Phantom 4 pro - pulsing/flickering

[Silverwood]

I have a Phantom 4 pro which is a few months old. I mainly use it for photography but have been doing a little film work for clients. I've found that when filming in low light conditions the footage looks great but in good light, particularly bright sunlight I get a horrendous pulsing/flickering effect which makes the footage unusable. Anyone know any way to fix/improve this?
The footage was shot at 25 fps, 1/50sec, F4,100ISO, 1920 X 1080 (full HD), ND Filter, EV locked.

Here's a high resolution clip - please watch in HD.

I'd love to hear from people who have some ideas around this, not people who troll these posts and say that they can't see anything wrong with the footage. Solution based answers from people that know what they're talking about only please...

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[camelman]

I used to get this really bad with the Phantom 4 (original), particularly when filming over grassy areas.
I haven't noticed it anywhere near as bad with the 4 Pro until last night.
Looking back at the pre and post edited footage however the original 4k footage was ok but the 1080p output from my editor had introduced it.

Have you tried filming in 4k to see if it's there?

 

[AUGENBLICK]

Could you tell me what editing system you are using ?

 

[KevMo Photog]

I have a Phantom 4 pro which is a few months old. I mainly use it for photography but have been doing a little film work for clients. I've found that when filming in low light conditions the footage looks great but in good light, particularly bright sunlight I get a horrendous pulsing/flickering effect which makes the footage unusable. Anyone know any way to fix/improve this?
The footage was shot at 25 fps, 1/50sec, F4,100ISO, 1920 X 1080 (full HD), ND Filter, EV locked.

Here's a high resolution clip - please watch in HD.

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Man I'm not seeing the flicker in your clip at all! I have seen some that have the one frame flicker every second in the dark parts of the shot. But I don't see that here.

 

[KingDad1985]

I'm not seeing it either

 

[KevMo Photog]

I have a Phantom 4 pro which is a few months old. I mainly use it for photography but have been doing a little film work for clients. I've found that when filming in low light conditions the footage looks great but in good light, particularly bright sunlight I get a horrendous pulsing/flickering effect which makes the footage unusable. Anyone know any way to fix/improve this?
The footage was shot at 25 fps, 1/50sec, F4,100ISO, 1920 X 1080 (full HD), ND Filter, EV locked.

Here's a high resolution clip - please watch in HD.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Are you talking about props up the top causing a flickering from sunlight reflecting off of them?

 

[Silverwood]

I used to get this really bad with the Phantom 4 (original), particularly when filming over grassy areas.
I haven't noticed it anywhere near as bad with the 4 Pro until last night.
Looking back at the pre and post edited footage however the original 4k footage was ok but the 1080p output from my editor had introduced it.

Have you tried filming in 4k to see if it's there?

I haven't tried filming with 4k in a similar location, I'll give that a go today.

 

[Silverwood]

Are you talking about props up the top causing a flickering from sunlight reflecting off of them?

I'm well aware of prop flicker but this is throughout the whole shot and the camera is pointing directly down so I think we can rule out prop flicker. I suspect it is some sort of compression issue...

 

[Silverwood]

Man I'm not seeing the flicker in your clip at all! I have seen some that have the one frame flicker every second in the dark parts of the shot. But I don't see that here.

What sort of computer are you using? I'm using a Mac Book Pro and it's glaringly obvious. Try watching it in full HD (you tube allows you to set this).

 

[KevMo Photog]

I'm well aware of prop flicker but this is throughout the whole shot and the camera is point directly down so I think we can rule out prop flicker. I suspect it is some sort of compression issue...

Yeah he was stating an issue in general in his OP in addition to his video. But again, I'm not seeing it in his video. He also said that it was normally bad in low light. This video is all darker values. So I'm confused.

 

[KevMo Photog]

I'm watching it on a 2K LG computer monitor. It's pretty sharp. Prob not quite as much as your Mac Pro though.

 

[Silverwood]

Could you tell me what editing system you are using ?

I use I movie, however changing the file type or compressing the footage makes little difference. The editing system will obviously not have an effect on the footage straight out of the camera... The footage is shot in PAL, MOV, H.264 and then has been converted to mp4 and compressed. The footage before and after this stage still has the sever flickering.

 

[Silverwood]

Yeah he was stating an issue in general in his OP in addition to his video. But again, I'm not seeing it in his video. He also said that it was normally bad in low light. This video is all darker values. So I'm confused.

The film is shot in bright sunlight in the middle of the day, in a high contrast situation. The flickering is is the highlights not shadows- please re-read original post. Just to clarify again, as above, this is not a problem in low light, only in bright light (strong sunlight, middle of the day).

