Grainy night time video

zelius92 · Mar 1, 2016

I want to take night time videos with my P3A, but they always come out grainy. Is there a way I can fix this using settings? I see night videos in youtube that are very clear.

richardhurst · Mar 1, 2016

You need to keep your ISO as low as possible as the higher the ISO the noise will increase in the video. You also have to bear in mind the sensor on these P3's is very small and they are not optimised for low light so your always going to get some grain/noise

RyanW · Mar 1, 2016

I watched this video and it helped me out.

zelius92 · Mar 1, 2016

RyanW said:
I watched this video and it helped me out.

I guess the concept behind taking a video shot, is the same as taking a photo?

With The Birds · Mar 1, 2016

Not really. The noise increasing with ISO relationship is however the advantage with stills is that you can get away with 3sec exposure times in a hover with low wind. Video tends to mask the noise and grain to some extent as it is averaged out.

Practice shooting in manual mode adjusting iso and TV untill you find the look you are happy with.

zelius92 said:
I guess the concept behind taking a video shot, is the same as taking a photo?

zelius92 · Mar 1, 2016

With The Birds said:
Not really. The noise increasing with ISO relationship is however the advantage with stills is that you can get away with 3sec exposure times in a hover with low wind. Video tends to mask the noise and grain to some extent as it is averaged out.

Practice shooting in manual mode adjusting iso and TV untill you find the look you are happy with.

Thanks for the advice but maybe if you look at the video I took, you could give me better advice, if ever.

zelius92 · Mar 1, 2016

It's like ti pixelates in the dark areas.

With The Birds · Mar 1, 2016

zelius92 said:
Thanks for the advice but maybe if you look at the video I took, you could give me better advice, if ever.

What do you mean "if ever"?

shockwave199 · Mar 1, 2016

For video try just auto for exposure. I haven't found anything better to be had manually setting exposure and most times, it's worse. Try color profile none as well as it may help reduce noise. That's what I shoot night video with and as well, I always use a custom white balance around 3,800 to 4,000. But don't bump up the EV value to make the picture brighter. Keep it all auto with EV value at zero. And for best results, film things that are lit up at night, not just total darkness. This is a shot I did at Chrstmas with little noise, so it can be done well even with auto settings.

zelius92 · Mar 1, 2016

shockwave199 said:
For video try just auto for exposure. I haven't found anything better to be had manually setting exposure and most times, it's worse. Try color profile none as well as it may help reduce noise. That's what I shoot night video with and as well, I always use a custom white balance around 3,800 to 4,000. But don't bump up the EV value to make the picture brighter. Keep it all auto with EV value at zero. And for best results, film things that are lit up at night, not just total darkness. This is a shot I did at Chrstmas with little noise, so it can be done well even with auto settings.

Thanks, and that was a great video. Do you shoot at 4K? mine is only an advanced so it can only do 2.7K, does that matter?

shockwave199 · Mar 2, 2016

zelius92 said:
Thanks, and that was a great video. Do you shoot at 4K? mine is only an advanced so it can only do 2.7K, does that matter?

I have an advanced too. I shoot at 1080 48fps.

rickeyfitts · Mar 2, 2016

My first real night-flight, and I tried a dozen or so settings combos. These are the segments that turned out OK.
Wish I could remember what settings I used. Next time.

Pics turned out even better. Carquinez Bridge, Vallejo California | DJI Phantom Forum

shockwave199 · Mar 2, 2016

zelius92 said:
Thanks, and that was a great video. Do you shoot at 4K? mine is only an advanced so it can only do 2.7K, does that matter?

Hey if you liked that one here's another one I did for new years eve. The P3 does hella great at night if you ask me!

Mako79 · Mar 2, 2016

Try:
Lower the frame rates to 24fps (PAL). Lower frame rates means the shutter will stay open longer. Shutter opening longer means more light can be let in.
Set the iso to 400 or less. Any higher will be grainy.
Set to cloudy for white balance.
If you have a P3Pro, record in 4K and then downsample with software to 1080p. This will squash 4:1 and eliminate the artefacts (grain). Think what happens when you watch 1080p youtube clips in window mode. Doesn't it look clearer??? This can be said with 4K being downsampled.

And remember to disarm the front red lights.

Surrealplaces · Oct 21, 2016

Here's a video I did recently mostly using just auto settings. A couple of parts of the video have higher a higher ISO setting, the clip at 1:42 for example. It seems like it depends on a few factors...how much light is around from buildings, etc.. Whether the sky is pitch black or slightly dark...etc..

With The Birds · Oct 21, 2016

Surrealplaces said:
Here's a video I did recently mostly using just auto settings. A couple of parts of the video have higher a higher ISO setting, the clip at 1:42 for example. It seems like it depends on a few factors...how much light is around from buildings, etc.. Whether the sky is pitch black or slightly dark...etc..

Video where?