What's wrong with my video?

[Liamus27]

Hi guys,

Ever since I got my phantom 3 advanced I have not been able to take a crisp video of great quality. Please see embedded video. Can anyone explain why this might be - I see other P3A videos on youtube with incredible clarity.

The below video was taken with an ND16 filter with 0,0,0 on contrast, saturation and sharpness at 1/60. I have done some post processing but only to lighten/darken

 

[Dronason]

Maybe your aperture time was too big with a ND16 filter and no sun?
DJI protection plastic film in front of the lens? I joke, it should be worst, but it happens.
If you still have the caption file (and you enabled it) you can see what settings you had.
Camera can be also out of focus. If you film an object and come closer, is it becoming more sharp?

 

[Liamus27]

Maybe your aperture time was too big with a ND16 filter and no sun?
DJI protection plastic film in front of the lens? I joke, it should be worst, but it happens.
If you still have the caption file (and you enabled it) you can see what settings you had.
Camera can be also out of focus. If you film an object and come closer, is it becoming more sharp?

Could you explain what aperture time means?

Plastic definitely removed!

Also, it was a really bright day (slightly cloudy in this shot) but I always seem super overexposed with ND8 - even this video at ND16 feels washed out a little.

 

[Richard R]

Don't mean to be condescending, but the P3 is shipped with a small white foam piece in the back of the gimbal. Have you removed it? I think what dronason meant was shutter time (usually listed as a fraction of a second such as 1/60). Too long and the picture is overexposed, too short - under. And do you have the camera in manual or auto mode?

 

[Dronason]

Yes, exactly. Sorry for delayed answer. It is in photo, balance between speed and aperture = light and sharpness. If the P3 is moving and in addition something is moving (like a car), if the shutter time is too short that gives the impression of movement as a serie of steps instead of a smooth movement. For this the recommendation is to have one divided double the frame rate (at 25 fps, it is 1/50 that give smooth movement). But there is also way to use higher frame rate, this is what give more sharpness.

See by example the video in:
How Shutter Speeds & Frame Rates Can Be Used to Change the Look & Feel of Your Film
and especially the last video from:
Frame Rate Vs. Shutter Speed - Setting The Record Straight
Produce Your Best Ever DSLR Video—6 key areas to consider

It is like in digital camera for photo. You have a sport setting, a landscape, portrait etc... In the P3, all is almost manual settings and you have to set it as per the kind of video you want to take.

 

[TexasStar15]

Maybe your aperture time was too big with a ND16 filter and no sun?
DJI protection plastic film in front of the lens? I joke, it should be worst, but it happens.
If you still have the caption file (and you enabled it) you can see what settings you had.
Camera can be also out of focus. If you film an object and come closer, is it becoming more sharp?

You laugh about that DJI protection plastic film, happened to me. Couldn't figure out what problem was, kinda fuzzy video and pictures. Sure enough hadn't taken that off before my 1st flight.

 

[Dronason]

You laugh about that DJI protection plastic film, happened to me. Couldn't figure out what problem was, kinda fuzzy video and pictures. Sure enough hadn't taken that off before my 1st flight.

Yes, that can happens. Laughing was more than I know it can happen, but the picture would have been a lot worse, but who knows?

 

[rocketflyer]

Did you download the video from your phone or the SD card?

Also when you set a fixed shutter speed (1/60 according to the rule of 2x) you have put the camera into manual mode. Now this may still result in under or over exposed footage depending on the ambient light level.

If you leave the camera in auto mode it will set the correct shutter speed to properly expose the scene but may or may not be at the 'ideal' shutter speed (you will get closer to it than without an ND filter of course).

Most ND kits only come with 2 (or 3) levels so it's almost impossible to get the ideal exposure unless you're super lucky.

 

[Liamus27]

Thanks for all the response everyone.

Yes the foam is removed - the smoothness of the footage not a problem it's the poor quality. My Samsung S6 records fantastic quality video and that's all I'm asking from my P3!

I downloaded the video from the SD card.

I shoot in manual and always keep close to the 2x FPS rule.

Is everyone at least in agrement with me that the quality in the video I posted is not as good as it could/should be?

 

[rocketflyer]

It does look decidedly average. Have you tried shooting a test video in auto exposure?

 

[Liamus27]

I'll try a video on auto exposure at the weekend - what's the default colour profile and sataurtaion/contrast etc - I want to go back to the beginning.

 

[Liamus27]

Anyone?

 

[rocketflyer]

I believe it's none for color and standard for saturation, contrast...

 

[Liamus27]

I believe it's none for color and standard for saturation, contrast...

Standard meaning zero?

 

[tcope]

I'm not seeing the issue. I watched it at 1080 on a 3k screen and it looked good. The clouds were a little over saturated. If you are talking about the blurry/undefinded images, this is probably because of the 16ND filter. This is what the filter does. It blurs them slightly to give them a sense of motion. If you were not moving at the time it would be less noticeable. Put the stock filter back on and try it again. I think you will see crisp images. However, when those images are close they are going to look more staged.

 

[rocketflyer]

yes

 

[Richard R]

I'm not seeing the issue. I watched it at 1080 on a 3k screen and it looked good. The clouds were a little over saturated. If you are talking about the blurry/undefinded images, this is probably because of the 16ND filter. This is what the filter does. It blurs them slightly to give them a sense of motion. If you were not moving at the time it would be less noticeable. Put the stock filter back on and try it again. I think you will see crisp images. However, when those images are close they are going to look more staged.

Uh, ND filters reduce the amount of light that reaches the lens behind it. Any quality filter should NOT ad blur. The blurring achieved with a filter comes from being able to use a slower shutter speed.

 

[Richard R]

That blur aids the brain in integrating between frames so that the movie looks like a movie and not just a series of stills strung together.

 

[tcope]

Uh, ND filters reduce the amount of light that reaches the lens behind it. Any quality filter should NOT ad blur. The blurring achieved with a filter comes from being able to use a slower shutter speed.

It reduces the shutter speed... which creates a motion blur. I'm not saying it's a blur from focus, it's a motion blur.

Here is a very good video on what the ND filters do:

 

[Richard R]

Trope and I are in violent agreement LOL. I've found that an ND8 works best for me on sunny days. I usually set the ISO to 100 and can use a shutter speed of 1/60 and keep the ev around 0. The 1/60 is the recommended shutter sped when shooting at 30 fps. Gives enough blur for smooth video but maintains acceptable image sharpness.