How do you smooth out the video

Khudson7 · Apr 4, 2014

OK, another newbie question...

I have had my phantom 2 with zenmuse for about a week now and I am excited about taking video with it. But my results are somewhat irratic with sudden start and stop actions with the camera, not very smooth at all. I see examples of others work and they look very professional with smooth turns and pitch movements of the camera.

Some day, when I grow up I hope to be able to do that too, but hoping I can get some helpful advice to accelerate the learning curve.

Also besides the handling of the phantom 2 and go pro in the air, are there any suggested video editing program tricks to further smooth out the video post production?

Thanks,
Ken

Gizmo3000 · Apr 4, 2014

Well, smooth flying is the first step, and you'll get better at it in time. (as well as flying in low/no wind conditions)

some of us have the benefit of using better transmitters, which have settings that allow us to reduce stick sensitivity, makes for super slow rotations.

And then of course there's post-stabilization, which can smooth things out even further.
Adobe Premiere and After Effects, and Final Cu Pro X (on Mac), have such ability. - and can really smooth things out considerably.

Khudson7 · Apr 5, 2014

Thanks gizmo3000,
What controller do you recommended that has the ability to lower sensitivity of the sticks in order to get smoother shots?
Ken

laselvasurf · Apr 5, 2014

I use the futaba 8FG Super and have that feature enabled. It definitely makes a huge difference for smooth pans. But, before I had that radio I was still able to do it... I just took lots of practice.

Mattsdji · Apr 14, 2014

+1
I have phantom v2 vision, and somehow the footage is always unsteady,sort of wish I have a 3 d gimbal that others have. Only drawback I see to that is when flying sometimes you can see the props in view, which would ruin some video.

The vision is good, but not as steady as expected, and the video is only 2d and some of these videos online show really smooth turns and pans to follow movement, something I can't replicate with the vision 2.

Would it be possible to get the fpv, 3 d smoothness together by changing the vijsion2 in some way, and how? I read a lot of people with fat sharks, 3d this and that with various tech talk, but would love to know whether this can be done with v2 vision and what to get?

Sort of wanting the vision 2 plus, without getting the vision 2 plus......!

Any ideas on a card.....

Seahorse · Apr 14, 2014

Alternatively gimbal range to not show props...

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

alpacafarmer · Apr 14, 2014

Also check the micro SD card for its speed. If you have a slow speed memory card, this can also produce choppy video.

Topeeka · Apr 15, 2014

I understand your views on choppy and unsteady video and there are some good suggestions already posted on this thread. I'd have to add that doing what you can to plan your shots will also help a lot. My observations and experiences have led me to try to avoid as much as I can doing any shots using Left or Right Rolls. Since these motions require that the Phantom "turns a corner", that requires a combination of flight actions that both tilts the camera and IMHO, make the Phantom do a lot of 'corrections' to do that. I try to shoot while going forward or back, up and down or while yawing. It's a bit counter-intuitive to shoot video while "backing up", but those shots can be very dramatic. The same thing applies to shots that are taken with the camera pointed down and the Phantom going straight up.

Additionally, don't overlook taking photos from very low altitudes. ALL of our photos don't have to be taken from hundreds of feet in the air, some sequences I've seen from a few feet off the ground are very dramatic, too.

I'm sure I don't have to say that "NO wind is your BEST friend" when shooting from the Phantom...when it's very calm, so AM I...!

And...I'll also second the advice about checking into using a video editor that can stabilize your shots. It can take some time to learn to use these nifty tools, but the ability to clip out the roughest parts, make smooth transitions from scene to scene, insert captions, titles, still photos, diagrams, etc. as well as dramatically improve the jerkiness that we sometimes see in our videos, make it worth the investment in time and $$$$. Most of these video editors are available for a FREE 30 day trial, so that gives us time to learn some of the basics, put together a sample video story, etc. I use Adobe products and they do this, I'm not sure who else might also have a similar "Try befor Buy" option.