When shooting sunset tonight I deviated from my usual rooting and started taking panos before the actual sunset.
So the sun was in the frame.
I ran into an issue that I thought was related to OA when it just stops during the pano/hyperlapse
Only this time around OA was disabled
If I started with the sun being off-center, it worked. With a bright sun in the center, it would just freeze and won't proceed.
I had to land it, restart the battery and ascend again.
By the time I got back up sun was mostly down so I could finish the mission without further major hiccups.
However, I also noticed it was not as snappy taking individual frames as the previous days.
Granted, the light was quite peculiar, with the heavy rain clouds framing the sun.



Not sure what to make of it, but not liking it for sure

Nonetheless, a nice picture...

I wonder if anybody but me use panos with M3, and had similar issue?

I shot several panos this past saturday at a lake. It was overcast so no big direct sun. I had no issues at all. I only did a handfull pano's though.

@DarthSLR, I had some oddities of Pano with the M3 but not same issue.  For me, the "glitch" was how it would take radically different amounts of time to finish processing or doing whatever it thinks it is doing.  Almost like every pano had a random amount of work.  Some were snappy, some were not.   Not scientific I know, but all of this adds up to me that they still have some cpu contention taking place when the bird is in the air.

I was trying to shoot panos last week, it was blowing a gale at 30/35mph winds, camera would shoot 1 shot then stop it wasn’t OA I put it down to strong wind. I haven’t been able to fly since. So could it be a bug. It was my first time to even try Auto Pano.

Tornado12 Posted at 2-16 07:16
I shot several panos this past saturday at a lake. It was overcast so no big direct sun. I had no issues at all. I only did a handfull pano's though.

It worked fine for me with overcast as well.
My current suspicion is that it's an unobstructed sun somewhere in the middle that throws it off.

TonyPHX Posted at 2-16 07:52
@DarthSLR, I had some oddities of Pano with the M3 but not same issue.  For me, the "glitch" was how it would take radically different amounts of time to finish processing or doing whatever it thinks it is doing.  Almost like every pano had a random amount of work.  Some were snappy, some were not.   Not scientific I know, but all of this adds up to me that they still have some cpu contention taking place when the bird is in the air.

"Random" is a great way to desribe it.
My previous attempts with panos were during midday or past sunset, so the light was more or less even, and the capture was
1) uniform
2) very snappy

Last night some frames took VERY long time (I almost thought it stopped), and I had those weird really stuck situations (like sitting for 30 sec on the first frame).

Again, the light was tough last night, but I didn't expect the behaviour to be that "random".

hallmark007 Posted at 2-16 07:53
I was trying to shoot panos last week, it was blowing a gale at 30/35mph winds, camera would shoot 1 shot then stop it wasn’t OA I put it down to strong wind. I haven’t been able to fly since. So could it be a bug. It was my first time to even try Auto Pano.

Hmm, I got some wind warning as well, which was strange because there was no wind I could feel myself.
I understand that 400ft above the situation is different, but I had no visual reference to tell.

And, FWIW, wind or not, it never stopped M2P from taking panos...

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 07:12
I wonder if anybody but me use panos with M3, and had similar issue?

I have shot many panos and facing the sun as well and never had it stop midway.

Off-centre or not, it's a fine shot.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 07:54
It worked fine for me with overcast as well.
My current suspicion is that it's an unobstructed sun somewhere in the middle that throws it off.

What's in the individual images shouldn't make any difference to the process

frankymusik Posted at 2-16 07:02
Nonetheless, a nice picture...

Thank you!

Suren Posted at 2-16 10:07
I have shot many panos and facing the sun as well and never had it stop midway.

Maybe it's me then...

Blériot53 Posted at 2-16 11:42
Off-centre or not, it's a fine shot.

Thank you!

Labroides Posted at 2-16 11:45
What's in the individual images shouldn't make any difference to the process

That's what I thought as well. Apparently my M3C thinks otherwise.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 11:59
Thank you!

My pleasure  

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 11:59
That's what I thought as well. Apparently my M3C thinks otherwise.

It doesn't and there's no way that the position of the sun could make any difference.

Suren Posted at 2-16 10:07
I have shot many panos and facing the sun as well and never had it stop midway.

I did mid-day panos facing the sun and they were ok.
This was a peculiar lighting condition:
* few minutes before sunset
* dark ground below (light blocked by the mountains on the west of the valley)
* heavy dark, nearly opaque storm clouds above and around the sun.
So, basically, a very dark scene with a very bright unobstructed light source.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 13:20
I did mid-day panos facing the sun and they were ok.
This was a peculiar lighting condition:
* few minutes before sunset

Your is a strange issue. I know the panos get stopped if by mistake you touch any sticks, could maybe one of your control sticks be off calibration causing a very slight movement which stops the panos? Maybe worth a check and try to recalibrate the sticks and see if your problem goes away.

Suren Posted at 2-16 14:08
Your is a strange issue. I know the panos get stopped if by mistake you touch any sticks, could maybe one of your control sticks be off calibration causing a very slight movement which stops the panos? Maybe worth a check and try to recalibrate the sticks and see if your problem goes away.

They usually display a message to that nature. There was none, I'm 100% sure of that.

To add to the murk/randomness. On my M2p the panos seemed to process in spurts. When I looked at the AirData battery info, there were spikes (downward voltage) that seemed to roughly align.

My take is that the CPU offloads threads when voltage reduces due to station keeping (wind) or other higher level processes.

Just a guess.

EFRPIC Posted at 2-16 17:37
To add to the murk/randomness. On my M2p the panos seemed to process in spurts. When I looked at the AirData battery info, there were spikes (downward voltage) that seemed to roughly align.

