Flying conditions were not ideal today but I wanted to fly my new Mavic and take some video.  The settings were 3840x2160, 24 fps and the file was saved as a  mp4 file.  The white balance was set on automatic.  A portion of the video is attached.  I'm somewhat disappointed in the quality of the video, specifically the branches of the trees.  Is this what I've seen mentioned as "watercolor" or "jello" results?  The branches of the trees are totally without detail - if you notice the orange colored tree branches, they are the worst.  The branches appear as smudges.  Is this normal?  Are there settings that will correct this?  Or possibly better light?  I've taken quite a bit of video with my Phantom 4 and have never seen, or noticed, video that looks like this.
Thank you for your comments,
Don

It is NOT like the P4. You need to tap to AUTOFOCUS and or use manual focus.

Jello, I think, is a wiggly look and is due to undamped vibration of the gimbal.   

This does look like the watercolor issue some have reported. I wouldn't have expected to see it in this kind of light, though, so by chance did you have your sharpening turned down?

Looks like Colorado?

dronist Posted at 2017-3-6 18:06
It is NOT like the P4. You need to tap to AUTOFOCUS and or use manual focus.

Yes, I am aware of the need to focus and it was focused on the trees.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-3-6 18:27
Jello, I think, is a wiggly look and is due to undamped vibration of the gimbal.   

This does look like the watercolor issue some have reported. I wouldn't have expected to see it in this kind of light, though, so by chance did you have your sharpening turned down?

I'm not sure of where I'd turn the sharpening down.  I'll check the manual before I can give a response but in general, I'm pretty sure I didn't make any adjustments for sharpening.

geofox784 Posted at 2017-3-6 18:28
Looks like Colorado?

No, Kalispell, MT.  We've had quite a winter and I'm ready for something other than a gray sky and white ground.

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-6 18:49
No, Kalispell, MT.  We've had quite a winter and I'm ready for something other than a gray sky and white ground.

"I'm ready for something other than a gray sky and white ground."

Same goes for here in CO

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-6 18:48
I'm not sure of where I'd turn the sharpening down.  I'll check the manual before I can give a response but in general, I'm pretty sure I didn't make any adjustments for sharpening.

It's in your Camera's Style settings, a negative value for the triangle means less sharpening.



Assuming you are also using the default video color profile and the Standard Style settings, you could try resetting your camera settings, which on iOS is the last option in the settings under the gear icon.

I definitely have the same problem with bare tree branches... Especially if the video is focused on something like a house/building, trees in the peripheral are totally fuzzy.

Here's what the standard, default settings look like on my Mavic, taken yesterday admittedly under better light, but if you look through the set on Flickr there are a few under subdued lighting conditions and none of them approach what we see in the OP's video.


DJI_0424 by Lewis Francis, on Flickr

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-3-6 19:14
It's in your Camera's Style settings, a negative value for the triangle means less sharpening.

[view_image]

Thank you - I'll check that setting. I believe I watched a video of the "best" video settings for the Mavic and a negative value was recommended as part of a custom setting.

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-6 21:36
Thank you - I'll check that setting. I believe I watched a video of the "best" video settings for the Mavic and a negative value was recommended as part of a custom setting.

So I think less sharpening is maybe better when you want to control the sharpening later in post, and I do believe the standard sharpening is maybe a little aggressive sometimes, but in low light, negative sharpening works against you due to DJI's noise reduction algorithms.

Not sure that's the problem here, but an avenue to explore, anyway.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-3-6 19:25
Here's what the standard, default settings look like on my Mavic, taken yesterday admittedly under better light, but if you look through the set on Flickr there are a few under subdued lighting conditions and none of them approach what we see in the OP's video.

Thanks for the post, I always forget to use my Flicker account.

Could you please reset the camera settings and test more?
If convenient, please upload some original videos to dropbox and send me the link. I'll help to check it.

I had the same problem with my first videos, no detail in the tree tops. I then changed my custom camera settings to Sharpness 0 Contrast -1 Saturation +1 and colour space to D-Cinelike. You may also find that you have to reboot the camera for changes to take effect. To reboot change from pal to NTSC mode then back again. I do not do any colour grading yet (noobie) but the results I get with these setting are superb.

Yup, looks like the dreaded watercolour issue I and countless others are experiencing. Flew three flights this morning; on the first and second, all fine detail looks good. Then, without changing anything, on the third flight, the branches of the trees just look like ill-defined smudges.

