Not sure if anybody can help here but I am doing a promo video for a local comapny and took a bit of footage with the phantom at the weekend which i am having a few problems with. I always use the 'soft' setting when recording and add shaprening in Post because the 'standard' setting is too harsh. I forgot to change it though before recording so i know have lots of quite good footage with horrible jaggy edges. Does anybody have any tips for reducing this sharpened look or am I totally screwed?

Thanks

Hi, I also am a professional videographer and am amazed you can shoot with the soft setting. You say you have jaggy edges- what format are you shooting in and what is your final display destination and format? (cinema,internet, dvd, TV, blu ray etc.) can you post an example of a frame capture?
Cheers!
Rod

Hi,
It's a web based commercial for a website and will be set at about 800 pixels wide max. It's a 1080p sequence filmed at 25fps. To be honest, out of the box the 'standard' setting is pretty good for colour reproduction in good light, but over sharpens everything, especially small busy areas with lots of information. I then read a Philip Bloom article and he said he filmed using the 'soft' setting, which admittedly you have to work at to bring to life, but you don't end with horrible harsh 'video' looking footage and can add shapening in post. Here's an example of the footage I am talking about straight out of the phantom with no grading etc;

http://vimeo.com/117150577

Thanks

filmworx Posted at 2015-1-19 20:15
Hi,
It's a web based commercial for a website and will be set at about 800 pixels wide max. It's a 1 ...

Right.  This is a problem with the codec used in this camera.  It uses artificial edge acutance to enhance apparent sharpness. In pro cameras this is managed in the profile settings. However no such luxuries on the phantom as it has been designed for the hobbyist rather than the pro.  If you expand the image by say 400% you will see a dividing row of pixels between the dark/light contrast areas. I agree, professionally it is not pleasant.

I edit with the  Edius 6.5 edit suite and I get round this (to a reasonable degree) by resampling using  a lanczos resampling factor.  This takes some of that "sting" out without losing detail and reduces the moire effect too..   I haven't researched if there are any other programs out there with Lanczos resampling capability.

The other not so satisfactory option is to tweak the YUV curve using your edit software. You could lower the white spectrum slightly which might calm things down albeit at the expense of a little contrast, but not really a satisafactory solution.

By the way you should not be seeing any jaggies on a computer screen at full frame- I edit on a 42" screen and there are no jaggies.  and I would strongly recommend shooting at 720/60p for best results.  1080/25 is too slow for video work where movement is required, and it doesn't convert nicely to a lower format..  I guess you are in UK or Europe using 25p. We are also PAL here in NZ. However I have found 720/60p resamplesd to 50 p gives reasonable results .  I have asked DJI to produce a software fix to allow 1080/50p and 720/50p but as usual , no response.  Why they choose to ignore a major part of their market in Europe and the southern hemisphere is beyond me- still  rant over-back on topic!

I have done many trials over the years on HD resolutions for various outputs and can guarantee you will not see any difference between 1080/720 on anything that is going on the internet. OK, on a cinema screen you will but then this little camera would be totally inadequate at that stage.  Hope this helps.
PS: just been doing some further trials on some of my stuff and the Edius "Blur" effect does a superb job of allowing micro adjustment of sharpness. It calms down that edge harshness at any setting you care to choose and gives a much more "fluid look to the image. It does of course blur the entire image but used at the lowest end of the scale works very nicely. It also reduces the moire effect on detail.  At least you won't have to start of with the soft setting, which mangles all of the definition to start with- and it cannot be put back.
Cheers!
Rod

Thanks Rod, that was a great response! I've played about with a few of the blur tools in premiere and i think I may be able to get away with the footage after a few tweaks and I'm going to do what you suggest and film at 720/60fps from now, (I've also heard that this tends to give the best results).

thanks again

filmworx Posted at 2015-1-22 17:38
Thanks Rod, that was a great response! I've played about with a few of the blur tools in premiere an ...

Hi filmworx, you are very welcome, glad to help.  And 720/60 is certainly the way to go with cameras that are moving- even on a tripod- pans sweeps etc. I have trialled 1080p with 720p on a 42" monitor and there is no practical difference until enlarged way up to 400%- this is the real world of resolution! ( these test carried out on one of my pro cameras not the little PV2+ of course, but the comparison holds up)
Cheers!
Rod