just realized the flicker issue with my double check.
The "flickering" is usually related to the lens, not gimble. Can you pls upload the original footage file to clouddrive and send it to autumn.a@dji.com? I'll let my colleague do the investigation.

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-6-10 16:01
I just realized the flicker issue with my double check.
The "flickering" is usually related to the ...

Had a look at the first vid you posted and the flicker is really obvious (not so much in the second because of the rapid changes you're making using manual mode). You also say that your EV is jumping around as you're filming. Have you tried setting your exposure values, and then locking them in using the AE lock button? It's on the upper right of the screen and is greyed out unless you press it. Then it lights up. This will keep your values from jumping around while you're filming. Just tap it again and it turns off if you need to make additional corrections for your next shot.

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-6-10 16:01
I just realized the flicker issue with my double check.
The "flickering" is usually related to the ...

Thanks, I have sent an email

headkumquat Posted at 2015-6-10 19:28
Had a look at the first vid you posted and the flicker is really obvious (not so much in the secon ...

I do not know how to set the EV manually but yes I have tried locking AE that way and sadly it did not help. Thanks for the suggestion though!

I also have pulsing/flickering problem on my Phantom 3 4K footage. Sort of flashes each 8 GOP... Because of bad codec and too low bitrate. The only solution I'm forced to use is this plugins http://www.digitalanarchy.com/Flicker/main.html

DJI ? 100Mbps experimental mode ?.........

vincent.zorzi Posted at 2015-6-11 21:56
I also have pulsing/flickering problem on my Phantom 3 4K footage. Sort of flashes each 8 GOP... Bec ...

Thanks again for the suggestion. I will have to look into using that.

Are you sure it is because of bad bitrate/codec and not a fault with our cameras?

It is definitely a compression/codec issue. 40Mbps is very low for 4K as well. The Ambarella A9 is capable of 60~65Mbps. Bumping it up to 60 would certainly help but the codec needs to be cleaned up too.

ianwood Posted at 2015-6-12 11:07
It is definitely a compression/codec issue. 40Mbps is very low for 4K as well. The Ambarella A9 is c ...

Thank you ianwood. In that case, I will not return the unit and will learn to accept the limitations of the device.

One thing, where did you get the number 40Mbps from? As far as I can tell on the store page, the video bitrate of the Pro is 60Mbps:
http://store.dji.com/product/pha ... al?position=1#/spec

Is there a different limiting factor?
Edit: Looking at a saved file, it does appear to be 60Mbps

It may technically be 60 but it has the appearance of 40. Regardless, what you're seeing is artifacts from GOP compression. DJI has some work to do to clean up their compression algorithms.

My 4K footage is 60Mbps.

Interesting to learn that Ambarella A9 can't do better ?! Were did you learn that ?

So... DJI has some work to do to clean up their compression algorithms.

I've found the A9 simplified data sheet : http://www.ambarella.com/uploads/docs/A9%20Product%20Brief.pdf. Lot of possibility! But where to found the whole data sheet with bitrates etc ?...

i also have flickering problems , specially when it is sunny , and facing the sun. i hope to solve it with lens hoods.

I have the same issues on my Phantom3. I Think there is a petition to subcribe. Just look at https://www.change.org/p/dji-100 ... ntom-3-professional
I also tried out different Phantom 3 models - every one has the same issues. So please DJI try to fix this problem. So any semiproffessional bradcoasting with the P3 is not really possible.

best regards, Martin

I have also flickering issues with video after editing.
I have extracted exactly the same format as original
I am professional and i know it is not from software.
This is original footage

And the edited here

Thanks

Oliver,

Did you ever resolve this issue. I had to have my P3P replaced and my new unit does exactly what you've described here. A pulsing flicker to the video. Even with full manual settings including white balance. My other unit didn't have this issue and I'm completely put out with this new problem. Footage is simply unusable unless it's a quick 2 second cut.

Thanks in advance.
-Frederick

alextsampas Posted at 2015-9-15 18:54
I have also flickering issues with video after editing.
I have extracted exactly the same format as  ...

Issue solved.
I have to export my footage with the same output format as shot.

alextsampas Posted at 2015-12-16 03:24
Issue solved.
I have to export my footage with the same output format as shot.

That might have solved your issue when exporting, but the 8 frames compression issue is in the raw footage.  You only see it at certain times and it's definitely the way the GOP are compressing.

I haven't tried all the modes, but I'm getting it in 30fps 4K.

dapoopta Posted at 2016-1-26 05:49
That might have solved your issue when exporting, but the 8 frames compression issue is in the raw ...

No matter what mode you are use, export with same configuration and you will have no flickering.
it is not compression issue and there is no problem with the original clip.Export as you shoot xFormat , xResolution and xBitrate.(it is coding/encoding issue)
That worked for me.

vincent.zorzi Posted at 2015-6-12 00:56
I also have pulsing/flickering problem on my Phantom 3 4K footage. Sort of flashes each 8 GOP... Bec ...

"DJI ? 100Mbps experimental mode ?......... "

The SD cards that are readily available at this time do not support write speeds fast enough to handle that sort of bitrate.

antenna shadows

I am having serious issues with flickering on videos with osmo. It make the sequences useless. is this a know problem? is there a work around, if not i need to return the osmo as i have no use for an unstable product. here is hte original file https://s3.amazonaws.com/osmofiletest/DJI_0016.MOV

Please advice

alextsampas Posted at 2015-12-16 10:24
Issue solved.
I have to export my footage with the same output format as shot.