 

[Silverwood]

Man I'm not seeing the flicker in your clip at all! I have seen some that have the one frame flicker every second in the dark parts of the shot. But I don't see that here.

After reading your comment I went and tried it on a dell laptop. The dell screen is much duller than the Mac and flickering, while still there is much less apparent. Obviously this doesn't solve the issue but its interesting...

 

[KevMo Photog]

The only highlights you have in your clip are tiny little dot's of stone sticking out of the dark green trees. Yeah every screen is gonna diff for sure! Hope you can figure it out man.

 

[Silverwood]

I used to get this really bad with the Phantom 4 (original), particularly when filming over grassy areas.
I haven't noticed it anywhere near as bad with the 4 Pro until last night.
Looking back at the pre and post edited footage however the original 4k footage was ok but the 1080p output from my editor had introduced it.

Have you tried filming in 4k to see if it's there?

I just did a test and the 4k is actually slightly worse, lowering the resolution either in raw or post slightly improves the footage.

 

[bmrg]

Hello, I have the exact same problem in a phantom 4 Pro, maybe even more noticeable. After some struggling with the setting I return it. The 2nd unit have the same problem. Have you manage to solve the issue?

 

[AUGENBLICK]

Hello, I have the exact same problem in a phantom 4 Pro, maybe even more noticeable. After some struggling with the setting I return it. The 2nd unit have the same problem. Have you manage to solve the issue?

Yes, I think so. I am a pro-cameraman in the UK, and an aeroplane pilot, and have just purchased my P4-Pro purely as a "camera platform" I am not really interested in the drone as a leisure item. I had the same experience with the 1st video I filmed.(PAL settings, not NTSC) The camera settings on the drone are very important . I would advise you to go to YouTube and find "Kenneth Hagan" and his posts will give you very accurate details as to camera settings. They are very similar to filming with DSLR cameras. The next issue depends on your editing software. I use Final Cut Pro X. On importing into FCP X the footage needs converting to Apple's Pro Res 422, as the footage from the drone is not in that format. The first time I used it, I had the same problem, and realised that the native footage as filmed that I had imported was actually captured at 23.45 frames per second, in spite of being filmed with a 25 fps setting on the drone. I then used a Third Party piece of software called "Free Video Converter" and set it to convert to Apple Pro Res 422 at 25 fps - and the results are perfect. I would again suggest you look at Kenneth Hagan's tutorials. I do not wish to claim superiority as a cameraman, but at 76 have had several years experience using cameras in the Broadcast industry, but flying and filming at the same time, is a new and challenging experience. I would not dream of trying to operate a camera whilst piloting an aeroplane. With a drone, you're having to do both. Quite a challenge to get it right ! Hope some of this prattle helps !
Good luck !

 

[Silverwood]

Hello, I have the exact same problem in a phantom 4 Pro, maybe even more noticeable. After some struggling with the setting I return it. The 2nd unit have the same problem. Have you manage to solve the issue?

No not yet... I'll let you know if I do...

 

[bmrg]

Yes, I think so. I am a pro-cameraman in the UK, and an aeroplane pilot, and have just purchased my P4-Pro purely as a "camera platform" I am not really interested in the drone as a leisure item. I had the same experience with the 1st video I filmed.(PAL settings, not NTSC) The camera settings on the drone are very important . I would advise you to go to YouTube and find "Kenneth Hagan" and his posts will give you very accurate details as to camera settings. They are very similar to filming with DSLR cameras. The next issue depends on your editing software. I use Final Cut Pro X. On importing into FCP X the footage needs converting to Apple's Pro Res 422, as the footage from the drone is not in that format. The first time I used it, I had the same problem, and realised that the native footage as filmed that I had imported was actually captured at 23.45 frames per second, in spite of being filmed with a 25 fps setting on the drone. I then used a Third Party piece of software called "Free Video Converter" and set it to convert to Apple Pro Res 422 at 25 fps - and the results are perfect. I would again suggest you look at Kenneth Hagan's tutorials. I do not wish to claim superiority as a cameraman, but at 76 have had several years experience using cameras in the Broadcast industry, but flying and filming at the same time, is a new and challenging experience. I would not dream of trying to operate a camera whilst piloting an aeroplane. With a drone, you're having to do both. Quite a challenge to get it right ! Hope some of this prattle helps !
Good luck !

Hello, somehow I'm not able to find a Kenneth but Frederick Hagan...
Can you post the link for the Free Video Converter?
Thank you