My take is that the CPU offloads threads when voltage reduces due to station keeping (wind) or other higher level processes.

That sounds complicated but very likely.  Hmm, now I want to go see how the wind and "station keeping" affects the processing time.

Labroides Posted at 2-16 12:54
It doesn't and there's no way that the position of the sun could make any difference.

Ok, I bite. What's your theory then?

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 20:15
Ok, I bite. What's your theory then?

My "theory" is that anything in your image has no effect on the mechanical process of moving the camera  to shoot subsequent images.
It shouldn't need to be referred to as a theory as it's elementary stuff.

Have you seen this occur more than just the one time?
It's your theory that it does, so it's up to you to confirm whether that's true by doing a little testing.

It did happen more than once, I did my testing. When sun was not in the center of the frame, it worked ok. When it was , it did not. Light has to be particular for this to happen, but it happened, on several occasions.

I must also add: your comments sound very condescending. I don't like it. Please consider adjusting your attitude. Push comes to shove, feel free to ignore my posts.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 20:51
It did happen more than once, I did my testing. When sun was not in the center of the frame, it worked ok. When it was , it did not. Light has to be particular for this to happen, but it happened, on several occasions.

I must also add: your comments sound very condescending. I don't like it. Please consider adjusting your attitude. Push comes to shove, feel free to ignore my posts.

I don't see that there was anything condescending in pointing out that whatever is in the individual frames has no effect at all on the process of shooting a panorama.
Of all the things involved in your shooting that day, I'd consider it about the most unlikely.
You've jumped at a coincidence and should consider other possibilities.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 20:51
It did happen more than once, I did my testing. When sun was not in the center of the frame, it worked ok. When it was , it did not. Light has to be particular for this to happen, but it happened, on several occasions.

I must also add: your comments sound very condescending. I don't like it. Please consider adjusting your attitude. Push comes to shove, feel free to ignore my posts.

Another theory from me. If this only happens when the sun is entered in the frame, could it be the glare affecting something? Have you tested this with an ND Filter on to see if it helps.

Suren Posted at 2-16 21:20
Another theory from me. If this only happens when the sun is entered in the frame, could it be the glare affecting something? Have you tested this with an ND Filter on to see if it helps.

Any extra filter would only add to flare, in my experience.
My current reasoning is that it was a super bright light source in the otherwise very dark scene, and that somehow screwed up with the DJI fly software. Weird, I know, but I don't have anything else.
Never had the problem when the entire scene was more evenly lit, bit it no sun, or even with sun, but the brighter sky all around.
As I have mentioned before, the light was peculiar.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 21:41
Any extra filter would only add to flare, in my experience.
My current reasoning is that it was a super bright light source in the otherwise very dark scene, and that somehow screwed up with the DJI fly software. Weird, I know, but I don't have anything else.
Never had the problem when the entire scene was more evenly lit, bit it no sun, or even with sun, but the brighter sky all around.

When a digital camera takes a photo, it doesn't care what's in the frame.
It can be all black, all bright or anything else.
It's just a combination of locations and coloured pixels.
To get locked onto the idea that there's a magic combination which has a disruptive effect on panorama taking doesn't make any sense.

Labroides Posted at 2-16 21:49
When a digital camera takes a photo, it doesn't care what's in the frame.
It can be all black, all bright or anything else.
It's just a combination of locations and coloured pixels.

Sure. But if there is a software involved trying to analyze this photo while attempting to take more, there is a possibility of procy breaking down.
Obviously, I don't know what exactly happens. All I know is that the process does break under certain circumstances, while working fine when those circumstances are not involved.
Maybe it's something else, hence I am asking my questions.
I'm open to other theories that would help me to avoid these stoppages mid panoramas, but thus far I haven't heard any that hold water.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-16 21:41
Any extra filter would only add to flare, in my experience.
My current reasoning is that it was a super bright light source in the otherwise very dark scene, and that somehow screwed up with the DJI fly software. Weird, I know, but I don't have anything else.
Never had the problem when the entire scene was more evenly lit, bit it no sun, or even with sun, but the brighter sky all around.

Im lost then Bro. Not sure what else it could be.

Suren Posted at 2-16 22:18
Im lost then Bro. Not sure what else it could be.

Yeah, me too.
DJI, any reason why pano would suddenly stop mid process without sticks being touched?

Are you making manual pano's?

Montfrooij Posted at 2-18 02:38
Are you making manual pano's?

No, with manual I do not have that.
This is the automatic ones.
Looks like a bug in DJI Fly.

Apparently I'm not alone
https://mavicpilots.com/threads/mavic-3-cine-w-rc-pro-panorama-mode-woes-sluggish-timeouts.122617/

DarthSLR Posted at 2-18 07:10
No, with manual I do not have that.
This is the automatic ones.
Looks like a bug in DJI Fly.

Ah ok, I never use those myself.
Prefer to make my own (combined with AEB)

Montfrooij Posted at 2-18 07:41
Ah ok, I never use those myself.
Prefer to make my own (combined with AEB)

I still do it with tele lens, as it's currently no other way.
For the regular one, the automated process is somewhat faster and more accurate, although the stitching eats up the time.

DarthSLR Posted at 2-18 08:26
I still do it with tele lens, as it's currently no other way.
For the regular one, the automated process is somewhat faster and more accurate, although the stitching eats up the time.

I like to combine it with AEB, so if DJI adds that, I'm in.

Montfrooij Posted at 2-18 09:20
I like to combine it with AEB, so if DJI adds that, I'm in.

Since I shoot RAW, I find AEB to be an overkill even in most contrasty scenes, such as shooting towards setting sun. I expose to the right on the brightest pasrt of the sky sans the sun itself, and then Adobe Camera RAW has no issues pulling back shadows.