Smooth 25fps drone footage question.

[moomike]

Hi all,

I've been watching some drone footage recently by the Moment team on YouTube shot on the mini 2 and it is breathtaking! it's definitely shot in 4K and definitely by an incredibly experienced and professional individual/team - I would never in a million years have guessed at the footage being captured on a mini 2, obviously proof that it's the pilot and not the equipment - LUT applied has only added some contrast and warmth according to the team.

As I am primarily using 25fps for drone footage, is there a way to emulate such sillky smooth footage aside from the usual slow flying and smooth, cinematic movements? Should I be shooting at 25fps, or at 30fps and slowing down a percentage alongside some wizadry to compensate for skipped frames, etc?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer any help or advice, it is very much appreciated.

Mike

Edit: Link to footage:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgbfsDvLkAg

 

[4wd]

Can you add a link, it will help to use ND filters so the shutter is slow enough to give some motion blur though TBH I often don't bother as the main thing you are trying to do is make smooth cinematic moves anyway.

 

[4wd]

They are clearly on all manual to keep darks dark and some very well done grading is what is making it look so good.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

usual slow flying and smooth, cinematic movements

I would think that is the key. In my very limited past experience with mini 2 was that you really need to do everything extremely slowly. In all honesty, as a beginner the controller definitely felt far too sensitive even in cine mode with appropriate adjustments in the menus but I imagine you would eventually get over this. The new mini 3 screen controller is a little nicer in a way that it somewhat decouples the back and forth and left to right movements, but that's quite a minor effect.
Probably distance to subject can mask the speeds a little. In this video all objects were very distant.

Flying forward and back or tilting the gimbal definitely come out a lot smoother than any of the turning movements. I don't understand why and it really annoyed me.

Now of course if you had 4K 60fps you would have a lot more options to slow it down in post, but only where it doesn't make say people movement look odd.

I'd say lots of practice is the main thing.

 

[moomike]

They are clearly on all manual to keep darks dark and some very well done grading is what is making it look so good.

All manual is a definite I would say as there's no drastic exposure changes or shifts, it's less about the exposure and more about the movement and smoothness I was curious though.

Cheers for the reply, appreciate it.

I would think that is the key...

Cheers for the reply mate, I was pretty sure that was what it was too until I saw the wind turbine bit and it looked slowed somehow - perhaps it was just a slow day for the wind - which would make perfect sense actually for smoother mini footage

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Cheers for the reply mate, I was pretty sure that was what it was too until I saw the wind turbine bit and it looked slowed somehow - perhaps it was just a slow day for the wind - which would make perfect sense actually for smoother mini footage

Car and people movement looked pretty normal. You can slow down even 30fps footage and apply davinci interpolation and that would sometimes work but you might also magnify some faults in the motion. It's really best to get it right in the camera

 

[LeeRatters]

I'd say it's a great combination of very good and experienced flying alongside getting the technical FPS etc correct too.

Plus of course, a gorgeous landscape doesn't go amiss!!

I shoot in 30fps and edit in the same and have been shooting in 2.7k so it matches the quickshots format that I used for the first time a few weeks ago. I have gone back to the point where I'm doing orbits etc manually though so..... I guess I could go back to 4k but space/PC spec prefers 2.7k I have had issues where exporting to 1080p gives me like, jpeg artefacts in contrasty areas though - I can't figure that one out.

I'm only a few months into ownership though so not overly experienced.

 

[moomike]

I'd say it's a great combination of very good and experienced flying alongside getting the technical FPS etc correct too.

Plus of course, a gorgeous landscape doesn't go amiss!!

I shoot in 30fps and edit in the same and have been shooting in 2.7k so it matches the quickshots format that I used for the first time a few weeks ago. I have gone back to the point where I'm doing orbits etc manually though so..... I guess I could go back to 4k but space/PC spec prefers 2.7k I have had issues where exporting to 1080p gives me like, jpeg artefacts in contrasty areas though - I can't figure that one out.

I'm only a few months into ownership though so not overly experienced.

Definitely mate, he's evidently very skilled and lives in a stunning location.

If you don't mind my asking, why 30fps instead of 25? I've got a few friends in broadcasting who said that I shouldn't stray from the 25, 50, 100fps in the UK or PAL regions, so I've stuck with that based upon their advice - I'm very open to suggestions if I've misunderstood the reasons why though, or if I could use the different fps without introducing frame stuttering, etc am currently learning Davinci Resolve, so not really up on the different methods of converting framerates to timeline yet.

I think the majority of video content I've watched has either just stuck rigidly to the fps "rules" or has been in an NTSC region, so I've just thought it wasn't applicable in terms of framerates.

Cheers for the advice Lee

 

[LeeRatters]

Definitely mate, he's evidently very skilled and lives in a stunning location.

If you don't mind my asking, why 30fps instead of 25? I've got a few friends in broadcasting who said that I shouldn't stray from the 25, 50, 100fps in the UK or PAL regions, so I've stuck with that based upon their advice - I'm very open to suggestions if I've misunderstood the reasons why though, or if I could use the different fps without introducing frame stuttering, etc am currently learning Davinci Resolve, so not really up on the different methods of converting framerates to timeline yet.

I think the majority of video content I've watched has either just stuck rigidly to the fps "rules" or has been in an NTSC region, so I've just thought it wasn't applicable in terms of framerates.

Cheers for the advice Lee

tbh, I don't know why 30fps. I just thought that was the 'standard' as such. I know 60fps is if you want to do slow motion with it.

I'm open to ideas and further advice myself

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I've got a few friends in broadcasting who said that I shouldn't stray from the 25, 50, 100fps in the UK or PAL regions, so I've stuck with that based upon their advice

The question is where will the footage be going. For broadcasting it may have some importance FOR NOW, but it is all going to 4K-8K REC2020 60-120HZ anyway. For youtube or web just pick whatever setting that works for you, and stick with it for that particular project. 30 (1/60s) will give a little sharper footage with more editing leeway than 24/25, and 60 (1/120s) is the next big step up. But some people prefer cinematic (i,e, really blurry look). I just think landscapes want sharp detail. Just pick what you like.

I have had issues where exporting to 1080p gives me like, jpeg artefacts in contrasty areas though - I can't figure that one out.

I'd look at compression settings, and to rule things out export as straight prores for inspection. Bare in mind that mini2 footage is very highly compressed and over-processed, oversharpened in camera. You can't undo that.

 

[LeeRatters]

The question is where will the footage be going. For broadcasting it may have some importance FOR NOW, but it is all going to 4K-8K REC2020 60-120HZ anyway. For youtube or web just pick whatever setting that works for you, and stick with it for that particular project. 30 (1/60s) will give a little sharper footage with more editing leeway than 24/25, and 60 (1/120s) is the next big step up. But some people prefer cinematic (i,e, really blurry look). I just think landscapes want sharp detail. Just pick what you like.


I'd look at compression settings, and to rule things out export as straight prores for inspection. Bare in mind that mini2 footage is very highly compressed and over-processed, oversharpened in camera. You can't undo that.

It's weird. I just re-checked a short clip I knew it showed up on.

2.7K is fine (as shot btw)
1080p shows it really obvious.
720p it's very minimal & probably only because I know it's there.

I'm about to try Filmora very soon. I've been using VideoProc.