My inspire 1 performs beautifully. The only problem is with the X3 Cam when I try to take video. The picture looks jerky. It looks jerky during movement both on my iPad and in the final video output. I tried changing from .mov to .mp4 without success. Is there anything I could do different?
X3 Camera Video jerky
- Thread starter AboveAll
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Could be a number of things depending on how you are filming. It won't make any difference whether mov or mp4. Can you please give more information:
- Is this when flying straight with camera fixed or just panning / tilting?
- Are you using manual or auto exposure?
- What shutter and fps settings are you using?
- Is this when flying straight with camera fixed or just panning / tilting?
- Are you using manual or auto exposure?
- What shutter and fps settings are you using?
Thanks for your quick response. I have the camera fixed in the forward position. It stutters when I make a turn in either direction. I am using Auto Exposure, ISO 1600, Shutter 30.
I am using Windows Media Player, and Real Player. With Windows 10 with AMD 64 Athlon X2, 2mb Ram.
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That's extremely vague and you didn't say what resolution you recorded in, but that sounds like a 10 year old PC. No way you'll be able to play 4K with that, 2.7K or 1080p60 either, 1080p30 might play smoothly.
If your straight flying isn't stuttery then more than anything it's probably because you are turning the aircraft too quickly. The slower the better with a pan or tilt, however your shutter speed setting is important for getting good quality video and I generally shoot in manual mode for this reason, occasionally shutter priority - but forget auto.
The rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed at twice (or a multiple) of your fps. So if shooting at @ 30fps (720 / 1080 / 4k) the shutter speed ideally wants to be 1/60 sec, shooting at 60fps it wants to be 1/120 sec. Shooting at 60fps will also give a smoother video because but takes more processing power. Too high a shutter speed can lead to a 'Jello' effect which isn't good.
Having set the fps and shutter then set the ISO for the correct exposure. With the X3 this often means you will need to use ND filters even at ISO 100 because the aperture has no control to reduce the exposure. Even at 100 ISO with the supplied ND filter I find the exposure can be too high so either use a stronger ND filter if you have one or reduce the shutter speed, keeping it as a multiple of the fps.
I suggest you try 720p@30 and then 1080p@30 with the shutter at 1/60 if you can and see what you get. No need to fly for this test, just place the aircraft on a table and pan at the same speed for both settings. Also try different pan speeds and see what difference it makes.
This link is worth reading for information on camera settings when shooting video
Just experiment - I'm sure you'll soon get it right.
The rule of thumb is to have your shutter speed at twice (or a multiple) of your fps. So if shooting at @ 30fps (720 / 1080 / 4k) the shutter speed ideally wants to be 1/60 sec, shooting at 60fps it wants to be 1/120 sec. Shooting at 60fps will also give a smoother video because but takes more processing power. Too high a shutter speed can lead to a 'Jello' effect which isn't good.
Having set the fps and shutter then set the ISO for the correct exposure. With the X3 this often means you will need to use ND filters even at ISO 100 because the aperture has no control to reduce the exposure. Even at 100 ISO with the supplied ND filter I find the exposure can be too high so either use a stronger ND filter if you have one or reduce the shutter speed, keeping it as a multiple of the fps.
I suggest you try 720p@30 and then 1080p@30 with the shutter at 1/60 if you can and see what you get. No need to fly for this test, just place the aircraft on a table and pan at the same speed for both settings. Also try different pan speeds and see what difference it makes.
This link is worth reading for information on camera settings when shooting video
Just experiment - I'm sure you'll soon get it right.
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Good explanation. However, I must add that for some purposes it is just beautiful to take the highest shutter speed possible. I shot clips with 1/2000 and still had what I call 'crisp smoothness' and no jello. It depends on the situation and the positioning with respect to the sun. If I shoot fast moving objects I tend to try the same shots with different shutter speeds. Most of the time I prefer the result of the fastest ones. It's also great for making stills. You need a good sun hood because it freezes the prop shadows. Tilting the camera down a bit helps a lot.
Just to say that it's a ballpark but not a religion. If you only have one shot at it you better take the
shutter speed <= Frames per second x 2 rule as Simon explained.
And panning....as little and slow as possible, just like zooming or tilting. Too much gets boring. Don't underestimate the power of a still shot with nothing moving other that a bird or something.
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