Hi,

I'm trying to figure out a way to eliminate or reduce the choppy video recording/playback in 4k. Here are some videos that I took using my Mini 2 using ND 16 filter, recorded at iso 100, 30fps, 1/60 and 1/80.

Mini 2: Running firmware v01.02.0000.
DJI fly app updated: v1.2.2
Memory: SanDisk - Extreme Plus 128GB.
Computer: iMac Pro 5k w/ 64GB of RAM.

Choppy video 1 link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tfl77rqsiykbfdd/choppy_01.mov?dl=0

Choppy video 2 link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3sq40gpwjtkpd1d/choppy_02.mov?dl=0

After updating to firmware v01.02.0000, mini 2 won't fly straight anymore and drifts to the right: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vv8xt6gr9lir5cw/Straight.mov?dl=0

These are best viewed downloaded.

Thank you

I'm not sure what you mean as I didn't see any drift to the right whatsoever. I think you are seeing something that isn't really there.

Mini2 Flyr Posted at 12-29 21:15
I'm not sure what you mean as I didn't see any drift to the right whatsoever. I think you are seeing something that isn't really there.

I’ve positioned my mini 2 aligned straight to the street. As you can see, mini 2 is slowly drifting to right.

Hello there. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. Have you tried to calibrate your DJI Mini 2 and it's remote controller for us to be able isolate the said issue? Thank you.

With regard to the 'choppy' playback, what you are seeing is a limitation of the camera sensor. These low cost camera sensors use a rolling shutter that produces a stuttering effect as you pan the camera. The most obvious piece of advice is don't pan the camera as fast as you have. Actually, the combination of the ND16 filter and your choice of settings have been wisely chosen, such that the effect is rather minimal.

I don't see any drift to the right. When you started, it was lined up with the end of the sidewalk on the right and that is exactly where it ended. Better performance that I would expect, to be honest.

DJI Stephen Posted at 12-29 21:47
Hello there. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. Have you tried to calibrate your DJI Mini 2 and it's remote controller for us to be able isolate the said issue? Thank you.

Can you please give me some instructions?

I viewed both your videos and didn't see any choppiness.

It seems like others are having a similar drifting problem after the recent firmware update. Great.

Arpettaz Posted at 12-30 12:39
You are using an ND filter AND low shutter speed?  There is the problem.  ND filters are highly overrated, and combined with a low shutter speed you will end up with choppy video.  Throw the ND filters away, and use the highest shutter speed you can for the light conditions

Ignore this information, it is totally wrong. The use of an ND filter to enable lowering the shutter speed is a proven way of reducing stutter in video footage.

Geebax Posted at 12-30 13:28
Ignore this information, it is totally wrong. The use of an ND filter to enable lowering the shutter speed is a proven way of reducing stutter in video footage.

Agree (motion blur included) ... there is only one reason for higher shutter speed with no ND filter: if you want to extract images from a video. These would of course be sharper, otherwise, especially in a bright environment, always with an ND filter AND lower shutter speed if possible. Thats a basic rule.

What video player do you use? If vlc, than in default setting vlc does not play 4k videos well.

I get the same stuttering in 4k as well and everything I have is default

fans0edd8111 Posted at 12-30 15:12
What video player do you use? If vlc, than in default setting vlc does not play 4k videos well.

I am using quicktime player.

Photo Drone Posted at 12-30 16:30
I get the same stuttering in 4k as well and everything I have is default

Did some testing w/ DJI support.

They said my mini2 is defective and need to be repair.

NOOOoooooo.
Send any info they say.
Why ?

I was told that 4K video @ 30fps shouldn’t record or playback choppy. It seems like some drones record perfectly fine and some don’t. DJI wants my drone to diagnose and repair defective parts.

I don’t know about you guys but I never saw any disclaimer that mini 2 records choppy 4K video.

It’s hard to believe that some people are convinced that this is normal.

Both of the videos don’t seem to show any drift ...Plus if you pan slower you will see less choppiness

I am having the exact, identical issue as the OP. The videos look very similar too...I am using exact same settings. 4K 30FPS ND16 and 1/60 shutter speed using a brand new MBP 2020 with 32GB RAM and Intel Iris Graphics. Intel i7 processor. OP, did you get your drone replaced/repaired? and did it resolve the problem? Would hate to go through a repair process, if the issue is just the camera sensor on this drone.