Dazba Posted at 2017-3-7 00:49
I had the same problem with my first videos, no detail in the tree tops. I then changed my custom camera settings to Sharpness 0 Contrast -1 Saturation +1 and colour space to D-Cinelike. You may also find that you have to reboot the camera for changes to take effect. To reboot change from pal to NTSC mode then back again. I do not do any colour grading yet (noobie) but the results I get with these setting are superb.

Thanks, I'll give those settings a try.  I just hand held the drone and took some video of the trees outside and they appear to be fine - I'd changed the settings to the first default settings which are zero's for the three items.  Still to cold to fly this morning, about 20 deg F., but when it warms up I'll try it again.
DJI Mindy - I'll do as you suggested and post some video a little later.

Wow that doesn't even look in focus at all . Even the building and the fence look like crap . I'm glad mine has been fine .

Water colour can appear when you have under exposed the image . which the trees in this video are underexposed . also focus helps

OK, I shot a little more video today - it was cloudy and snowing again so very similar to yesterday's video.  The only change I made was to the video setting for sharpness, contrast and saturation.  Yesterday's sharpness setting was -2 and today the setting was 0.  There is a significant difference in the sharpness and "watercolor" effect.  There are a few instances where there is a slight "watercolor" effect.  At the beginning of the video there is a Ponderosa Pine (the last tree at the bottom of the driveway) that has a little of the effect.  At about 20 seconds there are two scrawny fir trees with a little of the watercolor effect.  It seems that the closer the tree, the more noticeable it is.  Trees farther back, do not show any of this effect that I can distinguish.   For me, I'm going to leave the sharpness at 0 as suggested earlier.
Thanks for your comments.  

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-7 17:39
OK, I shot a little more video today - it was cloudy and snowing again so very similar to yesterday's video.  The only change I made was to the video setting for sharpness, contrast and saturation.  Yesterday's sharpness setting was -2 and today the setting was 0.  There is a significant difference in the sharpness and "watercolor" effect.  There are a few instances where there is a slight "watercolor" effect.  At the beginning of the video there is a Ponderosa Pine (the last tree at the bottom of the driveway) that has a little of the effect.  At about 20 seconds there are two scrawny fir trees with a little of the watercolor effect.  It seems that the closer the tree, the more noticeable it is.  Trees farther back, do not show any of this effect that I can distinguish.   For me, I'm going to leave the sharpness at 0 as suggested earlier.
Thanks for your comments.  
Short video shot today with different sharpness setting.

Glad to hear of the improvement -- wait till you see it how it performs in strong light!

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-3-7 19:21
Glad to hear of the improvement -- wait till you see it how it performs in strong light!

Thank you for your comments and knowledge about this subject.  It made a big difference and shortened the learning curve greatly.
Don

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-7 17:39
OK, I shot a little more video today - it was cloudy and snowing again so very similar to yesterday's video.  The only change I made was to the video setting for sharpness, contrast and saturation.  Yesterday's sharpness setting was -2 and today the setting was 0.  There is a significant difference in the sharpness and "watercolor" effect.  There are a few instances where there is a slight "watercolor" effect.  At the beginning of the video there is a Ponderosa Pine (the last tree at the bottom of the driveway) that has a little of the effect.  At about 20 seconds there are two scrawny fir trees with a little of the watercolor effect.  It seems that the closer the tree, the more noticeable it is.  Trees farther back, do not show any of this effect that I can distinguish.   For me, I'm going to leave the sharpness at 0 as suggested earlier.
Thanks for your comments.  
Short video shot today with different sharpness setting.

Way better now.

TimmysDad Posted at 2017-3-7 17:39
OK, I shot a little more video today - it was cloudy and snowing again so very similar to yesterday's video.  The only change I made was to the video setting for sharpness, contrast and saturation.  Yesterday's sharpness setting was -2 and today the setting was 0.  There is a significant difference in the sharpness and "watercolor" effect.  There are a few instances where there is a slight "watercolor" effect.  At the beginning of the video there is a Ponderosa Pine (the last tree at the bottom of the driveway) that has a little of the effect.  At about 20 seconds there are two scrawny fir trees with a little of the watercolor effect.  It seems that the closer the tree, the more noticeable it is.  Trees farther back, do not show any of this effect that I can distinguish.   For me, I'm going to leave the sharpness at 0 as suggested earlier.
Thanks for your comments.  
Short video shot today with different sharpness setting.

This one seems much better

WOW, that's a big improvement. You will find that the video quality is much better on good bright days. Roll on Spring hey