Welcome Matrice Pilots!
Join our free DJI Matrice community today!
Sign up

Why can't I get smooth footage from the X5

Joined
Mar 14, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Age
35
My video is choppy no matter what setting. 24fps, 25fps, 50 fps, in 4k, and 1080 with various shutter speeds. I followed the 180 rule but still no luck.

I have been trying out almost all the suggestions on this forum but no luck. I do not know what I am doing wrong, however when I play my video back on my Smart TV (microSD to USB adapter) it plays perfect. I purchased all my equipment in the USA (NTSC) and live in South Africa (PAL) so I do not know if thats the issue but Ive played around with all those setting as well and still no luck. I have replayed the footage on my Mac, Samsung Tab 2, Ipad Mini 2 and Note 4 but still getting choppy playback all devices except my Smart TV.

Please help?
 
Have you tried recording at 30 fps (camera needs to be set to NTSC)? My bet is that it'll be perfect.

I'm in the UK which is also a PAL region but I find that if I record (in PAL) at 25fps or 50fps (various shutter speeds) I can see a slight juddering in my videos, particularly when panning. If I record at 30fps in NTSC everything is really smooth. As PC monitors usually refresh at 60Hz (HD) irrespective of the region then I suspect this is the issue as the refresh rate needs to be a multiple of the fps to have perfectly smooth playback. The advice seems to be that it's best to record in NTSC for video that's to be used on the internet as it will be viewed at 60Hz.

In fact with digital, progressive video I don't think PAL and NTSC really mean that much anymore, it's just the fps options that vary. I think modern Smart TVs can sense the fps of the video and adjust the refresh rate accordingly to 50Hz or 60Hz which is probably why the playback looks good on your TV.

Interestingly if I record at 24fps in either PAL or NTSC then the playback is identical in both - slightly juddery, which makes sense if the screen refresh rate is 60Hz.

Hopefully somebody out there is more knowledgeable about this than me and will give you the definitive answer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pescatoral Pursuit
Hi Simon

I tried 4k 30fps at 60fps with 60hz refresh rate in NTSC and no luck. Have a look.


not sure if you can see but the corners in the shot are strobe like
 
Hi Simon

I tried 4k 30fps at 60fps with 60hz refresh rate in NTSC and no luck. Have a look.


not sure if you can see but the corners in the shot are strobe like

I can see the edges of the white door are a bit choppy but that may be the pan speed - it's difficult to know from a short clip like this.

If possible I suggest you shoot a 20sec 'panning' clip at the different fps settings (PAL and NTSC) of the same subject, at about the same exposure (same ISO at least). Have the Inspire on a table, the gimbal speed really slow (keep it the same for each shot), and target something outside at least 50m away with distinctive lines such as a building. This way you can get an objective comparison between the various settings and how they play back on your different devices.

Out of interest I've just connected my Sony LCD TV (2011 model, 220v 50Hz, not Smart) up to my computer to see if my 25fps PAL files are smoother on that compared to my monitor - no difference, still juddery but NTSC 30fps is perfect. It's the same if I play the video back on the TV through a USB stick. So I'm not sure what's going on, maybe the TV sees a computer feed and switches to 60Hz?

I'll just stick with recording in NTSC unless asked otherwise.
 
If you use FCPX, slow down the footage to custom 99% then use "optical flow" and it solves the choppy.
I had same issue. But in 1080p 60fps it was smooth from camera.
Have a look at frame by frame and you'll see that you have 2 consecutive frames that Are the exact same, that's why this choppy is created.

If your editing software is in 50/60fps then this happens. But the tv only plays 25/30fps. So it's not noticeable.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
2,727
Messages
25,387
Members
5,600
Latest member
RomanChrz