My drone drifts too, but I have given up on that. At this stage, I just want a smooth useable video. Here is a sample clip from me:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wdtoyfciyldiom9/Untitled.mp4?dl=0

Funny thing is, the footage does seem to playback smoother on my 4K television and within FCPX optimized media, but not within QuickTime, VLC, or any other video player I have tried on my Mac. I have converted the footage to PRORES also with no luck.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Tim

Just ditch the nd filter put it in Auto on the video use 1080p and be far less picky you will enjoy life better

It's great how ND filters are again touted as a panacea against choppy videos .... Sure, you want to hide the jerking with motion blur but not fix the cause.  The only thing that works against it without artificially blurring the video is to pan slower!  6 degrees per second would help ...

TJM1989 Posted at 3-18 08:07
I am having the exact, identical issue as the OP. The videos look very similar too...I am using exact same settings. 4K 30FPS ND16 and 1/60 shutter speed using a brand new MBP 2020 with 32GB RAM and Intel Iris Graphics. Intel i7 processor. OP, did you get your drone replaced/repaired? and did it resolve the problem? Would hate to go through a repair process, if the issue is just the camera sensor on this drone.

My drone drifts too, but I have given up on that. At this stage, I just want a smooth useable video. Here is a sample clip from me:

Hey, did you actually get it fixed? Seems I'm getting the same problems! I'm completely new to drones so I will try a bit more, but if it is a problem with the drone I can spare a lot of time. Have you tried contacting DJI support like OP? Did you get any feedback?

I agree with djiuser_qoIbv5eRPvzM, ND Filters are a problem, they're the ones that are causing jittery video footage. I've recorded on my Mavic 3 Cine without any ND filters and my videos were not choppy. Then one day it was very sunny so I used ND filter 8, 16 for different recordings and when I was playing back my recordings video was choppy!! I used standard rule of doubling shutter speed of video , which I was recording in 24FPS and had shutter at 1/50th VIDEO CAME OUT CHOPPY, I was very disappointed, and couldn't figure out what was the issue, now from reading this post I can see that ND was the real cause, since before placing ND filter I had no issues with choppy videos, they were pretty smooth. Now I will try to use ND filter again but I won't lower my shutter speed, I will do very opposite, increase it, or I will actually try it on AUTO and see if that will do a better job, but so far lowering shutter speed with ND filters caused videos to be choppy

Majkidrone Posted at 11-21 06:24
Hey, did you actually get it fixed? Seems I'm getting the same problems! I'm completely new to drones so I will try a bit more, but if it is a problem with the drone I can spare a lot of time. Have you tried contacting DJI support like OP? Did you get any feedback?

I agree with djiuser_qoIbv5eRPvzM, ND Filters are a problem, they're the ones that are causing jittery video footage. I've recorded on my Mavic 3 Cine without any ND filters and my videos were not choppy. Then one day it was very sunny so I used ND filter 8, 16 for different recordings and when I was playing back my recordings video was choppy!! I used standard rule of doubling shutter speed of video , which I was recording in 24FPS and had shutter at 1/50th VIDEO CAME OUT CHOPPY, I was very disappointed, and couldn't figure out what was the issue, now from reading this post I can see that ND was the real cause, since before placing ND filter I had no issues with choppy videos, they were pretty smooth. Now I will try to use ND filter again but I won't lower my shutter speed, I will do very opposite, increase it, or I will actually try it on AUTO and see if that will do a better job, but so far lowering shutter speed with ND filters caused videos to be choppy

djiuser_qoIbv5eRPvzM Posted at 2020-12-30 23:42
I was told that 4K video @ 30fps shouldn’t record or playback choppy. It seems like some drones record perfectly fine and some don’t. DJI wants my drone to diagnose and repair defective parts.

I don’t know about you guys but I never saw any disclaimer that mini 2 records choppy 4K video.

I agree with you ND filters are a problem, thinking that by increasing shutter speed instead of lowering might resolve choppiness when using ND filters

I had a jerky video, sort of missing frames. I have the fastest cord recommended by DJI, it still missed frames and was jerky in some scenes. I tried lowering the speed ( I also used the smallest DN filter.  I then tried another media video player.  Cyberlink PowerDVD22.  That cured all of the faults.  I now need to pay for the software!  I suspect that the fault was also in either the drone or DJI software.