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Issue with shooting D-Log
5719 14 2016-3-28
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Danko
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Serbia
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I've tried shooting with D-Log color setting and so far results seem pretty strange.

My camera was set as follows:
Video Size: 1080p (it was same in 4K as well)
Framerate: 30fps
Video Format: MP4
Standard: NTSC
White Balance: AWB
Style: None
Color: D-Log

When I open this video in Premiere Pro it seems very pixelated as if it was shot in VGA resolution and then blown to FHD/4K.

Here is the part of the video, 100% scale, starts without color grading and added it after few seconds, basically pixelation still there:


I've tried to use DJI Transcoder tool, but to no avail, transcoded video seems to have same pixelation if played in VLC or QuickTime. Transcoded video can't be imported to Premiere so I couln't see if it had any difference there.

I've tried transcoding it on both Windows (v1.0.0) and Mac (v0.9.2) versions of the DJI Transcoder app but results are same.

Screenshot at 100% crop from QuickTime Player after transcoding on Mac:
http://i.imgur.com/oHDjxIb.jpg

Screenshot at 100% crop from VLC after transcoding on Windows:
http://i.imgur.com/5JrgeXy.png

So, is this some bug in Phantom4 firmware, or Transcoder, or both?

2016-3-28
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Kneepuck
Captain
Flight distance : 275105 ft
United States
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since youtube treats video so harshly it is hard to tell,  but you said same results in 4k.  That leads me to ask, is this video taken off your device?
2016-3-28
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Danko
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Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-29 01:21
since youtube treats video so harshly it is hard to tell,  but you said same results in 4k.  That le ...

Yes, video is taken from SD card.

You can perhaps best see it in still screenshot of the video:
http://i.imgur.com/oHDjxIb.png

Here you can see how everything looks very pixelated, like it is shot in 640x480 and then blown to larger size. When I change to any other color mode other than D-Log, video is very sharp and everything is as it should be.
2016-3-28
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skyeboysteve
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United States
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Danko Posted at 2016-3-29 01:20
Yes, video is taken from SD card.

You can perhaps best see it in still screenshot of the video:

I've noticed the same thing with d-log.  The compression is horrible!
2016-5-2
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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Danko Posted at 2016-3-29 16:20
Yes, video is taken from SD card.

You can perhaps best see it in still screenshot of the video:

'Here you can see how everything looks very pixelated, like it is shot in 640x480 and then blown to larger size. When I change to any other color mode other than D-Log, video is very sharp and everything is as it should be.'

The scene you shot has bucket loads of fine whispy tree branches in it, that alone will produce awful pixelation because the compression cannot handle that amount of fine detail.

And switching from D-Log to normal also changes how your computer processes the image, so it is not a fair comparison.

Try shooting some footage of another scene with out the trees in it and see what result you get.

2016-5-2
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roark
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Canada
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I had the same problem, I'm sure everyone does. The solution is simple: Your style setting is set to "none"

You have to select custom and turn every setting down to -3 Turning it to 0 isn't enough, it still leaves crazy sharpening artifacts. It's still too sharp even at -3 but you'll find your image at 100% closer to what you're probably used to. I also do a noise removal pass afterwards.



2016-5-2
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C_LUU
Second Officer
Flight distance : 481988 ft
Australia
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-Do you get the same issue when you dont shoot in D-Log?

As Roak said above, D-Log is usually used in conjunction with a custom style. Dial down the sharpness, contrast to -3, you can always add these after without losing quality in post production. Crop sized sensor such as the phantom and Gopro struggle with over sharpened video. The situation gets worse when you scale 4k down to 1080p in post production, this creates a super sharp image for video. this will create  aliasing and zebra lines that make video unusable unless a custom scene is used to dial down sharpness and contrast. Dont forget you can always add sharpening and contrast via post production, its much harder to remove sharpening and contrast from video than to add it.

Also, because you are using a Mac, try using MOV format for video.

2016-5-2
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phantom-four.co
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Netherlands
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As already mentioned, shooting in D-LOG works best if you also change other settings first as well. You can use the info in this article as a starting point:

http://www.phantom-four.com/maki ... your-dji-phantom-4/
2016-5-3
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roark
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Canada
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Once you've shot some footage with the right "custom" style settings, your next step would be converting your LOG footage into REC709. And forgive me if you already know this stuff.

