I've shot a lot of great clear aerial footage at 3840 x 2160 4k .mov H.264 29.97 fps but after seeing how slow 4k is to edit with my 2.4 GHz i7 Win 8.1 laptop, I've been experimenting with different lower-quality settings such as 1920 x 1080p mov and mp4 to try and create a smaller file for editing. And that's when I noticed an issue.
I have not changed or updated anything with my P4P firmware, software, app, etc., and DJI support confirms I have all current and updated firmware/software.
I've been using the SanDisk Extreme 16GB U3 HC-I MicroCard that shipped with the drone since day one, and it has been producing sharp clear steady results for the past few months that I've had this drone. I format the card before each flight.
But after a shoot the other day at 1920 x 1080p, I began playing the raw unedited video using Windows Media Player and I noticed a weird intermittant wobbling or fluttering in the video. Look at this example, at the beginning before I start flying over the house, and you can see the wobbling. You can advance to around 2:05 and see slight wobble again.
Wobble/fluuter also at the beginning of this video too, but I didn't notice this one right away. The first video above was shot using mp4, but this video I shot in 4k mov, which has always produced perfect results - expect for this instance.
Fortunately, I was only hired to take aerial photos of these properties, and I was just taking the opportunity to practice pans-n-scans and flyovers, but that's when I noticed the wobble. I "think" the issue is more prevelant when shooting at a lower quality, non-4k setting, but I'm still experimentating to see what te outcome is.
I want a larger Micro SD card, but does anyone think the card could be the issue? It doesn;t look like a gimble problem to me, as it looks more like an issue writing the video image to the SD card?
Not sure, but just wanted to see if anyone has a similar problem or if DJI techs have a suggestion.
Frank, does it only happen when shooting in low resolutions? Please check if the gimbal and drone shake when hovering nearby, or you can power on the drone, keep it on the desk or ground and check if the gimbal shakes. Try to calibrate the IMU and gimbal, check if the propellers are damaged, change them if necessary.
If the drone and gimbal do not shake at all, I suggest trying to reset the camera settings, try another SD card for troubleshooting.
DJI Thor Posted at 2018-5-16 21:23
Frank, does it only happen when shooting in low resolutions? Please check if the gimbal and drone shake when hovering nearby, or you can power on the drone, keep it on the desk or ground and check if the gimbal shakes. Try to calibrate the IMU and gimbal, check if the propellers are damaged, change them if necessary.
If the drone and gimbal do not shake at all, I suggest trying to reset the camera settings, try another SD card for troubleshooting.
DJI Thor gives good advice there, however the SD card is not the problem. The recording process is purely digital, it either records or not, but it has absolutely no effect on the quality of the recording. The issue is, as Thor says, a vibrating camera.
The issue does appear to become more apparent, albeit slightly, when I shoot in 1920 x 1080 vs. 3840 x 2160 4k. I took the bird up two different times yesterday, shooting once at 1080 and then at 2160 4k, and the 2160 did not wobble but I saw some slight (slight) wobble at 1080. Condition of bird, props, etc., a-okay. I'll try performing calibration to see if that helps. Months ago, I did begin experiencing a non-level video shoot where the horizons were not level, and calibrating corrected that problem.
Regarding SD cards, I have had multiple issues where after shooting one continuous video, I end up with 3 or 4 segments. I know when this happens as my screen flickers, but it's not a loss of signal as the drone isn't far away. I've read that this could be card related and that the Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC UHS-I or the SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSDXC UHS-I memory cards might be helpful in resolving that issue.
It there a was to perform a full format on these cards, and not just the quick-format the P4P performs?
lvl.3
Administrator
Captain