Alex, sorry I know its a late reply...but I have also been noticing flickering in video footage, and it is very difficult to make out whether it happens only after compression (as my PC will not play back files full screen more than HD)  
My question is: What do you mean when you say export the footage with the same output format as shot?
Look forward to your reply.
Thanks

I just recently bought a phantom 4 and took this video this weekend (4k 30FPS, AWB, AE). In it you can notice many compression artifacts and also the black pulsating effect. I would like to know if this is a hardware problem with my unit or representative of phantom 4 performance in general. if this is common, what steps can I take to produce better video? Thanks much.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B35p6JRIH_PGMHU5U2xTTDJ1emM

Scott

scottrhoyt Posted at 2016-6-7 00:44
I just recently bought a phantom 4 and took this video this weekend (4k 30FPS, AWB, AE). In it you c ...

Hi,
I received my Phantom 4 this week, I did several tests and have the exactly same problem.
Shadow are flickering/pulsing, my kit is brand new, out of the box with firmware updates.

My setting are 4k, 30 fps, shutter 1/60s, manual WB, D-LOG profile.
Tested with and withoyt ND-PL pola filter , same issue.

FCPX, Premiere or Quicktime gave me same results in preview. For D-Log I did a quick grade. I also tested with DJI color profile in camera, same problem.
Exporting in different format didn't resolve anything either.

I'm pretty sure it's a codec/compression issue, technical/camera related.

For know I'm REALLY disappointed, I really would like to have a DJI official comment on this issue !!!

I'll upload some footage in the next days...I'll do an edit with all my tests described.

(I'm a professional videographer, working with crazy camera like OZO for VR and every kind of stuff, my tests are done seriously ;) )

I just have to say, I have the same pulsing flickering issues. Phantom 4. Especially if you have a lot of detail, trees, grass etc the flickering is enormous. Hoping for a fix cause as of now, the footage is not usable.

Phantom 3 Pro, latest firmware, same flickering problem. Seems to be at its worst when there's a lot of green in the picture although can't tell if that's coincidence or not.
Also doesn't seem to do it all the time, sometimes it'll happen in bright light, other times in low light. Changing settings from auto exposure to manual, auto WB to manual WB etc doesn't improve the problem.
It's really disappointing driving hundreds of miles to film something, only to end up with unusable footage through no fault of my own.

I keep seeing that sd cards cannot support xx bitrate for videos.
I'm genuinely confused as I today bought a sandisk extreme pro which offers write speeds above 50MB/sec but isn't that much faster than 60Mb/sec?
Or is it that the cam is MB/sec same as the cards not Mb/sec.
Thanks in advance.

That EV lock...wish I knew about it earlier.  So much footage ruined by it.

MediaElite Posted at 2016-12-19 17:24
That EV lock...wish I knew about it earlier.  So much footage ruined by it.

To prevent the flickering just lock the EV? Is that correct?
I have the same problem with Phantom 4 Pro.

Denis Fernandes Posted at 2016-12-26 19:47
To prevent the flickering just lock the EV? Is that correct?
I have the same problem with Phantom 4 Pro.
https://youtu.be/v4fYKbgAIro

To be on the safe side, I locked the EV and changed the AutoWhite balance to anything but Auto.  The issue did not occur again on my last shoot.

Having flickering issues also and to be honest not what you expect when spend £900+ on a drone when cheaper models are not having these video transmission issues and on my phantom 3 advanced it's definitely a transmission issue as no problem on video files on sd card just having problems whilst looking ato tablet screen.

The EV lock really helps for pulsing video? (sorry for my english).

Hey guys did you solve the issue???
Looks like most of you showed video issues with flickering EV (means whole screen changing brightness) but do you have pulsing objects only? I have pulsing on my footage (for exp. only trees, grass, water)
It’s only pushing/flashing when moving because when hovering the same objects are not pulsing.
One gentleman told me that it’s a wire which goes from the drone to the camera (the black one) and some people solved this issue by replacing this wire.. for me it’s only theory so I’m asking all users and DJI if I should send it back for repair that wire? I saw my issue on someone else footage so I’m pretty sure that it’s something you figured out already.
DJI, users please could you help.

Pchełas Posted at 2017-5-6 17:44
The EV lock really helps for pulsing video? (sorry for my english).

Hello guys
If you’re having the same problem as me try to watch better laptop and when you connect to TV (try UHD TV) then don’t ‘extend’ the screen but set “duplicate screen” and hope it will help because I had pulsing/flashing trees (looks like sharpness) and the pushing gone when play on the same laptop but watch on just FHD TV (duplicate screen!)
Let me know

I was having the same issue with my spark. The videos saved on my phone were flickering. I figured out that it's because if the Wi-Fi from the spark to the reciever is interrupted it causes a slight lag which gives the flicker on phone saved videos. Videos on SD card are perfect. Bit of a shame as the phone saved videos are the ones used for Go 4 video editor. Anyway hope this may help someone maybe having the same issue.

djiuser_p9KcnI0mzBpY Posted at 3-16 16:28
I was having the same issue with my spark. The videos saved on my phone were flickering. I figured out that it's because if the Wi-Fi from the spark to the reciever is interrupted it causes a slight lag which gives the flicker on phone saved videos. Videos on SD card are perfect. Bit of a shame as the phone saved videos are the ones used for Go 4 video editor. Anyway hope this may help someone maybe having the same issue.

The videos saved on your phone are not intended to be used for anything other than preview purposes, as they are not guaranteed to be trouble-free. That's why you have an SD card, to save perfect copies of the videos.

Geebax Posted at 3-16 17:24
The videos saved on your phone are not intended to be used for anything other than preview purposes, as they are not guaranteed to be trouble-free. That's why you have an SD card, to save perfect copies of the videos.

Yeah thats right. Just saying that the flickering issue i was experiencing was a result of the device videos not the SD videos