Ok, so - your shooting in LOG to take advantage of the wider dynamic range (shadows that would otherwise lack detail, have detail, and highlights that would otherwise be blown out, aren't blown out) but now you've got to convert the colors back to REC709. There are LUTS you can use to accomplish this for you. Here's a set I found after a quick google search:

https://www.groundcontrolcolor.com/free-dji-lut.html

You can apply these in After Effects or Premiere Pro if you own a licence, but your best option for applying LUTS is free - check out  Davinci Resolve - the light version is the only thing you'll ever need. You don't need the pro version. Don't be intimidated  by the complicated interface, it's actually quite simple to use, just check out a few tutorials on youtube and follow along. It will take you 20 mins max to learn everything you need to know.

After applying this conversion, you've essentially made your "basic" color correction. Now the real fun begins. After converting to REC709, you can add another whole layer of color over top with some creative LUTS. My favorite are these:

http://www.vision-color.com/osiris/

Another option that does both steps I've noted above is FilmConvert - I purchased this on sale a while back and it's quite good as well. It only has a correction lut for the inspire camera - but it seems to work well converting the footage from my Phantom 4.

Hope this helps beyond your issue with sharpening artifacts.
2016-5-3
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irrbloss
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Flight distance : 210669 ft
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I have the same problem with D-Log on my P4. It's unusable. I know how to do post on LOG-footage, but the LOG-footage from tje P4 is useless, no matter what settings you're using for sharpness, contrast and saturation. Colors becomes posterized and all fine details are lost forever - no way of bringing them back in post. I had the P3 Pro earlier, and LOG-footage from that camera was good. I think there must be an issue with the P4 firmware.
2016-5-20
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FatedFilmsNC
Second Officer

United States
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irrbloss@gmail. Posted at 2016-5-21 02:03
I have the same problem with D-Log on my P4. It's unusable. I know how to do post on LOG-footage, bu ...

Then something is wrong with your camera buddy. I shoot every single shot in D Log, and even though (before yesterday) I wasn't transcoding it, I'm still getting very clear, crisp shots (except when there's TONS of trees in the shot) - example here, shot all in D Log. You'll notice the shots with the hundreds of trees in them have some pixelation in the trees. NOTE* I'm still learning when it comes to color correction in Premiere Pro. I also just started using custom settings on the contrast and sharpness, because as you can see in the video, the trees are over-sharpened as well. It's all a learning curve, and I for one can't wait till I have this thing mastered.
2016-5-21
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irrbloss
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FatedFilmsNC Posted at 2016-5-21 16:16
Then something is wrong with your camera buddy. I shoot every single shot in D Log, and even though ...

Well, I think you DO have the problem. At least I'm seeing it. It's not just pixelation, it's posterization too, especially on trees/grass. I don't know if you're having a 4K-monitor/TV to watch it, but watch it at 100% in your editing software, and you'll see it. I had the P3 Pro before, and got a lot better video in LOG than on the P4.
posterization.jpg
There are no gradients in the tree because of this posterization of the colors. Just 2-3 different green tones, no shades/grading of those tones. That's what I'm talking about. No way to extract something in post, that isn't there to begin with.


This is what it looks like at 100% on my P4 in log. You don't actually see it at 1080p, but when zooming in 100%, this is what D-Log looks like on P4 - 100%, but cropped (click to enlarge):

screenshot.png

You can see the cropped area to the right, the red marked area is where it's cropped. There isn't much pixelation. The tree stems look fine, but everything else is awful - full of posterization - and no details there.
2016-5-21
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taz291819
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United States
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I have to agree, that footage doesn't look so good.

Hickory, NC, huh?  Was there a few years ago when UNA played them in the playoffs.
2016-5-21
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michaelfinney_h
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United Kingdom
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Hi This is shot in D-Log compression. I use Cyberlink Power Dir 14. All you need to do to get rid of the "mist"from the D-Log compression is to use the video enhancement facility. It's just one click processing.
Have a look at this video to see the results.

2016-5-22
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itsagoodalife
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I shoot in none and correct colour in edit , looks pretty good I think ???

2016-5-24
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